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2023-06-20 00:00:00
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012-982-723-840-849
|
US
|
[
"DE",
"WO",
"US",
"CN"
] |
H01L21/8234,H01L21/311,H01L21/3213,H01L21/00,H01L21/461,H01L21/302,H01L21/28
| 2011-12-01T00:00:00 |
2011
|
[
"H01"
] |
use of an organic planarizing mask for cutting a plurality of gate lines
|
an organic planarizing layer (opl) is formed atop a semiconductor substrate which includes a plurality of gate lines thereon. each gate line includes at least a high k gate dielectric and a metal gate. a patterned photoresist having at least one pattern formed therein is then positioned atop the opl. the at least one pattern in the photoresist is perpendicular to each of the gate lines. the pattern is then transferred by etching into the opl and portions of each of the underlying gate lines to provide a plurality of gate stacks each including at least a high k gate dielectric portion and a metal gate portion. the patterned photoresist and the remaining opl layer are then removed utilizing a sequence of steps including first contacting with a first acid, second contacting with an aqueous cerium-containing solution, and third contacting with a second acid.
|
claims what is claimed is: 1. a process for forming a semiconductor structure (10) comprising: forming a plurality of gate lines (14l,14r) on a surface of a semiconductor substrate (12), wherein each gate line (14l,14r) of said plurality of gate lines includes at least a high k gate dielectric (16l,16r) and an overlying metal gate (18l,18r); forming an organic planarizing layer (opl) (22) atop the semiconductor substrate (12) and the plurality of gate lines (14l,14r); forming a patterned photoresist (24') including at least one pattern (26) atop the opl (22), said at least one pattern (26) is located atop a portion of each gate line (14l,14r) of the plurality of gate lines; transferring the at least one pattern (26) into the underlying opl (22) and gate line (14l,14r) by etching; and removing the patterned photoresist (24') and remaining opl layer (22') by a sequence of contacting steps comprising (a) first contacting with a first acid at a first temperature and for a first period of time, (b) second contacting with an aqueous cerium- containing solution at a second temperature and for a second period of time, and (c) third contacting with a second acid at a third temperature and for a third period of time. 2. the process of claim 1, wherein contacting steps (b) and (c) are repeated at least once. 3. the process of claim 1, wherein said opl (22) is selected from the group consisting of a near frictionless carbon material, and a polyimide. 4. the process of claim 1, wherein said first acid is sulfuric acid. 5. the process of claim 1, wherein said first temperature is from 15°c to 150°c and said first period of time is from 1 minute to 60 minutes. 6. the process of claim 1, wherein said aqueous cerium-containing solution comprises a cerium (iv) containing complex or salt and water. 7. the process of claim 6, wherein said cerium (iv) containing complex or salt is at least one of eerie ammonium nitrate, eerie nitrate, eerie ammonium sulfate, eerie sulfate, eerie bisulfate, eerie perchlorate, eerie methanesulfonate, eerie trifluromethansulfonate, eerie chloride, eerie hydroxide and eerie actetate. 8. the process of claim 6, wherein said aqueous cerium-containing solution further comprises at least one ammonium salt as a stabilizer. 9. the process of claim 8, wherein said at least one ammonium salt comprises ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate (n¾) 2 s0 4 , ammonium bisulfate, ammonium acetate, ammonium perchlorate (nh 4 cio 4 ), ammonium trifluoroacetate, ammonium methanesulfonate, or ammonium trifluoromethane sulfonate. 10. the process of claim 6, wherein said aqueous cerium-containing solution further comprises at least one acid as a stabilizer. 11. the process of claim 10, wherein said at least one acid comprises nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, perchloric acid, glacial acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, polysulfonic acid, polyacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid, polymaleic acid, polytetraflourosulfonic acid, poly(ethylene-maleic) acid or polystyrene carboxylic acid. 12. the process of claim 6, wherein said cerium (iv) containing complex or salt is eerie ammonium nitrate and said aqueous cerium-containing solution further comprises ammonium trifluoroacetate as a stabilizer. 13. the process of claim 1, wherein said second temperature is from 25°c to 150°c and said second period of time is from 1 minute to 60 minutes. 14. the process of claim 1, wherein said second acid is sulfuric acid. 15. the process of claim 1, wherein said third temperature is from 25°c to 150°c and said third period of time is from 1 minute to 60 minutes. 16. the process of claim 1, wherein said first and second acids comprise a same or different acid selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, nitric acid, perchloric acid, phosphoric acid and mixtures thereof. 17. the process of claim 1, wherein said metal gate (18l,18r) includes an elemental metal, an alloy of at least two elemental metals, an elemental metal nitride, an elemental metal silicide or multilayers thereof. 18. the process of claim 1, wherein said metal gate (18l,18r) is comprised of tin. 19. the process of claim 1, wherein each gate line (14l,14r) of said plurality of gate lines includes a si-containing gate electrode (20l,20r) located atop the metal gate (18l,18r). 20. the process of claim 1, wherein after removing the patterned photoresist (24') and the remaining opl (22') each gate line (14l,14r) of the plurality of gate lines is cut into a plurality of gate stacks (14l',14l",14r',14r"), where each gate stack of said plurality of gate stacks (14l',14l",14r',14r") has a metal gate portion (18l',18l",18r',18r") that has sidewalls that are vertical coincident to sidewalls of an underlying high k gate dielectric portion (16l',16l",16r',16r"). 21. the process of claim 20, further comprising forming at least one spacer (32) on each gate stack (14l',14l",14r',14r") of said plurality of gate stacks and forming a source region and a drain region (34) in the semiconductor substrate (12) and at a footprint of each gate stack (14l',14l",14r',14r") of said plurality of gate stacks. 22. the process of claim 1, wherein said organic planarizing layer (opl) (22) is in direct contact with each gate line (14l,14r) of the plurality of gate lines. 23. the process of claim 1, wherein said first and second acids each comprise sulfuric acid, and said aqueous cerium-containing solution comprises a mixture of eerie ammonium nitrate, ammonium trifluoroacetate and water. 24. a process for forming a semiconductor structure (10) comprising: forming a plurality of gate lines (14l,14r) on a surface of a semiconductor substrate (12), wherein each gate line (14l,14r) of said plurality of gate lines includes at least a high k gate dielectric and an overlying metal gate (18l,18r); forming an organic planarizing layer (opl) (22) atop the semiconductor substrate ( 12) and the plurality of gate lines( 14l, 14r) ; forming a patterned photoresist (24') including at least one pattern (26) atop the opl (22), said at least one pattern (26) is located atop a portion of each gate line (14l,14r) of the plurality of gate lines; transferring the at least one pattern (26) into the underlying opl (22) and gate line (14l.14r) by etching; and removing the patterned photoresist (24') and remaining opl layer (22') by a sequence of contacting steps comprising (a) first contacting with sulfuric acid, (b) second contacting with an aqueous solution comprising a cerium (iv) containing complex or salt and at least one ammonium salt or complex, and (c) third contacting with sulfuric acid. 25. the process of claim 24, wherein said cerium (iv) containing complex or salt is eerie ammonium nitrate and said ammonium complex or salt is ammonium trifluoroacetate.
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use of an organic plan arizing mask for cutting a plurality of gate lines background [0001] the present disclosure relates to semiconductor device manufacturing, and more particularly, to a process for cutting a plurality of gate lines into a plurality of gate stacks. [0002] field effect transistors (fets) are widely used in the electronics industry for switching, amplification, filtering and other tasks related to both analog and digital electrical signals. most common among these are metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (mosfet or mos), in which a gate structure is energized to create an electric field in an underlying channel region of a semiconductor body, by which electrons are allowed to travel through the channel between a source region and a drain region of the semiconductor body. complementary mos (cmos) devices have become widely used in the semiconductor industry, wherein both n-type and p-type (nmos and pmos) transistors are used to fabricate logic and circuitry. [0003] continuing trends in semiconductor device manufacturing include a reduction in electrical device feature size (scaling), as well as improvements in device performance in terms of device switching speed and power consumption. recent mos and cmos transistor scaling efforts have focused on high k materials having dielectric constants greater than that of silicon oxide (e.g., greater than about 3.9), which can be formed in a thicker layer than scaled silicon oxide, and yet which produce equivalent field effect performance. another type of cmos device that is available is one where the gate electrode includes at least a metal gate layer. [0004] in the manufacturing of such devices, a plurality of gate lines including at least a high k gate dielectric and an overlying metal gate are formed on a surface of a semiconductor substrate. each gate line of the plurality of gate lines can be cut into a plurality of gate stacks that can be used to manufacture field effect transistor devices. in the cutting of gate lines, a stack including at least a photoresist is typically formed on the substrate and atop the plurality of gate lines. at least one pattern is then formed through the stack that exposes an uppermost portion of each gate line. an etching process is used to transfer the at least one pattern to the underlying gate lines. during etching, each underlying gate line is cut into a plurality of gate stacks. after etching, the patterned stack needs to be removed. in conventional processes, a mixture of sulfuric acid and peroxide is used to remove the patterned stack from atop the substrate. such a mixture not only removes the patterned stack, but can also attack a portion of the metal gate of each gate stack. for example, a mixture of sulfuric acid and peroxide can result in providing gate stacks that have an undercut metal gate. alternatively, a mixture of sulfuric acid and peroxide can result in material loss of each gate stack if the gate stacks are exposed. alternatively, the use of a mixture of sulfuric acid and peroxide can result in complete lift off of the gate stacks. [0005] in view of the above, there is a continued for providing an improved method for cutting a plurality of gate lines into gate stacks which avoids the drawbacks associated with prior art methods in which a mixture of sulfuric acid and peroxide are used to remove the pattered stack from the structure. summary [0006] an organic planarizing layer (opl) is formed atop a semiconductor substrate which includes a plurality of gate lines located thereon. each gate line of the plurality of gate lines includes at least a high k gate dielectric and a metal gate. a patterned photoresist having at least one pattern formed therein is then positioned atop the opl. at least one pattern in the photoresist is perpendicular to each of the gate lines. the pattern is then transferred by etching into the opl and portions of each of the underlying gate lines to provide a plurality of gate stacks each including at least a high k gate dielectric portion and a metal gate portion. the patterned resist and the remaining opl layer are then removed without negatively affecting any of the metal gate portions of each of the gate stacks utilizing a sequence of steps including first contacting with a first acid, second contacting with an aqueous cerium- containing solution, and third contacting with a second acid. [0007] in one embodiment of the present disclosure, a process for forming a semiconductor structure is provided. the process includes first forming a plurality of gate lines on a surface of a semiconductor substrate. each gate line includes at least a high k gate dielectric and an overlying metal gate. an organic planarizing layer (opl) is then formed atop the semiconductor substrate and the plurality of gate lines. a patterned photoresist including at least one pattern is then formed. the at least one pattern is located atop a portion of each gate line of the plurality of gate lines. the at least one pattern is then transferred into the underlying opl and each gate line. the patterned photoresist and the remaining portions of the opl layer are completely removed by (a) first contacting the structure with a first acid at a first temperature and for a first period of time, (b) second contacting the structure with an aqueous cerium-containing solution at a second temperature and for a second period of time, and (c) third contacting the structure with a second acid at a third temperature and for a third period of time. contacting steps (b) and (c) can be repeated as deemed necessary. [0008] in another embodiment, a process is provided that includes forming a plurality of gate lines on a surface of a semiconductor substrate. each gate line of the plurality of gate lines includes at least a high k gate dielectric and an overlying metal gate. an organic planarizing layer (opl) is then formed atop the semiconductor substrate and the plurality of gate lines. a patterned photoresist including at least one pattern is formed atop the opl. the at least one pattern is located atop a portion of each gate line of the plurality of gate lines. the at least one pattern is the transferred into the underlying opl and each gate line by etching. next, the patterned photoresist and remaining opl layer are removed by a sequence of contacting steps comprising (a) first contacting with sulfuric acid, (b) second contacting with an aqueous solution comprising a cerium (iv) containing complex or salt and at least one ammonium salt or complex, and (c) third contacting with sulfuric acid. brief description of the drawings [0009] fig. 1 a is a pictorial representation (through a top-down view) illustrating an initial structure including a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of gate lines located thereon. [0010] fig. ib is a cross sectional view of the initial structure along cut a- a' shown in fig. 1a. [0011] fig. 1c is a cross sectional view of the initial structure along cut b-b' shown in fig. 1a. [0012] fig. 2a is a pictorial representation (through a top-down view) illustrating the initial structure of fig. 1a after forming an organic planarizing layer. [0013] fig. 2b is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut a-a' shown in fig. 2a. [0014] fig. 2c is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut b-b' shown in fig. 2a. [0015] fig. 3 a is a pictorial representation (through a top-down view) illustrating the structure of fig. 2 a after forming a photoresist atop the organic planarizing layer. [0016] fig. 3b is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut a-a' shown in fig. 3 a. [0017] fig. 3c is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut b-b' shown in fig. 3a. [0018] fig. 4a is a pictorial representation (through a top-down view) illustrating the structure of fig. 3 a after patterning the photoresist to include at least one pattern therein. [0019] fig. 4b is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut a-a' shown in fig. 4 a. [0020] fig. 4c is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut b-b' shown in fig. 4a. [0021] fig. 5a is a pictorial representation (through a top-down view) illustrating the structure of fig. 4 a after transferring at least one pattern from the patterned photoresist into the organic planarizing layer and each of the gate lines of the plurality of gate lines. [0022] fig. 5b is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut a-a' shown in fig. 5 a. [0023] fig. 5c is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut b-b' shown in fig. 5a. [0024] fig. 6a is a pictorial representation (through a top-down view) illustrating the structure of fig. 5 a after removing the patterned photoresist and remaining portions of the organic planarizing layer from the structure which now includes a plurality of gate stacks located on a surface of the semiconductor substrate. [0025] fig. 6b is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut a-a' shown in fig. 6a. [0026] fig. 6c is a cross sectional view of the structure along cut b-b' shown in fig. 6a. [0027] fig. 7 is a pictorial representation of the structure of fig. 6b (through the same cut a-a' after forming at least one spacer and a source region and a drain region. detailed description [0028] the present disclosure, which relates to a process for cutting gate lines including at least a high k gate dielectric and an overlying metal gate into gate stacks including at least a high k gate dielectric portion and an overlying metal gate portion, will now be described in greater detail by referring to the following discussion and drawings that accompany the present application. it is noted that the drawings of the present application are provided for illustrative purposes and, as such, they are not drawn to scale. [0029] in the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as particular structures, components, materials, dimensions, processing steps and techniques, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. however, it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced with viable alternative process options without these specific details. in other instances, well-known structures or processing steps have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the various embodiments of the present disclosure. [0030] it will be understood that when an element as a layer, region, or substrate is referred to as being "on" or "over" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. in contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on" or "directly over" another element, there are no intervening elements present. it will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being "beneath" or "under" another element, it can be directly beneath or under the other element, or intervening elements may be present. in contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly beneath" or "directly under" another element, there are no intervening elements present. [0031] reference is now made to figs. 1a, ib and 1c which illustrate an initial structure 10 that can be employed in the present disclosure. the initial structure 10 includes a semiconductor substrate 12 having a plurality of gate lines (14l and 14r) located on a surface of the semiconductor substrate 12. each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines are oriented parallel to one another. each gate line 14l and 14r includes at least a high k gate dielectric 16l, 16r and a metal gate 18l, 18r. each gate line 14l and 14r may optionally include a si-containing gate electrode 20l, 20r atop each metal gate 18l, 18r. [0032] the semiconductor substrate 12 includes any semiconductor material including, but not limited to si, sige, sigec, sic, ge alloys, gaas, inas, inp and other iii/v or ii/vi compound semiconductors. in addition to these listed types of semiconductor materials, the semiconductor substrate 12 can also be a layered semiconductor such as, for example, si/sige, si/sic, silicon-on-insulators (sois) or silicon germanium-on-insulators (sgois). in some embodiments, the semiconductor substrate 12 is a si-containing semiconductor material, i.e., a semiconductor material that includes silicon. the semiconductor substrate 12 may include a single crystal orientation or it may include at least two coplanar surface regions that have different crystal orientations (the latter substrate is referred to in the art as a hybrid substrate). for illustrative purposes the semiconductor substrate 12 is comprised of a bulk semiconductor. by "bulk" it is meant that the entirety of the substrate is composed of a semiconductor material. [0033] the semiconductor substrate 12 may also include a doped (n- or p-) region. for clarity, the doped region is not specifically shown in any of the drawings of the present application. the doped region is known as a "well" and the well can be formed utilizing conventional ion implantation processes that are known to those skilled in the art. [0034] at least one isolation region (not shown) can be formed into the semiconductor substrate 12. the at least one isolation region may be a trench isolation region or a field oxide isolation region. the trench isolation region is formed utilizing a trench isolation process well known to those skilled in the art. for example, lithography, etching and filling of the trench with a trench dielectric may be used in forming the trench isolation region. optionally, a liner may be formed in the trench prior to trench fill, a densification step may be performed after the trench fill and a planarization process may follow the trench fill as well. the field oxide may be formed utilizing a so-called local oxidation of silicon process. as known to those skilled in the art, the at least one isolation region provides isolation between neighboring devices, typically required when the neighboring devices have opposite conductivities, i.e., nfets and pfets. the portion of the semiconductor substrate 12 that is located between neighboring isolation regions is referred to herein as the 'active area' of the semiconductor substrate 12. the active area of the semiconductor substrate is the area in which semiconductor devices, such as transistors, can be formed. [0035] each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r of each gate line 14l and 14r includes a dielectric metal oxide having a dielectric constant that is greater than the dielectric constant of silicon oxide, e.g., 3.9. typically, each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r that can be employed in the present disclosure has a dielectric constant greater than 4.0, with a dielectric constant of greater than 8.0 being even more typical. exemplary high k dielectric materials that can be employed in the present disclosure include, but are not limited to hf0 2 , zr0 2 , la 2 0 3 , a1 2 0 3 , ti0 2 , srti0 3 , laa10 3 , y 2 0 3 , hfo x n y , zro x n y , la 2 o x n y , al 2 o x n y , tio x n y , srtio x n y , laa10 x n y , y 2 o x n y , a silicate thereof, and an alloy thereof. each value of x is independently from 0.5 to 3 and each value of y is independently from 0 to 2. in some embodiments, multilayered stacks of at least two of the above mentioned high k dielectric materials can be employed. in some embodiments, high k gate dielectric 16l is comprised of a same high k gate dielectric as high k gate dielectric 16r. in other embodiments, high k gate dielectric 16l is comprised of a different high k gate dielectric as high k gate dielectric 16r. when different high k gate dielectric materials are employed, block mask technology can be used to form different type high k gate dielectric materials. [0036] in one embodiment, each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r of each gate line 14l and 14r can be formed atop an interfacial layer (not shown) that is formed atop the semiconductor substrate 12 prior to forming each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r of each gate line 14l and 14r. in such an embodiment, the interfacial layer can be composed of a semiconductor oxide, semiconductor nitride and/or semiconductor oxynitride. such interfacial materials can be formed utilizing a thermal process such as, for example, thermal oxide and/or thermal nitridation. [0037] the thickness of each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r of each gate line 14l and 14r may vary depending on the technique used to form the same. typically, however, each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r of each gate line 14l and 14r has a thickness from 0.5 nm to 10 nm, with a thickness from 1.0 nm to 5 nm being more typical. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r of each gate line 14l and 14r employed may have an effective oxide thickness on the order of, or less than, 2 nm. [0038] each high k gate dielectric 16l and 16r of each gate line 14l and 14r can be formed by methods well known in the art including, for example, chemical vapor deposition (cvd), physical vapor deposition (pvd), molecular beam deposition (mbd), pulsed laser deposition (pld), liquid source misted chemical deposition (lsmcd), atomic layer deposition (ald), and other like deposition processes. [0039] each metal gate 18l and 18r of each gate line 14l and 14r comprises any conductive metal-containing material including, but not limited to an elemental metal, (e.g., tungsten, titanium, tantalum, aluminum, nickel, ruthenium, palladium and platinum), an alloy of at least two elemental metals, an elemental metal nitride (e.g., tungsten nitride, aluminum nitride, and titanium nitride), an elemental metal silicide (e.g., tungsten silicide, nickel silicide, and titanium silicide) and multilayers thereof. in one embodiment, each metal gate 18l and 18r of each gate line 14l and 14r is comprised of an nfet metal. in another embodiment, each metal gate 18l and 18r is comprised of a pfet metal. in a further embodiment, each metal gate 18l and 18r of each gate line 14l and 14r is comprised of tin. in some embodiments, metal gate 18l is comprised of a different metal gate material as compared with metal gate 18r. in such an embodiment, block mask technology can be used to form different metal gate materials for material gate 18l and metal gate 18r. [0040] each metal gate 18l and 18r of each gate line 14l and 14r can be formed utilizing a conventional deposition process including, for example, chemical vapor deposition (cvd), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (pecvd), evaporation, physical vapor deposition (pvd), sputtering, chemical solution deposition, atomic layer deposition (ald) and other like deposition processes. when a metal silicide is formed, a conventional silicidation process can be employed. [0041] in some embodiments, each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines includes a si-containing gate electrode 20l and 20r atop each metal gate 18l and 18r. each si-containing gate electrode 20l and 20r includes doped polysilicon, doped sige and combinations thereof. each si-containing gate electrode 20l and 20r can be formed by first forming a non-doped si-containing layer atop each metal gate 18l and 18r and thereafter introducing a dopant into the non-doped si-containing layer by utilizing one of ion implantation, gas phase doping, or by transferring a dopant from a sacrificial material layer formed in proximity of the non-doped si-containing layer, and then removing the sacrificial layer from the structure. alternatively, a doped si-containing layer can be formed utilizing an in-situ doping deposition process. [0042] in some embodiments, each material layer of each gate line 14l and 14r is formed as a blanket layer and thereafter a patterning process is used in forming each gate line 14l and 14r. the patterning process includes lithography (applying a photoresist atop the uppermost surface of the blanket material layer, exposing the photoresist to radiation and developing the exposed resist using a conventional developer). the lithography step provides a patterned photoresist atop the uppermost blanket material layer of the gate line. an etching step is then used to transfer the pattern from the patterned photoresist into the underlying blanket layers of gate dielectric 16l and 16r, metal gate 18r and 18l and optional si-containing gate electrode 20l and 20r. the etching may include a dry etching process such as, for example, reactive ion etching, plasma etching, ion etching or laser ablation. the etching may further include a wet chemical etching process in which one or more chemical etchants are used to remove portions of the blanket layers that are not protected by the patterned photoresist. the patterned photoresist can be removed utilizing an ashing process. [0043] referring now to figs. 2 a, 2b and 2c, there are illustrated the structure of figs. 1 a, ib and 1c, respectively, after forming an organic planarizing layer (opl) 22 atop the semiconductor substrate 12 and around each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines. as is illustrated, a portion of the opl layer 22 directly contacts each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines. [0044] the opl 22 that is employed in the present disclosure comprising any organic material including, but not limited to, a near-frictionless carbon (nfc) material, and a polyimide. [0045] the opl 22 can be formed utilizing a deposition process such as, for example, spin- on, cvd, pecvd, evaporation, chemical solution deposition and other like deposition techniques. chemical mechanical planarization (cmp) and/or grinding can be used to planarize the deposited opl 22. [0046] the thickness of the opl 22 can vary so long as its thickness is greater than the total thickness of each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines. in one embodiment, the opl 22 has a thickness from 50 nm to 500 nm. in another embodiment, the opl 22 has a thickness from 150 nm to 300 nm. [0047] referring now to figs. 3 a, 3b and 3c, there are illustrated the structure of figs. 2 a, 2b and 2c, respectfully, after forming a blanket layer of photoresist 24 atop the opl 22. in some embodiments, an optional antireflective coating (not shown) can be formed between the opl layer 22 and the photoresist 24. [0048] when employed, the optional antireflective coating includes any inorganic or organic material that can control (i) the reflection of light through an overlying photoresist material, and (ii) the reflection of light from material layers beneath the antireflective coating and back into the photoresist material that may interfere with incoming light and causes the photoresist material to be unevenly exposed. in general, the antireflective coating that can be optionally employed can be modeled so as to find optimum optical parameters (n and k values) of the antireflective coating as well as optimum thickness. in one embodiment, the optical constants of the antireflective coating are in the range from n=1.2 to n=3.0 and k=0.01 to k=0.9, more typically n=1.4 to n=2.6 and k=0.02 to k=0.78 at a wavelength of 365, 248, 193 and 157, 126 nm and extreme ultraviolet (13.4 nm) radiation. the optical properties and thickness of the antireflective coating are optimized to obtain optimal resolution, profile control and to maximize process window of the photoresist during a subsequent patterning steps, which is well known to those ordinarily skilled in the art. [0049] antireflective coatings that can be employed in the present disclosure include, for example, organic homopolymers or copolymers of polyesters, polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, polysulfones, and amorphous carbon. the antireflective coating may be applied by spin-on techniques, spray on techniques, dipping, etc. inorganic antireflective coatings, such as silicon oxynitride (sion), silicon carbide (sic), silicon oxycarbide (sioc), sicoh, siloxane, silane, carbosilane, oxycarbosilane, and silsesquioxane, either as a polymer or a copolymer may also be employed and may be deposited, for example, by plasma- enhanced chemical vapor deposition, spin-on techniques, dipping, etc. after applying the antireflective coating, particularly those from a liquid phase, a post deposition baking step is usually required to remove unwanted components, such as solvent, and to effect crosslinking. the post deposition baking step of the antireflective coating is typically, but not necessarily always, performed at a temperature from 80°c to 300°c, with a baking temperature from 120°c to 200°c being more typical. [0050] the photoresist 24 that can be employed in the present disclosure includes any conventional photoresist material including a positive-tone photoresist material or a negative- tone photoresist material. by "positive- tone" it is meant that the part of the photoresist that is exposed to photolithography will be removed by a conventional developer, while the unexposed part of the photoresist is not removed. by "negative-tone" it is meant that the part of the photoresist that is exposed to photolithography will not be removed by a conventional developer, while the unexposed part of the photoresist is removed. the photoresists may include photoacid generators, base additives and/or solvents, each of which is well known to those skilled in the art and, as such, details regarding those components are not fully provided. [0051] the blanket layer of photoresist 24 is formed atop the surface of opl 22 utilizing techniques well known to those skilled in the art including, for example, spin-on coating, dip coating, evaporation, chemical solution deposition, and chemical vapor deposition. after deposition, the blanket layer of photoresist 24 is typically dried and cured utilizing processing conditions that are well known to those skilled in the art. [0052] referring now to figs. 4a, 4b and 4c, there are illustrated the structure of figs. 3 a, 3b and 3c, respectively, after forming at least one pattern in the blanket layer of photoresist 24. the patterned photoresist is designated as 24' in the drawings. as shown (especially in fig. 4c), the patterned photoresist 24' protects some portion of the opl 22, while leaving other portions of the opl 22 unprotected. the patterning of the blanket layer of photoresist 24 can be performed utilizing photolithography which includes exposing the blanket layer of photoresist 24 to a desired pattern of radiation and then removing portions of the exposed photoresist material utilizing a conventional developer so as to form the structure shown in figs. 4a, 4b, and 4c. as illustrated, the patterned photoresist 24 includes at least one pattern 26, i.e., opening, located therein. the at least one pattern 26 is formed perpendicular to each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines and the at least one pattern 26 crosses over each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines. as such, the at least one pattern 26 within the patterned photoresist 26' can be used in the present disclosure to cut each of the gate lines 14l and 14r into a plurality of gate stacks. [0053] referring now to figs. 5 a, 5b and 5c, there are illustrated the structure of figs. 4a, 4b and 4c, respectively, after transferring the at least one pattern 26 through the opl layer 22 and through each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines forming a plurality of metal gates 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r". metal gate stacks 14l" and 14r" are located behind gate stacks 14l' and 14r' illustrated in the cross sectional view in fig. 5b. each gate stack 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r" includes a high k gate dielectric portion 16l', 16l", 16r', and 16r", a metal gate portion 18l', 18l", 18r', and 18r", and an optional si- containing gate electrode portion 20l', 20l", 20r', and 20r". in fig. 5c, the at least one pattern, i.e., opening, that is transferred from the patterned photoresist 24' to the opl layer 22 and each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines is represented by element 26'. the patterned opl is now designated as 22' in the drawings. [0054] the transferring of least one pattern 26 located in the patterned photoresist 24' to the opl layer 22 and each gate line 14l and 14r of the plurality of gate lines can be carried out using a dry etching process including, for example, reactive ion etching, ion beam etching, plasma etching, laser ablation and any combination thereof. in some embodiments, a single dry etch process can be used. in other embodiments, multiple dry etching processes can be used. [0055] referring now to figs. 6a, 6b and 6c, there are illustrated the structure of figs. 5 a, 5b and 5c, respectively, after removing the patterned photoresist 24' and the remaining opl, i.e., patterned opl 22', from the structure. the removal of the patterned photoresist 24' and patterned opl 22' includes (a) first contacting the structure with a first acid at a first temperature and for a first period of time, (b) second contacting the structure with an aqueous cerium-containing solution at a second temperature and for a second period of time, and (c) third contacting the structure with a second acid at a third temperature and for a third period of time. contacting steps (b) and (c) can be repeated as deemed necessary. in one embodiment, contact step (b) and contact (c) can be repeated at least once. typically contact steps (b) and (c) are repeated from 1 to 3 times. [0056] as mentioned above, the first contacting including a first acid. the contacting with the first acid is believed to partially disrupt the organic planarizing layer. the first acid that can be employed in the present disclosure during the first contacting includes any acid that releases a proton, i.e., h + ' when added to water. illustrative examples of such acids include, but are not limited to, hydrochloric acid (hc1), sulfuric acid (h 2 s0 4 ), acetic acid, nitric acid (hn0 3 ), perchloric acid (hc10 4 ), phosphoric acid (h 3 p0 4 ) and mixtures thereof. typically, the first acid is sulfuric acid. [0057] the first contacting with the first acid is performed at a first temperature which is typically from 15°c to 150°c. more typically, the first contacting with the first acid is performed at a first temperature which is from 25°c to 100°c. the first contacting with the first acid is typically performed for a first period time of from 1 minute to 60 minutes. more typically, the first contacting with the first acid is performed for a first period time of from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. [0058] the second contacting is performed with an aqueous cerium-containing solution. the second contacting with the aqueous cerium-containing solution is believed to chemically react with the organic planarizing layer via attack on unsaturated carbon bonds, leading to subsequent removal of the patterned opl 22' from the substrate. [0059] while cerium is the active element employed in the aqueous solution, it is to be understood that elements with the same or similar chemical characteristics as cerium could be used. for example, other lanthanoid elements may have some characteristics similar to cerium and thus could be used. lanthanoid elements are generally known to be those elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, i.e., lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium. in addition, certain non-lanthanoid elements may have chemical characteristics similar to cerium and thus could be used. such elements may include, but not be limited to, cobalt, nickel, manganese, iron, vanadium, titanium, ruthenium, rhodium and molybdenum. [0060] the aqueous cerium-containing solution used in the second contacting of the present disclosure comprises at least one cerium (iv) complex or salt. in one embodiment, the at least one cerium (iv) complex or salt can be, for example, cerium ammonium nitrate. the chemical formula of cerium ammonium nitrate may be expressed as ce(nh 4 ) 2 (n0 3 ) 6 or (nh 4 ) 2 ce(n0 3 ) 6- cerium ammonium nitrate is also known as can, cerium (iv) ammonium nitrate, eerie ammonium nitrate and ammonium cerium nitrate. can is an orange, water- soluble salt that may be used as an oxidizing agent. [0061] other cerium (iv) complexes or salts that may be used include, but are not limited to, eerie nitrate, eerie ammonium sulfate, eerie sulfate, eerie bisulfate, eerie perchlorate, eerie methanesulfonate, eerie trifluoromethanesulfonate, eerie chloride, eerie hydroxide, and eerie acetate. these cerium (iv) complexes or salts can be used in place of or in conjunction with can. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the solution may comprise more than one of the above cerium (iv) complexes or salts. in some embodiments, the cerium (iv) complex or salt preferably comprises cerium ammonium nitrate. [0062] since eerie solutions in water tend to hydrolyze and generate precipitates over time, especially when kept above ambient temperature (i.e., above about 20°c to 25°c), at least one stabilizer may be employed in order to stabilize the solution. stated in other terms, eerie (iv) complexes or salts in water are generally stable, but at elevated temperatures around 70°c, eerie (iv) complexes or salts generate precipitate due to hydrolysis and/or redox reactions. however, in strongly acidic solutions such precipitates are soluble. by "strongly acid" it is meant a ph of less than 1. for this reason, the cerium-containing solution is typically formulated in an acidic media in order to stabilize the solution and prevent or limit precipitation of the cerium. the acidic media, which can be provided for by at least one stabilizer, acts to reduce precipitation, for example, by dissolving precipitant from the solution. the at least one stabilizer may be referred to as a bath stabilizer. [0063] in one embodiment, the at least one stabilizer is an ammonium salt. the ammonium salt is in addition to the ammonium compound in can or any other ammonium compound of cerium that can be employed as the cerium (iv) salt. ammonium salts that can be used as a stabilizer include, but are not limited to, at least one of ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate (nh 4 ) 2 s0 4 , ammonium bisulfate, ammonium acetate, ammonium perchlorate (nh 4 c10 4 ), ammonium trifluoroacetate, ammonium methanesulfonate, and ammonium trifluoromethane sulfonate. [0064] other compounds that are stabilizers and which can be employed in the aqueous solution of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, acids. acids that can be employed as a stabilizer agent include, but are not limited to, one or more of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, perchloric acid, glacial acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, and polysulfonic acid (e.g., poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid). alternatively, or in addition to, other water soluble acidic polymers may be added including, but not limited to, polyacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid, and polymeric acid. examples of polymeric acids include, but are not limited to, polymaleic acid, polytetraflourosulfonic acid, poly(ethylene-maleic) acid and polystyrene carboxylic acid. [0065] in one embodiment, the effective range of concentrations for the stabilizer that can be present in the aqueous cerium-containing solution is from 0.5% to 15 % by weight, based on the total weight of the aqueous cerium-containing solution. in another embodiment, the effective range of concentrations for the stabilizer that can be present in the aqueous cerium- containing solution is from 0.5% to 10 % by weight, based on the total weight of the aqueous cerium-containing solution. [0066] in addition to the above, the aqueous cerium-containing solution includes water such as deionized water (di water) as a solvent. in one embodiment, the aqueous cerium- containing solution includes from 1 wt % to 50 wt % cerium (iv) complex or salt and from 50 wt % to 99 wt % water, based on the total weight of the aqueous solution. in another embodiment, aqueous cerium-containing solution includes from 10 wt % to 40 wt % cerium (iv) complex or salt and from 60 wt % to 90 wt % water, based on the total weight of the aqueous solution. in yet another embodiment, the aqueous cerium-containing solution includes from 15 wt % to 35 wt % cerium (iv) complex or salt and from 65 wt % to 85 wt % water, based on the total weight of the aqueous cerium-containing solution. in an even further embodiment, the aqueous cerium-containing solution includes from 20 wt % to 30 wt % cerium (iv) complex or salt and from 70 wt % to 80 wt % water, based on the total weight of the aqueous cerium-containing solution. [0067] embodiments of the cerium-containing aqueous solution of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, (i) a solution comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially of, cerium (iv) complex or salt, and water, (ii) a solution comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially of, cerium (iv) complex or salt, water, and an ammonium salt, (iii) a solution comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially of, cerium (iv) complex or salt, water , and an acid, or (iv) a solution comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially of, cerium (iv) complex or salt, water, an ammonium salt, and an acid. [0068] the second contacting with the aqueous cerium-containing solution is performed at a second temperature which is typically from 25°c to 150°c. more typically, the second contacting with the aqueous cerium-containing solution is performed at a second temperature which is from 50°c to 100°c. the second contacting with the aqueous cerium-containing solution is typically performed for a second period time of from 1 minute to 60 minutes. more typically, the second contacting with the aqueous cerium-containing solution is performed for a second period time of from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. [0069] after the second contacting with the aqueous cerium-containing solution, a third contacting with a second acid is performed. the second acid used in the third contacting may be the same or different, typically the same, as the first acid of the first contacting. the contacting with the second acid is believed to further remove the patterned organic material. the second acid that can be employed in the present disclosure during the third contacting includes any acid that releases a proton, i.e., h +! when added to water. illustrative examples of such acids include, but ate not limited to, hydrochloric acid (hc1), sulfuric acid (h 2 s0 4 ), acetic acid, nitric acid (h 0 3 ), perchloric acid (hc10 4 ), phosphoric acid (h3po4 ) and mixtures thereof. typically, the second acid is sulfuric acid. [0070] the third contacting with the second acid is performed at a third temperature which is typically from 25°c to 150°c. more typically, the third contacting with the second acid is performed at a third temperature which is from 50°c to 100°c. the third contacting with the second acid is typically performed for a third period time of from 1 minute to 60 minutes. more typically, the third contacting with the second acid is performed for a third period time of from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. [0071] each of the above mentioned contacting steps may include immersion of the structure in a bath including a specific material, i.e., first acid, aqueous cerium-containing solution or second acid. other methods of contact are also contemplated, for example, spraying, rinsing or washing the structure and agitating the structure in the specific material, i.e., first acid, aqueous cerium-containing solution or second acid. the first contacting, second contacting and third contacting may include any of the above methods. [0072] referring now to fig. 7, there is illustrated the structure of fig. 6b are forming at least one spacer 32 on exposed sidewalls of each gate stack 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r" that is formed. it is noted that the gate structures 14l" and 14r" are positioned behind gate stacks 14l' and 14r', respectively in the drawing. in some embodiments, the at least one spacer 32 can be omitted from the sidewalls of each gate stack 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r". when present, the at least one spacer 32 can be comprised of an oxygen impermeable dielectric material such as, for example, silicon oxide, silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride. the at least one spacer 32 can be formed by deposition of an oxygen impermeable dielectric material and then etching. in some embodiments, a thermal process can be used in forming the at least one spacer 32. [0073] each gate stack 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r" also includes a source region and a drain region (collectively referred to herein as source/drain regions 34. in the drawings, the middle source/drain region between the gate stack 14l' and 14r' is shown as being a common source/drain region. although such an embodiment is shown, the source/drain region 34 positioned between the gate stack 14l' and 14r' may be separate source/drain regions. the source/drain regions 34 are typically formed in the substrate 10 and at the footprint of each gate stack 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r" utilizing ion implantation and annealing. the conditions and dopants for the ion implantation process are well known to those skilled in the art. the anneal, which activates the dopants that are ion implanted into the semiconductor substrate 12, includes heating at a temperature of about 800°c or above. the portion of the semiconductor substrate 12 that is located beneath each gate stack 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r" and laterally bounded by the source/drain regions 32 is a channel region of the transistor. [0074] it is noted that in each gate stack 14l', 14l", 14r' and 14r" the high gate dielectric portions, the metal gate portions and the si-containing gate electrode portions each have sidewalls that are vertically coincident to each other. [0075] while the present disclosure has been particularly shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in forms and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. it is therefore intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the exact forms and details described and illustrated, but fall within the scope of the appended claims.
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013-643-500-607-855
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US
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[
"US"
] |
G06F3/16,A63B71/06,G06F16/683,G10H1/00,G10H1/40,G10H1/42,G10H1/18,G10H1/20,G06F17/30
| 2015-05-19T00:00:00 |
2015
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[
"G06",
"A63",
"G10"
] |
cadence-based selection, playback, and transition between song versions
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a system and methods for acquiring cadence and selecting a song version based on the acquired cadence are disclosed. if the system detects a new cadence, then a new song version that corresponds to the new cadence can be played. the new song version playback can start in a corresponding position as the location of playback in a currently-playing song version. each related song version shares one or more characteristics, such as melody, but is different in at least one characteristic, such as tempo.
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1 - 20 . (canceled) 21 . a method for playback of media content, the method comprising: identifying a song for playback, the song having one or more melodies; determining a tempo for the playback; selecting a song version from a plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song based on the tempo determined for the playback, each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song being an arrangement of at least one melody of the one or more melodies of the song, and each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song having a different tempo than others of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions; and initiating the playback of the selected song version. 22 . the method of claim 21 , further comprising: associating the different tempo of each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions with the respective pre-recorded song version; and selecting the song version having a tempo that corresponds to the tempo determined for the playback. 23 . the method of claim 21 , wherein determining the tempo for the playback comprises: acquiring a cadence of a repetitive motion activity of a user; and determining the tempo for the playback based on the acquired cadence. 24 . the method of claim 21 , further comprising: determining a new tempo for the playback; and selecting a new song version from the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song based on the new tempo determined for the playback. 25 . the method of claim 24 , wherein determining the new tempo for the playback comprises: detecting a change in a cadence of a repetitive motion activity of a user; and determining the new tempo for the playback based on the change in the cadence. 26 . the method of claim 25 , further comprising: upon detecting the change in the cadence, determining a difference in the cadence caused by the change; and if the difference exceeds a predetermined threshold, selecting the new song version from the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song. 27 . the method of claim 25 , further comprising: upon detecting the change in the cadence, determining a difference in the cadence caused by the change; monitoring the change in the cadence for a predetermined duration; and if the difference exceeds a predetermined threshold for the predetermined duration, selecting the new song version from the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song. 28 . the method of claim 24 , further comprising: transitioning from the playback of the selected song version to the playback of the new song version, wherein the playback of the new song version begins at a location in the new song version that corresponds to a location of the playback of the selected song version. 29 . the method of claim 28 , wherein the selected song version and the new song version are each divided into a same number of one or more chapters, and determining the location in the new song version that corresponds to the location of the playback of the selected song version includes determining a current chapter of the one or more chapters in the selected song version and a percentage of the current chapter played. 30 . the method of claim 29 , wherein transitioning from the playback of the selected song version to the playback of the new song version comprises: fading in the playback of the new song version and fading out the playback of the selected song version at substantially a same time. 31 . a computing device for playback of media content, the computing device comprising: a processing device; and a memory device coupled to the processing device and storing instructions, that when executed by the processing device, cause the computing device to: identify a song for playback, the song having one or more melodies; determine a tempo for the playback; select a song version from a plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song based on the tempo determined for the playback, each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song being an arrangement of at least one melody of the one or more melodies of the song, and each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song having a different tempo than others of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions; and initiate the playback of the selected song version. 32 . the computing device of claim 31 , wherein the selected song version has a tempo that corresponds to the tempo determined for the playback. 33 . the computing device of claim 31 , wherein each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions include accompanying parts for the at least one melody that are prepared at the respective tempo of each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions. 34 . the computing device of claim 33 , wherein the accompanying parts for the at least one melody are prepared at the respective tempo by preparing parts for one or more instruments and vocals at each tempo based on one or more of pitch, speed, and consistency across each song version. 35 . the computing device of claim 31 , wherein the computing device is further caused to: determine a new tempo for the playback; select a new song version from the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song based on the new tempo determined for the playback; and initiate the playback of the new song version. 36 . the computing device of claim 35 , wherein each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions is divided into one or more chapters, and to initiate the playback of the new song version, the computing device is caused to: determine a current chapter of the selected song version; determine a percentage of the current chapter that has been played; determine a corresponding chapter of the new song version; determine a corresponding percentage of the corresponding chapter of the new song version; based on the corresponding percentage of the corresponding chapter, determine a location for the playback of the new song version; and initiate the playback of the new song version at the location. 37 . the computing device of claim 35 , wherein initiation of the playback of the new song version includes cross-fading the selected song version with the new song version, and the computing device is further caused to: determine a pitch of the selected song version; determine a pitch of the new song version; and adjust one or more of the pitch of the selected song version and the new song version during the cross-fading. 38 . a media delivery system, comprising: a storage device comprising a plurality of pre-recorded song versions of a song that has one or more melodies, each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song being an arrangement of at least one melody of the one or more melodies of the song, and each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song having a different tempo than others of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions; and a computing device in communication with the storage device and a media playback device, wherein the computing device selects at least one of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions for playback on the media playback device, the selection based on a tempo determined for the playback. 39 . the media delivery system of claim 38 , wherein the storage device is one of: a component of the computing device; and a component of the media playback device. 40 . the media delivery system of claim 38 , wherein each of the plurality of pre-recorded song versions of the song are one of: stored as one file in the storage device; and stored as a plurality of files in the storage device, wherein each file of the plurality of files corresponds to a chapter in the respective pre-recorded song version.
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cross-reference to related application this application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 16/284,818 filed on feb. 25, 2019, which is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/900,462 filed on feb. 20, 2018, which is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/404,277 filed on jan. 12, 2017, which is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/883,340 filed on oct. 14, 2015, which claims priority to u.s. ser. no. 62/163,882 filed on may 19, 2015 and entitled cadence-based selection, playback, and transition between song versions, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. background running, as well as many other recreational or fitness activities, include repetitive motions. for example, running and walking involve repetitive steps, biking involves repetitive rotational movements, rowing involves repetitive strokes, and swimming involves repetitive strokes and kicks. there are of course many other recreation and fitness activities that also include various repetitive motions. these repetitive motion activities may be performed in place (e.g., using a treadmill, stationary bike, rowing machine, swimming machine, etc.) or in motion (e.g., on roads, trails, or tracks or in a pool or body of water, etc.). cadence refers to the frequency of these repetitive motions and is often measured in terms of motions per minute (e.g., steps per minute, rotations per minute, strokes per minute, or kicks per minute). many people enjoy consuming media content, such as listening to audio content or watching video content, while running or engaging in other repetitive-motion activities. examples of audio content include songs, albums, podcasts, etc. examples of video content include movies, music videos, television episodes, audiobooks, etc. using a mobile phone or other media-playback device a person can access large catalogs of media content. for example, a user can access an almost limitless catalog of media content through various free and subscription-based streaming services. additionally, a user can store a large catalog of media content on his or her mobile device. this nearly limitless access to media content introduces new challenges for users. for example, it may be difficult to find or select the right media content that complements a particular moment during a run or other repetitive-motion activity. summary in general terms, this disclosure is directed to transitioning between song versions based on an acquired cadence of a repetitive activity. in one aspect, a computer readable data storage device storing instructions is disclosed. the instructions, when executed by at least one processing device, can include causing a media-playback device to: acquire a first cadence, initiate playback of a first song version selected from a plurality of related song versions, where the selection of the first song version is based on the first cadence; acquire a second cadence, and initiate playback of a second song version selected from the plurality of related song versions, where the selection of the second song version is based on the second cadence. the first song version and the second song version share at least one characteristic. each of the plurality of related song versions is different from each of the other plurality of related song versions in at least one characteristic. in a second aspect, a method for transitioning from a first song version to a second song version is disclosed. the method includes acquiring a first cadence, selecting a first song version that corresponds to the first cadence, streaming the first song version, acquiring a second cadence, selecting a second song version that corresponds to the second cadence, and streaming the second song version. in a third aspect, a media server is disclosed. the media server can include a database including at least one computer readable data storage device, including a plurality of song versions, where each of the plurality of song versions has a different tempo than each of the other song versions. also, the at least one computer readable data storage device can include instructions stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processing device, cause the media server to: receive a first request to begin streaming a first song version, where the first song version has a first tempo, enable streaming of a first song version, receive a second request to begin streaming a second song version, where the second song version has a second tempo, and enable streaming of the second song version, where the first tempo and the second tempo are different by at least about 5 beats per minute. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 illustrates an example system for cadence determination and media content selection. fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of the example system of fig. 1 . fig. 3 illustrates an example method for selecting a song version and for playing and transitioning between different versions of a song. fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of three versions of a song. fig. 5 illustrates an example method for determining a playback position for a next song version. fig. 6 illustrates an example method for composing a plurality of song versions. fig. 7 illustrates an example cadence-acquiring device of fig. 2 . fig. 8 illustrates an example method of determining cadence performed by some embodiments of the cadence-determination engine of fig. 2 . fig. 9 shows an example series of filtered sample measurements from the accelerometer of fig. 7 . fig. 10 shows the example series of filtered sample measurements of fig. 9 with additional annotations to identify portions of the signal that are used in analyzing the periodicity of the repetitive motion. detailed description various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the claims attached hereto. additionally, any examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and merely set forth some of the many possible embodiments for the appended claims. users of media-playback devices often consume media content while engaging in various activities, including repetitive motion activities. as noted above, examples of repetitive-motion activities may include swimming, biking, running, rowing, and other activities. consuming media content may include one or more of listening to audio content, watching video content, or consuming other types of media content. for ease of explanation, the embodiments described in this application are presented using specific examples. for example, audio content (and in particular music) is described as an example of one form of media consumption. as another example, running is described as one example of a repetitive-motion activity. however, it should be understood that the same concepts are equally applicable to other forms of media consumption and to other forms of repetitive-motion activities, and at least some embodiments include other forms of media consumption and/or other forms of repetitive-motion activities. the users may desire that the media content fits well with the particular repetitive activity. for example, a user who is running may desire to listen to music with a beat that corresponds to the user's cadence. beneficially, by matching the beat of the music to the cadence, the user's performance or enjoyment of the repetitive-motion activity may be enhanced. this desire cannot be met with traditional media-playback devices and media-delivery systems. fig. 1 illustrates an example system 100 for cadence determination and media content selection. the example system 100 includes a media-playback device 102 and a media-delivery system 104 . the system 100 communicates across a network 106 . also shown is a user u who is running. the user u's upcoming steps s are shown as well. a step represents a single strike of the runner's foot upon the ground. the media-playback device 102 operates to play media content items to produce media output 110 . in some embodiments, the media content items are provided by the media-delivery system 104 and transmitted to the media-playback device using the network 106 . a media content item is an item of media content, including audio, video, or other types of media content, which may be stored in any format suitable for storing media content. non-limiting examples of media content items include songs, albums, music videos, movies, television episodes, podcasts, other types of audio or video content, and portions or combinations thereof. the media-playback device 102 plays media content for the user based on the user's cadence. in the example shown, the media output 110 includes music with a tempo that corresponds to the user's cadence. the tempo (or rhythm) of music refers to the frequency of the beat and is typically measured in beats per minute (bpm). the beat is the basic unit of rhythm in a musical composition (as determined by the time signature of the music). accordingly, in the example shown, the user u's steps occur at the same frequency as the beat of the music. for example, if the user u is running at a cadence of 180 steps per minute, the media-playback device 102 may play a media content item having a tempo equal to or approximately equal to 180 bpm. in other embodiments, the media-playback device 102 plays a media content item having a tempo equal or approximately equal to the result of dividing the cadence by an integer such as a tempo that is equal to or approximately equal to one-half (e.g., 90 bpm when the user is running at a cadence of 180 steps per minute), one-fourth, or one-eighth of the cadence. alternatively, the media-playback device 102 plays a media content item having a tempo that is equal or approximately equal to an integer multiple (e.g., 2 ×, 4 ×, etc.) of the cadence. further, in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 operates to play multiple media content items including one or more media content items having a tempo equal to or approximately equal to the cadence and one or more media content items have a tempo equal or approximately equal to the result of multiplying or dividing the cadence by an integer. various other combinations are possible as well. in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 operates to play music having a tempo that is within a predetermined range of a target tempo. in at least some embodiments, the predetermined range is plus or minus 2.5 bpm. for example, if the user u is running at a cadence of 180 steps per minute, the media-playback device 102 operates to play music having a tempo of 177.5-182.5 bpm. alternatively, in other embodiments, the predetermined range is itself in a range from 1 bpm to 10 bpm. further, in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 operates to play music having a tempo equal to or approximately equal to a user u's cadence after it is rounded. for example, the cadence may be rounded to the nearest multiple of 2.5, 5, or 10 and then the media-playback device 102 plays music having a tempo equal to or approximately equal to the rounded cadence. in yet other embodiments, the media-playback device 102 uses the cadence to select a predetermined tempo range of music for playback. for example, if the user u's cadence is 181 steps per minute, the media-playback device 102 may operate to play music from a predetermined tempo range of 180-184.9 bpm; while if the user u's cadence is 178 steps per minute, the media-playback device 102 may operate to play music from a predetermined tempo range of 175-179.9 bpm. fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of an example system 100 for cadence determination and media content selection. in fig. 2 , the media-playback device 102 , the media-delivery system 104 , and the network 106 are shown. also shown are the user u and a satellite s. as noted above, the media-playback device 102 operates to play media content items. in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 operates to play media content items that are provided (e.g., streamed, transmitted, etc.) by a system external to the media-playback device such as the media-delivery system 104 , another system, or a peer device. alternatively, in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 operates to play media content items stored locally on the media-playback device 102 . further, in at least some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 operates to play media content items that are stored locally as well as media content items provided by other systems. in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 is a computing device, handheld entertainment device, smartphone, tablet, watch, wearable device, or any other type of device capable of playing media content. in yet other embodiments, the media-playback device 102 is a laptop computer, desktop computer, television, gaming console, set-top box, network appliance, blue-ray or dvd player, media player, stereo, or radio. in at least some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 includes a location-determining device 150 , a touch screen 152 , a processing device 154 , a memory device 156 , a content output device 158 , a cadence-acquiring device 160 , and a network access device 162 . other embodiments may include additional, different, or fewer components. for example, some embodiments may include a recording device such as a microphone or camera that operates to record audio or video content. as another example, some embodiments do not include one or more of the location-determining device 150 and touch screen 152 . the location-determining device 150 is a device that determines the location of the media-playback device 102 . in some embodiments, the location-determining device 150 uses one or more of the following technologies: global positioning system (gps) technology which may receive gps signals 170 from satellites s, cellular triangulation technology, network-based location identification technology, wi-fi positioning systems technology, and combinations thereof. the touch screen 152 operates to receive an input 172 from a selector (e.g., a finger, stylus etc.) controlled by the user u. in some embodiments, the touch screen 152 operates as both a display device and a user input device. in some embodiments, the touch screen 152 detects inputs based on one or both of touches and near-touches. in some embodiments, the touch screen 152 displays a user interface 164 for interacting with the media-playback device 102 . as noted above, some embodiments do not include a touch screen 152 . some embodiments include a display device and one or more separate user interface device. further, some embodiments do not include a display device. in some embodiments, the processing device 154 comprises one or more central processing units (cpu). in other embodiments, the processing device 154 additionally or alternatively includes one or more digital signal processors, field-programmable gate arrays, or other electronic circuits. the memory device 156 operates to store data and instructions. in some embodiments, the memory device 156 stores instructions for a media-playback engine 166 that includes a same song transition engine 168 . in some embodiments, the media-playback engine 166 operates to playback media content and the same song transition engine 168 operates to select media content for playback based on a cadence. the memory device 156 typically includes at least some form of computer-readable media. computer readable media includes any available media that can be accessed by the media-playback device 102 . by way of example, computer-readable media include computer readable storage media and computer readable communication media. computer readable storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any device configured to store information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. computer readable storage media includes, but is not limited to, random access memory, read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, flash memory and other memory technology, compact disc read only memory, blue ray discs, digital versatile discs or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by the media-playback device 102 . in some embodiments, computer readable storage media is non-transitory computer readable storage media. computer readable communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. the term “modulated data signal” refers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. by way of example, computer readable communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency, infrared, and other wireless media. combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of computer readable media. the content output device 158 operates to output media content. in some embodiments, the content output device 158 generates media output 110 for the user u. examples of the content output device 158 include a speaker, an audio output jack, a bluetooth transmitter, a display panel, and a video output jack. other embodiments are possible as well. for example, the content output device 158 may transmit a signal through the audio output jack or bluetooth transmitter that can be used to reproduce an audio signal by a connected or paired device such as headphones or a speaker. the cadence-acquiring device 160 operates to acquire a cadence associated with the user u. in at least some embodiments, the cadence-acquiring device 160 operates to determine cadence directly and includes one or more accelerometers or other motion-detecting technologies. alternatively, the cadence-acquiring device 160 operates to receive data representing a cadence associated with the user u. for example, in some embodiments, the cadence-acquiring device 160 operates to receive data from a watch, bracelet, foot pod, chest strap, shoe insert, anklet, smart sock, bicycle computer, exercise equipment (e.g., treadmill, rowing machine, stationary cycle), or other device for determining or measuring cadence. further, in some embodiments, the cadence-acquiring device 160 operates to receive a cadence value input by the user u or another person. the network access device 162 operates to communicate with other computing devices over one or more networks, such as the network 106 . examples of the network access device include wired network interfaces and wireless network interfaces. wireless network interfaces includes infrared, bluetooth® wireless technology, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, and cellular or other radio frequency interfaces in at least some possible embodiments. the network 106 is an electronic communication network that facilitates communication between the media-playback device 102 and the media-delivery system 104 . an electronic communication network includes a set of computing devices and links between the computing devices. the computing devices in the network use the links to enable communication among the computing devices in the network. the network 106 can include routers, switches, mobile access points, bridges, hubs, intrusion detection devices, storage devices, standalone server devices, blade server devices, sensors, desktop computers, firewall devices, laptop computers, handheld computers, mobile telephones, and other types of computing devices. in various embodiments, the network 106 includes various types of links. for example, the network 106 can include wired and/or wireless links, including bluetooth, ultra-wideband (uwb), 802.11, zigbee, cellular, and other types of wireless links. furthermore, in various embodiments, the network 106 is implemented at various scales. for example, the network 106 can be implemented as one or more local area networks (lans), metropolitan area networks, subnets, wide area networks (such as the internet), or can be implemented at another scale. further, in some embodiments, the network 106 includes multiple networks, which may be of the same type or of multiple different types. the media-delivery system 104 comprises one or more computing devices and operates to provide media content items to the media-playback devices 102 and, in some embodiments, other media-playback devices as well. the media-delivery system 104 includes a media server 180 and a repetitive-motion activity server 182 . in at least some embodiments, the media server 180 and the repetitive-motion activity server 182 are provided by separate computing devices. in other embodiments, the media server 180 and the repetitive-motion activity server 182 are provided by the same computing devices. further, in some embodiments, one or both of the media server 180 and the repetitive-motion activity server 182 are provided by multiple computing devices. for example, the media server 180 and the repetitive-motion activity server 182 may be provided by multiple redundant servers located in multiple geographic locations. the media server 180 operates to transmit stream media 218 to media-playback devices such as the media-playback device 102 . in some embodiments, the media server 180 includes a media server application 184 , a processing device 186 , a memory device 188 , and a network access device 190 . the processing device 186 , memory device 188 , and network access device 190 may be similar to the processing device 154 , memory device 156 , and network access device 162 respectively, which have each been previously described. in some embodiments, the media server application 184 operates to stream music or other audio, video, or other forms of media content. the media server application 184 includes a media stream service 194 , a media data store 196 , and a media application interface 198 . the media stream service 194 operates to buffer media content such as media content 206 , 208 , and 210 , for streaming to one or more streams 200 , 202 , and 204 . the media application interface 198 can receive requests or other communication from media-playback devices or other systems, to retrieve media content items from the media server 180 . for example, in fig. 2 , the media application interface 198 receives communication 232 from the media-playback engine 166 . in some embodiments, the media data store 196 stores media content items 210 , media content metadata 212 , and playlists 214 . the media data store 196 may comprise one or more databases and file systems. other embodiments are possible as well. as noted above, the media content items 210 may be audio, video, or any other type of media content, which may be stored in any format for storing media content. the media content metadata 212 operates to provide various information associated with the media content items 210 . in some embodiments, the media content metadata includes one or more of title, artist name, album name, length, genre, mood, era, etc. the playlists 214 operate to identify one or more of the media content items 210 and. in some embodiments, the playlists 214 identify a group of the media content items 210 in a particular order. in other embodiments, the playlists 214 merely identify a group of the media content items 210 without specifying a particular order. some, but not necessarily all, of the media content items 210 included in a playlist 214 are associated with a common characteristic such as a common genre, mood, or era. the repetitive-motion activity server 182 operates to provide repetitive-motion activity-specific information about media content items to media-playback devices. in some embodiments, the repetitive-motion activity server 182 includes a repetitive-motion activity server application 220 , a processing device 222 , a memory device 224 , and a network access device 226 . the processing device 222 , memory device 224 , and network access device 226 may be similar to the processing device 154 , memory device 156 , and network access device 162 respectively, which have each been previously described. in some embodiments, repetitive-motion activity server application 220 operates to transmit information about the suitability of one or more media content items for playback during a particular repetitive-motion activity. the repetitive-motion activity server application 220 includes a repetitive-motion activity interface 228 and a repetitive-motion activity media metadata store 230 . in some embodiments, the repetitive-motion activity server application 220 may provide a list of media content items at a particular tempo to a media-playback device in response to a request that includes a particular cadence value. further, in some embodiments, the media content items included in the returned list will be particularly relevant for the repetitive motion activity in which the user is engaged (for example, if the user is running, the returned list of media content items may include only media content items that have been identified as being highly runnable). the repetitive-motion activity interface 228 operates to receive requests or other communication from media-playback devices or other systems, to retrieve information about media content items from the repetitive-motion activity server 182 . for example, in fig. 2 , the repetitive-motion activity interface 228 receives communication 234 from the media-playback engine 166 . in some embodiments, the repetitive-motion activity media metadata store 230 stores repetitive-motion activity media metadata 232 . the repetitive-motion activity media metadata store 230 may comprise one or more databases and file systems. other embodiments are possible as well. the repetitive-motion activity media metadata 232 operates to provide various information associated with media content items, such as the media content items 210 . in some embodiments, the repetitive-motion activity media metadata 232 provides information that may be useful for selecting media content items for playback during a repetitive-motion activity. for example, in some embodiments, the repetitive-motion activity media metadata 232 stores runnability scores for media content items that corresponds to the suitability of particular media content items for playback during running. as another example, in some embodiments, the repetitive-motion activity media metadata 232 stores timestamps (e.g., start and end points) that identify portions of a media content items that are particularly well-suited for playback during running (or another repetitive-motion activity). each of the media-playback device 102 and the media-delivery system 104 can include additional physical computer or hardware resources. in at least some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 communicates with the media-delivery system 104 via the network 106 . although in fig. 2 only a single media-playback device 102 and media-delivery system 104 are shown, in accordance with some embodiments, the media-delivery system 104 can support the simultaneous use of multiple media-playback devices, and the media-playback device can simultaneously access media content from multiple media-delivery systems. additionally, although fig. 2 illustrates a streaming media based system for cadence determination and media content selection, other embodiments are possible as well. for example, in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 includes a media data store 196 and the media-playback device 102 is configured to perform cadence determination and media content selection without accessing the media-delivery system 104 . further in some embodiments, the media-playback device 102 operates to store previously streamed media content items in a local media data store. in at least some embodiments, the media-delivery system 104 can be used to stream, progressively download, or otherwise communicate music, other audio, video, or other forms of media content items to the media-playback device 102 based on a cadence acquired by the cadence-acquiring device 160 of the media-playback device 102 . in accordance with an embodiment, a user u can direct the input 172 to the user interface 164 to issue requests, for example, to play a selected location-based playlist on the media-playback device 102 or to tag a media content item with location data. fig. 3 is a block diagram of an example method 400 for playing and transitioning between different versions of a song. the example method 400 includes acquiring a cadence (operation 402 ), selecting a song version (operation 404 ), streaming a song version (operation 406 ), acquiring a new cadence (operation 408 ), selecting a song version (operation 410 ), determining a playback position (operation 412 ), streaming a new song version (operation 414 ), and transitioning a new song version (operation 416 ). the example method 400 can begin with a user selecting a particular song, a song type, a genre, a mood, a tempo, etc., in an operation that is not shown. other embodiments may include more or fewer operations. the example method 400 begins by acquiring a cadence (operation 402 ) associated with a repetitive-motion activity of the user. in embodiments, the cadence is acquired by determining the cadence based on movements of the media-playback device 102 (e.g., using the methods illustrated and described below with reference to at least figs. 7-10 ). in other embodiments, the cadence is acquired from a separate device, from a user input, or otherwise. regardless of how the cadence is acquired, once that cadence is acquired, the example method 400 proceeds to operation 404 . after acquiring the cadence (operation 402 ), a song version is selected (operation 404 ). as used herein, “song” means a melody, set of melodies, theme, or set of themes for a musical composition. as used herein, a “song version” is one particular arrangement of the song. in embodiments, each song version of a particular song shares the same melody. fig. 4 illustrates an example of three song versions. fig. 6 , discussed below, illustrates an example method for composing a plurality of song versions. fig. 4 illustrates an example of three song versions 301 , 302 and 303 . in other embodiments, the song has more or fewer song versions. for one song, each song version is about 3 minutes to about 60 minutes; about 5 minutes; about 10 minutes; about 15 minutes; about 20 minutes; about 25 minutes; about 30 minutes; about 40 minutes; about 45 minutes; about 50 minutes; about 55 minutes; or about 60 minutes in length. other song durations are possible. each song version includes an arrangement of one or more musical parts. examples of parts include: strings, woodwinds, horns (also termed brass instruments), percussion, drums, vocals, etc. each part can have one or more sub-parts. for example, horns may include trumpet, trombone, french horn, tuba, etc. each song version can be arranged for a particular tempo and be performed at a range of tempos. in the example shown in fig. 4 , the first song version 301 is composed at 140 beats per minute (bpm), the second song version 302 is composed at 160 bpm, and the third song version 303 is composed at 175 bpm. in other embodiments, different tempos are possible. each song version can be performed at different tempos that are greater than or lesser than the composed tempo. for example, the first song version 301 , composed at 140 bpm in example 300 , can be performed at 130 bpm, 135 bpm, 140 bpm, 145 bpm, 150 bpm, 155 bpm, and others. also, as an example, the second song version 302 , composed at 160 bpm in example 300 , can be performed at 150 bpm, 155 bpm, 160 bpm, 165 bpm, 170 bpm, and others. additionally, as an example, the third song version 303 , composed at 175 bpm, can be performed at 170 bpm, 175 bpm, 180 bpm, 185 bpm, 190 bpm, and others. in some embodiments, the arrangements and parts are different between various versions of one song. for example, the percussion arrangement prepared at 140 bpm might be difficult to play or sound rushed at 190 bpm. thus, as an example, sixteenth notes in the 140 bpm song version may be re-written as eighth notes in the 190 bpm song version. other modifications for any or all of the parts arrangements are possible. in some embodiments, the faster song versions may include more bars in the composition. as an example, take a song version written in 4/4 time to be performed at 140 bpm and is 30 minutes long. that song version has 4200 total beats and 1050 bars. when that same song version is performed at 190 bpm, the performance takes just over 22 minutes. in some embodiments, the song version lengths are all within about one to about three minutes of each other. thus, the song versions written at faster tempos may include one or more codas, additional bars of music not in the slower tempo song versions, and/or other ways to make the song lengths more comparable. in the illustrated example, each song version 301 , 302 and 303 is divided into one or more chapters. for a given song, each song version 301 , 302 , and 303 has the same number of chapters. the examples in fig. 4 each have three chapters 310 , 312 , and 314 . however, any number of chapters may be used, for example, 2 chapters, 3 chapters, 4 chapters, 5 chapters, 6 chapters, 7 chapters, 8 chapters, 9 chapters, 10 chapters, etc. the chapters for a given song version can be stored together in a single file with annotations and/or time stamps that identify the beginning and end of chapters. alternatively, the chapters for a given song version can be stored in separate files. in embodiments, the chapters 310 , 312 , and 314 are further divided into segments. the segments can correspond to changes in the arrangements, such as a dynamics changes like a crescendo, diminuendo, or energy changes, etc. in the example illustrated in fig. 4 , song version 301 has a first chapter that is 9 minutes long, a second chapter that is 10 minutes long, and a third chapter that is 11 minutes long. thus, song version 301 is 30 minutes in its entirety. song version 302 has a first chapter that is 10 minutes long, a second chapter that is 10 minutes, 20 seconds long and a third chapter that is 11 minutes long. thus, song version 302 is 31 minutes and 20 seconds in its entirety. song version 303 has a first chapter that is 8 minutes long, a second chapter that is 9 minutes long, and a third chapter that is 10 minutes long. thus song version 303 is 27 minutes long. as shown in this example, each song version has a different length but the same number of chapters. also, the same chapter in different song versions can have the same length, such as the third chapter 314 in song versions 301 and 302 , or different lengths, such as the first chapter 310 in song versions 301 and 302 . returning to operation 404 of fig. 3 , the tempo of the selected song version is the same or nearly the same as the acquired cadence. for example, if a cadence of 179 repetitions per minute is acquired, then a song version with a tempo of about 180 beats per minute is selected in operation 404 . generally, the tempo of the selected song version is within about 5 beats per minute of the acquired cadence. when the version of the song is identified, a request is made to stream the selected song version (operation 406 ). in an alternate embodiment, the media playback device can operate in an offline mode, and playback of the song version is initiated from song versions stored locally. as shown in fig. 2 , a media-playback device 102 can stream media 218 over a network 106 from a media server 180 , where the media 218 stored on the media server 180 includes a plurality of song versions for a plurality of songs. in embodiments where the user selects the initial tempo of the song, or selects their running cadence, the example method 400 begins with operation 406 . the media playback device starts playback of the song version at the beginning of the song, however, a user can modify the starting location of the song version playback. after streaming the song version (operation 406 ), the cadence is monitored. in embodiments, the cadence is monitored by continuing to detect the cadence associated with a repetitive movement of the media-playback device 102 . in other embodiments, the cadence is monitored by continuing to acquire a cadence from a separate device, a user input, or otherwise. a new cadence may be acquired in operation 408 that is different from the initially-acquired cadence in operation 402 . the cadence can be acquired from measurement components in the media-playback device or an external sensor or sensors that are in communication with the media-playback device. if a new cadence is acquired, then a new song version is selected in operation 410 . not all changes in cadence will result in the selection of a new song version in operation 410 . in embodiments, the cadence is determined to have changed when the acquired cadence is different than the current cadence by more than a predetermined threshold. additionally, in embodiments, the cadence is determined to change when the acquired cadence is different than the current cadence for at least a predetermined duration, which can be measured in terms of time, number of steps, or other metrics. the predetermined threshold and predetermined duration can be selected to distinguish intentional changes in cadence from short-term, environment-caused changes. for example, someone running in a city might stop temporarily at a traffic intersection, or cadence might change to traverse a staircase, etc. a minimum period of a new cadence can be required before determining that the user has a new cadence. for instance, about 5 seconds, about 10 seconds, about 25 seconds, about 30 seconds, about 45 seconds, about 60 seconds, about 90 seconds, or about 120 seconds may be required before the example method selects a new song version in operation 410 . similar to operation 404 , in operation 410 a new song version is selected where the tempo of the song version is equal to or substantially equal to the acquired cadence. for example, if the new acquired cadence in operation 408 was 184 repetitions per minute, a song version with about 184 beats per minute would be selected, such as a song version with 184 beats per minute or a song version with 185 beats per minute. in contrast to operations 404 and 406 , after selecting the song version in operation 410 , a playback position is next determined in operation 412 . the playback position is determined to provide the user with a near-seamless transition from the previous song version to the current song version. operation 412 is shown and described below with reference to fig. 5 . fig. 5 illustrates an example determination of a playback position (operation 412 ). the example determination (operation 412 ) includes identifying the current chapter (operation 450 ), identifying the percentage of the chapter played (operation 452 ), identifying the corresponding chapter (operation 454 ), identifying the corresponding percentage (operation 456 ), determining a delay (operation 458 ), and determining any pitch changes (operation 460 ). also shown is the input to the example determination, select song version (operation 410 ), and the operation following the example determination, stream new song version (operation 414 ). other embodiments can include more or fewer operations. after a song version is selected (operation 410 ), the chapter of the currently-playing song version is identified (operation 450 ). operation 450 can include retrieving metadata, for example, chapters, duration of the song version, duration of the chapters, etc., about the song versions. additionally, operation 450 can include retrieving metadata that includes the relationship between related song versions. for example, a playback position of the currently-playing song version is 14:30, or fourteen minutes thirty seconds, and is in chapter 4. as discussed above with reference to fig. 4 , each song version can include one or more chapters and the chapters are consistent across song versions for a particular song. next, the percentage of the chapter played is identified (operation 452 ). using the example above, the playback position of the currently-playing song version is 14:30 and is in chapter four, which started at 12:00 and ends at 16:30 in the song version. that is, the current chapter is 4:30 in length and 2:30 have played, thus the percentage of the chapter played is about 56%. in embodiments where the song versions are not divided into chapters, the percentage of the song version played is determined after operation 410 , rather than the percentage of the chapter (operation 452 ). after determining the current chapter and percentage of the chapter played, a corresponding chapter (operation 454 ) and corresponding percentage of the chapter (operation 456 ) are determined for the next song version. using the example discussed with reference to operation 450 , the currently-playing song version is in chapter four. thus, the corresponding chapter for beginning playback of the next song version is chapter four. next, about 56% of chapter 4 has been played in the currently-playing song version. thus, playback of the next song version will begin at about 56% of chapter 4 of the next song version. if the next song version's chapter 4 starts at 11:00 and ends at 15:00, which is four minutes in length, then playback will begin about two minutes and fourteen seconds into the fourth chapter, or at about 13:14 of the entire song version. this starting position might be modified depending on any delay or cross-fading determination in operation 458 . any delays to accommodate transitioning to the next song version are determined in operation 458 . for example, any cross-fading times can be accounted for during operation 458 . also, the beats of the currently-playing song version and the next song version can be aligned. as an example, an alignment includes any adjustments to make the first beat of each measure in the currently-playing song version align with the first beat of each measure in the next song version. this alignment can include temporarily adjusting the tempo of the currently-playing song version, the tempo of the next song version, or both, such that they match when the next song version is streamed. after determining the playback location of the next song version, any pitch changes are next determined (operation 460 ). for example, when transitioning from a currently-playing song version at a tempo of 155 bpm to a next song version at a tempo of 180 bpm, the pitch of the next song version is lowered during the cross-fading. this pitch change can potentially correct any changes in pitch when the tempo of one or both of the song versions is adjusted. after or during cross-fading, the pitch is increased again, for example, over about 0.5 second, about 1 second, about 2 seconds, about 3 seconds, about 4 seconds, or about 5 seconds until it is back at the original pitch. alternatively, or in combination, the pitch of the currently-playing song version is increased during cross-fading. returning to fig. 3 , when the next song version has been selected (operation 410 ) and a playback position has been determined (operation 412 ), the next song version is streamed (operation 414 ). as discussed above with reference to operation 406 , the next song version is streamed from a media server or played from a local version. then the next song version is transitioned into playback (operation 416 ). for example, the currently-playing song version is faded out at the same time that the next song version is faded in, which is termed “cross-fading” herein. the cross-fading of the two song versions can occur over about 0.5 second, about 1 second, about 2 seconds, about 3 seconds, about 4 seconds, about 5 seconds, about 7 seconds, about 10 seconds, about 15 seconds, about 20 seconds, or about 30 seconds. other transition types are possible. also, transitioning to the next song version (operation 416 ) can include a time period of adjusting the pitch of the next song version, adjusting the pitch of the currently-playing song version, or both. after transitioning to the new song version (operation 416 ), the example method 400 returns to monitor for a newly-acquired cadence (operation 408 ). fig. 6 illustrates an example method 600 for composing a plurality of song versions. the example method 600 includes preparing a melody (operation 602 ), adapting the melody for a first tempo (operation 604 ), preparing accompanying parts (operation 606 ), adapting the melody for a second tempo (operation 608 ), preparing accompanying parts (operation 610 ), adapting the melody for a third tempo (operation 612 ), preparing accompanying parts (operation 614 ), and recording performances at various tempos (operation 616 ). other embodiments can include more or fewer operations. the example method 600 begins by preparing a melody (operation 602 ). the melody can include sub-melodies or sub-parts, such as one or more verses, one or more bridges, one or more refrains, one or more choruses, etc. in embodiments, preparing a melody (operation 602 ) is preparing the melody for a specific tempo, such as 160 bpm. after the melody is prepared (operation 602 ), the melody is adapted for one or more tempos. in the example method 600 , the melody is adapted for three tempos: a first tempo (operation 604 ), a second tempo (operation 608 ), and a third tempo (operation 612 ). each of these is a different song version. in embodiments, the first tempo is 140 bpm, the second tempo is 160 bpm, and the third tempo is 175 bpm. other tempos are possible. part of adapting the melody for a tempo includes preparing accompanying parts (operations 606 , 610 , and 614 ). as discussed above, examples of components include: strings, woodwinds, horns (also termed brass instruments), percussion, drums, vocals, etc. each component can have one or more sub-components. for example, horns may include trumpet, trombone, french horn, tuba, etc. considerations for adapting the parts to the different tempos include, for example, pitch, speed, consistency across song versions, and whether something will sound rushed or cluttered. after one or more song versions are prepared in example method 600 , then a plurality of versions are recorded at various tempos (operation 616 ). in embodiments, performances of the first song version 301 are recorded at 140 bpm, 145 bpm, 150 bpm, and 155 bpm; performances of the second song version 302 are recorded at 160 bpm, 165 bpm and 170 bpm; and performances of the third song version 301 are recorded at 175 bpm, 180 bpm, 185 bpm and 190 bpm. other performances at various tempos are possible. the recordings can be a live recording of a musician or group of musicians. the recordings can also be a recording of electronically-generated music, such as a synthesizer, drum machine, etc. these recordings can be stored on a media server or locally on a media playback device. in embodiments, each recording at a particular tempo is stored as one file or as a plurality of files where each file corresponds to a chapter in the recording. fig. 7 illustrates an example cadence-acquiring device 160 . in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 7 , the cadence-acquiring device 160 operates to determine a cadence associated with a user based on movement of the media-playback device 102 . in this example, the cadence-acquiring device 160 includes accelerometer set 270 and cadence-determination engine 272 . the accelerometer set 270 includes at least one accelerometer. an accelerometer is a device that is used to measure acceleration, including gravitational acceleration. in some embodiments, an accelerometer measures acceleration in a single direction. in other embodiments, an accelerometer measures acceleration in more than one direction, such as in three directions. in some embodiments, the orientation of an accelerometer (and therefore the orientation of the media-playback device 102 ) is inferred by comparing the measured direction and magnitude of acceleration to an expected direction and magnitude of gravitational acceleration. additionally, in some embodiments, the motion of the accelerometers is inferred from one or more measured acceleration values. in the example shown, the accelerometer set 270 includes three accelerometers: an x accelerometer 274 , a y accelerometer 276 , and a z accelerometer 278 . in this example, the x accelerometer 274 operates to measure acceleration in a horizontal direction relative to the media-playback device 102 . similarly, in this example, the y accelerometer 276 operates to measure acceleration in a vertical direction relative to the media-playback device 102 . similarly, in this example, the z accelerometer 278 operates to measure acceleration in a front-to-back direction relative to the media-playback device 102 . in other embodiments, the accelerometer set 270 includes three accelerometers that each operate to measure acceleration in three orthogonal directions (i.e., each of the three directions is pairwise perpendicular to the other two directions). in this manner, the accelerometer set 270 operates to determine acceleration in three-dimensional space. the cadence-determination engine 272 operates to determine a cadence based at least in part on the measurements from the accelerometer set 270 . an example method of determining cadence is illustrated and described with respect to at least fig. 8 . however, as noted above, some embodiments of the cadence-acquiring device 160 do not include the accelerometer set 270 or the cadence-determination engine 272 . in these embodiments, the cadence-acquiring device 160 may operate to receive a cadence value over a network from an external device or to receive a user input representing a cadence value. fig. 8 illustrates an example method 820 of determining cadence performed by some embodiments of the cadence-determination engine 272 using the accelerometer set 270 . at operation 822 , a series of measurements is captured from one or more accelerometers of the accelerometer set 270 . for purposes of this example, the method 820 will be described when measurements are captured from a set of three orthogonally-oriented accelerometers. however, other embodiments capture measurements from different numbers and different configurations of accelerometers. in at least some embodiments, the measurements are captured at a sample rate of 50 hz. in other embodiments, the measurements are captured at a different sample rate such as a sample rate in the range of 20-200 hz. generally, with higher sample rates there will be less error in calculating the cadence. other embodiments may use different sample rates, including variable sample rates, as well. in at least some embodiments, the captured samples from each accelerometer are stored as a separate series of data points. in some embodiments, the captured measurements are amplified. for example, the acceleration measurements may be quite small when a user places the media-playback device 102 on a treadmill rather than holding it. by amplifying the measurements, the media-playback device 102 operates to sense a cadence from smaller vibrations transmitted through the treadmill. in some embodiments, the captured measurements are amplified if none of the signals from any of the accelerometers exceed a pre-defined threshold for a specific period of time. furthermore, some embodiments operate to amplify the captured measurements if the location-determining device 150 indicates that the user is indoors or stationary. at operation 824 , the series of measurements are filtered based on frequency to generate filtered signals. for example, in some embodiments, each series is filtered with a band-pass filter such as a band-pass filter comprising third-order butterworth filters. beneficially, butterworth filters provide a generally flat frequency response and thus allows for reliable energy estimation of the filtered signal. furthermore, a third-order butterworth filter provides a steep enough response to discard/attenuate signals outside of the desired region. other embodiments, however, use other types of band-pass filters. for example, some embodiments use a fifth-order butterworth filter. in some embodiments, the band-pass filter is tuned to pass the portion of the signal in the series that is likely to correspond to running (e.g., having a frequency of 140-200 steps per minute). for example, the band-pass filter may discard frequencies below 140 steps per minutes (e.g., walking, holding the media-playback device 102 , etc.) and above 200 steps per minute (e.g., vibrations). at operation 826 , the filtered signals are analyzed to determine the period of oscillation of the repetitive motion. figs. 9 and 10 , which are discussed below, illustrate samples from an example signal and corresponding periods of repetitive motion. fig. 9 shows an example series of filtered sample measurements m from an accelerometer captured over one second. fig. 10 shows the same series of filtered sample measurements m with additional annotations to identify portions of the signal that are used in analyzing the periodicity of the repetitive motion. in some embodiments, each of the signals captured (i.e., the samples from each of the accelerometers in the accelerometer set) are analyzed to determine the period of oscillation of the repetitive motion. in other embodiments, the period of oscillation for the repetitive motion of only a single signal that has been identified as corresponding to the cadence (e.g., as described in operation 828 , which is performed before operation 826 in at least some embodiments) is determined. in some embodiments, the period of repetitive motion is estimated by analyzing the filtered signals to identify (or approximate) zero crossings of the signal. in some embodiments, the zero crossings of the signal are approximated by linearly interpolating between two adjacent samples that are on opposite sides of zero. in fig. 10 , five example approximated zero crossings are shown as zero crossings x 1 -x 5 . additionally, in some embodiments, minima and maxima are also identified (or approximated) for each oscillation. in some embodiments, a parabolic approximation is used to approximate the minima and maxima of each oscillation. other embodiments may use the value of a local minimum or maximum sample point. in fig. 7 , the maxima (peaks) are shown as maxima p 1 -p 3 and the minima (valleys) are shown as minima v 1 -v 3 . in some embodiments, the period of the repetitive motion is then estimated by measuring the distance between equivalent points in adjacent oscillations. for example, in some embodiments, the period is estimated by calculating the distance between adjacent wave maxima (e.g., in fig. 10 , width w 1 between the maxima p 1 and the maxima p 2 ). similarly, the period can be estimated by calculating the distance between adjacent falling zero crossings (e.g., in fig. 10 , width w 2 between the zero crossing x 1 and the zero crossing x 3 ) and between adjacent rising zero crossings (e.g., in fig. 10 , width w 4 between the zero crossing x 2 and the zero crossing x 4 ). additionally, the period can be estimated by calculating the distance between adjacent wave minima (e.g., in fig. 10 , the width w 3 between minima v 1 and minima v 2 ). in this manner, the width of a period of a single oscillation is measured four times, with the measurements being offset from each other by quarter oscillations. in some embodiments, during operation 826 , a single measurement of the period of oscillation for each of the signals (e.g., from each of the accelerometers) is calculated and stored. in some embodiments, this single measurement is added to a first-in-first-out buffer that operates as a circular buffer for storing a predetermined number of measurements. as operation 826 is repeated, the fifo buffer fills up with measurements. when the fifo buffer is full, new measurements replace the oldest measurement in the fifo buffer. in this manner, the fifo buffer operates to store a predetermined number of the most recent measurements of the period of oscillation. some embodiments include multiple fifo buffers and each of the multiple fifo buffers is configured to store measurements determined from a different accelerometer. however, as noted above, in some embodiments, measurements are only determined for a single signal. in these embodiments, a single fifo buffer may be used to store the measurements from the signal that has been identified as corresponding to cadence. in at least some embodiments, one or more fifo buffers are configured to each store twenty-four measurements. because these width measurements are calculated at every quarter step, twenty-four measurements are captured across approximately six steps (which takes two seconds at an example running cadence of 180 steps per minute). because the fifo queues are updated based upon oscillations occurring in the filtered signals in some embodiments, if the user stops running and stands still, the fifo buffer will not be updated (and beneficially the calculated cadence will not be impacted by the stop). in some embodiments, the measurements stored in the fifo buffer or buffers are converted to a log base 2 scale. beneficially, when the measurements are converted to a log base 2 scale, the measurements remain linear across a range of cadence values. at operation 828 , a signal corresponding to the cadence is identified. in some embodiments, the signal corresponding to the cadence is a signal from at least one of the accelerometers that is most likely correlated with cadence. because the orientation of the media-playback device 102 relative to the user u may not be fixed (e.g., when the media-playback device 102 is a smartphone or other mobile device), some embodiments analyze the signals captured by the various accelerometers to determine which of the accelerometers is oriented to detect movement in the direction of the repetitive motion at a given time. in other embodiments, a signal corresponding to the direction of relevant movement may be identified by combining the signals captured by multiple of the accelerometers. in some embodiments, the signal corresponding to the direction of relevant movement is identified based on identifying the filtered accelerometer signal having the highest energy. in some embodiments, the energy of each of the filtered signals is calculated by rectifying the filtered signal and convoluting the rectified signal with a hanning window of fifty samples (i.e., one second worth of samples at fifty hz). other embodiments use a number of samples selected from the range 10-100 samples. in some embodiments, other techniques are used to calculate the energy of the filtered signals. in some embodiments, the highest energy signal is determined after each sample is recorded. in other embodiments, the highest energy signal is determined at a different interval. further, in at least some embodiments, the identity of the highest energy signal is tracked (e.g., after every sample or every tenth sample) so that the identity of the highest-energy signal (and therefore the direction of the repetitive movement) can be updated if necessary. beneficially, by tracking the highest energy signal, changes in the orientation of the media-playback device 102 will not interfere with identifying the accelerometer associated with the direction of the repetitive movement. in some embodiments, a signal corresponding to the cadence is identified by combining portions of multiple filtered series from different accelerometers to include the data from the series having the highest energy over each time interval. in other embodiments, other methods of determining the direction of relative movement are used. for example, if the orientation of the media-playback device 102 relative to the user u is known or can be inferred, the signal from a particular accelerometer may be identified as corresponding to the expected direction of relevant motion based on the direction of movement to which the particular accelerometer is sensitive (which can be inferred from the orientation of the media-playback device 102 relative to the user). as an example, if the media-playback device 102 is oriented in an upright position, it can be inferred that that the y-accelerometer 276 will be sensitive to vertical movement such as would be expected from running. in this example, the signal from the y-accelerometer 276 is used in some embodiments. at operation 830 , a first aggregate value corresponding to the period of the oscillation over a first duration is calculated. in some embodiments, the first duration is based on a predetermined number of oscillations, such as six oscillations. other embodiments have a first duration based on a different predetermined number of oscillations such as 4-10 oscillations. in other embodiments, the first duration corresponds to a predetermined time period such as 2-10 seconds. in some embodiments, the first aggregate value is calculated by averaging multiple estimated widths of the period of oscillation. for example, in some embodiments, twenty-four estimated width values captured every quarter oscillation (e.g., the values stored in the fifo buffer described at least with respect to operation 826 ) are averaged to generate the first aggregate value. in some embodiment, the fifo buffer is updated with a new value every quarter oscillation and the first aggregate value is also recalculated every quarter oscillation using the updated values in the fifo buffer. in some embodiments, the fifo buffer is pre-populated with measurements that correspond to a typical cadence at the start of method 820 so that a reasonable first aggregate value may be calculated before enough measurements have been captured to fully fill the fifo buffer. in some embodiments, the typical cadence value used to generate values to prepopulate the fifo buffer is 165 steps per minute. in other embodiments, the typical cadence is calculated based on historic cadence information associated with the user (such as cadence data captured from previous similar activities performed by the user). because the first aggregate value is based on averaging multiple measurements, in at least some embodiments, the aggregate value is not significantly affected by intermittent sampling errors or minor, short variations in cadence. furthermore, in some embodiments, a series of first aggregate values is generated as additional measurements are captured. in some embodiments, each of the values in the series of first aggregate values correspond to the period of oscillation at different time intervals over which the series of measurements span. in some embodiments, a first aggregate value is generated and included in the series after every quarter oscillation. in other embodiments, the first aggregate value is generated at a different frequency such as once every oscillation, once every second oscillation, etc. at operation 832 , a second aggregate value is calculated based on smoothing the first aggregate value. in some embodiments, the second aggregate value is updated (or re-calculated) when the first aggregate value is updated. in some embodiments, the second aggregate value is calculated using equation 1 shown below: y ( i )= y ( i− 1)+α×( x ( i )− y ( i− 1)) (1) where y(i) represents the currently calculated value for the second aggregate value;y(i−1) represents the previously calculated value for the second aggregate value;x(i) represents the most recently calculated value for the first aggregate value (e.g., as calculated by operation 830 ); andα is a smoothing coefficient. in some embodiments, the smoothing coefficient α is 0.07. in other embodiments, the smoothing coefficient α is a value selected from the range 0.01-0.25. in yet other embodiments, the smoothing coefficient α is a value selected from the range 0.01-0.99. the smoothing coefficient α is related to the sample rate; accordingly, in some embodiments with higher sample rates, lower values are used for the smoothing coefficient α. the smoothing coefficient α causes the second aggregate value to change more slowly than the first aggregate value changes in response to changes in cadence. in some embodiments, the second aggregate value is initially set to a value that corresponds to a cadence that is slightly lower than would be expected for the activity. for example, in some embodiments that relate to running, the second aggregate value is initially set to a value corresponding to a cadence of 140 steps per minute. in other embodiments, the second aggregate value is initially set to a value that is twenty-five steps per minute less than the user's historic average cadence for the activity. in at least some embodiments, other equations or techniques are used to smooth the second aggregate value. embodiments are possible using any technique for smoothing the second aggregate value in which a previously computed value for the second aggregate value is used in computing an updated value for the second aggregate value. like the first aggregate value, in some embodiments, a series of second aggregate values is generated as additional measurements are captured. in some embodiments, each of the values in the series of second aggregate values correspond to a smoothed first aggregate value for different time intervals over which the series of measurements span. also like the series of first aggregate values, in various embodiments, the values in the series of second aggregate values are generated at various frequencies such as after every quarter oscillation, after every oscillation, after every other oscillation, etc. at operation 834 , it is determined whether the first aggregate value and the second aggregate value satisfy predetermined tolerances. as noted above, the second aggregate value changes more slowly than the first aggregate value changes in response to a change in cadence (e.g., when the user first starts running, when the runner changes cadence, etc.). accordingly, in some embodiments, the difference between the first aggregate value and the second aggregate value indicates whether the user's cadence has been stable or changing recently. in some embodiments, the predetermined tolerances include both a difference tolerance and a duration requirement. an example of a difference tolerance is predetermined number of steps per minute difference between the first aggregate value and the second aggregate value (e.g., within two steps per minute, or within a certain duration of time measured on a linear or log base 2 scale, etc.). an example of a duration requirement is a requirement that the first aggregate value and the second aggregate value satisfy the difference tolerance for a predetermined duration (e.g., the first aggregate value is within two steps per minute of the second aggregate value for at least two steps). in some embodiments, the predetermined duration is measured in steps, time, or otherwise. if it is determined that the first aggregate value and the second aggregate value satisfy predetermined thresholds, the method 820 continues to operation 836 where the cadence is determined. if not, the method 820 continues to operation 838 where additional measurements are captured from the accelerometers in the accelerometer set and the process repeats starting at operation 824 . at operation 836 , a cadence value is determined. in some embodiments, the cadence value is determined based on the second aggregate value. to determine a cadence value from the second aggregate value, the second aggregate value may need to be converted from a duration in log base 2 scale to a frequency value. once the cadence value has been determined, it can be used for many purposes, including selecting appropriate media content items. in some embodiments, the method 820 is used to both determine an initial cadence and to detect changes in cadence throughout an activity. as noted above, to detect an initial cadence, the fifo buffer or buffers and second aggregate values may be set to certain initial values that are selected to minimize the number of steps (or time) required to accurately detect a stable cadence. for example, by populating the fifo buffer or buffers with values that correspond to an expected (or typical) cadence value, the first aggregate value calculated by operation 830 will immediately be close to a value that corresponds to the user's instantaneous cadence. as another example, initially setting the second aggregate value to a value that corresponds to a cadence that is slightly outside of the expected range may prevent falsely determining a stable cadence before the user has actually reached a stable cadence. instead, a stable cadence will be determined after the user has performed with a stable cadence for a sufficient time to cause the initially low second aggregate value to converge towards the first aggregate value. in some embodiments, a stable cadence is detected within ten to fifteen steps. in some embodiments, a third aggregate value is calculated in a manner similar to the calculation of the second aggregate value (as described above with respect to operation 832 ). the third aggregate value may be used to determine when the user has changed cadence after an initial cadence has been determined. in some embodiments, the third aggregate value represents a smoothing of the second aggregate value. in this manner, the third aggregate value trails the second aggregate value and takes a longer time to react to changes in cadence. additionally, in some embodiments, when the third aggregate value and the second aggregate value are within a predetermined difference threshold of each other for a predetermined duration threshold it is determined that the detected cadence value has stabilized. if the detected cadence value has stabilized at a value that is different from the previously determined cadence by a sufficient threshold a new cadence value is determined (and may be used in media content selection or otherwise). examples of sufficient thresholds include two steps per minute, five steps per minute, or ten steps per minute. in some embodiments, the sufficient threshold is a value selected from the range 1-15 steps per minute. in at least some embodiments, the third aggregate value is calculated using an equation that is similar to equation 1 (described above with respect to operation 832 ) such as equation 2 shown below: z ( i )= z ( i− 1)+β×( y ( i )− z ( i− 1)) (2) wherez(i) represents the currently calculated value for the third aggregate value;z(i−1) represents the previously calculated value for the third aggregate value;y(i) represents the most recently calculated value for the second aggregate value (e.g., as calculated by operation 832 ); andβ is a second smoothing coefficient. in some embodiments, the second smoothing coefficient β is 0.02. in other embodiments, the second smoothing coefficient β is a value selected from the range 0.001-0.1. in yet other embodiments, the smoothing coefficient α is a value selected from the range 0.001-0.99. like the smoothing coefficient α, the smoothing coefficient β is related to the sample rate; accordingly, in some embodiments with higher sample rates, lower values are used for the smoothing coefficient β. the second smoothing coefficient β causes the third aggregate value to change even more slowly than the second aggregate value changes in response to changes in cadence. as mentioned above with respect to the second aggregate value, the third aggregate value is also calculated using other smoothing equations in some embodiments. like the first aggregate value and the second aggregate value, in some embodiments, a series of third aggregate values is generated. the values in the series of third aggregate values correspond to smoothed second aggregate values over various intervals over which the series of measurements span. the values in the series of third aggregate values may be generated at the same frequency as the values in the series of second aggregate values or at a different frequency. although the examples described herein use accelerometers, in other embodiments other types of movement-determining devices are used. a movement-determining device is a device that operates to capture measurements related to movement of the media-playback device. an accelerometer is an example of a movement-determining device. in embodiments, the media playback device can play a song or song version that is created dynamically rather than playing a pre-recorded song or song version. that is, each of one or more parts in a song are created real-time and are based on one or more rules. in embodiments, the media-playback device 102 includes an altimeter or pressure sensor that can detect changes in height. in these embodiments, the media-playback device 102 begins playback of one or more musical parts. based on one or more rules, the parts vary depending upon a user's cadence, location, change in altitude, etc. for example, the drums part of a song can vary in intensity, complexity, syncopation, etc., at different cadences. as the user maintains the cadence, or as the cadence changes, other parts are added, such as strings, synthesizer, horns, vocals, etc. the tempo and intensity of the song can also change. if the user's altitude changes, by ascending stairs or a hill, for example, additional components are added or eliminated, or the parts could crescendo. in this way, the song changes dynamically depending on the user's cadence and activity. as noted previously, although many of the examples provided above are described with respect to running, other embodiments relate to other repetitive motion activities as well such as cycling, swimming, and rowing. the various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the claims attached hereto. those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the following claims.
|
014-666-602-074-488
|
JP
|
[
"JP",
"US"
] |
G09G3/30,G09G3/20,H01L51/50,G09G5/00
| 2009-06-18T00:00:00 |
2009
|
[
"G09",
"H01"
] |
display driving device and method for driving the same
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problem to be solved: to provide a simple circuit which is a circuit for quickly measuring the threshold voltage vth of a tr 32c for light emission driving, the circuit requiring no large-sized chip.solution: a display driving device outputs a gradation voltage from an output terminal outi to a display pixel 30 to give the voltage to a capacitor 32d to drive the display pixel 30, wherein the display pixel includes: the capacitor 32d which performs charge or discharge according to the gradation voltage; a light emission driving element 32c which feeds a light emission driving current id which conforms to an accumulated charge amount stored in the capacitor 32d; and a light-emitting element 31 which emits light by the driving current. in addition, the display driving device generates an initial voltage and outputs it from the output terminal outi when the threshold voltage of the light emission driving element 32c is measured, supplies the initial voltage to the capacitor 32d, measures reaching time which the voltage of the ouput terminal outi takes to reach an intermediate reference voltage between the initial voltage and the threshold voltage vth from after the supply of the initial voltage to the capacitor 32d, and computes the threshold value voltage vth on the basis of the reaching time.
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1 . a method of measuring the threshold voltage of a driving element in a pixel including the driving element, a light emitting element that receives current from the driving element, and a capacitor that controls the driving element, the method comprising: charging the capacitor to an initial voltage that turns on the driving element; allowing the capacitor to discharge through the driving element; measuring time that elapses until the capacitor reaches a reference voltage intermediate between the initial voltage and the threshold voltage; and calculating the threshold voltage from the elapsed time. 2 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the driving element has a control terminal and a current output terminal, the current output terminal being connected to the light emitting element, the capacitor being connected between the control terminal and the current output terminal. 3 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the driving element is an amorphous silicon thin-film transistor. 4 . the method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the threshold voltage further comprises using a resistor-capacitor circuit model. 5 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the pixel is connected to an output terminal of a driving circuit, and: charging the capacitor further comprises charging the capacitor from the output terminal; allowing the capacitor to discharge further comprises placing the output terminal in a high-impedance state; and measuring the time further comprises measuring the time that elapses until the output terminal reaches the reference voltage. 6 . the method of claim 5 , wherein measuring the time further comprises: comparing a voltage at the output terminal with the reference voltage; and counting clock pulses until the voltage at the output terminal reaches the reference voltage. 7 . the method of claim 6 , wherein comparing the voltage at the output terminal with the reference voltage further comprises: using a voltage follower receiving an inverting input voltage from the output terminal and normally providing an output voltage to the output terminal; disconnecting the output voltage of the voltage follower from the output terminal; and supplying the reference voltage as a non-inverting input voltage to the voltage follower. 8 . the method of claim 7 , wherein comparing the voltage at the output terminal with the reference voltage further comprises: latching successive counts of the clock pulses in a data latch; and using the output of the voltage follower as a latch enable input signal for the data latch. 9 . a method of driving a pixel including a driving element, a light emitting element that receives current from the driving element, and a capacitor that controls the driving element, the method comprising: measuring a threshold voltage of the driving element by the method of claim 1 ; receiving a display data value; correcting the display data value according to the measured threshold value of the driving element to generate a gradation value; generating a gradation voltage from the gradation value; charging the capacitor to the gradation voltage; and supplying the current from the driving element to the light emitting element at a rate responsive to the gradation voltage in the capacitor. 10 . a display driver for driving pixels in a display panel, each pixel including a capacitor that is charged or discharged by a gradation voltage, a driving element that supplies current responsive to the charge stored in the capacitor, and a light emitting element that emits light responsive to the current supplied by the driving element, the driving element having a threshold voltage, the display driver comprising: an output terminal for supplying the gradation voltage to the capacitor; an initial voltage generator for generating an initial voltage and supplying the initial voltage from the output terminal to the capacitor from a first time to a second time, then halting supply of the initial voltage at the second time to allow the capacitor to discharge through the driving element; a measuring circuit for measuring elapsed time from the second time until the output terminal reaches a reference voltage intermediate between the initial voltage and the threshold voltage; and a threshold voltage calculator for calculating the threshold value of the driving element from the elapsed time measured by the measuring circuit. 11 . the display driver of claim 10 , further comprising a correction processor for correcting the gradation voltage supplied to the capacitor according to the calculated threshold value. 12 . the display driver of claim 10 , wherein the measuring circuit further comprises: a comparator for receiving an output terminal voltage from the output terminal, comparing the reference voltage and the output terminal voltage, outputting a first output signal when the output terminal voltage is between the initial voltage and the reference voltage, and outputting a second output signal when the reference voltage is between the initial voltage and the output terminal voltage; and a counter for receiving the first and second output signals and a clock signal, counting the clock signal while the first output signal is received, and outputting a counting result to indicate the elapsed time when the second output signal is received. 13 . the display driver of claim 10 , wherein the initial voltage generator includes a plurality of output terminals for supplying gradation voltages to the capacitors in different pixels, and the initial voltage generator further comprises: a plurality of voltage followers having respective inverting input terminals connected to respective ones of the output terminals, for output of the gradation voltages and the initial voltage; and a plurality of switches for supplying the gradation voltages and the initial voltage from the voltage followers to the output terminals, the switches being closed to supply the initial voltage to the output terminals from the first time to the second time and opened to stop supplying the initial voltage to the output terminals at the second time. 14 . the display driver of claim 13 , wherein the voltage followers have respective non-inverting input terminals that begin receiving the reference voltage at the second time, each voltage follower generating a first output signal when its non-inverting input terminal is at a higher voltage level than its inverting input terminal and generating a second output signal when its non-inverting terminal is at a lower voltage level than its inverting input terminal, the measuring circuit further comprising: a second counter for counting a clock signal and outputting a counting result; and a latch coupled to the second counter, having storage cells coupled to respective ones of the voltage followers for latching the counting result while the first output signal is received, holding the latched counting result while the second output signal is received, and supplying the held calculation result to the threshold voltage calculator to indicate the elapsed time. 15 . the display driver of claim 10 , wherein the threshold voltage calculator uses a resistor-capacitor circuit model to calculate the threshold value. 16 . the display driver of claim 10 , wherein the driving element has a control terminal and a current output terminal, the current output terminal being connected to the light emitting element, the capacitor being connected between the control terminal and the current output terminal. 17 . the display driver of claim 10 , wherein the driving element is an amorphous silicon thin-film transistor.
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background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates generally to a driving apparatus for a display device such as an active matrix organic light emitting diode display panel, and in particular to an improved method of measuring the threshold voltages of driving transistors in the display device. 2. description of the related art in an active matrix organic light emitting diode display panel, also referred to as an electroluminescent display panel, and in other display panels of the self-emission type, each pixel generally includes a light emitting element, a capacitor, and a driving transistor that supplies current to the light emitting element in an amount controlled by the capacitor voltage. the light emitting element emits light with a brightness that depends on the amount of current supplied, therefore depending on the capacitor voltage. the pixel also includes switching transistors used to control the charging of the capacitor. the switching and driving transistors are normally single channel amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (tfts), which can be formed easily and have uniform operating characteristics. unfortunately, tfts are known to undergo a significant threshold voltage shift over time, dependent on their drive history. if the threshold voltage of the driving transistor shifts, the current supplied to the light emitting element does not correspond correctly to the capacitor voltage, so the intended brightness is not obtained. to solve this problem, in japanese patent application publication no. 2006-301250 shirasaki et al. disclose a display driver that uses an analog-to-digital converter (adc) to measure the threshold voltages of the driving transistors in all of the pixels before beginning display operations, creates correction data for each pixel on the basis of the measured values, adds voltages corresponding to the correction data to the voltages corresponding to the display data, and charges the capacitors to the resulting corrected voltages. although the correction data fix the problem of threshold voltage shift in amorphous silicon tfts, the measurement process described by shirasaki et al. takes much time, because it is necessary to wait for the data signal lines in the display panel to converge to the threshold voltages being measured, and the adc takes up much space, increasing the size and cost of the driver chip. summary of the invention a general object of the present invention is to reduce the size and cost of a display driver. a more specific object of the invention is to reduce the size and cost of a display driver for a display panel using amorphous silicon thin-film transistors. another object is to shorten the time necessary before the display driver can begin display operations. the invention provides a novel method of measuring the threshold voltage of a driving element in a pixel including the driving element, a light emitting element that receives current from the driving element, and a capacitor that controls the driving element. the novel method includes: charging the capacitor to an initial voltage that turns on the driving element; allowing the capacitor to discharge through the driving element; measuring the time that elapses until the capacitor voltage reaches a reference voltage intermediate between the initial voltage and the threshold voltage; and calculating the threshold voltage from the elapsed time. the invention also provides a novel method of driving the pixel that includes measuring the threshold voltage of the driving element by the novel method, using the measured threshold voltage to correct a gradation voltage, and charging the capacitor to the corrected gradation voltage. the invention further provides a novel display driver for driving the pixel. the novel display driver includes an output terminal connected to the capacitor, an initial voltage generator for supplying the initial voltage from the output terminal to the capacitor, a measurement circuit for measuring the time that elapses until the output terminal reaches the reference voltage after supply of the initial voltage stops, and a threshold voltage calculator for calculating the threshold value of the driving element from the elapsed time. the measurement circuit may include a comparator for comparing the output terminal voltage with the reference voltage, and a counter for counting time under control of the comparator. alternatively, the novel display driver may include a voltage follower that drives the output terminal, and the measurement circuit may include switches for supplying the reference voltage to the voltage follower and disconnecting the output of the voltage follower from the output terminal, enabling the voltage follower to function as a comparator that compares the output terminal voltage with the reference voltage. the measurement circuit also includes a counter for counting time and a latch for latching the counter value under control of the voltage follower output. the novel display driver and method save time in threshold voltage measurement because it is only necessary to wait for the data signal lines to reach a reference voltage intermediate between the initial voltage and the threshold voltage, instead of waiting until the threshold voltage itself is reached. space is saved because elapsed time is measured with a counter and the threshold voltage is calculated from the elapsed time, without using an adc. additional time and space can be saved by using the voltage follower that drives each output terminal as a comparator and measuring the threshold voltages in an entire row of pixels simultaneously. brief description of the drawings in the attached drawings: fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a display panel and its driving circuits; fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some of the driving circuits and one pixel in fig. 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention; fig. 3 is a graph illustrating the threshold voltage measurement principle according to the invention; fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a conventional display driver; fig. 5 is a graph illustrating the threshold voltage measurement principle in fig. 4 ; and fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some of the driving circuits and one pixel in fig. 1 according to a second embodiment of the invention. detailed description of the invention embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the attached non-limiting drawings, in which like elements are indicated by like reference characters. first embodiment referring to fig. 1 , the first embodiment is part of a display device having a display panel 20 with mutually parallel selection lines sl 1 to slm extending in the row direction (the horizontal direction in the drawing), mutually parallel data lines dl 1 to dln extending in the column direction (the vertical direction in the drawing), and a matrix of pixels 30 placed near the points where the data lines cross the selection lines. the data lines dl 1 to dln are connected to a data driver 60 via respective output terminals out 1 to outn. the data driver 60 is controlled by a data controller 50 to generate gradation voltages and supply the gradation voltages from the output terminals to the data lines. the data controller 50 and data driver 60 , including the output terminals out 1 to outn, constitute the novel display driver in the first embodiment. the selection lines sl 1 to slm are connected to a scan driver 42 , which outputs scan signals to the selection lines sl 1 to slm under the control of a scan controller 41 . fig. 2 shows the internal structure of the data controller 50 , the data driver 60 , and one representative pixel 30 . the pixel 30 in fig. 2 is connected to the first selection line sl 1 and first data line dl 1 . the pixel 30 includes a light emitting element 31 such as, for example, an organic light emitting diode, and a pixel driving circuit 32 that drives the light emitting element 31 . the pixel driving circuit 32 includes switching transistors 32 a , 32 b , a driving transistor 32 c , and a capacitor 32 d for storing a gradation voltage. switching transistor 32 a has a gate connected to selection line sl 1 , a drain connected to data line dl 1 , and a source connected to a node n 32 . switching transistor 32 b has a gate connected to selection line sl 1 , a drain connected to a supply voltage line vl, and a source connected to a node n 31 . the driving transistor 32 c has a control terminal or gate connected to node n 31 , a drain connected to the supply voltage line vl, and a current output terminal or source connected to node n 32 . the capacitor 32 d is connected between nodes n 31 and n 32 . the light emitting element 31 has an anode connected to node n 32 and a cathode connected to a common voltage line (a ground voltage line, for example, as indicated by the letters gnd). the data controller 50 comprises a threshold voltage (vth) calculator 51 for calculating threshold voltages vth of the driving transistors in the display panel, a threshold value (vth) store 52 and a display data (sin) store 53 configured as, for example, one or more memory devices or parts thereof, and a display data correction processor 54 . the display data correction processor 54 adds corrections to received display data sin stored in the display data store 53 , according to the calculated threshold voltage data stored in the threshold value store 52 , to compensate for threshold voltage shifts in the driving transistors, and outputs the corrected display data as gradation data to the data driver 60 . the data driver 60 has a host interface 61 for transferring control signals and data between the data controller 50 and the other circuits in the data driver 60 , a data latch 62 for receiving gradation data and a latch signal ls through the host interface 61 and storing the gradation data, a digital-to-analog converter (dac) 63 for converting the gradation data to analog signals having corresponding voltage levels, and an output amplifier 64 for outputting the voltages output from the dac 63 to the display panel 20 as gradation voltages. the data latch 62 includes n storage cells (not shown), corresponding to the n pixels 30 in one row in the display panel. the dac 63 and output amplifier 64 operate on the gradation data for an entire row of pixels at once. the output amplifier 64 includes n operational amplifiers configured as output followers, substantially as in fig. 6 but without the switches 64 b - 1 to 64 b - n shown in fig. 6 . the output side of the output amplifier 64 is connected through a plurality of switches 65 a - 1 to 65 a - n and the plurality of output terminals out 1 to outn to the data lines dl 1 to dln of the display panel. the output terminals out 1 to outn are connected through another plurality of switches 65 b - 1 to 65 b - n to the inverting input terminal of a comparator 66 . the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 receives an externally supplied reference voltage vref. the comparator 66 supplies an output signal to the enable terminal (en) of a counter 67 . the counter 67 receives a reset signal rst and a clock signal clk from the data controller 50 through the host interface 61 and outputs count data to the host interface 61 . during normal display operations, the display device shown in figs. 1 and 2 operates as follows. first, to write gradation voltages into, for example, the j-th row of pixels, the data controller 50 closes (turns on) switches 65 a - 1 to 65 a - n in the data driver 60 , opens (turns off) switches 65 b - 1 to 65 b - n , receives the display data sin for the j-th row from a host device (not shown), and stores the display data sin in the display data store 53 . the display data sin are corrected in the threshold value store 52 , transferred through the host interface 61 , and stored as gradation data in the data latch 62 . the outputs from the data latch 62 are converted by the dac 63 to analog signals, which are output from the output amplifier 64 to the output terminals out 1 to outn as gradation voltages corresponding to the corrected display data. the supply voltage line vl is set to the ground voltage level. when the scan controller 41 drives the j-th selection signal slj to the high logic level, the switching transistors 32 a , 32 b in the j-th row of pixels 30 turn on, and the gradation voltages are written into the capacitors 32 d. next, selection line slj is driven to the low logic level by the scan controller 41 , the switching transistors 32 a , 32 b are turned off, and the gradation voltages stored in the capacitors 32 d are left as the source-gate voltages of the driving transistors 32 c . under this condition, when a pixel driving voltage is applied to the supply voltage line vl, pixel driving currents id flow through the plurality of light emitting elements 31 in the j-th row and the light emitting elements 31 emit light with corresponding brightness levels. as noted above, the threshold voltage vth of a pixel driving transistor 32 c shifts over time, depending on the driving history of the driving transistor 32 c , so to correct the display data properly, the threshold voltages vth of all the driving transistors 32 c must be measured individually from time to time. for the pixel 30 in fig. 2 , this measurement is carried out as follows. first, an initial voltage of, for example, −10 v is stored in the capacitor 32 c of the pixel 30 by the procedure described above. specifically, the supply voltage line vl of the display panel 20 is brought to the ground level and selection line sl 1 is driven high, turning on the switching transistors 32 a , 32 b . the data controller 50 sends the data driver 60 gradation data specifying the initial voltage. the gradation data are converted to analog voltages by the dac 63 and output by the output amplifier 64 . from a first time to a second time, switch 65 a - 1 is turned on, switch 65 b - 1 is turned off, and the initial voltage (−10 v) is output from output terminal out 1 onto data line dl 1 . in the pixel 30 , the source of the driving transistor 32 c and the anode of the light emitting element 31 are driven to −10 v through switching transistor 32 a , while the gate of the driving transistor 32 c is held at the ground level (0 v) through switching transistor 32 b . the resulting gate-source voltage (10 v) turns on the driving transistor 32 c , but the light emitting element 31 is reverse biased and neither conducts current nor emits light. meanwhile, the counter 67 is reset by the reset signal rst, and a reference voltage vref, for example, −5 v, is supplied from an external source to the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 . at the second time, switch 65 a - 1 is turned off and switch 65 b - 1 is turned on, placing output terminal out 1 in the high-impedance state. input of a clock signal to the counter 67 begins and the counter 67 starts counting. since the driving transistor 32 c is turned on but is cut off from the output amplifier 64 , and the light emitting element 31 cannot conduct, the driving transistor 32 c feeds current into the capacitor terminal connected to node n 32 , discharging the capacitor 32 d and raising the voltage level at node n 32 . the data driver 60 sees this voltage rise as a rise in the voltage at output terminal out 1 . the voltage rise at the output terminal out 1 is illustrated as a function of time (t) in fig. 3 . the rise tapers off as the gate-source voltage of the driving transistor 32 c is reduced and would stop when the output terminal out 1 reached −vth, but the measurement is terminated shortly after the output terminal out 1 reaches the reference voltage vref at elapsed time t 1 . the light emitting element 31 remains reverse biased during this time t 1 and no light is emitted. the voltage at output terminal out 1 passes through switch 65 b - 1 to the inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 . as long as this voltage is lower than the reference voltage vref, the output s 67 of the comparator 66 and therefore the enable signal en of the counter 67 remain high, causing the counter 67 to count each clock pulse it receives. when the voltage at the inverting input terminal of the comparator 66 rises above the reference voltage vref, the output s 67 of the comparator 66 and the enable signal en go low, and the counter 67 stops counting. the counter 67 accordingly counts and measures the elapse of time from when clock input begins with output terminal out 1 at −10 v until output terminal out 1 reaches −5 v (the reference voltage vref). the counted value is read through the host interface 61 into the data controller 50 , where the threshold voltage vth is calculated by the threshold voltage calculator 51 . the calculation can be carried out by using the general resistor-capacitor (rc) circuit equation that describes the charging and discharging of a capacitance c through a resistance r. according to this equation, the voltage v(t) at output terminal out 1 after an elapsed time t is given by the following expression (1). v ( t )=( vth−v 0)(1−exp(−α t ))+ v 0 (1) where, vth: threshold voltage α=rc r: sum of wiring resistance and on-resistances of transistors 32 a , 32 c c: sum of wiring capacitance and capacitances of output terminal out 1 and capacitor 32 d v 0 : initial voltage using equation (1), simultaneous equations that satisfy the conditions at t=t 0 and t 1 are obtained as follows. v ( t 0)=( vth−v 0)(1−exp(−α t 0))+ v 0 v ( t 1)=( vth−v 0)(1−exp(−α t 1))+ v 0 (2) from the above equations, the following equation is obtained by subtraction. v ( t 1)− v ( t 0)=( vth−v 0)(exp(−α t 0))−exp(−α t 1)) substituting t 0 =0, v(t 0 )=v 0 , and v(t 1 )=vref gives the following equation. v ref− v 0=( vth−v 0(1−exp(−α t 1)) solving this equation for vth gives the following expression (3). vth ={( v ref−v0)/(1−exp(α t ))}+ v 0 (3) the threshold voltage calculator 51 substitutes the elapsed time indicated by the count value output by the counter 67 for t 1 in expression (3) to obtain the threshold voltage vth, and stores the obtained value in the threshold value store 52 . the threshold voltages vth of the other pixels 30 are similarly calculated and stored in the threshold value store 52 . threshold voltage information for all pixels 30 in the display panel 20 is stored in this way. after the threshold voltage information has been stored, during normal display operations, the display data correction processor 54 corrects the display data stored in the display data store 53 by, for example, adding values proportional to the threshold value stored in the threshold value store 52 , so that regardless of threshold voltage variations in the display panel 20 , the light emitting elements 31 emit light with the correct brightness levels. for comparison, the measurement method disclosed by shirasaki et al. will now be briefly described with reference to figs. 4 and 5 . referring to fig. 4 , the display driver described by shirasaki et al. includes a frame memory 1 , a shift register/data register 2 , a display data latch 3 , a gradation voltage generator 4 , a threshold data latch 5 , an adc 6 , a dac 7 , a voltage adder 8 , and a data line input/output switch 9 with a p-channel transistor 9 a and an n-channel transistor 9 b , both controlled by a switch control signal or auto-zero signal az. the apparatus drives a display panel having a plurality of pixels 10 arranged in a matrix, each pixel including a light emitting element 11 and a pixel driving circuit 12 . the pixel driving circuit 12 is configured as in the first embodiment, including switching transistors 12 a , 12 b , a driving transistor 12 c , and a capacitor 12 d . the threshold voltage vth of the driving transistor 12 c is measured as follows. first, the auto-zero signal az and selection line sl are driven high and the supply voltage line vl is placed at the ground level (gnd). the gradation voltage generator 4 outputs a display voltage vzero for displaying black (no light emission) and the dac 7 outputs a predetermined detection voltage vpv through the voltage adder 8 , data line input/output switch 9 , data line dl, and transistor 12 b to node n 12 . capacitor 12 d is quickly charged to a voltage vcp that turns on the driving transistor 12 c . a corresponding current flows onto data line dl and is sunk by the gradation voltage generator 4 and voltage adder 8 . next, the auto-zero signal az and selection line sl are driven low, halting the flow of current on data line dl and leaving node n 12 in the high-impedance state. the flow of current through the driving transistor 12 c now discharges capacitor 12 d and raises the voltage level at node n 12 as shown in fig. 5 . this current flow stops when the charge left in capacitor 12 d matches the threshold voltage vth of transistor 12 d . the voltage at node 112 rises rapidly at first, then more gradually, taking considerable time (t 2 ) to converge to the threshold voltage vth. when convergence is complete, the selection line sl is driven high, turning on transistor 12 b and transferring the threshold voltage vth from node n 12 to data line dl for input to the adc 6 as a detected voltage vdec. the adc 6 converts the detected voltage vdec to digital threshold detection data s 5 , which are temporarily stored in the threshold data latch 5 , then read into the shift register/data register 2 , stored in the frame memory 1 , and used as threshold compensation data s 1 for the display data sin. in subsequent display driving operations, compensation voltages vpv output from the dac 7 according to the threshold compensation data s 1 and gradation voltages vreal output from the gradation voltage generator 4 according to the display data sin are added together in the voltage adder 8 , and the resulting sum is used to drive the pixel 10 . a major advantage of the first embodiment over this and other conventional methods that measure the threshold voltage directly is that the first embodiment is faster, because the rising voltage of the output terminal reaches the reference voltage used in the first embodiment (at time t 1 in fig. 3 ) long before it would converge to the threshold voltage vth (at time t 2 in fig. 5 ). another advantage is that the comparator 66 used in the first embodiment is much smaller than the adc 6 in fig. 4 , so the first embodiment reduces the size of the data driver 60 , leading to a reduction of driver chip size and cost. second embodiment referring to fig. 6 , the second embodiment eliminates the switches 65 a - i , 65 b - i and comparator 66 in the first embodiment and instead uses an output amplifier 64 a that includes both voltage followers 64 a - 1 to 64 a - n and switches 64 b - 1 to 64 b - n , making it possible to use both the amplification and comparator functions of the voltage followers. another switch 70 is provided to enable the data latch 62 a to receive either data from the host interface 61 or the count output s 67 from the counter 67 a. the data latch 62 a also receives the output signals s 64 from the voltage followers 64 a - 1 to 64 a - n. switches 69 - 1 to 69 - n are provided between the data latch 62 a and the dac 63 to select either gradation data from the data latch 62 a or a reference voltage value s 68 from a newly provided reference voltage setting circuit 68 for input to the dac 63 . the reference voltage value s 68 is a particular gradation data value written in the reference voltage setting circuit 68 by the data controller 50 through the host interface 61 . count data stored in the data latch 62 a can be output through the host interface 61 to the data controller 50 . when threshold voltages are measured, first switches 64 b - 1 to 64 b - n are closed, switch 70 is set to select data output from the host interface 61 , and switches 69 - 1 to 69 - n are set to select data output from the data latch 62 a. the counter 67 a is cleared by the reset signal rst, and the reference voltage value is written through the host interface 61 into the reference voltage setting circuit 68 . in this condition, the data controller 50 stores initial voltage data in all storage cells of the data latch 62 a via the host interface 61 and switch 70 . the initial voltage data are input through switches 69 - 1 to 69 - n to the dac 63 and converted to analog voltage signals, which are supplied to the output amplifier 64 a. the voltage followers 64 a - 1 to 64 a - n in the output amplifier 64 a output gradation voltages equal to these analog voltage signals through switches 64 b - 1 to 64 b - n to charge the capacitors 32 d in one entire row of pixels 30 . next switches 64 b - 1 to 64 b - n are opened, switch 70 is simultaneously switched to select the output of the counter 67 a, switches 69 - 1 to 69 - n are switched to select the output of the reference voltage setting circuit 68 , and the counter 67 a begins counting pulses of the clock signal clk. the latch signal ls is input to the data latch 62 a following each clock pulse, so that every count value can be latched in all storage cells of the data latch 62 a. the reference voltage value 568 set in the reference voltage setting circuit 68 is input to the dac 63 and converted from a digital signal to an analog reference voltage vref, which is input to the output amplifier 64 a. since switches 64 b - 1 to 64 b - n are open, the voltage followers 64 a - 1 to 64 a - n in the output amplifier 64 a operate as comparators that compare the voltages at the output terminals out 1 to outn with the reference voltage vref. when the reference voltage vref is higher than the voltage at an output terminal outi (i=1 to n), voltage follower 64 a - i outputs a signal at the high logic level to the i-th cell in the data latch 62 a, which allows the count value s 67 from the counter 67 a to be latched in the i-th cell in the data latch 62 a in synchronization with the latch signal ls. signal s 64 in fig. 6 represents n individual output signals from the voltage followers 64 a - 1 to 64 a - n , which control the n cells in the data latch 62 a individually by functioning as latch enable signals. when the current outflow from transistor 32 c in the i-th pixel 30 charges capacitor 32 d and output terminal outi to a voltage higher than the reference voltage vref, the output from voltage follower 64 a - i goes low, preventing any further count values s 67 from being latched in the i-th storage cell in the data latch 62 a. the row measurement ends after a predetermined number of clock periods sufficient to ensure that the outputs of all n voltage followers 64 a - 1 to 64 a - n go low. if the initial voltage is −10 v and the reference voltage vref is −5 v, for example, then at the end of the predetermined number of clock periods the data latch 62 a is left holding n count values indicating the times required for the n voltages received from the pixels 30 in one row in the display panel 20 to change from −10 v to −5 v. the latched count values are supplied through the host interface 61 to the threshold voltage calculator 51 in the data controller 50 , and threshold values vth are calculated and stored in the threshold value store 52 as in the first embodiment. during normal display operations, driving voltages corrected for threshold voltage shifts are output to the display panel 20 in basically the same way as in the first embodiment, with switches 64 b - 1 to 64 b - n closed, switch 70 set to select the host interface 61 , and switches 69 - 1 to 69 - n set to select the data latch 62 a. the second embodiment provides the same effects as the first embodiment and the following additional effects. since the threshold voltages vth in an entire row of n pixels 30 in the display panel 20 can be measured simultaneously, the measurement time can be reduced by a factor of n as compared with the first embodiment. moreover, since the voltage followers 64 a - 1 to 64 a - n are also used as comparators, the separate comparator 66 provided in the first embodiment is unnecessary. the size of the data driver 60 a and the size and cost of the driver chip can be reduced accordingly. variations the threshold voltage calculator 51 , threshold value store 52 , and display data correction processor 54 disposed in the data controller 50 in the preceding embodiments may be disposed in the data driver 60 or 60 a instead. instead of using an external reference voltage vref, the first embodiment may include switches 69 - 1 to 69 - n and a reference voltage setting circuit 68 as in the second embodiment, enabling an output from the dac 63 to be used as the reference voltage vref. the pixel driving circuit is not limited to the circuit configuration shown in the drawings. the mathematical model used to calculate the threshold value need not be an rc circuit model. more complex models may be employed for greater accuracy. any model or calculation method that fits the circuit configuration of the pixel driving circuit and the characteristics of its circuit elements may be used, provided the threshold voltage vth is calculated from the time taken for the output terminal voltage to reach the reference voltage. those skilled in the art will recognize that further variations are possible within the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.
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015-291-585-130-430
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US
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[
"US"
] |
G06T7/70,G06T7/73,H04N13/239,H04N23/57,H04N23/90,H04N5/225,H04N5/247
| 2016-08-12T00:00:00 |
2016
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[
"G06",
"H04"
] |
determination of relative position of an object
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this application describes a method of determining a position and orientation of an object having a plurality of fiducials attached thereto. the method includes the steps of forming images of the plurality of fiducials on a sensitive surface of a sensor and determining a 2d location of each of the images of the plurality of fiducials on the sensitive surface. information comprising 3d positions of the plurality of fiducials in a coordinate system of the object is then retrieved and each of the 2d locations of the plurality of images is associated with the 3d position of the same fiducial. a position and orientation of the object with respect to the sensitive surface of the sensor is then determined based in part on the 2d locations of the images and the 3d positions of the fiducials.
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1. a method of determining a position and orientation of an object having a plurality of fiducials attached thereto, comprising the steps of: forming images of the plurality of fiducials on a sensitive surface of a sensor; determining a 2d location of each of the images of the plurality of fiducials on the sensitive surface; associating each 2d location with a 3d position of the same fiducial in a first coordinate system of the object; and determining a first position and a first orientation of the object with respect to the sensitive surface of the sensor based in part on the 2d locations and the 3d positions. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein: the sensor comprises a second coordinate system; the sensitive surface has a second position and second orientation in the second coordinate system; and the step of determining the first position and the first orientation of the object comprises determining a third position and a third orientation of the first coordinate system in the second coordinate system. 3. the method of claim 1 , wherein: at least one of the plurality of fiducials alternates between a first state and a second state; and the step of determining the 2d location comprises determining the 2d position of the at least one of the plurality of fiducials while in the first state while the other fiducials are not in the first state. 4. the method of claim 3 , wherein: each of the plurality of fiducials alternates sequentially in the first state while the remaining fiducials are in the second state; and the step of determining the 2d location comprises determining the 2d location of each fiducial while in the first state. 5. the method of claim 3 , wherein: the at least one of the plurality of fiducials emits light when in the first state and does not emit light when in the second state; and the plurality of fiducials are sequentially and individually in the first state. 6. the method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of fiducials emits light having at least one of a predetermined wavelength and a predetermined modulation frequency. 7. the method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is one of an imaging detector and a position sensitive detector (psd). 8. the method of claim 1 , wherein: the method is described by machine-readable instructions stored on a non-volatile memory. 9. the method of claim 1 , wherein: the method is executed on a processor that is communicatively coupled to the memory after the instructions are loaded into the processor. 10. a system for determining a position and orientation of an object having a plurality of fiducials attached thereto, the system comprising: a processor configured to receive images of the plurality of fiducials; and a memory comprising instructions that, when loaded into the processor and executed, cause the processor to: receive from a camera system, images of a portion of the plurality of fiducials; determine a 2d location of each of the portion of the plurality of fiducials based in part on the received images; retrieve information comprising 3d positions of the portion of the plurality of fiducials in a first coordinate system of the object; associate each 2d location with the 3d position of the respective fiducial; and determine a first position and a first orientation of the object with respect to a sensitive surface of the sensor based in part on the 2d locations and the 3d positions.
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cross-reference to related applications this application claims the benefit of u.s. application ser. no. 17/240,718, filed apr. 26, 2021. which claims priority to u.s. application ser. no. 16/044,321, filed jul. 24, 2018 and now u.s. pat. no. 11,017,549, which claims priority to u.s. application ser. no. 15/483,626, filed apr. 10, 2017 and now u.s. pat. no. 10,078,908, which claims priority to u.s. provisional application no. 62/374,277, filed aug. 12, 2016, all of which are incorporated herein by this reference. statement regarding federally sponsored research or development not applicable. background field the present invention generally relates to determination of relative positions of equipment and fixtures in a workcell. description of the related art robotic workcells commonly use a robot arm to move items between locations, for example between a transport tray and a processing fixture. in current systems, the locations from which the item is picked up and where the item is to be placed must be known precisely by the controller of the robot arm as the robot moves blindly between positions. set-up of a workcell therefore requires either precision placement of the fixture relative to the robot arm in pre-determined positions or calibration of the system after the robot arm and fixture are in place. in either case, the robot arm and the fixture must remain in their calibrated positions or the workcell will no longer function properly. methods of determining the position of an object in space by triangulation are known. methods of using two cameras to take pictures of the same scene, find parts that match while shifting the two images with respect to each other, identify the shifted amount, also known as the “disparity,” at which objects in the image best match, and use the disparity in conjunction with the optical design to calculate the distance from the cameras to the object. tracking of a moving object may be improved by use of an active fiducial such as disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 8,082,064. the sensed position of the fiducial may be used as feedback in a servo control loop to improve the accuracy of positioning a robot arm. fiducials may be placed on the robot arm and a target object, wherein the sensed positions of the fiducials are used as feedback to continuously guide the arm towards the target object. summary it is desirable to provide a simple method of locating items using a passive camera system and avoid the need for illuminators, scanning lasers, or devices that emit structured light. this improves the simplicity of system, eliminates the need for high-bandwidth communication to a remote processor, and eliminates risks of detection of a vehicle carrying the camera system. a method of determining a position and orientation of an object having a plurality of fiducials attached thereto is disclosed. the method includes the steps of forming images of the plurality of fiducials on a sensitive surface of a sensor, determining a 2d location of each of the images of the plurality of fiducials on the sensitive surface, associating each 2d location with a 3d position of the same fiducial in a first coordinate system of the object, and determining a first position and a first orientation of the object with respect to the sensitive surface of the sensor based in part on the 2d locations and the 3d positions. a system for determining a position and orientation of an object having a plurality of fiducials attached thereto is disclosed. the system includes a processor configured to receive images of the plurality of fiducials and a memory. the memory includes instructions that, when loaded into the processor and executed, cause the processor to perform the steps of receiving from a camera system images of a portion of the plurality of fiducials, determining a 2d location of each of the portion the plurality of fiducials based in part on the received images, retrieving information comprising 3d positions of the portion the plurality of fiducials in a first coordinate system of the object, associating each 2d location with the 3d position of the same fiducial, and determining a first position and a first orientation of the object with respect to the sensitive surface of the sensor based in part on the 2d locations and the 3d positions. brief description of the drawings the accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate disclosed embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments. in the drawings: fig. 1 depicts an exemplary work cell according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. figs. 2a-2b depict plan views of the robot module from the work cell of fig. 1 according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. fig. 3 depicts a plan view of a portion of a workcell according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. figs. 4a-4b depict two exemplary optical designs according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. fig. 4c depicts a third exemplary optical design according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. figs. 5a-5b depict an exemplary fixture and its associated spatial envelope according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. detailed description the following description discloses embodiments of a system and method of identifying the location and orientation of a robot arm, tools, fixtures, and other devices in a work cell or other defined volume of space. the detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology may be practiced. the appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed description. the detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject technology. however, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the subject technology may be practiced without these specific details. in some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology. like components are labeled with identical element numbers for ease of understanding. as used within this disclosure, the term “light” means electromagnetic energy having a wavelength within the range of 10 nanometers to 1 millimeter. in certain embodiments, this range is preferably 300-1100 nanometers. in certain embodiments, this range is preferably 700-1100 nanometers. in certain embodiments, this range is preferably 2-10 micrometers. as used within this disclosure, the term “fiducial” means a device or assembly that has two states that can be differentiated by observation. in certain embodiments, the fiducial changes color. in certain embodiments, the fiducial exposes a first surface while in a first state and exposes a second surface while in a second state. in certain embodiments, the fiducial emits a first amount of light while in a first state and emits a second amount of light that is different from the first amount of light while in a second state. in certain embodiments, the fiducial is a light emitter that is “on” in a first state and “off” in a second state. in certain embodiments, the fiducial emits electromagnetic energy at wavelengths within the range of 10 nanometers to 1 millimeter. in certain embodiments, this range is 100 nanometers to 100 micrometers. in certain embodiments, the fiducial emits electromagnetic energy over a defined solid angle. as used within this disclosure, the term “constant” means a value of a parameter that changes less than an amount that would affect the common function or usage of an object or system associated with the parameter. fig. 1 depicts an exemplary workcell 10 according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. the workcell 10 comprises a camera module 100 , a robot arm module 200 , a fixture 300 , and an electronics module 400 . in certain embodiments, a computer 500 or other remote access system is coupled to the electronics module 400 to provide a user interface. in certain embodiments, the workcell 10 may include a work surface or other support structures that have been omitted from fig. 1 for clarity. the camera module 100 has a field of view (fov) 130 bounded by edges 132 and having an included horizontal angle 134 . the fov 130 has a vertical aspect as well that is not shown in fig. 1 for sake of simplicity. the camera module 100 has a coordinate system 160 with orthogonal axes c 1 , c 2 , and c 3 . the camera module has two optical systems 120 , 122 within enclosure 110 . each of the optical systems 120 , 122 has a sensor (not visible in fig. 1 ) that is positioned such that images of items within the fov are formed on the sensors. the position on the sensor of the image of an item within the fov of the optical system is referred to herein as the position of the item on the sensor. information about the position of an item comprises one of more of a two-dimensional (2d) location of a centroid of the image on the planar surface of the sensor, the maximum intensity of the image, the total energy of the image, the size of the image in one or more of a width, height, or dimension of a shape such as a circle, or other comparative characteristic of images of a target item, for example an illuminated fiducial, on the sensor. a centroid may be determined an intensity-weighted location or the center of an area determined by the intensity exceeding a threshold. the information about the position of an item on the sensor of the optical system 120 and the position of the same item on the sensor of the optical system 122 is stored as a position data pair in a memory, for example the memory of camera module 100 . this information may be just the 2d location of a feature of the image, for example the centroid, or a multi-pixel color image, or other optical derivatives of the image formed on the sensor. each sensor has associated electronics that provide an output containing information about the position of a target item on the sensor. each optical system 120 , 122 has its own fov wherein the fov of optical system 122 partially overlaps the fov of optical system 120 and the overlap of the individual fovs of the two optical systems 120 , 122 form the fov 130 of the camera module. in certain embodiments, the camera module 100 includes one or more of a processor, a memory, signal and power handling circuits, and communication devices (not shown in fig. 1 ). in certain embodiments, the memory contains information about the arrangement of the optical systems 120 , 122 . this information comprises one or more of the distance between the optical axes (not visible in fig. 1 ) of the optical systems 120 , 122 , the angle between the optical axes of the optical systems 120 , 122 , the position and orientation of the sensors of the optical systems 120 , 122 with respect to the respective optical axes and to the coordinate system 160 . the robot arm module 200 has a base 210 with a top surface 230 , an arm 220 , and a fiducial set 240 comprising at least three fiducials 242 , 244 , and 246 mounted on the top surface 230 . the robot arm module 200 has a coordinate system 260 with orthogonal axes r 1 , r 2 , and r 3 . in certain embodiments, the robot arm module 200 comprises a processor 270 and may additionally comprise a memory, signal and power handling circuits, and communication devices (not shown in fig. 1 ) that are coupled to the processor 270 . the processor 270 is communicatively coupled to the processor in camera module 100 . in certain embodiments, the memory comprises information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set 240 within the coordinate system 260 . the fixture 300 has a base 310 having a top surface 330 , a contact element 320 , and a fiducial set 340 comprising at least three fiducials 342 , 344 , and 346 mounted on the top surface 330 . the fixture 300 has a coordinate system 360 with orthogonal axes f 1 , f 2 , and f 3 . in certain embodiments, the fixture 300 comprises a processor 370 and may additionally comprise a memory, signal and power handling circuits, and communication devices (not shown in fig. 1 ). the processor of the fixture 300 is communicatively coupled to the processor 370 of camera module 100 . in certain embodiments, the memory comprises information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set 340 within the coordinate system 360 . a workcell will have a particular function or process to accomplish. in the example workcell 10 of fig. 1 , the robot arm module 200 will manipulate an object (not shown in fig. 1 ) and interact with the fixture 300 to perform an operation on the object. this interaction can only be accomplished if the relative position of the point of interaction on the fixture 300 is known to the processor 270 in the coordinate system 260 , which would enable the processor 270 to manipulate the robot arm 22 to position the object at the point of interaction on the fixture 300 . in conventional systems, this is accomplished by fixing the fixture 300 in position relative to the robot arm module 200 and precisely determining the point of interaction in the coordinate system 260 . this is a lengthy and time-consuming calibration process. if the position of either the robot arm module 200 or the fixture 300 are moved even slightly, the calibration process must be repeated. in an exemplary embodiment, an operator initiates a “determine configuration” operational mode of the workcell after the workcell is reconfigured to perform a new operation. the processor of the electronics module 400 determines what modules are communicatively coupled to it. the camera module 100 is activated to observe the work area of the workcell 10 . the processor of the electronics module 400 retrieves information from the memories of the camera module 100 , the robot module 200 , and the fixture 300 . based on this information, the processor of the electronics module 400 selects a calibration method and manipulates the camera module 100 and the fiducials of the robot module 200 and the fixture 300 to determine the positions of at least a portion of the fiducials of robot module 200 and fixture 300 in the coordinate system 160 . the processor of the electronics module 400 then determines the positions and orientation of the coordinate systems 260 , 360 in coordinate system 160 , thus providing a capability to transform, or “map,” any position defined in either of coordinate systems 260 , 360 into an equivalent position defined in coordinate system 260 . the interaction points of the fixture 300 , which are retrieved from the memory of fixture 300 and defined in coordinate system 360 , are mapped into coordinate system 260 . the processor 270 of robot module 200 now has all the information that it needs to move the robot arm 200 to any of the interaction points of fixture 300 without further input from the camera module 100 . once the configuration of the workcell 10 is known, the workcell can be operated in an “operational mode” to process parts. in certain embodiments, the output of camera module 100 is now turned off and, thus, cannot provide continuous feedback on the absolute or relative positions of the robot arm 200 nor fixture 300 . in certain embodiments, the camera module 100 may remain active but workcell 10 is operated without updating the 3d position and orientation of the first module with respect to the second module. only when the position of one of the modules 200 , 300 is detected to be changes, for example by sensing movement using an accelerometer coupled to a module, is the information about the position of the fixture 300 in the coordinate system 260 updated. in certain embodiments, the camera module 100 comprises a binocular arrangement of the optical systems 120 , 122 that enables the determination of the position of any single target item, for example fiducial 342 , in three-dimensional (3d) space within the fov 130 and focal range of the camera module 100 . the workcell system 10 is configured to unambiguously identify the target item in each of the images formed on the sensors of the optical systems 120 , 122 , as is discussed in greater detail with respect to fig. 4a . once the positions on the sensors of the optical systems 120 , 122 of the target item are known, the 3d position of the target item in the coordinate system 160 can be determined through trigonometry and knowledge of the arrangement of the optical systems 120 , 122 . information about the arrangement of the optical systems 120 , 122 comprises one or more of the distance between the optical axes, a relative angle between the optical axes, the distance between and relative angle of the sensors, the orientation of the optical axes relative to a mounting base of the enclosure 110 , and the position and orientation of one or more components of the camera module 100 relative to the center location and orientation of the coordinate system 160 . for the fixture 300 , once the positions of at least two of the fiducials in the fiducial set 340 are known, the orientation of an axis passing through these two fiducials can be determined. this is not sufficient, however, to locate the fixture 300 or, more importantly, the point of interaction of the fixture 300 in coordinate system 160 . additional knowledge of the construction of fixture 300 , in particular the positions of the fiducials 342 , 344 , 346 relative to the point of interaction, must be known. in certain embodiments, the memory of fixture 300 contains information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set 340 defined within the coordinate system 360 . in certain embodiments, one of the fiducials of fiducial set 340 is positioned at the center (0,0,0) of the coordinate system 360 and a second fiducial of fiducial set 340 is positioned along one of the axes f 1 , f 2 , and f 3 . in certain embodiments, the center and orientation of the coordinate system are offset in position and angle from the fiducials of fiducial set 340 and the information about the offsets and angles are contained in the memory of fixture 300 . an exemplary method of determining the position and orientation of the coordinate system 360 within the coordinate system 160 starts by determining the positions in coordinate system 160 of at least two fiducials of fiducial set 340 , for example fiducials 342 , 344 . this provides a point location, for example defined by fiducial 342 , and a direction vector, for example defined by the vector from fiducial 342 to fiducial 344 . combined with the information about the positions of fiducials 342 , 344 in coordinate system 360 , the offset position of the center of coordinate system 360 from the center of coordinate system 160 along the axes c 1 , c 2 , c 3 and the coordinate transformation matrix describing the rotational offset of the coordinate system 360 around the axes c 1 , c 2 , c 3 can be calculated. the information about the positions of fiducials 342 , 344 in coordinate system 360 is essential to determining the position and orientation of the coordinate system 360 within the coordinate system 160 . in the system 10 , the electronics module 400 comprises a processor that is coupled to the optical systems 120 , 122 and receives information about the positions of the images of the fiducials on the sensor of each optical system 120 , 122 . the camera module has a memory that contains information about the arrangement of the optical systems 120 , 122 . the fixture 300 has a memory that contains information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set 340 defined within the coordinate system 360 . the processor of the electronics module 400 is communicatively coupled to the memories of the camera module 100 and the fixture 300 and configured to be able to retrieve the information from both the memories. in certain embodiments, this retrieval is triggered when the system 10 is powered on. after information is retrieved from all connected systems, e.g. the camera module 100 , the robot module 200 , and the fixture 300 in the example system 10 of fig. 1 , the processor of the electronics module 400 initiates a “position determination” process that includes the steps described above for determining the position and orientation, which can also be expressed as a coordinate transform matrix, of the coordinate system 360 within the coordinate system 160 . determining the 3d position of each fiducial in coordinate system 160 requires the unambiguous determination of the image of the fiducial on the sensor of each of the optical systems 120 , 122 . an exemplary means of doing so is to configure the fiducial to emit light in a certain range of wavelengths, for example infrared light, and select a sensor that is sensitive to this same range of wavelengths. filters can be provided in the optical path of the optical systems 120 , 122 to block light outside of this range. if a single fiducial is turned on to emit light, which can be considered a “first state,” with all other fiducials turned off, which can be considered a “second state,” then a single spot will be illuminated on the sensors of optical systems 120 , 122 . in certain embodiments, the sensors of optical systems 120 , 122 are position sensitive detectors (psds) that determine the position of a light spot in the two dimensions of the sensor surface. a psd determines the position of the centroid of the light spot and its measurement accuracy and resolution is independent of the spot shape and size. the psd may also provide information related to the maximum brightness of the light spot, the total energy of the bright spot, and one or more aspects of the shape and size of the bright spot. compared to an imaging detector such as a charge-coupled device (ccd) imager, a psd has the advantages of fast response, much lower dark current, and lower cost. in some circumstances, the fov of camera module 100 may include extraneous sources of light, for example an incandescent light behind the fixture, having a wavelength within the sensitive range of the sensors. an exemplary method of discriminating the fiducial from such extraneous sources is to modulate the frequency of the light emitted by the fiducial. as a psd is a fast device, modulation frequencies in the hundreds of hz are feasible and therefore avoid the 50/60 hz frequency of common light sources as well as unmodulated light emitted by sources such as the sun and thermally hot objects. the output signal of the psd can be passed through a filter, for example a bandpass filter or a hi-pass filter, that will block light having frequencies outside of the sensitive range of the sensors. another exemplary method of determining the 3d position of multiple fiducials in coordinate system 160 is to selectively cause a portion of the fiducials to move to the first state and cause the rest of the fiducials to move to the second state. for example, at least three fiducials in a common fiducial set are turned on, for example fiducials 342 , 344 , 346 of fiducial set 340 , while turning off all other fiducials on that fiducial set as well as all other fiducial sets in the workcell 10 and using an imaging sensor, for example a ccd imager, to capture a 2d image of the fov of each optical system 120 , 122 . the two images will respectively have a plurality of first positions on the first sensor and a plurality of second positions on the second sensor. the images are processed to identify the 3d locations of each fiducial that is turned on. if the relative positions of the fiducials 342 , 344 , 346 are known, for example in a local coordinate system, a pattern-matching algorithm can determine the orientation and position of the local coordinate system, relative to the observing coordinate system, that is required to produce images of the three fiducials at the sensed locations on the sensors. these determined locations of fiducials 342 , 344 , 346 in coordinate system 160 form a 3d pattern that can be matched to a 3d pattern based on the information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set 340 defined within coordinate system 360 that was retrieved from the memory of fixture 300 , as the patterns are independent of the coordinate system in which they are defined, provided that the pattern has no symmetry. the result of this matching will be the coordinate transform matrix required to rotate one coordinate system with respect to the other coordinate system so as to match the pattern in coordinate system 160 to the pattern in coordinate system 360 . in certain embodiments, the processor may determine that it is necessary to identify a specific fiducial when multiple fiducials are in the first state. when this occurs, the processor will cause the fiducial to modulate its light in a fashion that can be detected by the sensor. for example, when the sensor is a ccd imager, the fiducial may turn on and off at a rate that is slower than the frame rate of the imager. in another example, where the sensor is a psd, the processor may synchronize the “on” and “off” states of the fiducial with the reset of the psd accumulator to maximize difference between “on” and “off” signal strength. alternately, the fiducial may adjust the intensity of the emitted light between two levels that can be distinguished by the pixel detectors of the ccd sensor. alternately, the fiducial may adjust the wavelength of the emitted light between two wavelengths that can be distinguished by the pixel detectors of the ccd sensor. the same methodology used to determine the position and orientation of the coordinate system 360 of the fixture 300 within the coordinate system 160 of the camera module 100 can be then used to determine the position and orientation of the coordinate system 260 of the robot module 200 within the coordinate system 160 . the processor of the electronics module 400 retrieves information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set 240 in coordinate system 260 from the memory of the robot module 200 . the processor manipulates the fiducials of fiducial set 240 in order to determine the location of each fiducial in the coordinate system 160 . the processor then uses the information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set 240 in coordinate system 260 to determine the coordinate transform matrix relating coordinate system 360 to coordinate system 160 . once the coordinate transformation matrices relating each of the coordinate systems 260 and 360 to coordinate system 160 are determined, it is straightforward to create a coordinate transform matrix that maps positions in the coordinate system 360 of the fixture 300 into the coordinate system 260 of the robot module 200 . any point of interaction with the fixture, for example the location of a receptacle configured to receive a part to be processed, that is included in the information contained in the memory of fixture 300 can be retrieved and converted into coordinate system 260 . this data can then be used by the processor that controls the robot arm 220 to place an object in that location. while the exemplary system 10 described herein associates certain methods and activities with processors of specific modules, the interconnection of the modules enables any function or algorithm to be executed by any processor in the system 10 . for example, a portion of the processing of the output of the sensors of optical systems 120 , 122 may be performed by a processor within the optical systems 120 , 122 themselves, or by a separate processor contained in the enclosure 110 of the camera module 100 , or by a processor in the electronics module 400 . the autonomous determination of relative positions of modules greatly simplifies the set-up of a new configuration of workcell 10 . an operator simply places the robot module 200 and one or more fixtures 300 within the fov of camera module 100 and initiates the position determination process. information about the 3d positions of the fiducial set of each module, defined within the coordinate system of the respective module, is retrieved from the memories of each module. the fiducials are manipulated into various combinations of first and second states, e.g. “on” and “off,” and the outputs of the sensors are used to determine the 3d positions of the fiducials in the coordinate system 160 . these 3d positions are then used in conjunction with the information about the 3d positions of the fiducials within the various coordinate systems of the modules 300 to map specific locations on the fixtures into the coordinate system of the robot module 200 . when this process is complete, the workcell 10 notifies the operator that it is ready for operation. in certain embodiments, one or more of the modules 200 , 300 comprises an accelerometer configured to detect translational or rotational movement of the respective module. for example, motion of a module may be induced by vibration of the work surface or the module during operation, contact between the robot arm 122 and the fixture 300 , or an operator bumping into one of the modules. if a module moves, the workcell 10 will stop processing and repeat the position determination process to update the locations on the fixtures within the coordinate system of the robot module 200 . in most circumstances, the workcell does not need to physically reset or return to a home position during the position determination process. the robot arm 220 simply stops moving while the position determination process is executed and then resumes operation upon completion. in certain embodiments, workcell 10 is positioned on a flat work surface (not visible in fig. 1 ) that constrains the possible orientations of the various modules relative to the camera module 100 . in certain embodiments, it is sufficient to have only two fiducials on a module visible by the optical systems 120 , 122 . in certain embodiments, there are 3 or more fiducials in the fiducial set of a module and the processor that is manipulating the fiducials and accepting the information about the positions of the fiducial images from the optical systems 120 , 122 is configured to utilize only fiducials that create images on the sensors, i.e. not use fiducials that are hidden from the optical systems 120 , 122 . as long as a minimum number of the fiducials in the fiducial set are visible to the optical systems 120 , 122 , the position determination process will be successful. if it is not possible to obtain 3d position information from enough fiducials to determine the position of a module within coordinate system 160 , the workcell 10 will notify the operator. in certain embodiments, the modules are configured to detect whether a fiducial is drawing current or emitting light and when a fiducial is not able to move to the first state, e.g. does not turn on, notify the operator of this failure. in certain embodiments, the camera module comprises multiple intensity detectors that each have an output related to the total energy received over the fov of that detector. modulation of a fiducial between “on” and “off” states, and determination of the difference in the total received energy when the fiducial is on and off provides a measure of the energy received from that fiducial. the processor of the electronics module 400 calculates a distance from the camera module 100 to the fiducial based on the ratio of the received energy to the emitted energy and solid geometry. this creates a spherical surface centered at the entrance aperture of the intensity detector. in certain embodiments, the energy emitted by the fiducial and the geometry of the emitted light is part of the information contained in the memory of the module of the fiducial and downloaded with the 3d position information. with three intensity detectors each providing a sphere of possible locations of the fiducial, intersection of the three spheres specifies a point within 3d space where the fiducial is located. figs. 2a-2b depict plan views of the robot module 200 from the work cell of fig. 1 according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. in this embodiment, fiducial 244 is offset from the origin of coordinate system 240 by distance d 1 in the r 1 direction and distance d 2 in the r 2 direction. fiducial 242 is offset from fiducial 244 by a distance d 3 along vector 250 at an angle a 1 from axis r 1 . fiducial 246 is offset from fiducial 244 by a distance d 3 along vector 252 at an angle (a 1 +a 2 ) from axis r 1 . the relative position of the fiducials 242 , 244 , 246 to the origin of coordinate system 260 may be defined in other ways, for example a direct vector from the origin to the fiducial (not shown in fig. 2a ), and the length and angle of that vector. from this information, combined with the positions of some of fiducial set 240 in the coordinate system 160 of the camera module 100 , it is possible to determine the position of the origin of coordinate system 260 in coordinate system 160 as well as the directional vectors in coordinate system 160 that are equivalent to directions r 1 , r 2 , r 3 . fig. 2b depicts the configuration parameters associated with the robot arm 220 defined in the coordinate system 260 . in the embodiment, the robot arm 220 has a first degree of freedom around axis 222 , which is parallel to coordinate direction r 3 . the position of axis 222 is defined by distances d 5 and d 6 in the r 2 and r 1 directions, respectively. the angular position of the robot arm 220 is defined an axis 224 that is aligned with the segments of the robot arm 220 and rotated to an angle a 3 with respect to direction r 1 . the position of the gripper 226 with respect to the axis 222 is defined by the distance d 7 along axis 224 . this information, in conjunction with the knowledge of the position of the origin of coordinate system 260 and the directional vectors that are equivalent to directions r 1 , r 2 , r 3 of coordinate system 260 in coordinate system 160 , enables the position and angle of the gripper 226 to be determined in coordinate system 160 . conversely, any position known in coordinate system 160 can be computed with reference to axis 222 and angle a 3 . the benefit of transferring the position of a fixture 300 , and points of interaction of fixture 300 , into the coordinate system 260 of robot module 200 is to provide the processor 270 with information that enables the processor 270 to move the gripper 226 to the point of interaction of fixture 300 . accomplishing this position determination of the point of interaction of fixture 300 in coordinate system 260 through the use of a an automatic system and process enables the system 10 to function without the modules 200 , 300 being fixed to a common structure, thus speeding and simplifying the set-up of the system 10 . once the position of the fixture 300 is known in the coordinate system 260 of the robot module, and the transfer of the additional information regarding the points of interaction of the fixture 300 to the processor 270 and the transformation of the positions of the points of interaction into the coordinate system 260 is completed, the system is ready for operation without a need for the operator to teach or calibrate the system. this is discussed in greater detail with regard to figs. 5a-5b . fig. 3 depicts a plan view of a portion of a workcell 600 according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. the camera module 100 , robot module 200 , and fixture 300 are positioned on a flat horizontal surface 610 . optical system 120 has a fov 124 that is delimited by the dashed lines emanating from the curved lens of optical system 120 . optical system 122 has a fov 126 that is delimited by the dashed lines emanating from the curved lens of optical system 122 . the effective fov 130 is indicated by the shaded region where the fovs 124 , 126 overlap. the work area of the workcell 600 is further defined by the focal range 140 of the optical systems 120 , 122 , delimited by the minimum focal distance 142 and maximum focal distance 144 from the camera module 100 . in certain embodiments, the distances 142 , 144 are defined from the center of coordinate system 160 . in certain embodiments, the distance 144 may effectively be infinitely far from the camera module 100 . when an operator positions the modules 200 , 300 within the fov 130 , one of the fiducials may be outside the fov. in fig. 3 , fiducial 341 of fiducial set 340 on fixture 300 is outside the shaded area of fov 130 . in addition, fiducial 343 is not visible by optical system 122 , being hidden behind the post 321 . as long as two fiducials, in this example fiducials 345 , 347 , are visible to both optical systems 120 , 122 then the position of fixture 300 can be determined. fig. 4a depicts an exemplary optical design according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. in the example binocular system 500 , a lens 510 and a sensor 512 are arranged with their centers positioned on an optical axis (oa) 514 and separated by a distance 516 between the sensitive surface of the sensor 512 and the center of the lens 510 . sensor 512 has a polarity indicated by the “+” and “−” signs as to the polarity of the output when a light spot is formed on the upper or lower portions (in this 2d view) of the sensor 512 . the set of lens 510 and sensor 520 may be considered as an optical system. this optical system may contain other optical elements, for example additional lenses, reflectors, baffles, stops, and filters, without departing from the concepts disclosed herein. the system 500 also has a second optical system comprising lens 540 and sensor 542 arranged on oa 544 and separated by distance 546 . note that the sensors 512 and 542 have their polarities aligned in the same direction. the system 500 has a center 502 with refence axes y+, y−, x+, and x−. in certain embodiments, this center and reference axes correspond to the coordinate system 160 of camera module 100 . a system oa 504 passes through the center 502 , with the oa 514 separated from the system axis 504 by distance 518 and the oa 544 separated from the system axis 504 by distance 548 . all oas 504 , 514 , are 544 are parallel and coplanar. when referring to positions, angles, centers, and other aspects of the sensors 512 , 542 and similar, it is understood that this is equivalent to the respective aspects of the sensitive surface of the sensor. for example, a center of the sensor is equivalent to the center of the sensitive surface of that same sensor. a target item 550 , for example a fiducial, is positioned within the work area of system 500 . exemplary rays 556 and 558 of light emanate from the target item 550 and respectively pass through the centers of lenses 510 , 540 until the ray 556 strikes the sensitive surface of sensor 512 at a distance 560 in the negative direction from the oa 514 . the lens 510 and sensor 512 are arranged as a focusing system with a focal range that encompasses the position of target item 550 , and therefore other rays emanating from the same point on target item 550 that pass through lens 510 will be refracted onto the same point of impact on the sensor 512 . ray 558 strikes the sensitive surface of sensor 542 at a distance 562 in the positive direction from the oa 544 . in system 500 , the absolute values of distances 560 , 562 are different by an amount that is proportional to the offset distance 552 of the target item 550 from the system axis 504 but both are still near or at the limits of the sensitive region of sensors 512 , 542 . as a result, distance 554 is the minimum distance at which a target item is visible in both optical systems and then only when on the system oa 504 . moving the target item further away from the axis 504 will reduce the distance 560 but increase the distance 562 and ray 558 will quickly move off sensor 542 as distance 552 increases. this results in significant portions of the sensors 512 , 542 being un-useable and a consequent reduction in the work area of system 500 . fig. 4b depicts another exemplary optical design according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. binocular system 501 is a modification of system 500 , wherein the oas 514 , 544 are each rotated toward the system axis 504 and are not parallel to each other. in certain embodiments, the included angle 506 between the two oas 514 , 544 is greater than zero and less than 180 degrees. in certain embodiments, the included angle 506 between the two oas 514 , 544 is in the range of 5-15 degrees. this is contrary to the design rules for optical systems designed for use by humans as the human eye and brain are wired to properly form merged images only when the oas 514 , 544 are parallel. in this example, distances 561 , 563 are equal as the target item 550 is now on the system axis 504 and are approximately equal to distance 562 of fig. 4a , which was the larger of the distances 560 , 562 . in system 501 , the distance 565 from the center 502 to the target item 550 is shorter than distance 554 of system 500 , thereby bringing the work area closet to the camera module 100 . in certain embodiments, the two oas 514 , 544 pass through the center of the sensitive areas of the respective sensors 512 , 542 , the sensitive surfaces of which are perpendicular to the oas 514 , 544 . as a result, the sensitive surface of sensor 542 is not parallel to the sensitive surface of sensor 512 . the angled oas 514 , 544 increase the total size of the work and make use of a larger portion of the sensitive surfaces of sensors 512 , 542 . in certain embodiments, the amounts that the axes 514 , 544 are rotated toward the system axis 504 are not equal. fig. 4c depicts a third exemplary optical design according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. in system 600 , the sensors 618 , 628 are offset outward by distances 618 , 628 , respectively, from the oas 611 , 621 that pass through the centers of lenses 610 , 620 . in certain embodiments, the sensitive surfaces of sensors 612 , 622 are parallel. in certain embodiments, the sensitive surfaces of sensors 612 , 622 are coplanar. the lines 614 , 616 define the paths of rays that will strike the outer edges of sensor 612 and therefore define fov 630 . similarly, lines 624 , 626 define the paths of rays that will strike the outer edges of sensor 622 and therefore define fov 632 . the area of overlap of fovs 630 , 632 define the working area 634 of system 600 . the area 634 is wider in the front, i.e. the edge towards the sensors 618 , 628 , and closer to the sensors 618 , 628 than the equivalent area of system 500 , i.e. without the offset of sensors 618 , 628 . the shape of work area 634 is much more useful than the triangular work area 130 of fig. 3 . although there is a loss of coverage of the outer, rear corners of work area 634 , this is generally not useful space in workcells. figs. 5a-5b depict an exemplary fixture 700 and its associated spatial envelope 750 according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. fixture 700 is a simplistic device, where a ball 701 is dropped into a funnel 712 , passes into the body 710 of the fixture 700 and is processed in some fashion, then exits through aperture 714 into a trough 720 and stops in position 701 a. a coordinate system 730 with three orthogonal axes x, y, z is defined for the fixture 700 . in certain embodiments, coordinate system 730 is also used to define the 3d positions of fiducials (not shown in fig. 5a ). if this fixture 700 were part of a robotic workcell, it would be desirable to have the robot drop the balls 701 into the funnel 712 and then remove the processed balls from location 701 a. fig. 5b depicts a spatial envelop 750 that is defined to genericize the interface of fixtures to a robot module, such as the robot module 200 of fig. 1 . first, a “keep-out” zone is defined in coordinate system 730 that encompasses the fixture 700 . this serves dual purposes, in that acceptance of a fixture may include a comparison to this envelope 752 , which would be provided to the fixture supplier in the procurement specifications, to ensure that the fixture is as designed. secondly, the processor that is controlling a robot arm, for example the robot arm 220 of fig. 1 , can compare the position of the end effector or other points on the arm to the volume of the keep-out zone and adjust the robot arm position and path to avoid entering the keep-out zone. the coordinates of the corners of the keep-out zone are defined in the coordinate system 730 and are included in the information stored in the memory of fixture 700 . the keep-out zone need not be a rectilinear solid and may have any form and include curves, protrusions, and cavities. these coordinates and characteristics of the keep-out zone may be downloaded, for example by the processor of electronics module 400 of fig. 1 , and passed to the processor controlling the robot arm 220 . the example envelope 750 also defines interaction points, e.g. an “input location” and an “output location” on the surface of the keep-out zones, as guidance for use of the fixture 700 , for example by robot module 200 . in this example, the input location is defined in two exemplary ways. first, a circular opening 754 is defined on the surface of the keep-out zone where the robot arm is to place an unprocessed ball 701 . the planar input location 754 is defined by location references 762 , 764 to the coordinate system 730 and diameter 758 . in some embodiments, the input location is defined as a volume 756 , wherein the robot arm is to place the ball 701 at any point within this volume 756 and then release the ball 701 . the volume 756 is defined by location references 762 , 764 to the coordinate system 730 as well as the height 760 and diameter 758 of the volume 756 . the output location is also shown in two exemplary ways. first, a circular exit 770 is defined on the surface of the keep-out zone 752 and located by locations references 774 , 776 and diameter 778 . an exit vector 772 is also defined to indicate the direction of motion of the ball 701 when it passes through the exit 770 . a second example of defining an output location is the final location 780 , which indicates the position 701 a from fig. 5a where the ball 701 will come to a stop. in some embodiments, an approach vector 782 is defined to indicate from what direction the end effector should approach the location 780 . the information about the characteristics of the input and output locations is also included in the information stored in the memory of fixture 700 and may be downloaded with the other information. other types of interaction points may be defined as appropriate for the purpose of the workcell and types of parts to be handled in the work cell. for example, multiple holding locations may be defined on a tray, each location designated as an interaction point. interaction points may depend on the status or content of a module, for example a tray may have a first set of interaction points for a first layer of parts that rest directly on the tray and a second set of interaction points for a second layer of parts that is stacked upon the first layer of parts and are only usable when the first layer of parts is in place. a tool may have loading and unloading interaction points, or a single interaction point that is both a loading and unloading location. defining the keep-out zone and input and output locations and vectors enables this information to be downloaded from the fixture 700 to a processor in the workcell that controls the robot arm so as to automate the programming of the robot arm to interact with fixture 700 . the information contained in the memory of fixture 700 comprises the 3d location of the fiducials, the characteristics of the keep-out zone, and the characteristics of the input and output locations and approach vectors as well as other information such as a fixture model, serial number, dates of manufacture or latest service, or any other fixture-related data. in certain embodiments, this information is stored in a defined data structure that is common to all fixtures. in certain embodiments, the information is provided as data pairs, the first data item being a data identifier for a particular parameter and the second data item being the value or values of that parameter. in certain embodiments, data may be stored according to any style of storage that enables retrieval and identification of the data elements in the memory. one of the advantages of providing information about the fixture in this generic way is that generic commands are sufficient to instruct the robot on how to interact with the fixture. for example, a command “place item in input location” is enough, when combined with the information from the fixture that defines the location of the fixture relative to the robot arm, the position of the input location, and the vector to be use to approach the input location, to cause the robot to place the item (which it presumably picked up in a previous step) in the desired input location of the fixture. this simplifies the programming and avoids having to program the workcell as to the precise location of the input location for this set-up. in some embodiments, the characteristics of a single type of fixture are stored as data set in a library that is available, for example, to the processor of electronics module 400 . this library may be resident in the memory of electronics module 400 , in the memory of robot module 200 , on a remote memory accessible by the processor of electronics module 400 over a network, or in any other storage location or medium where information can be stored and retrieved. each data set will have a unique identifier that is also stored in the memories of modules of that type of fixture. the processor need only retrieve the identifier from a fixture, and retrieve the data set associated with that type of fixture from the library. retrieval of the identifier may be by scanning a machine-readable code such as a barcode, observing a machine-readable code by one of the optical systems of camera module 100 and parsing that portion of the image, scanning a radio frequency identification (rfid) device, or through interaction with a processor or other electronic device over a wired or wireless communication link. in some embodiments, the library is available on a central server, for example a cloud-based data server, to which the processor can be communicatively coupled. in certain embodiments, the library is downloaded to a memory of the electronics module 400 and periodically updated as new fixtures are released. in certain embodiments, the library is stored on the computer 500 of fig. 1 . a module 700 may have only output locations. for example, a tray of parts may be provided to the work cell. in some embodiments, the tray may have a barcode label printed in a location visible to the camera module 100 . the memory of the electronics module 400 may include information about the size, shape, fiducial locations, and interaction points of the tray. after the position of the tray is determined by the system 10 and the information regarding access points and locations is transferred to the processor 270 , the processor 270 can then direct the robot arm 220 to remove parts from the tray. when the tray is empty, as will be known by the processor 270 after it has interacted with each of the interaction points of the tray, e.g. removed a part from each of the interaction points, the workcell 10 can signal for a new tray of parts to be provided, for example by sending a signal to another system to remove the empty tray and provide a new tray with parts. this application includes description that is provided to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. while the foregoing has described what are considered to be the best mode and/or other examples, it is understood that various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps or blocks in the processes disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches. based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps or blocks in the processes may be rearranged. the accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented. thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims. headings and subheadings, if any, are used for convenience only and do not limit the invention. reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” use of the articles “a” and “an” is to be interpreted as equivalent to the phrase “at least one.” unless specifically stated otherwise, the terms “a set” and “some” refer to one or more. terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “left,” “right,” “front,” “rear” and the like as used in this disclosure should be understood as referring to an arbitrary frame of reference, rather than to the ordinary gravitational frame of reference. thus, a top surface, a bottom surface, a front surface, and a rear surface may extend upwardly, downwardly, diagonally, or horizontally in a gravitational frame of reference without limiting their orientation in other frames of reference. although the relationships among various components are described herein and/or are illustrated as being orthogonal or perpendicular, those components can be arranged in other configurations in some embodiments. for example, the angles formed between the referenced components can be greater or less than 90 degrees in some embodiments. although various components are illustrated as being flat and/or straight, those components can have other configurations, such as curved or tapered for example, in some embodiments. pronouns in the masculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., her and its) and vice versa. all structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. no claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 u.s.c. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “operation for.” a phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect is essential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology. a disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. a phrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa. a phrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment is essential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies to all configurations of the subject technology. a disclosure relating to an embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments. a phrase such as an embodiment may refer to one or more embodiments and vice versa. the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example or illustration.” any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. all structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. no claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 u.s.c. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.” furthermore, to the extent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.
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016-681-944-552-054
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US
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"US"
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H01S3/083,H01S3/10,H01S3/102,H01S3/081,H01S5/02,H01S5/10,H01S5/14
| 2014-08-18T00:00:00 |
2014
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"H01"
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low noise, high power, multiple-microresonator based laser
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this invention provides ultra-low noise lasers with exceptional performance through the use of ultra-low loss microresonator based filters/reflectors including multiple (≧3) microresonator rings with different ring radii. the ultra-low loss microresonators provide a long effective laser cavity length enabling very narrow linewidth laser operation, with multiple (≧3) microresonators providing extremely high selectivity of the lasing mode over a very wide wavelength range; supporting single wavelength and widely tunable wavelength laser operation. the highly selective and also low loss filter/reflector supports high output power operation of the lasers.
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1 . a source of coherent radiation, comprising: an optical resonant cavity having at least one partially reflecting mirror for reflecting a part of radiation back inside the cavity and partially outputting a laser emission; the cavity incorporating at least a first, a second and a third ring resonators interconnected via buses; the first ring, the second ring and the third ring having different sets of resonant frequencies; and wherein one resonant frequency is common for all three rings. 2 . the source of claim 1 , further comprising a gain element providing spontaneous photons to initiate the radiation and amplify the radiation. 3 . the source of claim 2 , wherein the gain element being inserted inside the cavity. 4 . the source of claim 2 , wherein the gain element being inserted outside the cavity. 5 . the source of claim 1 , further comprising a phase control providing a single mode operation of the source. 6 . the source of claim 1 , further comprising an additional mirror forming the cavity with the partially reflecting mirror. 7 . the source of claim 1 , wherein the cavity is a sagnac loop and a coupler is installed after the partially reflecting mirror; the coupler splitting a waveguide coming from the mirror into two branches forming the sagnac loop. the source of claim 7 , further comprising a gain element being inserted prior to the coupler; and the partially reflecting mirror is deposited on an end of the gain element. 9 . the source of claim 1 , wherein each ring has its ring tuner for tuning sites of resonant frequencies of each ring. 10 . the source of claim 1 , further comprising a fourth ring connected to the third ring via an additional bus, the fourth ring having a set of frequencies being different from all sets of frequencies for the first, the second and the third rings, and the fourth ring having one frequency common with all three other rings. 11 . a method to produce laser emission, comprising: generating spontaneous radiation in a cavity; filtering the radiation by passing through at least three rings having different sets of resonant frequencies; wherein one resonant frequency is common for all three rings; partially reflecting the radiation from at least one reflecting surface back to the cavity and partially outputting a laser emission. 12 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the rings are connected via buses. 13 . the method of claim 12 , wherein the rings are inserted in the cavity, which is a sagnac loop. 14 . a source of coherent radiation, comprising: an optical resonant cavity in a form of a loop; the cavity incorporating at least a first, a second and a third ring resonators interconnected via buses; the first ring, the second ring and the third ring having different sets of resonant frequencies; and wherein one resonant frequency is common for all three rings; wherein the loop incorporates a coupler; the coupler having four ports; the loop being connected to the coupler via two ports; and two other ports serving to output a laser emission. 15 . the source of claim 14 , further comprising a gain element for generating a spontaneous radiation and amplifying the radiation. 16 . the source of claim 15 , further comprising a phase control providing a single mode operation of the source. 17 . the source of claim 16 , further comprising tuners at each ring. 18 . the source of claim 17 , further comprising an optical isolator in the loop.
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cross-reference to related applications this patent application claims priority to the u.s. provisional patent application no. 62/038,428 filed on aug. 18, 2014. field of invention this invention relates to high performance fiber optic and free-space communications systems, and optical sensing systems. background the device concepts are based on the use of microresonator rings as the filter elements within a laser cavity, either as part of a reflector at one or both ends of a linear laser cavity, or part of the filter within a ring laser cavity. these laser cavity designs have been used previously with optical microresonator rings forming the filters/reflectors; in these previous cases the devices used a maximum of two microresonators with different ring circumferences, placed in series to provide the filter function, this filter function having limitations leading to reduced laser performance; relatively large linewidth, low output power, poor relative intensity noise (rin), and limited mode selectivity. previous tunable laser designs based on ring reflectors in a linear cavity, using a iii-v monolithic semiconductor platform such as “full c-band tuning operation of semiconductor double-ring resonator-coupled laser with low tuning current” by t. segawa et al, ieee photonics technology letters, 19, pages 1322-1324, 2007, and “microring-resonator-based widely tunable lasers”, by s. matsuo et al, ieee journal of selected topics in quantum electronics, 15, pages 545 to 554, 2009, or using a silicon photonics platform such as “compact, lower-power-consumption wavelength tunable laser fabricated with silicon photonic-wire waveguide micro-ring resonators”, by t. chu t et el, optics express, 17, pages 14063 to 14068, 2009, and “25 khz narrow spectral bandwidth of a wavelength tunable diode laser with a short waveguide-based external cavity”, by r. m. oldenbeuving et al, laser physics letters, 10, 015804, 2013, utilized a reflector incorporating two microresonator rings with slightly different circumference, and therefore different free spectral range (fsr). these two microresonator rings are tuned using a vernier approach; one resonance from each ring is aligned to provide a small pass band through the combined filter, all other wavelengths within the gain bandwidth of the gain element being blocked. a ring-cavity laser, also using two microresonator rings and the vernier effect for tuning, described in “widely tunable vernier ring laser on hybrid silicon”, by j. c. kulme et al, optics express, 21, pages 19718 to 19722, 2013, was fabricated using heterogeneous integration on a silicon photonics platform. a schematic and picture of the monolithically integrated iii-v laser by matsuo is shown in fig. 1 , with the version more recently developed using silicon nitride (si 3 n 4 ) waveguides on an sal substrate and an external gain chip, by oldenbeuving, shown in fig. 2( a ); the power reflectivity of the reflector in this device is shown in fig. 2( b ), the iii-v based device in fig. 1 used the facets on both sides of the laser for reflectors, with the two microresonator rings filtering the signal passing though them in a double pass scheme. the device in fig. 2 ( a ) had an external gain chip, and achieved reasonable results; c-band tenability, <25 khz linewidth, and 50 db side mode suppression ratio (smsr), however, the output power of the laser was very low, only 1 mw. the 50 db smsr, while typical for this and other reported devices, and for distributed feedback (dfb) lasers, indicates too high a value for the rin of the device for use in rf photonics and other high performance applications, as the rin of a laser is directly proportional to its smsr value. an smsr of ˜70 db can be seen in lasers with very low rin. the designed reflector response for the device in fig. 2( a ) is shown in fig. 2( b ); this reflector has insufficient suppression of reflections from the non-lasing cavity modes to obtain ultra-low noise operation. one group of previous works utilized two small veguide based microresonator rings with different fsr, e.g. iii-v or silicon microresonators, to provide the correct mode selectivity for singlemode lasing; the smaller the rings the higher the fsr, and the higher overall mode selectivity. tunable lasers that covered the c-band (1535-1565 nm) were fabricated, however, the relatively high optical loss of silicon or iii-v waveguides, especially when used in small microresonators (radii of ˜10 microns), e.g. 2 to 4 db/cm for silicon, gave rise to lossy filters/reflectors, and therefore short effective cavity lengths—which do not provide the required narrow linewidth operation and high power needed for advanced systems. the small microresonators are also operated with high q, providing very high power density within the rings—leading to self-heating (and changing the ring resonance frequency) and also nonlinear effects within the rings. this limits the possible power levels at which these devices can operate. a lower loss waveguide/microresonator material, si 3 n 4 was used in prior art, where the dual ring microresonator based reflector was coupled to a semiconductor gain chip to form the external cavity laser (ecl) through hybrid integration. reasonable results were found, but again, by using two microresonator rings and the vernier effect in the reflector, using low but not ultra-low loss waveguides/microresonators, devices had limited mode selectivity, had low output power and relatively large linewidth. there is a need for an increase in the effective cavity length of laser devices, while at the same time keeping optical losses low and mode selectivity high over a wide wavelength range, in order to overcome current limitations in laser devices which do not provide sufficiently narrow linewidth operation while also providing high output power and low rin. there is a need for lasers with this high performance that can operate at a specific wavelength, or be able to be broadly tunable over a wide wavelength range. summary this invention is a novel concept for creating a low noise and high power tunable or fixed wavelength laser. the concept is applicable to both an integrated laser (monolithic or heterogeneously integrated), or a hybrid integrated version using a filter/reflector and separate gain chip. low noise includes narrow linewidth operation, e.g. 10 khz down to 10 hz, to support high performance optical communication systems and fiber sensing systems, and also low rin operation, e.g. <−155 db/hz, again, as required for high performance optical systems. high power is required for use in high performance systems without the need for optical amplification, or for limited booster amplification, with power levels from e.g. 20 mw up to 200 mw being required. operating wavelengths can include a very wide range, based only upon the availability of semiconductor (or other) gain elements and optical waveguides/filters/reflectors with very low loss, ranging from ultraviolet (uv) e.g. 250 nm out to many microns, e.g. >10 microns. the laser of the present invention has a cavity with at least three microring resonators interconnected via buses; all microrings have different sets of resonant frequencies; and one resonant frequency is common for all three rings. brief description of drawings fig. 1 ( a ) related art by matsuo showing the laser structure design fabricated monolithically of iii-v semiconductors which include two microresonators (r 1 and r 2 ) with different ring radii, using the vernier approach to provide mode selectivity. fig. 2 related art by oldenbeuving, showing (a) the laser structure design—both the complete device and a zoom-in view of the reflector structure, which include two microresonators with different ring radii, and (b) the calculated reflection spectrum of the 2 microresonator design—showing an fsr of 44 nm, a secondary mode reflection power of 0.63 (for a suppression of the 2 modes of 2 db), and a peak reflection bandwidth of 0.51 nm (64 ghz). fig. 3 schematic of the 3 microresonator ring linear cavity laser design fig. 4 calculated power reflection spectrum for a 3 ring laser reflector using low loss si 3 n 4 waveguides and ring radii of 100, 108 and 133 microns. fig. 5 calculated power reflection spectra for a 3 ring laser reflector using ultra-low loss si 3 n 4 waveguides and ring radii of 1.0 mm, 1.00332 mm, and 1.07443 mm (ring radii resonance frequencies chosen to align near 1550 nm). (a) shows the broad spectrum, (b) shows a closer look at the central and close in reflection peaks, and (c) shows a zoom in view of the central reflection peak. fig. 6 measured reflection spectra of a fabricated ultra-low loss 3 ring reflector device. (a) shows the broad spectrum, (b) shows a closer look at the central and close in reflection peaks, and (c) shows the tunability of the reflector—with multiple reflection spectra superimposed upon each other showing tunability across the full c-band (1530 nm to 1565 nm). fig. 7 schematic of the 4 microresonator ring linear cavity laser design. fig. 8 calculated power reflection spectra for a 4 ring laser reflector using ultra-low loss si 3 n 4 waveguides and ring radii of 1.0 mm, 1.00332 mm, 1.09829 mm and 1.22503 mm (ring radii resonance frequencies chosen to align near 1550 nm). (a) shows the broad spectrum, (b) shows a closer look at the central and close in reflection peaks, and (c) shows a zoom in view of the central reflection peak. fig. 9 schematic of a ring laser cavity utilizing 3 rings in the filter design. fig. 10 schematic of a linear cavity design with reflective coatings on both ends of the laser cavity and one 3 ring filter in a double pass configuration. fig. 11 schematic of a linear cavity design with reflective coatings on both ends of the laser cavity and two filters, one on each side of the gain element in a double pass configuration, each filter incorporating 2 rings (4 rings total in laser cavity). detailed description the concept proposed in this patent application takes advantage of ultra-low loss optical waveguides and microresonator rings, e.g. by utilizing large radii microresonator rings fabricated with ultra-low loss si 3 n 4 or other materials. the total loss of a microresonator (in db/cm) varies with radius, by using different waveguide designs optimized for each radius. a straight waveguide can provide the lowest loss, the design optimized for very low optical confinement, however, these waveguides have significant losses when a bend or a ring is made of the waveguide. different waveguide materials and designs have losses that vary versus ring radius, and so the optimum waveguide design and ring radius depends on the required waveguide loss—examples of low loss si 3 n 4 waveguide designs and losses were previously described. by moving to lower loss microresonator rings, longer effective laser cavity lengths can be obtained, providing very low linewidth laser operation. longer cavity lengths require lower loss (per cm) so that the reflector peak reflectivity is still high, and so that it does not absorb significant light and self-heat. larger microresonator rings have a lower power density for the same filter bandwidth, and therefore limit or eliminate nonlinear effects. however, as the radii of the microresonator rings increase, it becomes more difficult and eventually impossible to provide mode selectivity for singlemode operation with only two microresonators of different fsr using the vernier effect. previous attempts to make microresonator based lasers have therefore focused on using smaller radii in order to increase mode selectivity, trading device performance. in the approach of the current invention, large ring radii are used, in order to provide very low linewidth operation with high output power, with the mode selectivity issue being solved by adding one or more additional ring with different ring circumference to the filter/reflector—expanding on the two ring vernier effect to a 3 ring, 4 ring or higher number of rings based filter. in a linear cavity laser design, modeling at morton photonics showed that the use of 3 microresonator rings made with low loss (e.g. 0.2 db/cm) si 3 n 4 waveguides, with 3 different and appropriately large radii (as required to achieve this low loss in these microresonators), significantly improves the selectivity of a single mode in the laser cavity, compared to a two microresonator design. a schematic of one embodiment of a 3 microresonator based low noise laser source 100 is shown in fig. 3 , in which an optical signal 195 at a single wavelength is created through the combination of the gain element 110 and the mode selection achieved in the laser cavity. the laser cavity is comprised of a broadband reflective coating 120 at one end of the gain element that is chosen to be less than 100% reflective in order to provide the laser output signal 195 , plus a sagnac loop reflector that creates the other end of the linear laser cavity, the sagnac loop reflector being comprised of 3 ring optical waveguides ( 150 , 151 and 152 ) with different ring radii (and therefore different fsr) interconnected with bus waveguides 160 and 161 —the loop reflector providing a long effective cavity length plus the required mode selectivity. the gain element 110 is connected to the optical waveguide of the laser cavity 130 either directly for a monolithic (e.g. silicon photonics based) device, or through hybrid integration (e.g. with a lens) for a hybrid integrated laser. the sagnac loop comprises a coupler 140 , either a 2×2 directional coupler as shown in fig. 3 , or alternative coupler designs. in the preferred embodiment, a 50%/50% coupler is used to split the optical power coming from the gain element into the two optical waveguides ( 132 and 133 ) leaving the coupler 140 , which pass through a phase control element 191 and the 3 ring optical waveguides 150 , 151 and 152 , before being re-combined at the coupler to complete the sagnac loop and provide a wavelength selective reflector for the laser cavity with all of the energy reflected back to the gain element. if a different splitting ratio is achieved, either by design or by utilizing a tunable coupler for 140 , an output can be taken from the 4 th waveguide of the coupler 140 , i.e. the optical waveguide 131 . anti-reflection waveguide ends 180 (e.g. waveguides tapered down to a zero width over a long length) are added to the ends of all unused optical waveguides to avoid optical reflections at those waveguide ends from degrading the reflection response of the sagnac loop based wavelength selective optical reflector. the resonance frequencies of each of the 3 ring optical waveguides 150 , 151 , 152 , can be independently tuned using ring tuners 170 , 171 and 172 respectively. the phase control element 190 controls the laser cavity phase in order to control the exact wavelength of the lasing mode relative to the reflector peak wavelength. the sagnac loop reflector phase control 191 , together with the resonance frequency ring tuners of the 3 rings 170 , 171 , and 172 are used to control the peak reflection wavelength of the sagnac loop based reflector. the wavelength of the laser is chosen by aligning all of the ring optical wavelengths near the desired optical wavelength, then setting the reflector phase and cavity phase to place the optical cavity mode at the desired wavelength relative to the reflector peaks; laser linewidth and sin depend on the exact tuning between the reflector peak and the laser mode wavelength, e.g. lower linewidth being achieved by moving the lasing mode to the long wavelength side of the reflection peak. using larger ring radii also reduces the required q factor of a reflector/filter design, and therefore increases the high power capability of the design. as an example, fig. 4 shows the simulated power reflectivity of a reflector made from the combination of 3 microresonators, using ring radii of 100, 108 and 133 microns; this 3 ring design provides significantly more suppression of sidemodes, of almost 30 db, compared to the two microresonator design shown in fig. 2 , which, using radii of 50 and 55 microns showed only 2 db of mode suppression. in the reflection spectra in figs. 2 and 4 , the microresonator resonances are aligned at the center wavelength, and then from differences in ring circumference and therefore their fsr, the ring resonances are misaligned at other wavelengths. in fig. 4 , each microresonator is designed with a −3db bandwidth of 4 ghz, from the choice of coupling coefficient. the black lines show the combined response of the 3 microresonators (each of the responses multiplied together), plotted on a log scale, by comparison, the simulated reflector response shown in fig. 2( b ) showed sidemodes of the reflector at a reflectivity as high as 0.63 compared to the main reflection, or only 2 db suppression. using this 3 microresonator approach with ultra-low loss si 3 n 4 waveguide designs that provide significantly lower loss, e.g. 10× lower loss, or 0.02 db/cm, at significantly larger ring radii (≧1 mm), it is possible to obtain good mode suppression over a very wide range of wavelengths, while at the same time providing a very narrow filter bandwidth, a longer effective cavity length; and therefore much lower laser linewidth, while keeping the reflector loss low enough to support high power operation. an example of the combination reflection spectrum of a reflector using 3 ring radii close to 1 mm radius (1 mm, 1.00332 mm and 1.07443 mm) is shown in fig. 5 , with fig. 5( a ) showing the spectrum over a very wide wavelength range, fig. 5( b ) for a narrower wavelength/frequency range around the central reflection peak, and fig. 5( c ) showing a zoomed in region around the reflection peak. these spectra show a very wide wavelength range with good mode selectivity, i.e. >130 nm (which could support a very broadband; e.g. >50 nm, tunable laser), together with around 17 db of suppression of the next largest reflection, a reflection full width at half maximum (fwhm) of only 0.4 ghz, and an effective length for the reflector of 67 mm—which would provide a schawlow townes linewidth for the laser of ˜50 hz at only 10 mw of output power. experimental measurements of the first fabricated ultra-low loss reflectors are shown in fig. 6 ; these devices were based on the design used for the modeled results in fig. 5 . the reflection spectra for a 3 ring reflector show the suppression of additional potential lasing modes over an extended wavelength range (>120 nm) in fig. 6( a ), with a plot over a more narrow wavelength range in fig. 6( b ) showing the expected close in reflection peak structure. fig. 6( c ) shows a superposition of multiple measurements of reflection spectra taken with the reflector tuned to different wavelengths—showing tunability beyond the c-band (1530 nm to 1565 nm) wavelength range. the measurement spectra in fig. 6 confirm the operation of the 3 ring reflector design described in this invention. as the chosen microresonator radius is increased further in order to lower the loss, the selectivity of the filter structure becomes insufficient to choose only one lasing mode within the broad bandwidth of the gain element (also allowing for the laser to be tunable), even when using 3 microresonators with different and optimized circumferences, in which case the filter structure can be increased to include 4 microresonators—and the different circumferences of the 4 microresonators then optimized using the ‘modified vernier’ effect, to provide the overall required filter function; feedback at only one wavelength over a wide wavelength range (e.g. >130 nm), high suppression of all other potential lasing modes (e.g. >15 db), narrow bandwidth and long effective cavity length for very narrow linewidth operation (e.g. ghz or sub-ghz bandwidth, multiple cm cavity length) and low total filter loss (e.g. <2 db). a schematic of one embodiment of a 4 microresonator ring based low noise laser source 200 is shown in fig. 7 , in which an optical signal 295 at a single wavelength is created through the combination of the gain element 210 and the mode selection achieved in the laser cavity. the laser cavity is comprised of the broadband reflective coating 220 at one end of the gain element that is chosen to be less than 100% reflective in order to provide the laser output signal 295 , plus the sagnac loop reflector that creates the other end of the linear laser cavity, the sagnac loop reflector being comprised of 4 ring optical waveguides ( 250 , 251 , 252 and 253 ) with different ring radii (and therefore different fsr) interconnected with bus waveguides 260 , 261 and 262 —the loop reflector providing a long effective cavity length plus the required mode selectivity. the gain element 210 is connected to the optical waveguide of the laser cavity 230 either directly for a monolithic (e.g. silicon photonics based) device, or through hybrid integration (e.g. with a lens) for a hybrid integrated laser. the sagnac loop comprises a coupler 240 , either a 2×2 directional coupler as shown in fig. 3 , or alternative coupler designs. in the preferred embodiment, a 50%/50% coupler is used to split the optical power coming from the gain element into the two optical waveguides 232 and 233 , which pass through a phase control element 291 and the 4 ring optical waveguides 250 , 251 , 252 and 253 , before being re-combined at the coupler to complete the sagnac loop and provide a wavelength selective reflector for the laser cavity with all of the energy reflected back to the gain element. if a different splitting ratio is achieved, either by design or by utilizing a tunable coupler for 240 , an output can be taken from the waveguide of the coupler, i.e. the optical waveguide 231 . anti-reflection waveguide ends 280 (e.g. waveguides tapered down to a zero width over a long length) are added to the ends of all unused optical waveguides to avoid optical reflections at those waveguide ends from degrading the reflection response of the sagnac loop based wavelength selective optical reflector. the resonance frequencies of each of the 4 ring optical waveguides 250 , 251 , 252 and 253 , can be independently tuned using ring tuners 270 , 271 , 272 and 273 respectively. the phase control element 290 controls the laser cavity phase in order to control the exact wavelength of the lasing mode relative to the reflector peak wavelength. the sagnac loop reflector phase control 291 , together with the resonance frequency ring tuners of the 4 rings 270 , 271 , 272 and 273 are used to control the peak reflection wavelength of the sagnac loop based reflector. the wavelength of the laser is chosen by aligning all of the ring optical wavelengths near the desired optical wavelength, then aligning the reflector phase and cavity phase to place the optical cavity mode at the desired wavelength relative to the reflector peaks. an example of the reflection spectra from a 4 microresonator ring based reflector, with ring radii close to 1 mm radius (1 mm, 1,00332 mm, 1.09829 and 1,22503 mm) is shown in fig. 8 ; here the 4 th microresonator is used to allow high mode suppression, >20 db over a wide wavelength range, while providing a wider bandwidth (0.9 ghz), lower effective cavity length (47 mm), however, also higher peak reflectivity, the 4 th microresonator therefore can provide additional freedom in the optimization of different laser reflector parameters, depending on the chosen laser application and required performance. the total number of microresonator rings, each with a different circumference and therefore different fsr, can be increased as necessary to provide the required filter function, as well as each microresonator circumference optimized. the microresonators can be ring shaped, racetrack shaped, or any arbitrary shape that has the same overall effect of a looped waveguide. the downside to increasing the number of microresonators too far is the need to tune the resonance frequency of each microresonator to obtain the correct filter function, which becomes more difficult as the number of microresonators increases. additionally, the design process for a higher number of microresonators can become more difficult—however, this design process can be optimized numerically. a ring laser structure is good for low noise laser designs because it does not include any laser facets (cavity end reflections), so that for unidirectional oscillation the ring eliminates standing waves and therefore spatial hole-burning effects. additionally, the ring design is far less susceptible to residual optical reflections within the laser cavity that would provide parasitic fabry-perot modes with the large facet reflections in a linear laser design. using a monolithic integrated or heterogeneously integrated approach, where the gain element is fabricated along with the waveguides and microresonators, a ring laser can be fabricated utilizing the microresonator based filters described previously for the linear cavity, but with the filters used in pass through mode rather than as a reflector. a schematic for one embodiment of an ultra low noise ring laser 300 is shown in fig. 9 , which utilizes similar components to the 3 ring laser in fig. 3 , however, arranged in a ring cavity rather than a linear cavity. the gain element 310 is part of the ring cavity together with a 3 ring wavelength selective filter for mode selectivity and to extend the cavity length, plus a phase control element 390 to control the lasing mode, and a coupler 330 to couple part of the optical signal out of the ring cavity. the gain element 310 is coupled to waveguide 321 , through an optional optical isolator 395 , through a phase control element 390 , then through the 3 rings of the filter 340 , 341 and 342 , using interconnecting bus waveguides 350 and 351 , into the optical waveguide 322 and through the output coupler 330 , before completing the ring with optical waveguide 320 into the other end of the gain element 310 . the resonance frequencies of the 3 ring optical waveguides are controlled by the 3 ring tuners 360 , 361 and 362 . anti-reflection waveguide ends 370 (e.g. waveguides tapered down to a zero width over a long length) are added to the ends of all unused optical waveguides to avoid optical reflections at those waveguide ends from degrading the response of the wavelength selective optical filter. the ring laser operating without an optical isolator will have two counter-propagating optical signals, which are coupled out of the ring cavity by the coupler 330 , through the 2 optical waveguides 323 and 324 , to provide the counter-clockwise (ccw) laser output 380 and the clockwise (cw) laser output 381 . one option for a ring laser, as shown in fig. 9 , includes an isolator 395 within the ring to ensure single direction lasing; appropriate isolators integrated with silicon photonics waveguides and microresonators have been demonstrated, such as described in “the on-chip integration of magnetooptic waveguide isolators” by m. levy, ieee journal of selected topics in quantum electron ics, 8, pages 1300 to 1306, 2002. the ring laser can be designed using ultra-low loss waveguides to create devices with 3 microresonators, 4 microresonators, or more, as required to obtain the required mode selectivity and laser performance. without an isolator within the ring cavity, the device will tend to operate with two lasing modes, one in each ring direction, due to the symmetry of the device. this dual output (in opposite ring direction) operation is very useful in certain applications, in particular for fabricating a ring laser based gyroscope. using this approach it will be possible to integrate the entire ring laser based gyroscope device, including combining the two outputs in an integrated detector to create the beat frequency (related to the rotation of the device), in a single photonic integrated circuit (pic) device. using ultra-low loss integrated waveguides, the ring structure can be extended through many spirals of the waveguide to increase the gyroscope sensitivity. the linear laser designs shown in figs. 3 and 7 use the microresonator rings in a sagnac configuration, providing feedback from the combined 3 or 4 ring sagnac loop based wavelength selective reflector. an alternative cavity configuration that has a reflective coating at both ends of a linear cavity, eliminating the sagnac loop, is used in the two laser designs shown in figs. 10 and 11 . in fig. 10 , a 3 ring filter is used with a reflective coating placed after the third ring to provide an ultra low noise laser with a linear cavity and double pass 3 ring filter configuration 500 . the overall effect is a filter function produced from the 3 ring responses, each with a different fsr, the filter function being utilized twice within a single pass around the laser cavity. the gain element 510 has a broadband reflective coating on one end 520 , through which the output 590 can be taken (depending on the reflectivity of the reflective coating 520 ), while the other side of the gain element is connected to optical waveguide 530 , through the phase control element 580 to the 3 ring filter. the 3 ring wavelength selective filter is comprised of ring optical waveguides 540 , 541 and 542 , interconnected by bus waveguides 550 and 551 ; the top ring 542 being connected to an optical waveguide 531 leading to a reflective coating 521 that forms the second end of the laser cavity—through which the laser output 591 can be taken (depending on the reflectivity of the reflective coating 521 ). the broadband reflective coating 521 reflects light back into the laser cavity, through the 3 ring wavelength selective filter, taking a second pass through this filter, before passing back through the phase control section 580 and optical waveguide 530 back to the gain element 510 . the resonance frequencies of the 3 ring optical waveguides are controlled by the 3 ring tuners 560 , 561 and 562 . anti-reflection waveguide ends 570 (e.g. waveguides tapered down to a zero width over a long length) are added to the ends of all unused optical waveguides to avoid optical reflections at those waveguide ends from degrading the response of the wavelength selective optical filter. the laser output can be taken from either end (or both ends) of the laser cavity by selecting appropriate reflective coating values 520 and 521 , the values reduced from 100% to provide the laser output. fig. 11 shows an alternative linear cavity arrangement with reflective coatings at both ends of the cavity, in which a microresonator ring filter is placed on either side of the gain element; in this case a 2 ring filter is placed on either side of the gain element, each of the 4 rings in the laser cavity having a different fsr. this low noise linear laser with 2 dual pass ring filters 600 is similar to the design in fig. 10 , however, having ring optical waveguides on both sides of the gain element—in this case 2 rings on the left 640 and 641 , and two rings on the right 642 and 643 , these 4 rings providing double pass filtering during one laser cavity round trip, with 4 different ring radii utilized. any number of rings (≧3) can be utilized in the two linear cavity double pass filter designs shown in figs. 10 and 11 , with rings on one or both sides of the gain element, having either an equal or an unequal number of rings on each side of the gain element. in fig. 11 the gain element 610 is connected to optical waveguides 621 and 622 , each connected to a 2 ring filter 640 / 641 , and 642 / 643 , which are interconnected by bus waveguides 650 and 651 , before connecting to optical waveguides with a reflective coating; 620 / 680 , and 623 / 681 , providing respective optical outputs 690 and 691 (depending on the reflectivity of the reflective coatings). the cavity phase is controlled by phase control element 630 , and the 4 ring optical waveguides 640 - 643 have their resonance frequencies tuned by ring tuners 660 - 663 respectively. anti-reflection waveguide ends 670 (e.g. waveguides tapered down to a zero width over a long length) are added to the ends of all unused optical waveguides to avoid optical reflections at those waveguide ends from degrading the response of the two wavelength selective optical filters. the laser output can be taken from either end (or both ends) of the laser cavity by selecting appropriate reflective coating values 680 and 681 , the values reduced from 100% to provide the laser output. the microresonator rings in the laser designs, as well as the phase control elements (see figs. 3 , 7 , 9 , 10 and 11 ) are each tuned to control either the resonance frequency of the microresonator ring, or the reflector or cavity phase with the phase control elements. tuning can be accomplished by a number of mechanisms, e.g. thermal tuning of the waveguide index by placing a heater near to the waveguide structure of the relevant component (microresonator or waveguide), or electro-stress tuning of the waveguide index using lead zirconate titanate (pzt) or other transducers, liquid crystal based waveguide index tuning, micro-electro-mechanical system (mems) based physical tuning of the waveguide geometry, or other relevant mechanisms to tune the resonance frequency of the microresonator and optical phase of the phase control sections. the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
|
017-301-973-071-064
|
KR
|
[
"EP",
"JP",
"WO",
"KR",
"CN",
"US",
"ES"
] |
B05B11/00,B05B15/00,B65D83/00,B05C17/005,B05C5/02,B65D47/42,A45D34/04,B05B11/04
| 2018-03-16T00:00:00 |
2018
|
[
"B05",
"B65",
"A45"
] |
liquid discharging vessel
|
the present invention relates to a liquid discharging vessel (1) including: a pump (60) for discharging content; an application tip (30) descended to operate the pump (60); and a nozzle (40) exposed upwardly from the application tip (30) when the application tip (30) is descended and having an outlet adapted to discharge the content to top of the application tip (30), the outlet (411) being closed by the application tip (30) ascended.
|
a liquid discharging vessel comprising: a pump for discharging content; an application tip descended to operate the pump; and a nozzle exposed upwardly from the application tip when the application tip is descended and having an outlet adapted to discharge the content to top of the application tip, the outlet being closed by the application tip ascended. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 1, wherein the top of the application tip is a downwardly inclined surface as the top becomes distant from the outlet. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 1, wherein the top of the application tip is an upwardly inclined surface as the top becomes distant from the outlet. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 1, wherein the application tip comprises a button located on a lower side thereof in such a manner as to seat a user's finger thereonto. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 1, wherein the application tip comprises a metal or ceramic material. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 1, further comprising a guide wall disposed between the application tip and the nozzle to guide relative ascending and descending operations of the nozzle to the application tip. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 6, wherein a guide slot is formed on any one of the guide wall and one surface of the nozzle facing the guide wall, and a guide protrusion is formed on the other, so that the relative ascending and descending operations of the nozzle to the application tip is guided by means of the guide wall. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 1, further comprising: a vessel body open on one side thereof and storing the content; and a shoulder coupled to one side open of the vessel body in such a manner as to be connected to the nozzle and to ascendably and descendably seat the application tip thereonto. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 8, wherein the pump comprises: a housing coupled to one side open of the vessel body; a hollow stem ascended and descended in the housing and having an inlet formed on one side thereof; a seal cap coming into close contact with an inner peripheral wall of the housing in such a manner as to open and close the inlet of the stem; and an ascending and descending part for descending the stem by means of the descending operation of the application tip. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 9, wherein the ascending and descending part has a tip coupling member inserted into the application tip, and when the application tip is primarily descended, the outlet of the nozzle is exposed to the outside, while, when the application tip is secondarily descended, the application tip pushing the ascending and descending part downwardly to allow the stem to be descended. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 9, wherein the pump further comprises a hollow shaft disposed between the ascending and descending part and the stem in such a manner as to descend the seal cap. the liquid discharging vessel according to claim 9, wherein the nozzle comprises a flow path for transferring the content from an interior thereof and having the outlet formed on the end thereof, the flow path communicating with the interior of the housing or being isolated from the interior of the housing as the inlet is open or closed.
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background of the invention cross reference to related application of the invention the present application claims the benefit of korean patent application no. 10-2018-0030938 filed in the korean intellectual property office on march 16, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. field of the invention the present invention relates to a liquid discharging vessel, and more particularly, to a liquid discharging vessel that is provided with a nozzle that is relatively ascended and descended with respect to an application tip and has an outlet for discharging content stored therein, so that while the application tip is being used, contamination of the content due to introduction of foreign matters into the outlet of the nozzle can be prevented. background of the related art generally, materials like cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and so on are stored in vessels having various shapes according to their purposes, ingredients, and viscosity. for example, if such material is liquid and has relative high viscosity, it is stored in a tube-shaped vessel or a pumping vessel. at this time, the tube-shaped vessel has an outlet, and it is compressed by a user's hand to discharge a small quantity of content from the outlet, so that the discharged content is transferred to the user's application portion. contrarily, the pumping vessel also has an outlet, and if a button located on the pumping vessel is pressed by the user, content is discharged from the outlet and is then consumed. unlike the above-mentioned application manners, the outlet itself of the tube-shaped vessel or the pumping vessel comes into direct contact with the user's application portion, and for example, an application tip is disposed on the outlet of the vessel, so that the application tip to which the content is discharged rubs against the user's application portion to allow the content to be transferred to the user. at this time, the application tip may be made of various materials according to the use purposes and functions of the content, and for example, the application tip is made of synthetic resin. further, the application tip is made of rubber so as to provide soft touch, or it is made of metal so as to provide cool touch. by the way, the conventional vessel having the application tip has the outlet formed on top of the application tip, and in a process where the application tip rubs against the user's application portion, accordingly, foreign matters may be introduced into the outlet formed on the application tip. in case of the conventional vessel, advantageously, there is no need to transfer the content to the user's hand, but as the outlet formed on top of the application tip is exposed to the outside, the content may be contaminated. summary of the invention accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid discharging vessel that has a nozzle relatively ascended and descended with respect to an application tip and having an outlet for discharging content stored therein, so that as a state where the outlet of the nozzle is always exposed to the outside is avoided, the introduction of foreign matters into the outlet of the nozzle is prevented. it is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid discharging vessel that is capable of transferring content stored therein and at the same time performing skin massage, through an application tip, and that does not allow an outlet for discharging the content to be exposed to the outside above top of the application tip, so that contamination of the content is prevented and the top of the application tip is kept clean. to accomplish the above-mentioned objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a liquid discharging vessel including: a pump for discharging content; an application tip descended to operate the pump; and a nozzle exposed upwardly from the application tip when the application tip is descended and having an outlet adapted to discharge the content to top of the application tip, the outlet being closed by the application tip ascended. according to the present invention, desirably, the top of the application tip is a downwardly inclined surface as the top becomes distant from the outlet. according to the present invention, desirably, the top of the application tip is an upwardly inclined surface as the top becomes distant from the outlet. according to the present invention, desirably, the application tip includes a button located on a lower side thereof in such a manner as to seat a user's finger thereonto. according to the present invention, desirably, the application tip is made of a metal or ceramic material. according to the present invention, desirably, the liquid discharging vessel further includes a guide wall disposed between the application tip and the nozzle to guide relative ascending and descending operations of the nozzle to the application tip. according to the present invention, desirably, a guide slot is formed on any one of the guide wall and one surface of the nozzle facing the guide wall, and a guide protrusion is formed on the other, so that the relative ascending and descending operations of the nozzle to the application tip is guided by means of the guide wall. according to the present invention, desirably, the liquid discharging vessel further includes: a vessel body open on one side thereof and storing the content; and a shoulder coupled to one side open of the vessel body in such a manner as to be connected to the nozzle and to ascendably and descendably seat the application tip thereonto. according to the present invention, desirably, the pump includes: a housing coupled to one side open of the vessel body; a hollow stem ascended and descended in the housing and having an inlet formed on one side thereof; a seal cap coming into close contact with an inner peripheral wall of the housing in such a manner as to open and close the inlet of the stem; and an ascending and descending part for descending the stem by means of the descending operation of the application tip. according to the present invention, desirably, the ascending and descending part has a tip coupling member inserted into the application tip, and when the application tip is primarily descended, the outlet of the nozzle is exposed to the outside, while, when the application tip is secondarily descended, the application tip pushing the ascending and descending part downwardly to allow the stem to be descended. according to the present invention, desirably, the pump further includes a hollow shaft disposed between the ascending and descending part and the stem in such a manner as to descend the seal cap. according to the present invention, desirably, the nozzle includes a flow path for transferring the content from an interior thereof and having the outlet formed on the end thereof, the flow path communicating with the interior of the housing or being isolated from the interior of the housing as the inlet is open or closed. brief description of the drawings the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: fig.1 is a perspective view showing a liquid discharging vessel according to a first embodiment of the present invention; fig.2 is an exploded perspective view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention; fig.3 is a sectional view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention; figs.4a to 4d are front views showing various types of liquid discharging vessels according to the first embodiment of the present invention; fig.5 is a perspective view showing an open state of an outlet in the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention; fig.6 is a sectional view showing the open state of the outlet in the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention; fig.7 is a perspective view showing a liquid discharging vessel according to a second embodiment of the present invention; figs.8a to 8c are front views showing various types of liquid discharging vessels according to the second embodiment of the present invention; figs.9a to 9c are perspective views showing the various types of liquid discharging vessels according to the second embodiment of the present invention; fig.10 is an exploded perspective view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention; fig.11 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention; figs.12a to 12c are sectional views showing the various types of liquid discharging vessels according to the second embodiment of the present invention; fig.13 is a sectional views showing a use state of the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention; fig.14 is a sectional views showing another use state of the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention; fig.15 is a sectional views showing yet another use state of the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and fig.16 is a sectional views showing still another use state of the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention. detailed description of the preferred embodiments objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the detailed description as will be described below and the attached drawings. the present invention is disclosed with reference to the attached drawings wherein the corresponding parts in the embodiments of the present invention are indicated by corresponding reference numerals and the repeated explanation on the corresponding parts will be avoided. if it is determined that the detailed explanation on the well known technology related to the present invention makes the scope of the present invention not clear, the explanation will be avoided for the brevity of the description. now, an explanation on a liquid discharging vessel according to the present invention will be given with reference to the attached drawings. for your references, content in the present invention is cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and so on, and of course, it may include all substances dischargeable by means of compression or pumping. in the description, further, even if components in different embodiments of the present invention are indicated by the same reference numerals as each other, it should be noted that they do not necessarily have the same shapes and structures as each other. in the description, furthermore, upward or downward movements include absolute movements as well as relative movements with respect to another component. fig.1 is a perspective view showing a liquid discharging vessel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, fig.2 is an exploded perspective view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and fig.3 is a sectional view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention. hereinafter, the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be in detail explained with reference to figs.1 to 3 . the liquid discharging vessel 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention largely includes a vessel body 10, a shoulder 20, an application tip 30 and a nozzle 40. the vessel body 10 stores content and is open on one side thereof. as mentioned above, the content stored in the vessel body 10 is not specially limited in kinds or ingredients. however, the content has high viscosity so that when it is discharged through the nozzle 40, it can be stably seated on top of the application tip 30, without any escape from the application tip 30. the vessel body 10 may have various shapes, such as a tube, bottle, tottle, pencil, and so on so as to store the content therein. the vessel body 10 is compressed against an external force to discharge the content to one side thereof, and according to the present invention, the vessel body 10 has a shape of a tube, but all kinds of bodies may be adopted only if they discharge the content to one side thereof when the external force is applied to them. the vessel body 10 has a spout 11 formed on open one side thereof, and the spout 11 is coupled to the shoulder 20 on one side of the vessel body 10. in this case, the spout 11 has an opening 111 formed at the inside thereof to discharge the content to the outside, and the shoulder 20 is then coupled to the opening 111 of the spout 11, so that the content is discharged to the outside through the shoulder 20 coupled to the opening 111 of the spout 11. the spout 11 has a screw thread 112 formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. the screw thread 112 of the spout 11 is coupled to a cap 50 as will be discussed later, but if the vessel body 10 and the cap 50 are not screw-coupled to each other, but coupled to each other in other ways, there is no need to form the screw thread 112. the shoulder 20 is coupled to one side open of the vessel body 10 in such a manner as to allow the application tip 30 to be seated thereonto. the shoulder 20 is inserted into the opening 111 of the spout 11 to seal one side open of the vessel body 10 and has a sleeve (having no reference numeral) extended from the underside thereof in such a manner as to come into close contact with an inner peripheral wall of the opening 111. the shoulder 20 has a protrusion 21 formed on a top side thereof in such a manner as to be coupled to the application tip 30. the protrusion 21 serves to allow the application tip 30 to be rigidly coupled to the shoulder 20, and of course, if the application tip 30 is coupled to the shoulder 20 by means of bonding, unitary formation, and so on, there is no need to form the protrusion 21 on the shoulder 20. the shoulder 20 has a discharge member 22 formed on the underside thereof. the discharge member 22 has a shape of a hollow pipe extended inwardly from the shoulder 20 toward the interior of the vessel body 10. the nozzle 40 is ascendably and descendably inserted into the discharge member 22. the discharge member 22 has a discharge hole 221 formed on the underside as one surface thereof toward the interior of the vessel body 10. the discharge hole 221 is openable and closable by means of the nozzle 40, and when the discharge hole 221 is open, the content is transferred to the outside through a flow path 41 of the nozzle 40. in detail, the discharge member 22 connects the interior of the vessel body 10 to the flow path 41 of the nozzle 40. in addition to opening and closing the discharge hole 221 itself, at this time, opening and closing may be carried out by allowing the discharge hole 221 and the flow path 41 of the nozzle 40 to communicate with each other or to be blocked from each other. the discharge member 22 has a protrusion 222 formed inwardly from the center of the underside thereof, and the discharge hole 221 is formed radially around the protrusion 222. at this time, if a valve 44 of the nozzle 40 as will be discussed later is fitted to the protrusion 222, an interior of the valve 44 is isolated from the discharge hole 221, and contrarily, if the valve 44 of the nozzle 40 is escaped from the protrusion 222, the interior of the valve 44 communicates with the discharge hole 221. that is, the discharge member 22 allows a gap between the discharge hole 221 and the flow path 41 of the nozzle 40 to be open and closed by means of the ascending and descending operations of the valve 44. the discharge hole 221 may be connected to a suction pipe (not shown) toward the internal bottom of the vessel body 10. the shoulder 20 has a guide 23 located on a top side thereof in such a manner as to be seated between the application tip 30 and the nozzle 40. the guide 23 serves to guide the nozzle 40 relatively ascended and descended with respect to the application tip 30, to prevent the movements of the nozzle 40, and to keep a distance between the nozzle 40 and the application tip 30 to suppress occurrence of unnecessary noise. the guide 23 is fitted to the nozzle 40 to allow the nozzle 40 to be stably ascended and descended. that is, the nozzle 40 has grasping members (having no reference numerals) adapted to grasp both sides of the guide 23, so that when the nozzle 40 is ascended and descended, the grasping members can move up and down, while placing the guide 23 therebetween. according to the present invention, the formation of the guide 23 prevents the nozzle 40 from unnecessarily moving to left and right sides, while the nozzle 40 is being ascended and descended. the application tip 30 transfers the content to a user's application portion. at this time, the user's application portion is skin, and the skin includes all regions of a human body such as head skin, lips, and so on. the application tip 30 has an application surface 31 on which the content is located, and in the state where the content is disposed on the application surface 31, the application surface 31 rubs against the user's application portion, so that the content is transferred to the user's application portion. at this time, the application surface 31 is top of the application tip 30. as the application surface 31 rubs against the user's application portion, the content comes into close contact with the skin and is well transferred to the skin, thereby advantageously improving blood circulation of the skin. further, rubbing against the user's application portion enables pains caused by the damage of skin or physical impact to be released. in addition, application and massage of the cosmetic content are at the same time carried out, thereby accelerating the absorption of the cosmetic content to the skin, and coolness or warmness may be applied to the skin according to materials of the application surface. the top of the application tip 30 is an inclined surface, and for example, as shown, it is inclined downwardly as it is distant from an outlet 411 of the nozzle 40. in this case, the content discharged from the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 is located on the top of the application tip 30, and as time passes, it flows along the top inclined. however, of course, the moving speed of the content may be varied according to the viscosity of the content. the application tip 30 is made of a soft material for providing soft touch, such as synthetic resin, rubber, silicone, and so on. further, the application tip 30 may be made of a material that can be heated or cooled to keep the heated or cooled state during a given period of time. for example, the application tip 30 is made of a metal or ceramic material, and it may be made of a metal like stainless steel so as to ensure sanitation. of course, the application tip 30 may be made of various materials according to the ingredients, purposes and functions of the content. the application tip 30 may be made of a material partially containing a metal or ceramic material. the application tip 30 may be made of a material partially containing synthetic resin, rubber, silicone, metal, and ceramic, or a mixture of them. a part of application tip 30 may comprise synthetic resin, rubber, silicone, metal or ceramic material. according to the present invention, the outlet 411 is not formed on the top of the application tip 30, but it is located higher than the top of the application tip 30, so that it transfers the content to the top of the application tip 30. in this case, the content or foreign matters may be simply removed from the top of the application tip 30, so that it can be kept in a clean and sanitary state, thereby advantageously ensuring the user's satisfaction. the application tip 30 is coupled to the shoulder 20 and is formed depressedly from the interior thereof in such a manner as to be fitted to the protrusion 21 of the shoulder 20. the application tip 30 and the protrusion 21 are coupled to each other by means of forced fitting, protrusion/groove coupling, and so on, and of course, the application tip 30 and the shoulder 20 may be formed unitarily with each other (by means of injection molding, double injection molding, etc.). as shown in figs.4a to 4d , the application tip 30 may have various shapes. for example, as shown in fig.4a , the application tip 30 protrudes from the opposite side to the nozzle 40, and as shown in fig.4b , it does not have any protruding portion. further, as shown in fig.4c or 4d , the application tip 30 is freely changed in shape, and even if the shape of the application tip 30 is changed, in this case, it can ensure the application surface 31 having an appropriate area, thereby increasing use conveniences. now, an explanation on the nozzle 40 will be additionally given with reference to figs.5 and 6 . fig.5 is a perspective view showing an open state of the outlet in the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and fig.6 is a sectional view showing the open state of the outlet in the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention. the nozzle 40 protrudes upwardly from the application tip 30 by means of an external force and has the outlet 411 adapted to discharge the content to the top of the application tip 30. in the conventional practice, the content is discharged through the outlet 411 always open, so that foreign matters may enter the outlet 411, thereby undesirably contaminating the content. according to the present invention, only when there is a need to open the outlet 411, the outlet 411 is exposed to the outside through the nozzle 40 ascended and descended. the nozzle 40 moves downwardly from the application tip 30 to allow the outlet 411 to be closed from the outside. that is, if the nozzle 40 is ascended, the outlet 411 is exposed to the outside, and if the nozzle 40 is descended, the outlet 411 is hidden. at this time, the outlet 411 is closed by means of the application tip 30 or the guide 23. the nozzle 40 has a handle 42 formed thereon so that it can be conveniently ascended by means of the external force. the handle 42 protrudes outwardly from top of the nozzle 40 and helps the nozzle 40 ascended. according to the shape of the vessel, the handle 42 is formed at an appropriate position capable of helping the nozzle 40 ascended. as the nozzle 40 is ascended by the user, as shown in fig.5 , the outlet 411 is open, and at this time, the user's finger is locked onto the handle 42 of the nozzle 40 to allow the nozzle 40 to pull upwardly by his or her finger in a simple manner. further, the nozzle 40 has a depressed portion 43 formed on the external surface thereof to allow the user's finger to be seated thereon. the user's finger is locked onto the handle 42 of the nozzle 40, and also, the user's finger is stably seated on the depressed portion 43 of the nozzle 40, so that even with a small force, the nozzle 40 can be ascended and descended, that is, the outlet 411 can be open and closed. contrarily, the top of the nozzle 40 pushes downwardly to close the outlet 411, and in this case, also, a large force is not required. accordingly, the nozzle 40 is descended by the user's finger or the user's application portion. the nozzle 40 has the flow path 41 adapted to transfer the content from the interior thereof to the user's application portion, and the outlet 411 is formed on the end of the flow path 41. that is, the nozzle 40 has the shape of the hollow pipe having the flow path 41 formed at the interior thereof, and the content flowing along the flow path 41 is transferred to the application surface 31 through the outlet 411. the flow path 41 is extended in up and down directions with respect to the drawings, and the outlet 411 is extended in left and right directions toward the application surface 31, so that the flow path 41 is bent or curved at least one time on top side of the nozzle 40. the flow path 41 becomes enlarged toward the lower side thereof from the upper side thereof, and at this time, the valve 44 is fitted to the lower side of the flow path 41. as the valve 44 is ascended and descended, it serves to open and close a space between the interior of the vessel body 10 and the flow path 41. the valve 44 is hollow and is connected to the lower side of the nozzle 40 or formed unitarily therewith, so that when the nozzle 40 is descended, the valve 44 is fitted to the protrusion 222 of the discharge member 22 to isolate the interior of the vessel body 10 from the flow path 41. so as to allow the valve 44 to be ascended when the nozzle 40 is ascended, contrarily, the valve 44 has a locking portion 441 formed thereon, and the interior of the nozzle 40 has a structure of limiting a descending operation of the locking portion 411. accordingly, the valve 44 is ascended through the ascending operation of the nozzle 40, so that it is escaped from the protrusion 222 of the discharge member 22 and is isolated upwardly to allow the interior of the vessel body 10 and the flow path 41 to communicate with each other by means of the discharge hole 221. further, the valve 44 has a through hole 442 formed on top thereof in such a manner as to be connected to the flow path 41. in the state where the nozzle 40 is ascended, accordingly, if the vessel body 10 is pressurized by the user, the vessel body 10 communicates with the flow path 41, thereby discharging the content through the discharge hole 221, the through hole 442 of the valve 44, the flow path 41, and the outlet 411. next, an explanation on a use method of the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be in detail given with reference to fig.6 . as shown in fig.6 , the nozzle 40 is ascended by means of the handle 42 and/or the depressed portion 43 manipulated by the user. in this case, the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 hidden by the application tip 30 moves from the application tip 30 and is then exposed to the outside. the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 exposed to the outside is located above the application surface 31. if the nozzle 40 is ascended, further, the valve 44 of the nozzle 40 is also ascended, and the interior of the valve 44 communicates with the discharge hole 221 of the shoulder 20. at this time, if the content is discharged through the discharge hole 221 by means of the user's pressurization against the vessel body 10, it is discharged to the application surface 31 through the interior of the valve 44, the through hole 442 of the valve 44, the flow path 41 of the nozzle 40, and the outlet 411. if the nozzle 40 is descended by the user's finger, after that, the outlet 411 is closed again, and next, the application tip 30 with the content placed on the application surface 31 comes into contact with the user's application portion to apply the content to the application portion. so as to prevent the nozzle 40 from hindering the contact of the application tip 30 with the application portion, at this time, top of the nozzle 40 at the descending position thereof is gently connected with the application surface 31. according to the present invention, the outlet 411 for discharging the content is not formed on the application tip 30, but formed on the nozzle 40 ascended and descended, so that the application surface 31 is kept clean and it is possible to close the outlet 411, thereby preventing the leakage of the content and protecting the content from foreign matters. according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the liquid discharging vessel further includes the cap 50. the cap 50 serves to protect the application tip 30 and the nozzle 40 from the outside and specially to keep the nozzle 40 at the descended state thereof, thereby allowing the outlet 411 to be kept closed. the cap 50 has a screw thread 51 formed on the inner periphery thereof in such a manner as to be coupled to the screw thread 112 of the spout 11, but in addition to the coupling of the screw threads 112 and 51, as mentioned above, the vessel body 10 and the cap 50 may be coupled to each other by means of various structures. fig.7 is a perspective view showing a liquid discharging vessel according to a second embodiment of the present invention, figs.8a to 8c are front views showing various types of liquid discharging vessels according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and figs.9a to 9c are perspective views showing the various types of liquid discharging vessels according to the second embodiment of the present invention. hereinafter, different structures of the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention from those of the liquid discharging vessel according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be explained, and the structures as not explained below will be replaced with those as mentioned above. referring to figs.7 to 9c , unlike the first embodiment of the present invention wherein the nozzle 40 is ascended to allow the outlet 411 to be open, the application tip 30 is descended to allow the outlet 411 to be open. according to the second embodiment of the present invention, that is, the application tip 30 is descended to allow the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 to be exposed to the outside. at this time, as shown figs.8a, 8b, 9a and 9b , the application surface 31 as the top of the application tip 30 is inclined downwardly as it is distant from the outlet 411, and otherwise, as shown in figs.8c and 9c , the application surface 31 as the top of the application tip 30 is inclined upwardly as it is distant from the outlet 411. in case where the application surface 31 is inclined upwardly as it is distant from the outlet 411, even if the content has low viscosity, a discharging direction of the outlet 411 is hidden by the application surface 31 as the top of the application tip 30, so that while the content is being discharged, it cannot be escaped from the application surface 31. the application tip 30 includes a button 32 formed on the lower side thereof in such a manner as to allow the user's finger to be seated thereon to descend the application tip 30. at this time, the button 32 has a protrusion 321 adapted to couple the application surface 31 thereto, and the protrusion 321 is similar to the protrusion 22, as mentioned above, adapted to couple the shoulder 20 and the nozzle 40 to each other. now, an explanation on a detailed structure of the button 32 will be given with reference to fig.10 . fig.10 is an exploded perspective view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention. as shown in fig.10 , the button 32 has a guide wall 322 disposed between the application tip 30 and the nozzle 40 to guide relative ascending and descending operations of the nozzle 40 with respect to the application tip 30. according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the application tip 30, not the nozzle 40, is descended, but when the application tip 30 is descended, the nozzle 40 is ascended with respect to the application tip 30. in this case, the guide wall 322 guides the relative ascending or descending operations of the nozzle 40 with respect to the application tip 30. further, the button 32 has a guide slot 323 formed on any one of the guide wall 322 and one surface of the nozzle 40 facing the guide wall 322 , and a guide protrusion 45 is formed on the other. as shown in fig.10 , for example, the guide slot 323 is formed on the guide wall 322, and the guide protrusion 45 is formed on the nozzle 40. at this time, the guide protrusion 45 is inserted into the guide slot 323 to guide the relative ascending and descending operations of the nozzle 40 with respect to the application tip 30. the guide protrusion 45 has a t-shaped section, so that it cannot be escaped from the guide slot 323. through the formation of the guide protrusion 45 and the guide slot 323, accordingly, the relative ascending and descending operations of the nozzle 40 with respect to the application tip 30 are stably carried out, and also, the stable descending operation of the button 32 is carried out by an accommodation portion of the nozzle 40. the nozzle 40 has the accommodation portion adapted to receive the lower side of the button 32, and the accommodation portion serves to allow the button 32 to be stably descended therein and at the same time to allow the descending operation of the button 32 to be restricted therein. if the button 32 is pressurized to a given depth, that is, the outer side thereof is locked onto the accommodation portion of the nozzle 40 and is not descended anymore. according to the shape of the accommodation portion restricting the descending operation of the button 32, a pumping stroke of a pump 60 as will be discussed later can be determined. the nozzle 40 has the outlet 411 formed exposed to outside above the application tip 30 to discharge the content to the top of the application tip 30 when the application tip 30 is descended. as the application tip 30 is descended, the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 is open, and contrarily, as the application tip 30 is ascended, the outlet 411 is closed. as mentioned above, the nozzle 40 has the guide protrusion 45 adapted to guide the descending operation of the button 32, and also, the nozzle 40 has an accommodation hole 46 adapted to surround the button 32 in such a manner as to guide and restrict the descending operation of the button 32. unlike the first embodiment of the present invention, also, the nozzle 40 is formed unitarily with the shoulder 20. according to the second embodiment of the present invention, that is, the shoulder 20 is coupled to one side open of the vessel body 10 in such a manner as to be connected to the nozzle 40, and the application tip 30 is seated ascendably and descendably onto the nozzle 40. of course, the shoulder 20 may be coupled to the vessel body 10, and the nozzle 40 may be descended. in the state where the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 is exposed to the outside by the primary descending operation of the application tip 30, in this case, if the button 32 is pressed again to allow the application tip 30 to be secondarily descended, the nozzle 40 can be descended together with the application tip 30. unlike the first embodiment of the present invention, the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention further includes the pump 60. according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the content is discharged not by directly pressurizing the vessel body 10, but by the pump 60, and the pump 60 operates through the descending operation of the application tip 30. now, an explanation on the pump 60 will be in detail given with reference to figs.11 to 12c . fig.11 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and figs.12a to 12c are sectional views showing the various types of liquid discharging vessels according to the second embodiment of the present invention. referring to figs.11 to 12c , the pump 60 serves to discharge the content and has a vessel coupling part 61, a housing 62, a stem 63, a seal cap 64, a shaft 65, an under cap 66, and an ascending and descending part 67. the vessel coupling part 61 is coupled to the spout 11 of the vessel body 10 to fix the housing 62 to the spout 11, and otherwise, it is coupled to the inner periphery of the shoulder 20 in such a manner as to surround the spout 11. the vessel coupling part 61 is coupled to the spout 11, the shoulder 20, and the housing 62 by means of forced fitting or protrusion/groove coupling, but of course, they are coupled to each other, without specific limitation in their coupling ways. in this case, however, the vessel coupling part 61 serves to fix the housing 62 to a given position of the vessel body 10 and to ascendably and descendably guide the stem 63 and the shaft 65 at the inside thereof. the vessel coupling part 61 has an elastic member (not shown) adapted to provide an elastic force against the shaft 65 as will be discussed later. the elastic member is a spring or the like. a lower end periphery of the elastic member is seated onto a top concave groove (having no reference numeral) formed on the vessel coupling part 61, and an upper end periphery of the elastic member is seated onto an underside concave groove (having no reference numeral) formed on the shaft 65, so that if a force pressurizing the button 32 disappears, the shaft 65 is naturally ascended to return the application tip 30 to its original state. the housing 62 is coupled to one side open of the vessel body 10. the housing 62 has an inlet (having no reference numeral) formed on the underside surface toward the interior of the vessel body 10 and a backflow prevention valve 621 disposed on the inlet. an internal pressure of the housing 62 is raised by the descending operation of the seal cap 64 to allow the content in the housing 62 to be discharged through the nozzle 40, and contrarily, the internal pressure of the housing 62 is lowered by the ascending operation of the seal cap 64 to allow the content in the interior of the vessel body 10 to be introduced into the housing 62. the operations will be in detail explained below. the stem 63 is ascended and descended in the housing 62 and has an inlet 631 formed on one side thereof. the stem 63 is hollow, and an interior of the stem 63 communicates with the inlet 631 formed on one side of the stem 63. the seal cap 64 is disposed around the inlet 631 of the stem 63, and as the seal cap 64 is ascended with respect to the stem 63, accordingly, the inlet 631 is open to allow the interior of the stem 63 to communicate with the interior of the housing 62. the seal cap 64 comes into close contact with the inner peripheral wall of the housing 62 in such a manner as to open and close the inlet 631. the seal cap 64 is not descended by means of a frictional force against the inner peripheral wall of the housing 62 in processes where the application tip 30 is descended by the button 32 and the stem 63 is also descended, so that it is ascended to open the inlet 641. contrarily, if the shaft 65 is ascended by the elastic member, the stem 63 connected to the shaft 65 is ascended, but the seal cap 64 is not ascended by means of the frictional force against the inner peripheral wall of the housing 62, so that it is descended to close the inlet 641. the shaft 65 is ascended unitarily together with the stem 63 to allow the seal cap 64 to be descended. the shaft 65 may be located between the stem 63 and the ascending and descending part 67, and for example, the shaft 65 is located between the stem 63 and the under cap 66 as will be discussed later. the shaft 65 is descended if the button 32 is pressed, and the shaft 65 is coupled to the stem 63, so that if the shaft 65 is descended, the stem 63 is accordingly descended. further, the lower end periphery of the shaft 65 pushes the seal cap 64 downwardly. the shaft 65 includes a ring edge 651 having the underside concave groove for sealing the elastic member thereonto, and the shaft 65 has the upward elastic force applied from the elastic member, so that if the force pressurizing the button 32 disappears, the shaft 65 is ascended by the elastic force of the elastic member. according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the stem 63 and the shaft 65 are provided separately from each other. this is because an outer diameter of the lower end periphery of the shaft 65 is larger than an inner diameter of the seal cap 64, and after the seal cap 64 is fitted to the stem 63, accordingly, the shaft 65 is coupled to the stem 63. the under cap 66 serves to connect the shaft 65 and the ascending and descending part 67 with each other. the under cap 66 couples the shaft 65 to the ascending and descending part 67 by means of a protrusion/groove structure, and the content is distributed on top of the under cap 66 and is thus introduced into the flow path 41 of the nozzle 40. the ascending and descending part 67 serves to descend the stem 63 through the descending operation of the application tip 30. the ascending and descending part 67 has a tip coupling member 671 inserted into the application tip 30, so that the application tip 30 can be ascended with respect to the tip coupling member 671, and the tip coupling member 671 has an elastic member (not shown) adapted to push the button 32 upwardly. accordingly, the application tip 30 does not descend the ascending and descending part 67 when it is primarily descended, but the application tip 30 is descended with respect to the nozzle 40 to allow the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 to be exposed to the outside. when the application tip 30 is secondarily descended, after that, it pushes the ascending and descending part 67 downwardly to allow the stem 63 to be descended. the ascending and descending part 67 has a nozzle insertion member 672 inserted into the nozzle 40 and an inner tube 673 and an outer tube 674 disposed around the nozzle insertion member 672. the nozzle 40 is formed unitarily with the shoulder 20 and is not descended, but the ascending and descending part 67 is descended by the secondary descending operation of the application tip 30, so that the nozzle insertion member 672 is descended with respect to the nozzle 40. so as to prevent the content from leaking to the space between the ascending and descending part 67 and the nozzle 40, at this time, the ascending and descending part 67 has the inner tube 673 enlarged toward the upper side in such a manner as to come into close contact with the inner periphery of the flow path 41 and the outer tube 674 sliding upwardly and downwardly along the inner tube 673. if the ascending and descending part 67 is descended, for example, the inner tube 673 is ascended with respect to the nozzle insertion member 672 and/or the outer tube 674 like a telescopic structure by means of a frictional force against the inner periphery of the flow path 41, and accordingly, the content is introduced just into the flow path 41 through the nozzle insertion member 672, so that it does not leak to the gap between the ascending and descending part 67 and the shoulder 20. in addition to the inner tube 673 and the outer tube 674 of the nozzle insertion member 672, of course, various structures may be adopted if it is possible to prevent the leakage of the content. that is, the inner tube 673 or the outer tube 674 may be not provided. hereinafter, an explanation on a method for using the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be in detail given with reference to figs.13 to 16 . figs.13 to 16 are sectional views showing use states of the liquid discharging vessel according to the second embodiment of the present invention. referring to fig.13 , if the button 32 is pressed by the user's finger, the elastic member fitted to the tip coupling member 671 is compressed, so that the application tip 30 is primarily descended and the ascending and descending part 67 is not descended. at this time, however, the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 is exposed to the outside above the top of the application tip 30, so that the content is ready to be transferred to the application surface 31. as the inlet 631 of the flow path 41 of the nozzle 40 is closed, however, it is kept isolated from the interior of the housing 62. referring to fig.14 , if the button 32 is pressed again, the application tip 30 is secondarily descended to allow the ascending and descending part 67 to be descended, and at this time, the under cap 66, the shaft 65, and the stem 63, which are connected to the ascending and descending part 67 are descended together with the ascending and descending part 67. as the seal cap 64 is not descended by means of the frictional force, however, the inlet 631 of the stem 63 is open to allow the interior of the housing 62 to communicate with the flow path 41. referring to fig.15 , after that, if the application tip 30 is secondarily descended, the seal cap 64 moves downwardly by means of the lower end periphery of the shaft 65 to raise an internal pressure of the housing 62. accordingly, the content in the housing 62 is discharged through the interior of the shaft 65, the top of the under cap 66, the nozzle insertion member 672, and the flow path 41 to the outlet 411 and is then transferred to the application surface 31. as shown in figs.14 and 15 , the nozzle 40 is kept fixed to the shoulder 20, and as the application tip 30 is descended, accordingly, the outlet 411 is located higher than the application surface 31. through appropriate selection in the viscosity of the content, however, the content discharged from the outlet 411 located higher than the application surface 31 above the application surface 31 is transferred to the application surface 31, without any trouble. further, as mentioned above, the nozzle 40 may be descendable from the shoulder 20, and in this case, the nozzle 40 is ascendably and descendably coupled unitarily with the ascending and descending part 67. referring to fig.16 , if the pressurizing force against the button 32 disappears, the stem 63 is ascended by the elastic member disposed between the vessel coupling member 61 and the shaft 65, and the seal cap 64 descended with respect to the stem 63 closes the inlet 631 of the stem 63. if the stem 63 is further ascended, after that, the lower end periphery of the stem 63 pushes the seal cap 64 upwardly, and accordingly, the internal pressure of the housing 62 is lowered to allow the content stored in the vessel body 10 to be introduced into the housing 62 and thus filled therein. as a series of operations as mentioned above are repeatedly performed, the application tip 30 is descended to pump the content, thereby permitting the content to be transferred to the application surface 31 through the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 located above the application surface 31. according to the present invention, further, the application tip 30 is descended to allow the outlet 411 of the nozzle 40 to be open or closed, so that through the operation of the application tip 30, it is convenient to apply the content, and through the opening and closing of the outlet 411, sanitation can be ensured. as described above, the liquid discharging vessel according to the present invention has the application tip adapted to allow the content to be directly transferred to the application portion and has the nozzle relatively ascended and descended with respect to the application tip and having the outlet, which is not formed on the top of the application tip, so that even if the application tip rubs against the application portion, the introduction of the foreign matters into the outlet can be perfectly prevented. in addition, the liquid discharging vessel according to the present invention is capable of allowing the outlet to be kept closed by the relative ascending and descending operations of the application tip and the nozzle to each other, so that even if a separate cap is not provided or the cap is unexpectedly taken off, the leakage of the content can be prevented to enhance the user's satisfaction. the present invention includes an embodiment where known technology is combined to at least any one of the first and second embodiments of the present invention and an embodiment where the first and second embodiments of the present invention are combined to each other. while the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. it is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. the simple changes and modifications of the present invention are within the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention will be clear by the claims appended hereto.
|
017-442-853-646-547
|
US
|
[
"EP",
"EA",
"CN",
"WO",
"US",
"ES"
] |
B01J23/46,C07C7/167,C07C11/04,C10G11/18,B01J21/02,B01J21/06,C10G51/04,B01J35/00,B01J37/20,C07C5/08,C07C7/12
| 2008-08-21T00:00:00 |
2008
|
[
"B01",
"C07",
"C10"
] |
process to purify ethylene-containing off-gas feed streams
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a method for purification of ethylene-containing feed streams from steam crackers or fluid catalytic crackers (fcc), wherein the feed streams further comprises hydrogen, carbon monoxide, acetylenes, oxygen, nitrogen oxides, is disclosed. the method comprises contacting an ethylene-comprising gas stream with a ru-based catalyst at reaction temperatures of at least 120°c. the process results in an ethylene- containing feed stream wherein the ethylene is essentially free of acetylenes, nitrogen oxides and oxygen. the purifying of the feed stream occurs with minimal loss of ethylene.
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a method for purifying ethylene from an ethylene-comprising gas stream obtained from steam cracking or catalytic cracking processes, which ethylene-comprising gas stream further comprises acetylene, methylacetylene, oxygen and nitrogen oxides, the method comprising contacting the ethylene-comprising gas stream with a supported ruthenium catalyst comprising between 0.01 wt. % to 5 wt. % ruthenium, wherein the ruthenium is supported on alumina, wherein the supported ruthenium catalyst is heated to a temperature of at least 120 °c before making contact with the gas stream and maintained at a temperature of 120 °c to 300 °c, wherein the hydrogen partial pressure is held between 0.10 mpa and 1 mpa with a gas hourly space velocity of 1000 hr -1 to 5,000 hr -1 and wherein the gas stream is contacted with the supported catalyst until the purified gas stream comprises less than 1 ppm acetylene/methylacetylene, less than 1 ppm nitrogen oxides, and less than 1 ppm oxygen, wherein the gas stream is contacted with the catalyst in a continuous flow reactor. the method of claim 1 wherein the gas stream has a gas hourly space velocity of 1500 hr -1 to 3500 hr -1 with a hydrogen concentration of from 5% to 15%, and the hydrogen partial pressure is held between 0.10 mpa and 0.3 mpa. the method of claim 1 wherein the supported ruthenium catalyst further comprises a promoter. the method of claim 3 wherein the promoter is selected from the group consisting of silver, gold, copper, zinc, bismuth, lead or combinations thereof. the method of claim 1 wherein the supported ruthenium catalyst is reduced; or wherein the supported ruthenium catalyst is sulfided. the method of claim 1 wherein the method comprises: (a) loading a continuous flow reactor with the ruthenium catalyst supported on alumina; (b) heating the catalyst to a temperature of at least 120 °c in the reactor and maintaining the catalyst at a temperature of 120 °c to 300 °c; (c) feeding the ethylene-comprising gas stream into the reactor under a hydrogen partial pressure of between 0.10 mpa and 1 mpa with a gas hourly space velocity of 1000 hr -1 to 5,000 hr -1 such that the gas stream is in contact with the catalyst; and (d) removing the ethylene-comprising gas stream from contact with the catalyst. the method of claim 6 wherein the hydrogen partial pressure is held between about 0.10 mpa and 0.3 mpa with a gas hourly·space velocity of from about 1500 hr -1 to 3500 hr -1 and with a hydrogen concentration of from 5% to 15%. the method of claim 6 wherein the supported ruthenium catalyst further comprises a promoter selected from the group consisting of silver, gold, copper, zinc, bismuth, lead or combinations thereof. the method of claim 6 wherein after step (a) and before step (c) the catalyst is reduced, while in the reactor, in hydrogen or in a hydrogen-containing gas at a temperature of at least 100 °c for at least one minute; or wherein after step (a) and before step (c) the catalyst is sulfided, while in the reactor, in a sulfur-containing gas stream at a temperature of at least 150 °c for at least one minute.
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technical field the present development is a method that can be useful in purifying raw gas or off-gas streams from steam crackers or fluid catalytic crackers (fcc). by the method of the present development, acetylene, methylacetylene, nitrogen oxides, and oxygen are simultaneously removed from a raw gas feed stream that comprises ethylene, hydrogen, and co without significant loss of ethylene, using a supported ruthenium-based catalyst. the catalyst may comprise between 0.01 wt. % to 5 wt. % ruthenium distributed on an alumina support. background art catalytic cracking processes, such as fluid catalytic cracking (fcc) and deep catalytic cracking (dcc), have been widely used in industry for many years to produce transportation fuels, such as gasoline and diesel. the off-gases from the fcc and dcc processes contain valuable products such as ethylene and propylene. however, these off-gas streams contain relatively dilute concentrations of olefins and it is generally perceived as not being economically feasible to recover the olefins by conventional means, such as fractionation. thus, most refineries use the off-gas as fuel gas. recently, the recovery of these relatively high value olefins from off-gas streams has gained increasing interest. for example, u.s. patent 5,981,818 describes a process for recovery of dilute olefins from off-gases. besides valuable olefins, fcc / dcc off-gases also contain detrimental impurities such as acetylenes and di-olefins. these impurities need to be removed from the off-gas streams in order to utilize the high value olefins in downstream processes. typically, acetylenes and dienes found in olefin streams are commercially removed by a selective hydrogenation process. most selective acetylene hydrogenation operations at the commercial scale use palladium-based catalysts. in addition to hydrocarbons, an off-gas stream often contains nitrogen oxides, oxygen, sulfur, and other impurities. the pd-based catalysts have high activity and selectivity for selective hydrogenation of acetylene and dienes; but they are very sensitive to sulfur and some other poisons. moreover, the pd-based catalysts are not known to be particularly effective for removal of nitrogen oxides and / or oxygen. nickel catalysts have also been used in selective hydrogenation of acetylene and dienes. nickel catalysts are resistant to sulfur poisoning, but are not selective toward hydrogenation of acetylene. most commonly, while acetylene is removed, significant amounts of olefins are also hydrogenated to saturated hydrocarbons. nickel-based catalysts also tend to form nickel carbonyl when the carbon monoxide level is high in the feed gas stream, particularly at low temperatures. nickel carbonyl is a highly volatile, highly toxic substance that can deposit in downstream equipment and pose a significant safety hazard to workers in the area. u.s. patent 2,747,970 teaches and claims a process of removing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from a gas stream using a catalyst consisting of 0.01 wt. % to 2.0 wt. % ruthenium on an activated earth metal oxide, such as activated alumina. the process comprises directly contacting the gas stream with the supported catalyst while maintaining a reaction temperature of at least 120°c until the carbon content of the co and co 2 is substantially completely converted to methane. however, the process does not teach that the same catalyst and method can be used to remove acetylene, methylacetylene, butadiene, no, and o 2 from an ethylene gas stream without risk of loss of ethylene. the prior art which does teach the use of ruthenium catalysts for purification of ethylene streams typically cites the ruthenium catalysts as examples of ineffective catalysts for such applications. for example, in u.s. patent 4,299,800 , a catalyst comprising 0.5 wt. % ruthenium on alumina was evaluated for oxygen removal from a feed stream containing ethylene. at low temperatures (50 °c), oxygen removal was low and ethylene conversion was essentially non-detectable. however, at higher temperatures (200°c), oxygen removal reached 99.4%, but with concomitant ethylene conversion (loss) of 11.2%, as compared to less than 5% ethylene conversion when using silver, gold or vanadium on alumina. thus, there is a need for a process for removing oxygen, acetylenes, and nitrogen oxides from off-gas streams wherein the ethylene is not converted to lower value hydrocarbons during the purification process and wherein the purified ethylene-containing gas stream comprises less than about 1 ppm each of acetylenes, nitrogen oxides and oxygen. disclosure of the invention the invention provides method for purifying ethylene from an ethylene-comprising gas stream obtained from steam cracking or catalytic cracking processes, which ethylene-comprising gas stream further comprises acetylene, methylacetylene, oxygen and nitrogen oxides, the method comprising contacting the ethylene-comprising gas stream with a supported ruthenium catalyst comprising between 0.01 wt. % to 5 wt. % ruthenium, wherein the ruthenium is supported on alumina, wherein the supported ruthenium catalyst is heated to a temperature of at least 120 °c before making contact with the gas stream and maintained at a temperature of 120 °c to 300 °c, wherein the hydrogen partial pressure is held between 0.10 mpa and 1 mpa with a gas hourly space velocity of 1000 hr -1 to 5,000 hr -1 and wherein the gas stream is contacted with the supported catalyst until the purified gas stream comprises less than 1 ppm acetylene/methylacetylene, less than 1 ppm nitrogen oxides, and less than 1 ppm oxygen, wherein the gas stream is contacted with the catalyst in a continuous flow reactor. modes for carrying out embodiments of the invention the ethylene-containing feed stream may be the off-gas stream from any steam cracker, fluid catalytic cracker, or similar process. typically, the off-gas stream includes hydrogen gas, carbon monoxide, oxygen, nitrogen oxides, ethane, ethylene and acetylene. the ruthenium-based catalyst is distributed on alumina. methods of preparing supported ruthenium catalysts are well-known in the art. optionally, the catalyst may further include promoters, such as, silver, gold, copper, zinc, bismuth, lead or combinations thereof. in an exemplary embodiment, the catalyst comprises ruthenium distributed on an alumina support wherein the ruthenium is distributed on the support with a ruthenium salt solution. in one embodiment, the catalyst comprises ruthenium distributed on an alumina support wherein the ruthenium is distributed on the support by impregnating an alumina support with a ruthenium salt solution. the catalyst comprises between 0.01 wt. % to 5 wt. % ruthenium. in other embodiments, the catalyst may comprise, or consist essentially of, 0.01 wt. % to 1 wt. % ruthenium, 0.1 wt. % to 0.5 wt. % ruthenium; 0.15 wt. % to 0.30 wt. % ruthenium, a minimum of 0.15 wt. % ruthenium, or a minimum of 0.3 wt. % ruthenium on alumina. in an alternative embodiment, the catalyst comprises ruthenium distributed on an alumina support wherein the support has a bet surface area of at least 3 m 2 /g, and preferably has a bet surface area of about 3 m 2 /g to about 200 m 2 /g. alternatively, the catalyst may comprise ruthenium on a low surface area support, ruthenium on a medium surface area support, or ruthenium on a high surface area support. in general, a support having a bet surface area between 1 m 2 /g -10 m 2 /g can be classified as a low surface area support. medium surface area supports typically range between 10 m 2 /g - 60 m 2 /g while high surface area supports generally have a bet surface area greater than 60 m 2 /g. with respect to alumina, the ranges for low, medium and high surface areas are 1 m 2 /g -10 m 2 /g, 30 m 2 /g -60 m 2 /g , and greater than 60 m 2 /g, respectively. in another embodiment, the support is a medium surface area alumina support. in other embodiments, the ruthenium is distributed on the outer layer of an alumina carrier in such a manner as to remain on the outer layer of the support. "distributed on the outer layer" of the support means that the ruthenium may be located within any part of about a 300 µm distance that extends from the exterior surface of any part of the support towards the center of the support. the depth of the ruthenium distributed on the outer layer of the support may be constant or may vary, especially in places where pores are located on the exterior surface of the support. the process comprises directly contacting the gas stream with the supported catalyst while maintaining a reaction temperature of at least 120°c until the acetylene content decreases to less than one (1) ppm and the nitrogen oxide content decreases to less than one (1) ppm and the oxygen content decreases to less than one (1) ppm. alternatively, the process may comprise contacting the gas stream with the supported catalyst until the product stream is essentially free of impurities that may include acetylene, nitrogen oxides, oxygen and combinations thereof. in other embodiments, the removal of the acetylene, nitrogen oxide and oxygen contents may be either higher or lower, depending a number of factors including laws and regulations governing the operation of the fcc/dcc plant and/or the design of the plant. the catalyst may be reduced or sulfided before use. the catalyst may be reduced after being loaded into the reactor and before introduction of the ethylene-containing gas stream by feeding hydrogen or a hydrogen-containing gas through the catalyst at a temperature of at least 120°c for at least one minute. the catalyst may be sulfided after being loaded into the reactor and before introduction of the ethylene-containing gas stream by feeding a sulfur-containing gas stream through the catalyst at a temperature of at least 150°c for at least one minute. industrial applicability the above described embodiments may be used to purify ethylene-containing feed streams from steam crackers, fluid catalytic crackers (fcc), or any type of hydrocarbon feed stream that includes hydrogen, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and acetylenes. examples as representative examples, several catalysts were acquired and evaluated for removal of impurities from an ethylene feed stream. these examples are presented to further explain the invention. catalyst samples evaluated: catalyst 1: commercial pd-based catalyst, olemax 250; obtained from süd-chemie inc., louisville, kentucky. catalyst 2: 0.15% ruthenium on a low surface area (3.6 m 2 /g) alumina carrier; catalyst 3: 0.15% ruthenium on a medium surface area (37 m 2 /g) alumina carrier; catalyst 4: 0.15% ruthenium on a high surface area (165 m 2 /g) alumina carrier; catalyst 5: 0.30% ruthenium on a high surface area (165 m 2 /g) alumina carrier. catalyst samples evaluations: the prepared catalysts are tested in a continuous flow reactor by loading approximately 50 cc of catalyst into the reactor and then feeding a contaminated ethylene-containing feed stream through the loaded catalyst. for testing purposes, in general, the reactor temperature is adjusted to a temperature of from 120°c to 300°c, the carbon monoxide content is held between about 0.05 wt. % and 5 wt. %, and the sulfur content is held below about 50 ppm. the hydrogen partial pressure is held between about 0.05 mpa and 2 mpa with a gas hourly space velocity of from about 500 hr -1 to 10,000 hr -1 ; more preferably, the hydrogen partial pressure is held between about 0.10 mpa and 1 mpa with a gas hourly space velocity of from 1000 hr -1 to 5,000 hr -1 ; and most preferably, the hydrogen partial pressure is held between 0.10 mpa and 0.3 mpa with a gas hourly space velocity of from 1500 hr -1 to 3500 hr -1 and with a hydrogen concentration from about 5% to about 15%. catalysts 1 - 4 are tested in the continuous flow reactor. approximately 50 cc of catalyst is loaded into the reactor, the reactor temperature is adjusted to a predetermined temperature (as indicated in table 1), and an ethylene-containing feed stream contaminated with oxygen, acetylene, and nitric oxide is fed through the reactor at a gas hourly space velocity of 2500 hr -1 while the pressure is held at 1.9 mpa. gas samples from an inlet and outlet reactor are analyzed using an on-line gas chromatograph and the findings are summarized in table 1. table-tabl0001 table 1 catalyst 1 catalyst 2 catalyst 3 catalyst 4 catalyst pd/ al 2 o 3 ru/ al 2 o 3 ru/ al 2 o 3 ru/ al 2 o 3 reactor temp 97.1 °c 200°c 217°c 197°c feed product feed product feed product feed produc c 2 h 4 (%) 23.3 21.6 22.6 22.2 22.1 21.6 22.2 22.0 h 2 (%) 9.6 7.68 9.1 8.6 8.7 8.3 8.5 8.1 c 2 h 2 (ppm) 406 0.4 680 <0.5 656 <0.5 668 <0.5 no (ppm) 0.413 <0.010 0.62 0.01 0.707 0.015 0.584 0.017 o 2 (ppm) 3663 3561 2891 0.37 2787 0.54 2792 0.32 co (%) 0.59 0.50 2.18 1.88 2.38 2.09 2.32 1.99 c 2 h 6 , (ppm) 60 27270 37 2638 34 1821 36 3197 as indicated in table 1, the palladium catalyst and the ruthenium catalysts all effectively retain ethylene and hydrogen in the gas stream, although the ruthenium catalysts retain a higher relative percentage of these gases than is observed with the palladium catalyst. further, the palladium catalyst and the ruthenium catalysts all effectively reduce the levels of acetylene and nitrogen oxides present in the feed stream. however, the ruthenium catalysts are significantly more effective at removing oxygen from the feed stream than the palladium catalyst. also, most likely because the ruthenium catalysts are less active for hydrogenation of ethylene than the palladium catalyst, less ethane is produced when the ethylene-containing feed stream contacts the ruthenium catalysts than when the feed stream contacts the palladium catalyst. catalyst 5 is tested in the continuous flow reactor at various reactor temperatures, and with additional carbon monoxide or hydrogen sulfide in the feed stream. approximately 50 cc of catalyst is loaded into the reactor, the reactor temperature is adjusted to a predetermined temperature (as indicated in table 2), and an ethylene-containing feed stream contaminated with oxygen, acetylene and optionally, nitric oxide or carbon monoxide or hydrogen sulfide, is fed through the reactor at a gas hourly space velocity of 2500 hr -1 while the pressure is held at 1.9 mpa. gas samples from an inlet and outlet reactor are analyzed using an on-line gas chromatograph and the findings are summarized in table 2. table-tabl0002 table 2 catalyst ru/al 2 o 3 variable temperature co addition h 2 s addition react temp 139°c 154°c 162°c 176°c 186°c gas comp feed product product feed product product feed product product product c 2 h 4 (%) 24.08 22.33 22.52 23.68 23.44 23.38 23.68 22.24 23.39 21.8 h 2 (%) 10.21 9.89 9.70 10.5 9.7 9.6 10.5 9.7 9.7 10.7 co (%) 1.1 0.79 0.73 2.39 2.11 2.11 2.39 2.13 2.03 2.06 h 2 s (ppm) - - - - - - - 0 8 18 c 2 h 2 (ppm) 469 2.5 0.4 501 <0.5 <0.5 501 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 no (ppm) 0.5 0.016 0.008 0.959 0.020 0.023 0.959 0.013 0.017 0.017 o 2 (ppm) 2869 113 0.85 3181 43 0.54 3181 0.1 0.2 1.4 c 2 h 6 (ppm) 21 1610 3850 17 1162 2742 17 2888 1440 830 as indicated in table 2, even under adverse conditions of relatively high levels of co and hydrogen sulfide, the ruthenium catalyst effectively retains ethylene and hydrogen in the gas stream. further, the ruthenium catalyst effectively reduces the levels of acetylene and oxygen present in the feed stream, and produces relatively low quantities of unwanted ethane. thus, by contacting an ethylene-containing feed stream that further comprises hydrogen, carbon monoxide, oxygen, acetylene, and nitric oxide with a supported ruthenium catalyst, wherein the catalyst comprises between 0.01 wt. % to 5 wt. % ruthenium, in a continuous flow reactor with the catalyst held at a temperature of at least about 120°c, acetylenes, nitrogen oxides and oxygen can be removed from the gas stream with a minimal loss of ethylene.
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019-571-629-853-908
|
CN
|
[
"CN",
"US"
] |
G02F1/133,G09G3/36
| 2014-03-12T00:00:00 |
2014
|
[
"G02",
"G09"
] |
display panel discharge circuit and display device
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the invention relates to a display panel discharge circuit and a display device. the display panel discharge circuit comprises a time delay control module and a grounding module, wherein the time delay control module is used for outputting discharge control signal preset time after a display panel is powered off; the grounding module is used for receiving a discharge control signal and enabling a signal line to be grounded for the preset time according to the discharge control signal. by adopting the display panel discharge circuit provided by the invention, the signal line of the display panel can be grounded, the goal of releasing charges is achieved, one time of discharge operation is performed when the display panel is in a standby state and the charges are prevented from being accumulated for a long time.
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1 . a discharge circuit of a display panel, comprising: a time-delay control module configured to output a discharge control signal for a predetermined time period after the display panel is powered off; and a grounding module configured to receive the discharge control signal and enable a signal line to be grounded for the predetermined time period based on the discharge control signal. 2 . the discharge circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the time-delay control module comprises a time-delay unit and a first switch, one end of the first switch is coupled to the time-delay unit and the other end of the first switch is coupled to the grounding module. 3 . the discharge circuit according to claim 2 , the time-delay unit is configured to keep a high level signal before the display panel is powered off for the predetermined time period, the first switch is turned on when the display panel is powered off so that the high level signal sent by the time-delay unit is transmitted to the grounding module as the discharge control signal. 4 . the discharge circuit according to claim 2 , wherein the first switch comprises a first mos transistor, wherein a gate electrode of the first mos transistor is coupled to a power supply of the display panel, a source electrode of the first mos transistor is coupled to the grounding module, and a drain electrode of the first mos transistor is coupled to the time-delay unit. 5 . the discharge circuit according to claim 4 , wherein the time-delay control module further comprises an inverter in the case that the first mos transistor is an n-type mos transistor, wherein the inverter is coupled between the power supply of the display panel and the gate electrode of the first mos transistor. 6 . the discharge circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the grounding module comprises a signal line switch, the signal line switch is turned on for the predetermined time period when the discharge control signal is received so that the signal line is grounded. 7 . the discharge circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the grounding module comprises a plurality of signal line switches and there are a plurality of signal lines, wherein one of the plurality of signal line switches are coupled to the corresponding one of the plurality of signal lines and the ground, the plurality of signal line switches are all turned on for the predetermined time period when the discharge control signal is received, so that the plurality of signal lines corresponding to the plurality of signal line switches are all grounded. 8 . the discharge circuit according to claim 7 , wherein the plurality of signal lines comprise a gate line, a data line and a common electrode line. 9 . the discharge circuit according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of signal line switches comprise a second switch, a third switch and a fourth switch, wherein the second switch is coupled to the gate line and the ground, the third switch is coupled to the data line and the ground, the fourth switch is coupled to the common electrode line and the ground, and the second switch, the third switch and the fourth switch are turned on simultaneously for the predetermined time period when the discharge control signal is received so that the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line are all grounded. 10 . the discharge circuit according to claim 9 , wherein the second switch comprises a second mos transistor, the third switch comprises a third mos transistor, and the fourth switch comprises a fourth mos transistor. 11 . the discharge circuit according to claim 10 , wherein gate electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor are coupled to the time-delay control module; source electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor are respectively coupled to the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line; and drain electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor are grounded. 12 . the discharge circuit according to claim 11 , wherein the grounding module further comprises an inverter in the case that the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistors are all p-type mos transistors, wherein the inverter is coupled between the time-delay control module and the gate electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor. 13 . the discharge circuit according to claim 10 , wherein the second mos transistor comprises three mos transistors for controlling rgb data signal lines respectively. 14 . the discharge circuit according to claim 8 , further comprising a gate line switch and a data line switch, wherein the gate line switch and the data line switch are turned on when the discharge control signal is received so that a gate voltage is loaded onto the gate line and a data signal is loaded onto the data line. 15 . the discharge circuit according to claim 9 , further comprising a gate line switch and a data line switch, wherein the gate line switch and the data line switch are turned on when the discharge control signal is received so that a gate voltage is loaded onto the gate line and a data signal is loaded onto the data line. 16 . the discharge circuit according to claim 10 , further comprising a gate line switch and a data line switch, wherein the gate line switch and the data line switch are turned on when the discharge control signal is received so that a gate voltage is loaded onto the gate line and a data signal is loaded onto the data line. 17 . the discharge circuit according to claim 11 , further comprising a gate line switch and a data line switch, wherein the gate line switch and the data line switch are turned on when the discharge control signal is received so that a gate voltage is loaded onto the gate line and a data signal is loaded onto the data line. 18 . the discharge circuit according to claim 12 , further comprising a gate line switch and a data line switch, wherein the gate line switch and the data line switch are turned on when the discharge control signal is received so that a gate voltage is loaded onto the gate line and a data signal is loaded onto the data line. 19 . the discharge circuit according to claim 13 , further comprising a gate line switch and a data line switch, wherein the gate line switch and the data line switch are turned on when the discharge control signal is received so that a gate voltage is loaded onto the gate line and a data signal is loaded onto the data line. 20 . a display device, comprising the discharge circuit of the display panel according to claim 1 .
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cross-reference to related application this application claims priority to chinese patent application no. 201410090663.7 filed on mar. 12, 2014, the disclosures of which are incorporated in their entirety by reference herein. technical field the present invention relates to the technical field of display, and in particular to a discharge circuit of a display panel and a display device. background the liquid crystal display (lcd) is widely used for a display device such as a television, a display, a laptop, a tablet computer and a mobile internet apparatus due to the advantages of a small size, low power consumption and a long life thereof. the conventional design for a display panel is prone to cause charge accumulation, which makes the display panel appear an undesirable phenomenon such as a greenish phenomenon and a residual image, seriously affecting the display effect of the display panel. thus, a discharge circuit is needed which enables the display panel to discharge rapidly in a standby mode. summary the technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is that the display panel is prone to have the issue of charge accumulation. for this purpose, the present disclosure provides a discharge circuit of a display panel including a time-delay control module configured to output a discharge control signal for a predetermined time period after the display panel is powered off; and a grounding module configured to receive the discharge control signal and enable a signal line to be grounded for the predetermined time period based on the discharge control signal. alternatively, the time-delay control module comprises a time-delay unit and a first switch, wherein one end of the first switch is coupled to the time-delay unit and the other end of the first switch is coupled to the grounding module. alternatively, the time-delay unit is configured to keep a high level signal before the display panel is powered off for the predetermined time period, the first switch is turned on when the display panel is powered off so that the high level signal sent by the time-delay unit is transmitted to the grounding module as the discharge control signal. alternatively, the first switch comprises a first mos transistor, wherein a gate electrode of the first mos transistor is coupled to a power supply of the display panel, a source electrode of the first mos transistor is coupled to the grounding module, and a drain electrode of the first mos transistor is coupled to the time-delay unit. alternatively, the time-delay control module further comprises an inverter in the case that the first mos transistor is an n-type mos transistor, wherein the inverter is coupled between the power supply of the display panel and the gate electrode of the first mos transistor. alternatively, the grounding module comprises a signal line switch, wherein the signal line switch is turned on for the predetermined time period when the discharge control signal is received so that the signal line is grounded. alternatively, the grounding module comprises a plurality of signal line switches and there are a plurality of signal lines, wherein the one of plurality of signal line switches are coupled to the corresponding one of the plurality of signal lines and the ground, the plurality of signal line switches are all turned on for the predetermined time period when the discharge control signal is received, so that the plurality of signal lines corresponding to the plurality of signal line switches are all grounded. alternatively, the plurality of signal lines comprise a gate line, a data line and a common electrode line. alternatively, the plurality of signal line switches comprises a second switch, a third switch and a fourth switch, wherein the second switch is coupled to the gate line and the ground, the third switch is coupled to the data line and the ground, the fourth switch is coupled to the common electrode line and the ground, and the second switch, the third switch and the fourth switch are turned on simultaneously for the predetermined time period when the discharge control signal is received so that the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line are all grounded. alternatively, the second switch comprises a second mos transistor, the third switch comprises a third mos transistor, and the fourth switch comprises a fourth mos transistor. alternatively, gate electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor are coupled to the time-delay control module; source electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor are respectively coupled to the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line; and drain electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor are grounded. alternatively, the grounding module further comprises an inverter in the case that the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistors are all p-type mos transistors, wherein the inverter is coupled between the time-delay control module and the gate electrodes of the second mos transistor, the third mos transistor and the fourth mos transistor. alternatively, the second mos transistor comprises three mos transistors for controlling rgb data signal lines respectively. alternatively, the discharge circuit further comprising a gate line switch and a data line switch, wherein the gate line switch and the data line switch are turned on when the discharge control signal is received so that a gate voltage is loaded onto the gate line and a data signal is loaded onto the data line. the present invention further provides a display device comprising the discharge circuit of the display panel described above. by applying the discharge circuit of the display panel disclosed in the present invention, the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line of the display panel are grounded simultaneously to achieve the purpose of discharge, and thus charge accumulation for a long time may be avoided by performing one time discharge operation when the display panel is in standby mode. brief description of the drawings features and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the drawings are intend to illustrate and should not be construed as any limitation on the present invention, in which: fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a discharge circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a detail block diagram showing the discharge circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the discharge circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a discharge circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a discharge circuit according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. detailed description embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter in conjunction with the drawings. fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a discharge circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. as shown in fig. 1 , the discharge circuit of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a time-delay control module 11 and a grounding module 12 , wherein the time-delay control module 11 is coupled to a power supply vdd of the display panel and configured to output a discharge control signal for a predetermined time period after the display panel is powered off, i.e., the power supply vdd of the display panel is decreased to zero, and the grounding module 12 is configured to receive the discharge control signal and enable a signal line 13 to be grounded for the predetermined time period based on the discharge control signal. by applying the discharge circuit of the display panel disclosed in the present invention, the signal lines of the display panel are enabled to be grounded simultaneously to achieve the purpose of discharge, and thus charge accumulation for a long time may be avoided by performing one time discharge operation when the display panel is in standby mode. fig. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing the discharge circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. as shown in fig. 2 , the time-delay control module 11 includes a time-delay unit 21 and a first switch 22 , wherein one end of the first switch 22 is coupled to the time-delay unit 21 and the other end thereof is coupled to a grounding module 12 , the time-delay unit 21 is configured to keep a high level signal vdd before the display panel is powered off for a predetermined time period, and the first switch 22 is turned on when the display panel is powered off so that the high level signal sent by the time-delay unit 21 is transmitted to the grounding module 12 as the discharge control signal. the grounding module 12 includes at least one signal line switch 23 , which is turned on for the predetermined time period when the discharge control signal is received so that at least one signal line 24 corresponding to the at least one signal line switch 23 is grounded. in order to discharge the circuit completely, for example, the signal line switches 23 are all turned on for the predetermined time when the discharge control signal is received, so that the corresponding signal lines 24 are all grounded. more specifically, the signal line 24 is at least one of a gate line, a data line and a common electrode line of the display panel. it should be noted that a conventional time-delay relay may be applied as the time-delay unit, where a specific length of delay time may be selected and set as required. hereinafter, in the case that the signal lines includes a gate line, a data line and a common electrode line of the display panel and the corresponding signal line switches 23 include three switches, i.e., a second switch 232 , a third switch 233 and a fourth switch 234 , the specific embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter. fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the discharge circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. in fig. 3 , transistors t 1 to t 6 are n-type mos transistors, and the power supply vdd of the display panel is coupled to a gate electrode of the transistor t 1 (i.e., the first switch) via an inverter and is coupled to a drain electrode of the transistor t 1 via the time-delay unit. a source electrode of the transistor t 1 is coupled to a data line switch ds, a gate line switch gs, a gate electrode of the transistor t 2 (i.e., the second switch), gate electrodes of the transistors t 3 , t 4 and t 5 (i.e., the third switch), and a gate electrode of the transistor t 6 (i.e., the fourth switch). a source electrode of the transistor t 2 is coupled to an odd-row gate line go and an even-row gate line ge, source electrodes of the transistors t 3 , t 4 and t 5 are respectively coupled to rgb data lines dr, dg and db, a source electrode of the transistor t 6 is coupled to a common electrode line vcom, and drain electrodes of the transistors t 2 to t 6 are grounded. when the display panel is in standby mode, the power supply vdd of the display panel is powered off, e.g., the voltage is changed from 3v to 0v. in this case, the output of a not gate coupled to the vdd is a high level so that the transistor t 1 is turned on, and the vdd is delayed by the time-delay unit so that voltage vx (i.e., the voltage at the drain electrode of the transistor t 1 ) remains at a high level (3v) for a predetermined time period, e.g., the delay time is 50 μs. since the transistor t 1 is in an on-state at this time, the high level vx at the drain electrode of the transistor t 1 pulls up the voltage of the data line switch ds and the gate line switch gs coupled to the source electrode of the transistor t 1 so that the data line switch ds and the gate line switch gs are turned on, and thus the gate voltage may be loaded onto the gate line and the rgb data signal may be loaded onto the data line. since the source electrode of the transistor t 1 is at a high level, the transistors t 2 , t 3 , t 4 , t 5 and t 6 are turned on. since the transistor t 2 is turned on, the odd-row gate line go and the even-row line ge are ground. for the display circuit, the odd-row gate line and even-row gate line are generally laid out on different layers separately to improve space utilization. it should be understood by those skilled in the art that there may be provided only one gate line in the case of sufficient space. since the transistors t 3 , t 4 and t 5 are turned on, the rgb data signal lines dr, dg and db are grounded respectively. since the transistor t 6 is turned on, the common electrode line vcom is grounded. thus, when the vdd is powered off, the discharge circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention enables the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line of the display panel to be grounded simultaneously to achieve the purpose of discharge, and thus charge accumulation for a long time may be avoided by performing one time discharge operation when the display panel is in standby mode. after the time-delay operation of the time-delay unit ends, the voltage vx is at a low level, thus the data line switch ds and the gate line switch gs are at all the low level so that the gate voltage go/ge would not be loaded onto the gate line and the rgb data signal dr/dg/db would not be loaded onto the data line, and at the same the transistors t 2 , t 3 , t 4 , t 5 and t 6 are turned off so that the rgb data signal lines dr, dg and db, the odd-row gate line go and the even-row gate line ge, and the common electrode line vcom would not be grounded. then the discharge process ends. the transistors in the discharge circuit described above are all n-type mos transistors, for example thin film transistors (tfts). it should be understood that the transistors in the discharge circuit according to the present disclosure are not limited to n-type mos transistors, and may be p-type mos transistors. fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a discharge circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which the transistors t 1 to t 6 are all p-type mos transistors. similar to the previous embodiment, the transistor t 1 is turned on after the vdd is powered off, and the vdd is delayed by the time-delay unit so that the voltage vx at the drain electrode of the transistor t 1 remains at a high level, thus the data line switch ds and the gate line switch gs is pulled up, and the gate voltage may be loaded onto the gate line and the rgb data signal may be loaded onto the data line. the high level at the source electrode of the transistor t 1 is changed into a low level by the not gate coupled to the transistor t 1 so that the transistors t 2 and t 6 are turned on. thus, the gate line is grounded by the transistor t 2 , the data line is grounded by the transistors t 3 , t 4 and t 5 , and the common electrode line is grounded by the transistor t 6 . after the time-delay operation of the time-delay unit ends, the voltage vx is at a low level so that the data line switch ds and the gate line switch gs are all at a low level and thus the gate voltage go/ge would not be loaded onto the gate line and the rgb data signal dr/dg/db would not be loaded onto the data line, and at the same the transistors t 2 and t 6 are turned off and thus the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line would not be grounded. then the discharge process ends. fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a discharge circuit according to yet another embodiment of the present invention, in which the not gate in the foregoing embodiments is omitted and thus the circuit configuration of the discharge circuit is further simplified. as shown in fig. 5 , transistor p 1 is a p-type mos transistor, and transistors n 2 to n 6 are n-type mos transistors. after the vdd is powered off, the transistor p 1 is turned on, and the vdd is delayed by the time-delay unit so that the voltage vx at the drain electrode of the transistor p 1 remains at a high level, and thus the voltage of the data line switch ds and the voltage of the gate line switch gs are pulled up so that the gate voltage may be loaded onto the gate line and the rgb data signal may be loaded onto the data line. the transistors n 2 to n 6 are turned on due to the high level at the source electrode of the transistor p 1 . thus, the gate line is grounded by the transistor n 2 , the data lines are grounded by the transistors n 3 , n 4 and n 5 , and the common electrode line is grounded by the transistor n 6 . after the time-delay operation of the time-delay unit ends, the voltage vx is at a low level, thus the data line switch ds and the gate line switch gs are at a low level so that the gate voltage go/ge would not be loaded onto the gate line and the rgb data signal dr/dg/db would not be loaded onto the data line, and at the same time the transistors n 2 to n 6 are turned off so that the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line would not be grounded. then the discharge process ends. the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention. upon reading the present invention, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present invention. for example, changes and modifications, such as applying other electronic element as a switch element, applying other delay mode, or changing the type of mos transistor and changing the circuit configuration accordingly, are within the scope of the present invention. by applying the discharge circuit of the display panel according to the present invention, the gate line, the data line and the common electrode line of the display panel are grounded simultaneously to achieve the purpose of discharge, and thus charge accumulation for a long time may be avoided by performing one time discharge operation when the display panel is in standby mode. the present invention further provides a display device including the discharge circuit of the display panel described above. the display device may be a lcd panel, an electronic paper, an oled panel, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a television, a display, a laptop, a digital photo frame, a navigation system and any other product or component with a display function. while the embodiments of the present invention are described in conjunction with the drawings, various modifications and variations may be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and these modifications and variations should be within the scope as defined by the appended claims.
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021-472-814-194-447
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US
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[
"US"
] |
G06K9/00,G06K9/46,G06K9/62,G06T7/00,G06T7/55
| 2014-04-15T00:00:00 |
2014
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[
"G06"
] |
route damage prediction system and method
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a route damage prediction system includes cameras, a conversion unit, and an analysis unit. the cameras obtain image data that include a route traveled upon by vehicles. the image data includes still images and/or video of the route obtained at different times. the conversion unit includes one or more computer processors configured to at least one of create wireframe model data or modify the image data into the wireframe model data representative of the route. the analysis unit includes one or more computer processors configured to examine changes in the wireframe model data to identify a historical trend of changes in the image data. the analysis unit is configured to compare the historical trend of the changes in the image data with designated patterns of changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route.
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1 . a system comprising: one or more cameras configured to obtain image data within one or more fields of view of the one or more cameras that include a route that is traveled upon by plural different vehicles, the image data including at least one of still images or video of the route obtained at different times; a conversion unit including one or more computer processors configured to at least one of create wireframe model data or modify the image data into the wireframe model data representative of the route; and an analysis unit including one or more computer processors configured to examine changes in the wireframe model data to identify a historical trend of changes in the image data, wherein the analysis unit is configured to compare the historical trend of the changes in the image data with designated patterns of changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route. 2 . the system of claim 1 , further comprising a communication unit configured to communicate a request signal to direct the at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route to be performed based on comparing the historical trend of the changes in the image data with the designated patterns. 3 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the conversion unit is configured to create the wireframe model data from different sets of the image data of the route acquired at the different times by the different vehicles. 4 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the conversion unit is configured to at least one of create the wireframe model data or modify the image data into the wireframe model data by identifying at least one of pixels or other locations in the image data having image characteristics that are within designated ranges of each other and assigning a common image characteristic in the wireframe model data to the at least one of pixels or other locations having the image characteristics that are within the designated ranges of each other. 5 . the system of claim 4 , wherein the image characteristics include at least one of intensities, colors, or luminance. 6 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the analysis unit is configured to filter out changes in the image data caused by external factors other than damage to the route, wherein the wireframe model data that is examined by the analysis unit to identify the historical trend includes the wireframe model data after filtering out the changes in the image data caused by the external factors. 7 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the historical trend of changes in the image data includes at least one of changes in a number of lines representative of the route in the image data, changes in spacing between segments of the lines in the image data, changes in lengths of the lines or the segments of the lines, or changes in gaps between the segments of the lines. 8 . a method comprising: receiving image data having one or more fields of view that include a route that is traveled upon by plural different vehicles, the image data including at least one of still images or video of the route obtained at different times; at least one of creating wireframe model data or modifying the image data into the wireframe model data representative of the route; examining changes in the wireframe model data to identify a historical trend of changes in the image data; and comparing the historical trend of the changes in the image data with designated patterns of changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route. 9 . the method of claim 8 , further comprising communicating a request signal to direct the at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route to be performed based on comparing the historical trend of the changes in the image data with the designated patterns. 10 . the method of claim 8 , wherein the wireframe model data is created from different sets of the image data of the route acquired at the different times by the different vehicles. 11 . the method of claim 8 , wherein the wireframe model data is created or the image data is modified into the wireframe model data by identifying at least one of pixels or other locations in the image data having image characteristics that are within designated ranges of each other and assigning a common image characteristic in the wireframe model data to the at least one of pixels or other locations having the image characteristics that are within the designated ranges of each other. 12 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the image characteristics include at least one of intensities, colors, or luminance. 13 . the method of claim 8 , further comprising filtering out changes in the image data caused by external factors other than damage to the route, wherein the wireframe model data that is examined to identify the historical trend includes the wireframe model data after filtering out the changes in the image data caused by the external factors. 14 . the method of claim 8 , wherein the historical trend of changes in the image data includes at least one of changes in a number of lines representative of the route in the image data, changes in spacing between segments of the lines in the image data, changes in lengths of the lines or the segments of the lines, or changes in gaps between the segments of the lines. 15 . a system comprising: a conversion unit configured to receive image data acquired at different times, the image data representing at least one of still images or video of a common segment of a route traveled by vehicles, the conversion unit configured to create wireframe model data from the image data; and an analysis unit configured to examine the wireframe model data to identify changes in the wireframe model data over time, the analysis unit also configured to examine the changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, maintenance, or inspection of the common segment of the route. 16 . the system of claim 15 , wherein the conversion unit is configured to examine the image data to identify pixels in the image data having image characteristics that are within a designated range of each other and to create the wireframe model data by assigning a first designated image characteristic to the pixels having the image characteristics that are within the designated range of each other and assigning a different, second designated image characteristic to the pixels having the image characteristics that are not within the designated range of each other. 17 . the system of claim 16 , wherein the image characteristics include at least one of pixel intensities, colors, or luminance. 18 . the system of claim 15 , wherein the conversion unit is configured to create different sets of the wireframe model data representative of the image data at the different times, and the analysis unit is configured to compare the different sets of the wireframe model data to determine when to request the at least one of repair, maintenance, or inspection of the common segment of the route. 19 . the system of claim 15 , wherein the vehicles are separate from each other and the conversion unit is configured to receive the image data from cameras disposed onboard the vehicles as the vehicles separately travel on the route at the different times. 20 . the system of claim 15 , wherein the analysis unit is configured to compare the changes in the wireframe model data with designated changes associated with at least one of different types or different degrees of damage to the common segment of the route.
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field embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein relate to examining routes traveled by vehicles for predicting damage to the routes. background routes that are traveled by vehicles may become damaged over time with extended use. for example, tracks on which rail vehicles travel may become broken, cracked, pitted, misaligned, or the like, over time. this damage can pose threats to the safety of the rail vehicles, the passengers located thereon, and nearby persons and property. for example, the risks of derailment of the rail vehicles can increase when the tracks become damaged. some known systems and methods that inspect the tracks involve emitting visible markers on the tracks and optically monitoring these markers to determine if the tracks have become misaligned. these visible markers may be created using laser light, for example. but, these systems and methods can require additional hardware in the form of a light emitting apparatus, such as a laser light source. this additional hardware increases the cost and complexity of the systems, and can require specialized rail vehicles that are not used for the conveyance of passengers or cargo. additionally, these systems and methods typically require the rail vehicle to slowly travel over the tracks so that the visible markers can be examined. other known systems and methods involve injecting electric current into the tracks and examining changes to the current to identify open circuits caused by breaks in the tracks. but, these systems and methods also may require additional hardware to inject the current and to sense the current, and may be prone to false identifications of damage to the route. brief description in one example of the inventive subject matter, a system (e.g., a route damage prediction system) includes one or more cameras, a conversion unit, and an analysis unit. the cameras are configured to obtain image data within one or more fields of view of the one or more cameras that include a route that is traveled upon by plural different vehicles. the image data includes at least one of still images or video of the route obtained at different times. the conversion unit includes one or more computer processors configured to at least one of create wireframe model data or modify the image data into the wireframe model data representative of the route. the analysis unit includes one or more computer processors configured to examine changes in the wireframe model data to identify a historical trend of changes in the image data. the analysis unit is configured to compare the historical trend of the changes in the image data with designated patterns of changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route. in another example of the inventive subject matter described herein, a method (e.g., for predicting damage to a route) includes receiving image data having one or more fields of view that include a route that is traveled upon by plural different vehicles. the image data includes at least one of still images or video of the route obtained at different times. the method also includes at least one of creating wireframe model data or modifying the image data into the wireframe model data representative of the route, examining changes in the wireframe model data to identify a historical trend of changes in the image data, and comparing the historical trend of the changes in the image data with designated patterns of changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route. in another example of the inventive subject matter described herein, a system (e.g., a route damage prediction system) includes a conversion unit and an analysis unit. the conversion unit is configured to receive image data acquired at different times, the image data representing at least one of images or video of a common segment of a route traveled by vehicles. the conversion unit configured to create wireframe model data from the image data. the analysis unit is configured to examine the wireframe model data to identify changes in the wireframe model data over time. the analysis unit also can be configured to examine the changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, maintenance, or inspection of the common segment of the route. brief description of the drawings reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which particular embodiments and further benefits of the invention are illustrated as described in more detail in the description below, in which: fig. 1 illustrates a route damage prediction system according to one example embodiment of the inventive subject matter described herein; fig. 2 illustrates an image representative of image data acquired by a camera onboard a vehicle shown in fig. 1 according to one example of the inventive subject matter described herein; fig. 3 illustrates wireframe model data of the image data shown in fig. 2 according to one example of the inventive subject matter described herein; fig. 4 illustrates wireframe model data 404 representative of the image data acquired of a route shown in fig. 1 according to another example of the inventive subject matter described herein; fig. 5 illustrates additional wireframe model data representative of image data acquired of the route shown in fig. 1 according to another example of the inventive subject matter described herein; and fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method for analyzing image data over time of a route to predict when repair and/or maintenance of the route may be needed according to an example embodiment of the inventive subject matter described herein. detailed description one or more examples of the inventive subject matter described herein include systems and methods for imaging a route traveled by one or more vehicles over time and, based on image data acquired of the route by imaging systems on the one or more vehicle systems, predicting when repair or maintenance of the route is needed. for example, a history of the image data can be inspected to determine if the route exhibits a pattern of degradation over time. based on this pattern, a services team (e.g., a group of one or more personnel and/or equipment) can identify which sections of the route are trending toward a bad condition or already are in bad condition, and then may proactively perform repair and/or maintenance on those sections of the route to avoid future accidents. in one aspect, cameras mounted on the vehicles are oriented toward the route being traveled upon to capture image data (e.g., still images and/or videos) as the vehicles move on the routes at the same or different times. the cameras can be mounted relatively close to route to obtain high quality image data of the route. the image data can be communicated from the vehicles to an examination system disposed off-board the vehicles. optionally, all or part of the examination system can be disposed onboard one or more of the vehicles. the image data can be communicated from the vehicles to the examination system periodically, in response to receiving a command or request for the image data, when the vehicles enter into one or more designated locations (e.g., a vehicle yard such as a rail yard), or otherwise. the examination system can include one or more computing devices (e.g., computers, such as remote servers). the image data from multiple different vehicles acquired at different times of the same segments of the route can be examined to determine changes in the condition of the route. the image data obtained at different times of the same segments of the route can be examined in order to filter out external factors or conditions, such as the impact of precipitation (e.g., rain, snow, ice, or the like) on the appearance of the route, from examination of the route. as one example, the examination system can receive image data from different vehicles, convert the image data into wireframe model data, and examine changes in the wireframe model data over time to predict when the route will need maintenance and/or repair. the image data can be converted into the wireframe model data by identifying pixels or other locations in the image data that are representative of the same or common edges, surfaces, or the like, of objects in the image data. the pixels or other locations in the image data that represent the same objects, surfaces, edges, or the like, may be identified by the examination system by determining which pixels or other locations in the image data have similar image characteristics and associating those pixels or other locations having the same or similar image characteristics with each other. the image characteristics can include the colors, intensities, luminance, locations, or other information of the pixels or locations in the image data. those pixels or locations in the image data having colors (e.g., wavelengths), intensities, and/or luminance that are within a designated range of each other and/or that are within a designated distance from each other in the image data may be associated with each other by the examination system. the examination system can group these pixels or locations with each other because the pixels or locations in the image data likely represent the same object (e.g., a rail of a track being traveled by a rail vehicle). the pixels or other locations that are associated with each other can be used to create a wireframe model of the image data, such as an image that represents the associated pixels or locations with lines of the same or similar colors, and other pixels or location with a different color. the examination system can generate different wireframe models of the same segment of a route from different sets of image data acquired at different times (and/or by imaging systems onboard different vehicles). the examination system can compare these different wireframe models and, depending on the differences between the wireframe models that are identified by the examination system, identify and/or predict damage to the route, and/or when maintenance and/or repair is needed for the route. in one aspect, the examination system may have different predicted amounts of damage to the route associated with different changes in the wireframe data. for example, detection of a bend or other misalignment in the route based on changes in the wireframe model data may be associated with more damage to the route than other types of changes in the wireframe model data. as another example, the changing of a solid line in earlier wireframe model data to a segmented line in later wireframe model data can be associated with different degrees of damage to the route based on the number of segments in the segmented line, the size of the segments and/or gaps between the segments in the segmented line, the frequency of the segments and/or gaps, or the like. based on the degree of damage identified from changes in the wireframe model data, the examination system may automatically order maintenance and/or repair of the route. fig. 1 illustrates a route damage prediction system 100 according to one example embodiment of the inventive subject matter described herein. the system 100 includes one or more cameras 102 that are configured to obtain image data within a field of view 104 of the cameras 102 . the field of view 104 includes a route 106 being traveled by a vehicle 108 . as a result, the image data encompasses still images and/or videos of the route 106 . the vehicle 108 is described and shown herein as representing a rail vehicle, such as a locomotive or other rail vehicle. optionally, the vehicle 108 may represent another vehicle, such as another off-highway vehicle. an off-highway vehicle can include a mining vehicle or other vehicle that is not designed or permitted for travel on public roadways. the vehicle 108 alternatively may represent an automobile or other type of vehicle. the route 106 may represent a track formed of one or more rails, a road, or other type of surface on which vehicle 108 can move. several different vehicles 108 may include different cameras 102 that travel over the same route 106 to obtain image data of the same sections of the route 106 at different times. optionally, one or more cameras 102 that obtain image data of the route 106 can be disposed off-board the vehicles 108 . for example, one or more of the cameras 102 can be part of a wayside device that remains stationary with respect to the ground on which the route 106 is disposed. the cameras 102 obtain image data that includes still images and/or videos of the route 106 at different times. for example, the image data generated by the cameras 102 can represent the same parts of the route 106 at different hours, days, weeks, months, years, or other time periods. the image data can be obtained by the cameras 102 while the vehicles 108 are moving along the route 106 . for example, the cameras can obtain the image data while the vehicles 108 are moving at an upper speed limit associated with the route, such as a track speed of the route. the cameras 106 can be operatively connected with a camera controller 110 . by operatively connected, it is meant that the camera 102 can be connected with the camera controller 110 by one or more wired and/or wireless connections, such as one or more wires, cables, buses, wireless networks, train lines, multiple unit cables or the like. the camera controller 110 represents and/or includes hardware circuitry and/or circuits, that include and/or are connected with one or more computer processors, such as one or more microprocessors or other electronic logic-based devices. the camera controller 110 controls operations of the camera 102 , such, as controlling when the camera 102 obtains and/or generates image data, the settings of the camera 102 (e.g., focal point, aperture size, resolution, or the like), or other aspects of the camera 102 . for example, the camera controller 110 can control time periods when the camera 102 is on and obtaining image data, the resolution of the camera 102 (such as the number of pixels per unit area of the camera 102 ), the type of image data obtained by the camera 102 (such as whether or not the camera is obtaining the image data as still images, video, or other types of images). a vehicle controller 112 of the vehicle 108 includes or represents hardware circuitry and/or circuits that include and/or are connected with one or more computer processors, such as one or more microprocessors or other electronic logic-based devices. the vehicle controller 112 controls operations of the vehicle 108 . the vehicle controller 112 can be used to manually and/or autonomously control the tractive effort and/or breaking effort of the vehicle 108 , among other functions, and may include or represent one or more input and/or output devices such as throttles, levers, peddles, or the like. a memory device 114 disposed onboard the vehicle 108 can include or represent one or more computer readable storage devices, such as a computer hard-drive, an optical drive, a flash drive, an electrically programmable read only memory, a random accessible memory, a read only memory, or another type of computer readable memory device. the memory device 114 can store the image data that is output by the camera 102 . optionally, the memory device 114 may be disposed off-board the vehicle 108 . a communication unit 116 disposed onboard the vehicle 108 allows the image data to be communicated from the vehicle 108 . as used herein, the term “unit” can refer to hardware circuits or circuitry that include and/or are connected with one or more processors, such as one or more computer microprocessors or other computer processors, or other electronic logic-based devices. the communication unit 116 can include transceiving equipment and/or circuitry which may include and/or be connected with one or more devices that can wirelessly communicate information to one or more off-board devices, such as an antenna 118 . additionally or alternatively, the communication unit 116 can include and/or be connected with transceiving equipment and/or circuitry that communicate signals over one or more wired connections 120 , such as a cable, bus, wire, train line, multiple unit cable, or the like. the wired connection 120 can be used to communicate the image data to another vehicle (e.g., a vehicle that is mechanically coupled with the illustrated vehicle 108 to travel together along the route 106 in a vehicle consist) and/or to an off-board location, such as when the vehicle 108 is stationary and the wired connection 120 is connected with another wired connection to communicate the image data off of the vehicle 108 . the system 100 can include an examination system 122 that receives image data of the route 106 obtained by camera 102 on the same or different vehicles 108 . the image data that represents the same segment of the route 106 can be acquired by cameras on the same or different vehicles 108 at different times. the examination system 122 is shown as being off-board the vehicle 108 , but optionally may be partially or entirely disposed onboard one or more vehicles 108 . the examination system 122 includes a communication unit 126 . the communication unit 126 can be similar to the communication unit 116 that is onboard the vehicle 108 . for example, the communication unit 126 can include transceiving equipment and/or hardware, such as an antenna 124 , that wirelessly communicates with the communication unit 116 to receive the image data. optionally, the communication unit 126 can include one or more wired connections 125 that can receive the image data from the communication unit 116 when the wired connections 112 , 125 are directly or indirectly connected with each other. the communication unit 126 communicates with the communication unit 116 in order to receive the image data obtained by the cameras 102 . the communication unit 126 can communicate with several vehicles 108 in order to obtain and examine the image data obtained and/or generated by the cameras 102 of the different vehicles 108 . a memory device 130 of the system 122 may be similar to the memory device 114 onboard the vehicle 108 . for example, the memory device 130 can include one or more computer readable storage media that stores the image data obtained by one or more cameras 102 disposed onboard one or more different vehicles 108 . the image data can be communicated from the vehicles 108 to the memory device 130 at regular intervals (e.g., by wireless communication or otherwise), on demand by an operator of the vehicle 108 , on demand by an operator of the system 122 , when the vehicles 108 enter into a designated area (e.g., a vehicle yard, such as a rail yard), or the like. a conversion unit 132 of the system 122 can change the format, appearance, type, or the like, of the image data of the route 106 that is provided by the vehicle 108 . the conversion unit 132 can change a still image and/or video of the route 106 that was obtained by the camera 102 into a wireframe model or wireframe model data of the route 106 . optionally, the conversion unit 132 can modify the image data in other ways. with continued reference to the examination system 122 shown in fig. 1 , fig. 2 illustrates an image 200 representative of image data acquired by the camera 102 onboard the vehicle 108 shown in fig. 1 according to one example of the inventive subject matter described herein. the image 200 shows an upcoming segment 206 of the route 106 being traveled upon by the vehicle 108 . the image 200 may be formed from several pixels or other spatial segments (e.g., areas) of the image 200 , with the pixels or other spatial segments having varying image characteristics (e.g., various colors, intensities, luminance, or the like). the conversion unit 132 can examine the image characteristics of the pixels or other spatial segments to determine which pixels or spatial segments having similar image characteristics. with respect to the image 200 , the conversion unit 132 can determine that the pixels or spatial segments that represent rails 202 , 204 of the route 106 have similar image characteristics, as well as other portions of the image 200 . the pixels or spatial segments having the same or similar image characteristics (e.g., within a designated range of each other) are associated with a first group of the pixels or spatial segments of the image 200 . other pixels or spatial segments having different image characteristics (e.g., outside of the designated range) may not be associated with the first group. optionally, these other pixels or spatial segments may be associated with one or more other groups of pixels or spatial segments based on the image characteristics. with continued reference to the examination system 122 shown in fig. 1 and the image 200 shown in fig. 2 , fig. 3 illustrates wireframe model data 302 of the image data illustrated as the image 200 in fig. 2 according to one example of the inventive subject matter described herein. the conversion unit 132 may change the image data into the wireframe model data 302 by identifying one or more edges, surfaces, or locations in the image data that belong to or represent the same objects. for example, the conversion unit 132 can examine the image characteristics (e.g., intensities, colors, luminance, or the like) of different locations in the image data. the conversion unit 132 may then identify which pixels or other locations in the image data have the same or similar image characteristics. pixels or other locations in the image data may have the same or similar colors, intensities, luminance, or the like, when the pixels or locations have intensities, colors, luminance, or the like, that are equivalent or within a designated threshold range of one another. the conversion unit 132 can group these pixels or locations with each other because the pixels or locations having the same or similar image characteristics may represent the same object. other pixels or other locations having different image characteristics can be exploded from this group and/or placed into one or more other groups. optionally, pixels or locations in the image data may be placed into the group if the pixels or locations are within a threshold distance of each other. for example, in selecting the pixels for inclusion in the group of pixels having same or similar image characteristics, the conversion unit 132 may exclude the pixels that are very far from each other in the image 200 from the group even if the pixels that are located far from each other have similar or identical image characteristics. the pixels having similar image characteristics but located far from each other in the image 200 may not represent the same object, surface, edge, or the like, even though the image characteristics are similar. optionally, the conversion unit 132 can include the pixels having similar image characteristics but located far from each other if these pixels are connected by one or more other sets of pixels having the same or similar image characteristics. the conversion unit 132 can create the wireframe model data 302 by assigning a first image characteristic to the pixels or other locations in the group and assigning a different, second image characteristics to other pixels or locations that are not in the group. for example, the conversion unit 132 can modify the image characteristics of the pixels or create a new data set (e.g., a wireframe model data set) having image characteristics that are assigned based on whether the pixels are included in the group of pixels having similar or equivalent image characteristics. in the illustrated example, the pixels or locations in the group are assigned a white color while other pixels or locations are assigned a black color. optionally, other colors or other image characteristics may be used. as a result, a wireframe image 302 is generated as shown in fig. 3 . the wireframe image 302 includes white pixels or lines 300 that represent objects in the field of view 104 of the camera 102 (shown in fig. 1 ). in the illustrated example, the lines 300 more clearly represent edges of the rails 202 , 204 of the route 106 shown in the image 200 . other lines in the wireframe image 302 represent other objects captured in the field of view of the camera 102 that had similar image characteristics as the rails 202 , 204 . in one aspect, the conversion unit 132 combines image data of the route 106 obtained at different times into one or more sets of wireframe model data. the wireframe image 302 can represent one such set of wireframe model data. for example, for each of first, second, third, and so on, image data of the route 106 obtained at different times, the conversion unit 132 may create corresponding first, second, third, and so on, wireframe model data of the image data. the conversion unit 132 may then combine the first, second, third, and so on, wireframe model data into aggregate wireframe model data. in order to combine the wireframe model data, the conversion unit 132 may identify those pixels or other locations in the first, second, third, and so on, wireframe model data having a designated image characteristic (e.g., the color white, as shown in fig. 3 ). if those pixels having the designated image characteristic appear in the same or approximately the same location in at least a threshold number or percentage of the first, second, third, and so on, wireframe model data, then the conversion unit 132 may create the aggregate wireframe model data to have the designated image characteristic at the same pixels. additionally or alternatively, the conversion unit 132 can combine several different sets of image data into combined image data, and then create the wireframe model data from the combined image data. for example, first, second, third, and so on, image data of the route 106 can be obtained at different times and then combined by the conversion unit 132 . the conversion unit 132 may combine the first, second, third, and so on, image data by calculating or estimating image characteristics for different pixels or other locations in the image data that are representative of the image data across the first, second, third, and so on, image data. as one example, the conversion unit 132 can calculate an average, median, or the like, of the image characteristic for a pixel, with the values used to calculate the average, median, or the like, obtained from the different image characteristics for that pixel in the first, second, third, and so on, image data. this may be repeated for other pixels in the image data to create the combined image data. the combined image data may then be used to create the wireframe model data, as described above. combining the wireframe model data, or combining the image data into combined image data and then creating the wireframe model data from the combined image data, can reduce the impact of visual noise on identification or prediction of damage to the route 106 . for example, image data obtained at different times may result in at least some of the image data being acquired when objects are present on the route 106 , such as precipitation (e.g., snow, ice, or the like), leaves or other vegetation, or other foreign objects. but, other image data of the same segment of the route 106 that is obtained at other times may not include the objects on the route 106 . if just the image data obtained when the objects were on the route 106 is examined to identify or predict damage to the route 106 , then these objects may be incorrectly identified by the system 122 as damage or a trend toward damage. combining the image data and/or combining the wireframe model data based on image data acquired at different times can lessen the impact of these temporary or transitory objects on the route 106 when the wireframe model data is examined to identify or predict damage to the route 106 . for example, the image characteristic of a pixel may be approximately constant for several sets of image data acquired at different times. one set of image data may be acquired at a time when snow was on the route 106 . the presence of the snow may cause the image characteristic of that pixel to be significantly different from the image characteristic of the pixel in the image data acquired at other times. but, combining the image data (e.g., by calculating an average or median image characteristic) can result in the image characteristic of the pixel in the combined image data to be closer to the image characteristics of the pixel in the image data acquired at times other than when snow was on the route 106 than to the image characteristic of the pixel in the image data acquired when snow was on the route 106 . returning to the description of the system 100 shown in fig. 1 , the examination system 122 can include an analysis unit 128 that includes hardware circuits or circuitry that include and/or are connected with one or more computer processors, such as one or more computer microprocessors or other electronic logic-based devices. the analysis unit 128 examines the image data obtained at the different times to identify changes (e.g., historical trends) in the route 106 as shown in the image data. for example, the analysis unit 128 can compare different sets of wireframe model data to determine if the route 106 is changing over time. the different sets of the wireframe model data can represent image data acquired at different times. the analysis unit 128 can determine if the size, shape, or the like of the route 106 as shown in the wireframe model data is changing, how the route 106 is changing as reflected in the wireframe model data, or the like. based on these changes, the analysis unit 128 can predict if and/or when the route 106 is in need of repair and/or maintenance. fig. 4 illustrates wireframe model data 404 representative of the image data acquired of the route 106 according to another example of the inventive subject matter described herein. the image data used to create the wireframe model data 404 shown in fig. 4 may be image data acquired later and/or at different times than the image data used to create the wireframe model data 302 shown in fig. 3 . as shown in the wireframe model data 302 in fig. 3 , the rails 202 , 204 are represented by elongated, substantially parallel or parallel lines 300 . but, as shown in the wireframe model data 404 , the rail 202 is no longer formed from such elongated lines 300 . instead, the rail 202 is separated into shorter, discrete segments 400 of approximately parallel lines. these segments 400 are separated by gaps 402 . in the illustrated example there are four (4) segments 400 separated by three (3) gaps 402 . these gaps 402 may be present because the image data used to create the wireframe model data 404 does not have pixels or locations with similar or the same intensities, color, luminance or the like in the locations of the gaps 402 as are in the segments 400 . consequently, when the conversion unit 132 creates the wireframe model data 404 , the rail 202 is no longer formed from longer lines 300 . instead, the rail 202 is separated into discreet separated segments 400 which are separated by gaps 402 . conversely the rail 204 is still predominantly formed from the longer lines 300 that also appear in the wireframe model data fig. 3 . this may indicate that the rail 202 has undergone changes over time. the rail 204 , however, has not undergone these similar changes as the rail 204 appears similar in the wireframe model data 302 and the subsequently acquired image data used to create the wireframe model data 404 . fig. 5 illustrates additional wireframe model data 502 representative of the image data acquired of the route 106 according to another example of the inventive subject matter described herein. the image data used to create the wireframe model data 502 may be image data acquired later and/or at different times than the image data used to create the wireframe model data 302 shown in fig. 3 and/or the wireframe model data 404 shown in fig. 4 . as shown in fig. 5 , the lines 300 representative of the right rail 204 have shifted or moved from previous positions shown in the wireframe model data 302 , 404 . for example, the image data used to generate the wireframe model data in fig. 3 and/or fig. 4 may be obtained at an earlier point in time or over periods of time that precede when the image data used to generate the wireframe model data 502 in fig. 5 . the wireframe model data 502 illustrates the right rail 204 bending or shifting to the right slightly relative to positions of the right rail 204 in the wireframe model data 302 , 404 . for example, the right rail 204 shown in fig. 5 includes a bent or non-linear portion 500 relative to the lines 300 representative of the right rail 204 shown in figs. 3 and 4 . returning to the description of the system 100 shown in fig. 1 , the analysis unit 128 can examine the wireframe model data and identify changes in the wireframe model data over time. for example, the wireframe model data of a section of the route 106 may be updated periodically, on demand, or at other times. when the wireframe model data is updated, the analysis unit 128 can compare the updated wireframe model data to the previous wireframe model data to determine if the wireframe model data has changed. with respect to a comparison between the wireframe model data 302 and the wireframe model data 404 , the analysis unit 128 can determine that the wireframe model data is changing in that the lines 300 representative of the left rail 202 are breaking up into smaller segments 400 separated by gaps 402 . with respect to a comparison between the wireframe model data 302 and/or 404 and the wireframe model data 502 , the analysis unit 128 can determine that the wireframe model data is changing in that the lines 300 representative of the right rail 204 are bending at the bent portion 500 . the analysis unit 128 can identify a historical trend or changes in the wireframe model data over time and compare this trend to designated patterns of damage to the route 106 . as one example, the analysis unit 128 may count the number of gaps 402 and/or segments 400 that appear or develop over time in the wireframe model data. the changes in the number of segments 400 and/or gaps 402 can represent a historical trend of changes in the route 106 . in another example, the analysis unit 128 may measure the size (e.g., length) of the segments 400 and/or the gaps 402 , and monitor changes in the sizes of the segments 400 and/or gaps 402 as a historical trend of changes in the route 106 . as another example, the analysis unit 128 can examine changes in location and/or shapes of the lines 300 representative of the rails 202 , 204 . for example, the analysis unit 128 can examine the wireframe model data over time to determine if the lines 300 move, bend (e.g., become less linear), or otherwise change shape. these changes in the lines 300 can represent another historical trend of changes in the route 106 . the memory device 130 can store different designated changes in the wireframe model data, and these designated changes can be associated with different trends of damage to the route 106 . the designated changes can be referred to as designated patterns, as the changes represent patterns of change in the route 106 over time. for example, different numbers of segments 400 and/or gaps 402 in the wireframe model data may be associated with different types of damage. smaller numbers of segments 400 and/or gaps 402 may be associated with pitting or other surface damage to the route 106 , which larger numbers of the segments 400 and/or gaps 402 may be associated with more severe damage, such as breaks in the rails 202 , 204 . as the number of the segments and/or gaps increases over time, the route may be in more urgent need of repair and/or maintenance. as another example, smaller distances that the lines representative of the rails 202 , 204 move or change shape between different sets of wireframe model data may indicate slight displacement of the rails 202 , 204 , while larger distances that the lines move and/or change shape may indicate that the rails 202 , 204 are severely damaged or misaligned. increased movement of these lines over time may indicate a more urgent need of repair and/or maintenance. the analysis unit 128 can determine the actual changes in the wireframe model data from the comparisons of the wireframe model data (e.g., the actual historical trend of the route 106 ) and compare these actual changes with the designated patterns stored in the memory device 130 (or elsewhere). if the actual changes match one or more designated patterns, then the analysis unit 128 can identify the type and/or severity of the damage associated with the matching designated pattern as being the actual type and/or severity of the damage to the route 106 . for example, the analysis unit 128 can determine that development of a relatively small number of segments 400 and/or gaps 402 in the wireframe model data may more closely match a first pattern (indicative of a small amount of surface damage to the route 106 ) than one or more other patterns (that indicate more severe damage). as a result, the analysis unit 128 can determine that the actual changes in the wireframe model data indicate a small amount of surface damage to the route 106 . as another example, the analysis unit 128 can determine that development of a large gap 402 in the wireframe model data may more closely match a second pattern (indicative of a break in the route 106 ) than one or more other patterns (that indicate less severe damage). as a result, the analysis unit 128 can determine that the actual changes in the wireframe model data indicate a break in the route 106 . in another example, the analysis unit 128 can determine that the movement of the lines 300 in the bent portion 500 of the wireframe model data more closely matches a third pattern (indicative of misalignment in the route 106 ) than one or more other patterns (that indicate no misalignment, a lesser amount of misalignment, or a greater amount of misalignment). as a result, the analysis unit 128 can determine that the actual changes in the wireframe model data indicate some bending in the route 106 . based on the type and/or severity of the damage to the route 106 , the analysis unit 128 can predict if and/or when repair, maintenance, inspection, or other actions need to be taken with respect to the route 106 . for example, more severe damage to the route 106 (e.g., a break) may require repair before other degrees of damage to the route 106 (e.g., minor corrosion). similarly, some bending of the route 106 may require inspection, but not urgent inspection, of the route 106 . the analysis unit 128 can direct the communication unit 126 to communicate a request signal to one or more locations. this request signal can be sent to direct personnel to repair the route, inspect the route, and/or maintain the route based on the comparison between the historical trend in changes on the image data with the designated patterns of changes in the image data. the request signal can inform the recipients of the signal of the location of the damage to the route 106 , the type of damage, and/or the severity of the damage to the route 106 . fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method 600 for analyzing image data over time of a route to predict when repair and/or maintenance of the route may be needed according to an example embodiment of the inventive subject matter described herein. the method 600 may be performed by one or more embodiments of the systems 100 , 122 described herein. at 602 , image data of a route is obtained at different times. as described above, this can result from different vehicle systems having cameras disposed onboard obtaining pictures and/or video of the same portions of the route at different times and over extended periods of time. optionally, the image data also may include images and/or video obtained by stationary wayside devices or other cameras. at 604 , this image data is converted into wireframe model data. as described above, the image data may be converted into wireframe model data by examining image characteristics of the image data over time. the wireframe model data by can be created by assigning different image characteristics (e.g., colors, intensities, etc.) to different groups of pixels or other locations in the image data that have the same or similar image characteristics. optionally, at 606 , different sets of wireframe model data can be combined to filter out image data that represents temporary external factors. for example, the wireframe model data can be averaged or otherwise combined so that the impact or significance of image characteristics that are based on precipitation, vegetation, or the like, can be reduced in the wireframe model data relative to the image characteristics that represent the route. alternatively, the operations of 606 are not performed. at 608 , the wireframe model data is examined to determine if there is a historical trend in changes to the route. for example, the lines representative of rails and/or other surfaces of the route may be examined and/or compared between wireframe model data representative image data acquired at different times. changes in the lines, such as changing shapes, locations, sizes, or the like, can indicate degradation of the route. at 610 , a determination is made as to whether the historical trend of changes in the wireframe model data indicates damage to the route and/or a need for maintenance. for example, the breaking up of a line in the wireframe model data into a number of shorter segments may be compared to designated numbers of segments stored in a memory device. depending on which one of these designated numbers of segments matches the actual number of segments that the line has been broken up in to, the method 600 can determine if the route is degrading and/or the severity of degradation. based on the different types and/or severity and/or damage and/or degradation to the route, as determined from the changes in the wireframe model data over time, the method 600 may determine how urgent the need for maintenance and/or repair is. for example, the breaking up of a line in the wireframe model data based on previously acquired image data into many more segments may indicate that maintenance and/or repair will be needed sooner than if the line were not broken up or were broken up in to fewer segments. similarly, smaller changes in inter rail spacing may reflect a less urgent need for maintenance and/or repair to the route. but, larger changes in inter rail spacing may reflect a less urgent need for maintenance and/or repair to the route. if the changes in the wireframe model data indicate damage to the route and/or damage that is need of repair and/or maintenance, then flow of the method 600 can continue to 612 . on the other hand, if there are no changes, the changes do not indicate worsening damage to the route, and/or the changes do not indicate damage that is need of repair and/or maintenance, then flow of the method 600 can return to 602 . at 612 , the type of maintenance and/or repair that is needed on the route based on the historical changes in the wireframe model data. for example, if the changes in the wireframe model data indicate slight movements in the route, then the changes may indicate that the route should be examined for movement of the rails during the next scheduled inspection of the route, but that no extra inspection needs to be performed. but, if the changes in the wireframe model data indicate larger movements in the route, then the changes may indicate that the route should be examined very soon and, if necessary, prior to the next scheduled inspection of the route. at 614 , one or more request signals are communicated (e.g., autonomously, without operator intervention), to request repair and/or maintenance to the route. for example, depending on how severe the damage and/or how urgent the repair and/or maintenance is needed to the route, the method may send an appropriate message to one or more facilities and/or personnel to inspect, repair and/or maintain the route. in another example of the inventive subject matter, a system (e.g., a route damage prediction system) includes one or more cameras, a conversion unit, and an analysis unit. the cameras are configured to obtain image data within one or more fields of view of the one or more cameras that include a route that is traveled upon by plural different vehicles. the image data includes at least one of still images or video of the route obtained at different times. the conversion unit includes one or more computer processors configured to at least one of create wireframe model data or modify the image data into the wireframe model data representative of the route. the analysis unit includes one or more computer processors configured to examine changes in the wireframe model data to identify a historical trend of changes in the image data. the analysis unit is configured to compare the historical trend of the changes in the image data with designated patterns of changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route. multiple instances of “one or more processors” does not mean the analysis unit and the conversion unit are embodied in different processors, although that is a possibility. instead, the one or more processors of the conversion unit may be the same as the one or more processors of the analysis unit, such that in one embodiment the conversion unit and the analysis unit are embodied in the same processor or the same multiple processors. in one aspect, the system also includes a communication unit configured to communicate a request signal to direct the at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route to be performed based on comparing the historical trend of the changes in the image data with the designated patterns. in one aspect, the conversion unit is configured to create the wireframe model data from different sets of the image data of the route acquired at the different times by the different vehicles. in one aspect, the conversion unit is configured to at least one of create the wireframe model data or modify the image data into the wireframe model data by identifying at least one of pixels or other locations in the image data having image characteristics that are within designated ranges of each other and assigning a common image characteristic in the wireframe model data to the at least one of pixels or other locations having the image characteristics that are within the designated ranges of each other. in one aspect, the image characteristics include at least one of intensities, colors, or luminance. in one aspect, the analysis unit is configured to filter out changes in the image data caused by external factors other than damage to the route, wherein the wireframe model data that is examined by the analysis unit to identify the historical trend includes the wireframe model data after filtering out the changes in the image data caused by the external factors. in one aspect, the historical trend of changes in the image data includes at least one of changes in a number of lines representative of the route in the image data, changes in spacing between segments of the lines in the image data, changes in lengths of the lines or the segments of the lines, or changes in gaps between the segments of the lines. in another example of the inventive subject matter described herein, a method (e.g., for predicting damage to a route) includes receiving image data having one or more fields of view that include a route that is traveled upon by plural different vehicles. the image data includes at least one of still images or video of the route obtained at different times. the method also includes at least one of creating wireframe model data or modifying the image data into the wireframe model data representative of the route, examining changes in the wireframe model data to identify a historical trend of changes in the image data, and comparing the historical trend of the changes in the image data with designated patterns of changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route. in one aspect, the method also includes communicating a request signal to direct the at least one of repair, inspection, or maintenance of the route to be performed based on comparing the historical trend of the changes in the image data with the designated patterns. in one aspect, the wireframe model data is created from different sets of the image data of the route acquired at the different times by the different vehicles. in one aspect, the wireframe model data is created or the image data is modified into the wireframe model data by identifying at least one of pixels or other locations in the image data having image characteristics that are within designated ranges of each other and assigning a common image characteristic in the wireframe model data to the at least one of pixels or other locations having the image characteristics that are within the designated ranges of each other. in one aspect, the image characteristics include at least one of intensities, colors, or luminance. in one aspect, the method also includes filtering out changes in the image data caused by external factors other than damage to the route. the wireframe model data that is examined to identify the historical trend can include the wireframe model data after filtering out the changes in the image data caused by the external factors. in one aspect, the historical trend of changes in the image data includes at least one of changes in a number of lines representative of the route in the image data, changes in spacing between segments of the lines in the image data, changes in lengths of the lines or the segments of the lines, or changes in gaps between the segments of the lines. in another example of the inventive subject matter described herein, a system (e.g., a route damage prediction system) includes a conversion unit and an analysis unit. the conversion unit is configured to receive image data acquired at different times, the image data representing at least one of still images or video of a common segment of a route traveled by vehicles. the conversion unit configured to create wireframe model data from the image data. the analysis unit is configured to examine the wireframe model data to identify changes in the wireframe model data over time. the analysis unit also can be configured to examine the changes in the wireframe model data to determine when to request at least one of repair, maintenance, or inspection of the common segment of the route. in one aspect, the conversion unit is configured to examine the image data to identify pixels in the image data having image characteristics that are within a designated range of each other and to create the wireframe model data by assigning a first designated image characteristic to the pixels having the image characteristics that are within the designated range of each other and assigning a different, second designated image characteristic to the pixels having the image characteristics that are not within the designated range of each other. in one aspect, the image characteristics include at least one of pixel intensities, colors, or luminance. in one aspect, the conversion unit is configured to create different sets of the wireframe model data representative of the image data at the different times, and the analysis unit is configured to compare the different sets of the wireframe model data to determine when to request the at least one of repair, maintenance, or inspection of the common segment of the route. in one aspect, the vehicles are separate from each other. for example, the vehicles may be mechanically decoupled from each other such that the vehicles can travel on the route at different times, at different speeds, in different directions, or the like, relative to each other. the conversion unit can be configured to receive the image data from cameras disposed onboard the vehicles as the vehicles separately travel on the route at different times. in one aspect, the analysis unit is configured to compare the changes in the wireframe model data with designated changes associated with at least one of different types or different degrees of damage to the common segment of the route. it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. for example, the above-described embodiments (and/or aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. in addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the inventive subject matter without departing from its scope. while the dimensions and types of materials described herein are intended to define the parameters of the inventive subject matter, they are by no means limiting and are exemplary embodiments. many other embodiments will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. the scope of the inventive subject matter should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. in the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-english equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects. further, the limitations of the following claims are not written in means-plus-function format and are not intended to be interpreted based on 35 u.s.c. §112(f), unless and until such claim limitations expressly use the phrase “means for” followed by a statement of function void of further structure. this written description uses examples to disclose several embodiments of the inventive subject matter and also to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the inventive subject matter, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. the patentable scope of the inventive subject matter may include other examples that occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims. the foregoing description of certain embodiments of the inventive subject matter will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. to the extent that the figures illustrate diagrams of the functional blocks of various embodiments, the functional blocks are not necessarily indicative of the division between hardware circuitry. thus, for example, one or more of the functional blocks (for example, processors or memories) may be implemented in a single piece of hardware (for example, a general purpose signal processor, microcontroller, random access memory, hard disk, and the like). similarly, the programs may be stand-alone programs, may be incorporated as subroutines in an operating system, may be functions in an installed software package, and the like. the various embodiments are not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings. as used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. furthermore, references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” of the inventive subject matter are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising,” “including,” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property. since certain changes may be made in the above-described systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive subject matter herein involved, it is intended that all of the subject matter of the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted merely as examples illustrating the inventive concept herein and shall not be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter.
|
024-190-745-871-443
|
DE
|
[
"US",
"EP",
"DE",
"CN"
] |
F02D9/10,F02D9/06,F02M26/70,F16K1/22,F16K47/00,F02D9/04,F01N13/00,F01N3/20,F01N13/08
| 2020-07-13T00:00:00 |
2020
|
[
"F02",
"F16",
"F01"
] |
exhaust-gas flap device
|
an exhaust-gas flap device, especially for the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine, has a flap pipe and a flap plate that is supported, in the interior of the flap pipe, on a pivot shaft that is rotatable about a pivot axis. the exhaust-gas flap device further includes a pivoting drive for the pivot shaft with a drive element. a coupling unit couples the drive element to the pivot shaft for conjoint rotation about the pivot axis. vibration-damping material is arranged in the region of the coupling unit.
|
1. an exhaust-gas flap device, including for the exhaust-gas flow of a combustion engine, the exhaust-gas flap device comprising: a flap pipe defining an interior; a pivot shaft rotatably mounted so as to pivot about a pivot axis (a); a flap plate supported in said interior on said pivot shaft; a pivot drive for said pivot shaft and said pivot drive including a drive element; a coupling unit coupling said drive element to said pivot shaft so as to permit conjoint rotation about said pivot axis (a); vibration-damping material mounted to said coupling unit so as to permit conjoint rotation thereof with said coupling unit about said pivot axis (a); said coupling unit including: a coupling element defining a first coupling region coupled to or provided for coupling to said drive element; said coupling element further defining a second coupling region coupled to or provided for coupling to said pivot shaft; said coupling element further defining at least one connecting region connecting said first coupling region to said second coupling region; said first coupling region, said second coupling region and said at least one connecting region conjointly surrounding a coupling element interior space; and, at least a portion of said vibration-damping material being arranged in said coupling element interior space so as to permit conjoint rotation thereof with said coupling unit about said pivot axis (a). 2. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 1 , wherein said vibration-damping material comprises porous material. 3. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 2 , wherein said vibration-damping material comprises open-pore material. 4. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 1 , wherein said vibration-damping material comprises wire material. 5. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 4 , wherein said wire material includes weft-knitted material, warp-knitted material, braided wire, woven wire or tangled wire material. 6. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 1 , further comprising: a first heat shield arranged in said coupling element interior space; and, said vibration-damping material arranged in said coupling interior space being disposed to so surround said first heat shield that at least a portion of said vibration-damping material disposed in said coupling element interior space is positioned between said first heat shield and said first coupling region and/or at least a portion of said vibration-damping material arranged in said coupling element interior space is disposed between said first heat shield and said second coupling region. 7. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 1 , further comprising: said second coupling region having a side facing toward said pivot shaft; a second heat shield disposed at said side of said second coupling region facing toward said pivot shaft; and, at least a portion of said vibration-damping material being disposed in the region of said second heat shield. 8. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 7 , further comprising: said second heat shield being configured to have a pot-shaped form defining a base wall facing toward said second coupling region; said pot-shaped form further defining a peripheral wall transitioning into said base wall; and, said base wall and said peripheral wall conjointly surrounding a heat shield interior space opening in a direction away from said coupling element. 9. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of said vibration-damping material disposed in the region of said second heat shield is arranged at least in part in said heat shield interior space. 10. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of said vibration-damping material disposed in the region of said second heat shield is arranged so as to surround said peripheral wall on an outer side thereof facing away from said heat shield interior space. 11. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 1 , wherein said vibration-damping material is held in place by a positive-locking hold on said coupling unit. 12. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 11 , wherein said coupling unit has at least one positive-locking holding region engaging over said vibration-damping material. 13. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 1 , wherein said vibration-damping material is held on said coupling unit by material cohesion. 14. an exhaust-gas flap device, including for the exhaust-gas flow of a combustion engine, the exhaust-gas flap device comprising: a flap pipe defining an interior; a pivot shaft rotatably mounted so as to pivot about a pivot axis (a); a flap plate supported in said interior on said pivot shaft; a pivot drive for said pivot shaft and said pivot drive including a drive element; a coupling unit coupling said drive element to said pivot shaft so as to permit conjoint rotation about said pivot axis (a); a heat shield mounted on said coupling unit between said drive element and said pivot shaft so as to permit conjoint rotation thereof with said coupling unit about said pivot axis (a); and, vibration-damping material mounted to said coupling unit in the region of said heat shield so as to permit conjoint rotation thereof with said coupling unit about said pivot axis (a). 15. an exhaust-gas flap device, including for the exhaust-gas flow of a combustion engine, the exhaust-gas flap device comprising: a flap pipe defining an interior; a pivot shaft rotatably mounted so as to pivot about a pivot axis (a); a flap plate supported in said interior on said pivot shaft; a pivot drive for said pivot shaft and said pivot drive including a drive element; a coupling unit coupling said drive element to said pivot shaft so as to permit conjoint rotation about said pivot axis (a); and, vibration-damping material disposed in the region of said coupling unit so as to permit conjoint rotation thereof with said coupling unit about said pivot axis (a); said coupling unit including: a coupling element defining a first coupling region coupled to or provided for coupling to said drive element; said coupling element further defining a second coupling region coupled to or provided for coupling to said pivot shaft; and, said coupling element further defining at least one connecting region connecting said first coupling region to said second coupling region, said second coupling region having a side facing toward said pivot shaft; a second heat shield being mounted to said second coupling region at said side thereof facing toward said pivot shaft so as to permit conjoint rotation thereof with said coupling unit about said pivot axis (a); and, at least a portion of said vibration-damping material mounted to said coupling element being disposed in the region of said second heat shield so as to permit conjoint rotation thereof with said coupling unit about said pivot axis (a). 16. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 15 , wherein said vibration-damping material comprises porous material. 17. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 16 , wherein said vibration-damping material comprises open-pore material. 18. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 15 , wherein said vibration-damping material comprises wire material. 19. the exhaust-gas flap device of claim 18 , wherein said wire material includes weft-knitted material, warp-knitted material, braided wire, woven wire or tangled wire material.
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cross reference to related application this application claims priority of german patent application no. 10 2020 118 356.9, filed jul. 13, 2020, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. technical field the present invention relates to an exhaust-gas flap device, especially for the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine. the exhaust-gas flap device includes a flap pipe, a flap plate that is supported, in the interior of the flap pipe, on a pivot shaft that is rotatable about a pivot axis, and a pivoting drive for the pivot shaft with a drive element as well as a coupling unit coupling the drive element to the pivot shaft for conjoint rotation about the pivot axis. background an exhaust-gas flap device of the type is known from u.s. pat. no. 10,508,741. in the case of this exhaust-gas flap device, the pivot shaft, in its two axial end regions, is supported in respective bearing bushings arranged on the flap pipe, or pivot bearings arranged therein, so as to be pivotable about the pivot axis. during a pivoting of the pivot shaft caused by the pivoting drive, friction occurs in the region of the pivot bearings, which are generally in the form of plain bearings. this friction can lead to an excitation of vibration of the pivot shaft and thus in particular also of the coupling unit that couples the pivot shaft to the pivoting drive. such an excitation of vibration in the region of the pivot shaft or of the coupling unit can lead to the emission of noise that is perceptible in a vehicle. summary an object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust-gas flap device in the case of which the emission of sound generated by vibrations in the region of the exhaust-gas flap device is suppressed. an object of the invention is achieved by an exhaust-gas flap device, especially for the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine, which device has a flap pipe, a flap plate that is supported, in the interior of the flap pipe, on a pivot shaft that is rotatable about a pivot axis, and a pivoting drive for the pivot shaft with a drive element. the exhaust-gas flap device further includes a coupling unit which couples the drive element to the pivot shaft for conjoint rotation about the pivot axis. the exhaust-gas flap device is configured to have vibration-damping material arranged in the region of the coupling unit. through the provision of vibration-damping material in the region of the coupling unit, it is ensured that vibrations generated in the region of the exhaust-gas flap device substantially cannot lead to an excitation of the coupling unit that leads to an emission of sound, or that sound emitted by the coupling unit is dampened directly in the region of the coupling unit. for pronounced damping behavior, it is proposed that the vibration-damping material comprises porous material. here, the use of open-pore material for the vibration-damping material has proven especially suitable. since, in general, very high temperatures prevail in the region of such an exhaust-gas flap device, it is proposed that the vibration-damping material includes wire material. in this way, a temperature-resistant construction is ensured. owing to a structure for the wire material that can be set in order to obtain a defined damping characteristic, it is particularly advantageous if the wire material comprises weft-knitted wire, warp-knitted wire, braided wire or woven wire. such material can be provided with a defined structure, in particular a defined density of the wire material, on the one hand through the selection of the wire raw material and on the other hand through the setting of the production parameters. alternatively, for the wire material, use may be made of irregular wire material, in which there is a substantially unordered profile of the wire sections that form the material. such irregular wire material may be provided for example in the form of so-called wire wool. for a stable coupling of the pivot shaft to the drive element, it is proposed that the coupling unit includes a coupling element with a first coupling region, which is coupled or provided for coupling to the drive element, with a second coupling region, which is coupled or provided for coupling to the pivot shaft, and with at least one connecting region, which connects the first coupling region to the second coupling region. such a coupling element may for example be constructed with sheet-metal material, and may be bent into a substantially ring-shaped or u-shaped form. the coupling element constructed with a for example ring-shaped or u-shaped form may also be constructed from multiple parts that interact with one another. for an efficient action of the sound-deadening material, it is proposed that the two coupling regions and the at least one connecting region surround a coupling element interior space, and that at least a part of the vibration-damping material is arranged in the coupling element interior space. in order to be able to realize thermal shielding between the pivot shaft, which is generally exposed to the exhaust-gas stream and thus intensely heated, and the drive element, a first heat shield element may be provided in the coupling element interior space. here, the vibration-damping material arranged in the coupling element interior space may be arranged so as to surround the first heat shield element such that at least a part of the vibration-damping material arranged in the coupling element interior space is positioned between the first heat shield element and the first coupling region and/or at least a part of the vibration-damping material arranged in the coupling element interior space is arranged between the first heat shield element and the second coupling region. in order to further support the thermal shielding between the system region that is intensely heated during operation, that is, in particular the pivot shaft and the flap pipe, and the pivoting drive, a second heat shield element may be provided on a side of the second coupling region facing toward the pivot shaft or the flap pipe. here, furthermore, at least a part of the vibration-damping material may be provided in the region of the second heat shield element. the second heat shield element is preferably of pot-like form with a base wall, which faces toward the second coupling region, and with a peripheral wall, which adjoins the base wall, the base wall and the peripheral wall surrounding a heat shield element interior space which is open in a direction away from the coupling element. this pot-like form of the heat shield element can be utilized for the positioning of sound-deadening material in that at least a part of the vibration-damping material provided in the region of the second heat shield element is arranged at least partially in the heat shield element interior space. alternatively or in addition, at least a part of the vibration-damping material provided in the region of the second heat shield element may be arranged so as to surround the peripheral wall at an outer side averted from the heat shield element interior space. in order to couple the vibration-damping material to the coupling unit such that an impairment of the damping characteristic as a result of the coupling is avoided, it is proposed that the vibration-damping material is held on the coupling unit by positive locking. for this purpose, on the coupling unit, there may for example be provided at least one positive-locking holding region which engages over the vibration-damping material. alternatively or in addition to the attachment of the sound-deadening material to the coupling unit by positive locking, a firm connection may be achieved by virtue of the vibration-damping material being held on the coupling unit by material cohesion. this material cohesion may be implemented for example by welding, brazing and/or adhesive bonding. brief description of the drawings the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein: fig. 1 shows an exhaust-gas flap device for the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine; fig. 2 shows a coupling unit for the exhaust-gas flap device of fig. 1 ; fig. 3 is a schematic, corresponding to fig. 2 , of an alternative configuration of a coupling unit; and, fig. 4 is a schematic, corresponding to fig. 2 , of an alternative configuration of the coupling unit. description of the preferred embodiments fig. 1 shows, in a side view, an exhaust-gas flap device which is denoted generally by 10 and which can be used for example in an exhaust-gas system of an internal combustion engine and which has a flap drive 12 . the exhaust-gas flap device 10 includes a flap pipe 14 in which a flap plate denoted generally by 16 is supported, pivotably about a pivot axis a, on a pivot shaft 18 . the flap plate 16 includes two flap wings 20 , 22 which, in the case of a flap plate 16 positioned in a shut-off position, lie against wing stops 24 , 26 provided on the inner circumference of the flap pipe 14 . the pivot shaft 18 is, on its two axial end regions 28 , 30 , supported by respective bearing arrangements so as to be rotatable or pivotable relative to the flap pipe 14 about the pivot axis a. in its first axial end region 28 , the pivot shaft 18 is coupled by a coupling unit 32 , described below, to a drive element 34 of the flap drive 12 , for example a drive shaft, for conjoint rotation. in this region, the pivot shaft 18 may be coupled to the coupling unit 32 directly or via a component that is fixed to the pivot shaft for conjoint rotation therewith. the coupling unit 32 , which is shown only schematically in fig. 1 , can be seen in more detail in fig. 2 . the coupling unit 32 includes a coupling element which is denoted generally by 36 and which is preferably constructed with sheet-metal material. the coupling element 36 is illustrated in fig. 2 as being of an annular form, and includes a substantially plate-like or planar first coupling region 38 , wherein the coupling element 36 can be coupled to the drive shaft, which acts as drive element 34 , of the flap drive 12 for conjoint rotation. for this purpose, the coupling element 36 has, in its first coupling region 38 , a positive-locking engagement opening 40 , into which a positive-locking engagement projection 41 provided on the drive element 34 can be positioned so as to engage in order to couple the drive element 34 to the coupling element 36 for conjoint rotation about the pivot axis a. correspondingly, the coupling element 32 is constructed with a plate-like or substantially planar second coupling region 42 , in which there is formed a positive-locking coupling opening 44 for receiving a positive-locking coupling projection 46 , which is of complementary shape, of the pivot shaft 18 in order to couple the coupling element 36 to the pivot shaft 18 for conjoint rotation about the pivot axis a. it is pointed out that the coupling element 36 , which is constructed for example from bent sheet-metal material, may be bent from a single sheet-metal strip, the mutually opposite end regions of which can be connected to one another for example in materially cohesive fashion in order to realize a closed annular structure, or the two end regions of which can be positioned so as to overlap such that, for example, one of the two coupling regions 38 , 42 is formed by two mutually overlapping end regions of the sheet-metal material provided for the construction of the coupling element 36 . in the embodiment shown, the two coupling regions 38 , 42 are connected to one another by two connecting regions 48 , 50 in order to obtain the annular structure. in an alternative embodiment, such a coupling element 36 could be provided with a u-shaped structure, in the case of which the two coupling regions 38 , 42 are then connected to one another only by one such connecting region 48 or 50 . in order to realize thermal shielding between the shafts which are situated with their axial end regions facing one another, that is, between the drive shaft, which acts as drive element 34 , of the flap drive 12 and the pivot shaft 18 , a first heat shield element 54 is provided in a coupling element interior space 52 which is formed in the coupling element 36 and which is surrounded by the two coupling regions 38 , 42 and the two connecting regions 48 , 50 . the first heat shield element 54 extends between the mutually facing end regions of the abovementioned shafts and thus prevents heat transfer from the pivot shaft 18 , which is intensely heated during operation, to the drive element 34 by thermal radiation. in order to achieve further improved thermal shielding, a second heat shield element 56 , for example likewise constructed from sheet-metal material, may be provided as an alternative or in addition to the first heat shield element 54 . the second heat shield element 56 is formed with a substantially pot-like structure and comprises a base wall 58 , which is arranged on the second coupling region 42 at its side facing toward the pivot shaft 18 or the flap pipe 14 and which is connected in materially cohesive fashion, for example by welding, to the coupling element 36 and/or which is held axially fixedly between the coupling element 36 and the pivot shaft 18 , and a peripheral wall 60 which adjoins the base wall in the outer peripheral region. the second heat shield element 56 is preferably also constructed with sheet-metal material and has a passage opening 62 assigned to the positive-locking engagement opening 44 in the second coupling region 42 , such that the pivot shaft 18 can be inserted with its end region, which is to be coupled to the coupling element 36 , into the positive-locking engagement opening 44 . the coupling element 36 may be arranged between the two shafts that are to be coupled to one another, in such a way that the coupling element is held under preload between the shafts and thus preloads the mutually facing end regions of the shafts in a direction away from one another. in this way, defined axial positioning for the pivot shaft 18 can be achieved, taking into consideration a generally inevitably present bearing play of the bearing arrangement, which bears the pivot shaft 18 axially, for example in the region of the axial end region 28 of the pivot shaft 18 . vibration-damping material, denoted in fig. 2 generally by 64 , is provided in the region of the coupling unit 32 . the vibration-damping material 64 is constructed preferably with wire material, for example weft-knitted wire, and in the illustrated embodiment has an annular structure which surrounds the peripheral wall 60 of the second heat shield element 56 . for the vibration-damping material 64 to be held in a defined manner on the coupling unit 32 , the peripheral wall 60 of the second heat shield element 56 may, at least in peripheral regions thereof, be bent radially outward in order, with an edge region 66 which engages radially over the vibration-damping material 64 , to provide a positive-locking holding region denoted generally by 68 . the vibration-damping material 64 is thus held so as to lie in a defined manner against the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 60 in a radial direction with respect to the pivot axis a, and is held in a defined manner between the coupling element 36 and the positive-locking holding region 68 in an axial direction of the pivot axis a. alternatively or in addition to the generation of the positive locking by means of the positive-locking holding region 68 , the vibration-damping material 64 may be held fixedly on the coupling unit 32 by material cohesion, for example welding, brazing and/or adhesive bonding. because of the vibration-damping material 64 provided in the region of the coupling unit 32 , it is ensured that vibrations that are generated in the region of the exhaust-gas flap 10 , or transmitted thereto, during operation cannot lead to such an excitation of vibration of the coupling unit 32 , in particular of the coupling element 36 , that sound that is perceptible in a vehicle is emitted. furthermore, the vibration-damping material 64 can absorb excitations of vibration which occur in the region of the coupling unit 32 and which possibly lead to an emission of sound, such that the vibration-damping material 64 firstly contributes to fundamentally preventing the occurrence of an excitation of vibration of the coupling unit 32 to the greatest possible extent, and secondly contributes to absorbing sound emitted by the coupling unit 32 if such excitations of vibration occur. the vibration-damping material, which in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 2 is configured in a ring-shaped form, is preferably produced in a production process that leads to a defined porous, open-pore structure, for example a weft-knitting process, a warp-knitting process, a braiding process or a weaving process. in the case of such a production procedure, the vibration-damping material 64 can be provided with the required annular closed form with a substantially hose-like structure, and subsequently compressed in order to obtain the desired dimensions and the desired density of the wire material present in the vibration-damping material or the desired porosity. an alternative embodiment is illustrated in fig. 3 . in this embodiment, the vibration-damping material 64 ′ is arranged in a heat shield element interior space 70 which is surrounded by the base wall 58 and by the peripheral wall 60 of the second heat shield element 56 . for the pivot shaft 18 to engage through, it is also the case in this embodiment that the vibration-damping material 64 ′ is formed with a ring-like structure. in this embodiment, too, a defined holding action on the second heat shield element 56 by positive locking is achieved in that the peripheral wall 60 is, over at least a part of its periphery, bent so as to provide an edge region 66 , which in this case engages radially inward and provides the positive-locking holding region 68 . the vibration-damping material 64 ′ is held in an axial direction between the edge region 66 and the base wall 58 . since the vibration-damping material 64 ′ bears against the inner surface of the peripheral wall 60 , it is also held in a defined manner in a radial direction. it is pointed out that the embodiments illustrated in figs. 2 and 3 , with vibration-damping material 64 on the outer periphery of the second heat shield element 56 and vibration-damping material 64 ′ on the inner periphery of the second heat shield element 56 , may self-evidently be combined with one another. a further alternative embodiment is illustrated in fig. 4 . in this embodiment, the vibration-damping material 64 ″ is arranged in the coupling element interior space 52 . in the embodiment illustrated, two vibration-damping bodies 72 , 74 of the vibration-damping material 64 ″ are provided. the vibration-damping body 72 is situated between the first coupling region 38 and the first heat shield element 54 . the vibration-damping body 74 is situated between the first heat shield element 54 and the second coupling region 42 , wherein a limb, which is fixed to the second coupling region 42 , of the first heat shield element 54 may also be positioned at least regionally between the vibration-damping body 74 and the second coupling region 42 . it can be seen that the two vibration-damping bodies 72 , 74 can be positioned so as to overlap the positive-locking engagement openings 40 and 44 respectively in the two coupling regions 38 , 42 . when the two positive-locking coupling projections 41 , 46 are pushed into the positive-locking coupling openings 40 , 44 , the vibration-damping material 64 ″ can be locally compressed. in order to avoid such compression, the vibration-damping material 64 ″ may be provided such that it has recesses assigned to the positive-locking engagement openings 40 , 44 in order to be able to receive the positive-locking coupling projections 41 , 46 therein. for example, the two vibration-damping bodies 72 , 74 may be provided with a ring-like structure. as an alternative to the configuration of the vibration-damping material 64 ″ with two or more vibration-damping bodies 72 , 74 , it would also be possible, in the coupling element interior space 52 , for the vibration-damping material 64 ″ to be constructed with a single vibration-damping body which engages around the first heat shield element 54 and which, in this way, is positioned such that the vibration-damping material 64 ″ is situated between the first heat shield element 54 and the first coupling region 38 and between the first heat shield element 54 and the second coupling region 42 . in order, in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4 , to be able to hold the vibration-damping material 64 ″ on the coupling unit 32 in a defined manner, it is for example possible for holding tabs 76 , 78 , 80 to be provided on the two coupling regions 38 , 42 , which holding tabs engage over the vibration-damping material 64 ″ at the lateral edge regions, which lie transversely with respect to the pivot axis a, of the coupling element 36 in order to thus provide a positive-locking holding region 68 . it is thus also the case in this embodiment that an impairment of the porous structure of the vibration-damping material 64 ″, for example as a result of welding the vibration-damping material 64 ″ to the coupling element 36 , is avoided. it is pointed out that the embodiment illustrated in fig. 4 may also be combined with the embodiment of fig. 2 and/or the embodiment of fig. 3 . it is understood that the foregoing description is that of the preferred embodiments of the invention and that various changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
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024-502-111-502-320
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US
|
[
"US",
"WO"
] |
A43B1/02,A43B23/02,A43B1/10,A43B1/14,A43B23/00,A43B23/07,B29D31/518,B32B27/12
| 2004-09-03T00:00:00 |
2004
|
[
"A43",
"B29",
"B32"
] |
article of footwear having an upper with a structured intermediate layer
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an article of footwear and a method of manufacturing the footwear are disclosed. the footwear has an upper and a sole structure. the upper is secured to sole structure and the upper is formed from three layers: a first layer, a second layer, and a third layer. the second layer is formed from a polymer material and molded to the first layer, but the second layer may alternately be molded to the third layer. the third layer is joined with at least one of the first layer and the second layer such that the second layer is positioned between the first layer and the third layer.
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1 . an article of footwear having an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper, the upper comprising: a first layer formed of a textile material, the textile material being porous and generally planar; a second layer formed of a non-planar polymer foam material and having a mesh structure; and a third layer joined with at least one of the first layer and the second layer such that the second layer is positioned between the first layer and the third layer, the third layer formed of the textile material. 2 . the article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the mesh structure of the second layer includes a plurality of apertures formed in the polymer foam material. 3 . the article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the apertures are at least one of square, rectangular, round, triangular, hexagonal, and trapezoidal. 4 . the article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the apertures are irregularly shaped. 5 . the article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the apertures include a plurality of apertures of a first shape and a plurality of apertures of a second shape different from the first shape. 6 . the article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein a size of the apertures may vary throughout the upper. 7 . the article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein a size of the apertures is based on a desired degree of flexibility in a portion of the upper. 8 . the article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the second layer provides stretch-resistance in a plane of the upper and flexibility in other directions. 9 . the article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the second layer is formed of a material having different densities in different regions. 10 . the article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein at least one dimension of the mesh structure varies throughout the upper.
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related application this non-provisional u.s. patent application is a divisional application and claims priority to u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/846,908 which was filed in the u.s. patent and trademark office on jul. 30, 2010, and claims priority to u.s. pat. no. 7,793,434, issued sep. 14, 2010, both applications being entirely incorporated herein by reference. background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to footwear. the invention concerns, more particularly, an article of footwear having a structured intermediate layer extending through at least a portion of an upper of the footwear. 2. description of background art conventional articles of athletic footwear generally include two primary elements, an upper and a sole structure. the upper is secured to the sole structure and forms a void on the interior of the footwear for comfortably and securely receiving a foot. the sole structure is positioned between the upper and the ground, and the sole structure may include a polymer foam midsole and an outsole. the midsole attenuates ground reaction forces (i.e., provides cushioning) as the footwear contacts the ground, and may absorb energy, to lessen the forces exerted upon the foot and leg. the outsole forms a ground-engaging portion of the sole structure and is formed from a durable and wear-resistant material. the sole structure may also include an insole that is positioned within the void to enhance footwear comfort. the upper generally extends over the instep and toe areas of the foot, along the medial and lateral sides of the foot, and around the heel area of the foot. in some articles of footwear, such as basketball footwear and hiking boots, the upper may extend upward and around the ankle to provide support for the ankle access to the void on the interior of the footwear is generally provided by an access opening. a lacing system is often incorporated into the upper to selectively increase the size of the access opening and permit the wearer to modify certain dimensions of the upper, particularly girth, to accommodate feet with varying dimensions. in addition, the upper may include a tongue that extends under the lacing system to enhance comfort of the footwear, and the upper may incorporate a heel counter to limit movement of the heel. various materials are conventionally utilized in manufacturing the upper. the upper of athletic footwear, for example, may be formed from multiple material layers that include an exterior layer, an intermediate layer, and an interior layer. the materials forming the exterior layer of the upper may be selected based upon the properties of wear-resistance, flexibility, and air-permeability, for example. with regard to the exterior layer, the toe area and the heel area may be formed of leather, synthetic leather, or a rubber material to impart a relatively high degree of wear-resistance. leather, synthetic leather, and rubber materials may not exhibit the desired degree of flexibility and air-permeability for various other areas of the exterior layer of the upper. accordingly, the other areas of the exterior layer may be formed from a synthetic textile, for example. the exterior layer of the upper may be formed, therefore, from numerous material elements that each impart different properties to the upper. the intermediate layer of the upper is conventionally formed from a lightweight and planar polymer foam material that provides cushioning and enhances comfort. similarly, the interior layer of the upper may be formed of a moisture-wicking textile that removes perspiration from the area immediately surrounding the foot. in some articles of athletic footwear, the various layers may be joined with an adhesive, and stitching may be utilized to join elements within a single layer or to reinforce specific areas of the upper. summary of the invention the present invention is an article of footwear having an upper and a sole structure. the upper is secured to sole structure and the upper is formed from a plurality of layers that may include: a first layer, a second layer, and a third layer. in some embodiments of the invention, the first layer forms an exterior of the upper, and the third layer forms an interior of the upper. alternately, the first layer may form an interior of the upper, and the third layer may form an exterior of the upper. in other embodiments, a fourth layer may be placed adjacent the third layer to form the interior of the upper. the second layer is formed from a polymer material, and the second layer is molded to the first layer. the third layer is joined with at least one of the first layer and the second layer such that the second layer is positioned between the first layer and the third layer. the first layer may be a textile material such that the polymer material of the second layer infiltrates the textile material of the first layer to secure the second layer to the first layer. the second layer may have a mesh structure, or the second layer may be a plurality of discrete or joined polymer foam elements, for example. the third layer may be joined with at least one of the first layer and the second layer in a stitchless manner, such as with an adhesive. the sole structure includes a midsole and an outsole, and the first layer and the second layer may extend between the midsole and the outsole. depending upon the embodiment, at least one of the first layer and the second layer may also extend under the midsole, and the third layer may extend over the midsole. in another aspect of the invention, the sole structure includes a midsole. edges of the third layer may be joined together to form various seams. the insole effectively covers each of the seams, with the exception of a heel seam that may have a substantially vertical orientation and extends through a heel region of the footwear. accordingly, the insole may provide a separation between each of the seams and the foot, with the exception of the heel seam. yet another aspect of the invention involves a method of manufacturing an article of footwear. the method includes providing a first layer of an upper of the article of footwear, and molding a second layer of the upper to the first layer. a third layer of the upper is then joined with at least one of the first layer and the second layer such that the second layer is positioned between the first layer and the third layer. the advantages and features of novelty characterizing the present invention are pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. to gain an improved understanding of the advantages and features of novelty, however, reference may be made to the following descriptive matter and accompanying drawings that describe and illustrate various embodiments and concepts related to the invention. description of the drawings the foregoing summary of the invention, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. fig. 1 is a medial side elevational view of a first article of footwear in accordance with the present invention. fig. 2a is a first cross-sectional view of the first article of footwear, as defined by section line 2 a- 2 a in fig. 1 . fig. 2b is a second cross-sectional view of the first article of footwear, as defined by section line 2 b- 2 b in fig. 1 . fig. 3 is a top plan view of a material element that forms an interior layer of an upper of the first article of footwear. fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the interior layer in an assembled configuration. fig. 5 is a rear elevational view of the interior layer in the assembled configuration. fig. 6 is a top plan view of a material element that forms an exterior layer of the upper of the first article of footwear. fig. 7 is a top plan view of an intermediate layer in combination with the exterior layer. fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view that corresponds with the cross-sectional view of fig. 2a and depicts another embodiment of the first article of footwear. fig. 9 a medial side elevational view of a second article of footwear having another upper in accordance with the present invention. fig. 10a is a first cross-sectional view of the second article of footwear, as defined by section line 10 a- 10 a in fig. 9 . fig. 10b is a second cross-sectional view of the second article of footwear, as defined by section line 10 b- 10 b in fig. 9 . fig. 11 is a top plan view of an intermediate layer in combination with an exterior layer. detailed description of the invention the following discussion and accompanying figures disclose two articles of footwear in accordance with the present invention. concepts related to the articles of footwear may be applied to a wide range of footwear styles. for example, the concepts may be applied to athletic footwear styles that include running shoes, basketball shoes, walking shoes, cross-training shoes, tennis shoes, soccer shoes, and football shoes, for example. in addition to athletic footwear, concepts related to the articles of footwear may be applied to footwear styles that are generally considered to be non-athletic (e.g., dress shoes or work boots) or footwear serving a medical or rehabilitative purpose. accordingly, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the concepts disclosed herein apply to a wide variety of footwear styles, in addition to the specific style discussed in the following material and depicted in the accompanying figures. an article of footwear 10 , in accordance with the present invention, is depicted in figs. 1-2b as incorporating a sole structure 20 and an upper 30 . sole structure 20 is secured to upper 30 and provides a durable, wear-resistant component that provides cushioning as footwear 10 impacts the ground. upper 30 is formed from an interior layer 40 , an intermediate layer 50 , and an exterior layer 60 that are joined in a stitchless manner and positioned in an at least partially coextensive relationship. that is, portions of layers 40 , 50 , and 60 are arranged in a laminar manner. as will be described in greater detail below, intermediate layer 50 is positioned between interior layer 40 and exterior layer 60 , and intermediate layer 50 may exhibit a structured configuration. in further embodiments of the invention additional layers may be placed on either side of upper 30 such that the additional layers actually form the interior or exterior surface of upper 30 . sole structure 20 exhibits a generally conventional configuration that may include a midsole 21 and an outsole 22 . midsole 21 is formed of a polymer foam material, such as ethylvinylacetate or polyurethane. accordingly, midsole 21 attenuates ground reaction forces (i.e., provides cushioning) and may absorb energy as sole structure 20 is compressed between the foot and the ground. to enhance the force attenuation and energy absorption characteristics of sole structure 20 , midsole 21 may incorporate a fluid-filled bladder, as disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 4,183,156 and 4,219,945 to rudy, for example. outsole 22 exhibits a generally cupped configuration that extends over the lower surface of midsole 21 and along side surfaces of midsole 21 . suitable materials for outsole 22 are various rubber compounds, for example, that provide a durable, wear-resistant surface for engaging the ground. outsole 22 may also incorporate a textured lower surface to enhance the traction characteristics of footwear 10 . in addition, footwear 10 includes an insole 23 , which is a relatively thin cushioning member located within upper 30 and adjacent to a plantar surface of the foot for enhancing the comfort of footwear 10 . for purposes of reference, upper 30 includes a lateral region 31 , an opposite medial region 32 , an instep region 33 , and a heel region 34 . regions 31 - 34 are not intended to demarcate precise areas of upper 30 . rather, regions 31 - 34 are intended to represent general areas of upper 30 to aid in the following discussion. in addition to upper 30 generally, references to the various regions 31 - 34 may also be applied to each of layers 40 , 50 , and 60 . lateral region 31 extends through a longitudinal length of footwear 10 and is generally configured to contact and cover a lateral side of the foot. medial region 32 has a similar configuration that generally corresponds with a medial side of the foot. instep region 33 is positioned between lateral region 31 and medial region 32 , and instep region 33 extends over an instep area of the foot. heel region 34 forms a rear portion of upper 30 and is generally configured to contact and cover a heel area of the foot. in addition, lateral region 31 , medial region 32 , instep region 33 , and heel region 34 cooperatively define an access opening 35 for providing the foot with access to the void within upper 30 . layers 40 , 50 , and 60 of upper 30 effectively extend around midsole 21 , as depicted in figs. 2a and 2b . more particularly, layers 40 , 50 , and 60 are positioned in a coextensive relationship in regions 31 - 34 . at a point where layers 40 , 50 , and 60 approach midsole 21 , however, interior layer 40 diverges from the coextensive relationship with intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 to extend over an upper surface of midsole 21 . intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 continue downward and extend between midsole 21 and outsole 22 to cover a lower surface of midsole 21 . that is, layers 40 , 50 , and 60 effectively wrap around each of the surfaces of midsole 21 , with interior layer 40 extending over the upper surface of midsole 21 and each of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 extending between midsole 21 and outsole 22 to cover a lower surface of midsole 21 . in other embodiments of the invention, each of layers 40 , 50 , and 60 may extend over the upper surface of midsole 21 , each of layers 40 , 50 , and 60 may extend between midsole 21 and outsole 22 to cover a lower surface of midsole 21 , or upper 30 may be joined in another manner to sole structure 20 . accordingly, the manner in which sole structure 20 and upper 30 are joined may vary significantly within the scope of the present invention. interior layer 40 extends over the upper surface of midsole 21 and effectively forms a substantial portion of the void within upper 30 . more particularly, an exposed surface of interior layer 40 (i.e., the surface opposite layers 50 and 60 ) defines the void within upper 30 , which receives both insole 23 and the foot. in general, therefore, insole 23 is located within a lower portion of upper 30 and is positioned in an area that will be adjacent to a plantar surface of the foot for enhancing the comfort of footwear 10 . as will be described in greater detail below, edges of interior layer 40 are joined together to form seams, and insole 23 effectively covers the seams (except a heel seam) and separates the seams from the foot. that is, insole 23 is located within the void formed by interior layer 40 , and insole 23 is positioned between the seams and the portion of the void that receives the foot. accordingly, insole 23 provides a separation between the various seams and the foot, with the exception of the heel seam. in some embodiments of the present invention, additional layers of material may be placed adjacent to interior layer 40 such that the additional layers actually form the interior surface of the void within upper 30 . interior layer 40 and exterior layer 60 may be formed from a variety of materials, including textile materials. a textile may be defined as any manufacture from fibers, filaments, or yarns characterized by flexibility, fineness, and a high ratio of length to thickness. textiles generally fall into two categories. the first category includes textiles produced directly from webs of filaments or fibers by random interlocking to construct non-woven fabrics and felts. the second category includes textiles formed through a mechanical manipulation of yarn, thereby producing a woven fabric, for example. the various techniques for mechanically manipulating yarn into a textile include interweaving, intertwining and twisting, and interlooping, which includes various knitting processes. yarn is defined as an assembly having a substantial length and relatively small cross-section that is formed of at least one filament, a plurality of filaments, or a plurality of fibers. the structure of textile materials is generally porous and permits molten polymers, for example, to infiltrate the structure of interior layer 40 and exterior layer 60 . in manufacturing upper 30 , exterior layer 60 , for example, is placed in a mold and a polymer material is injected, poured, compressed, or otherwise placed into the mold. the polymer material infiltrates the textile material of exterior layer 60 (i.e., the polymer material extends around the various filaments and fibers forming the yarn in the textile material) and, is permanently bonded to exterior layer 60 upon cooling. that is, the polymer material that forms intermediate layer 50 may be molded to exterior layer 60 . in other embodiments of the invention, the polymer material forming intermediate layer 50 may be molded to interior layer 40 . suitable polymer materials for intermediate layer 50 include silicone, various rubbers, and polyurethane, for example. although interior layer 40 and exterior layer 60 are generally discussed herein as being textile materials, one or both of interior layer 40 and exterior layer 60 may be formed from any material to which intermediate layer 50 may be bonded. in addition, intermediate layer 50 may be formed from multiple materials, or intermediate layer 50 may be formed from a single material with different densities in different portions of footwear 10 . accordingly, the properties of the materials forming intermediate layer 50 may also vary to change the properties of intermediate layer 50 in different portions of footwear 10 . the molding process described above effectively joins intermediate layer 50 to exterior layer 60 . a portion of interior layer 40 is positioned adjacent to intermediate layer 50 and is also secured to intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 . one suitable manner of joining interior layer 40 with intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 is through an adhesive bonding process. an adhesive may be applied to interior layer 40 , and upon contact with intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 , the adhesive joins interior layer 40 to intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 . alternately, the adhesive may be applied to intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 , or other joining techniques may be utilized (e.g., stitching or thermo-bonding). the manner in which footwear 10 is manufactured will now be discussed in detail to provide a better understanding regarding the structure of footwear 10 . with reference to fig. 3 , interior layer 40 is depicted as a single textile element that is formed to exhibit a unitary (i.e., one piece) construction having a plurality of edges 41 a , 41 b , 42 a , 42 b , 43 a , 43 b , 43 c , 43 d , 44 a , 44 b , 44 c , and 44 d . a plurality of corresponding seams 41 ′, 42 ′, 43 ′, and 44 ′ are respectively formed, therefore, when joining the edges of interior layer 40 . more particularly, seam 41 ′ extends along the longitudinal length of a lower area and is centrally-located with respect to lateral region 31 and medial region 32 . seam 42 ′ is also centrally-located and extends in a substantially vertical direction along heel region 34 . a seam 43 ′ is positioned in a forefoot area of upper 30 and joins a portion of the lower region with both of lateral region 31 and medial region 32 . in addition, a seam 44 ′ is positioned in a rear area of upper 30 and joins a portion of the lower region with heel region 34 . as defined for purposes of the present invention, the term unitary construction is intended to express a configuration wherein portions of a textile element (i.e., layers 40 and 60 ) are not joined together by seams or other connections, as depicted with interior layer 40 in fig. 3 . although the various edges 41 a - 44 d are joined together to form seams 41 ′- 44 ′, the various portions of interior layer 40 are formed as an unitary (i.e., one piece) element without seams. interior layer 40 exhibits the general shape depicted in fig. 3 prior to the formation of seams 41 ′- 44 ′. following formation of seams 41 ′- 44 ′, however, interior layer 40 exhibits the shape depicted in figs. 4 and 5 . seams 41 ′- 44 ′ are formed by securing various edges of interior layer together. more specifically, (1) seam 41 ′ is formed by securing edge 41 a with edge 41 b ; (2) seam 42 ′ is formed by securing edge 42 a with edge 42 b; (3) a first portion of seam 43 ′ is formed by securing edge 43 a with edge 43 b (4) a second portion of seam 43 ′ is formed by securing edge 43 c with edge 43 d; (5) a first portion of seam 44 ′ is formed by securing edge 44 a with edge 44 b ; and (6) a second portion of seam 44 ′ is formed by securing edge 44 c with edge 44 d . referring to figs. 3-5 , the positions of regions 31 - 34 are identified to provide a frame of reference relating to the various portions of interior layer 40 . in some embodiments, the order of the various steps discussed herein may be altered. in order to join edges 41 a and 41 b to form seam 41 ′, interior layer 40 is folded or otherwise overlapped such that edge 41 a is placed adjacent to edge 41 b. stitching, an adhesive, or thermo-bonding, for example, is then utilized to secure edge 41 a and edge 41 b. textile element 40 , as depicted in fig. 3 , has a generally planar or otherwise flat configuration. upon the formation of seam 41 ′, however, one portion of textile element 40 generally overlaps the other portion of textile element 40 . the volume between the overlapping portions effectively forms the void within upper 30 for receiving the foot and insole 23 . the folding or overlapping of interior layer 40 to form seam 41 ′ places edge 42 a adjacent to edge 42 b , which facilitates the formation of seam 42 ′. with reference to fig. 3 , an edge 45 forms a generally u-shaped area in a portion of textile element 40 . upon the joining of edges 42 a and 42 b to form seam 42 ′, the u-shaped area becomes an aperture in interior layer 40 and effectively forms access opening 35 . each of edges 43 a - 43 d and edges 44 a - 44 d are formed from a generally v-shaped area of textile element 40 . accordingly, seams 43 ′ and 44 ′ may be formed by closing the v-shaped areas and securing the various edges together. following the formation of each of seams 41 ′- 44 ′, which may be performed around a last having the general shape of a foot, the lower area of interior layer 40 is then secured to midsole 21 with an adhesive, for example. separately, exterior layer 60 may be formed, as depicted in fig. 6 . exterior layer 60 exhibits the general shape of interior layer 40 , but has greater dimensions in order to wrap around the lower surface of midsole 21 . either prior to removing exterior layer 60 from a larger textile element or following removal, exterior layer 60 may be placed within a mold for purposes of forming intermediate layer 50 . as discussed above, exterior layer 60 is placed in a mold and a polymer material is injected into the mold. the polymer material infiltrates the textile material of exterior layer 60 (i.e., the polymer material extends around the various filaments and fibers forming the yarn in the textile material) and, is permanently bonded to exterior layer 60 upon cooling. that is, the polymer material that forms intermediate layer 50 may be molded to exterior layer 60 , as depicted in fig. 7 . the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 is then placed over interior layer 40 , which remains on the last, and portions of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 extend around midsole 21 to cover the lower surface of midsole 21 . in order to join interior layer 40 to the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 , an adhesive may be applied to interior layer 40 prior to placing the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 over interior layer 40 . alternately, the adhesive may be applied to a surface of the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 . as discussed above, other methods, such as stitching and thermo-bonding, may also be utilized to join interior layer 40 to the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 . furthermore, layers 40 , 50 , and 60 may be joined prior to the lasting process, or different orders for joining layers 40 , 50 , and 60 may be utilized within the scope of the present invention. the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 exhibit the general shape of interior layer 40 , but have greater dimensions in order to wrap around the lower surface of midsole 21 . given the similarities in shape between interior layer 40 and the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 , seams that correspond in location with seams 41 ′- 44 ′ may be formed in the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 . that is, edges of the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 may be joined in a manner that is analogous to the edges of interior layer 40 . following the general procedure outlined above, outsole 22 may be bonded to portions of the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 that extend around midsole 21 . the last is then removed from the void formed by interior layer 40 , and insole 23 is then positioned within a lower are of the void. in addition, various finishing steps, such as reinforcing access opening 35 , may be performed to place footwear 10 in a commercially-presentable state, thereby substantially completing the manufacture of footwear 10 . based upon the above discussion, footwear 10 is structured such that upper 30 forms a void for receiving the foot and insole 23 . upper 30 includes interior layer 40 , intermediate layer 50 , and exterior layer 60 , and intermediate layer 50 is formed from a polymer material that is molded to exterior layer 60 (or may be molded to interior layer 40 ). interior layer 40 is joined with at least one of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 such that intermediate layer 50 is positioned between exterior layer 60 and interior layer 40 . sole structure 20 secured to upper 30 , and intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 extend between midsole 21 and outsole 22 . in addition, interior layer 40 extends over midsole 21 . as discussed above, this manner of securing upper 30 to sole structure 20 provides one example of many suitable joining configurations. edges of interior layer 40 are joined together to form various seams 41 ′- 44 ′, as discussed above. insole 23 effectively covers each of seams 41 ′, 43 ′, and 44 ′, but does not cover seam 42 ′, which is substantially vertical and extends through heel region 34 . with the exception of seam 42 ′, therefore, insole 23 separates each of seams 41 ′- 44 ′ from the foot. that is, insole 23 is located within the void formed by interior layer 40 , and insole 23 is positioned between each of seams 41 ′, 43 ′, and 44 ′ and the portion of the void that receives the foot. accordingly, insole 23 provides a separation between each of seams 41 ′- 44 ′ and the foot, with the exception of the substantially vertical seam 42 ′ in heel region 34 . interior layer 40 forms an interior surface of the upper that defines substantially all of the void. exterior layer 60 and interior layer 40 may be textile materials, and the polymer material of intermediate layer 50 infiltrates the textile material of exterior layer 60 to secure intermediate layer 50 to exterior layer 60 . in addition, interior layer 40 is joined with at least one of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 . in some embodiments, a stitchless manner of joining interior layer 40 to the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 is utilized. accordingly, an adhesive or thermo-bonding is suitable. in some embodiments, however, stitching may be utilized to join interior layer 40 to the combination of intermediate layer 50 and exterior layer 60 . intermediate layer 50 may have a variety of configurations within the scope of the present invention. as depicted in the figures, intermediate layer 50 has a mesh structure that forms a plurality of generally rectangular openings. alternately, intermediate layer 50 may have a mesh structure that forms round, triangular, hexagonal, trapezoidal, or irregularly-shaped openings. in some embodiments, intermediate layer 50 may form a non-mesh structure. for example, the polymer material may form strips that run vertically, horizontally, or diagonally between interior layer 40 and exterior layer 60 . the polymer material may also be limited to specific regions of upper 30 . for example, the polymer material of intermediate layer 50 may be limited to heel region 34 , or may extend through instep region 33 to reinforce this area of upper 30 . an advantage of the mesh structure of intermediate layer 50 relates to directional stretch-resistance in the plane of upper 30 , and flexibility in other directions. effectively, the mesh structure limits the degree of stretch in upper 30 , but allows upper 30 to freely flex. in some embodiments, the dimensions of the mesh structure of intermediate layer 50 may vary throughout upper 30 . for example, the size of the openings in the mesh structure may be varied depending upon the desired degree of stretch in each area of upper 30 . the thickness of the individual segments of the mesh structure may also be varied to control the degree of stretch in specific areas of upper 30 . intermediate layer 50 may also be utilized to provide structural elements in upper 30 . for example, intermediate layer 50 may be utilized to form a heel counter in heel region 34 , or intermediate layer 50 may be utilized to reinforce apertures through which a shoelace is threaded. intermediate layer 50 is discussed above as wrapping around the lower surface of midsole 21 . in some embodiments, however, intermediate layer 50 may wrap around midsole 21 to a lesser degree, as depicted in fig. 8 or intermediate layer 50 may be limited to portions of upper 30 that are not associated with sole structure 20 . accordingly, the specific structure of intermediate layer 50 may vary significantly within the scope of the present invention. another advantage to the mesh structure of intermediate layer 50 relates to aesthetics. for this reason, intermediate layer 50 may be molded or otherwise formed to exhibit any practical and aesthetically-pleasing structure, whether having a mesh or non-mesh configuration. an article of footwear 100 , in accordance with the present invention, is depicted in figs. 9-10b as incorporating a sole structure 120 and an upper 130 . sole structure 120 is secured upper 130 and provides a durable, wear-resistant component that provides cushioning as footwear 100 impacts the ground. upper 130 is formed from an interior layer 140 , an intermediate layer 150 , and an exterior layer 160 that are joined in a stitchless manner and are positioned in an at least partially coextensive relationship. as will be described in greater detail below, intermediate layer 150 is positioned between interior layer 140 and exterior layer 160 , and intermediate layer 150 may exhibit a structured configuration. sole structure 120 exhibits a generally conventional configuration that includes a midsole 121 and an outsole 122 . midsole 121 is formed of a polymer foam material, such as ethylvinylacetate or polyurethane. accordingly, midsole 21 attenuates ground reaction forces (i.e., imparts cushioning) and may absorb energy as sole structure 120 is compressed between the foot and the ground. outsole 122 exhibits a generally cupped configuration that extends over the lower surface of midsole 121 and along side surfaces of midsole 121 . suitable materials for outsole 122 are various rubber compounds, for example, that provide a durable, wear-resistant surface for engaging the ground. outsole 122 may also incorporate a textured lower surface to enhance the traction characteristics of footwear 100 . in addition, footwear 100 includes an insole 123 , which is a relatively thin, cushioning member located within upper 130 and adjacent to a plantar surface of the foot for enhancing the comfort of footwear 100 . layers 140 , 150 , and 160 of upper 130 effectively extend around midsole 121 , as depicted in figs. 10a and 10b . more particularly, interior layer 140 diverges from a coextensive relationship with intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 to extend over an upper surface of midsole 121 . exterior layer 160 continues downward and extends between midsole 121 and outsole 122 to cover a lower surface of midsole 121 . in contrast with footwear 10 , therefore, intermediate layer 150 is not depicted as extending between midsole 121 and outsole 122 . in other embodiments of the invention, each of layers 140 , 150 , and 160 may extend over the upper surface of midsole 121 , each of layers 140 , 150 , and 160 may extend between midsole 121 and outsole 122 to cover a lower surface of midsole 21 , or upper 130 may be joined in another manner to sole structure 120 . accordingly, the manner in which sole structure 120 and upper 130 are joined may vary significantly within the scope of the present invention. interior layer 140 extends over the upper surface of midsole 121 and effectively forms a substantial portion of the void within upper 130 . more particularly, an exposed surface of interior layer 140 defines the void within upper 120 , which receives both insole 123 and the foot. in general, therefore, insole 123 is located within a lower portion of upper 130 and is positioned in an area that will be adjacent to a plantar surface of the foot for enhancing the comfort of footwear 100 . interior layer 140 exhibits a configuration that is substantially similar to the configuration of interior layer 40 , and edges of interior layer 140 are joined together to form seams in the same manner as interior layer 40 . as with footwear 10 , insole 123 effectively covers the seams in interior layer 140 (except for a substantially vertical heel seam) and separates the seams from the foot. that is, insole 123 is located within the void formed by interior layer 140 , and insole 123 is positioned between the seams and the portion of the void that receives the foot. accordingly, insole 123 provides a separation between the seams and the foot, with the exception of the heel seam. interior layer 140 and exterior layer 160 may be formed from any of the materials discussed above with respect to footwear 10 , including various textile materials. the structure of textile materials is generally porous and permits molten polymers, for example, to infiltrate the structure of interior layer 140 and exterior layer 160 . in manufacturing upper 130 , exterior layer 160 , for example, is placed in a mold and a polymer material is injected into the mold. the polymer material infiltrates the textile material of exterior layer 160 (i.e., the polymer material extends around the various filaments and fibers forming the yarn in the textile material) and, is permanently bonded to exterior layer 160 upon cooling. that is, the polymer material that forms intermediate layer 150 may be molded to exterior layer 160 . in other embodiments of the invention, the polymer material forming intermediate layer 150 may be molded to interior layer 140 . although interior layer 140 and exterior layer 160 are generally discussed herein as being textile materials, one or both of interior layer 140 and exterior layer 160 may be formed from any material to which intermediate layer 150 may be bonded. suitable polymer materials for intermediate layer 150 include various polymer foams whether formed from thermo-plastic or thermoset polymer materials. more particularly, intermediate layer 150 may be formed from a polyurethane foam, for example. in contrast with intermediate layer 50 , therefore, intermediate layer 150 is formed from a foamed polymer material. in addition, intermediate layer 150 may be formed from multiple materials, or intermediate layer 150 may be formed from a single material with different densities in different portions of footwear 100 . accordingly, the properties of the materials forming intermediate layer 150 may also vary to change the properties of intermediate layer 150 in different portions of footwear 100 . in place of the foamed polymer material, intermediate layer 150 may also be formed from sheets of rubber or thermoplastic polyurethane, for example. the molding process described above effectively joins intermediate layer 150 to exterior layer 160 . a portion of interior layer 140 is positioned adjacent to intermediate layer 150 and is also secured to intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 . one suitable manner of joining interior layer 140 with intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 is through an adhesive bonding process. an adhesive may be applied to interior layer 140 , and upon contact with intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 , the adhesive joins interior layer 140 to intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 . alternately, the adhesive may be applied to intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 , or other joining techniques may be utilized (e.g., stitching or thermo-bonding). footwear 100 may be manufactured in a manner that is substantially similar to the manufacturing method for footwear 10 . accordingly, the edges of interior element 140 may be joined around a last, and midsole 121 may be bonded to a lower area of interior element 140 . exterior layer 160 may be formed and placed within a mold for purposes of forming intermediate layer 150 . as discussed above, exterior layer 160 is placed in a mold and a polymer foam material is injected into the mold. the polymer foam material infiltrates the textile material of exterior layer 160 (i.e., the polymer foam material extends around the various filaments and fibers forming the yarn in the textile material) and, is permanently bonded to exterior layer 160 upon cooling. that is, the polymer foam material that forms intermediate layer 150 may be molded to exterior layer 160 . the combination of intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 , as depicted in fig. 11 , is then placed over interior layer 140 , which remains on the last, and portions of exterior layer 160 extend around midsole 121 to cover the lower surface of midsole 121 . in order to join interior layer 140 to the combination of intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 , an adhesive may be applied to interior layer 140 prior to placing the combination of intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 over interior layer 140 . as discussed above, other methods, such as stitching and thermo-bonding, may also be utilized to join interior layer 140 to the combination of intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 . following the general procedure outlined above, outsole 122 may be bonded to portions of exterior layer 160 that extend around midsole 121 . the last is then removed from the void formed by interior layer 140 and insole 123 is positioned within the void. in addition, various finishing steps may be performed to place footwear 100 in a commercially-presentable state, thereby substantially completing the manufacture of footwear 100 . based upon the above discussion, footwear 100 is structured such that upper 130 forms a void for receiving the foot and insole 123 . upper 120 includes interior layer 140 , intermediate layer 150 , and exterior layer 160 , and intermediate layer 150 is formed from a polymer material and molded to exterior layer 160 (or may be molded to interior layer 140 ). interior layer 140 is joined with at least one of intermediate layer 150 and exterior layer 160 such that intermediate layer 150 is positioned between exterior layer 160 and interior layer 140 . sole structure 120 secured to upper 130 , and exterior layer 160 extends between midsole 121 and outsole 122 . in addition, interior layer 140 extends over midsole 121 . intermediate layer 150 may have a variety of configurations within the scope of the present invention. in general, intermediate layer 150 exhibits a non-planar configuration and is, therefore, a non-planar foam material. as depicted in the figures, intermediate layer 150 has the configuration of a plurality of discrete and disk-shaped protrusions. alternately, intermediate layer 150 may have the configuration of connected protrusions. intermediate layer 150 may also have a plurality of other configurations within the scope of the present invention. an advantage of the various polymer foam protrusions that form intermediate layer 150 relates to protection of the foot. specific areas of the foot are more likely to be contacted by objects or other individuals during activities, such as athletic activities. the locations of the polymer foam protrusions may be selected, therefore, to correspond with these areas of the foot. in addition, the size, density, and thickness, for example, of the protrusions may be selected to impart varying degrees of protection in these areas. accordingly, the configuration of intermediate layer 150 may vary significantly to impart cushioning to selected areas of upper 130 . another advantage to the various polymer foam protrusions that form intermediate layer 150 relates to aesthetics. for this reason, intermediate layer 150 may be formed to exhibit any practical and aesthetically-pleasing structure. although interior layers 40 and 140 are depicted in the figures and discussed in the above material as forming an interior of uppers 30 and 130 , respectively, other layers or elements of material may be placed adjacent to either of layers 40 and 140 in order to form the actual interior of uppers 30 and 130 . similarly, although exterior layers 60 and 160 are depicted in the figures and discussed in the above material as forming an exterior of uppers 30 and 130 , respectively, other layers or elements of material may be placed adjacent to either of layers 60 and 160 in order to form the actual exterior of uppers 30 and 130 . accordingly, the use of the terms interior and exterior is intended to provide a reference for better understanding of the information presented herein. the present invention is disclosed above and in the accompanying drawings with reference to a variety of embodiments. the purpose served by the disclosure, however, is to provide an example of the various features and concepts related to the invention, not to limit the scope of the invention. one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that numerous variations and modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.
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025-416-463-870-421
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US
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[
"EP",
"WO",
"AU",
"CA",
"US",
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"NO"
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E21B43/11,C09K8/72,E21B43/28,E21B43/117,F42B1/032,E21B43/116
| 2012-01-18T00:00:00 |
2012
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[
"E21",
"C09",
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system and method for enhanced wellbore perforations
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an apparatus for perforating a subterranean formation may include a casing, an energetic material, a liner, and an acid-generating material. the casing may have a slotted end configured to receive a detonator cord, and an open end. the energetic material may be disposed in the open end and in ballistic. the liner may enclose the open end, and the liner may include an acid-generating material that is configured to form an acid upon detonation of the explosive material.
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the claims 1 . an apparatus for perforating a subterranean formation, comprising: a casing having a slotted end configured to receive a detonator cord, and an open end; an energetic material disposed in the open end; and a liner enclosing the open end, the liner including: an acid-generating material that is configured to form an acid upon detonation of the explosive material. 2. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the acid-generating material includes at least a first component, the first component being configured to react with a second component external to the liner. 3. the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second component is in the borehole. 4. the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second component is in the formation. 5. the apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a catalyst for generating the acid. 6. the apparatus of claim 1 , w herein the acid-generating material includes a second component. 7. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the acid-generating material includes a first component and a second component. 8. the apparatus of claim 7, further comprising an isolating material isolating the first component from the second component. 9. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first component is selected from a group consisting of: alumina, zeolites, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, copper(ll) sulfate, vanadium (v) oxide, phosphorus chloride, thionyl chloride family, acyl chloride family, alkyl halide family, alkenyl halide family, aryl halide family, phosphorus, cobalt, chromium, manganese, peroxide family, naphtha, acetaldehyde, calcium fluoride, viton, teflon™, oxalic acid, anhydrous glycerol, ethyl isonitrile, ethyl amine, chloroform, formyl fluoride, sodium formate, hydrocyanic acid, nitrophosphate, tricalcium phosphate, and combinations thereof. 10. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first component forms the acid by interacting with a second component selected from a group consisting of: alumina, zeolites, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, copper(ll) sulfate, vanadium (v) oxide, phosphorus chloride, thionyl chloride family, acyl chloride family, alkyl halide family, alkenyl halide family, aryl halide family, phosphorus, cobalt, chromium, manganese, peroxide family, naphtha, acetaldehyde, calcium fluoride, viton, teflon™, oxalic acid, anhydrous glycerol, ethyl isonitrile, ethyl amine, chloroform, formyl fluoride, sodium formate, hydrocyanic acid, nitrophosphate, tricalcium phosphate, and combinations thereof. 1 1. an apparatus for perforating a subterranean formation, comprising: a casing having a slotted end configured to receive a detonator cord, and an open end; an energetic material disposed in the open end; and a liner enclosing the open end, the liner including: an acid-generating material that includes a first component and a second component, the first component disassociating to form an acid when exposed to the second component. 12. the apparatus of claim 1 1 , wherein the acid generating material is selected from a group consisting of: alumina, zeolites, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, copper(ll) sulfate, vanadium (v) oxide, phosphorus chloride, thionyl chloride family, acyl chloride family, alkyl halide family, alkenyl halide family, aryl halide family, phosphorus, cobalt, chromium, manganese, peroxide family, naphtha, acetaldehyde, calcium fluoride, viton, teflon™, oxalic acid, anhydrous glycerol, ethyl isonitrile, ethyl amine, chloroform, formyl fluoride, sodium formate, hydrocyanic acid, nitrophosphate, tricalcium phosphate, and combinations thereof. 13. the apparatus of claim 1 1 , wherein the second component is an aqueous fluid. 14. the apparatus of claim 1 1 , wherein the second component is in the borehole. 15. the apparatus of claim 1 1 , wherein the second component is in the formation.
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title: system and method for enhanced wellbore perforations inventor(s): clay, matthew; and talavera, james c. background of the disclosure 1 . field of disclosure [0001] the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for perforating a well casing and/or a subterranean formation. 2. description of the related art [0002] hydrocarbon producing wells typically include a casing string positioned within a wellbore that intersects a subterranean oil or gas deposit. the casing string increases the integrity of the wellbore and provides a path for producing fluids to the surface. conventionally, the casing is cemented to the wellbore face and is subsequently perforated by detonating shaped explosive charges. when detonated, the shaped charges generate a jet that penetrates through the casing and forms a tunnel of a short distance into the adjacent formation. often, the region that is perforated, and in particular the walls of the tunnel, may become impermeable due to the stress applied to the formation by the perforating jet as well as stresses that may be caused during the firing of the perforating gun. the loss of permeability and other harmful effects, such as the introduction of debris into the perforation, may adversely affect the flow of hydrocarbons from an intersected hydrocarbon deposit. [0003] in aspects, the present disclosure addresses the need for perforating devices and methods that provide cleaner and more effective well perforations. summary of the disclosure [0004] the present disclosure provides devices and methods for efficiently perforating a formation. [0005] in aspects, the present disclosure provides a system for perforating a formation intersected by a wellbore. [0006] in aspects, the present disclosure further provides a method for perforating a formation intersected by a wellbore. [0007] the above-recited examples of features of the disclosure have been summarized rather broadly in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the contributions to the art may be appreciated. there are, of course, additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. brief description of the drawings [0008] for detailed understanding of the present disclosure, references should be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements have been given like numerals and wherein: fig. 1 is a schematic sectional view of one embodiment of an apparatus of the present disclosure as positioned within a well penetrating a subterranean formation; fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a portion of a perforating gun shown in fig. 1 ; and fig. 3 is a sectional view of a liner made in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. detailed description of the disclosure [0009] aspects of the present disclosure provide shaped charges that treat a tunnel formed by a perforating jet with an acid. the acid may be generated, in part, by one or more components making up a liner of the shaped charge. the acid is generated upon an energetic material of the shaped charge being detonated. the acid does not exist prior to detonation of the shaped charge. further, the amount of acid generated is sufficient to perform a specified operation. in some embodiments, the acid may corrode or dissolve foreign matter such as human-made debris so that this foreign matter may be expelled out of the tunnel by the flowing formation fluid. in other embodiments, the acid may corrode or dissolve a naturally occurring material such as rock or earth surrounding the tunnel. in still other embodiments, the acid may increase the permeability or porosity of the formation to enhance fluid mobility. [00010] referring now to fig. 1 , there is shown a well construction and/or hydrocarbon production facility 10 positioned over a subterranean formation of interest 12. the facility can be a land-based or offshore rig adapted to convey a tool, such as a perforating gun train, in a well bore 16. the wellbore 16 can include open hole sections and/or cased and cemented sections. the facility 10 can include known equipment and structures such as a platform 18 at the earth's surface 20, a derrick 22, a wellhead 24, and casing 26. a work string 28 suspended within the well bore 16 from the derrick 22 is used to convey tooling into the wellbore 16. the work string 28 may include drill pipe, coiled tubing, wire line, slick line, or any other known conveyance means. further, the work string 28 may be pulled through the wellbore by a device such as a wellbore tractor (not shown), which may be advantageous in extended reach wells or deviated wells. the work string 28 can include telemetry lines or other signal/power transmission mediums that establish one-way or two-way telemetric communication from the surface to a tool connected to an end of the work string 28. a suitable telemetry system (not shown) can be known as mud pulse, electrical signals, acoustic, or other suitable systems. for illustrative purposes, there is shown a telemetry system having a surface controller (e.g., a power source and/or firing panel) 30 adapted to transmit signals via a cable or signal transmission line 31 disposed in the work string 28. the signals can be analog or digital signals. in one embodiment of the present invention, a perforating gun 32 is coupled to an end of the work string 28. the perforating gun 32 may be the apparatus used to transport the device described in fig. 1 into the borehole. [00011] the perforating gun 32 may be an explosive train assembly that includes a detonator, detonating cord, and one or more shaped charges 33. when detonated in the wellbore, the charges will produce holes through the casing, cement, and into the surrounding formation. this detonation establishes communication between the formation and wellbore, providing a path for the formation fluids and gasses to be produced. the explosive train assembly may designed to operate in a predetermined timed sequence. electric detonators may be used to detonate the detonating cord, which in turn detonates the charges in order from the top down or bottom up. below is an exemplary method of deployment of a perforating gun 32 that may utilize one or more detonators according to the present disclosure. [00012] referring to fig. 2, a transverse cross section of a perforating gun assembly 32 is shown. the perforating gun assembly 32 has a tubular carrier 34 and a cylindrical charge tube 36 concentrically disposed within the tubular carrier 34. the outside diameter of the charge tube 36 is such that an annular space 38 is created between the charge tube 36 and the carrier 34. an explosive shaped charge 40 has a frusto-conical charge case 42. the charge case 42 is typically formed from steel, die cast aluminum, or zinc alloys and has an interior surface or wall 44 that defines a hollow interior of the charge case 42. the charge case 42 is open at the outer end and tapers inward. disposed within the interior of the case 42 is a liner 48 having a generally conical or frusto-conical configuration. the liner 48 tapers inward from a base 50, located at the outer end, to a nose portion 52. the liner 48 is open at the base 50 and has a hollow interior. disposed between the liner 48 and interior wall 44 of the casing 42 is an explosive material 54. the explosive material 54 extends from the interior of the case 42 through channel formed in the innermost end of the case 42. the case 42 receives a detonating cord 56 for detonating the explosive material 54 (fig. 3) of the shaped charge 40. [00013] fig. 3 illustrates a sectional view of a liner 48 made in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. when the shaped charges (fig. 2) of the perforating gun assembly (fig. 2) are detonated, the thermal energy and shock wave released by the explosive material 54 transforms the liner 48 into a molten jet that penetrates through the casing (not shown) in the wellbore and into the surrounding formation to form a perforation. [00014] in embodiments of the present disclosure, the detonation of the explosive material 54 initiates the generation of one or more acids that are deposited into the tunnels formed by the jets. an illustrative tunnel is shown in fig. 1 with numeral 60. [00015] in one embodiment, the liner 48 may include an acid-generating material 50 for generating an acid. specifically, the liner includes enough acid-generating material to generate enough acid to be functionally effective. by functionally effective, it is meant that the tunnel treated by the acid has a property or characteristic (e.g., permeability) that has been altered by a predetermined or desired amount. the acid-generating material 50 may be formed by the interaction of a first component and a second component. the first component may be or include a proton donor or positive ion. the second component is generally an aqueous solvent, in either liquid or gaseous form. it should be understood that the second component may store the aqueous solution in a solid form (e.g. , a hydrate). the solid may be processed to form a liquid or a gas that interacts with the first component to form the acid. [00016] in one arrangement, the acid-generating material 50 may include all the components needed to form an acid, e.g. , the first component and the second component. in another arrangement, the liner 48 may include the first component that interacts with the second component in the gun 32 to form the acid. for example, the second component may be a material used to at least partially form the casing 42. also, the second component may be a solid, liquid, or gas, located external to the liner 48 but internal to the carrier 34. in yet another variant, the second component may be a well fluid external to the carrier 34. in another arrangement, the liner 48 may include a first component that interacts with a naturally-occurring second component that is external to the carrier 34 and may be located in the wellbore 16 and / or the formation 12. the term "naturally occurring" refers to materials such as water, brine, and hydrocarbons that reside in the formation 16. [00017] an acid may be defined as a substance that may act as a lewis acid or bronsted-lowrey acid, including acids typically in the form of an aqueous solution. in one non-limiting instance, the acid-generating material may include a first component that may be configured to form an acid upon detonation of the explosive material. the first component may disassociate from the acid-generating material; upon disassociation, the first component may interact with the second component to form an acid. [00018] the acid-generating material may include a catalyst configured to interact with a first component for generating an acid. the first component may be configured to react with a second component, e.g. a solvent, external to the liner for forming an acid in aqueous solution. the solvent or second component may be in the borehole, in the formation, or both. [00019] in some embodiments, the acid generating material may include one or more components, such as but not limited to a proton donor or positive ion, a proton acceptor or negative ion, a catalyst, or materials that would aid in the acid formation upon detonation of the explosive material. it will be evident to those skilled in the art as to which aspects of the acid generating material may function as the proton donor (cation) or proton acceptor (anion). the components of the acid generating material may be or include, but are not limited to alumina, zeolites, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, copper(ll) sulfate, vanadium (v) oxide, phosphorus chloride, thionyl chloride family, acyl chloride family, alkyl halide family, alkenyl halide family, aryl halide family, phosphorus, cobalt, chromium, manganese, peroxide family, naphtha, acetaldehyde, calcium fluoride, viton, teflon™, oxalic acid, anhydrous glycerol, ethyl isonitrile, ethyl amine, chloroform, formyl fluoride, sodium formate, hydrocyanic acid, nitrophosphate, tricalcium phosphate, and combinations thereof. the acids generated may be, but not limited to, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, formic acid, phosphonic acid, and combinations thereof. [00020] in some embodiments, the material 50 may be formulated to only react when exposed to a catalyst 52. the catalyst 52 may be disposed in an isolating material 54. the isolating material 54 initially prevents the interaction of the catalyst 52 with the other materials in the liner 48. the isolating material 54 may be selected to release the acid-generating material upon the occurrence of one or more conditions. for example, the isolating material 54 may be a metal that has a melting point below the temperatures encountered when the explosive material 44 is detonated. one illustrative, but not exclusive, isolating material is zinc. upon detonation of the charge 40, the isolating material 54 may burn away, melt, dissolve, disintegrate or otherwise undergo a change in condition that allows the catalyst 52 to interact with the acid-generating material 50. [00021] it should be appreciated that the isolating material 54 may also be used to isolate either or both of the first component and the second component. by isolation, it is meant that either or both of the components do not interact prior to detonation of the perforating gun. in certain embodiments, a catalyst material may be used to isolate either or both of the first component or the second component. [00022] the liner 48 may also include a matrix material such as powder metals or powder metals blended with ductile materials such as aluminum, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, bismuth, tantalum, tin, brass, molybdenum, etc. materials such as plasticizers or binder may also be included in a material matrix of the liner 48. the liner 48 may also be formed of malleable solid or sheet metals such as copper, zinc, and pfinodal. [00023] the foregoing description is directed to particular embodiments of the present disclosure for the purpose of illustration and explanation. it will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that many modifications and changes to the embodiment set forth above are possible without departing from the scope of the disclosure. thus, it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such modifications and changes.
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025-971-823-023-967
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FR
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G01N33/543,C12N15/09,C12N15/11,C12Q1/68,C40B40/06,C40B60/14,G01N33/544,G01N33/545,G01N33/547,C07H21/00,C07K1/04,C12N15/85,G01N33/53,C07H21/02
| 1994-02-11T00:00:00 |
1994
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[
"G01",
"C12",
"C40",
"C07"
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method for ordering macromolecules by means of a moving meniscus, and uses thereof
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macromolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids or polysaccharides are aligned on a support surface by passing the macromolecules through a meniscus of a solvent containing the macromolecules. the meniscus may be that of a solvent between two surfaces at an interface of the solvent with air. one end of a macromolecule is attached to one surface which may be a glass surface and another end is free. the meniscus is moved relative to the surface to which the end is attached such as by evaporating the solvent or by moving the surface. as the macromolecule passes through the meniscus, the macromolecule aligns on the surface perpendicular to the meniscus. this method may be used in assaying, measuring intramolecular distance and/or separating of macromolecules.
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1. a process for aligning a macromolecule on a surface, wherein the process comprises: (a) providing a solvent for the macromolecule between two surfaces where one surface is an anchoring surface to which one end of the macromolecule is anchored by a bond and another end of the macromolecule is free, and where the solvent forms a meniscus between and perpendicular to the surfaces at an interface of the solvent with air between the surfaces; and (b) moving the meniscus and solvent between the surfaces so that the macromolecule passes through the meniscus into air at the interface whereby the macromolecule is aligned on the anchoring surface perpendicular to the meniscus without breaking the bond that anchors the end of the macromolecule to the surface. 2. a process according to claim 1, wherein the macromolecule is a protein, a lipid, a polysaccharide, or a derivative thereof. 3. a process according to claim 1, wherein the macromolecule is an antibody, an antigen, a ligand, a receptor of a ligand, or a derivative thereof. 4. a process according to claim 1, wherein the macromolecule is a protein capable of specifically recognizing and attaching a second protein in a sample. 5. a process according to claim 1, wherein the macromolecule is a protein. 6. a process according to claim 1, wherein the anchoring surface comprises (a) an exposed reactive group having an affinity for the macromolecule, or (b) a molecule with biological activity capable of recognizing the macromolecule. 7. a process according to claim 6, wherein the molecule with biological activity is biotin, avidin, streptavidin, or derivatives thereof, an antigen, or an antibody. 8. a product of the process of claim 1.
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background of the invention the present invention relates to a method for aligning macromolecules such as polymers or macromolecules with biological activity, especially dna, or proteins. the present invention also relates to the application of this method in processes for detecting for measuring intramolecular distance, for separating and/or for assaying a macromolecule in a sample. controlling the conformation of macromolecules represents a major industrial challenge, for example in the manufacture of sensors or of controlled molecular assemblies, or alternatively in problems of detection and analysis. it may be useful to have an elongated molecular conformation. by way of example, in the case where polymers are grafted on a substrate, it has been proposed to extend them by the action of an electric field, a flow or with the aid of optical tweezers. in particular, in biology, the alignment of dna--by electrophoresis (zimmermann and cox nucl. acid res. 22, p 492, 1994), free flow (parra and windle, nature genetics, 5, p 17, 1993 and wo 93/22463) or in a gel (schwartz et al. science 262, p 110, 1993 and u.s. pat. no. 33531) or with the aid of optical tweezers (perkins et al., science 264 p 819, 1994 and also u.s. pat. no. 5,079,169)--opens numerous possibilities in mapping, or in the detection of pathogens. these methods only allow in general an imperfect alignment, or alternatively a transient alignment--that is to say that relaxation of the molecule occurs once the stress disappears. in the case of optical tweezers, the method is expensive, is limited to only one molecule at a time, and is difficult to carry out by non-qualified staff. a special technique for aligning dna by flow after cell lysis, followed by drying, has been proposed (i. parra and b. windle and wo 93/22463). the alignment obtained is very imperfect and nonhomogeneous and numerous nonaligned masses are observed. summary of the invention the subject of the present invention is a novel and simple method for aligning macromolecules on the surface s of a support, characterized in that the triple line s/a/b (meniscus) resulting from the contact between a solvent a and the surface s and a medium b is caused to move on the said surface s, the said macromolecules having a part, especially an end, anchored on the surface s, the other part, especially the other end, being in solution in the solvent a. it has been observed according to the present invention that the mere passage of a meniscus over molecules of which one part is anchored on a substrate, the remainder of the molecule existing freely in solution makes it possible to align them uniformly, perpendicularly to the moving meniscus, leaving them adsorbed on the surface behind the meniscus. this phenomenon is called "molecular combing" here. brief description of the drawings the following description is made with reference to the accompany figures in which: fig. 1 schematically represents the detection of a pathogen in a fluorescent dna molecule by hybridization with an anchor molecule; fig. 2 schematically represents genetic mapping by extension of dna and the use of a marker dna; fig. 3 schematically represents the detection of an immunological reaction (elisa) by means of a "flag" molecule: a fluorescent dna is used as reaction marker; fig. 4 is a fluorescence micrograph showing the extension of a .lambda. phage dna by the progression of the meniscus. dna molecules in solution stretched by the evaporation flow parallel to the meniscus can be seen on the left; dna molecules in the open air after being stretched perpendicularly to the meniscus can be seen on the right; figs. 5(a) and 5(b) are fluorescence micrographs showing, respectively, a dna labeled with digoxigenin (dig) on a surface coated with anti-dig and stretched by the meniscus, and, as control, an unlabeled dna on an anti-dig surface. the very high specificity of the surfaces and the absence of nonspecific anchoring will be noted; fig. 6 is a schematic representation of the spread of the dna by passage of the meniscus. the dna in solution is anchored on a treated surface. the dna solution is covered with an untreated round cover slip; figs. 7a-7c represent histograms of the length of the combed .lambda. dna molecules on glass surfaces; a) coated with silane molecules ending with an amine group, b) coated with polylysine, and c) cleaned in a hydrogen peroxide/sulfuric acid mixture; fig. 8 represents combed dna molecules on glass surfaces coated with polylysine. it can be noted that the molecules attached by their two ends form loops; fig. 9 represents yacs combed by removal of a treated cover slip in a solution of these molecules; and fig. 10 shows the identification of the presence and the size of a cosmid on a yac by in situ hybridization. detailed description of the invention more specifically, the stretching of the free part of the molecule is achieved by the passage of the triple line s/a/b constituting the meniscus between the surface s, the solvent a and a medium b which may be a gas (in general air) or another solvent. in a specific embodiment, the meniscus is a water/air meniscus, that is to say that the solvent a is an aqueous solution and the medium b is air. furthermore, it is possible to extend the air/water meniscus used here in order to stretch the molecule to other systems such as oil/water or water/surfactant/air, in particular. the movement of the meniscus can be achieved by any means of relative movement of the fluids a and b relative to the surface s. in one embodiment, the surface s can be removed from the solvent a or conversely, the solvent a can be removed from the surface s. in particular, the meniscus can be moved by mechanical means, especially by pneumatic means by aspirating or blowing a gas, or especially by hydraulic means by pushing or aspirating the solvent a or the medium b. thus, the movement of the meniscus can be achieved by gradual evaporation of the solvent a. when the movement of the meniscus is achieved mechanically, it can be achieved either by translation of the interface a/b, or by translation of the surface s. in a specific embodiment, the solvent is placed between two supports of which at least one corresponds to the said support of surface s and the meniscus is moved for example by evaporation. by "support", there is understood here any substrate whose cohesion is sufficient to withstand the passage of the meniscus. the support may consist, at least at the surface, of an organic or inorganic polymer, a metal especially gold, a metal oxide or sulfide, a semiconductor element or an oxide of a semiconductor element, such as silicon oxide or a combination thereof, such as glass or a ceramic. there may be mentioned more particularly glass, surface oxidized silicon, graphite, mica and molybdenum sulfide. as "support", there may be used a single support such as a slide, beads, especially polymer beads, but also any form such as a bar, a fiber or a structured support, and also particles, whether it be powders, especially silica powders, which can moreover be made magnetic, fluorescent or colored as known in the various assay technologies. the support is advantageously in the form of cover slips. preferably, the support has little or no fluorescence. macromolecules, such as ordinary polymers, or biological polymers such as dna, rna or proteins, can be anchored by ordinary methods on a support. the macromolecule to be aligned can be chosen from biological macromolecules such as proteins, especially antibodies, antigens, ligands or their receptors, nucleic acids, dna, rna or pna, lipids, polysaccharides or derivatives thereof. it was observed according to the present invention, that the stretching force acts locally within the immediate vicinity of the meniscus. it is independent of the length of the molecule, of the number of molecules anchored, and within a wide range, of the speed of the meniscus. these characteristics are particularly important for aligning the molecules homogeneously and reproducibly. it is possible, according to the present invention, to add surfactant elements into the solvent a and/or the medium b, which modify the properties of the interfaces. according to the present invention, the stretching can indeed be controlled by the addition of surfactants, or by an adequate surface treatment. too high a surface-macromolecule attraction (for example an excessively high level of adsorption) can interfere with the alignment of the molecules by the meniscus, these molecules remaining adsorbed at the surface in a state which is not necessarily stretched. preferably, the surface exhibits a low rate of adsorption of the said macromolecule, such that only the anchored molecules will be aligned, the others being carried by the meniscus. however, it is possible to vary the differences in adsorption between a part of the macromolecule, especially its ends, and its other parts (in particular for long molecules such as dna or collagen) in order to anchor, by adsorption, the molecules by a part, especially their end(s) alone, the remainder of the molecule existing freely in solution, on a wide variety of surfaces and align them by the passage of the meniscus as described above. the adsorption of a macromolecule onto a surface can be easily controlled by means of the ph or of the ionic content of the medium or of an electric voltage applied over the surface. the surface charges and the electrostatic (repulsive or attractive) interactions between the surface and the molecule are thus changed, thereby making it possible to pass from a state of complete adsorption of the molecule onto the surface to a total absence of adsorption. between these two extreme cases, there is a range of control parameters where the adsorption occurs preferably through the end of the molecules and which will therefore be used advantageously to anchor them on the surface, and then to align them by the passage of the meniscus. once aligned, the molecules adhere strongly to the surface. in the case of dna, it was possible to observe them by fluorescence several months after their alignment. the present invention is therefore very different from the method proposed by parra and windle, because according to the present invention, the molecules are anchored on the surface and then uniformly aligned by the passage of the meniscus, whereas in the parra and windle method, a hydrodynamic flow is used to stretch the molecules nonhomogeneously, which molecules will become nonspecifically adsorbed onto the surface. other techniques can also result in the stretching and the alignment of molecules. thus, a dynamic orientation of molecules in solution, anchored at one end, can be obtained by electrophoresis or by a hydraulic flow. however, the results observed show that these techniques are much less efficient than the use of the meniscus. by "anchoring" of the macromolecule on the surface, there should be understood an attachment resulting from a chemical reactivity both through a covalent linkage and a noncovalent linkage such as a linkage resulting from physicochemical interactions, such as adsorption, as described above. this anchorage of the macromolecule can be achieved directly on (or with) the surface, or indirectly, that is to say via a linkage such as another molecule, especially another molecule with biological activity. when the anchorage is achieved indirectly, the macromolecule can be grafted chemically on the said linkage, or can interact physicochemically with the said linkage, in particular when the said intermediate linkage is a molecule with biological activity recognizing and interacting with the said macromolecule. in one embodiment, the macromolecule and the said linkage are both molecules with biological activity which interact, such as an antigen and an antibody respectively, complementary nucleic acids or lipids. in these cases, the noncovalent attachment of the macromolecule consists of a linkage of the type: antigen-antibody, ligand-receptor, hybridization between complementary nucleic acid fragments or hydrophobic or hydrophilic interaction between lipids. advantage is thus taken of the very high specificity and the very high selectivity of certain biological reactions, especially antigen-antibody reactions, dna or rna hybridization reactions, interprotein reactions or avidin/streptavidin/biotin type reactions, as well as reactions of ligands and their receptors. thus, in order to carry out the direct or indirect anchoring of the macromolecule on the surface s, it is possible to use a solid surface having certain specificities. it is in particular possible to use certain pretreated surfaces which make it possible to attach certain proteins or dna, whether modified or otherwise. such surfaces are commercially available (covalink, costar, estapor, bangs, dynal for example) in various forms having at their surface cooh, nh.sub.2 or oh groups for example. it is, in this case, possible to functionalize the dna with a reactive group, for example an amine, and carry out a reaction with these surfaces. however, these methods require specific functionalization of the dna to be attached. a technique allowing anchorage without prior treatment of the dna has also been described. this process consists in causing a free phosphate at the 5' end of the dna molecule to react with a secondary amine of the surface (nh covalink surface). anchoring by adsorption can be achieved by adsorption of the end of the molecule by controlling the surface charge by means of the ph, the ionic content of the medium or the application of an electric voltage over the surface given the differences in adsorption between the ends of the molecule and its middle part. according to the present invention, nonfunctionalized dna molecules were thus anchored, by way of example, on surfaces coated with molecules ending with a vinyl or amine group such as polylysine molecules, or various surfaces such as glass, coated with silane type molecules ending with vinyl or amine groups or alternatively glass cover slips previously cleaned in an acid bath. in this latter case, the surface of the glass indeed has sioh groups. in all these cases, the ph range where the dna is anchored is chosen to be between a state of complete adsorption and an absence of adsorption, the latter being situated at a more basic ph. it is understood that this technique is very general and can be extended by persons skilled in the art to numerous types of surfaces. it is also possible to functionalize the dna with a first reactive group or a protein p.sub.0 in order to cause it to react with a surface coated with a second reactive group or with a protein p.sub.1, which are capable of reacting specifically with each other respectively, that is to say for example p.sub.1 with p.sub.0. the p.sub.0 /p.sub.1 pair may be a pair of the type: biotin/streptavidin (zimmermann and cox) or digoxigenin/antibody directed against digoxigenin (anti-dig) for example (smith et al., science 258, 1122 (1992)). preferably, the anchoring surfaces will have a low fluorescence level so as not to interfere with the detection of the molecules after their alignment, in particular if the detection is done by fluorescence. according to the present invention, a solid support having, under the reaction conditions, a surface having an affinity for only part of the macromolecule, the rest of the macromolecule remaining freely in solution, is preferably used. in one embodiment, a solid support is used which has at the surface at least one layer of an organic compound having, outside the layer, an exposed group having an affinity for a type of molecule with biological activity which may be the said molecule itself or a molecule recognizing and/or interacting with it. the support can therefore have a surface coated with a reactive group or with a molecule with biological activity. by "affinity", there should be understood here both a chemical reactivity and an adsorption of any type, this under optional conditions of attachment of the molecules onto the exposed group, modified or otherwise. in one embodiment, the surface is essentially compact, that is to say that it limits access by the macromolecule with biological activity to the inner layers and/or to the support, this in order to minimize nonspecific interactions. it is also possible to use surfaces coated with a reactive exposed group (for example nh.sub.2, cooh, oh, cho) or with a macromolecule with biological activity (for example: proteins, such as streptavidin or antibodies, nucleic acids such as oligonucleotides, lipids, polysaccharides and derivatives thereof) which is capable of attaching an optionally modified part of the molecule. thus, surfaces coated with streptavidin or with an antibody according to known processes ("chemistry of protein conjugation and cross-linking", s. c. wong, crc press (1991)) are capable of attaching a macromolecule having, at a specific site, a biotin or an antigen. likewise, surfaces treated so as to have single-stranded oligonucleotides can serve in order to anchor on them dnas/rnas having a complementary sequence. among the surfaces having an exposed reactive group, there may be mentioned those on which the exposed group is a --cooh, --cho, nh.sub.2, --oh group, or a vinyl group containing a double bond --ch.dbd.ch.sub.2 which is used as it is or which can be activated so as to give especially --cho, --cooh, --nh.sub.2 or oh groups. the supports with highly specific surfaces according to the present invention can be obtained using various processes. there may be mentioned by way of example: (a) a layer of carbon-containing, optionally branched, polymer at least 1 nm thick, having reactive groups as defined below and (b) surfaces obtained by depositing or anchoring on a solid support one or more molecular layers; the latter can be obtained by forming successive layers attached through noncovalent linkages, as non-limiting example, langmuir-blodgett films, or by molecular self assembly, this allowing the formation of a layer attached by covalent linkage. in the first case, the surface can be obtained by polymerization of at least one monomer generating at the surface of the polymer the said exposed group, or alternatively by partial depolymerization of the surface of a polymer to generate the said exposed group, or alternatively by deposition of polymer. in this process, the polymer formed has vinyl linkages such as a polyene derivative, especially surfaces of the synthetic rubber type, such as polybutadiene, polyisoprene or natural rubber. in the second case, the highly specific surface contains: on a support, a substantially monomolecular layer of an organic compound of elongated structure having at least: an attachment group having an affinity for the support, and an exposed group having no or little affinity for the said support and the said attachment group under attachment conditions, but optionally having, after chemical modification following the attachment, an affinity for one type of biological molecule. the attachment can first of all be of the noncovalent type, especially of the hydrophilic/hydrophilic and hydrophobic/hydrophobic type, as in langmuir-blodgett films (k. b. blodgett, j. am. chem. soc. 57, 1007 (1935). in this case, the exposed group or the attachment group will be either hydrophilic or hydrophobic, especially alkyl or haloalkyl groups such as ch.sub.3, cf.sub.3, chf.sub.3, ch.sub.2 f, the other group being hydrophilic. the attachment can also be of the covalent type, the attachment group will, in this case, react chemically with the support. certain surfaces of similar structure have already been mentioned in the electronic field, especially when the attachments are covalent, l. netzer and j. sagiv, j. am. chem. soc. 105, 674 (1983) and u.s. pat. no. 4,539,061. among the attachment groups, there must be mentioned more particularly the groups of the metal alkoxide or semiconductor type, for example silane, especially chlorosilane, silanol, methoxy- and ethoxysilane, silazane, as well as phosphate, hydroxyl, hydrazide, hydrazine, amine, amide, diazonium, pyridine, sulfate, sulfonic, carboxylic, boronic, halogen, acid halide, aldehyde groups. most particularly, as attachment group, groups capable of cross-reacting with an adjacent equivalent group, to give cross-linkages will be preferably used; for example they will be derivatives of the metal alkoxide or semiconductor type, for example silane, especially dichlorosilane, trichlorosilane, dimethoxysilane or diethoxysilane and trimethoxy- or triethoxysilane. the choice of the attachment group will obviously depend on the nature of the support; the silane-type groups are quite suitable for covalent attachment on glass and silica. as regards the exposed groups, irrespective of the surface, they will be preferably chosen from ethylenic groups, acetylenic groups or aromatic radicals, primary, tertiary or secondary amines, esters, nitriles, aldehydes, halogens. but they may be most particularly the vinyl group; indeed, the latter can be either chemically modified after attachment to give, for example, a carboxylic group or derivatives of carboxylic groups such as alcohol groups, aldehyde groups, ketone groups, acidic groups, primary, secondary or tertiary amines, or to lead to a ph-dependent direct anchoring of the biological macromolecules such as nucleic acids and proteins, without chemical modification of the surface or of the macromolecules. preferably, the chains connecting the exposed group to the attachment group are chains carrying at least 1 carbon atom, preferably more than 6 and in general from 3 to 30 carbon atoms. as regards the support itself, the use of glass, surface-oxidized silicon, a polymer or gold with or without pretreatment of the surface, is generally preferred. in the case of glass or silica, there can be used advantageously the known techniques for surface functionalization using silane derivatives, for example: si--oh+cl.sub.3 --si--r--ch.dbd.ch.sub.2 gives si--o--si--r--ch.dbd.ch.sub.2, r consisting for example of (ch.sub.2).sub.4. such a reaction is known in literature, with the use of ultrapure solvents. the reaction leads to a layer of molecules having their c.dbd.c end at the surface exposed to the outside. in the case of gold, this being optionally in the form of a thin layer on a substrate, the known techniques for surface functionalization use thiol derivatives, for example: au+hs--r--ch.dbd.ch.sub.2 gives au--s--r--ch.dbd.ch.sub.2, r consisting for example of (ch.sub.2).sub.4. such a reaction is described in liquid medium and leads, like the preceding trichlorosilane-silica reaction, to a layer of molecules having their c.dbd.c end at the surface exposed to the outside. of course the term "support" encompasses both a single surface such as a slide, but also particles, either silica powder or polymer beads, and also ordinary forms such as a bar, a fiber or a structured support, which can moreover be made magnetic, fluorescent or colored, as is known in various assay technologies. preferably, the support will be chosen so as to have no or little fluorescence when the detection will be carried out by fluorescence. the surfaces obtained according to methods (a) or (b) above have: (i) a very low level of intrinsic fluorescence, when necessary, a fluorescence background noise (with a typical surface area of 100.times.100 .mu.m) smaller than the fluorescence signal of a single molecule to be detected; (ii) the possibility of detecting isolated molecules with an s/n ratio independent of the number of molecules, which is possible by virtue of various techniques with a high s/n ratio which are described below and which are based on the identification of the presence of a macroscopic marker having a weak nonspecific interaction with the surface. the surfaces thus obtained are preferably coated with a macromolecule with biological activity chosen from: proteins, nucleic acids lipids polysaccharides and derivatives thereof. among the proteins, there should be mentioned antigens and antibodies, ligands, receptors, but also products of the avidin or streptavidin type, as well as derivatives of these compounds. among the rnas and dnas, there should also be mentioned the .alpha., .beta. derivatives as well as the thio derivatives and mixed compounds such as pnas. it is also possible to attach mixed compounds such as glycopeptides and lipopolysaccharides for example, or alternatively other elements such as viruses, cells in particular, or chemical compounds such as biotin. the attachment of the biological macromolecules may be covalent or noncovalent, for example by adsorption, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic, ionic interactions for example, in which case cross-linking can be advantageously carried out in the molecules grafted by known methods ("chemistry of protein conjugation and cross-linking", s. c. wong, crc press (1991)) and this in order to enhance their cohesion. as mentioned above, it is possible to have an exposed group which allows direct reaction with molecules with biological activity, but it is also possible to envisage that the exposed group is treated, after attachment, so as to be converted, as indicated above, to a hydroxyl, amine, alcohol, aldehyde, ketone, cooh radical or a derivative of these groups before attachment of the biological molecule. when such groups were exposed, techniques for attachment of proteins and/or of dna for example are known, they are indeed reactions implemented for surfaces which are already used for biological analysis, especially for costar surfaces, nunc surfaces or microbeads such as estapor, bang and dynal for example, on which molecules of biological interest, dna, rna, pna, proteins or antibodies for example, are anchored. in the case where the exposed group is a --ch.dbd.ch.sub.2 radical which is called hereinafter "surface c.dbd.c" or "surface with ethylenic bond", no document exists which mentions direct anchoring, in particular of dna or of proteins. within the framework of the present invention, it has been demonstrated that these surfaces have a highly ph-dependent reactivity. this characteristic makes it possible to anchor the nucleic acids or the proteins using ph regions and often with a reaction rate which can be controlled by the ph. the anchoring of dna can be carried out by its end onto a surface having groups with ethylenic double bonds, by bringing the dna into contact with the surface at a ph of less than 8. in particular, the reaction is carried out at a ph of between 5 and 6, and is then stopped at ph 8. thus, for dna at ph 5.5, the anchoring reaction is complete in one hour (if it is not limited by diffusion) and occurs via the ends. at ph 8 on the other hand, the attachment is very low (reaction rate of 5 to 6 orders of magnitude smaller). this ph dependent attachment effect specific for the ends, is an improvement compared with the other surfaces which require functionalization of the dna (biotin, dig, nhs, and the like) or specific reagents (carbodiimide, dimethyl pimelidate) which form a peptide or phosphorimide linkage between --nh.sub.2 and --cooh or --pooh. it is also possible to carry out the anchoring of dna by adsorption of its ends alone onto a surface coated with polylysine or a silane group ending with an amine group. in order to carry out the anchoring of the dna by its end on a surface coated with an amine group, the dna is brought into contact with the surface at a ph of between 8 and 10. likewise, it is possible to carry out the anchoring of dna by its end onto a glass surface treated beforehand in an acid bath, by bringing the dna into contact with the said surface at a ph of between 5 and 8. it goes without saying that the present invention involves, in the same spirit, the optionally ph-dependent attachment of all macromolecules of biological interest. likewise, these surfaces can anchor proteins directly (protein a, anti-dig, antibodies, streptavidin and the like). it has been observed that (i) the activity of the molecule can be preserved and (ii) that the reactivity of the prepared surface (initially c.dbd.c) is completely overshadowed in favor of the sole reactivity of the molecule of interest. it is therefore possible, starting with a relatively high initial reactivity, to pass to a surface having a very highly specific reactivity, for example that of specific sites on a protein. by anchoring a specific antibody on the surface (for example anti-dig), a surface is created whose reactivity is limited to the antigen (for example the dig group). this indicates that the initial chemical groups are all occulted by the antibodies grafted. it is also possible to graft onto the reactive (chemically or biochemically) surfaces other molecules with biological activity, especially viruses or other components: membranes, membrane receptors, polysaccharides, pna, in particular. it is also possible to attach the product of a reaction of biological interest (for example pcr) onto the prepared surfaces. the process according to the present invention allows the detection and/or the quantification of biological molecules, but also the measurement of intramolecular distance, the separation of certain biological molecules, especially a sample using antigen/antibody and/or dna/rna coupling techniques. in particular, the subject of the present invention is a process for detecting a macromolecule, consisting of a dna sequence or a protein in a sample, according to the present invention, characterized in that: the sample corresponding to solvent a, in which the said macromolecule is in solution, is brought into contact with the surface of the support under conditions for forming a dna/dna, dna/rna hybrid or for forming the protein/protein reaction product, the hybrid or a macromolecule for labeling the hybrid or the reaction product being anchored in one part, the remainder being free in solution, it is stretched by the movement of the meniscus created by the contact between the solvent and the surface in order to orientate the hybrids or the said labeling macromolecules and the measurement or the observation of the hybrids or of the said labeling macromolecules thus orientated is carried out. advantageously, the attached dna and the dna of the sample are colored differently and after stretching, the position of the complementary sequence relative to the end of the sample dna is measured. appropriately, the elisa or fish detection methods can be used. the dna sample may be the product or the substrate of a dna enzymatic amplification such as pcr, that is to say that the amplification of the dna can be carried out once it has been anchored and aligned according to the process of the invention or before its anchoring or its alignment. the passage of the meniscus, by stretching the molecules linearly, in the form of rods, renders them more easily detectable if they are labeled. moreover, these elongated molecules are stable to the open air and can be observed even after several months, without showing apparent degradation. during a rehydration, the dna molecules can remain adsorbed and elongated. furthermore, it is possible to carry out a hybridization on the elongated molecule. furthermore, exhibiting a signal which is correlated and of uniform orientation by virtue of their stretching, these molecules are distinct from the surrounding noise. it is therefore easy to ignore the dusts, the inhomogeneities, which have no special spatial correlation. the alignment is also important because in solution, the molecules in the form of a random cole fluctuate thermally, thereby causing very high variations in their fluorescence signal gathered preferably with a small depth of field and limits their observation. the present invention therefore allows the observation of isolated molecules with a very high signal to noise (s/n) ratio. it is remarkable that this ratio is independent of the number of molecules anchored. the s/n ratio posed by the detection of a molecule is the same as that for 10,000. furthermore, this stretching technique makes it possible to easily discriminate between molecules of varying lengths. it is advantageously possible to proceed to the following stages in order to further improve the s/n ratio: the molecule being stationary, its fluorescence signal can be integrated. microscopic observation presents a reduced field (typically 100 .mu.m.times.100 .mu.m with a .times.100 immersion lens, n.a.=1.25). for a 1 cm.sup.2 sample, scanning can be carried out, or it is possible to envisage the use of lower magnification lenses (.times.10 or .times.20) but with a high numerical aperture. the rods being always parallel, it is possible to envisage an optical spatial filtration method in order further to increase the s/n ratio. other global fluorescence methods can be envisaged such as those described in european patent application ep 103426. the linearization of the molecules is observed both within the framework of a physicochemical anchoring and in the case of immunological type linkages (dig/anti-dig). once the surface is in the open air, the dna molecules are stable (they maintain their integrity even after several weeks) and fluorescent. this property can be advantageously used in order to defer the anchoring stage and the locating/counting stage for the molecules anchored, if this detection is done for example, but without being limited thereto, by fluorescence microscopy. such a use is covered by the present invention. a double (or multi) fluorescence technique can possibly be used to improve the s/n ratio or to detect a double functionality. the stretched molecules can be revealed by various enzymological methods on others, such as fluorescence, or the use of radioactive or nonradioactive probes. their detection can be achieved by measuring a global signal (for example the fluorescence) or by individual observation of the molecules by optical fluorescence microscopy, electron microscopy, local probe methods (stm, afm and the like). thus in general, the present invention allows the detection, separation and/or assay of a molecule in a sample, by a process characterized in that a surface capable of specifically attaching the said molecule is used, and in that the detection, separation or assay are carried out using a reagent, fluorescent or otherwise, which detects the presence of the attached molecule. among the reagents, there are fluorescent reagents and nonfluorescent reagents. the fluorescent reagents contain fluorescent molecules, advantageously chosen to be long molecules of size greater than 0.1 .mu.m and reacting specifically, directly or indirectly, with the pretreated surfaces. for example, but with no limitation being implied, a double-stranded dna molecule stained by means of fluorescent probes (ethidium bromide, yoyo, fluorescent nucleotides and the like) capable of anchoring directly via one or more ends on a surface optionally having a vinyl or amine type group and the like, especially by a judicious choice of the ph or of the ionic content of the medium or by application of an electric voltage over the surface. it is also possible to use a special functionalization of the molecule (dig, biotin and the like) in order to anchor it at one or more points on a surface having complementary sites (anti-dig, streptavidin and the like). nonfluorescent reagents allowing the detection of molecules previously aligned according to the present invention may consist especially of beads or microparticles anchored via another molecule attached specifically, directly or indirectly, to the aligned molecule and having only a weak nonspecific interaction with the surface. for example, there may be mentioned dynal beads coated with streptavidin permitting anchoring on biotinylated dna aligned according to the present invention. depending on whether the desired molecule is detected directly by fluorescence or indirectly by means of the above reagents, the detection will be described as "direct detection" or "flag detection". in order to limit the problems associated with too slow reaction times, the diffusion times of the reagents towards the surface can be advantageously reduced using small reaction volumes. for example, but with no limitation being implied, by carrying out the reaction in a volume of a few microliters determined by the space between two surfaces of which one is treated so as to have reactive sites and the other is inert or treated so as not to have reactive sites, under the reaction conditions. the detection of the number of aligned molecules can be carried out on a small number of molecules (typically 1 to 1000), by a low-noise macroscopic physical test requiring neither electron microscope nor radioactivity nor necessarily pcr. the alignment and detection processes according to the present invention are capable of being carried out by persons having only limited laboratory experience. the specificity of certain biological reactions may be limited. thus, within the framework of the hybridization, the hybrids may be imperfect (reactions with other sites) while having a reduced number of pairing and therefore a lower quality of binding. the present invention also covers the possible use of a stage for testing the quality of the bonds obtained. this test makes it possible to dissociate the products weakly and nonspecifically paired by adsorption, hydrophobic forces, imperfect hydrogen bonds, imperfect hybridization, in particular. accordingly, the invention also relates, in a detection or assay process as described above, to a process where the product of the reaction between the molecule with biological activity and the sample molecule is subjected to a stress in order to destroy the mismatches before the detection. this process offers, in addition to the possibility of destroying the mismatched pairs, the possibility of orientating the products of the coupling, which facilitates the measurements or the observations. it is thus possible to apply to the surfaces, after attachment of the complementary elements, a stress which may consist of the single or combined use of: centrifugation, gradient of magnetic field applied to the nonfluorescent reagents taken, in this case, to include magnetizable or magnetic microbeads, stirring, liquid flow, meniscus passage, electrophoresis temperature variation, and/or temperature gradient. the number of systems to have remained intact or to have been destroyed is then determined by the low-noise detection techniques described above. the alignment and detection techniques described according to the present invention can be used for numerous applications among which, but with no limitation being implied: the identification of one or more elements of dna or rna sequence which can be advantageously used for the diagnosis of pathogens or the physical map of a genome. in particular, the techniques described above make it possible to obtain a physical map directly on genomic dna without the intermediate use of a cloning stage. it is understood that the combed molecule having been stretched relative to its crystallographic lengths, relative measurements are carried out. it is thus possible to measure the size of the dna fragments and the distance between fragments, with a resolution of the order of 200 nm by optical methods or of the order of 1 nm by the use of near field methods such as afm or stm in order to visualize and measure the distance between probes on the aligned dna. this naturally leads to: 1) the detection of deletions, additions or translocations of genomic sequences, in particular in the diagnosis of genetic diseases (for example duchesne's myopathy); 2) the identification of promoters of various genes by measuring the distance between the regulatory sequences and those expressed; 3) the localization of regulatory proteins by identifying their position along the dna or the position of their target sequence; 4) the partial or complete sequencing by measuring the distance using near field microscopy (for example afm or stm) between hybridized probes belonging to a base oligonucleotide of given length; the enzymatic amplification in situ on aligned dnas; the improvement of the sensitivity of elisa techniques with the possibility of detecting a small number (possibly less than 1000) of immunological reactions. thus, physical mapping can be carried out directly on a genomic dna without the intermediate use of a cloning stage. the genomic dna is extracted, purified, optionally cleaved with one or more restriction enzymes and then combed on surfaces according to the process of the present invention. the position and size of the desired gene on the genomic dna are then determined by hybridization with probes specific for the said gene, especially extracted from parts of the complementary dna (cdna) of the product of the said desired gene. similarly, by hybridizing a genomic dna combed, then denatured with total cdna labeled by fluorescence or any other marker allowing the hybrid to be localized, the position, size and number of exons of the gene in question are identified and its size and its genetic organization (exons, introns, regulatory sequences) are deduced therefrom. the position of the gene having been determined as described above or being known, it is then possible to identify, by hybridization, the flanking sequences of the gene. for that, the procedure is advantageously carried out by hybridization with labeled probes, obtained for example from an oligonucloetide library, in order to identify two or more probes which hybridize on either side of the gene. from this determination, it is then possible, by enzymatic amplification techniques, for example in situ pcr (nuovo g. j. pcr in situ hybridization: protocols and applications, raven press (1992)) to amplify the fragment delimited by the flanking probes which can serve as primers for the reaction, which fragment may contain the desired gene with its regulatory regions which may be tissue- or development-specific and which can then be isolated and purified. the procedure can also be carried out by in situ polymerization on primers extracted from the cdna of the gene in question in order to extract dna fragments complementary to the flanking regions of the gene as mentioned by mortimer et al. (yeast 5, 321, 1989). these fragments can then serve in the preparation of primers for a process of enzymatic amplification of the gene and of its flanking sequences. the methods cited by a. thierry and b. dujon (nucl. acid research 20 5625 (1992)) for inserting, by homologous recombination or randomly, known endonuclease-specific sites into a genomic dna or a genomic dna fragment, may also be used. the combing of this dna allows the identification of the gene of interest and of the specific sites inserted, by the in situ hybridization methods described above. from this identification and preferably, if the sites of interest are regions of interest which are close to the gene, they will be used as primer for a reaction of enzymatic amplification (in situ and the like) of the gene in question and of its flanking sequences. the amplification of the desired gene then proceeds using known enzymatic amplification techniques such as pcr on the amplified fragment as described above, using primers which can be reached by the exons constituting the cdna, or primers corresponding to flanking sequences. by the combing of genomic dna and the like, it is also possible to determine, by hybridization, the presence or the absence of regulatory sequence of a specific proximal gene, from which the possible families of proteins for regulating this gene (for example: helix-loop-helix, zinc-finger, leucine-zipper) will be determined. the specific reactions between particular dna/rna/pna sequences and another molecule (dna, rna, protein) can occur before or after aligning the molecules according to the present invention. thus, in the field of genetic diagnosis and physical mapping, the known methods of fish (pinkel et al., proc. nat. acad. sci. usa 83, 2934 (1986)) are advantageously used to hybridize single-stranded oligonucleotides labeled with dna first aligned, and then denatured. the revealing of the hybrids will be carried out using known techniques (fluorescence, microbeads and the like) with a resolution in the measurement of the distances ranging from 0.2 .mu.m (optically) to 1 nm (by near field microscopy; aft, stm and the like). alternatively, it is possible to first hybridize fluorescently labelled dnas to single-stranded dna in solution, and then to align this construct by action of the meniscus after having converted it to double-stranded dna and anchored it on an appropriate surface. it is also possible to use the present invention for detecting the presence of a pathogen. by way of example, the procedure can be carried out in two different ways depending on whether the recognition reaction (hybridization, attachment of proteins) occurs before or after alignment by the meniscus. thus, by way of example, one or several oligonucleotide probes are anchored in one or more regions of a surface. the hybridization of the potentially pathogenic dna is carried out in situ under stringent conditions so as to anchor only the hybridized molecules. their detection and quantification is carried out after alignment by the meniscus according to the present invention. alternatively, the potentially pathogenic dna is first aligned, then denatured and hybridized with an oligonucleotide probe under stringent conditions. the detection of the hybrid is then carried out by known methods, especially by the fish method, as described above. similarly, it is possible to detect the presence for the absence) of a small number of molecules, such as proteins, lipids, sugars or antigens. a minor modification of the elisa techniques will be advantageously carried out, the usual detection method being replaced by the detection of a fluorescent molecule aligned according to the present invention and coupled to one of the reagents of the elisa reaction. moreover, as mentioned by r. r. allan et al. (u.s. pat. no. 84114), genetic mapping can be carried out by measuring the size of the dna fragments. now, the novel techniques for stretching molecules described above (stretching by meniscus) allows the length of the stretched molecules to be measured, and this on a very small sample (a few thousandths of molecules). it is for example possible, but with no limitation being implied, to carry out the procedure in the following manner: a dna sample is fragment (by means of restriction enzymes) stained with a fluorophore and then anchored on a surface. the molecules are then stretched by the meniscus and the size of the stretched fragments is determined by optical fluorescence microscopy with a resolution and a maximum size of the order of 1000 bp (0.3 .mu.m). for this purpose, but also if it is desired to align very long molecules (.gtoreq.10 .mu.m), known techniques will be advantageously used in order to limit the degradation of long macromolecules during their handling (by hydrodynamic shearing). thus, as mentioned by d.c. schwartz, condensation of the molecules will be advantageously carried out by means of a condensing agent (for example spermine or an alcohol) during their handling. optionally, their decondensing will occur during contact between the solvent a and the anchoring surface s. in order to reduce the degradation of the macromolecules during stretching by the meniscus, meniscus translation techniques will be used which minimize hydrodynamic shearing. for example, but with no limitation being implied, by very slowly removing (.ltoreq.200.mu./sec) the surface s from a substantial volume (.gtoreq.100 .mu.l) of the solvent a. the subject of the present invention is also a surface having one or more types of aligned macromolecules obtained according to the present invention. in particular, it is possible to obtain a surface or a stack of surfaces having anisotropic optical or electrical properties. the subject of the present invention is also a process for aligning and detecting dna in which the dna is stretched by an aligning process according to the invention, then denatured and hybridized with specific probes in order to determine the position or the size of one or more specific sequences. the subject of the present invention is also a process for the physical mapping of a gene on a genomic dna in which the dna is aligned or detected according to a process of the invention. in particular, the position and the size of the desired gene on the genomic dna are determined by hybridization with probes specific for the said gene to be mapped. a subject of the present invention is also a kit useful for carrying out a mapping process according to the invention, consisting of total genomic dna from a reference host, a support having a surface permitting the anchoring and the alignment of the patient's dna in accordance with the process of the invention probes specific for the gene(s) to be mapped and reagents for the hybridization and the detection of the dna. the subject of the present invention is also a process for aligning and detecting dna in which the dna is stretched, then denatured and hybridized with specific probes in order to determine the present or the absence of one or more dna sequences in the said aligned dna. the present invention allows the implementation of a process for the diagnosis of a pathology related to the presence or the absence of a dna sequence specific for the pathology in which an alignment process according to the invention is used. the subject of the present invention is also a kit useful for carrying out a diagnostic process according to the invention, characterized in that it contains a support whose surface permits the anchoring and the alignment of the patient's dna according to a process of the invention, probes specific for the gene involved in the sought pathology and reagents for the hybridization and the detection of the dna. the subject of the present invention is also a kit useful for carrying out a diagnostic process according to the invention, characterized in that it contains a support whose surface has probes specific for the gene involved in a pathology, in particular optionally labeled pathogenic dna, which are aligned according to the process of the present invention and optionally denatured; the reagents for preparing and labeling the patient's dna for its hybridization (for example photobiotin, nick translation or random priming kit) and reagents for the hybridization and the detection of the dna according to the in situ hybridization techniques as described above. it is understood that combed probes relating to different pathogens may be present on different supports or on the same support. the identification of the corresponding pathogen can be carried out after hybridization, either spatially (the different probes are spatially separated for example by photochemical anchoring before their combing) or by a difference in the fluorescence spectrum of the different hybrids, resulting from a prior differential labeling of the probes. finally, the subject of the present invention is a process for preparing a gene in which the position of the said gene on the genomic dna aligned by the process according to the invention is identified by means of a probe specific for the said gene, the sequence of the said gene and optionally its flanking sequences are amplified by enzymatic amplification, in particular by in situ pcr. the present invention therefore makes it possible to carry out a process for replacing a gene in the genome of an eukaryotic cell by targeted insertion of a foreign gene by means of a vector containing the said foreign gene prepared according to the above gene preparation process. the targeted insertion can be carried out according to the techniques described in wo90/11354 by transfecting eukaryotic cells with a vector containing the said foreign dna to be inserted flanked by two genomic sequences which are contiguous to the desired site of insertion in the recipient gene. the insert dna may contain either a coding sequence, or a regulatory sequence. the flanking sequences are chosen so as to allow, by homologous recombination, depending on the case, either the expression of the coding sequence of the insert dna under the control of the regulatory sequences of the recipient gene, or the expression of a coding sequence of the recipient gene under the control of a regulatory sequence of the insert dna. the genomic genes and the cdnas obtained using the process for localizing genes according to the invention can be inserted into expression vectors capable of being inserted into a prokaryotic, eukaryotic or viral host cell. the derived proteins, polypeptides and peptides are included in the present invention. in the "diagnostic" mode, the probes (the "anchors") possess a reactive group (dig, biotin and the like) capable of anchoring specifically on a surface according to the present invention (having for example as anchoring site an anti-dig antibody or streptavidin). the detection of the anchoring reaction can be carried out directly by detection of the fluorescence of the dna molecule stained by fluorescent molecules (ethidium bromide, yoyo, fluorescent nucleotides) (fig. 1). it can also be carried out indirectly by detection of a "flag molecule": a reagent capable of attaching to the dna/rna molecule (for example by hybridization, protein-dna interaction and the like), but having no affinity for the anchoring sites of the probe. in the "mapping" mode, in situ hybridization techniques (fish) can be used. it is also possible to envisage other techniques, for example by hybridizing in solution dna with probes having fluorescent reagents according to the present invention. the detection of the position of the probes is carried out after aligning the molecule according to the prevent invention. example 1 materials and methods the .lambda. dna and the monoclonal antibody (anti-dig) are obtained from boehringer-mannheim. the trichlorosilanes are obtained from roth-sochiel. the fluorescent nucleic probes (yoyo1, yoyo3 and popo1) are obtained from molecular probes. the ultraclean glass cover slips are obtained from erie scientific ((esco) cover slips). the magnetic particles are obtained from dynal. the microscope is a diaphot inverted microscope from nikkon, equipped with a xenon lamp for epifluorescence and a hamamatsu intensified ccd camera for the visualization. surface treatment glass cover slips are cleaned for one hour by uv irradiation under an oxygen atmosphere (by formation of ozone). they are then immediately placed in a desiscator previously purged of traces of water by an argon stream. a volume of about 100 to 500 .mu.l of the appropriate trichlorosilane (h.sub.2 c.dbd.ch--(ch.sub.2).sub.n --sicl.sub.3)is introduced into the desiccator, from which the surfaces are removed after about 12 hours (n=6) or 1 hour (n=1). upon taking out, the surfaces are clean and nonwetting. the functional groups of these double bond surfaces (h.sub.2 c.dbd.ch--) can be converted to carboxyl groups (--cooh) by soaking the treated cover slips, as described above, for about ten minutes in a solution of 25 mg kmno.sub.4, 750 mg naio.sub.4 in 1 l of water, then by rinsing them three times in ultrapure water. the cover slips thus functionalized can react with proteins. a volume of 300 .mu.l of an aqueous solution (20 .mu.g/ml) of proteins (protein a, streptavidin and the like) is deposited on a cover slip functionalized with a (h.sub.2 c.dbd.ch--) group. this cover slip is incubated for about two hours at room temperature, then rinsed three times in ultrapure water. the surfaces thus treated are clean and wetting. the surfaces treated with protein a can then react with an antibody, for example an anti-dig antibody, by incubating in a solution of 20 .mu.g/ml of antibody. moreover, on the surfaces having carboxyl groups, it is possible to graft oligonucleotides having an amine end (--nh.sub.2), 200 .mu.l of a solution of mes (50 mm, ph 5.5), carbodiimide (1 mg/ml) and 5 .mu.l of amino-oligo-nucleotide (10 pmol/140 .mu.l) are deposited on a carboxylated surface and incubated for about 8 hours at room temperature. the cover slip is finally rinsed three times in naoh (0.4m) and then four times in ultrapure water. the cover slips thus prepared can hybridize dnas complementary to the anchored oligonucleotide. anchoring of native dna on a double bond surface a drop of 2 .mu.l of a fluorescence-labeled .lambda. dna (yoyo1, popo1 or yoyo3, but with no specific end labelling) of varying concentration and in different buffers (total number of molecules <10.sup.7) is deposited on a pretreated cover slip (c.dbd.c) and covered with an untreated glass cover slip (diameter 18 mm). the preparation is incubated for about 1 hour at room temperature in an atmosphere saturated with water vapor. in a 0.05m mes buffer (ph=5.5), a virtually general anchoring of the dna molecules is observed. in contrast, in a 0.01m tris buffer (ph=8), there is practically no anchored molecule (ratio >10.sup.6). this dependence can make it possible to control the activation/deactivation of surfaces (with respect to dna) via the ph. the action of the meniscus on the molecule is limited to its immediate vicinity. the part of the molecule in solution in front of the meniscus fluctuates freely and the part left stuck on the surface behind the meniscus is insensitive to a change in the direction of the meniscus. the extension rate of the molecule is therefore uniform and independent of its size. alignment and detection of the anchoring by the action of the meniscus by transferring the preceding preparation to a dry atmosphere, the solution, upon evaporating, will stretch the dna molecules anchored on the surface, perpendicularly to the meniscus. the capillary force on the dna molecule (a few tens of piconewtons) is indeed sufficient to completely stretch the molecule (greater than the entropic elasticity forces), but too weak to break the bond between the end of the molecule and the treated surface. the dna having been fluorescence labeled, the stretched molecules (total length about 22 .mu.m) can be individually and easily observed. the anchoring between the surface and the dna being limited to the ends, it is possible to stretch either dna of .lambda. phage, of yac or of e. coli (total length greater than 400 .mu.m). this dna preparation, stretched, fluorescent and in the open air, is stable for several days and can be observed in a nondestructive manner, by epifluorescence (nikkon diaphot inverted microscope with a .times.100 lens, o.n.: 1.25). specific anchoring and detection by treating the surfaces as described above with a specific monoclonal antibody, it is possible to control their specificity very precisely. thus, the specificity of anti-dig treated surfaces was tested in relation to .lambda. dna hybridized with an oligonucleotide complementary to one of the cos ends and possessing a digoxigenin group (dig) and in relation to nonhybridized dna. in the first case, a virtually general extension of the anchored molecules, by the action of the meniscus, was observed. in the second case, only a few anchored dna molecules (<10) were observed in the whole sample. it is therefore estimated that the specificity of the method according to the invention is greater than 10.sup.6. .lambda. dnas were also hybridized with oligonucleotides complementary to one of the cos ends and attached to carboxylated surfaces, as described above. the hybridization conditions (pure water at 40.degree. c.) were not stringent, because under stringent conditions (high salinity) the fluorescence of the yoyo1 probes disappears and the hybridized dnas cannot be seen. it was also possible to align the dnas thus hybridized by passage of the meniscus. sensitivity of the detection in order to determine the sensitivity of the detection method by extension of the meniscus, 2.5 .mu.l drops of a solution of .lambda. dna in 0.05m mes (ph=5.5) containing a total of 10.sup.5, 10.sup.4 and 1000 molecules, were deposited on double bond surfaces. the anchoring and the alignment are carried out as described above. the cover slips are then observed by epifluorescence microscopy to determine the density of combed molecules. the latter indeed corresponds to that estimated: about 4-6 dna molecules per field of vision (100 .mu.m.times.100 .mu.m) for a total of 10.sup.5 dna molecules. for the lowest concentration, it was possible to observe about ten molecules extended by the action of the meniscus. this number is essentially limited by the large number of fields of vision required to cover the whole sample (about 25,000), which makes a manual search difficult, but it can be advantageously carried out automatically or also with a weaker lens, but with a larger field. in conclusion, the sensitivity of the method according to the invention allows detection and individual counting of less than 1000 dna molecules. dependence of the stretching on the surface treatment the histogram of the lengths of .lambda. dna grafted on different surfaces and then aligned by passage of the meniscus shows a well defined peak but which is different for the different surfaces. thus, on surfaces coated with a silane which end with a vinyl group, the dna is stretched up to about 22 .mu.m (see above) for surfaces silanized with an amine group (--nh.sub.2), the histogram has a peak at 21 .mu.m (fig. 7(a)) and on clean glass at about 18.5 .mu.m (fig. 7(c)). the stretching therefore depends on the surface treatment. example 2 combing of dna molecules on different surfaces the molecular combing of dna on glass surfaces treated in various ways was observed. advantage is taken of the difference in adsorption between the ends of the molecule and the rest of the molecule. by adsorbing positively charged polymers onto a glass surface, adsorption of negatively charged dna molecules is enhanced, however when this charge is large, the dna molecule is stuck over its entire length and the combing is impossible. however it is possible to modify the charge of the polymers adsorbed on the glass by modifying the ph conditions, indeed, the positive charges are carried for example by the nn2 groups which pass to the protonated state ne.sub.3 + for a ph below the pk of the corresponding base. in basic ph, the charges disappear and the surface no longer attracts dna. by finely controlling the ph, it was observed that he dna molecules in solution passed from a state where they are completely stuck to the surface to an intermediate phase where they are anchored only by their ends and then to a phase where the surface no longer has affinity for the dna. in the intermediate phase, molecular combing can we carried out. surfaces coated with a silane ending with an nh.sub.2 group were studied for which there is observed complete sticking at ph <8, and combing for 8.5<ph<9.5. the number of combed molecules is maximum at ph=8.5 it is divided by 2 at ph=9 and by 4 at ph=9.5. also the relative extension on this surface which corresponds to 1.26 was determined as can be seen in histogram 2 of fig. 7 which represents histograms of the length of the combed .lambda. dna molecules on glass surfaces: a) coated with silane ending with an amine group, b) coated with polylysine, c) cleaned in a hydrogen peroxide/sulfuric acid mixture. surfaces coated with polylysine were also examined and found to exhibit similar attachment characteristics as regards the ph: combing region at 8.5 and exhibiting a shorter relative extension: 1.08. a typical example can be obtained in fig. 8 which represents combed dna molecules on glass surfaces coated with polylysine. it can he observed that the molecules attached by their two ends form loops. finally, the same behavior was found on glass surfaces freshly cleaned in a hydrogen peroxide/concentrated sulfuric acid mixture. these surfaces are highly wetting and become rapidly contaminated; however, a combing region was observed between 5.5<ph<7.4 whereas the region of strong adsorption is situated at ph=4.5. the relative extension of the molecules corresponds to 1.12. example 3 uniform and directional alignment of yac 1 .mu.g of yac previously stained in its agarose plug by means of a yoyo1 fluorescent probe is heated to 68.degree. c., agarased and then diluted in 10 ml of mes (50 mm ph 5.5). two silanized cover slips (c.dbd.c surfaces) are incubated for .apprxeq.1.5 h in this solution and then removed at about 170 .mu.m/sec. the yac molecules are all aligned parallel to the direction of removal of the cover slips (fig. 9). the integrity of the molecules thus aligned is better than by evaporation after deposition between two cover slips. hybridization of a cosmid with a combed yac a yac stained as previously described is anchored on a c.dbd.c surface (between two cover slips) and then aligned by the meniscus, during evaporation of the solution. the probes (cosmids) are labeled by incorporation of a biotinylated nucleotide by the random priming technique. the labeled probes (100 ng) and 5 .mu.g of sonicated salmon sperm dna (.apprxeq.500 bps) are purified by precipitation in na-acetate and ethanol, and then denatured in formamide. the combed yacs are denatured between two cover slips with 120 .mu.l of denaturing solution (70% formamide, 2.times.ssc) on a hotplate at 80.degree. c. for 3 minutes. the previously denatured probes (20 ng) are deposited on the cover slip in a hybridization solution (55% formamide, 2.times.ssc, 10% dextran sulfate) covered with a cover slip and sealed with rubber cement. the hybridization is carried out overnight at 37.degree. c. in a humid chamber. the detection of the hybrids is performed according to procedures known for in situ hybridizations on decondensed chromosomes (d. pinkel et al., pnas usa 83, 2934 (1986) and pnas usa 85, 9138 (1988)). hybridized segments such as that shown in fig. 10 are then observed by fluorescence microscopy. this example demonstrates the possibility of detecting the presence of a gene on a dna molecule, which can be used for diagnostic purposes or for physical mapping of the genome.
|
026-289-532-156-65X
|
US
|
[
"JP",
"AU",
"CA",
"WO",
"US",
"EP"
] |
A61B5/308,A61B5/296,A61N1/368,G01S15/10,G01S15/89,A61B8/12,A61B8/14,A61B17/00,A61B18/02,A61B18/12,A61B5/0205,A61B5/00,A61B8/00,A61B8/08,A61B18/14,A61B5/287,A61B5/316,A61B18/08,A61M25/00,A61B5/06
| 2011-03-10T00:00:00 |
2011
|
[
"A61",
"G01"
] |
device and method for the geometric determination of electrical dipole densities on the cardiac wall
|
disclosed are devices, systems, and methods for determining the dipole densities on heart walls. in particular, a triangularization of the heart wall is performed in which the dipole density of each of multiple regions correlate to the potential measured at various located within the associated chamber of the heart. to create a database of dipole densities, mapping information recorded by multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters and anatomical information is used. in addition, skin electrodes may be implemented. additionally, one or more ultrasound elements are provided, such as on a clamp assembly or integral to a mapping electrode, to produce real time images of device components and surrounding structures. mapping i 1st information receiver cardiac dipoe dipole geometry 2n - density database information receiver module d(y) ultrasoun n unit receiver 240 140 130 step 10 place electrode catheter nto heart chamber - -- ---- - - ______________ determine position of the step 20 electrodes relative to geometry of the heart chamber step 30 calculate dipole density
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we claim: 1. a device for creating a database of dipole densities d(y) and distance measurements at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient, said device comprising: multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters; a transducer constructed and arranged to emit sound waves; and a sensor constructed and arranged to receive reflections of the sound waves. 2. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer comprises the sensor. 3. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer further comprises at least one of the multiple electrodes. 4. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to produce a real time image. 5. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to produce continuous images. 6. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to produce images of the patient's tissue. 7. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the image comprises an image of the one or more cardiac chambers. 8. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the image comprises an image of a wall of the one or more cardiac chambers. 9. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the image comprises an image of tissue proximate at least one of the multiple electrodes. 10. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the image comprises an image of at least one of the multiple electrodes. 1 1. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide motion information of the patient's tissue. 12. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the motion information comprises cardiac wall motion information. 13. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide thickness information of the patient's tissue. 14. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the thickness information is cardiac wall thickness information. 15. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to produce an image of at least one of the multiple electrodes. 16. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to further produce an image of tissue proximate at least one of the multiple electrodes. 17. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to further produce an image of the one or more cardiac chambers. 18. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to produce a distance measurement. 19. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the distance measurement comprises the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and a wall of a cardiac chamber. 20. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the distance measurement comprises the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and at least one of the transducer or the sensor. 21. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the distance measurement comprises the distance between a wall of a cardiac chamber and at least one of the transducer or the sensor. 22. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to produce the distance measurement by analyzing at least one of sensor recorded angle or frequency changes. 23. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to determine the position of at least one of the multiple electrodes within a cardiac chamber. 24. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to determined the position of at least two of the multiple electrodes within the cardiac chamber. 25. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to combine distance information received from the multiple electrodes with information received from the sensor. 26. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide tissue diagnostic information by analyzing both tissue motion information and cell electrical signals. 27. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the cell electrical signals are recorded by the multiple electrodes. 28. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the tissue motion information is provided by the sensor. 29. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the tissue motion information is further provided by the multiple electrodes. 30. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide the tissue diagnostic information during a cardiac ablation procedure. 31. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide tissue diagnostic information while arrhythmia therapy or functional therapy is being delivered, wherein such arrhythmia therapy and functional therapy include, but are not limited to, the following therapies: ablation, genetic-agent delivery, cardiac resynchronization, and pharmacologic. 32. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to deliver ablation energy to tissue. 33. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide precise foci, conduction-gaps, or conduction channels position information. 34. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to locate foci, boundaries of conduction-gaps, or boundaries of conduction channels position within 1mm to 3mm. 35. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide the location of cardiac tissue with complex electrograms. 36. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide at least three locations comprising complex electrograms. 37. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device is constructed and arranged to provide single beat mapping of cardiac arrhythmias. 38. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device comprises at least one catheter that is constructed and arranged to be steered and/or guided. 39. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the catheter is constructed and arranged to be steered and/or guided to the sites of complex electrograms by the real-time tissue analysis and imaging. 40. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising a delivery sheath. 41. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the delivery sheath is constructed and arranged to slidingly receive an ablation catheter. 42. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising an elongate shaft, comprising a proximal portion with a proximal end and a distal portion with a distal end constructed and arranged to be inserted into the body of the patient. 43. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising a clamp assembly constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the elongate shaft and to transmit vibrational energy. 44. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly comprises a vibrational transducer configured to emit ultrasound waves. 45. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly comprises a clamping mechanism constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the elongate shaft. 46. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is positioned on the proximal portion of the elongate shaft. 47. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising a handle wherein the proximal portion is within 10 centimeters from the handle. 48. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the elongate shaft further comprises a conduit constructed and arranged to transmit the ultrasound waves from the proximal portion to the distal portion. 49. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is positioned on the distal portion of the elongate shaft. 50. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the distal portion is within 10 centimeters from the distal end of the elongate shaft. 51. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising multiple electrodes wherein the multiple electrodes are positioned on the distal end of the elongate shaft and the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the multiple electrodes. 52. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the multiple electrodes comprise the multiple electrodes of claim 1. 53. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising at least one thermocouple positioned on the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one thermocouple. 54. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising at least one support arm attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one support arm. 55. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the at least one support arm comprises at least one of a sensor or a transducer. 56. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising at least one ablation element attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one ablation element. 57. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising at least one sensor attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one sensor where the sensor is selected from the group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 58. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising at least one transducer attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one transducer where the transducer is selected from the group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 59. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising at least one ultrasound crystal positioned on the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one crystal. 60. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the elongate shaft. 61. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is positioned such that the clamp assembly is located outside the patient's body while the distal end of the elongate shaft is located within the patient's body. 62. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to clamp to a shaft. 63. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device comprises a shaft and at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to clamp to said device shaft. 64. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to be slidingly received by a shaft. 65. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to be positioned at a geometric center of the multiple electrodes. 66. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer comprises a single component. 67. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the single component comprises a single crystal. 68. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to be rotated. 69. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to be rotated 360°. 70. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to be translated along an axis. 71. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer comprises an array of components. 72. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the array comprises an array of ultrasound crystals. 73. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the array comprises a circumferential array. 74. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is positioned in or proximate to at least one of the multiple electrodes. 75. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the at least one of the sensor or the transducer comprises a first component and a second component and wherein the first component is mounted in or proximate to a first electrode of the multiple electrodes and the second component is mounted in or proximate to a second electrode of the multiple electrodes. 76. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer comprises piezoelectric film. 77. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising a wire electrically connected to a first electrode and wherein the piezoelectric film covers at least a portion of said wire. 78. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer comprises piezoelectric cable. 79. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device comprises a multiple arm assembly and wherein the at least one of the sensor or the transducer is mounted to the multiple arm assembly. 80. the device of any other claim herein, wherein a first electrode of the multiple electrodes is mounted to the multiple arm assembly. 81. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is integral to at least one electrode of the multiple electrodes. 82. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer comprises a first surface, and wherein at least one electrode of the multiple electrodes comprises a second surface, and wherein the first surface and the second surface are parallel. 83. the device of any other claim herein, wherein at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to rotate and transmit or receive signals to or from the cardiac chamber. 84. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer comprises an ultrasound transducer. 85. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer is constructed and arranged to produce sound waves in at least one of either constant or pulsed excitation. 86. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer comprises multiple transducers. 87. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer produces signals with a frequency between 3mhz and 18mhz. 88. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer is constructed and arranged to clamp on a shaft. 89. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device comprises a shaft and wherein the transducer is constructed and arranged to clamp on said device shaft. 90. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the sensor comprises an ultrasound sensor. 91. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the sensor comprises multiple sensors. 92. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the sensor is constructed and arranged to clamp on a shaft. 93. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device comprises a shaft and wherein the sensor is constructed and arranged to clamp on said device shaft. 94. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising: a first receiver constructed and arranged to receive mapping information from the multiple electrodes, the mapping information received when the multiple electrodes are placed in the one or more cardiac chambers; a dipole density module constructed and arranged to generate the three dimensional database of dipole densities d(y), wherein the dipole density module determines a dipole density for individual triangle shaped projections onto the cardiac chamber wall, where each triangle projection at a location y contributes co(x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to a potential v(x) at a point x, wherein d (x,y) is the solid angle for that triangle projection, and where: a) x represents a series of locations within one or more cardiac chambers; and b) v(x) is a measured potential at point x, said measured potential recorded by the multiple electrodes. 95. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising: a second receiver constructed and arranged to receive anatomical information from at least one imaging instrument configured to produce a geometrical depiction of the one or more cardiac chambers. 96. the device of any other claim herein, wherein said triangle projections are sized such that the dipole density for each triangle projection is substantially constant. 97. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density is determined for at least 1000 triangle shaped projections. 98. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density is determined by a number of triangle shaped projections, said number determined by the size of a cardiac chamber. 99. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the multiple electrodes are included in a single catheter. 100. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the multiple electrodes are included in two or more catheters. 101. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the imaging instrument is selected from a group consisting of: a computed tomography (ct) instrument; a magnetic resonance imaging (mri) instrument; an ultrasound instrument; a multiple electrode mapping catheter and mapping system; and combinations thereof. 102. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the imaging instrument comprises a standard anatomical geometry which is uploaded to the dipole density module. 103. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module includes a mathematical processing element that comprises one or more of: a computer; an electronic module; a computer program stored in a memory and executable by a processor; a microcontroller; a microprocessor; and combinations thereof. 104. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module implements a progressive algorithm configured to improve at least one of a spatial resolution and a time resolution of the database of dipole densities d(y). 105. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module uses a linear system of equations to determine the database of dipole densities d(y). 106. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module determines a map of dipole densities d(y) at corresponding time intervals. 107. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module generates a synthesis of maps that represents a cascade of activation sequences of each corresponding heart beat from a series of heart beats. 108. the device of any other claim herein, wherein a number of measured potentials v(x) is in a range of up to 100,000 potentials v(x). 109. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the cardiac wall is divided into regions, wherein each region is represented by a region solid angle with respect to each electrode, and wherein each region solid angle is the sum of the solid angles of the individual triangles in the region. 1 10. the device of any other claim herein, wherein a number of regions used to determine the dipole density d(y) is in a range of up to 100,000 regions on the cardiac wall. 1 1 1. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the measured potentials v(x) are interpolated to increase the number of regions. 1 12. the device of any other claim herein, wherein v(x) is interpolated using splines. 1 13. the device of any other claim herein, further comprising: a third receiver configured to receive mapping information from one or more skin electrodes. 1 14. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module uses said mapping information from the one or more skin electrodes to calculate and/or recalculate the database of dipole densities d(y). 1 15. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module calculates and/or recalculates the dipole densities d(y) using at least one of the following equations: wherein a small sinusoidal voltage viis applied to each electrode 1=1, . . . l on the electrode array in the heart, and the resulting voltages w k , k=l , . . . k is measured at the surface electrodes, which yields the kxl transition matrix. (2) wherein calculating solid angles produces the linear transformation bi„, between the electrode array potentials v) and the dipole densities d n , n=l, . . . n of n regions of the heart wall; and where equation (2) above is substituted into equation (1) to form equation (3). 1 16. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the dipole density module is configured to solve equations (2) and (3) using regularization techniques. 1 17. the device of any other claim herein, wherein the regularization technique comprises a tikhonov regularization. 1 18. a system for creating a database of dipole densities d(y) and distance measurements at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient, said system comprising: a device for creating a database of dipole densities d(y) at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient, comprising: multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters; a first receiver configured to receive mapping information from the multiple electrodes, the mapping information received when the multiple electrodes are placed in the one or more cardiac chambers; a second receiver configured to receive anatomical information from at least one imaging instrument configured to produce a geometrical depiction of the one or more cardiac chambers; a dipole density module configured to generate the database of dipole densities d(y), wherein the dipole density module determines a dipole density for individual triangle shaped projections onto the cardiac chamber wall, where each triangle projection at a location y contributes co(x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to a potential v(x) at a point x, wherein cb(x,y) is the solid angle for that triangle projection, and wherein: a) x represents a series of locations within one or more cardiac chambers; and b) v(x) is a measured potential at point x, said measured potential recorded by the multiple electrodes. 1 19. the system of any other claim herein, further comprising a second imaging instrument. 120. the system of any other claim herein, comprising a catheter for mapping and ablation. 121. the system of any other claim herein, comprising an ablation device configured to deliver one or more of: radio frequency (rf) energy; ultrasound energy, and cryogenic energy. 122. the system of any other claim herein, comprising a device configured to deliver one or more of the following therapies: genetic-agent delivery, cardiac ^synchronization, and pharmacologic. 123. a method of creating a database of dipole densities d(y) and distance measurements at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient, said method comprising: placing a distal end of an electrode catheter into one of the one or more cardiac chambers of a patient; and calculating dipole densities d(y) by: a first receiver receiving mapping information from multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters, the mapping information received when the multiple electrodes are placed in the one or more cardiac chambers; a second receiver receiving anatomical information from at least one imaging instrument configured to produce a geometrical depiction of the one or more cardiac chambers; and a dipole density module generating the database of dipole densities d(y), wherein the dipole density module determines a dipole density for individual triangle shaped projections onto the cardiac chamber wall, where each triangle projection at a location y contributes g (x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to a potential v(x) at a point x, wherein co(x,y) is the solid angle for that triangle projection, and where: a) x represents a series of locations within one or more cardiac chambers; and b) v(x) is a measured potential at point x, said measured potential recorded by the multiple electrodes; and calculating distance or movement information by analyzing signals received from a sound sensor. 124. the method of any other claim herein, wherein calculating distance information comprises calculating tissue thickness information. 125. the method of any other claim herein, including using the dipole densities d(y) to locate an origin of abnormal electrical activity of a heart. 126. the method of any other claim herein, wherein calculating the dipole densities includes a processor executing a computer program stored in a memory, the computer program embodying an algorithm for generating a table of dipole densities in the memory. 127. a method for diagnosing tissue, said method comprising: placing a distal end of a catheter into one or more cardiac chambers of a patient; wherein the catheter comprises at least one electrode and at least one ultrasound element; determining a tissue movement via the at least one ultrasound element; determining an electrical charge via the at least one electrode; and determining tissue diagnostics based upon the tissue movement and the electrical charge. 128. a medical method comprising: inserting a device of any of claim 1 through 122 into a delivery system; advancing the device through the delivery system and into a heart chamber; and steering the device and/or the delivery system such that the distal end of the device is positioned in approximately the geometric center of the heart chamber. 129. a method of diagnosing tissue of a patient, comprising: combining electrical information and anatomical information; wherein the electrical information comprises information received from multiple electrodes constructed and arranged to record electrical signals produced by tissue; and wherein the anatomical information comprises information received by a sensor constructed and arranged to record sound signals. 130. the method of any other claim herein, wherein electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of adequate tissue motion correlates to presence of healthy tissue. 131. the method of any other claim herein, wherein electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of at least one of ischemic tissue or hibernating tissue. 132. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the electrical information comprises signals larger than a threshold voltage. 133. the method of any other claim herein, wherein electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of scar tissue. 134. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the diagnosis comprises an assessment of tissue ischemia. 135. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the diagnosis comprises an assessment of electrical integrity of cardiac cells. 136. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the diagnosis further comprises an assessment of the functional status of the cardiac cells. 137. the method of any other claim herein, wherein electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of a complete ablation such as an ablation performed in a cardiac ablation performed to treat a cardiac arrhythmia. 138. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the complete ablation comprises a transmural ablation. 139. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the electrical information comprises dipole density information. 140. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the electrical information comprises at least one of the following: depolarization, repolarization, speed of wavefront propagation, magnitude of voltage (max, min, gradient), timing of activation, and duration of activation. 141. the method of any other claim herein, further comprising ablating cardiac tissue by applying ablation energy for a time period. 142. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the anatomical information comprises tissue thickness information and at least one of the ablation energy or the time period is adjusted based on the tissue thickness information. 143. a method for performing a medical procedure on a patient, the method comprising: inserting a first catheter into the patient, wherein the first catheter comprises a first set of elements and at least one sensor; inserting a second catheter into the patient, wherein the second catheter comprises an elongate shaft and wherein the second catheter comprises a second set of elements; and attaching a clamp assembly to the second catheter, wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the second catheter and to transmit vibrational energy. 144. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the first set of elements comprises a sensor. 145. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the sensor is selected from a group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 146. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the first set of elements comprises a transducer. 147. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer is selected from the group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 148. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the at least one sensor comprises an ultrasound sensor. 149. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a transducer. 150. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer comprises an ultrasound transducer. 151. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second set of elements comprises a sensor. 152. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the sensor is selected from the group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 153. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second set of elements comprises a transducer. 154. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the transducer is selected from the group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 155. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft comprises a proximal portion with a proximal end and a distal portion with a distal end. 156. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly comprises a vibrational transducer configured to emit ultrasound waves. 157. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly comprises a clamping mechanism constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the second catheter elongate shaft. 158. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is positioned on the proximal portion of the second catheter elongate shaft. 159. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter comprises a handle. 160. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is positioned within 10 centimeters from the handle. 161. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises a conduit constructed and arranged to transmit the ultrasound waves from the proximal portion to the distal portion of the second catheter elongate shaft. 162. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is positioned on the distal portion of the second catheter elongate shaft. 163. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter distal portion is within 10 centimeters from the distal end of the second catheter elongate shaft. 164. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises multiple electrodes wherein the multiple electrodes are positioned on the distal end of the second catheter elongate shaft and the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the multiple electrodes. 165. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the multiple electrodes comprise the multiple electrodes of claim 1. 166. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises at least one thermocouple positioned on the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one thermocouple. 167. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises at least one support arm attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one support arm. 168. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the at least one support arm comprises at least one of a sensor or a transducer. 169. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises at least one ablation element attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one ablation element. 170. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises at least one sensor attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one sensor where the sensor is selected from the group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 171. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises at least one transducer attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one transducer where the transducer is selected from the group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. 172. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the second catheter elongate shaft further comprises at least one ultrasound crystal positioned on the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one crystal. 173. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the second catheter elongate shaft. 174. the method of any other claim herein, wherein the clamp assembly is positioned such that the clamp assembly is located outside the patient's body while the distal end of the second catheter elongate shaft is located within the patient's body. 175. the device, system, and/or method for real time, non-contact imaging and distance measurements using ultrasound for dipole density mapping, as well as methods for diagnosing tissue health, as depicted in the drawings included herein.
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device and method for the geometric determination of electrical dipole densities on the cardiac wall field of the invention [0001] the present invention relates generally to the localization and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, and more particularly to devices and methods for real time, non-contact imaging and distance measurements using ultrasound for dipole density mapping, as well as methods for diagnosing tissue health. background of the invention [0002] systems used to localize the origin of cardiac arrhythmias measure potentials (e.g. in millivolts) in the cardiac chambers and localize them on a three dimensional representation of the cardiac chamber wall. the measurement of the electrical activity present on the cardiac walls is called mapping. for this purpose, a multiple electrode mapping catheter may be positioned within the heart such that multiple potentials can be simultaneously measured at different locations on the wall of the cardiac chamber without having direct wall contact (non-contact mapping). the cardiac chamber is visualized as a three dimensional structure, either directly by moving one or more mapping electrodes within the corresponding heart chamber or by importing an anatomical geometry of the cardiac chamber from an imaging device (e.g. computed tomography, mri, or ultrasound). the electrical activity within the heart can be measured with the multi-electrode mapping catheter, which may be able to simultaneously measure potentials at different points in three dimensional space. in the current systems, the measured potentials from the non-contact multi-electrode mapping catheter do not directly correspond to the electrical activity on the cardiac wall as measured with an electrode with direct wall contact (contact mapping). the measured potentials of the non-contact mapping system have to be converted with computer programs and extrapolated into virtual electrograms projected on the heart chamber of the mapping system. [0003] u.s. patent 5,297,549 (beatty, et al.) discloses a method of generating a three- dimensional map of electrical activity in a heart chamber as well as a two-dimensional map of the electrical activity within the endocardial surface. beatty generates the information via an array of electrodes placed in a heart chamber utilizing impedance plethysmography, while one electrode serves as a reference. [0004] the current conversion methods suffer various instabilities, and further processing, termed regularization, must be applied to maintain stability. regularization decreases spatial resolution. another limitation of the current methods is that the provided potentials represent only the mean electrical activity summed across a large region of tissue, with cells consisting of membranes separating electrical dipoles. [0005] since the localization of cardiac arrhythmias by the use of potentials is imprecise, the successful treatment of cardiac arrhythmias has been difficult and has demonstrated limited success and reliability. there is, therefore, a need for improved methods of localizing cardiac arrhythmias. summary [0006] the present invention discloses devices and methods for real time, non-contact imaging and distance measurements using ultrasound for dipole density mapping, as well as methods for diagnosing tissue health. in one aspect, the present invention includes a device comprising one or more catheters, each catheter comprising a shaft. the shaft may include a lumen and may be steerable. the shaft may include, typically near its distal end, one or more components selected from group consisting of: electrodes, such as electrodes configured to record electrical activity of tissue; transducers such as ultrasound transducers; sensors, such as ultrasound sensors; ultrasound crystals configured to both transmit and sense ultrasound waves; and combinations of these. the device is constructed and arranged to produce continuous, real-time images of a patient's tissue, as well as information related to electrical activity present in the tissue. for example, a user, such as a clinician may image a patient's cardiac chamber, including the cardiac walls. the device is also capable of providing tissue information, for example, tissue movement and tissue thickness. additionally, the device is configured to produce distance measurements by analyzing at least one of the sensors recorded angles or frequency changes. non-limiting examples of distance measurements include: distance between the multiple electrodes and the wall of the cardiac chamber and distance between the multiple electrodes and the transducer and/or sensor. the device may be configured to provide a tissue diagnostic through an analysis of both tissue motion information and cell electrical signals. the cell electrical signals may be recorded by the multiple electrodes, while tissue motion information may be gathered by the multiple electrodes and/or the sensor. the device is configured to provide exact foci and conduction- gap position information, such that ablation is performed with an increased level of precision. small conduction paths, including "gaps" in a line, are equally relevant as foci. the device may include an ablation catheter, such as an ablation catheter that can be precisely delivered through an open lumen of a second device catheter, or through a sheath. [0007] in some embodiments, the device may include a catheter which is further configured as a delivery sheath. for example, a first catheter may comprise a lumen, such that a separate ablation catheter may be slidingly received by the first catheter. additionally, a single sheath may be provided to allow the first catheter and the ablation catheter to pass there though. this construction would eliminate the need for multiple sheath devices. [0008] in some embodiments, one or more catheters of the device may be steerable. for example, a user may determine the ablation site via real-time tissue analysis and imaging, and subsequently a catheter may be steered to the desired location. steering of one or more catheters may be achieved via cables, such as cables which may be housed in a lumen of a delivery sheath. [0009] the device comprises a transducer, preferably an ultrasound transducer configured to produce sound waves, typically at a frequency between 5 and 18 mhz. the sound waves may be at a constant rate or provided in a pulsed manner. the device may comprise multiple transducers. one or more transducers may be positioned on one or more catheters of the device, such as on or near a distal portion of a catheter. one or more transducers may be further configured as sensors, such as ultrasound crystals that both record and emit sound waves. [0010] the device comprises a sensor, preferably an ultrasound sensor configured to receive the sound waves produced by the ultrasound transducer. the device may comprise multiple sensors. one or more sensors may be positioned on one or more catheters of the device, such as on or near a distal portion of a catheter. one or more sensors may be further configured as transducers, such as ultrasound crystals that both record and emit sound waves. [0011] the sensors, transducers, or combination sensor/transducers may be positioned on the device in various locations including but not limited to: attached to the shaft of the catheter; housed within the shaft of the catheter, for example, the sensor and/or transducer may be slidingly received by the shaft; at the geometric center of each of the multiple electrodes; proximate to at least one of the multiple electrodes; mounted to a multiple arm assembly; and combinations of these. the device may include one or more electrodes configured to record electrical activity in the tissue of cells. various ratios of electrodes to sensors, transducers, or combination sensor/transducers may be included. in one embodiment, a ratio of two electrodes to one ultrasound crystal is provided, such as a single component with one ultrasound crystal and an electrode positioned at each end of the crystal. in another embodiment, a ratio of five electrodes to two sensor/transducers is provided, such as a catheter shaft including two assemblies and a single electrode. each assembly includes an ultrasound crystal with an electrode positioned at each end. [0012] the transducer and/or the sensor may be rotated, which may include a partial rotation or a full 360° rotation. alternatively or additionally, the sensor and/or transducer may be translated along a linear axis. in one embodiment, the sensor and/or transducer comprise a piezoelectric film. for example, a wire may be electrically connected to a first electrode where a portion of the wire comprises a piezoelectric film. alternatively, the sensor and/or transducer may comprise a piezoelectric cable. [0013] in some embodiments, the sensor and transducer may comprise a single component, for example, a single crystal. alternatively, the sensor and/or transducer may comprise an array of components, for example, a circumferential array of ultrasound crystals. each of the ultrasound crystals may be attached to one or more electrodes configured to record electrical activity of living cells. [0014] the device further comprises a first receiver that receives mapping information from multiple electrodes included in one or more catheters configured to perform mapping of cellular electrical activity, such as electrocardiogram activity. the electrodes are placed in a cardiac chamber of the patient's heart. the device further includes a second receiver that receives anatomical information. the anatomical information may be a generic heart model, or more preferably tissue contour and other anatomical information recorded from the patient's own heart. a dipole density module determines the database of dipole densities, in the table form d(y), where y represents the three-dimensional location on the heart tissue including that particular dipole density. the potential at various other locations x, within a cardiac chamber and termed v(x), are recorded by the multiple electrodes. solid angle c (x,y) represents the solid angle for a triangle projection between location x (electrode location in chamber) and y (triangle location on chamber wall). the dipole density module determines the dipole density for individual triangle shaped projections onto the cardiac chamber wall based on the following: each triangle projection at location y contributes co(x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to the potential v(x) at the point x. [0015] in a preferred embodiment, the device comprises a software program, e.g., such as a software program loaded onto a personal computer; an ecg system; a cardiac tissue ablation system and/or an imaging system. the number of triangles determined by the dipole density module is sufficiently large (triangle area small enough) such that the dipole density for each triangle projection is relatively constant. typically 1000 or more triangles are used in the calculations, such as a calculation based on a standard sized left or right atrium. larger numbers of triangles are used for larger sized chambers. [0016] in another preferred embodiment, the patient is being diagnosed and/or treated for a heart condition, such as an arrhythmia. the electrodes are included at the distal end of one or more mapping catheters and are placed into a chamber of the patient's heart to record potentials. an imaging instrument, such as an instrument that provides a generic model of a heart, or an instrument which provides an anatomical model of the patient's heart, delivers the anatomical information to the second receiver. in one embodiment, the imaging instrument is one or more of: computed tomography; mri; ultrasound; and an ecg system with mapping catheter. alternatively or additionally, an imaging instrument may be integrated into the device, such as an ultrasound unit configured to produce image and distance information from signals received from one or more ultrasound sensors. [0017] in another preferred embodiment, the dipole density module implements an algorithm configured to assist in the creation of the database of dipole densities. the algorithm may be a progressive algorithm configured to be modified or refined to improve spatial and/or time resolution of the database. the dipole density module may determine a map of dipole densities at corresponding time intervals. a synthesis of maps represents a cascade of activation sequences of each corresponding heart beat. [0018] in another preferred embodiment, the device includes a third receiver. the third receiver collects mapping information from one or more skin electrodes. the dipole density module uses the skin electrode signals to calculate or recalculate the database of dipole densities, using equations listed herebelow. [0019] according to another aspect of the invention, a system for creating a database of dipole densities at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient's heart is provided. in addition to the device of the present invention, the system includes one or more multiple electrode catheters; an ablation device; at least one surface or skin electrode; a transducer; and a sensor. a separate imaging instrument may be included in the system. in a preferred embodiment, the mapping catheter is also used for ablating tissue identified by the database of dipole densities and positioned in the heart chamber using the real-time imaging. the system includes a monitor to display the real-time image and dipole density information, such as information displayed in relative geometry to the chamber of the patient's heart. [0020] according to another aspect of the invention, a method of creating a database of dipole densities at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient's heart is provided. the method can be used to diagnose and/or treat complex cardiac arrhythmia disease. in a typical configuration, complex electrograms are identified, such as a method in which three or more complex electrograms are identified. in a preferred embodiment, the method is used to diagnose and/or treat atrial fibrillation (af), ventricular tachycardia (vt), atrial flutter and tissue scarring, such as tissue scarring caused by an intra-cardiac defibrillator (icd). in another preferred embodiment, the method is used to detect ventricular ischemia and/or quantify myocardial function. the method includes placing an array of multiple electrodes within a chamber of the patient's heart to measure potentials and calculating the distance or movement information by analyzing signals received from a sound sensor. the array of multiple electrodes may or may not be repositioned to determine dipole densities. [0021] in another preferred embodiment, the method further includes placing one or more skin electrodes. the information recorded by the skin electrodes is used to determine the database of dipole densities. in yet another embodiment, the method further comprises calculating tissue thickness information. [0022] according to another aspect of the invention, a medical method for obtaining electrical and anatomical information related to a patient's cardiac chamber(s) is disclosed. in a first step, a user may insert a device into a delivery system. the device may be any device described hereabove. in a next step, the user may advance the device through the delivery system and into a heart chamber. in a next step the device and/or delivery system may be steered such that the distal end of the device is positioned approximately in the geometric center of the heart chamber. once the device is positioned within the heart chamber, measurements may be obtained and analyzed consistent with measurements and methods disclosed herein. [0023] according to another aspect of the invention, a method for diagnosing tissue is disclosed. the preferred method comprises placing a distal end of an electrode catheter into one or more cardiac chambers of a patient, where the electrode catheter comprises at least one electrode and at least one ultrasound element. in a next step, anatomical information, such as tissue movement, may be determined via the at least one ultrasound element. in a next step, the electrical charge of a tissue may be determined via the at least one electrode. lastly, by analyzing tissue movement and electrical charge information, tissue health may be determined. [0024] for example, electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of adequate tissue motion correlates to presence of healthy tissue. additionally, electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of at least one of ischemic tissue or hibernating tissue. conversely, electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of scar tissue. additionally, electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of a complete ablation, such as an ablation performed in a cardiac ablation performed to treat a cardiac arrhythmia. in some embodiments, the complete ablation comprises a transmural ablation. [0025] more specifically, the following four cases may exist: case 1 : electrical and anatomical are adequate - tissue is healthy, case 2: electrical is adequate and anatomical is inadequate - tissue is compromised, case 3: electrical is inadequate and anatomical is adequate - tissue is compromised, and case 4: electrical and anatomical are both inadequate - tissue necrosis. [0026] the actual threshold for determining adequacy of electrical function of any one area of the heart is dependent upon many factors, including the degree of coordination of the activation pattern and the mass of the cells being activated. additionally, this threshold will be different for each chamber of the heart as well as from smaller to larger patients. for example, a threshold of 0.5 mv may be appropriate, wherein an electrical potential smaller that 0.5mv may be indicative of inadequate electrical function and an electrical potential at or larger than 0.5mv may be indicative of adequate electrical function. [0027] also included in the tissue diagnostic, a clinician may assess the electrical integrity of the cardiac cells. for example, the functional status of the cardiac cells may be assessed. [0028] in one embodiment, the electrical information comprises dipole density information. additionally or alternatively, the electrical information may comprise at least one of repolarization or speed of wave-front propagation. [0029] the method may further comprise ablating the cardiac tissue based upon the tissue diagnosis. for example, the anatomical information comprises tissue thickness information and at least one of the ablation energy or the time period is adjusted based on the tissue thickness information. a clinician may assess the tissue during and post ablation to assess changes in the tissue due to the application of the ablation energy. for example, the clinician may also use information received form one or more ultrasound sensors in combination with dipole density mapping information received from one or more electrodes to assess the adequacy of tissue ablation, such as to improve long-term patient outcomes. [0030] in accordance with an aspect of the present invention, provided is a device for creating a database of dipole densities d(y) and distance measurements at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient. the device comprise: multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters; a transducer constructed and arranged to emit sound waves; and a sensor constructed and arranged to receive reflections of the sound waves. [0031 ] in various embodiments, the transducer can comprise the sensor. [0032] in various embodiments, the transducer can further comprise at least one of the multiple electrodes. [0033] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to produce a real time image. [0034] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to produce continuous images. [0035] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to produce images of the patient's tissue. [0036] in various embodiments, the image can comprise an image of the one or more cardiac chambers. [0037] in various embodiments, the image can comprises an image of a wall of the one or more cardiac chambers. [0038] in various embodiments, the image can comprise an image of tissue proximate at least one of the multiple electrodes. [0039] in various embodiments, image can comprise an image of at least one of the multiple electrodes. [0040] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to provide motion information of the patient's tissue. [0041] in various embodiments, the motion information can comprise cardiac wall motion information. [0042] in various embodiments, the device is constructed and arranged to provide thickness information of the patient's tissue. [0043] in various embodiments, the thickness information can be cardiac wall thickness information. [0044] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to produce an image of at least one of the multiple electrodes. [0045] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to further produce an image of tissue proximate at least one of the multiple electrodes. [0046] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to further produce an image of the one or more cardiac chambers. [0047] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to produce a distance measurement. [0048] in various embodiments, the distance measurement can comprise the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and a wall of a cardiac chamber. [0049] in various embodiments, the distance measurement can comprise the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and at least one of the transducer or the sensor. [0050] in various embodiments, the distance measurement can comprise the distance between a wall of a cardiac chamber and at least one of the transducer or the sensor. [0051] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to produce the distance measurement by analyzing at least one of sensor recorded angle or frequency changes. [0052] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to determine the position of at least one of the multiple electrodes within a cardiac chamber. [0053] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to determine the position of at least two of the multiple electrodes within the cardiac chamber. [0054] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to combine distance information received from the multiple electrodes with information received from the sensor. [0055] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to provide tissue diagnostic information by analyzing both tissue motion information and cell electrical signals. [0056] in various embodiments, the cell electrical signals can be recorded by the multiple electrodes. [0057] in various embodiments, the tissue motion information can be provided by the sensor. [0058] in various embodiments, the tissue motion information can be further provided by the multiple electrodes. [0059] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to provide the tissue diagnostic information during a cardiac ablation procedure. [0060] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to provide tissue diagnostic information while arrhythmia therapy or functional therapy is being delivered, wherein such arrhythmia therapy and functional therapy include, but are not limited to, the following therapies: ablation, genetic-agent delivery, cardiac resynchronization, and pharmacologic. [0061] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to deliver ablation energy to tissue. [0062] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to provide precise foci, conduction-gaps, or conduction channels position information. [0063] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to locate foci, boundaries of conduction-gaps, or boundaries of conduction channels position within lmm to 3mm. [0064] the device of any other claim herein, wherein the device can be constructed and arranged to provide the location of cardiac tissue with complex electrograms. [0065] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to provide at least three locations comprising complex electrograms. [0066] in various embodiments, the device can be constructed and arranged to provide single beat mapping of cardiac arrhythmias. [0067] in various embodiments, the device can comprise at least one catheter that is constructed and arranged to be steered and/or guided. [0068] in various embodiments, the catheter can be constructed and arranged to be steered and/or guided to the sites of complex electrograms by the real-time tissue analysis and imaging. [0069] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise a delivery sheath. [0070] in various embodiments, the delivery sheath can be constructed and arranged to slidingly receive an ablation catheter. [0071] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise an elongate shaft, comprising a proximal portion with a proximal end and a distal portion with a distal end constructed and arranged to be inserted into the body of the patient. [0072] in various embodiments, device can further comprise a clamp assembly constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the elongate shaft and to transmit vibrational energy. [0073] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can comprise a vibrational transducer configured to emit ultrasound waves. [0074] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can comprise a clamping mechanism constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the elongate shaft. [0075] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be positioned on the proximal portion of the elongate shaft. [0076] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise a handle wherein the proximal portion is within 10 centimeters from the handle. [0077] in various embodiments, the elongate shaft can further comprise a conduit constructed and arranged to transmit the ultrasound waves from the proximal portion to the distal portion. [0078] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be positioned on the distal portion of the elongate shaft. [0079] in various embodiments, the distal portion can be within 10 centimeters from the distal end of the elongate shaft. [0080] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise multiple electrodes wherein the multiple electrodes are positioned on the distal end of the elongate shaft and the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the multiple electrodes. [0081] in various embodiments, the multiple electrodes can comprise the multiple electrodes described above. [0082] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise at least one thermocouple positioned on the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one thermocouple. [0083] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise at least one support arm attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one support arm. [0084] in various embodiments, the device can comprise at least one support arm comprises at least one of a sensor or a transducer. [0085] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise at least one ablation element attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one ablation element. [0086] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise at least one sensor attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one sensor where the sensor is selected from the group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [0087] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise at least one transducer attached to the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one transducer where the transducer is selected from the group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [0088] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise at least one ultrasound crystal positioned on the elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one crystal. [0089] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be constructed and arranged to vibrate the elongate shaft. [0090] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be positioned such that the clamp assembly is located outside the patient's body while the distal end of the elongate shaft is located within the patient's body. [0091] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be constructed and arranged to clamp to a shaft. [0092] in various embodiments, the device can comprise a shaft and at least one of the sensor or the transducer is constructed and arranged to clamp to said device shaft. [0093] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be constructed and arranged to be slidingly received by a shaft. [0094] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be constructed and arranged to be positioned at a geometric center of the multiple electrodes. [0095] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can comprise a single component. [0096] in various embodiments, the single component can comprise a single crystal. [0097] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be constructed and arranged to be rotated. [0098] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be constructed and arranged to be rotated 360°. [0099] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be constructed and arranged to be translated along an axis. [00100] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can comprises an array of components. [00101] in various embodiments, the array can comprise an array of ultrasound crystals. [00102] in various embodiments, the array can comprise a circumferential array. [00103] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be positioned in or proximate to at least one of the multiple electrodes. [00104] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can comprise a first component and a second component and wherein the first component is mounted in or proximate to a first electrode of the multiple electrodes and the second component is mounted in or proximate to a second electrode of the multiple electrodes. [00105] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can comprise piezoelectric film. [00106] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise a wire electrically connected to a first electrode and wherein the piezoelectric film covers at least a portion of said wire. [00107] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can comprise piezoelectric cable. [00108] in various embodiments, the device can comprise a multiple arm assembly and wherein the at least one of the sensor or the transducer is mounted to the multiple arm assembly. [00109] in various embodiments, a first electrode of the multiple electrodes can be mounted to the multiple arm assembly. [00110] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be integral to at least one electrode of the multiple electrodes. [00111] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can comprise a first surface, and wherein at least one electrode of the multiple electrodes can comprise a second surface, and wherein the first surface and the second surface are parallel. [00112] in various embodiments, at least one of the sensor or the transducer can be constructed and arranged to rotate and transmit or receive signals to or from the cardiac chamber. [00113] in various embodiments, the transducer can comprise an ultrasound transducer. [00114] in various embodiments, the transducer can be constructed and arranged to produce sound waves in at least one of either constant or pulsed excitation. [00115] in various embodiments, the transducer can comprise multiple transducers. [00116] in various embodiments, the transducer can produce signals with a frequency between 3mhz and 18mhz. [00117] in various embodiments, the transducer can be constructed and arranged to clamp on a shaft. [00118] in various embodiments, the device can comprise a shaft and wherein the transducer is constructed and arranged to clamp on said device shaft. [00119] in various embodiments, the sensor can comprise an ultrasound sensor. [00120] in various embodiments, the sensor can comprise multiple sensors. [00121] in various embodiments, the sensor can be constructed and arranged to clamp on a shaft. [00122] in various embodiments, the device can comprise a shaft and wherein the sensor is constructed and arranged to clamp on said device shaft. [00123] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise: a first receiver constructed and arranged to receive mapping information from the multiple electrodes, the mapping information received when the multiple electrodes are placed in the one or more cardiac chambers; a dipole density module constructed and arranged to generate the three dimensional database of dipole densities d(y), wherein the dipole density module determines a dipole density for individual triangle shaped projections onto the cardiac chamber wall, where each triangle projection at a location y contributes co(x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to a potential v(x) at a point x. here c (x,y) is the solid angle for that triangle projection, and where: a) x represents a series of locations within one or more cardiac chambers; and b) v(x) is a measured potential at point x, said measured potential recorded by the multiple electrodes. [00124] in various embodiments, the device further comprise: a second receiver constructed and arranged to receive anatomical information from at least one imaging instrument configured to produce a geometrical depiction of the one or more cardiac chambers. [00125] in various embodiments, said triangle projections can be sized such that the dipole density for each triangle projection is substantially constant. [00126] in various embodiments, the dipole density can be determined for at least 1000 triangle shaped projections. [00127] in various embodiments, the dipole density can be determined by a number of triangle shaped projections, said number determined by the size of a cardiac chamber. [00128] in various embodiments, the multiple electrodes can be included in a single catheter. [00129] in various embodiments, the multiple electrodes can be included in two or more catheters. [00130] in various embodiments, the imaging instrument can be selected from a group consisting of: a computed tomography (ct) instrument; a magnetic resonance imaging (mri) instrument; an ultrasound instrument; a multiple electrode mapping catheter and mapping system; and combinations thereof. [00131] in various embodiments, the imaging instrument can comprise a standard anatomical geometry which is uploaded to the dipole density module. [00132] in various embodiments, the dipole density module can include a mathematical processing element that comprises one or more of: a computer; an electronic module; a computer program stored in a memory and executable by a processor; a microcontroller; a microprocessor; and combinations thereof. [00133] in various embodiments, the dipole density module can be configured to implement a progressive algorithm configured to improve at least one of a spatial resolution and a time resolution of the database of dipole densities d(y). [00134] in various embodiments, the dipole density module can use a linear system of equations to determine the database of dipole densities d(y). [00135] in various embodiments, the dipole density module can be configured to determine a map of dipole densities d(y) at corresponding time intervals. [00136] in various embodiments, the dipole density module is configured to generate a synthesis of maps that represents a cascade of activation sequences of each corresponding heart beat from a series of heart beats. [00137] in various embodiments, a number of measured potentials v(x) can be in a range of up to 100,000 potentials v(x). [00138] in various embodiments, the cardiac wall can be divided into regions, wherein each region is represented by a region solid angle with respect to each electrode, and wherein each region solid angle is the sum of the solid angles of the individual triangles in the region. [00139] in various embodiments, a number of regions used to determine the dipole density d(y) can be in a range of up to 100,000 regions on the cardiac wall. [00140] in various embodiments, the measured potentials v(x) can be interpolated to increase the number of regions. [00141 ] in various embodiments, v(x) can be interpolated using splines. [00142] in various embodiments, the device can further comprise: a third receiver configured to receive mapping information from one or more skin electrodes. [00143] in various embodiments, the dipole density module can use said mapping information from the one or more skin electrodes to calculate and/or recalculate the database of dipole densities d(y). [00144] in various embodiments, the dipole density module can calculate and/or recalculate the dipole densities d(y) using at least one of the following equations: k (i) wherein a small sinusoidal voltage vlis applied to each electrode 1=1, . . . l on the electrode array in the heart, and the resulting voltages wk, k=l, . . . is measured at the surface electrodes, which yields the kxl transition matrix. n (2) wherein calculating solid angles produces the linear transformation bin, between the electrode array potentials vi and the dipole densities dn, n=l, . . . n of n regions of the heart wall; and where equation (2) above is substituted into equation (1) to form equation (3). [00145] in various embodiments, the dipole density module can be configured to solve equations (2) and (3) using regularization techniques. [00146] in various embodiments, the regularization technique can comprise a tikhonov regularization. [00147] in accordance with another aspect of the invention, provided is a system for creating a database of dipole densities d(y) and distance measurements at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient. the system comprise: a device for creating a database of dipole densities d(y) at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient, comprising: multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters; a first receiver configured to receive mapping information from the multiple electrodes, the mapping information received when the multiple electrodes are placed in the one or more cardiac chambers; a second receiver configured to receive anatomical information from at least one imaging instrument configured to produce a geometrical depiction of the one or more cardiac chambers; a dipole density module configured to generate the database of dipole densities d(y), wherein the dipole density module determines a dipole density for individual triangle shaped projections onto the cardiac chamber wall, where each triangle projection at a location y contributes e (x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to a potential v(x) at a point x, wherein 6(x,y) is the solid angle for that triangle projection, and wherein: a) x represents a series of locations within one or more cardiac chambers; and b) v(x) is a measured potential at point x, said measured potential recorded by the multiple electrodes. [00148] in various embodiments, the system can further comprise a second imaging instrument. [00149] in various embodiments, the system can comprise a catheter for mapping and ablation. [00150] in various embodiments, the system can comprise an ablation device configured to deliver one or more of: radio frequency (rf) energy; ultrasound energy, and cryogenic energy. [00151] in various embodiments, the system can comprise a device configured to deliver one or more of the following therapies: genetic-agent delivery, cardiac resynchronization, and pharmacologic. [00152] in accordance with another aspect of the invention, provided is a method of creating a database of dipole densities d(y) and distance measurements at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient. the method comprises: placing a distal end of an electrode catheter into one of the one or more cardiac chambers of a patient; and calculating dipole densities d(y) by: a first receiver receiving mapping information from multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters, the mapping information received when the multiple electrodes are placed in the one or more cardiac chambers; a second receiver receiving anatomical information from at least one imaging instrument configured to produce a geometrical depiction of the one or more cardiac chambers; and a dipole density module generating the database of dipole densities d(y), wherein the dipole density module determines a dipole density for individual triangle shaped projections onto the cardiac chamber wall, where each triangle projection at a location y contributes co(x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to a potential v(x) at a point x, wherein 0>(x,y) is the solid angle for that triangle projection, and where: a) x represents a series of locations within one or more cardiac chambers; and b) v(x) is a measured potential at point x, said measured potential recorded by the multiple electrodes; and calculating distance or movement information by analyzing signals received from a sound sensor. [00153] in various embodiments, the method can comprise calculating distance information comprises calculating tissue thickness information. [00154] in various embodiments, the method can comprise using the dipole densities d(y) to locate an origin of abnormal electrical activity of a heart. [00155] in various embodiments, wherein calculating the dipole densities can include a processor executing a computer program stored in a memory, the computer program embodying an algorithm for generating a table of dipole densities in the memory. [00156] in accordance with another aspect of the invention, provided is a method for diagnosing tissue, said method comprising: placing a distal end of a catheter into one or more cardiac chambers of a patient; wherein the catheter comprises at least one electrode and at least one ultrasound element; determining a tissue movement via the at least one ultrasound element; determining an electrical charge via the at least one electrode; and determining tissue diagnostics based upon the tissue movement and the electrical charge. [00157] in accordance with another aspect of the invention, provided is a medical method comprising: inserting a device of any of claim 1 through 122 into a delivery system; advancing the device through the delivery system and into a heart chamber; and steering the device and/or the delivery system such that the distal end of the device is positioned in approximately the geometric center of the heart chamber. [00158] in accordance with another aspect of the invention, provided is a method of diagnosing tissue of a patient, comprising: combining electrical information and anatomical information; wherein the electrical information comprises information received from multiple electrodes constructed and arranged to record electrical signals produced by tissue; and wherein the anatomical information comprises information received by a sensor constructed and arranged to record sound signals. [00159] in various embodiments, the electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of adequate tissue motion can correlate to presence of healthy tissue. [00160] in various embodiments, the electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion can correlate to presence of at least one of ischemic tissue or hibernating tissue. [00161] in various embodiments, the electrical information can comprise signals larger than a threshold voltage. [00162] in various embodiments, the electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion can correlate to presence of scar tissue. [00163] in various embodiments, the diagnosis can comprise an assessment of tissue ischemia. [00164] in various embodiments, the diagnosis comprises an assessment of electrical integrity of cardiac cells. [00165] in various embodiments, the diagnosis can further comprise an assessment of the functional status of the cardiac cells. [00166] in various embodiments, the electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion can correlate to presence of a complete ablation such as an ablation performed in a cardiac ablation performed to treat a cardiac arrhythmia. [00167] in various embodiments, the complete ablation can comprise a transmural ablation. [00168] in various embodiments, the electrical information can comprise dipole density information. [00169] in various embodiments, the electrical information can comprise at least one of the following: depolarization, repolarization, speed of wavefront propagation, magnitude of voltage (max, min, gradient), timing of activation, and duration of activation. [00170] in various embodiments, the method can further comprise ablating cardiac tissue by applying ablation energy for a time period. [00171] in various embodiments, the anatomical information can comprise tissue thickness information and at least one of the ablation energy or the time period is adjusted based on the tissue thickness information. [00172] in accordance with aspects of the present invention, provided is a method for performing a medical procedure on a patient, the method comprising: inserting a first catheter into the patient, wherein the first catheter comprises a first set of elements and at least one sensor; inserting a second catheter into the patient, wherein the second catheter comprises an elongate shaft and wherein the second catheter comprises a second set of elements; and attaching a clamp assembly to the second catheter, wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the second catheter and to transmit vibrational energy. [00173] in various embodiments, the first set of elements can comprise a sensor. [00174] in various embodiments, the sensor can be selected from a group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [00175] in various embodiments, the first set of elements can comprise a transducer. [00176] in various embodiments, the transducer can be selected from the group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [00177] in various embodiments, the at least one sensor can comprise an ultrasound sensor. [00178] in various embodiments, the at least one sensor can comprise a transducer. [00179] in various embodiments, the transducer can comprise an ultrasound transducer. [00180] in various embodiments, the second set of elements can comprise a sensor. [00181] in various embodiments, the sensor can be selected from the group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [00182] in various embodiments, the second set of elements can comprises a transducer. [00183] in various embodiments, the transducer can be selected from a group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [00184] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can comprise a proximal portion with a proximal end and a distal portion with a distal end. [00185] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can comprise a vibrational transducer configured to emit ultrasound waves. [00186] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can comprise a clamping mechanism constructed and arranged to be removably attached to the second catheter elongate shaft. [00187] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be positioned on the proximal portion of the second catheter elongate shaft. [00188] in various embodiments, the second catheter can comprise a handle. [00189] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be positioned within 10 centimeters from the handle. [00190] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise a conduit constructed and arranged to transmit the ultrasound waves from the proximal portion to the distal portion of the second catheter elongate shaft. [00191] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be positioned on the distal portion of the second catheter elongate shaft. [00192] in various embodiments, the second catheter distal portion can be within 10 centimeters from the distal end of the second catheter elongate shaft. [00193] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise multiple electrodes wherein the multiple electrodes are positioned on the distal end of the second catheter elongate shaft and the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the multiple electrodes. [00194] in various embodiments, the multiple electrodes can comprise the multiple electrodes described above. [00195] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise at least one thermocouple positioned on the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one thermocouple. [00196] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise at least one support arm attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly is constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one support arm. [00197] in various embodiments, the at least one support arm can comprise at least one of a sensor or a transducer. [00198] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise at least one ablation element attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly can be constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one ablation element. [00199] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise at least one sensor attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly can be constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one sensor where the sensor is selected from the group consisting of: temperature; pressure; electrical signal; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [00200] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise at least one transducer attached to the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly can be constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one transducer where the transducer is selected from the group consisting of: ablation element; electrode; sound; and combinations of these. [00201] in various embodiments, the second catheter elongate shaft can further comprise at least one ultrasound crystal positioned on the second catheter elongate shaft wherein the clamp assembly can be constructed and arranged to vibrate the at least one crystal. [00202] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be constructed and arranged to vibrate the second catheter elongate shaft. [00203] in various embodiments, the clamp assembly can be positioned such that the clamp assembly can be located outside the patient's body while the distal end of the second catheter elongate shaft is located within the patient's body. [00204] provided is device, system, and/or method for real time, non-contact imaging and distance measurements using ultrasound for dipole density mapping, as well as methods for diagnosing tissue health, as depicted in the drawings included herein. brief description of the drawings [00205] the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the inventions. [00206] fig. 1 illustrates a schematic view of an embodiment of a device for determining a database table of dipole densities d(y) of at least one heart chamber, consistent with aspects of the present invention. [00207] fig. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an embodiment of a preferred method for determining a database table of dipole densities of at least one heart chamber, consistent with aspects of the present invention. [00208] fig. 3 illustrates a schematic view of an embodiment of a system for determining a database table of dipole densities of at least one heart chamber with help of the solid angle c (x,y) consistent with aspects of the present invention. [00209] fig. 4 illustrates a side view of an end portion of a catheter comprising ultrasound elements attached to multiple support arms, consistent with aspects of the present invention. [00210] fig. 5 illustrates a side view of a system including a mapping catheter comprising multiple sensors, an ablation catheter comprising multiple ablation elements and a clamping assembly attached to the ablation catheter, consistent with aspects of the present invention. [00211] fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of an embodiment of a preferred method diagnosing the tissue of a patient, consistent with aspects of the present invention. detailed description [00212] a device for calculating surface charge densities has been described in detail in pct international application number pct/ch2007/000380 (hereinafter the '380 patent application), filed aug. 3, 2007, and entitled method and device for determining and presenting surface charge and dipole densities on cardiac walls. [00213] as discussed in the '380 patent application, research indicated that the use of the surface charge densities (i.e. their distribution) or dipole densities (i.e. their distribution) to generate distribution map(s) would lead to more detailed and precise information on electric ionic activity of local cardiac cells than potentials. surface charge density or dipole densities represent precise and sharp information of the electric activity with a good spatial resolution, whereas potentials resulting from integration of charge densities provide only a diffuse picture of electric activity. the electric nature of cardiac cell membranes comprising ionic charges of proteins and soluble ions can be precisely described by surface charge and dipole densities. the surface charge densities or dipole densities cannot be directly measured in the heart, but instead must be mathematically and accurately calculated starting from measured potentials. in other words, the information of voltage maps obtained by current mapping systems can be greatly refined when calculating surface charge densities or dipole densities from these. [00214] the surface charge density means surface charge (coulombs) per unit area (cm 2 ). a dipole, as such, is a neutral element, wherein a part comprises a positive charge and the other part comprises the same but negative charge. a dipole might represent the electric nature of cellular membranes better, because in biological environment ion charges are not macroscopically separated. [00215] in order to generate a map of surface charge densities (surface charge density distribution) according to the '380 patent application, the geometry of the given heart chamber must be known. the 3d geometry of the cardiac chamber is typically assessed by currently available and common mapping systems (so-called locator systems) or, alternatively, by integrating anatomical data from ct/mri scans. for the measurement of potentials the non-contact mapping method a probe electrode was used. the probe electrode may be a multi-electrode array with elliptic or spherical shape. the spherical shape has certain advantages for the subsequent data analysis. but also other types or even several independent electrodes could be used to measure v e . for example, when considering the ventricular cavity within the endocardium and taking a probe electrode with a surface sp , which is located in the blood, it is possible to measure the potential v(x,y,z) at point x,y,z on the surface sp. in order to calculate the potential at the endocardial surface s e the laplace equation: needs to be solved, wherein v is the potential and x,y,z denote the three dimensional coordinates. the boundary conditions for this equation are v(x,y,z) = vp(x,y,z) on sp, wherein vp is the potential on surface of the probe. [00216] the solution is an integral that allows for calculating the potential v(x'y'z') at any point x'y'z' in the whole volume of the heart chamber that is filled with blood. for calculating said integral numerically a discretisation of the cardiac surface is necessary and the so called boundary element method (bem) has to be used. [00217] the boundary element method is a numerical computational method for solving linear integral equations (i.e. in surface integral form). the method was applied in many areas of engineering and science including fluid mechanics, acoustics, electromagnetics, and fracture mechanics. [00218] the boundary element method is often more efficient than other methods, including the finite element method. boundary element formulations typically give rise to fully populated matrices after discretisation. this means, that the storage requirements and computational time will tend to grow according to the square of the problem size. by contrast, finite element matrices are typically banded (elements are only locally connected) and the storage requirements for the system matrices typically grow quite linearly with the problem size. [00219] with the above in mind, all potentials v p (xl 'yl 'z ) on the surface of the probe can be measured. to calculate the potential v e on the wall of the heart chamber, the known geometry of the surface of the heart chamber must be divided in discrete parts to use the boundary element method. the endocardial potentials v e are then given by a linear matrix transformation t from the probe potentials vp : v e = t v p . [00220] after measuring and calculating one or more electric potential(s) v e of cardiac cells in one or more position(s) p(x,y,z) of the at least one given heart chamber at a given time t. the surface charge density and the dipole density are related to potential according to the following two poisson equations: av e = p(p)s se (p) (2) av e = ^- (vs s (p)) (3) on wherein p( ) is the surface charge density in position p=x,y,z, s s (p) is the delta-distribution concentrated on the surface of the heart chamber s e and υ is the dipole density. [00221] there is a well known relationship between the potential v e on the surface of the wall of the heart chamber and the surface char e (4) or dipole densities (5). (for a review see jackson jd. classical electrodynamics, 2 nd edition, wiley, new york 1975.) [00222] the boundary element method again provides a code for transforming the potential v e in formulas 4 and 5 into the desired surface charge densities and dipole densities, which can be recorded in the database. [00223] in another embodiment of the method, the electric potential(s) v e is (are) determined by contact mapping. in this case the steps for calculating the electric potential v e are not necessary, because the direct contact of the electrode to the wall of the heart chamber already provides the electric potential v e . [00224] in a preferred embodiment, the probe electrode comprises a shape that allows for calculating precisely the electric potential v e and, thus, simplifies the calculations for transforming v e into the desired charge or dipole densities. this preferred geometry of the electrode is essentially ellipsoidal or spherical. [00225] in order to employ the method for determining a database table of surface charge densities of at least one given heart chamber in the context of the '380 patent application, it was preferred to use a system comprising at least: a) one unit for measuring and recording electric potentials v at a given position p(x,y,z) on the surface of a given heart chamber (contact mapping) or a probe electrode positioned within the heart, but without direct wall contact (noncontact mapping) b) one a/d-converter for converting the measured electric potentials into digital data, c) one memory to save the measured and/or transformed data, and d) one processor unit for transforming the digital data into digital surface charge density or dipole density data. [00226] it is noted that numerous devices for localising and determining electric potentials of cardiac cells in a given heart chamber by invasive and non-invasive methods are well known in the art and have been employed by medical practitioners over many years. hence, the method, system, and devices of the '380 patent application did not require any particular new electrodes for implementing the best mode for practicing the invention. instead, the '380 patent application provided a new and advantageous processing of the available data that will allow for an increase in precision, accuracy and spatial resolution of cardiac activation mapping when compared to prior art systems based on electric surface potentials in the heart only. the systems and methods of the '380 patent application would also allow for providing superior diagnostic means for diagnosing cardiac arrhythmias and electric status of heart cells including metabolic and functional information. [00227] the present invention provides an improved device, system and method for calculating and visualizing the distribution and activity of dipole charge densities on a cardiac wall. the dipole densities are directly determined geometrically, avoiding the errors encountered using previous extrapolation algorithms. [00228] in one embodiment, the device of the present invention comprises multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters, a transducer, and a sensor. the device may be used to create a three dimensional database of dipole densities d(y) and distance measurements at the surface of one or more cardiac chambers of a patient. the distance measurements may include but are not limited to: the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and the heart wall, the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and the transducer and/or sensor, and the distance between the heart wall and the transducer and/or sensor. the distance measurements may be calculated by analyzing the sensor recorded angle and/or the sensor frequency changes. the device may also be configured to produce continuous, real time images of the tissue of a patient. examples of images may include, but are not limited to: one more cardiac chambers, a cardiac wall, the tissue proximate at least one of the multiple electrodes, at least one of the multiple electrodes, and combinations of these. the device may provide one or more of: tissue image information such as tissue position, tissue thickness (e.g. cardiac wall thickness) and tissue motion (e.g. cardiac wall motion) information; distance information such as distance between two tissue locations, distance between a tissue location and a device component location, and distance between two device component locations; tissue electrical activity information; status of ablation of a portion of tissue; and combinations of these. [00229] the present invention incorporates a transducer and a sensor, each preferably ultrasonic and contained in a single component. the transducer and sensor are configured to determine a non-contact measurement of the distance or presence of one or more targets such as tissue of a patient or a component of one or more catheters or other devices. information is produced by transmitting an ultrasound wave followed by measuring the time required for the sound echo to return to and be sensed by the sensor, thus determining the distance between all reflected surfaces and the sensor/transmitter. this additional information enables a more precise dipole density d(y) measurement. measurements may be taken to determine the thickness of an object, such as the thickness of cardiac tissue, which may be used to determine an ablation parameter such as power or time of energy delivery. [00230] utilizing the present invention, a method for diagnosing tissue is also disclosed. analyzing the information gathered from a catheter device, specifically the tissue movement and the tissue's electrical charge, a clinician is able to determine the health of the tissue. for example, if adequate tissue movement has been detected, and the tissue produces an electrical signal indicative of a healthy state, then the tissue is determined to be healthy. with the tissue diagnosis, a clinician may determine what type of treatment, e.g. ablation, is favorable to the patient. [00231] in accordance with the present invention, provided is a device that measures and calculates a database of dipole densities d(y) on the cardiac wall. the actual measured potentials in the heart result from electrical activity of cells, which can be regarded as dipoles. the dipoles consist of ion charges on both sides of biological membranes. the use of dipole densities offers a precise representation of the electrical activity. systems and methods in accordance with the present invention efficiently and effectively calculate the dipole densities utilizing one or more mathematical theorems. this calculation is significantly more precise than calculations of virtual potentials produced by current systems, which lose spatial precision because of the required numerical methods and the use of potentials instead of dipole densities. systems and methods in accordance with the present invention are efficient in calculating dipole densities geometrically, such as through the use of computer systems, or similar microcontroller and/or mathematical processing equipment. [00232] definitions. to facilitate an understanding of the invention, a number of terms are defined below. [00233] as used herein, the terms "subject" and "patient" refer to any animal, such as a mammal like livestock, pets, and preferably a human. specific examples of "subjects" and "patients" include, but are not limited to, individuals requiring medical assistance, and in particular, patients with an arrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation (af). [00234] as used herein, in the illustrative embodiments, the term "solid angle" is the two-dimensional angle subtended in the three dimensional space between a triangle on the heart wall and the position x of observation. when viewed from location x, straight lines are drawn from point x to the vertices of the triangle, and a sphere is constructed of radius r=l with center of x. the straight lines then define a triangular section on the surface of the unit sphere. the solid angle is equal to the surface area of that triangle. as used herein, in the illustrative embodiments, the term "dipole density" refers to a three dimensional table of density magnitudes and d(y) generally refers to three dimensional system or space. [00235] the methods and devices of the present invention have advantages over previous prior art devices. figs. 1-6 illustrate various preferred embodiments of devices, systems and methods in accordance with aspects of the present invention. however, the present invention is not limited to these particular configurations. [00236] referring now to fig. 1 , a schematic view of an embodiment of a device for determining a database table of dipole densities of at least one heart chamber of a patient is illustrated. device 100 includes a first receiver 1 10 configured to receive electrical potentials from a separate device, such as a device including a multi-electrode mapping catheter placed in the circulating blood within a chamber of the patient's heart. device 100 further includes a second receiver 120 configured to receive cardiac geometry information (e.g. the geometric contour of the cardiac chamber wall), such as from an instrument including, but not limited to: computed tomography; mri; ultrasound; a multi-electrode mapping catheter; and combinations of these. alternatively, a standard geometry can be loaded representing a model of the cardiac chamber. [00237] device 100 further comprises a third receiver 140 configured receive ultrasound information from ultrasound unit 240. ultrasound unit 240 comprises a transducer and sensor. in a preferred embodiment, the transducer comprises an ultrasound transducer configured to produce high frequency vibrations, i.e., ultrasound waves, in a pulsed or constant manner. typically, the ultrasound transducer produces sound waves having a wavelength of 5 - 15mhz. in some embodiments, the transducer and the sensor are a single component such as a piezo crystal configured to both transmit and sense ultrasound signals. [00238] in this embodiment, the sensor is preferably an ultrasound sensor configured to record or otherwise detect the emitted ultrasound waves from the ultrasound transducer. the sensor may be further configured to determine real-time continuous measurements of the position of at least one of the multiple electrodes and/or the sensor within the cardiac chamber. knowing the speed of sound in the particular environment, as well as the timing of the delivery of sound waves by the transducer, the distance between the sensor, transducer and one or more reflected surfaces can be calculated. [00239] in a typical embodiment, a piezo crystal transmits ultrasound waves and receives the reflections of those waves. as is well known to those of skill in the art, the timing between transmitting and receiving can be used to determine locations of the reflective surfaces such as tissue surfaces and device component surfaces. in one embodiment, precise locations and measurements of target cardiac tissue is determined, resulting in a more precise and effective therapy. the ultrasound crystal will transmit a signal that is reflected off of tissue surfaces, which can be used to determine the distance from the mapping electrode to the tissue. this distance will be fed into the software algorithm to aid in the calculation of electrical activity via dipole density or direct electrical signal analysis. [00240] by having the precise distance, the overall calculations will be very precise (frequency; it is approximately 3 megahertz and may be up to the 18 megahertz). the emitted waves may be at constant frequency or produced by a chip of changing frequency (to allow pulse compression on reception). the precision in dipole density calculations along with the distance measurement will allow for the precise detailing of the cardiac cells in the electrical activity and will allow for the precise identification of cell activity to identify which cells are the earliest sites of activation. in one embodiment, the sensor may be configured to automatically detect the distance from the sensor to the cardiac wall via a first reflection and detect the wall thickness via a second reflection. other distances measurements include, but are not limited to: the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and the heart wall, the distance between at least one of the multiple electrodes and the transducer and/or sensor, and the distance between the heart wall and the transducer and/or sensor. in another embodiment, the ultrasonic element integrates multiple reflections to construct a complete image including wall distance and thickness. in yet another embodiment, the ultrasonic element provides information relative to the positioning of the cardiac tissue and one or more electrodes, such as to localize an ablation and/or a mapping catheter including those one or more electrodes. [00241] in one embodiment, the sensor and/or transducer includes at least one crystal, typically comprised of a piezoelectric material, which is positioned proximate to the center of each electrode within an electrode array. in another embodiment, the crystal is positioned between two or more electrodes, such as to create a device with a ratio of mapping electrodes to crystals of 1 : 1 , 2:1, 5:2, 3:1 , 4: 1 or another ratio. the at least one crystal may be constructed and arranged to receive the signals transmitted by an ultrasound transducer, and/or the reflections of those signals. the at least one crystal may be in a fixed position or may be rotated via a rotating mechanism such as by a rotating shaft operably attached to the at least one ultrasound crystal. the rotation may be a full rotation, e.g. 360 ° , such that the full circumference of the cardiac chamber is measured. alternatively, the rotation of the at least one crystal may be partial. alternatively or additionally, one or more ultrasound crystals may be moved axially, such as in a reciprocating motion to produce an image of an increased length and/or to produce a 3-d reconstructed image. in another embodiment, the sensor and/or transducer comprise a plurality of crystals arranged in an array, for example, a circumferential array. [00242] in another embodiment, the ultrasound sensor and/or transducer may comprise a probe operably attached to the catheter and configured to vibrate one or more catheter components. in an alternate embodiment, the ultrasound sensor and/or transducer comprise a piezoelectric film covering each electrode within the array. in yet another embodiment, the ultrasound sensor and/or transducer comprise a piezoelectric cable operably connected to each electrode. [00243] the ultrasound sensor and/or transducer may be housed within a mechanical clamping assembly which may be attached to the shaft of a catheter, such as a mapping catheter or an ablation catheter. additionally, a particular clamping assembly with a particular ultrasound frequency may be used with a particular catheter, while a second clamping assembly with a second ultrasound frequency may be used with a second catheter. in another embodiment, the ultrasound sensor and/or transducer may be directly inserted into the mapping catheter. [00244] in yet another embodiment, the device may comprise a multiple arm assembly such that the sensor and/or transducer are mounted to the multiple arm assembly. additionally, at least one electrode may be mounted to the multiple arm assembly. in an alternate embodiment, the sensor and/or transducer may be constructed as part of the electrode. for example, the device may comprise a sensor/electrode combination. in another embodiment, the sensor and/or transducer may be constructed as a forward facing sensor and arranged to project a signal directly in line with an electrode to the tissue. in yet another embodiment, the sensor and/or transducer may be configured to be rotated such that the sensor and/or transducer is facing each electrode individually, and a signal may be emitted past each electrode. [00245] in some embodiments, the device is constructed and arranged to be steered such that the distal end of the device is positioned in approximately the geometric center of the heart chamber of a patient. in this embodiment, the catheter may be loaded into a delivery system, e.g., a delivery sheath and may be advanced from the delivery sheath such that the dipole density mapping system comprising the ultrasound sensor is located in the blood and the heart chamber. also in this embodiment, the delivery sheath may comprise a central lumen configured to slidingly receive an ablation catheter. this configuration of the device may allow a user to perform a diagnostic procedure with one device. additionally, only one trans-septal crossing may be necessary. in yet another embodiment, the device may be steerable. for example, a user may determine the ablation site via real-time tissue analysis and imaging, and subsequently the device may be steered to the desired location. steering of the device may be achieved via cables which may be housed in a lumen of a delivery sheath similar to the delivery sheath described above. [00246] device 100 further includes a dipole density module 130 which comprises mathematical processing element, such as a computer or other electronic module including software and/or hardware for performing mathematical or other calculations. dipole density module 130 receives mapping information from first receiver 110 and cardiac geometry information from second receiver 120. dipole density module 130 preferably uses one or more algorithms to process the received mapping and geometry information to produce a database table of dipole densities, e.g., a three dimensional database table of dipole densities. [00247] the geometrical model of the cardiac chamber is processed by dipole density module 130 into multiple small triangles (triangularization). when the triangles are sufficiently small, the dipole density at each triangle can be regarded as constant. in a preferred embodiment, a standard cardiac chamber of 4-6 cm diameter is divided up into over 1000 triangles. in another preferred embodiment, the number of triangles determined by dipole density module 130 is based on the size of the heart chamber. with the electrodes positioned in a cardiac chamber by a clinician, such as an electrophysiologist, the potentials at each electrode are recorded. each triangle is seen by the corresponding electrode under a certain solid angle. the dipole density module 130 computes the solid angle 6(x,y) subtended by each triangle at position y on each electrode at position x on the multi-electrode catheter. if the dipole density at the triangle is d(y), the triangle contributes c (x,y) times d(y) to the potential v(x) at the position x on the multi-electrode catheter. the total measured potential v(x) is the sum resulting from all the triangles. a detailed description is provided in reference to fig. 3 herebelow. [00248] in a preferred embodiment, dipole density module 130 implements a progressive algorithm that can be modified and/or refined in order to improve spatial and/or time resolution of the database of dipole densities that are produced. the dipole densities d(y) are obtained by solving a linear system of equations. this calculation requires some care to avoid numerical instabilities. thereby a map of dipole densities can be created at each corresponding time interval. the synthesis of the maps generates a cascade of the activation sequence of each corresponding heart beat that can be used to define the origin of the electrical activity, arrhythmias or diagnose cardiac disease. [00249] the measuring electrodes used in the present invention are placed in the blood flow in a heart chamber, a relatively homogeneous condition, such that the mathematical analysis of the present invention is well applicable. in a preferred embodiment, skin electrodes are also implemented such that dipole density module 130 can use the information received from the skin electrodes to calculate and/or recalculate the dipole densities for the cardiac wall. the spatial resolution which can be obtained by invasive (i.e., placed in the heart chamber) multi-electrode potential measurements is limited by the number of electrodes that can be placed in any cardiac chamber, such as the left atrium (la). skin placed electrodes, such as electrodes placed on the thorax, are not as space limited. however, due mainly to the inhomogeneous structure of the body, it is difficult to localize the actual sources of the skin electrode measured potentials. a highly complicated boundary value problem must be solved with boundary conditions that are poorly known, and previous attempts at determining the "action potential" from body surface ecg (alone) have not been very successful. [00250] the badly defined boundary value problem can be avoided by an additional measurement (in addition to the skin electrode measurements) of the multi-electrode array of the present invention. a small sinusoidal voltage v| is applied to each electrode 1=1 , . . . l on the electrode array in the heart, and the resulting voltages w k , k=l, . . . . k is measured at the surface electrodes. this yields the kxl transition matrix a ¾ [00251] calculating solid angles produces the linear transformation bi„ between the electrode array potentials v; and the dipole densities d n , n=l , . . . n of n regions of the heart wall: (7) n is chosen to be n=k+l where k is the number of surface electrodes and l is the number of internally placed array electrodes. substituting equation (7) into (6) we have: [00252] therefore, by simultaneous measuring of the potentials of the cardiac activity with all k+l electrodes, n=k+l dipole densities of n regions on the heart wall can be calculated. this method yields a higher spatial resolution than the l array electrodes alone. in the solution of the linear system of equations (7) + (8), regularization techniques must be used (e.g. tikhonov regularization and its modifications) in order to avoid numerical instabilities. [00253] referring now to fig. 2, an embodiment of a preferred method for determining a database table of dipole densities of at least one heart chamber of a patient is illustrated. in step 10, a multi-electrode array is placed within the corresponding heart chamber. in step 20, the geometry of the corresponding heart chamber may be obtained in relation to the multi- electrode array position via an ultrasound transducer and sensor, typically a single ultrasound crystal configured to both emit and record ultrasound signals. in addition to chamber geometry, magnitude and other properties of wall motion of cardiac wall tissue can be determined. for example, an ultrasound transducer positioned on a distal portion of the catheter is configured to transmit ultrasound waves to the wall of the cardiac chamber as well as to components of one or more devices within the cardiac chamber. in an alternative embodiment, an ultrasound transducer is attached to a proximal portion of a catheter shaft and configured to vibrate the shaft or one or more components mounted to the shaft, thus sending ultrasound waves to the wall of the cardiac chamber. one or more ultrasound sensors detect reflections of the transmitted ultrasound. in addition, the thickness of a patient's tissue as well as the motion of the tissue may be determined, such as to enable a clinician to determine what treatment, (e.g., what ablation parameters) is appropriate for a patient. a detailed description of one embodiment of the ultrasound transducer and sensor that can be utilized in this step is described in fig. 1 hereabove. alternatively or additionally, the geometry of the corresponding heart chamber is obtained in relation to the multi-electrode array position, such as by moving around a second mapping electrode or by importing a geometry model from an imaging study (e.g., using computed tomography, mri or ultrasound before or after the multi-electrode array of electrodes has been placed in the heart chamber). the surface of the geometry of the corresponding heart chamber is divided into small triangles, typically at least 1000 small triangles. [00254] in step 30, the dipole density d(y) can be calculated from the measured potential values and the calculated solid angles. the measurements can be repeated successively during the cardiac cycle giving a high time-resolution during each millisecond. the information of the timely dependent dipole densities can be depicted as an activation map of the corresponding heart chamber for the given heart beat. the information can be used to diagnose and/or treat a patient with a cardiac arrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation. [00255] in a preferred embodiment, the information is used to determine cardiac wall treatment locations for lesion creation, such as a lesion created in the left or right atrium, by an rf, ultrasound or cryogenic ablation catheter. in another preferred embodiment, the multiple electrode mapping array is placed in a ventricle and the dipole densities are determined for the ventricular wall, such as to detect ischemia or quantify myocardial function. [00256] in one embodiment, the device includes one or more catheters constructed and arranged to be steered such that the distal end of the catheter can be positioned in approximately the geometric center of the heart chamber of a patient. in this method, a mapping catheter may be loaded into a delivery system (e.g. a delivery sheath) and may be advanced from the delivery system such that the dipole density mapping system comprising an ultrasound sensor and transducer is located in the circulating blood of the heart chamber. [00257] referring now to fig. 3, an embodiment of a system for determining a database table of dipole densities of at least one heart chamber of a patient is illustrated. system 500 includes device 100, which is configured to create a database table of three dimensional dipole densities d(y) based on voltage potential measurements within the heart chamber and image information relating to the heart chamber, as has been described hereabove. system 500 further includes imaging unit 220, which is configured to provide a two or three-dimensional image of the heart chamber to device 100. imaging unit 220 may perform at least one of computed tomography, mri and/or ultrasound imaging. imaging unit 220 may produce any form of real or virtual models of the cardiac chambers, such that a triangularization analysis is possible. [00258] system 500 further includes mapping catheter 310, which includes shaft 31 1 , shown inserted into a chamber of a patient's heart, such as the left atrium (la). at the distal end of shaft 31 1 is an electrode array 315 including multiple electrodes 316. electrode array 315 is shown in a basket construction, comprising support arms 314, but numerous other constructions can be used including multiple independent arms, spiral arrays, electrode covered balloons, and other constructions configured to place multiple electrodes into a three- dimensional space. in a preferred embodiment, any catheter with a three-dimensional array of electrodes can be used to supply the mapping information to device 100. [00259] in this embodiment, electrodes 316 are connected to wires, not shown, but traveling proximally to cable 317, which is electrically connected to a mapping unit 210, such as an electrocardiogram (ecg) unit. mapping unit 210 includes a monitor for displaying information, such as the potentials recorded by electrodes 316, as well as the dipole density information produced by device 100. in an alternative embodiment, device 100 further includes a monitor, not shown, but configured to display one or more of: dipole density information; potentials recorded by electrodes 316; and cardiac chamber contours and other geometry information. in a preferred embodiment, dipole density and or recorded potentials information is shown in reference to a three-dimensional representation of the heart chamber into which catheter 310 is inserted. in an alternative embodiment, imaging unit 220 may include a device configured to create an image of the cardiac chamber from signals recorded from an electrode catheter, such as catheter 310. [00260] system 500 may include a device for treating a cardiac arrhythmia, such as ablation source 230, which is electrically attached to electrodes 316 via cable 318. alternatively or additionally, ablation source 230 can be attached to a different ablation catheter, such as a single or multiple ablation element catheter configured to deliver ablation energy such as rf energy, cryogenic energy, or other tissue disrupting energy. [00261] system 500 may further comprise ultrasound unit 240, which is operably connected to ultrasound sensor, crystal 340 via cable 319. unit 240 includes ultrasound transducer 341 , an operably attachable clamping assembly configured to be placed around the shaft of a catheter device and cause one or more components of the catheter device to transmit ultrasound waves, such as waves configured to reflect off one or more structures and be recorded by crystal 340. unit 240 processes the measurement data obtained by crystal 340 (i.e. the reflections recorded by crystal 340) and forwards the data to device 100. measurement data may include the position of crystal 340 relative to the cardiac chamber and the electrodes 316, as has been described in detail in reference to fig. 1 hereabove. [00262] as shown in fig. 3, triangle tl , defined by device 100 is at location y. electrode 316a of catheter 310 is at location x. the geometric relationship between triangle tl and location x is defined by the solid angle, angle ώ(χ,υ). device 100 includes dipole density module 130, as shown in fig. 1 , such that each triangle at location y contributes c (x,y) times the dipole density d(y) to the potential v(x) at the position x on a multi- electrode. solid angle co(x,y), as defined above, corresponds to the triangle at a location y and the electrode at positions x on the multi-electrode array. the dipole density module 130, as shown in fig. 1 , of device 100 determines from the total measured potential v(x), which is the sum resulting from all the triangles defined by device 100, the desired dipole density d(y). [00263] when sufficient potentials values v(x) are measured (e.g. from 10 to 10,000 with increasing number of measured potentials providing more accurate results), the dipole density d(y) at many equally distributed regions y on the cardiac wall is calculated by solving a linear equation system. by interpolation of the measured potentials (e.g. with help of splines) their number can be increased to a higher number of regions. the solid angle c (x,y) of a region is the sum of the solid angles of the individual triangles in the region on the cardiac wall. this calculation of dipole density results, such as via an automatic computer program forming at least part of dipole density module 130, as shown in fig. 1. [00264] in a preferred embodiment, the results are presented in a visual, anatomical format, such as depicting the dipole densities on a geometric image of the cardiac wall in relation to time (t). this format allows a clinician, such as an electrophysiologist, to determine the activation sequence, or other electrical and mechanical measures, on the cardiac wall, such as to determine treatment locations for a cardiac arrhythmia or other inadequacy in cardiac tissue health, such as force of tissue contraction and motion of the chamber wall. the results may be shown on a display of mapping unit 210, or on a separate unit such as a display included with device 100, display not shown but preferably a color monitor. in a preferred embodiment, the device of the present invention is implemented as, or includes, a software program that is executable by at least one processor. the software program can be integrated into one or more of: an ecg system; a cardiac tissue ablation system; an imaging system; a computer; and combinations of these. [00265] in a preferred embodiment, the multi-electrode catheter includes at least ten electrodes, configured to represent a three dimensional body with known geometry. the electrodes are preferably positioned in a spherical geometry, such as a spherical geometry created in a basket catheter, comprising support arms 314. elliptical electrode array geometries may be used, such as those provided in the ensite array catheter, manufactured by st. jude medical of st. paul minn. in an alternative embodiment, multiple catheters are inserted into the heart chamber to provide the multiple electrodes. [00266] in an alternative embodiment, the electrodes of the multi-electrode mapping array are repositioned during the method of determining dipole densities. repositioning of electrodes can be beneficial to increase the number of measured potential values, if electrode positions are known. therefore, repositioning is in concordance with adjustment of the geometry map in relation to the multi-electrode mapping catheter. [00267] referring now to fig. 4, a side view of a catheter comprising an ultrasound sensor configured to determine real-time continuous measurements of the position of the catheter within a cardiac chamber is illustrated. catheter 310 comprises shaft 311 and array 315 positioned on the distal end of shaft 311. array 315 comprises multiple support arms 314 which include one or more electrodes 316 and one or more sensors, ultrasound crystal 340. each crystal 340 may be positioned on electrode 316, on a support arm of array 315, or at another catheter 310 location. in a preferred embodiment, crystal 340 is located between two electrodes 316 as shown, or in a center portion a single electrode 316. [00268] ultrasound crystal 340 is configured to detect ultrasound waves, such as ultrasound waves produced by ultrasound emitter 341 , preferably a removable clamping assembly including emitter 341 and clamped to shaft 31 1 of mapping catheter 310 as is described in detail in reference to fig. 5 herebelow. emitter 341 is configured to produce high frequency vibrations, i.e. ultrasound waves in a pulsed or constant manner. one or more sound emitting devices, such as devices configured to clamp to one or more catheters, may be used to transmit sound to one or more crystals 340. in one embodiment, a first clamping assembly with a particular ultrasound frequency may be used with a first catheter, while a second clamping assembly with a second ultrasound frequency may be used with a second catheter. in another embodiment, ultrasound sensor 340 is positioned on a second elongate shaft, not shown but configured to be inserted into mapping catheter 310, such as through one or more lumens, not shown, of mapping catheter 310. in a preferred embodiment, one or more crystals 340 may be configured to both record and transmit ultrasound waves, such as to avoid the need for emitter 341. crystals 340 and electrodes 316 may be provided in various ratios, such as a ratio of two electrodes to one ultrasound crystal, such as when each ultrasound crystal 340 has an electrode 316 positioned at each end. in another embodiment, a ratio of five electrodes 316 to two crystals 340 is provided, such as a catheter shaft including sets of two assemblies with a single electrode 316 positioned in between. each assembly includes an ultrasound crystal 340 with an electrode 316 positioned at each end. [00269] in an alternate embodiment, a drive shaft 320 is operably connected to a rotation mechanism, not shown but configured to rotate shaft 320 causing one or more crystals 340 to rotate within electrode 316 or another portion of catheter 310. as described in reference to fig. 1 hereabove, crystal 340 may rotate a full 360° or may rotate through an arc less than 360°. alternatively, catheter 310 may comprise a plurality of crystals 340 arranged in an array, for example, a circumferential array surrounding shaft 311, one or more electrodes 316 and/or a support arm 314 of array 315, such as a phased array of crystals configured to produce a 360° ultrasound image, well known to those of skill in the art. [00270] in another embodiment, ultrasound sensor 340 comprises a probe, not shown, but typically a probe removably attached to or inserted within catheter 310. in an alternate embodiment, ultrasound sensor 340 comprises a piezoelectric film, not shown but typically covering one or more electrodes 316 within array 315. in yet another embodiment, ultrasound sensor 340 comprises a piezoelectric cable, not shown but operably connected to one or more electrodes 316. [00271] referring now to fig. 5, a side view of a system including a mapping catheter comprising a sensor and an ablation catheter comprising a transducer is illustrated. system 500 comprises mapping catheter 310 and ablation catheter 400. mapping catheter 310 comprises shaft 31 1 including array 315 on its distal end. array 315 includes one or more electrodes 316 mounted to one or more arms 314, each electrode configured to record cellular activity in tissue. array 315 further includes one or more ultrasound emitting crystals 340, each positioned between two electrodes 316. crystals 340 may be configured to both record and transmit ultrasound waves. [00272] ablation catheter 400 comprises shaft 401 , having a proximal portion with a proximal end and a distal portion with a distal end, and clamping assembly 410. clamping assembly 410 is shown positioned on shaft 401 proximate handle 402, i.e. the proximal portion of shaft 401 , such as at a location 10cm from the proximal end of shaft 401. clamping assembly 410 comprises ultrasound transducer 412 and clamping mechanism 41 1 configured to removably attach clamping assembly 410 to shaft 401 of catheter 400. additionally, ablation catheter 400 comprises multiple ablation elements, electrodes 420, located on the distal end of shaft 401 and configured to deliver ablation energy (e.g. rf energy) and also to receive the ultrasound vibrations produced by clamping assembly 410 and ultrasound transducer 412. in turn, electrodes 420, and one or more other components of ablation catheter 400, emit ultrasounds waves. the emitted ultrasound waves are received by ultrasound crystals 340 of catheter 310, and can be used to produce position information relative to one or more components of ablation catheter 400 and/or mapping catheter 310. clamping assembly 410 is configured to produce high frequency vibrations, i.e. ultrasound waves in a pulsed or constant manner, typically with a frequency between 5 and 18 mhz. in another embodiment, ablation catheter 400 may include a conduit, not shown but typically a solid or hollow tube configured to transmit the ultrasound waves from the proximal portion to the distal portion of ablation catheter 400. [00273] in an alternate embodiment, one or more support arms, not shown, may be attached to ablation catheter 400 (e.g. similar to the support arms 314 of array 315 of catheter 310), and electrodes 420 may be located on the one or more support arms. the support arms may be radially distributed about ablation catheter 400 and may comprise various geometric shapes, e.g. circular or rectangular. in this embodiment, clamping assembly 410 may be constructed and arranged to vibrate the one or more support arms, in turn vibrating the one or more electrodes, thus transmitting ultrasound waves to sensors 340. in another embodiment, electrodes 420 may be configured to record electrical activity in cells as well as deliver ablation energy. [00274] in one embodiment, catheter 400 may further include one or more sensors, not shown but typically including one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of: a temperature sensor, such as a thermocouple; a pressure sensor; an acoustic sensor, such as an ultrasound crystal; an electromagnetic sensor, such as an electrode configured to record electrical information produced by living cells; and combinations of these. clamping assembly 410 may be constructed to transmit vibrations to the one or more sensors such that ultrasound waves transmitted by the one or more sensors can be detected by crystals 340 of catheter 310 and/or another sensor of the system, such that geometric and other position information can be determined and utilized by a clinician to perform a medical procedure. [00275] alternatively or additionally, catheter 400 may further include one or more transducers, not shown but typically including one or more transducers selected from the group consisting of: an ablation element such as an energy delivering electrode, a cryogenic transducer, a microwave transducer and/or a laser delivery element; a sound transducer, such as an ultrasound crystal; a heating element; a cooling element; a drug delivery device; and combinations of these. clamping assembly 410 may be constructed to transmit vibrations to the one or more transducers such that ultrasound waves transmitted by the one or more transducers can be detected by crystals 340 of catheter 310 and/or another sensor of the system, such that geometric and other position information can be determined and utilized by a clinician to perform a medical procedure. [00276] clamping assembly 410 may be attached to any ablation catheter, eliminating the need for a customized catheter. as discussed hereabove, clamping assembly 410 is constructed and arranged to vibrate one or more components of a catheter, such as a sensor or transducer of the catheter, such that one or more sensors, typically ultrasound sensors, can identify the location of the sensors or transducers vibrated by the clamping assembly. in one embodiment, a first clamping assembly with a particular ultrasound frequency may be used with a first ablation catheter, while a second clamping assembly with a second ultrasound frequency may be used with the same ablation catheter. alternatively or additionally, electrodes 420 may include a piezo crystal or otherwise be configured to transmit ultrasound waves that can be received by crystals 340 of catheter 310. [00277] referring now to fig. 6, a flow chart of an embodiment of a method for diagnosing the tissue of a patient is illustrated. in step 50, the distal end of an electrode catheter is placed into one or more body locations, such as one or more cardiac chambers of a patient. the electrode catheter comprises at least one electrode and at least one ultrasound element. the electrode catheter includes one or more electrodes positioned on a distal portion of the catheter and configured to record electrical activity in tissue and/or deliver ablation energy. in step 60, anatomical information, such as tissue location, tissue movement, tissue thickness and/or tissue contour information may be determined via the at least one ultrasound element, typically an element configured to transmit and receive ultrasound waves. alternatively or additionally, position and/or distance information can be recorded, such as position and/or distance information relative to one or more device components and/or tissue locations. in step 70, the electrical charge of one or more tissue locations may be determined via the at least one electrode. steps 60 and 70 may be performed simultaneously or sequentially, in full or partial steps, and in any order. either or both steps 60 and 70 may be performed in two or more independent time periods. in step 80, an analysis of the ultrasound reflections recorded and the electrical charge information is performed. this analysis includes producing a diagnosis and/or prognosis of the tissue portion. for example, electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of the adequacy of tissue motion may correlate to presence of healthy tissue. [00278] for example, electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of adequate tissue motion correlates to presence of healthy tissue. additionally, electrical information indicative of adequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of at least one of ischemic tissue or hibernating tissue. conversely, electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of scar tissue. additionally, electrical information indicative of inadequate electrical activity and anatomical information indicative of inadequate tissue motion correlates to presence of a complete ablation, such as an ablation performed in a cardiac ablation performed to treat a cardiac arrhythmia. in some embodiments, the complete ablation comprises a transmural ablation. in this use, the diagnosis and/or prognosis can include the confirmation of the creation of a transmural lesion in the patient's heart tissue, such as when both tissue motion and electrical activity have been eliminated or decreased below a threshold. [00279] more specifically, the following four cases may exist: case 1 : electrical and anatomical are adequate - tissue is healthy, case 2: electrical is adequate and anatomical is inadequate - tissue is compromised, case 3: electrical is inadequate and anatomical is adequate - tissue is compromised, and case 4: electrical and anatomical are both inadequate - tissue necrosis. [00280] the actual threshold for determining adequacy of electrical function of any one area of the heart is dependent upon many factors, including the degree of coordination of the activation pattern and the mass of the cells being activated. additionally, this threshold will be different for each chamber of the heart as well as from smaller to larger patients. for example, a threshold of 0.5 mv may be appropriate, wherein an electrical potential smaller that 0.5mv may be indicative of inadequate electrical function and an electrical potential at or larger than 0.5mv may be indicative of adequate electrical function. [00281] also included in the tissue diagnostic, a clinician may assess the electrical integrity of cardiac cells. for example, the functional status of the cardiac cells may be assessed. in one embodiment, the electrical information comprises dipole density information. additionally or alternatively, the electrical information may comprise at least one of repolarization or speed of repolarization information. [00282] the method may further comprise ablating the cardiac tissue based upon the tissue diagnosis. for example, the anatomical information comprising tissue thickness information and at least one of the magnitude of ablation energy or the time period in which ablation energy is delivered, is adjusted based on the tissue thickness information recorded by one or more ultrasound sensors. [00283] other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the embodiments disclosed herein. it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. in addition, where this application has listed the steps of a method or procedure in a specific order, it may be possible, or even expedient in certain circumstances, to change the order in which some steps are performed, and it is intended that the particular steps of the method or procedure claims set forth herebelow not be construed as being order-specific unless such order specificity is expressly stated in the claim.
|
026-788-298-370-346
|
DE
|
[
"US",
"DE",
"KR",
"JP"
] |
G21K1/10,A61B6/00,A61B6/10,G03B42/02,G21K1/02
| 1999-05-03T00:00:00 |
1999
|
[
"G21",
"A61",
"G03"
] |
scattered-ray grid, particularly for a medical x-ray device, and a method of determining the position of the absorption elements of a scattered-ray grid
|
a scattered-ray grid has a carrier with absorption elements arranged thereon in spaced rows which proceed essentially spoke-like relative to a grid center. except for one or more rows which originate at the grid center, the individual rows of the scattered-ray grid, or of substantially identical grid sectors of the scattered-ray grid each originate from respectively different radii. the origin of each row is situated in an angle section, which is determined on the basis of at least two points lying on a circle, or an arc of circle, with a predetermined radius and which is divided in a predefined ratio for determining the position of the origin. the predetermined radius is incremented in a stepwise manner to define respective origins for all of the rows.
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1. in a scattered-ray grid having a carrier on which a plurality of radiation absorption elements are disposed in a plurality of rows, said grid having a grid center and each of said rows having an origin and radiating spoke-like away from said grid center, the improvement comprising: at least one of said rows having an origin at said grid center; and the respective origins of rows, other than said at least one row originating at said grid center, being disposed at intersections of respective radial lines with at least an arc of respective circles of predetermined radii relative to said grid center, each of said radial lines dividing an angle section between two adjacent rows by a predetermined ratio. 2. the improvement of claim 1 wherein only one of said rows originates at said grid center, and all other rows in said plurality of rows have respective origins at different radii relative to said grid center. 3. the improvement of claim 1 wherein each of said radial lines divides an angle section between two adjacent rows by a predetermined ratio p:q, with p.noteq.q. 4. in a scattered-ray grid having a carrier on which a plurality of radiation absorption elements are disposed in a plurality of rows, said grid having a grid center and each of said rows having an origin and radiating spoke-like away from said grid center, the improvement comprising: said grid being divided into a plurality of identical grid sectors; in each of said grid sectors, at least one of said rows having an origin at said grid center; and in each of said grid sectors, the respective origins of rows, other than said at least one row originating at said grid center, being disposed at intersections of respective radial lines with at least an arc of respective circles of predetermined radii relative to said grid center, each of said radial lines dividing an angle section between two adjacent rows by a predetermined ratio. 5. the improvement of claim 4 wherein, in each of said grid sectors, only one of said rows originates at said grid center, and all other rows in each of said sectors have respective origins at different radii relative to said grid center. 6. the improvement of claim 4 wherein each of said radial lines divides an angle section between two adjacent rows by a predetermined ratio p:q, with p.noteq.q. 7. in a scattered-ray grid having a carrier on which a plurality of radiation absorption elements are disposed in a plurality of rows, said grid having a grid center and each of said rows having an origin and radiating spoke-like away from said grid center, a method for determining placement of the respective origins of said rows on said carrier comprising the steps of: originating at least one of said rows at said grid center; and placing the respective origins of rows, other than said at least one row originating at said grid center, at intersections of respective radial lines with at least an arc of respective circles of predetermined radii relative to said grid center, each of said radial lines dividing an angle section between two adjacent rows by a predetermined ratio. 8. a method as claimed in claim 7 comprising originating only one of said rows at said grid center, and placing the respective origins of all rows, other than said one row originating at said grid center, at different radii relative to said grid center. 9. a method as claimed in claim 8 comprising determining said different radii by starting with a predetermined origin radius and incrementing said predetermined origin radius in successive equal increments. 10. a method as claimed in claim 9 comprising: (a) starting with a single row originating at said grid center and dividing an angle of 360.degree. defined by said single row originating at said grid center by a radial line at said predetermined ratio, and placing the origin of a next row at an intersection between said radial line and a circle having said predetermined origin radius; (b) identifying a largest angle section between said next row and said radial line and dividing said largest angle section with a new radial line at said predetermined ratio and incrementing a radius of said circle having said predetermined origin radius by said increment to obtain a new circle and placing the origin of a next row at an intersection of said new line and said new circle; and (c) repeating step (b) a selected number of times for successive new radial lines and with successive increments of said new circle by said equal increments. 11. a method as claimed in claim 7 comprising: (a) starting with a circle of a predetermined origin radius and originating two of said rows at said grid center, said two rows intersecting said circle having said predetermined origin radius respectively at two points and defining an angle section therebetween; (b) dividing said angle section with a line at said predetermined ratio and originating a next row at an intersection of said line and said circle having said predetermined origin radius, and thereby defining a largest remaining angle section between adjacent rows; (c) incrementing said circle having said predetermined origin radius by an increment to obtain a new circle and dividing said largest angle section with a new line at said predetermined ratio and originating a next row at an intersection of said new line and said new circle, and thereby defining a new largest angle section between adjacent rows; and (d) repeating step (c) for successive equal increments of said new circle by said increment. 12. a method as claimed in claim 11, comprising determining each new angle section by the steps of: identifying said new angle section as an angle section having a largest sum of said angle section plus an additional angle value, and determining said additional angle value by weighting, with a predetermined weighting factor or, angular spacings from the adjacent rows of said angle section respectively to adjacent rows on opposite sides of said angle section. 13. a method as claimed in claim 12 comprising using a value for said weighting factor which is less than 1. 14. a method as claimed in claim 7 comprising using a ratio p:q as said predetermined ratio, with p.noteq.q. 15. in a scattered-ray grid having a carrier on which a plurality of radiation absorption elements are disposed in a plurality of rows, said grid having a grid center and each of said rows having an origin and radiating spoke-like away from said grid center, a method for determining placement of the respective origins of said rows on said carrier comprising the steps of: dividing said grid into a plurality of identical grid sectors in each of said grid sectors, originating at least one of said rows at said grid center; and in each of said grid sectors, placing the respective origins of rows, other than said at least one row originating at said grid center, intersections of respective radial lines with at least an arc of respective circles of predetermined radii relative to said grid center, each of said lines dividing an angle section between two adjacent rows by a predetermined ratio. 16. a method as claimed in claim 15 comprising in each of said grid sectors, originating only one of said rows at said grid center, and placing the respective origins of all rows in each of said grid sectors, other than said one row originating at said grid center, at different radii relative to said grid center. 17. a method as claimed in claim 16 comprising determining said different radii by starting with a predetermined origin radius and incrementing said predetermined origin radius in successive equal increments. 18. a method as claimed in claim 17 comprising: (a) starting with a single row originating at said grid center and dividing an angle of 360.degree. defined by said single row originating at said grid center by a radial line at said predetermined ratio, and placing the origin of a next row at an intersection between said radial line and a circle having said predetermined origin radius; (b) identifying a largest angle section between said next row and said radial line and dividing said largest angle section with a new radial line at said predetermined ratio and incrementing a radius of said circle having said predetermined origin radius by said increment to obtain a new circle and placing the origin of a next row at an intersection of said new line and said new circle; and (c) repeating step (b) a selected number of times for successive new radial lines and with successive increments of said new circle by said equal increments. 19. a method as claimed in claim 15 comprising: (a) starting with a circle of a predetermined origin radius and originating two of said rows at said grid center, said two rows intersecting said circle having said predetermined origin radius respectively at two points and defining an angle section therebetween; (b) dividing said angle section with a line at said predetermined ratio and originating a next row at an intersection of said line and said circle having said predetermined origin radius, and thereby defining a largest remaining angle section between adjacent rows; (c) incrementing said circle having said predetermined origin radius by an increment to obtain a new circle and dividing said largest angle section with a new line at said predetermined ratio and originating a next row at an intersection of said new line and said new circle, and thereby defining a new largest angle section between adjacent rows; and (d) repeating step (c) for successive equal increments of said new circle by said increment. 20. a method as claimed in claim 19, comprising determining each new angle section by the steps of: identifying said new angle section as an angle section having a largest sum of said angle section plus an additional angle value, and determining said additional angle value by weighting, with a predetermined weighting factor, angular spacings from the adjacent rows of said angle section respectively to adjacent rows on opposite sides of said angle section. 21. a method as claimed in claim 20 comprising using a value for said weighting factor which is less than 1. 22. a method as claimed in claim 15 comprising using a ratio p:q as said predetermined ratio, with p.noteq.q.
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background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to a scattered-ray grid, particularly for a medical x-ray device, of the type having a carrier with absorption elements, particularly in the form of lead elements, which are arranged in spaced rows, as well as to a method for determining the position of the absorption elements in a scattered-ray grid. 2. description of the prior art in radiographic technology, particularly medical diagnostics, scattered-ray grids are frequently utilized to attenuate the scattered radiation which is always present with the primary radiation. the grids that are currently used most are composed of a sequence of line-like radiation absorption elements in the form of lead lamellae, which, alternately, are coated with lamellae made of a base material. x-rays that are incident in the plane of the lamellae are only insignificantly attenuated by the base material. by contrast, the lead lamellae highly absorb radiation that is obliquely incident. since such lead lamellae generate unavoidable lines on the radiograph and since the number of lines per centimeter is limited due to manufacturing reasons, it has been suggested to use pins made of lead or another absorption material arranged in rows, the pins being spaced apart, instead of using lead lamellae in a silicon base material. such scattered-ray grids are known from the german os 197 26 846 and os 197 29 596, for example. german os 197 26 846 describes a configuration concerning the arrangement of the pins (and thus of the rows), wherein the rows extend to the center of the grid in a spoke-like manner. in this arrangement, many rows start at the same radius. the density of the absorption elements (seen in the radial direction) considerably varies as a result and grey tone discontinuities also occur, and the row spaces (seen in the tangential direction) significantly vary as well. this has a disadvantageous effect on the entire absorption behavior of the grid and therefore on the image quality. summary of the invention an object of the present invention is to provide a scattered-ray grid, which is improved compared to known scattered-ray grids with respect to the arrangement of the absorption element rows. this object is achieved in accordance with the invention in a scattered-ray grid of the type described above wherein, inventively, the rows extend essentially radially from a center region and wherein, apart from one or more rows starting in the center point, the individual, identically structured rows of the scattered-ray grid or of the grid sectors of the scattered-ray grid proceed from starting points at respectively different radii, and wherein the origin (starting point) of each row is situated in an angle section, the angle section being determined by two points lying on a circle (or arc thereof) with a predetermined radius and which is divided in a predefined ratio for determining the position of the origin. the predetermined radius is incremented in a stepped manner to define the respective origins for all of the rows. in the inventive scattered-ray grid, the origins of the lines, which all extend in the direction of the grid center, therefore produce an asterisk-shaped configuration, the lines respectively starting at different radii with respect to the grid center, so that a scattered-ray grid results which is significantly more homogenous and radial. in one embodiment, only one row in the entire grid can have its origin at any given radius. alternatively, the grid configuration can be sector dependent i.e. the entire grid surface is composed of a number of angle sectors, for example, four sectors each of 90.degree., with the row configuration being essentially identical in every sector, i.e. it annularly periodically repeats. in this case, a number of rows would therefore have their origins at every selected radius, but only a single row has its origin at a given radius in every sector. the position of the origin is determined on the basis of an angle section, which is determined on the basis of specific points situated at a predetermined radius. this angle section is divided in a predefined ratio p:q, is preferably with p.noteq.q. as described, an inventive scattered-ray grid can be configured by determining the row arrangement such that only one row has its origin at a circle with a fixed radius. in this case, a first row that starts at the grid center is taken as a starting basis, which represents the iteration basis. then, the first angle section, which is to be divided in the ratio p:q, is determined on the basis of this row. in this case, the two points are defined by the first row itself, the angle section is full 360.degree. in this case. now, this angle section is divided according to the predefined ratio for determining the position of the origin of the second row, so that the angle position of the origin of the second row is fixed at the relevant radius. then, the position of the third row and of every further row is determined on the basis of the largest angle section, which exists between two rows that intersect the relevant circle or circle arc. the new origin is always placed in the largest angle section. alternatively, for a sector-by-sector row configuration, at least two rows that start in the center are used as a starting basis, by means of which rows the grid is divided into the sectors, and the origin of every further row is placed between two rows that start closer to the center, these rows defining the aforementioned points on the predetermined circle and therefore the angle section and exhibit the largest possible angular spacing of all row pairs. therefore, the origin of a new row always lies between two rows which originate closer to the center than the origin of the new row, these two rows being the rows which are spaced furthest from one another. spiral-shaped density variations, even though slight may arise given the determination criterion of the angle section which is to be divided on the basis of the intervening angular space of the respective row pairs. this can be avoided in an embodiment of the invention wherein the row origins are determined starting with two rows that originate at the grid center, and the origin of the next row is placed between the row pair which has a maximum sum of the angular spacing between the rows and an additional angle value, this sum being allocated to the angle section. in this embodiment, the angle section to be divided in the ratio p:q is therefore not only determined on the basis of the actual angular spacing between the row pair, but is determined on the basis of the sum of the actual angular spacing between the row pair and an additional angle value. this additional angle value is determined by weighting, with a defined weighting factor, the respective angular spacings, on opposite sides of the adjacent row pair, between the adjacent row pair and the closest row thereto. for example, the sum of these two angular spacings (one from each side of the adjacent row pair) can be multiplied with the predefined factor, which can be <1 according to the invention, and this value can then be added with the angular spacing between the two adjacent rows. then, the angle section, at which the largest of said sums is allocated, is divided corresponding to the predefined ratio. an even more homogenous distribution of rows results. apart from the scattered-ray grid itself, the invention also relates to a method for determining the position of the absorption elements of a scattered-ray grid, which are arranged in rows and which extend essentially radially relative to a center. apart from one or more rows that start at the grid center, the origin of each row of the scattered-ray grid, or of a grid sector of the scattered-ray grid, is placed in an angle section, which is determined on the basis of two points lying on the circle or arc of circle with the origin radius r.sub.0 +n.delta.r and which is divided for purposes of determining the position of the origin in a predefined ratio. beginning with a single row that originates in the grid center as a basis, the angle section can be determined in an iterative fashion, the angle section being 360.degree. in this initial case and being defined as the start point as well as the end point by the first row. after this angle section has been divided, the origin of the second row is placed at the angle point deriving therefrom. for determining the origin of the third row, the row pair between which the largest angle section lies no matter how it is determined--is searched between the rows that are already present and is correspondingly divided. the iterative method is continued until a maximal radius is reached. in an alternative embodiment of the inventive method at least two rows that both originate at the grid center are used as a starting basis. the angle space between two adjacent rows, which rows intersect the circle or arc of circle with the predetermined radius and which define the points, is determined for determining the angle section, the angle section among all row pairs being selected that exhibits the largest angular spacing. therefore, the angle section is immediately determined from the angular spacing in this alternative. for improving the homogeneity of the row density, the angle section is selected in each iteration that has the highest sum of the angular spacing between two adjacent rows, which intersect the origin radius and which define the points, and an additional angle value. this additional angle value is obtained by weighting the respective angular spacings to the rows on opposite sides of the aforementioned adjacent rows. the predefined factor can be <1 the ratio p:q, in which the respective angle section is divided, is preferably .noteq.1. although the row configuration and the position of the rows can be iteratively determined (as described) for the entire scattered-ray grid by taking one single row that starts in the center as a basis, it has proven to be expedient to determine the position of the one row is only in one grid sector of the scattered-ray grid, which is composed of a number of grid sectors of equal size, and to "image" this row in the other grid sectors. the grid sectors are defined by means of the rows extending through the grid center. description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a basic view of an inventive scattered-ray grid with a row arrangement, that is composed of a number of grid sectors that are essentially identically configured. fig. 2 is an enlarged section of the grid sector 1 of fig. 1 for illustrating the determination of the position of a row origin according to a first embodiment of the inventive method. fig. 3 is an enlarged section of the grid sector 1 of fig. 1 for illustrating the determination of the position of a row origin according to a second embodiment of the inventive method. description of the preferred embodiments in the form of a basic diagram, fig. 1 shows a plan view of an inventive scattered-ray grid 1. the grid 1 is composed of a silicon carrier 2 and of a number of rows 3 of pin-shaped absorption elements 4 made of lead, which are introduced in holes that are etched into the carrier 2. only a few of the absorption elements 4 are specifically shown; it will be understood that each row 3 is composed of a number of such elements. the etching process ensues by means of an etching mask, which can be produced by means of a photo technique with which the configuration of the row arrangement can be fixed in a simple way. the scattered-ray grid 1 can be divided into a number of grid sectors, such as six individual grid sectors i-vi, the configuration of the rows 3 being the same in all six grid sectors. for clarity, the row arrangement is only indicated in sector i. apart from the rows 3a that respectively extend through the center z and that border the sectors, the rows 3 start at respectively different radii and are directed toward the center z, as can be seen from fig. 1. fig. 2 shows a portion of fig. 1. the determination of the position of the origin of every row is shown in fig. 2. every row radially proceeds to the periphery of the carrier 2 and has its origin in the space r.sub.0 +n.delta.r from the center z. therefore, .delta.r, as a radial increment, determines the density of the rows; the start radius r.sub.0 optimizes the density of the rows in the center. n is an integer. a relevant space r.sub.0 +n.delta.r is shown in fig. 2 as an example. a location is now to be selected within this space, at which the origin of the (next) row 3.sub.n is to be placed. the largest angular spacing between all existing adjacent rows, which intersect the circle or arc of circle with the origin radius, namely the space r.sub.0 +n.delta.r, is searched for this purpose. in the example, the two rows 3b are spaced from one another around the largest angle a. this angular spacing now determines the angle section, which is to be divided in a predefined ratio p:q, so that the exact position of the origin u of the new row 3.sub.n between the two rows 3b results therefrom. p and q can be rational numbers or irrational numbers. the best distribution results for p.noteq.q. in the described way, the position of each new row is determined in iterative fashion by taking the two rows 3a that start (originate) in the grid center as a basis. the described iteration condition generates an extremely homogenous radial row pattern, but it can nevertheless exhibit spiral-shaped density variations although they are almost negligible. in order to substantially avoid such density variations, a different version of the iterative method is provided, which is explained in detail in fig. 3. in this version, for determining the position of the new row 3n, the angular spacing is also determined for each row pair that intersects the circle or arc of circle with the origin radius r.sub.0 +n.delta.r, as described with respect to fig. 2. subsequently, the angular spacings to the two rows respectively on opposite sides of the adjacent rows are determined. in the shown example, these are the angle spaces b and c respectively between the two pairs of rows 3b and 3c. the sum s=a+f (b+c) is formed on the basis of the angle spacings a, b, c, with the sum of the two angle spacings b and c being weighted with a predefined factor f, which is <1, within the sum s. the largest sum s is now selected from the cumulative values determined for each row pair at the relevant radius, and the angle section associated with this largest sub s is divided in the given ratio p:q. the width of a row is dependent on the diameter of the pin-shaped absorption elements 4 and is in the range of a few .mu.m; the start radius r.sub.0 is 30 .mu.m, for example; the individual radius step or increment .delta.r is 100 .mu.m, for example. in addition n is element of the natural numbers including zero. the described iterative algorithms make it possible to determine the position of the rows in a simple way, so that highly homogenous scattered-ray grids can be generated. although modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art, it is the intention of the inventors to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of their contribution to the art.
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027-270-674-678-863
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US
|
[
"US"
] |
F01M11/04,F16N31/00
| 1996-11-08T00:00:00 |
1996
|
[
"F01",
"F16"
] |
apparatus and method for changing fluid in a motor vehicle
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a fluid channeling device to facilitate the draining of fluid from a fluid reservoir in a motor vehicle. the device may be attached to the vehicle so that it remains generally fixed, or the device may be temporarily attached to the vehicle for use while changing the fluid in the vehicle. the device is generally positioned below or in proximity to where the drained fluid will originate so that the device collects and channels fluid flowing from the point of origin. the device also includes an elongated throat section so that a hose may be attached to the device to further facilitate channeling the drained fluid.
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1. a fluid channeling device for receiving fluid draining from a fluid bearing system on a vehicle, comprising: a mouth formed in a shape of a generally closed surface having an open, wide end and an open, narrow end, the open wide end being positioned in proximity to at least one of an inlet and an outlet of the fluid system, wherein the at least one of the inlet and outlet enable fluid flow through a fluid filter, and the mouth includes a side wall adapted to curve about a portion of the filter to enable connection of the filter to the vehicle and said wide end is adapted to extend outwardly from the vehicle along the length of the filter; a throat having first and second open ends, one of the first and second open ends connecting to the open, narrow end of the mouth so that fluid passes from the mouth and through the throat; and attachment means for securing the fluid channeling device to the vehicle in proximity to the at least one of the inlet and outlet. 2. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 wherein the fluid bearing system is one of the group of a lubrication system, a transmission fluid system, a cooling system, a hydraulic system, and an axle system. 3. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 wherein the attachment means further, comprises: an aperture formed in the attachment means; and a fastener inserted through the aperture to attach to a portion of the vehicle to secure the fluid channeling device to the vehicle. 4. the fluid channeling device of claim 3 wherein the fastener further comprises a threaded fastener. 5. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 wherein the attachment means further comprises a magnetic element integrally formed with the fluid channeling device, and the magnetic element is placed in proximity to a magnetically conductive member of the vehicle to attach the fluid channeling device to the vehicle. 6. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 wherein the attachment means further comprises a flexible section for attachment to a member of the vehicle, the flexible section generally formed in a shape to facilitate attachment to the vehicle member. 7. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 wherein the fluid bearing system is an oil system, and the at least one of the inlet and outlet enables fluid flow through an oil filter inlet, where the fluid channeling device is placed in proximity to the at least one of the inlet and outlet to receive oil flowing therefrom. 8. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 wherein the fluid bearing system is a transmission system, and the at least one of the inlet and outlet enables fluid flow through a transmission filter, where the fluid channeling device is placed in proximity to the at least one of the inlet and outlet to receive transmission fluid flowing therefrom. 9. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 wherein the fluid bearing system is a hydraulic system, and the at least one of the inlet and outlet enables fluid flow through a hydraulic filter, where the fluid channeling device is placed in proximity to the outlet to receive hydraulic flowing therefrom. 10. the fluid channeling device of claim 1 further comprising a hose connected to the other, open end of the throat, the hose further channeling fluid from the engine lubrication system. 11. a fluid channeling device for facilitating changing motor oil in a motor vehicle having a lubrication system including an oil filter, where oil is supplied to the oil filter by an inlet passage and oil exits the oil filter from an outlet passage, comprising: a mouth formed in a shape of a generally closed surface having open upper and lower ends and disposed in proximity to the inlet and outlet passages of the oil filter to collect fluid flowing from the inlet and outlet passages, and the mouth includes a side wall adapted to curve about a portion of the filter to enable connection of the filter to the vehicle and said upper end is adapted to extend outwardly from the vehicle along the length of the filter; a throat connected beneath the open, lower end of the mouth, the throat having open ends providing fluid passage from the mouth through the throat; and attachment means for securing the fluid channeling device to the vehicle in proximity to the at least one of the inlet and outlet passages. 12. the fluid channeling device of claim 11 wherein the attachment means further comprises: an aperture formed in the attachment means; and a fastener inserted through the aperture to attach to a portion of the vehicle to secure the fluid channeling device to the vehicle. 13. the fluid channeling device of claim 11 wherein the attachment means has clamping means which attaches to a portion of the vehicle, the clamping means facilitating attachment and detachment of the fluid channeling device to the vehicle to enable temporary installation on the vehicle. 14. the fluid channeling device of claim 11 wherein the attachment means further comprises: an open cylindrical section for encircling a section of the engine and having two open ends; the first end of the open cylindrical section having a plurality of serrations; and the second end of the open cylindrical section having a locking mechanism, where the first end is inserted into the locking mechanism, and the locking mechanism engages the serration; wherein the first end may be variably inserted into the second end to vary a diameter of the open cylindrical section. 15. the fluid channeling device of claim 11 wherein the lubrication system includes an oil cooler having inlet and outlet passages, and the oil filter attaches to the oil cooler so that the oil cooler inlet passages supplies oil to the oil filter and the outlet passages receive oil exiting the oil filter, and the fluid channeling device includes an elongated section below the oil cooler so that the mouth is positioned below the oil cooler inlet and outlet passages. 16. a method for changing fluid of a fluid system in a vehicle, where the fluid system includes a fluid reservoir having a drain plug and a fluid filter which receives fluid from an inlet passage and returns fluid to an outlet passage, comprising the steps of: positioning the vehicle to enable access to the drain plug and fluid filter; removing the drain plug from the fluid reservoir to drain the fluid reservoir; attaching a fluid channeling device to the vehicle in proximity to the inlet and outlet passages so that upon removal of the filter, the fluid channeling device collects substantially all fluid flowing from the passages; replacing the filter; and removing the fluid channeling device. 17. the method of claim 16 wherein the fluid system is an engine lubrication system. 18. the method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of: replacing the drain plug; and replacing the drained fluid with fresh fluid.
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technical description this invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for facilitating changing fluid in a motor vehicle, and more particularly, to a fluid channeling device which channels fluid draining from fluid passages within a motor vehicle in order to prevent the fluid from spilling onto the ground and onto portions of the vehicle in proximity to the fluid passage. background of the invention in a motor vehicle, there are several fluid reservoirs which contain fluids that support operation of the vehicle. for example, automobile engines include an engine lubrication system having an oil pan which functions as a reservoir for engine oil. automobiles may also include other fluid reservoirs such as a transmission pan which is a reservoir for automatic (or manual) transmission fluid, a radiator which is a reservoir for engine coolant, and a rear axle which also stores fluid cooling system. in addition to the lubrication, cooling, and transmission fluid reservoirs found in most automobiles, many vehicles other than automobiles have hydraulic systems. for example, a typical tractor, crane, or earth moving piece of equipment includes all of the above support systems and may also include a separate hydraulic system to operate various devices and attachments. hydraulic systems require hydraulic fluid which is stored in a hydraulic fluid reservoir. the maintenance schedule of most motor vehicles typically requires periodic replacement of one or all of the above-mentioned fluids for the vehicle to remain in optimum operating condition. neglecting to remove and replace these fluids may lead to eventual failure of the engine or system in which the fluid is used. probably the most common example of fluid replacement in a motor vehicle is changing of engine oil and the oil filter. most manufacturers recommend that the engine oil and filter be removed and replaced with new engine oil and a new oil filter in approximately 3750 or 7500 mile intervals. a standard oil and filter change involves raising the vehicle off the ground in order to provide a mechanic with access to the underside of the vehicle. the mechanic places a drain pan underneath the oil pan and removes a drain plug found in the bottom of the oil pan. this enables the oil to drain from the oil pan into the drain pan. next, the operator then uses an oil filter wrench to unseat the oil filter and removes the oil filter by unscrewing it from the engine block. because the oil filter often has residual oil the mechanic is careful to hold the filter with the open end of the filter facing upward in order to prevent the oil from spilling from the filter. despite the careful manipulation of the oil filter by the mechanic, residual oil in the engine lubrication system typically flows from the oil filter inlet and exhaust passages found in the engine block. despite careful placement of the oil pan during removal of the filter, the mechanic is often unable to recover all fluid exiting the open inlet and exhaust passages of the engine block. oil may drip down the side of the engine block, onto hoses, other parts of the engine, the vehicle frame or cross members, and vehicle wiring. this problem is exacerbated because present engine compartments are relatively compact and crowded, and many vehicle components interfere with direct access to the oil filter. crowded engine compartments also worsen the problem of oil draining down the engine block and onto other components because the mechanic is often denied direct access to the oil filter inlet and outlet pipes. further, because of the proliferation of while-you-wait oil change facilities, the engine block and surrounding components are often extremely hot during the oil change which imperils the mechanic attempting to reach up into the engine compartment to wipe away the residual oil flowing down the sides of the block and onto the components. the hot runoff oil could also drip onto the mechanic. these difficulties and safety hazards create a disincentive for the mechanic to attempt to perform a tidy engine oil change with a minimum of spillage. the above difficulties with removing oil dripping onto the engine and vehicle components also create pollution problems. for example, when a vehicle owner changes the oil in his or her vehicle, the owner may place the car on a street or over a dirt covered area and neglect to clean up the unrecovered oil which has spilled onto the ground. this oil is eventually washed away by rain into the sewer system or eventually seeps into the ground, polluting the soil and the water table. even a conscientious mechanic can fail to completely clean the oil spilled onto the engine block, hoses, and other surrounding components. this oil buildup may be washed away while driving through puddles or in rain storms, and this oil eventually finds its way to the sewer system or to the soil where it again may pollute the soil and water table. unrecovered oil also harms the environment by reducing the amount of oil available for recycling. many states require that oil recovered during oil changes be recycled. oil which the mechanic fails to recover for recycling is not recycled and must be replaced by new supplies of oil. changing the oil of vehicles having compact engine compartments also creates a safety concern to the mechanic, particularly when the engine oil is changed soon after the vehicle has been operating so that the oil is very hot. the engine oil flowing from the drain pan when the drain plug is removed or from the engine block when the oil filter is removed often drips down the engine block or onto components in proximity to the drain hole or filter inlet or outlet. this oil may be redirected by the engine parts or other vehicle components on which the oil drips. this redirected oil, particularly when hot, may flow rather quickly to an area where it then runs off the vehicle and onto the mechanic, possibly severely burning the mechanic. while the above conditions have been described with respect to removal and replacement of the engine oil and oil filter, similar problems may arise when replacing transmission fluid, coolant fluid, or transaxle fluid on a motor vehicle. the above conditions may also occur when performing maintenance on hydraulic systems for tractors and other earth moving equipment having hydraulic systems. thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method which facilitates removal of fluids from a fluid reservoir or fluid bearing vessel in a vehicle. it is a further object of the present invention to provide an environmentally safe apparatus and method for changing fluid in a vehicle in order to maximize the fluid recovered during the fluid change and minimize the fluid which drips onto vehicle components and onto the ground. it is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for changing fluid in a vehicle which is applicable to engine oil changes, oil filter changes, automatic transmission fluid changes, and radiator fluid changes, axle fluid changes, and hydraulic fluid changes, and the like. it is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which may be permanently affixed to the vehicle to recover fluid during a fluid change. it is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for changing fluid in a vehicle which may be temporarily attached to the vehicle during the fluid change and removed from the vehicle for use on other vehicles following the fluid change. it is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method for changing fluid in a vehicle which is environmentally safe and maximizes the fluid recovered during the fluid change. it is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method for changing fluid in a vehicle which minimizes fluid lost during the fluid change, thereby minimizing the fluid which contaminates the soil and water table. summary of the invention in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, this invention is directed to a fluid channeling device for receiving fluid flowing from an outlet of a fluid bearing system on a vehicle. the fluid channeling device includes a mouth having an open, wide end and an open, narrow end, where the open wide end is positioned in proximity to the outlet of the fluid system. the open wide end collects fluid flowing from the fluid outlet. a throat has first and second open ends, where one of the first and second open ends connects to the open, narrow end of the mouth so that fluid passes from the mouth and through the throat. a member secures the fluid channeling device to the vehicle in proximity to the outlet. additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is an exploded view of the fluid channeling device for a vehicle arranged in accordance with the principles of a first embodiment of the present invention in which the fluid channeling device is attached to the vehicle in a generally permanent installation; fig. 2. is an exploded view of a second embodiment of the fluid channeling device in which the fluid channeling device may be temporarily positioned during the fluid change; fig. 3 is an exploded view of a third embodiment of the fluid channeling device in which the fluid channeling device is configured for use in an oil cooler; fig. 4 is a partial view of the embodiment of fig. 2 showing an alternative manner of attaching the fluid channeling device to the vehicle; fig. 5 is a fourth embodiment of the fluid channeling device in which the fluid channeling device collects oil flowing from an engine oil drain pan; fig. 6 is a side view of the fluid channeling device having a magnet attached to a member extending from a portion of the fluid channeling device so that the magnet may be attached to a magnetically conductive element of the motor vehicle to temporarily attach the fluid channeling device to the motor vehicle; fig. 7 is a side view of the fluid channeling device having a hook attached to a member extending from a portion of the fluid channeling device so that the hook may be attached to a portion of the motor vehicle to temporarily attach the fluid channeling device to the motor vehicle; fig. 8 is yet another embodiment of the fluid channeling device in which the fluid channeling device is positioned to collect automatic transmission fluid draining from an automatic transmission fluid pan or reservoir; and fig. 9 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of the fluid channeling device in which the fluid channeling device is positioned to collect coolant drained from a radiator of a vehicle. detailed description of the invention with reference to fig. 1, a first embodiment of the fluid channeling device 10 is shown. the fluid channeling device 10 attaches to an oil fluid manifold 12. oil filter manifold 12 includes an inlet pipe 14 which receives oil under pressure from an oil pump (not shown). the oil under pressure flows through inlet passages 16 through the filter element (not shown) of oil filter 18. oil passes through the filter element and exists oil filter 18 through a center outlet pipe (not shown) and reenters the oil filter manifold 12 through connecting pipe 20. the oil filter 18 is threaded onto connecting pipe 20 via threads 22. oil exits the oil filter manifold 12 through outlet pipe 24 and is distributed throughout the engine. the oil filter manifold 12 is connected to an engine block (not shown) by threaded fasteners (not shown) threaded through holes 26 formed in the oil filter manifold 12. in a first embodiment of the present invention, the fluid channeling device 10 includes a mouth 28 having an open, wide end 30 and an open narrow end 32. the mouth 28 is generally an inverted, conically shaped vessel with open ends. on one side of fluid channeling device 10, an annular member 34 extends from one side of the mouth 28. the annular member 34 includes an aperture 36 through which passes a threaded fastener 38. threaded fastener 38 engages a threaded bore 40 and is secured to the oil filter manifold 12 by the threaded fastener 38. the annular member 34 includes a lip 42 which seats behind an outer ring 44 of the oil filter manifold 12. the lip 42 also defines a groove 46 which is formed to engage outer ring 44 of oil filter manifold 12. the lip 42 also includes a cutout 48 which cooperates with a key (not shown) formed opposite the oil filter 18 from the outer ring 44. the key cooperates with the cutout 48 to ensure proper orientation of fluid channeling device 10. opposite the annular member 34 and groove 46, fluid channeling device 10 includes an annular side wall 50 which is formed to enable oil filter 18 to threadably engage connecting pipe 20 without interference from fluid channeling device 10. the mouth 28 also includes an inner surface 52 which forms a partial, funnel-like shape so that the collected fluid drains in the general direction of the open, narrow end 32. the open, narrow end 32 attaches to a throat 54 that defines a generally open passage which enables fluid to flow from open, narrow end 32 through the open end 56 of throat 54. optionally, a hose 58 (shown in phantom) may connect at the lower end 56 of throat 54. throat 54 may also include one or a plurality of ridges 60 to enable a better connection between the hose 58 and throat 54. fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of the fluid channeling device 70. fluid channeling device 70 is arranged similarly to fluid channeling device 10, but fluid channeling device 70 is configured to facilitate attachment and detachment from the vehicle for temporary usage. note that throughout the specification, like elements will be referred to in the figures using like referenced numerals. accordingly, fig. 2 shows an oil filter manifold 72 having an inlet pipe 14 and an outlet pipe 24. fluid flows through the inlet pipe 14 and into the oil filter 18 via a plurality of inlet passages 16 and exits through connecting pipe 20. the oil filter manifold 12 is attached to the engine block via a plurality of fasteners (not shown) inserted through holes 26. one skilled in the art will recognize that the oil filter manifold 12 may optionally be integrally formed with the engine block rather than formed as a separate part and attached to the engine block. fluid channeling device 70 is formed similarly to fluid channeling device 10 of fig. 1. fluid channeling device 70 has a generally funnel-like shaped mouth 28 having an open, wide end 30 and an open, narrow end 32. mouth 28 is designed to collect fluid which may flow from inlet passages 16 and connecting pipe 20 upon removal of an oil filter 18. the collected fluid flows through the narrow end 32 of mouth 28 and into throat 54. fluid flowing through throat 54 flows through a generally open end 56. optionally, a hose 58 may be installed around the open end 56 and enable further channeling of fluid collected by fluid channeling device 70. the fluid channeling device 70 is designed generally for temporary installation so that a mechanic may install and remove the fluid channeling device 70 relatively easily. rather than a fixed, threaded installation, fluid channeling device 70 is positioned underneath the outer ring 44 by positioning clamp 72 so that the open end 78 receives the neck 80 of the fluid inlet pipe 14. accurately formed jaws 74 and 76 substantially encircle the neck 80 and provide a sufficient interference fit to maintain fluid channeling device 70 in the installed position. fluid channeling device 70, similarly to fluid channeling device 10 of fig. 1, includes a groove 46 which facilitates positioning of fluid channeling device 70. also, a cutout 48 receives a key (not shown) formed in oil filter manifold 12 to enable circumferential orientation of fluid channeling device 70. in operation, fluid channeling device 70 may be installed prior to removing the oil filter 18. fluid channeling device 70 collects fluid draining from inlet passages 16 and connecting pipe 20. the collected fluid flows through open, narrow end 32 and throat 54 and through hose 58, if installed. the fluid is channeled into a drip pan or other fluid channeling device. thus, fluid channeling device 70 prevents fluid from running down the engine block and onto hoses, wires, and other engine components. following installation of an oil filter 18, fluid channeling device 70 may be removed by the mechanic. the mechanic merely pulls fluid channeling device 70 away from neck 80 of oil filter manifold 12. this disengages the jaws 74 and 76 from the neck 80 so that fluid channeling device may be removed and used in future oil changes on similar or different vehicles. fig. 3 is a fluid channeling device 90 arranged in accordance with the principles of a third embodiment of the present invention. fluid channeling device 90 is arranged for operation in a permanent installation for use in a lubrication system having an oil cooler. an oil filter manifold 92 includes an oil intake pipe 94 and an oil outlet pipe 96. the oil filter manifold 92 also includes inlet passages 98 and an outlet passage 109. inlet passages 98 introduce oil to oil cooler 100, and outlet passage 109 provides an exit passage for oil flowing from oil cooler 100. the oil cooler 100 is a generally cylindrically shaped device having hollow passages through which engine oil may pass. the oil cooler also includes a coolant inlet 102 for receiving coolant from the engine coolant system. the coolant circulates in passages (not shown) of the oil cooler 100 and exits through a coolant exhaust passage (not shown). the oil cooler 100 also has separate inlets 103 to allow engine oil to flow through so that heat may be conducted from the engine oil to the coolant flowing through the oil cooler 100. the oil cooler 100 is attached to the oil filter manifold 92 via a connecting pipe 104. connecting pipe 104 has threads 106 which engage an interior threaded section of fluid outlet 109 of oil filter manifold 92. at the other end of connecting pipe 104, a shoulder 108 engages a cylindrical passage 110 through oil cooler 100. an oil filter 18 engages threads 112 of connecting pipe 104. prior to assembling the oil cooler 100 to the oil filter manifold 92, fluid channeling device 90 is inserted between the oil filter manifold 92 and oil cooler 100. fluid channeling device 90 is arranged similarly to that described in figs. 1 and 2, but also includes an elongated section 114 to accommodate oil cooler 100. fluid channeling device 90 includes a fastening ring 116 at one end. the fastening ring 116 is securely fastened to the oil filter manifold 92 by a side surface 119 of oil cooler 100. fastening ring 116 attaches to elongated section 114 which connects to mouth 28 of fluid channeling device 90. mouth 28 has an open, wide end 30 and an open, narrow end 32. a throat 54 connects to the open, narrow end 32 of mouth 28. a hose (not shown) may be attached to the open end 56 of throat 54 to further channel fluid flowing through collection device 90, as described with respect to figs. 1 and 2. in operation, oil flows into the oil filter 18 via a plurality of inlet passages 98 formed in oil filter manifold 92 and through fluid inlets 103 formed in oil cooler 100. oil cooler 100 cools the fluid as it passes through oil cooler 100 into oil filter 18 via fluid inlets 103. the fluid passes through the filter element (not shown) in oil filter 18 and then passes through connecting pipe 104 and fluid outlet 109. elongated section 114 enables a fixed attachment of fluid channeling device 90 to oil filter manifold 92. elongated section 114 enables the mouth 28 of fluid channeling device 90 to be placed below the fluid inlets 103 and outlet 111 so that when the oil filter 18 is removed, fluid flowing from the inlet 103 and outlet 111 flows into the mouth 28 of fluid channeling device 90. fastening ring 116 may be formed integrally in fluid channeling device 90 during the manufacturing process. fastening ring 116 may be formed of the same material as fluid channeling device 90 or, alternatively, may be formed of a steel material. fig. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of fluid channeling device 90 of fig. 3. in this embodiment, fastening ring 126 is an open, cylindrical band. one end 118 has serrations 120 formed thereon. the end 118 passes through a lock mechanism 124 which engages the serrations 120 of the end 118. by forming a plurality of serrations 120 on the end 118 and varying the engagement of the end 118 with the lock mechanism 122, fluid channeling device 90 may be either temporarily or permanently installed on oil filter manifold 92 for use during oil filter changes. in addition, the configuration of fig. 4 enables fluid channeling device 90 to be attached to oil filter manifolds of varying sizes and shapes. fig. 5 depicts a fourth, embodiment of fluid channeling device 130. fluid channeling device 130 enables collection of fluid draining from an oil pan. fig. 5 shows a side view of an engine 132 having a lubrication system including an oil pan 134. because modern engine compartments are becoming progressively more compact, the engine is often supported on or placed in proximity to a cross member 136. when the drain plug (not shown) is removed, oil flows out of the drain hole 138 of oil pan 134. when the oil plug (not shown) is first removed, the oil stream flowing from drain hole 138 may project onto cross member 136. this results in the oil spreading along cross member 136. when this occurs, oil may not be entirely collected into the drip pan and may drip onto the ground or may collect in channels formed in cross member 136. this oil may be later washed away during storms or when driving through puddles. fluid channeling device 130 is placed in proximity to drain hole 138 so that fluid flowing from drain hole 138 flows into fluid channeling device 130. fluid channeling device 130 may be attached in any of a number of locations depending upon the particular vehicle configuration. for example, fluid channeling device 130 of fig. 5 includes a support member 142 for attachment to any one of oil pan 134, cross member 136, or any of a number of components of engine 132. as shown in fig. 5, fluid channeling device 130 attaches to cross member 136 via support member 142. support member 142 is secured to cross member 136 using a threaded fastener 140. figs. 6-7 demonstrates example manners of attachment of a fluid channeling device to a vehicle. fig. 6 depicts a fluid channeling device 144 having a support member 146. the support member 146 attaches at one end 145 to the main portion 147 of fluid channeling device 144. at the other end, a magnet 148 is attached to the support member 146. the magnet 148 enables attachment of fluid channeling device 144 by placing the magnet in proximity to any magnetically conductive material, such as steel or iron. fig. 7 shows a fluid channeling device 150 having a support member 152 attached to the fluid device 150. the support member 152 attaches at one end to fluid channeling device 150. at the other end, the support member 152 attaches to a hanger 154. the hanger includes a hook portion 156 which can hook onto any of a number of engine components, such as cross member 158. preferably the hook portion 156 is flexible so that the hook portion 156 can be formed to provide a more stable attachment to the vehicle. fig. 8 shows fluid channeling device in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention. a transmission 170 has a housing 172 and a transmission pan 174. the transmission pan 174 provides a fluid reservoir for transmission fluid used by the transmission 170. the transmission pan 174 includes a drain hole 176 though which transmission fluid may be drained. in some vehicles it may be desirable to use a fluid channeling device as described above to collect transmission fluid in order to provide an environmentally safe and neat method of collecting transmission fluid. fluid channeling device 178 is shown positioned in proximity to drain hole 176 so that transmission fluid flows from drain hole 176 into the open, wide end 180 of fluid channeling device 178. an attachment member 182 extends from fluid channeling device 178 and is shown fashioned to the transmission housing 172 via a threaded fastener 184. it will be understood by one skilled in the art any of the above-discussed configurations for attaching fluid channeling device 178 described herein may substitute for using a threaded fastener 184. for example, fluid channeling device 144 of fig. 6 may also be used to attach fluid channeling device 178 in position for use in draining a transmission 170. fig. 9 depicts yet another embodiment of the fluid collection system. fig. 9 shows a radiator system 190 having a core 192, an inlet tank 194, an outlet tank 196. typically, water flows into the inlet 198 of inlet tank 194 and flows across the radiator core 192 where it is cooled and exits outlet pipe 200 of outlet tank 196. the radiator system 190 may also include a fan 202 which is operated by a motor 204 and protected by shroud 206. the radiator system 190 is typically mounted on a cross member 208 and held in place by fasteners (not shown). the inlet tank 194 and outlet tank 196 may include pegs or posts 214 received by locator holes (not shown) formed in cross member 208 so that cross member 208 provides support for the radiator system 190. inlet tank 194 also includes a drain cock 210. drain cock 210 typically remains in the closed position in order to prevent water from draining from the radiator 190. in order to drain the radiator 190, drain cock 210 is opened so that water may flow from drain cock 210. in order to provide an environmentally safe method of collecting fluid draining from radiator 190, a fluid channeling device 212 may be placed in proximity to drain cock 210 to collect fluid flowing therefrom. fluid channeling device 212 may assume any of the configurations described above which facilitate use of the fluid channeling device 212. the fluid channeling device 212 provides an environmentally safe approach to preventing coolant from draining onto the ground beneath the vehicle and entering the water or ground systems. from the foregoing, it can be seen that the fluid channeling device described provides an environmentally safe and efficient method for changing fluids in a vehicle. the drained fluid thus flows into fluid channeling device which facilitates the channeling of the drained fluid into a drip pan or other collection vessel, rather than having the drained fluid spill into the environment. further, it will be understood by one skilled in the art that the foregoing may be equally applicable to any motor vehicle having a fluid systems require periodic draining and replacement of fluids. such systems may include lubrication, cooling, transmission, hydraulic, rear axle, and differential systems. while the above detailed description describes the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be understood that the present invention is susceptible to modification, variation and alteration without deviating from the scope and fair meaning of the subjoined claims.
|
027-832-167-112-445
|
JP
|
[
"JP",
"US",
"KR",
"FR",
"DE"
] |
B60W10/04,B60W10/06,F02D11/10,F02D29/00,F02D29/02,F02D41/02,F02D41/04,F02D41/12,F16H3/66,F16H59/46,F16H61/04,F16H61/06,F16H61/686
| 2001-08-01T00:00:00 |
2001
|
[
"B60",
"F02",
"F16"
] |
vehicle engine controller
|
an engine controller for a vehicle having an engine and an automatic transmission, the automatic transmission controlling the engine during a coast-down to a predetermined gear stage, the engine controller having an engine speed detection unit that detects the number of rotations of the engine output shaft an input shaft speed detection unit that detects the number of rotations of the input shaft a power-on detection unit for detecting a power-on state caused by a driver an engine output control unit that controls the output of the engine; and an engine control unit determines an engine speed and an input shaft speed and outputs a signal to the engine output control unit such that a predetermined relationship is maintained between the engine speed and the input shaft speed when the power-on state is detected in the coast-down state.
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1. an engine controller for a vehicle having an engine and an automatic transmission for transmitting the rotation of an output shaft of the engine to an input shaft through a fluidic transmission device, changing the speed of rotation by switching the transmission path, and transmitting the rotation whose speed has been changed to driving wheels, the automatic transmission controlling the engine during a coast-down to a predetermined gear stage, the engine controller comprising: 2. the engine controller according to claim 1 , wherein the engine control unit outputs the signal to the engine output control unit such that a difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. 3. the engine controller according to claim 1 , wherein the engine control unit outputs a signal to the engine output control unit such that the ratio between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. 4. the engine controller according to claim 1 , wherein the engine output is controlled such that the engine speed is higher than the input shaft speed in the coast-down state. 5. the engine controller according to claim 2 , wherein a correction is made to reduce an amount of signal output to the engine output control unit when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is increased. 6. the engine controller according to claim 2 , wherein a correction is made to increase an amount of signal output to the engine output control unit when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is reduced. 7. the engine controller according to claim 1 , wherein the engine is an internal combustion engine, the engine output control unit is an electronic throttle, and the signal is a required throttle opening. 8. the engine controller according to claim 7 , wherein the required throttle opening during the coast-down is a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed, and the required throttle opening is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed to the basic required opening when the power-on state is detected. 9. the engine controller according to claim 7 , wherein when the required throttle opening is greater than a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed, the required throttle opening when the power-on state is detected is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed, that are based on the basic required throttle opening, to the basic required throttle opening. 10. the engine controller according to claim 7 , wherein when the required throttle opening is greater than a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed and when loads other than a vehicle load are increased, the required throttle opening when the power-on state is detected is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed, that are based on the basic required throttle opening, to the required throttle opening that is greater than the basic required throttle opening. 11. the engine controller according to claim 1 , wherein the engine control unit maintains the signal based on the engine speed and the input shaft speed until the input shaft speed is synchronized with a predetermined transmission stage, and the engine output control unit sweeps up the signal until it agrees with a throttle opening required by the driver. 12. an engine control method for a vehicle having an engine and an automatic transmission for transmitting the rotation of an output shaft of the engine to an input shaft through a fluidic transmission device, changing the speed of rotation by switching the transmission path, and transmitting the rotation whose speed has been changed to driving wheels, the automatic transmission controlling the engine during a coast-down to a predetermined gear stage, the method comprising: 13. the engine control method according to claim 12 , wherein the output signal to control the output of the engine is such that a difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. 14. the engine control method according to claim 12 , wherein the output signal to control the output of the engine is such that the ratio between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. 15. the engine control method according to claim 12 , wherein the control of the output of the engine is such that the engine speed is higher than the input shaft speed in the coast-down state. 16. the engine control method according to claim 13 , further comprising reducing an amount of signal output to control the output of the engine when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is increased. 17. the engine control method according to claim 13 , further comprising increasing an amount of signal output to control the output of the engine when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is reduced. 18. the engine control method according to claim 12 , wherein the power-on state of the engine signal is a required throttle opening. 19. the engine control method according to claim 18 , wherein the required throttle opening during the coast-down is a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed, and the required throttle opening is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed to the basic required opening when the power-on state is detected. 20. the engine control method according to claim 18 , wherein when the required throttle opening is greater than a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed, the required throttle opening when the power-on state is detected is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed, that are based on the basic required throttle opening, to the basic required throttle opening. 21. the engine control according to claim 18 , wherein when the required throttle opening is greater than a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed and when loads other than a vehicle load are increased, the required throttle opening when the power-on state is detected is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed, that are based on the basic required throttle opening, to the required throttle opening that is greater than the basic required throttle opening. 22. the engine controller according to claim 12 , further comprising maintaining the amount of signal output to control the output of the engine based on the engine speed and the input shaft speed until the input shaft speed is synchronized with a predetermined transmission stage, and the amount of signal output to control the output of the engine sweeps up the amount of signal output until it agrees with a throttle opening required by the driver. 23. a recording medium storing programs for engine control for a vehicle having an engine and an automatic transmission for transmitting the rotation of an output shaft of the engine to an input shaft through a fluidic transmission device, changing the speed of rotation by switching the transmission path, and transmitting the rotation whose speed has been changed to driving wheels, the automatic transmission controlling the engine during a coast-down to a predetermined gear stage, the programs comprising: 24. the recording medium according to claim 23 , wherein the program outputting a signal outputs the signal to control the output of the engine such that a difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. 25. the recording medium according to claim 23 , wherein the program outputting a signal outputs the signal to control the output of the engine such that the ratio between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. 26. the recording medium method according to claim 23 , wherein the program outputting a signal that controls of the output of the engine is such that the engine speed is higher than the input shaft speed in the coast-down state. 27. the recording medium according to claim 24 , further comprises a program for reducing an amount of signal output to control the output of the engine when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is increased. 28. the recording medium according to claim 24 , further comprises a program for increasing an amount of signal output to control the output of the engine when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is reduced. 29. the recording medium according to claim 23 , wherein the power-on state of the engine signal is a required throttle opening used by the program for determining. 30. the recording medium according to claim 29 , wherein the required throttle opening during the coast-down is a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed, and further comprising a program that obtains the required throttle opening by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed to the basic required opening when the power-on state is detected. 31. the recording medium according to claim 29 , further comprising a program for determining when the required throttle opening is greater than a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed, the required throttle opening when the power-on state is detected by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed, that are based on the basic required throttle opening, to the basic required throttle opening. 32. the recording medium according to claim 29 , further comprising a program for determining, when the required throttle opening is greater than a basic throttle opening normally required when an accelerator is totally closed and when loads other than a vehicle load are increased, the required throttle opening when the power-on state is detected by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed, that are based on the basic required throttle opening, to the required throttle opening that is greater than the basic required throttle opening. 33. the recording medium according to claim 12 , further comprising a program for maintaining the amount of signal output to control the output of the engine based on the engine speed and the input shaft speed until the input shaft speed is synchronized with a predetermined transmission stage, and the amount of signal output to control the output of the engine sweeps up the amount of signal output until it agrees with a throttle opening required by the driver.
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background of the invention 1. field of invention the invention relates to an apparatus for controlling a driving force from a driving source, such as an engine of a vehicle having an automatic transmission. 2. description of related art a driver may apply pressure to the acceleration pedal to power on the engine when the transmission is shifted down based on a reduction of the vehicle speed as a result of a coasting down or a power-off. in this case, in the coast-down shift, the hydraulic pressure of a clutch for a high speed stage is released (released side hydraulic pressure) to reduce the torque capacity of the clutch, and the hydraulic pressure of a clutch for a low speed stage (engaged side hydraulic pressure) is increased by an upward corrective value at the time of the power-on but the clutch is kept in an unengaged state. in this state, the speed of rotation of the input shaft (turbine) continues decreasing toward a synchronization point of the low speed stage on the basis of the power-on state. the engine output is regulated at a constant opening of an electronic throttle regardless of loads, such as engine friction, the load of an air-conditioner, and electrical loads. when the engine is powered on to increase the throttle opening immediately during a coast-down state in which the released side hydraulic pressure is decreased to release the clutch for the high speed stage and in which the increase of the engaged side hydraulic pressure has not reached an engaging pressure to leave the clutch for the low speed stage in a released state, the engine speed increases with the transmission system of the automatic transmission in a so-called free state, which can cause the engine to over-rotate. a shift shock can occur because the clutch for the low steed stage is engaged when the speed of rotation of the turbine has abruptly increased as a result of the over-rotation of the engine. even when the engine output is regulated as it is powered on to the constant throttle opening regardless of the loads, the absolute engine output becomes large if the actual loads are small to cause the engine to over-rotate. if the actual loads are great, the absolute engine output becomes small to cause a time lag because of a delay in synchronization. for example, japanese patent publication no. 59904/1995 has proposed an engine controller that detects the level of an increase in the number of rotations of a turbine during a downward shift and reduces an engine output when the level of the increase is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. however, this controller can be used only in a case in which the number of rotations of a turbine increases as a result of a downward shift and, when the engine is powered on in a coast-down state as described above, the rotation of the turbine reaches synchronization before the engaged side hydraulic pressure reaches an engaging pressure to cause the engine to over-rotate thereafter. summary of the invention (1) the invention provides an engine controller for a vehicle having an engine and an automatic transmission for transmitting the rotation of an output shaft of the engine to an input shaft of the automatic transmission through a fluidic transmission device, changing the speed of rotation by connecting and disconnecting a plurality of engaging elements (clutches, brakes, and one-way clutches) to switch the path of transmission, and transmitting the rotation whose speed has been changed to the driving wheels, the automatic transmission controlling the engine during a coast-down to a predetermined gear stage (e.g., from a fourth gear to a third gear) by engaging an engaging element (e.g., an engaging element c- 1 ) while releasing a predetermined engaging element (e.g., an engaging element b- 1 ), wherein it has an engine speed detection unit for detecting the number of rotations of the engine output shaft; an input shaft speed detection unit for detecting the number of rotations of the input shaft; a power-on detection unit for detecting a power-on state caused by a driver; an engine output control unit for controlling the output of the engine; and an engine control unit for detecting the engine speed and the input shaft speed and outputting a signal to the engine output control unit such that a predetermined relationship is maintained between the engine speed and the input shaft speed when the power-on state is detected in the coast-down state. the term engine represents a concept that means a driving source, and is not limited to internal combustion engines, such as gasoline engines and diesel engines, but implies other driving sources, such as electric motors. the fluidic transmission device may be a torque converter or a fluid coupling. referring to the automatic transmission, it is preferable to use an automatic transmission that provides a plurality of transmission stages by engaging and releasing an engaging element, such as a clutch, a brake, or a one-way clutch, to switch a transmission path of a planetary gear device or parallel shaft gear device. however, this is not limiting the invention, and the term automatic transmission represents a concept that covers also other automatic transmissions, such as a synchronous engagement type transmission, that is, a multi-stage transmission shifted by an expert system using an actuator, such as a hydraulic cylinder. the engaging elements are not limited to frictional engaging elements, such as clutches and brakes, and one-way clutches are also implied by this term. therefore, the coast-down is not limited to switching of an engaged clutch, i.e., so-called clutch-to-clutch switching, and engagement of a low speed stage with a one-way clutch is also implied by this term. (2) the invention also provides an engine controller according to the above, in which the engine control unit outputs the signal to the engine output control unit such that a difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. (3) the invention provides an engine controller according to the above, in which the engine control unit outputs a signal to the engine output control unit such that the ratio between the engine speed and the input shaft speed becomes constant. (4) the invention also provides an engine controller according to any of the above, in which the engine output is controlled such that the engine speed is higher than the input shaft speed in the coast-down state. (5) the invention also provides an engine controller according to (2) above, in which a correction is made to reduce an amount of signal output to the engine output control unit when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is increased. (6) the invention also provides an engine controller according to (2) above, in which a correction is made to increase the amount of signal output to the engine output control unit when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is reduced. (7) the invention also provides an engine controller according to any of (1) to (6) above, in which the engine is an internal combustion engine; the engine output control unit is an electronic throttle; and the signal is a required throttle opening. (8) the invention also provides an engine controller according to (7) above, in which the required throttle opening during the coast-down is a basic throttle opening normally required when the accelerator is totally closed; and the required throttle opening is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed to the basic required opening when the power-on state is detected. (9) the invention also provides an engine controller according to (7) above, in which, when the required throttle opening is greater than the basic throttle opening normally required when the accelerator is totally closed, the required throttle opening, when the power-on state is detected, is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed that are based on the basic required throttle opening to the basic required throttle opening. (10) the invention also provides an engine controller according to (7) above, in which when the required throttle opening is greater than the basic throttle opening normally required when the accelerator is totally closed and when there are great loads other than the vehicle load, the required throttle opening when the power-on state is detected is obtained by adding an amount of regulation determined based on the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed that are based on the basic required throttle opening to the required throttle opening that is greater than the basic required throttle opening. (11) the invention also provides an engine controller according to any of (1) to (10) above, in which the engine control unit maintains the signal based on the engine speed and the input shaft speed until the input shaft speed is synchronized with the predetermined transmission stage (until a low gear synchronization point); and the engine output control unit sweeps up the same until it agrees with a throttle opening required by the driver. according to (1) above, because the engine output is controlled such that a constant relationship is maintained between the engine speed and the input shaft speed when switching to the power-on state occurs during a coast-down, the over-rotation of the engine (over-rotation of the driving source) is prevented even when the automatic transmission is in a substantially free state, and a gear change can be smoothly made with a reduced shift shock and delay after the engaging element for the low speed stage is engaged. according to (2) above, an engine can be controlled with high precision and reliability because an absolute engine output that is the total engine output minus an engine output based on the vehicle loads when the accelerator is totally closed, i.e., engine friction, electrical loads, and the load of an air-conditioner is accurately detected from the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed and because the engine output in the power-on state is regulated based on the absolute engine output. according to (3) above, an engine can be controlled also based on the ratio between the engine speed and the input shaft speed. according to (4) above, control is performed to keep the engine speed higher than the input shaft speed even during a coast-down, which allows a smooth transfer to engine control in the power-on state to prevent the over-rotation of the engine and a shift shock while preventing a shock attributable to switching between reverse driving and forward driving (tip-in). according to (5) above, although an engine is likely to over-rotate when there is a great difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed because of idle rotation, a correction is made to reduce the amount of operation of the engine output control unit, thereby making it possible to prevent the engine from over-rotating. according to (6) above, although a gear change is likely to take time when the difference between the engine speed and the input shaft speed is small for causes that include great loads other than vehicle loads, such as the load of an air-conditioner, the amount of operation of the engine output control unit can be corrected to be large to prevent the occurrence of such a slow gear change. according to (7) above, engine control can be properly performed in response to switching to the power-on state during a coast-down using an existing internal combustion engine and electronic throttle. according to (8) above, an engine output is controlled by adding an amount of regulation determined by an absolute engine output based on the difference between the engine speed and the turbine speed to a basic throttle opening normally required when the accelerator is totally closed using an idling speed controller (isc). this makes it possible to control an engine with high precision when switching to the power-on state occurs during a coast-down. according to (9) above, an engine can be properly controlled without over-rotation using a proper required throttle opening when the throttle opening is greater than the normal basic required throttle opening as a result of idle rotation. according to (10) above, an engine can be controlled based on a required throttle opening associated with idle rotation to prevent a slow gear change when there are great loads other than vehicle loads, such as a torque converter, even during idle rotation. according to (11) above, the engine control based on the engine speed and the input shaft speed is maintained until a synchronization point of a low speed gear and swept up toward a throttle opening required by the driver, which allows a smooth downward shift to a low speed stage without causing the engine to over-rotate. brief description of the drawings the invention will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automatic transmission to which the invention can be applied; fig. 2 is an operation table of the automatic transmission of fig. 1 ; fig. 3 is a speed diagram of the automatic transmission of fig. 1 ; fig. 4 is a block diagram of an electronic control section according to the invention; fig. 5 schematically shows a hydraulic circuit used in the invention; fig. 6 is a flow chart of engine control according to the invention; fig. 7 is a time chart in the case of a normal basic throttle opening when an accelerator is totally closed; fig. 8 is a time chart in the case of idle rotation when the accelerator is totally closed; and fig. 9 is a time chart in the case where there are great loads other than vehicle loads, such as a torque converter, during idle rotation. detailed description of preferred embodiments a preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automatic transmission in which the invention is preferably embodied. an automatic transmission 1 has a four-speed main transmission section 1 a provided coaxially with an engine output shaft 2 and a sub-transmission section 1 b constituted by an under drive. the four-speed main transmission section 1 a transmits the output of the engine output shaft 2 to an input shaft 5 through a torque converter 3 having a lock-up clutch 3 a and has first and second planetary gears 6 , 7 comprising simple planetary gears. in the planetary gears 6 , 7 , a first ring gear r _{ 1 } and a second carrier c _{ 2 } are coupled; a first carrier c _{ 1 } and a second ring gear r _{ 2 } are coupled; and the second ring gear r _{ 2 } and the first carrier c _{ 1 } coupled with each other are coupled with a counter drive gear 9 that is an output member of the main transmission section 1 a. a first clutch c- 1 , a second clutch c- 2 , and a fourth clutch c- 0 are interposed between the input shaft 5 and a first sun gear s _{ 1 } , between the input shaft 5 and a second sun gear s _{ 2 } , and between the input shaft 5 and the second carrier c _{ 2 } , respectively. the second sun gear s _{ 2 } is anchored by a first brake b- 1 , and the second carrier c _{ 2 } and the first ring gear r _{ 1 } , coupled with each other, are anchored by a second brake b- 2 and a first one-way clutch f- 1 . the sub-transmission section 1 b has one simple planetary gear 10 . a ring gear r _{ 3 } of the same is coupled with a counter driven gear 31 that is engaged with the counter drive gear 9 to serve as an input member, and a carrier c _{ 3 } is coupled with an output section to transmit power to left and right driving wheels through differential gears. a third clutch c- 3 is interposed between the carrier c _{ 3 } and a sun gear s _{ 3 } , and the sun gear s _{ 3 } is anchored by a third brake b- 3 and a second one-way clutch f- 2 . the automatic transmission 1 achieves five forward (first, second, third, fourth, and fifth) speeds and one reverse speed (rev) as a result of operations of the clutches c- 0 , c- 1 , c- 2 , and c- 3 , the brakes b- 1 , b- 2 , and b- 3 , and the one-way clutches f- 1 and f- 2 , as shown in the operation table of fig. 2 . in fig. 2 , a symbol o indicates an operating (engaged) state of each of the clutches, brakes, and one-way clutches; a blank in the table indicates a non-operating (released) state; and a symbol o in brackets indicates a state in which the element is operated for engagement when an engine brake is operated. fig. 3 is a speed diagram of the automatic transmission 1 in which the position of each planetary gear, shown in fig. 1 , using a coordinate system set by gear ratios _{ 1 } , _{ 2 } , and _{ 3 } of the gear as shown on the abscissa axis and in which speeds of the gears are shown on the ordinate axis where the speed of rotation of the input member is represented by 1. therefore, each gear of the four-speed main transmission section located at 1 on the ordinate axis is coupled with the input shaft to serve as an input section; each gear located at 0 is anchored by a brake or one-way clutch; the first carrier c _{ 1 } and the second ring gear r _{ 2 } coupled with each other serve as an output section of the four-speed main transmission section; the rotation of the output section is coupled to the third ring gear r _{ 3 } that serves as an input section of the sub-transmission section 1 b ; and rotations at the five forward speeds and one reverse speed are output from the third carrier c _{ 3 } . fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical control system. reference numeral 11 represents a control section (ecu) comprising a microcomputer to which signals are input from an engine (e/g) rotation sensor 12 , an acceleration pedal (operation) opening sensor 13 for detecting the pressure applied (operation) to an acceleration pedal by a driver, a sensor 14 for detecting the opening of an actual engine throttle, a sensor 15 for detecting the speed (turbine speed) of an input shaft of a transmission (automatic transmission), a vehicle speed (speed of an output shaft of the automatic transmission) sensor 16 , and a brake sensor 17 for detecting a driver's operation of a foot brake. the control section 11 provides outputs to an engine control unit (an electronic throttle system) 18 for controlling the output of the engine and linear solenoid valves 19 , 20 (a hydraulic control unit <1> and a hydraulic control unit <2>) of a hydraulic circuit. the control section 11 has a hydraulic control unit 11 b for transmitting a pressure adjustment signal to the hydraulic control units 19 , 20 , comprising linear solenoid valves, and an engine control unit 11 a for transmitting a requested throttle opening (signal) to the engine output control unit comprised of an electronic throttle system. an engine control unit 11 a detects the engine speed and the speed of the input shaft in a coast-down state and outputs a signal to the engine output control unit 18 such that a predetermined constant relationship (e.g., a difference) is maintained between the engine speed and the input shaft speed when the power-on state is detected. the amount of operation of the acceleration pedal is detected by the acceleration pedal opening sensor 13 . the acceleration pedal is operated by the driver in accordance with a desired, or required, by the operator amount of output, and it corresponds to an acceleration operation member. the amount of operation of the acceleration pedal corresponds to the operator required amount of output. the electronic throttle valve (engine output control unit) 18 , which is opened by a throttle actuator at an angle (opening) in accordance with the amount of operation of the acceleration pedal, is provided in a suction pipe of the engine. an isc (idling speed control) valve for controlling the amount of suction when the electronic throttle valve is totally closed is provided in a bypass channel that bypasses the electronic throttle valve for controlling the speed of idle rotation. fig. 5 schematically shows the hydraulic circuit which has the two linear solenoid valves 19 , 20 that constitute the hydraulic control units <1>, <2>and hydraulic servos for a plurality of frictional engaging elements (clutches and brakes), such as hydraulic servos 21 , 22 , for causing connection and disconnection of the first brake (frictional engaging element for a high speed stage) b- 1 that is engaged at a fourth speed and released at a third speed and the first clutch (frictional engaging element for a low speed stage) c- 1 that is engaged at the third speed and released at the fourth speed. a solenoid modulator pressure is supplied to input ports a _{ 1 } and a _{ 2 } of the linear solenoid valves 19 , 20 , and controlled hydraulic pressures from output ports b _{ 1 } , b _{ 2 } of the linear solenoid valves 19 , 20 are supplied to control oil chambers 24 a , 23 a of respective pressure control valves (e.g., a b- 1 control valve and a c- 1 control valve) 24 , 23 . line pressures are supplied to input ports 24 b , 23 b of the respective pressure control valves 24 , 23 , and adjusted pressures from output ports 24 c , 23 c that have been adjusted with the control oil pressure are supplied to the hydraulic servos 21 , 22 respectively as the occasion demands. the hydraulic circuit is shown to indicate a basic concept, and oil pressures to the hydraulic servos 21 , 22 are supplied through predetermined respective shift valves. the elements are described as examples only and, in practice, a multiplicity of hydraulic servos are provided in association with an automatic transmission along with a multiplicity of shift valves for switching oil pressures to be supplied to the hydraulic servos. the engine controller, that is a major part of the invention, will now be described with reference to the flow chart in fig. 6 and the time chart in fig. 7 . when a downward shift, such as a shift from the fourth gear to the third gear, is commanded from the control section 11 as a result of a reduction in the vehicle speed in a power-off (acceleration off) state at the time of a coast-down, such as a braking operation (brake on) of the driver or inertial traveling, the oil pressure (hereinafter referred to as released side clutch pressure) pa of the hydraulic servo 21 for the frictional engaging element for the high speed stage (frictional engaging elements including brakes are hereinafter referred to as clutches) b- 1 starts sweeping down with a relatively steep slope pa 1 (coast-down transmission output). the released side clutch pressure pa sweeps down to a standby pressure pa 2 , that is, an oil pressure developing immediately before frictional plates of the clutches contact each other to produce a torque capacity. the released side clutch pressure pa then sweeps down with a slope pa 3 that is gentler than the slope pa 1 to slip the clutch b- 1 . the clutch pressures pa and pb shown in fig. 7 schematically represent oil pressures of actual hydraulic servos. the oil pressure pb of the hydraulic servo 22 for the clutch c- 1 for the low speed stage (hereinafter referred to as engaged side clutch pressure) rises with a delay from the released side clutch pressure pa and increases to a servo activation pressure pb 1 at which frictional plates of the clutches move in contact with each other. the clutch c- 1 for the low speed stage is kept in a released state (in which it has no torque capacity) at the servo activation pressure. during the coast-down, the electronic throttle opening t is in a closed state and the engine speed ne is low because the driver steps off the acceleration pedal. the turbine (input shaft) speed nt is low because of the deceleration of the wheels and the reduction of the engine speed. in general, because the driving relationship is reversed (driving wheels drive the engine) during coasting, the turbine speed nt is higher than the engine speed. in the present embodiment, however, the engine speed ne is controlled such that it is always higher than the turbine speed nt by controlling the engine output (electronic throttle). this prevents a shock or a so-called tip-in that otherwise occurs when forward driving (the engine drives the driving wheels) is enabled as a result of switching to a power-on state during the coast-down in the reverse driving relationship. in the coast-down state, the difference between the engine speed and the turbine speed (nent) is updated and stored. the difference (nent) is the amount of slip of a torque converter, and it is a vehicle load or an engine output. the engine output is based on a vehicle load, that is, a value obtained by subtracting engine friction when the accelerator is totally closed (a new engine and an engine that has been subjected to running in have different frictions), an electrical load (generator load), and an air-conditioner load (compressor load), from an actual total engine output. the difference (nent) is an absolute engine output. the turbine speed nt is low because of a reduction of the vehicle speed attributable to the gear ratio of the high speed stage (fourth speed) when the released side clutch pressure pa is higher than the standby pressure pa 2 to maintain an engaging force. during the sweep-down pa 3 that occurs after the standby pressure pa 2 , the turbine speed is reduced because of the addition of the engine speed that has been controlled using a slip of the clutch b- 1 for the high speed state. the amount of regulation d of the engine control at the time of power-on is determined by the absolute engine output (nent) stored when the torque capacity of the clutch for the high speed stage increases beyond the absolute engine output to cause a change of the turbine speed nt or when a transition from a torque phase to an inertial phase occurs. during the execution of the above-described coasting down (s 1 in fig. 6 ), when the driver steps on the acceleration pedal to enter the power-on state (the sensor 13 judges that the acceleration pedal opening is 0 ) (s 2 ), an electronic throttle opening (actual throttle opening detected by the sensor 14 ) t is set such that it equals a value t 1 that is the basic throttle opening i normally required when the accelerator is totally closed (a required throttle opening: a required throttle opening will be hereinafter simply referred to as a throttle opening) plus the amount of regulation d determined based on the stored difference (nent) between the engine speed ne and turbine speed nt (s 3 ). the normal basic throttle opening i is a required electronic throttle opening in an power-off state achieved by the idling speed controller (isc) and is preset such that the engine speed ne becomes 600 rpm, for example. as described above, due to switching to the power-on state, the throttle opening t is greater than the normal basic throttle opening i during the coast-down by the amount of regulation d determined based on the stored difference (nent), i.e., (t 1 id), and the engine speed ne increases accordingly. the amount of regulation d is set based on the absolute engine output (nent) during the coast-down, and the turbine speed after the power-on is therefore kept such that the difference (nent) between the engine speed ne and the turbine speed nt is maintained or such that the turbine speed nt increases substantially in parallel with the engine speed ne. while the required electronic throttle opening t 1 is kept at the constant value (id), determined as described above in the present embodiment, feedback control of the turbine speed nt may be carried out such that the difference (nent) will be constant (s 4 ). this makes it possible to perform control such that the same engine output is always obtained during a gear change (from the fourth gear to the third gear) in the power-on state. in the gear change in the power-on state, the released side clutch pressure pa continues sweeping down with the slope pa 3 , and the clutch b- 1 for the high speed stage stays in a released state with the torque capacity thereof continuing to decrease. the engaging clutch pressure pb increases by a predetermined amount b as a result of the switching to the power-on state to reach a predetermined oil pressure pb 2 , but the clutch c- 1 for the low speed stage has not been engaged yet at the oil pressure pb 2 . when the turbine speed nt is synchronized with a calculated synchronized turbine speed ntl of the gear at the low speed stage (low gear stage synchronization point), indicated by the dotted line in fig. 7 (s 5 ), the electronic throttle opening t sweeps up with a predetermined slope t, and the sweep-up continues until the opening agrees with the acceleration pedal opening 0 required by the driver. thereafter, the engine control of the present embodiment is stopped to return the electronic throttle opening t to normal control that is carried out based on the acceleration pedal opening 0 (s 6 ). the engaged side clutch pressure pb sweeps up from the low speed gear stage synchronization point with sequentially increasing slopes pb 3 , pb 4 , and pb 5 , and the torque capacity of the clutch c- 1 for the low speed stage smoothly and relatively quickly increases, which puts the clutch in a completely engaged state to switch the automatic transmission to the low speed stage (fourth speed). while the invention is preferably used for engine control performed to increase the engine speed ne beyond the turbine speed nt during a coast-down, the invention is not limited to the same and may be used in cases wherein an engine e/g, is not controlled as described above during the coast-down and wherein the turbine speed nt becomes higher than the engine speed ne. although the engine e/g is preferably controlled based on an absolute engine output (ntne when ne<nt) that is a difference between the engine speed ne and the turbine speed nt at the time of switching to a power-on state as described above, the control of an electronic throttle opening t is not limited to the use of such a difference and may be carried out based on the ratio between the engine speed ne and the turbine speed nt such that a predetermined relationship is maintained between the engine speed and the turbine speed. a description will now be made, with reference to fig. 8 , of a case in which an absolute engine output is greater than a normal output, as shown in fig. 7 , during a coast-down, such as idle rotation. in a vehicle that employs the present engine controller 11 , an idling speed controller (isc) is used, and the state of the engine e/g is detected to control the electronic throttle opening t such that the idling speed agrees with a target speed (e.g., 1000 rpm). when the vehicle is driven to cause switching to a power-on state during a coast-down in an idling state at a speed higher than the normal state (in a state that comes shortly after the starting of the engine), an electronic throttle opening a (see the broken line) during the coast-down (the power is off) is greater than the normal basic throttle opening i shown in fig. 7 by a predetermined amount, and an engine speed nea is therefore also higher than the normal speed as indicated by the broken line. when engine control is carried out in this state using the normal amount of regulation d (see t 2 indicated by the alternate long and short dash line) determined based on the absolute engine output, that is, a difference (neant) between the engine speed nea and turbine speed nt at the time of switching to the power-on state, the engine output becomes too large, and an engine speed nea 1 and a turbine speed nt 1 increase as indicated by the alternate long and short dash lines to cause over-rotation of the engine in the vicinity of a low gear stage synchronization point. in the present embodiment, engine control is performed with a correction made to ignore the increase in the idling speed provided by the isc. specifically, an amount of regulation (required throttle opening) da, based on the difference (neant) between the engine speed nea and the turbine speed nt, is corrected such that it becomes smaller than the normal amount of regulation d (see s 3 ). the corrected amount of regulation da is set equal to a value that is the normal basic throttle opening i when the accelerator is totally closed, as shown in fig. 7 , plus the amount of regulation d determined based on the difference (nent) between the engine speed ne at the normal accelerator opening and the turbine speed nt (t 1 idada). thus, the electronic throttle opening ti in the power-on state is substantially equal to that achieved by normal engine control, and an engine speed nea 2 smoothly increases such that the turbine speed nt is synchronized at the low gear stage synchronization point as indicated by the broken line, which prevents over-rotation of the engine. a description will now be made with reference to fig. 9 of a case in which there are great loads, such as an air-conditioner load, an electrical load, and engine friction during idle rotation. when engine control is carried out at the time of power-on using the throttle opening t 1 (id) that is the normal basic throttle opening i plus the amount of regulation d determined based on the normal difference (nent), as in the case of idle rotation shown in fig. 8 , because there are great loads, other than the vehicle load as described above, the engine speed ne decreases, which makes the difference (nent) between the engine speed and the turbine speed small. further, because the output characteristics of the engine are insufficient during idle rotation immediately after the starting of the engine output becomes small as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line when the required throttle opening (see the solid line) during the normal idle rotation is used. this results in an insufficient increase of the engine speed ne and results in a delay in the increase in the turbine speed nt indicated by the solid line from the low gear stage synchronization point. this results in low gear change with a great time lag (hesitation) t 1 . in the present embodiment, as described above, when there are great loads and the absolute engine output (nent) is small, the electronic throttle opening t is set at a value t 2 (see broken line) that is the idling speed a plus the normal amount of regulation d determined based on the difference (nent) between the engine speed ne and the turbine speed nt. as described, in the case of a small absolute engine output, the engine can be controlled to allow a gear change at appropriate timing while preventing a slow gear change as described above by increasing the electronic throttle opening (see s 3 , fig. 6 ). the engine control according to the invention is not limited to a downward shift from the fourth speed to the third speed and may be used for other downward shifts. further, the invention is not limited to the automatic transmission as shown in figs. 1 to 3 and may be similarly used for other automatic transmissions.
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030-948-994-827-615
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US
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[
"US"
] |
H01L23/00,B23K35/24,B23K35/36,H01L21/00,H01L21/768,H01L23/29,H01L23/31,H01L23/498,H01L25/00,H01L25/065,H01L25/10,H01L21/56
| 2012-03-09T00:00:00 |
2012
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[
"H01",
"B23"
] |
packaging methods and packaged semiconductor devices
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an embodiment is a method including forming a first package and a second package. the first package includes packaging a first die, forming a plurality of solder balls on the first die, and coating the plurality of solder balls with an epoxy flux. the second package includes forming a first electrical connector, attaching a second die adjacent the first electrical connector, forming a interconnect structure over the first die and the first electrical connector, the interconnect structure being a frontside of the second package, forming a second electrical connector over the interconnect structure, and the second electrical connector being coupled to both the first die and the first electrical connector. the method further includes bonding the first package to the backside of the second package with the plurality of solder balls forming a plurality of solder joints, each of the plurality of solder joints being surrounded by the epoxy flux.
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1. a method comprising: forming a first package comprising: partially packaging a first die; forming a plurality of solder balls on a surface of the partially packaged first die; and coating the plurality of solder balls with an epoxy flux; forming a second package comprising: forming a first electrical connector over a carrier wafer; attaching a second die adjacent the first electrical connector and over the carrier wafer; forming an interconnect structure over the second die and the first electrical connector, the interconnect structure being a frontside of the second package; forming a second electrical connector over the interconnect structure, the second electrical connector being coupled to both the second die and the first electrical connector; and removing the carrier wafer to expose a backside of the second package, the backside being opposite the frontside; and bonding the first package to the backside of the second package with the plurality of solder balls forming a plurality of solder joints, each of the plurality of solder joints being surrounded by the epoxy flux. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein the epoxy flux has a greater thickness adjacent the plurality of solder joints proximate the first package and the second package than proximate a central region of the plurality of solder joints. 3. the method of claim 1 , wherein the coating the plurality of solder balls with the epoxy flux comprises an epoxy flux that includes a filler material. 4. the method of claim 1 , wherein the coating the plurality of solder balls with the epoxy flux comprises jet-spraying the epoxy flux on the plurality of solder balls after the forming the plurality of solder balls on the surface of the partially packaged first die. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the first package further comprises: coining the plurality of solder balls forming exposed flat surfaces on each of the plurality of solder balls. 6. the method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the second package further comprises encapsulating the second die and the first electrical connector with a molding material, the first electrical connector extending through the molding material from the backside to the frontside of the second package, and wherein the second electrical connector is a metal bump. 7. the method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the second package further comprises: screen printing an epoxy solder paste over the backside of the second package to form a plurality of epoxy solder paste structures, a first one of the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures directly contacting a surface of the first electrical connector. 8. the method of claim 7 , wherein the bonding the first package to the backside of the second package further comprises bonding the plurality of solder balls to the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures forming the plurality of solder joints. 9. the method of claim 8 , wherein sidewalls of the plurality of solder joints are substantially perpendicular to the backside of the second package. 10. the method of claim 7 , wherein the epoxy solder paste comprises tin, bismuth, and an epoxy component. 11. the method of claim 1 , further comprising forming an underfill material disposed between the first package, the second package, and the epoxy flux surrounding the plurality of solder joints, the underfill material having a different material composition than the epoxy flux. 12. a method comprising: packaging a first die to form a first package; forming a plurality of solder balls on a surface of the first package; forming an epoxy flux on the plurality of solder balls; packaging a second die to form a second package, the packaging the second die comprising forming a first through package via (tpv) extending through the second package, the first tpv being laterally spaced from the second die, the first tpv having a first surface substantially coplanar with a backside surface of the second die and a second surface substantially coplanar with an active surface of the second die; and coupling the plurality of solder balls to the second package forming a plurality of solder joints surrounded by epoxy flux, at least one of the solder joints being coupled to the first surface of the first tpv; wherein each of the plurality of solder joints comprises a metal stud, and a portion of the metal stud directly adjoins the epoxy flux. 13. the method of claim 12 , wherein the packaging the second die to form the second package further comprises: screen printing an epoxy solder paste over the backside surface of the second die and the first surface of the first tpv to form a plurality of epoxy solder paste structures, a first one of the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures directly contacting the first surface of the first tpv. 14. the method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of solder balls have a first reflow temperature and the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures have a second reflow temperature, the second reflow temperature being less than the first reflow temperature, wherein the coupling the plurality of solder balls to the second package comprises reflowing a solder material of the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures at a temperature less than the first reflow temperature. 15. the method of claim 14 , wherein the coupling the plurality of solder balls to the second package does not include reflowing a solder material of the plurality of solder balls. 16. the method of claim 12 further comprising an underfill surrounding the epoxy flux on the plurality of solder joints, the underfill having a different material composition than the epoxy flux. 17. a method comprising: packaging a first die to form a first package; forming a plurality of solder balls on a surface of the first package; coating the plurality of solder balls with an epoxy flux; packaging a second die to form a second package, the packaging the second die comprising: forming a first through package via (tpv) extending through an encapsulant of the second package, a first surface of the first tpv being substantially coplanar with a backside surface of the second die and a second surface of the first tpv being substantially coplanar with an active surface of the second die; and screen printing an epoxy solder paste over the backside surface of the second die and the first surface of the first tpv to form a plurality of epoxy solder paste structures, a first one of the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures directly contacting the first surface of the first tpv; and coupling the plurality of solder balls to the second package forming a plurality of solder joints surrounded by epoxy flux, at least one of the solder joints being coupled to the first surface of the first tpv. 18. the method of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of solder balls have a first reflow temperature and the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures have a second reflow temperature, the second reflow temperature being less than the first reflow temperature, wherein the coupling the plurality of solder balls to the second package comprises reflowing a solder material of the plurality of epoxy solder paste structures at a temperature less than the first reflow temperature. 19. the method of claim 12 , wherein the first tpv extends through an encapsulant of the second package.
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cross-reference to related cases this application is a continuation in part of, and claims the benefit of, u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/265,164, filed on apr. 29, 2014, titled “packaging methods and packaged semiconductor devices” which application is a divisional of u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/416,805, filed on mar. 9, 2012 and titled “packaging methods and packaged semiconductor devices,” which applications are incorporated herein by reference. background semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other electronic equipment, as examples. semiconductor devices are typically fabricated by sequentially depositing insulating or dielectric layers, conductive layers, and semiconductive layers of material over a semiconductor substrate, and patterning the various material layers using lithography to form circuit components and elements thereon. dozens or hundreds of integrated circuits are typically manufactured on a single semiconductor wafer and then singulated by sawing the integrated circuits along a scribe line. the individual dies may then be packaged separately, in multi-chip modules, or in other types of packaging. the semiconductor industry continues to improve the integration density of various electronic components (e.g., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.) by continual reductions in minimum feature size, which allow more components to be integrated into a given area. these smaller electronic components also require smaller packages that utilize less area than packages of the past, in some applications. one type of smaller packaging for semiconductor devices that has been developed is wafer level packaging (wlp), in which dies are packaged in packages that may include a redistribution layer (rdl) that is used to fan out wiring for contact pads of the integrated circuit die so that electrical contact can be made on a larger pitch than contact pads of the die. another type of packaging for semiconductor devices is referred to as a bump on trace (bot) package, in which dies or “flip-chips” are attached or soldered to traces on the bot packages. brief description of the drawings for a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: figs. 1 through 3 show cross-sectional views of a method of packaging semiconductor devices at various stages in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; figs. 4a through 4c illustrate more detailed cross-sectional views of a solder joint region of fig. 3 , showing an epoxy flux disposed on the solder joints and different shapes of the solder joints in accordance with embodiments; fig. 4d is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment wherein the epoxy flux includes a filler material; figs. 5 and 6 show cross-sectional views of embodiments wherein solder balls that form the solder joints include a metal stud; figs. 7 and 8 show cross-sectional views of methods of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with embodiments; fig. 9 illustrates a more detailed cross-sectional view of a solder joint region of fig. 8 ; fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of a method of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with another embodiment; fig. 11 illustrates a more detailed cross-sectional view of a solder joint region of fig. 10 ; fig. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of a method of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with another embodiment; fig. 13 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor package in accordance with another embodiment; figs. 14a through 14c show cross-sectional views of a method of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with another embodiment; figs. 15a through 15d show cross-sectional views of a method of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with another embodiment; figs. 16a and 16b illustrate detailed cross-sectional views of solder joint regions of figs. 13 , 14 c, and 15 d, showing an epoxy disposed on the solder joints in accordance with embodiments; figs. 17a and 17b illustrate detailed cross-sectional views of scanning electron microscope (sem) images of solder joint regions showing an epoxy disposed on the solder joints in accordance with embodiments; and fig. 18 is a flow chart of a packaging method in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generally refer to corresponding parts unless otherwise indicated. the figures are drawn to clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of the embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale. detailed description of illustrative embodiments the making and using of the embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed in detail below. it should be appreciated, however, that the present disclosure provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. the specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the disclosure, and do not limit the scope of the disclosure. embodiments of the present disclosure are related to packaging methods and structures for semiconductor devices. novel methods of packaging semiconductor devices and structures thereof will be described herein. figs. 1 through 3 show cross-sectional views of a method of packaging semiconductor devices at various stages in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. a first partially packaged die 100 is packaged with a second partially packaged die 120 in accordance with embodiments. referring first to fig. 1 , a first die 110 (shown in phantom in fig. 1 ) is provided. the first die 110 comprises an integrated circuit or chip that will be packaged with a second die (see second die 130 shown in phantom in fig. 2 ) in a single package. the first die 110 and the second die 130 may each include a workpiece that may include a semiconductor substrate comprising silicon or other semiconductor materials and may be covered by an insulating layer, for example. the first die 110 and second die 130 may include one or more components and/or circuits formed in and/or over the workpiece, not shown. the first die 110 and second die 130 may include conductive layers and/or semiconductor elements, e.g., transistors, diodes, capacitors, etc., also not shown. the dies 110 and 130 may comprise logic circuitry, memory devices, or other types of circuits, as examples. the dies 110 and 130 may include a plurality of contacts formed on a surface thereof. in some embodiments, the first die 110 comprises a memory device such as a random access memory (ram) or other types of memory devices, and the second die 130 comprises a logic device. for example, the first die 110 may be a stacked memory dies and include low-power (lp) double data rate (ddr) memory modules, such as lpddr1, lpddr2, lpddr3, or the like memory modules. the second die 130 may include a logic die, such as a central processing unit (cpu), a graphics processing unit (gpu), the like, or a combination thereof. alternatively, the first die 110 and the second die 130 may comprise other functional circuitry. the first die 110 is partially packaged to form a first partially packaged die 100 , as shown in fig. 1 . the first partially packaged die 100 is also referred to herein as a partially packaged first die. the first die 110 may be partially packaged by attaching the first die 110 to a first substrate 102 . the first substrate 102 may comprise an interposer, to be described further herein. the first substrate 102 includes a plurality of contacts 106 formed on a bottom surface thereof. the contacts 106 may comprise cu, al, au, alloys thereof, other materials, or combinations and/or multiple layers thereof, as examples. the contacts 106 may alternatively comprise other materials. in accordance with embodiments, a plurality of solder balls 108 are coupled to the contacts 106 on the bottom surface of the first substrate 102 , as shown in fig. 1 . an epoxy flux 111 is disposed over the plurality of solder balls 108 , as shown in fig. 2 . the epoxy flux 111 is formed on each of the plurality of solder balls 108 , for example. the epoxy flux 111 includes a flux component and an epoxy component. the flux component may comprise activators, solvents, and/or additives. in some embodiments, the flux component may comprise zinc chloride, ammonium chloride, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, or hydrobromic acid, as examples. the epoxy component may comprise polyepoxide, as an example. the epoxy component may comprise a similar material or the same material used for the molding compound 116 and/or 136 (see figs. 7 and 8 , respectively) which will be described further herein, for example. the flux component may comprise a material adapted to reduce or remove oxides on the solder balls 108 , to improve the solder joint 108 ′ (see fig. 3 ) formed by the solder balls 108 , as an example. alternatively, the epoxy flux 111 may comprise other materials and may include other components. the epoxy flux 111 may be formed on the plurality of solder balls 108 by dipping the plurality of solder balls 108 in the epoxy flux 111 in some embodiments. the epoxy flux 111 may comprise a liquid that is poured into a tray, and the partially packaged first die 100 may be placed proximate the tray and lowered towards the epoxy flux 111 until the plurality of solder balls 108 are at least partially submerged in the epoxy flux 111 , for example. a portion of the epoxy flux 111 adheres to the solder balls 108 , e.g., due to a meniscus effect. alternatively, the epoxy flux 111 may be sprayed onto the solder balls 108 , i.e., using a jet-spray process. the epoxy flux 111 may also be formed on the plurality of solder balls 108 using other methods. an amount of epoxy flux 111 that is formed on the solder balls 108 may be adjusted and/or controlled by altering an amount of the flux component of the epoxy flux 111 relative to the epoxy component in some embodiments. the flux component may be less viscous than the epoxy component in some embodiments, and increasing the amount of flux component may cause the epoxy flux 111 to flow faster and easier, thus forming less epoxy flux 111 on the solder balls 108 , in some embodiments. alternatively, a thickness of the epoxy flux 111 may be controlled by the jetting or the dipping amount. the thickness of the epoxy flux 111 may also be controlled using other methods. in some embodiments, the epoxy flux 111 comprises a storage modulus of about 0.1 to 10 gpa, for example. the second die 130 is provided, and the second die 130 is also partially packaged on a second substrate 122 , as described for the first die 110 , forming a second partially packaged die 120 , also shown in fig. 2 . the second partially packaged die 120 is also referred to herein as a partially packaged second die. the second die 130 may be partially packaged using a similar method as the first die 110 is partially packaged in some embodiments. in other embodiments, the second die 130 may be partially packaged using a different method than a method used to partially package the first die 110 . in some embodiments, the first die 110 is partially packaged using a flip-chip wafer level packaging (wlp) technique and wire bonding, and the second die 130 is partially packaged using a flip-chip and bump-on-trace (bot) technique, as an example. alternatively, the first die 110 and the second die 130 may be partially packaged using other methods or techniques. the second partially packaged die 120 includes a plurality of contacts 126 formed on a top surface thereof. the plurality of solder balls 108 having the epoxy flux 111 formed thereon on the first partially packaged die 100 are then coupled to the second partially packaged die 120 , as shown in fig. 3 . a solder reflow process may be used to couple the plurality of solder balls 108 to the contacts 126 of the partially packaged second die 120 . the solder reflow process reflows a solder material of the solder balls 108 , electrically and mechanically attaching the solder balls 108 to the contacts 126 of the partially packaged second die 120 . the solder balls 108 become solder joints 108 ′ after being attached to the contacts 126 of the partially packaged second die 120 , as shown in fig. 3 . the solder joints 108 ′ comprise the material of the solder balls 108 after the reflow process to attach the solder balls 108 to the partially packaged second die 120 . advantageously, the flux component of the epoxy flux 111 facilitates the soldering of the solder balls 108 to the contacts 126 of the partially packaged second die 120 . the flux component may be adapted to at least partially evaporate during the solder process to attach the solder balls 108 to the partially packaged second die 130 . in some embodiments, the flux component of the epoxy flux 111 substantially entirely evaporates during the soldering process, so that a cleaning process to remove any flux residue is not required, for example. in other embodiments, the flux component of the epoxy flux 111 is not entirely evaporated. in these embodiments, the flux component may comprise a material that is not detrimental to subsequent packaging steps and may thus be left remaining in the packaged semiconductor device 150 . in other embodiments, a cleaning process may be used to remove the flux component left remaining from the epoxy flux 111 after the solder reflow process, as another example. in some embodiments, an optional underfill material 118 , shown in phantom in fig. 3 , may be applied after the first partially packaged die 100 is coupled to the second partially packaged die 120 using the solder balls 108 with epoxy flux 111 formed thereon. the underfill material 118 may be applied using a dispensing needle along one or more edges of the packaged semiconductor device 150 , for example, although other methods may also be used to form the underfill material 118 . the underfill material 118 may comprise an epoxy or a polymer, although other materials may alternatively be used. however, in accordance with some embodiments, an underfill material 118 is not required, due to the use of the epoxy flux 111 having the epoxy component. thus, the use of the epoxy flux 111 in the packaging method advantageously avoids a processing step and a material in the packaging process in some embodiments, lowering packaging costs and time. advantageously, the use of the novel epoxy flux 111 in the packaged semiconductor device 150 results in at least a portion of the epoxy component of the epoxy flux 111 being left remaining on the solder joints 108 ′ after the soldering process, as shown in figs. 4a through 4c , which illustrate more detailed cross-sectional views of a solder joint region 142 of fig. 3 . the epoxy flux 111 left remaining surrounds the solder joints 108 ′, protecting and strengthening the solder joints 108 ′. also illustrated in figs. 4a through 4c (and also figs. 4d , 6 , 9 , and 11 ) are different shapes of the solder joints 108 ′ in accordance with embodiments after the solder reflow process. the plurality of solder joints 108 ′ may substantially comprise a shape of a circle or oval in a cross-sectional view, as shown in figs. 4a , 4 d, and 9 . alternatively, the plurality of solder joints 108 ′ may substantially comprise a shape of a barrel in a cross-sectional view, as shown in fig. 4b . in other embodiments, the plurality of solder joints 108 ′ may substantially comprise a shape of an hour glass in a cross-sectional view, as shown in fig. 4c , or a shape of a portion of a figure eight, as shown in fig. 11 . in fig. 4a , a portion of the epoxy flux 111 is left remaining after the soldering process proximate the solder joints 108 ′, in accordance with embodiments. the epoxy flux 111 may comprise a greater thickness adjacent the plurality of solder joints 108 ′ proximate the first substrate 102 and the second substrate 122 than proximate a wider central region of the plurality of solder joints 108 ′, in some embodiments. the epoxy flux 111 may not reside at all on the central region of the plurality of solder joints 108 ′ in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4a . alternatively, a small amount of epoxy flux 111 may reside on the central region of the plurality of solder joints 108 ′ in some embodiments, as shown in phantom at 111 ′ in fig. 4a . the small amount of epoxy flux 111 ′ may also reside on the central region of the plurality of solder joints 108 ′ in the other embodiments described herein, not shown in the drawings. the epoxy flux 111 or 111 ′ left remaining on the solder joints 108 ′ may comprise only the epoxy component in some embodiments, or both the epoxy component and a portion of the flux component, in other embodiments. the solder joints 108 ′ join together the contacts 106 on the first substrate 102 and the contacts 126 on the second substrate 122 . the epoxy flux 111 or 111 ′ left remaining on the solder joints 108 ′ advantageously strengthens the solder joints 108 ′ and reduces or prevents cracking due to thermal and/or mechanical stress, e.g., during the packaging process, during thermal cycling tests or other tests of the packaged semiconductor device 150 (see fig. 3 ), during shipping of the packaged semiconductor device 150 , and/or when the packaged semiconductor device 150 is used in an end application. thus, the epoxy flux 111 or 111 ′ improves the electrical and mechanical connection provided by the solder joints 108 ′ that join the first substrate 102 to the second substrate 122 . fig. 4d is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment wherein the epoxy flux 111 ″ includes a filler material 144 . the filler material 144 may comprise an insulating material or conductive material, for example. in some embodiments the filler material 144 may comprise sio 2 or aluminum nitride, as examples, although alternatively, the filler material 144 may comprise other types of materials. the filler material 144 may comprise about 20 to 90% by volume or weight of the epoxy flux 111 , as an example. alternatively, other amounts of the filler material 144 may be used. the filler material 144 is adapted to increase a thermal conductivity of the epoxy flux 111 ″ in some embodiments, for example. the filler material 144 may alternatively have other functions. figs. 5 and 6 show cross-sectional views of embodiments wherein the solder balls 108 include a metal stud 146 . the contacts 106 on the first substrate 102 may include a metal stud 146 formed thereon, as shown in phantom in fig. 5 . the metal stud 146 may also comprise a metal pillar, for example. the metal stud 146 may comprise au, cu, or other metals, for example. the solder balls 108 are formed on the metal studs 146 in this embodiment, as shown. an optional silicide 148 comprising nisi x or other materials may be formed over the metal studs 146 in some embodiments, for example. fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a solder joint region 142 formed by the solder ball 108 in fig. 5 after a solder reflow process in accordance with an embodiment. a portion of the metal stud 146 may be viewable in a cross-sectional view of the solder joint 108 ′ after the solder reflow process, in some embodiments, as shown. fig. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a method of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with an embodiment. more detailed views of the substrates 102 and 122 are shown. note that in the embodiments shown in figs. 7 , 8 , 10 , and 12 , the packaged semiconductor devices 150 are shown before the first partially packaged die 100 is coupled to the second partially packaged die 120 using the solder balls 108 having the epoxy flux 111 disposed thereon. the final packaged semiconductor devices 150 actually comprise the first partially packaged die 100 coupled to the second partially packaged die 120 using the solder joints 108 ′ having the epoxy flux 111 disposed thereon, as shown in fig. 3 . referring again to fig. 7 , the first substrate 102 and/or the second substrate 122 may comprise interposers in some embodiments. the first substrate 102 and/or the second substrate 122 may include a plurality of through-substrate vias (tsvs) 104 and 124 , respectively, and may comprise tsv interposers in some embodiments. the tsvs 104 and 124 comprise conductive or semiconductive material that extends completely through the substrates 102 and/or 122 . the tsvs 104 and 124 may optionally be lined with an insulating material. the tsvs 104 and 124 provide vertical electrical connections (e.g., y-axis connections) from a bottom surface to a top surface of the substrates 102 and 122 , respectively. the first substrate 102 and/or the second substrate 122 may include electronic components and elements formed thereon in some embodiments, or alternatively, the first substrate 102 and/or the second substrate 122 may be free of electronic components and elements. the substrates 102 and/or 122 may each include wiring 112 and 132 , respectively. the wiring 112 and/or 132 provides horizontal electrical connections (e.g., x-axis connections) in some embodiments, for example. the wiring 112 and 132 may include fan-out regions that include traces of conductive material for expanding the footprint of the first die 110 and second die 130 to a footprint of a bottom side of the substrates 102 and/or 122 , respectively, e.g., of contacts 106 of the first substrate 102 (and contacts within wiring 132 of the second substrate 122 , not labeled) that are coupled to the solder balls 108 and solder balls 138 , respectively. the wiring 112 and/or 132 of the substrates 102 and 122 may include one or more redistribution layers (rdls). the rdls may comprise one or more insulating layers and wiring layers. the rdls may include inter-level dielectrics (ilds) with wiring in metallization layers disposed or formed therein. the insulating layers can be silicon nitride, silicon carbide, silicon oxide, low-k dielectrics such as carbon doped oxides, extremely low-k dielectrics such as porous carbon doped silicon dioxide, a polymer, such as an epoxy, polyimide, benzocyclobutene (bcb), polybenzoxazole (pbo), the like, or a combination thereof, although other relatively soft, often organic, dielectric materials can also be used. the insulating layers may be deposited by chemical vapor deposition (cvd), atomic layer deposition (ald), physical vapor deposition (pvd), a spin-on-dielectric process, the like, or a combination thereof. the wiring layers may be a conductive material, such as copper, aluminum, titanium, the like, or a combination thereof, with or without a barrier layer. the wiring 112 and 132 may comprise one or more vias and/or conductive lines, for example. the wiring 112 and 132 , and also the tsvs 104 and 124 , may be formed using one or more subtractive etch processes, single damascene techniques, and/or dual damascene techniques, as examples. one or more carrier wafers, not shown, may be used to form the wiring 112 and 132 and/or the tsvs 104 and 124 . a portion of the wiring 112 and 132 resides on the top and bottom surfaces of the substrates 102 and 122 , respectively; e.g., portions of the wiring 112 of the first substrate 102 may comprise contacts 106 , wire bond pads 115 and/or other traces, and portions of the wiring 132 of the second substrate 122 may comprise contacts 126 and other contacts (not labeled) or traces that are coupleable to other elements, such as the solder balls 138 formed on the bottom surface of the second substrate 122 . in some embodiments, the first substrate 102 may not include an rdl in the wiring 112 , as shown in fig. 7 . all or some of the x-axis or horizontal electrical connections may be made using the wire bonds 114 that couple contacts on the first die 110 to wire bond pads 115 on the first substrate 102 , in this embodiment. in some embodiments, the second substrate 122 may include two rdls in the wiring 132 , also shown in fig. 7 . one rdl may be disposed proximate the top surface of the second substrate 122 and may be adapted to make x-axis electrical connections between contacts 126 coupled to connectors 134 and contacts 126 that will be coupled to the solder balls 108 . the connectors 134 may be microbumps and may be referred to as microbumps 134 hereinafter. the other rdl may be disposed proximate the bottom surface of the second substrate 122 and may be adapted to make x-axis electrical connections between the tsvs 124 and the contacts coupled to the plurality of solder balls 138 disposed on the bottom surface of the second substrate 122 , for example. a method of attaching the dies 110 and 130 to the substrates 102 and 122 , respectively, is also illustrated in fig. 7 . in the embodiment shown, the first die 110 is coupled to the first substrate 102 using a flip-chip technique, wherein wire bonds 114 are attached to contacts on the first die 110 at one end and wherein the wire bonds 114 are attached to contacts or wire bond pads 115 on the top surface of the first substrate 102 at the other end. the dies 110 and the wire bonds 114 may be encapsulated in the molding compound 116 . in some embodiments, the molding compound 116 is a polymer, an epoxy, silicon oxide filler material, the like, or a combination thereof. the second die 130 is attached to the second substrate 122 using a flip-chip bond-on-trace (bot) attachment technique, wherein microbumps 134 are coupled to the second die 130 , and the microbumps 134 are then soldered to contacts 126 in a central region of the top surface of the second substrate 122 , for example. an optional underfill material 140 may be formed under the second die 130 , over the second substrate 122 , as shown. the underfill material 140 may comprise similar materials and may be applied using similar methods as described for the optional underfill material 118 shown in fig. 3 , for example. alternatively, other methods may be used to attach the first die 110 and/or the second die 130 to the first substrate 102 and/or the second substrate 122 , respectively. the same method or a different method may be used to attach the first die 110 to the first substrate 102 , than is used to attach the second die 130 to the second substrate 122 . fig. 8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a method of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with another embodiment. like numerals are used to describe the various elements and components as were used in the previous figures. in this embodiment, a molding compound 136 is applied over the second partially packaged die 120 after the second die 130 is attached to the second substrate 122 and after the optional underfill material 140 is applied. the molding compound 136 may comprise similar materials as described for molding compound 116 of the first partially packaged die 100 shown in fig. 7 , for example. a portion of the molding compound 136 is removed from over the top surface of the second substrate 122 over contacts 126 , leaving the contacts 126 exposed. the top surface of the second substrate 122 may comprise a plurality of contacts 126 disposed thereon around a perimeter of the second substrate 122 , as shown in fig. 8 . the second die 130 is attached to contacts 126 in a central region of the second substrate 122 . contacts 126 in a perimeter region of the second substrate 122 may be larger than contacts 126 in a central region of the second substrate 122 , as shown. portions of the molding compound 136 are removed from over the plurality of contacts 126 on the top surface of the second substrate 122 using lithography or a laser, as examples, or other methods may alternatively be used. the portions of the molding compound 136 removed may comprise through-molding vias (tmvs), for example. the plurality of solder balls 108 are attached to the top surface of the second substrate 122 through the tmvs formed in the molding compound 136 . fig. 9 illustrates a more detailed cross-sectional view of a solder joint region 142 of the embodiment shown in fig. 8 . the solder joints 108 ′ may comprise a substantially circular shape in this embodiment. fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of a method of packaging semiconductor devices in accordance with another embodiment. after the molding compound 136 described in fig. 8 is formed and patterned to expose the contacts 126 in the perimeter region of the second substrate 122 , a plurality of solder balls 128 is formed on the plurality of contacts 126 exposed within the molding compound 136 on the second substrate 122 , in this embodiment. the plurality of solder balls 128 on the second substrate 122 is then coupled to the plurality of solder balls 108 with epoxy flux 111 disposed thereon on the first substrate 102 , and the solder of the solder balls 108 and 128 is reflowed. fig. 11 illustrates a more detailed cross-sectional view of a solder joint region 142 of the embodiment shown in fig. 10 . the solder joints 108 ′ after the reflow process comprise a portion of a figure eight shape in a cross-sectional view. the solder joints 108 ′ comprise a bottom portion that includes the material of the solder balls 128 on the second substrate 122 and a top portion that includes the material of the solder balls 108 on the first substrate 102 , after the solder reflow process. in the embodiments shown in figs. 8 through 11 , the molding compound 136 extends over a top surface of the second die 130 , as shown at 136 ′ in fig. 8 and fig. 10 . in other embodiments, the molding compound 136 may be formed to a lower height over the second substrate 122 so that the second die 130 is not covered by the molding compound 136 , as shown in fig. 12 . alternatively, the molding compound 136 may be applied to cover the second die 130 initially, and the portion of the molding compound 136 ′ (see fig. 8 and fig. 10 ) residing over the top surface of the second die 130 is then removed, e.g., using an etch-back process. in some embodiments such as the one shown in fig. 12 , solder balls 128 may be formed on the top surface of the second substrate 122 over the contacts 126 , before the molding compound 136 is applied. the etch-back process used to remove the excess molding compound 136 ′ may result in exposing a top portion of the solder balls 128 so that they may be attached to the solder balls 108 on the first substrate 102 , for example. in accordance with the embodiments shown in figs. 10 and 12 having solder balls 128 on the second partially packaged die 120 , the epoxy flux 111 may be applied to solder balls 108 on the first partially packaged die 100 . alternatively, the epoxy flux 111 may not be applied to solder balls 108 , but rather, the epoxy flux 111 may be applied to solder balls 128 disposed on the top surface of the second partially packaged die 120 , as shown in phantom in fig. 12 . the epoxy flux 111 can be applied to either solder balls 108 or solder balls 128 , for example. in other embodiments, the epoxy flux 111 may be applied to both the solder balls 108 on the first partially packaged die 100 and to the solder balls 128 on the second partially packaged die 120 , for example. fig. 13 illustrates a packaged semiconductor device 150 including an integrated fan-out (info) package configuration for the partially packaged die 120 . in some embodiments, the partially packaged die 120 does not include a substrate (see substrate 122 in fig. 7 ). the info package 120 may be formed in an orientation opposite of that shown in fig. 13 (e.g. the package 120 can be formed and flipped over). in some embodiments, the info package 120 may be formed by first forming one or more passivation layers 127 over a carrier wafer (not shown) and forming contacts 126 over the passivation layer 127 . the dies 130 may then be attached over the contacts 126 and the passivation layer 127 . in other embodiments, the passivation layer 127 is not formed until after partially packaged die 120 is formed and removed from the carrier wafer (not shown) and the passivation layer 127 is formed over the dies 130 and the molding compound 136 . in some other embodiments, the passivation layer 127 is omitted. backside surfaces of the dies 130 may be attached over the contacts 126 and the carrier wafer (not shown) using an adhesive layer 131 , such as a die attach film or the like. the dies 120 may be a single die or may be more than two dies. the dies 130 may include a logic die, such as a cpu, a gpu, the like, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments, the dies 130 include a die stack (not shown) which may include both logic dies and memory dies. the dies 130 may include an input/output (i/o) die, such as a wide i/o die that provides a connection between partially packaged dies 120 and 100 . the active surfaces of the dies 130 include interconnect structures 133 and connectors 134 . the interconnect structures 133 may include one or more rdls. the rdls may comprise one or more insulating layers and wiring layers. the rdls may include ilds with wiring in metallization layers disposed or formed therein. the insulating layers can be silicon nitride, silicon carbide, silicon oxide, low-k dielectrics such as carbon doped oxides, extremely low-k dielectrics such as porous carbon doped silicon dioxide, a polymer, such as an epoxy, polyimide, bcb, pbo, the like, or a combination thereof, although other relatively soft, often organic, dielectric materials can also be used. the insulating layers may be deposited by cvd, pvd, ald, a spin-on-dielectric process, the like, or a combination thereof. the wiring layers may be a conductive material, such as copper, aluminum, titanium, the like, or a combination thereof, with or without a barrier layer. the interconnect structures 133 may comprise one or more vias and/or conductive lines, for example. the interconnect structures 133 may be formed using one or more subtractive etch processes, single damascene techniques, and/or dual damascene techniques, as examples. the connectors 134 were described as microbumps 134 in previous embodiments. in this embodiment, the connectors 134 may be contacts, bond pads, underbump metallizations (ubms), the like, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments, the connectors 134 are formed by forming recesses into a dielectric layer on the interconnect structures 133 . the recesses may be formed to allow the connectors 134 to be embedded into the dielectric layer. in other embodiments, the recesses are omitted as the connectors 134 may be formed on the dielectric layer. the connectors 134 electrically and/or physically couple the dies 130 to the partially packaged die 100 through the electrical connectors 135 , and/or other packages through the solder balls 138 . in some embodiments, the connectors 134 include a thin seed layer (not shown) made of copper, titanium, nickel, gold, the like, or a combination thereof. the conductive material of the connectors 134 may be deposited over the thin seed layer. the conductive material may be formed by an electro-chemical plating process, cvd, ald, pvd, the like, or a combination thereof. in an embodiment, the conductive material of the connectors 134 is copper, tungsten, aluminum, silver, gold, the like, or a combination thereof. in an embodiment, the connectors 134 are ubms that include three layers of conductive materials, such as a layer of titanium, a layer of copper, and a layer of nickel. however, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that there are many suitable arrangements of materials and layers, such as an arrangement of chrome/chrome-copper alloy/copper/gold, an arrangement of titanium/titanium tungsten/copper, or an arrangement of copper/nickel/gold, that are suitable for the formation of the ubms 134 . any suitable materials or layers of material that may be used for the ubms 134 are fully intended to be included within the scope of the current application. in other embodiments, the connectors 134 are vias extending from the second side of the dies 130 partially into the dies 130 or, in some embodiments, completely through the dies 130 . the vias 134 may be formed by an etch process to form holes (not shown) in the dies 130 and the holes may be filled by a conductive material such as copper, aluminum, nickel, gold, silver, palladium, the like, or a combination thereof, and may have a composite structure including a plurality of layers. the vias 134 may also include seed layers, barrier layers, liners, the like, or a combination thereof. electrical connectors 135 may be formed over some of the contacts 126 before or after the dies 130 are attached. the electrical connectors 135 may include a seed layer (not shown) and may extend in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to a surface of the contact 126 . in some embodiments, the electrical connectors 135 are formed through electrical plating. in these embodiments, the electrical connectors 135 are made of copper, aluminum, nickel, gold, silver, palladium, the like, or a combination thereof, and may have a composite structure including a plurality of layers. in these embodiments, a sacrificial layer (not shown), such as a photoresist, is formed over the carrier wafer. in some embodiments, the photoresist is formed and patterned over the contacts 126 and then the electrical connectors 135 are formed in the patterned photoresist. the photoresist may be formed by a wet process, such as a spin-on process, or by a dry process, such as by applying a dry film. a plurality of openings may be formed in the photoresist to expose the underlying contacts 126 , and then a plating step may be performed to plate the electrical connectors 135 . in alternative embodiments, the electrical connectors 135 may be stud bumps, which are formed by wire bonding on the contacts 126 , and cutting the bond wire with a portion of bond wire left attached to the respective bond ball. for example, the electrical connectors 135 may include a lower portion and an upper portion, wherein the lower portion may be a bond ball (not shown) formed in the wire bonding, and the upper portion may be the remaining bond wire (not shown). the upper portion of the electrical connector 135 may have a uniform width and a uniform shape that are uniform throughout the top part, the middle part, and the bottom part of upper portion. the electrical connectors 135 may be formed of non-solder metallic materials that can be bonded by a wire bonder. in some embodiments, the electrical connectors 135 are made of copper wire, gold wire, the like, or a combination thereof, and may have a composite structure including a plurality of layers. in the wire bonding embodiments, the seed layer and the sacrificial layer may be omitted. the electrical connectors 135 may form a backside redistribution layer for the partially packaged die 120 . this backside redistribution layer may be used to couple another package(s) or component(s) to the partially packaged die 120 . after the dies 130 are attached and formed and the electrical connectors 135 are formed, the dies 130 and the electrical connectors 135 may be encapsulated. in some embodiments, the dies 130 and the electrical connectors 135 are encapsulated by the molding compound 136 . the molding compound 136 may be molded on the dies 130 and the electrical connectors 135 , for example, using compression molding. a curing step may be performed to cure the molding compound 136 , wherein the curing may be a thermal curing, an ultra-violet curing, the like, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments, the dies 130 , the connectors 134 , and the electrical connectors 135 are buried in the molding compound 136 , and after the curing of the molding compound 136 , a planarization step, such as a grinding, is performed on the molding compound 136 . the planarization step may be used to remove excess portions of the molding compound 136 , which excess portions are over top surfaces of the connectors 134 and the electrical connectors 135 . in some embodiments, surfaces of the connectors 134 and surfaces of the electrical connectors 135 are exposed, and are level with a surface of the molding compound 136 . the electrical connectors 135 may be referred to as tmvs, through package vias (tpvs), and/or through info vias (tivs) and will be referred to as tivs 135 hereinafter. the tivs 135 may have a first surface substantially coplanar with the backside surfaces of the dies 130 and a second surface substantially coplanar with the active surfaces of the dies 130 . after encapsulation, an interconnect structure 137 and the solder balls 138 may be formed over the dies 130 , the connectors 134 , the molding compound 136 , and the tivs 135 . the interconnect structure 137 may include one or more rdls. the rdls may comprise one or more insulating layers 139 and wiring layers 141 . the rdls may include ilds with wiring in metallization layers disposed or formed therein. the insulating layers 139 can be silicon nitride, silicon carbide, silicon oxide, low-k dielectrics such as carbon doped oxides, extremely low-k dielectrics such as porous carbon doped silicon dioxide, a polymer, such as an epoxy, polyimide, bcb, pbo, the like, or a combination thereof, although other relatively soft, often organic, dielectric materials can also be used. the insulating layers may be deposited by cvd, pvd, ald, a spin-on-dielectric process, the like, or a combination thereof. the wiring layers 141 may be a conductive material, such as copper, aluminum, titanium, the like, or a combination thereof, with or without a barrier layer. the interconnect structure 137 may include one or more vias and/or conductive lines, for example. the interconnect structure 137 may be formed using one or more subtractive etch processes, single damascene techniques, and/or dual damascene techniques, as examples. the interconnect structure 137 may be referred to as a frontside redistribution layer for the partially packaged die 120 . this frontside redistribution layer 137 may be utilized to couple the partially packaged dies 120 and/or 100 via the connectors 135 and 138 to one or more packages, package substrates, components, the like, or a combination thereof. the number of wiring layers 141 and the number of insulating layers 139 are only for illustrative purposes and are not limiting. there may be other number of passivation layers, and other number of metal layers different from those illustrated in fig. 13 . although the connectors 108 and 138 have been described as solder balls, they may be any suitable conductive connector. for example, the conductive connectors 108 and 136 may be solder balls, metal pillars, controlled collapse chip connection (c4) bumps, micro bumps, electroless nickel-electroless palladium-immersion gold technique (enepig) formed bumps, or the like. the conductive connectors 108 and 136 may include a conductive material such as solder, copper, aluminum, gold, nickel, silver, palladium, tin, the like, or a combination thereof. in an embodiment in which the conductive connectors 108 and/or 136 are solder bumps, they are formed by initially forming a layer of solder through such commonly used methods such as evaporation, electroplating, printing, solder transfer, ball placement, or the like. once a layer of solder has been formed on the structure, a reflow may be performed in order to shape the material into the desired bump shapes. in another embodiment, the conductive connectors 108 and/or 136 are metal pillars (such as a copper pillar) formed by a sputtering, printing, electro plating, electroless plating, cvd, or the like. the metal pillars may be solder free and have substantially vertical sidewalls. in some embodiments, a metal cap layer (not shown) is formed on the top of the metal pillar connectors. the metal cap layer may include nickel, tin, tin-lead, gold, silver, palladium, indium, nickel-palladium-gold, nickel-gold, the like, or a combination thereof and may be formed by a plating process. similar to the processes described above in figs. 7 , 8 , 10 , and 12 , the partially packaged die 100 may be attached to the partially packaged die 120 with the solder joints 108 ′. the solder joints 108 ′ may be formed by a reflow process on solder balls 108 . in addition, the solder joints 108 ′ include the epoxy flux 111 surrounding portions of the solder joints 108 ′. the epoxy flux 111 may be formed by dipping, jetting, or the like on the solder balls 108 . as discussed below in figs. 14a through 15d , the epoxy flux 111 may also be formed from epoxy solder paste. figs. 14a through 14c show a cross-sectional view of a method of packaging semiconductor devices similar to the semiconductor device 150 in fig. 13 in accordance with another embodiment. details regarding this embodiment that are similar to those for the previously described embodiments will not be repeated herein. in this embodiment, the partially packaged die 120 is formed as described in fig. 13 above and is placed on a structure 206 , such as a carrier wafer. referring to fig. 14a , the application of an epoxy solder paste 210 to the backside of the partially packaged die 120 is illustrated. the epoxy solder paste 210 may be screen printed using a stencil 202 , such as a metal stencil, with openings 204 over the contacts 126 , and a squeegee blade 208 . the epoxy solder paste include tin, silver, bismuth, copper, the like, or a combination thereof and an epoxy component. the epoxy component may be similar to the epoxy component described above for the epoxy flux 111 and the details are not repeated herein. in some embodiments, the epoxy component comprises from about 12% to about 13% by weight of the epoxy solder paste 210 . the squeegee blade 208 may be passed over the stencil 202 and its openings 204 as illustrated in fig. 14b . the squeegee blade 208 forces the epoxy solder paste 210 into the openings 204 forming the epoxy solder paste structures 212 in the openings 204 and the remaining epoxy solder paste 210 ′ remains on the stencil 202 . the squeegee blade 208 may be passed over the stencil 202 and its openings 204 a single time or multiple times. after the epoxy solder paste structures 212 are formed, the stencil 202 is removed and a reflow process may be performed to shape the epoxy solder paste structures 212 into, for example, epoxy solder balls. fig. 14c illustrates the packaged semiconductor device 150 after the partially packaged die 100 is attached to the partially packaged die 120 of fig. 14b . this structure may be similar to the packaged semiconductor device 150 described above in fig. 13 . the solder joints 108 ′ formed between the partially packaged dies 100 and 120 have the epoxy flux 111 surrounding portions of them as described above in figs. 3 and 4a through 4 d. in an embodiment, the solder balls 108 are not formed on the partially packaged die 100 and the solder joints 108 ′ and the epoxy flux 111 are formed from only the epoxy solder paste structures 212 . in another embodiment, the solder balls 108 are formed on the partially packaged die 100 and the solder joints 108 ′ and the epoxy flux 111 are formed from both the solder balls 108 and the epoxy solder paste structures 212 . in some embodiments, the solder balls 108 are coated with the epoxy flux 111 (see fig. 2 ) and the epoxy flux structure 111 in fig. 14c is from both the epoxy flux 111 on the solder balls 108 and the epoxy component in the epoxy solder paste structures 212 . in other embodiments, the solder balls 108 are not coated with the epoxy flux 111 and the epoxy flux structure 111 in fig. 14c is from the epoxy component of the epoxy solder paste structures 212 . in the embodiments including both the solder balls 108 and the epoxy solder paste structures 212 , the solder balls 108 and the epoxy solder paste structures 212 can have different reflow (melting) temperatures. for example, the solder balls 108 can have a reflow temperature of about 220° c., while tin-bismuth epoxy solder paste structures 212 can have a reflow temperature of about 150° c. hence, the reflow temperature to form the solder joints 108 ′ can be lower (e.g. less than 220° c. to about 150° c.) in the embodiments including tin-bismuth epoxy solder paste structures 212 . this reduced reflow temperature can reduce warpage of the packaged semiconductor device 150 . figs. 15a through 15d show a cross-sectional view of a method of packaging semiconductor devices similar to the semiconductor device 150 in fig. 13 in accordance with another embodiment. details regarding this embodiment that are similar to those for the previously described embodiments will not be repeated herein. in this embodiment, the solder balls 108 are “coined” or flattened to reduce the gap between the partially packaged dies 100 and 120 . referring to fig. 15a , the partially packaged die 100 is illustrated in a coining apparatus. the coining apparatus includes pressure plates 220 and 224 and an optional release film 222 . the coining process includes applying a pressure to one or both of the pressure plates 220 and 224 for a period of time to flatten a surface of the solder balls 108 . the pressure plates 220 and 224 are pressed or forced by a ram or other mechanism in opposing directions, as indicated by the arrows 226 a and 226 b of fig. 15a . in some embodiments, these opposing directions are substantially perpendicular to the major surfaces of the substrate 102 . in an embodiment, only one of the two pressure plates 220 and 224 moves while the other is stationary. after the coining process, the coined solder balls 108 may be coated in epoxy flux 111 . the coating process can be performed as described above in fig. 2 . figs. 15b and 15c illustrate the application of the epoxy solder paste 210 to form epoxy solder paste structures 212 . this process may be similar to the process described above in figs. 14a and 14b and the description is not repeated herein. fig. 15d illustrates the packaged semiconductor device 150 after the partially packaged die 100 is attached to the partially packaged die 120 of fig. 15c . this structure may be similar to the packaged semiconductor device 150 described above in figs. 13 and 14c except that the gap between the partially packaged dies 100 and 120 may be smaller due to the coined solder bumps 108 . although not illustrated, the embodiments in figs. 13 through 15d may include underfill formed between the partially packaged dies 100 and 120 and surrounding the solder joints 108 ′ and epoxy flux 111 . the underfill may be similar to the underfill 118 described above. figs. 16a and 16b illustrate detailed cross-sectional views of solder joint regions of figs. 13 , 14 c, and 15 d, showing an epoxy flux disposed on the solder joints in accordance with embodiments. fig. 16a illustrates an embodiment with the epoxy flux 111 after the formation of the solder joints 108 ′ remaining around the solder joints 108 ′. in some embodiments, the epoxy flux 111 only remains in corners adjacent the substrates 102 and 122 and the solder joints 108 ′ as illustrated in fig. 16a . in these embodiments, a central portion of the sidewall of the solder joint 108 ′s is exposed through the remaining epoxy flux 111 . in an embodiment, the outer sidewall of the epoxy flux 111 has an angle α 1 relative to major surfaces of the substrates 102 and 122 . the angle α 1 may be from about 40 degrees to about 60 degrees. the remaining epoxy flux 111 may have a thickness t 1 in the corners of the solder joints 108 ′ from surfaces of the substrates 102 and 122 . in an embodiment, the thickness t 1 is from about 30 μm to about 60 μm. fig. 16b illustrates an embodiment with the remaining epoxy flux 111 covering the sidewalls of the solder joints 108 ′. in this embodiment, a central portion of the solder joint 108 ′s is covered by the remaining epoxy flux 111 . in an embodiment, the outer sidewall in the corners of the solder joints 108 ′ of the epoxy flux 111 has the angle α 1 relative to major surfaces of the substrates 102 and 122 . the angle α 1 may be from about 40 degrees to about 60 degrees. the remaining epoxy flux 111 have the thickness t 1 in the corners of the solder joints 108 ′ from surfaces of the substrates 102 and 122 and a thickness t 2 along the substrates 102 and 122 . in an embodiment, the thickness t 1 is from about 30 μm to about 60 μm and the thickness t 2 is from about 10 μm to about 40 μm. figs. 17a and 17b illustrate detailed cross-sectional views of scanning electron microscope (sem) images of solder joint regions showing an epoxy disposed on the solder joints in accordance with embodiments. fig. 17a illustrates an embodiment where the solder joints 108 ′ are formed by the solder balls 108 and no epoxy solder paste structures 212 . in this embodiment, the solder joint 108 ′ has a sidewall angle α 2 relative to major surfaces of the substrates 122 and 102 . fig. 17b illustrates an embodiment where the solder joints 108 ′ are formed by both the solder balls 108 and the epoxy solder paste structures 212 . in this embodiment, the solder joint 108 ′ has a sidewall angle α 3 relative to major surfaces of the substrates 122 and 102 . in some embodiments, the angle α 3 is substantially perpendicular to the major surfaces of the substrates 102 and 122 . in an embodiment, the angle α 3 is greater than the angle α 2 . in an embodiment, the angle α 2 is about 60 degrees and the angle α 3 is about 90 degrees. referring to fig. 17b , the solder joint 108 ′ includes a line 108 a indicating an approximate demarcation line of bismuth concentration diffusion from the epoxy solder structure 212 into the solder ball 108 of the solder joint 108 ′. the lower portion of the solder joint 108 ′ has a higher concentration of bismuth than the upper portion of the solder joint 108 ′. in an embodiment, the bismuth-rich region of the solder joint 108 ′ includes about the lower one fourth to about the lower one third of the solder joint 108 ′. fig. 18 is a flow chart 160 of a packaging method in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. the method includes providing a first die 110 (step 162 ), partially packaging the first die 110 (step 164 ), and forming a plurality of solder balls 108 on a surface of the partially packaged first die 110 (step 166 ). an epoxy flux 111 is disposed over the plurality of solder balls 108 (step 168 ). the method includes providing a second die 130 (step 170 ), partially packaging the second die 130 (step 172 ), and coupling the plurality of solder balls 108 to the partially packaged second die 130 (step 174 ), forming the packaged semiconductor devices 150 shown in figs. 3 , 7 , 8 , 10 , and 12 that include solder joints 108 ′. embodiments of the present disclosure include methods of packaging semiconductor devices using the epoxy flux 111 , 111 ′, and 111 ″ and also include packaged semiconductor devices 150 that include the epoxy flux 111 , 111 ′, and 111 ″. advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure include providing novel packaging methods and structures 150 that utilize an epoxy flux 111 , 111 ′, or 111 ″ on solder balls 108 and/or 128 used to connect partially packaged dies 100 and 120 . novel package-on-package (pop) packaging techniques are disclosed that have improved solder joints 108 ′ formed by the solder balls 108 and/or 128 that include the epoxy flux 111 , 111 ′, and 111 ″ formed thereon. joint cracks, which may occur at an interface between solder joints 108 ′ (that comprise the solder ball 108 and/or 128 material) and solder pads (contacts 106 and/or 126 ), of pop packages and packaging methods are reduced or prevented by surrounding the solder joints 108 ′ with epoxy material from the epoxy flux 111 , 111 ′, and 111 ″ which strengthens the solder connections. at least an epoxy component of the epoxy flux 111 , 111 ′, and 111 ″ is left remaining surrounding the solder joints 108 ′ after the solder reflow process, which protects and strengthens the solder joints 108 ′ and also the metal studs 146 , if included. the novel packaging methods and structures are easily implementable in packaging and manufacturing process flows. an embodiment is a method including forming a first package and a second package. the forming the first package includes partially packaging a first die, forming a plurality of solder balls on a surface of the partially packaged first die, and coating the plurality of solder balls with an epoxy flux. the forming the second package includes forming a first electrical connector over a carrier wafer, attaching a second die adjacent the first electrical connector and over the carrier wafer, forming an interconnect structure over the first die and the first electrical connector, the interconnect structure being a frontside of the second package, forming a second electrical connector over the interconnect structure, the second electrical connector being coupled to both the first die and the first electrical connector, and removing the carrier wafer to expose a backside of the second package, the backside being opposite the frontside. the method further includes bonding the first package to the backside of the second package with the plurality of solder balls forming a plurality of solder joints, each of the plurality of solder joints being surrounded by the epoxy flux. an embodiment is a method including packaging a first die to form first package, forming a plurality of solder balls on a surface of the first package, forming an epoxy flux on the plurality of solder balls, packaging a second die to form a second package, the packaging the second die comprising forming a first through package via (tpv) extending through the second package, the first tpv having a first surface being substantially coplanar with a backside surface of the second die and a second surface substantially coplanar with an active surface of the second die, and coupling the plurality of solder balls to the second package forming a plurality of solder joints surrounded by epoxy flux, at least one of the solder joints being directly coupled to the first surface of the first tpv. a further embodiment a semiconductor package including a first die coupled to a first substrate, a second die encapsulated in a molding compound, a plurality of solder joints coupled between the first substrate and the second die, each of the plurality of solder joints having a lower portion and an upper portion in a cross-sectional view, the lower portions having higher concentrations of bismuth than the upper portions, and an epoxy layer on and surrounding at least the lower portion of the plurality of solder joints. although embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. for example, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that many of the features, functions, processes, and materials described herein may be varied while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods, and steps described in the specification. as one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present disclosure. accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
|
030-957-785-374-992
|
US
|
[
"TW",
"US",
"CN"
] |
G03F7/09,H01L21/027,H01L21/033,G03F7/20
| 2015-09-28T00:00:00 |
2015
|
[
"G03",
"H01"
] |
patterning process of a semiconductor structure with a middle layer
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a lithography method is provided in accordance with some embodiments. the lithography method includes forming a metal-containing layer on a substrate, the metal-containing layer including a plurality of conjugates of metal-hydroxyl groups; treating the metal-containing layer at temperature that is lower than about 300° c. thereby causing a condensation reaction involving the plurality of conjugates of metal-hydroxyl groups; forming a patterned photosensitive layer on the treated metal-containing layer; and developing the patterned photosensitive layer so as to allow at least about 6% decrease of optimum exposure (e op ).
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1. a method comprising: forming a metal-containing layer on a substrate, the metal-containing layer including silicon and a metal-hydroxyl group, the metal-hydroxyl group including a metal directly bonded to oxygen and hydrogen directly bonded to the oxygen, the metal being different from silicon; treating the metal-containing layer to cause a condensation reaction involving the metal-hydroxyl group that debonds the hydrogen from the oxygen, wherein the treating of the metal-containing layer includes performing a baking process on the metal-containing layer; forming a photosensitive layer on the treated metal-containing layer; and developing the photosensitive layer to form a patterned photosensitive layer. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein the baking process includes baking the metal-containing layer at a temperature ranging from about 100° c. to about 300° c. during the entire baking process. 3. the method of claim 1 , further comprising forming an organic polymer layer on the substrate, and wherein the forming of the metal-containing layer on the substrate includes forming the metal-containing layer on the organic polymer layer. 4. the method of claim 3 , wherein the organic polymer layer is free of silicon, and wherein the forming of the metal-containing layer on the organic polymer layer includes forming the metal-containing layer directly on the organic polymer layer such that the metal-containing layer interfaces with the organic polymer layer. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein the metal-containing layer includes a material selected from the group consisting of hf, zr, ti, cr, w, mo, fe, ru, os, co, rh, ir, ni, pd, pt, cu, ag, au, zn, cd, al, ga, tl, ge, sn, pb, sb, ca, ba, and bi. 6. the method of claim 1 , wherein the metal-containing layer includes either a metal catalyst or a non-metal catalyst. 7. the method of claim 6 , wherein the metal catalyst includes a material selected from the group consisting of an organometallic with organic ligands, a metal oxide, a metal nitride, and a metal sulfide, and wherein the non-metal catalyst includes a material selected from the group consisting of hydrogen chloride, sulfonic acid, acetic acid, amine, and ammonium salt. 8. a method comprising: forming a metal-containing layer having a metal-hydroxyl group on a substrate, wherein the metal-containing layer includes silicon and an additive, the metal-hydroxyl group including a metal directly bonded to oxygen and hydrogen directly bonded to the oxygen, the metal being different from silicon; treating the metal-containing layer to cause the additive to react with the metal-hydroxyl group to debond the hydrogen from the oxygen; forming a photosensitive layer on the treated metal-containing layer. 9. the method of claim 8 , further comprising developing the photosensitive layer to form a patterned photosensitive layer. 10. the method of claim 8 , wherein the additive is a capping agent. 11. the method of claim 10 , wherein the additive is a chelating ligand. 12. the method of claim 11 , wherein the chelating ligand is selected from the group consisting of a monodentate ligand, a bidentate ligand, a tridentate ligand, a hexadentate ligand, and a polydentate ligand. 13. the method of claim 8 , wherein the additive includes a functional group selected from the group consisting of alcohol, diol, thiol, dithiol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (edta), amine, phosphine, alkene, alkyne, —i, —br, —cl, —nh2, —cooh, —oh, —sh, —n3, —s(═o)—, imine, vinyl ether, acetal, hemiacetal, ester, aldehyde, ketone, amide, sulfone, acetic acid, cyanide, ketene, isocyanate, and allene. 14. the method of claim 8 , wherein the treating of the metal-containing layer includes forming a passivation layer directly on the metal-containing layer. 15. the method of claim 8 , wherein the treating of the metal-containing layer includes performing a thermal treatment process on the metal-containing layer. 16. a lithography method, comprising: forming an organic polymer layer free of silicon on a substrate; forming a metal-containing layer on the organic polymer layer, the metal-containing layer including silicon and a first concentration of metal-hydroxyl groups, wherein each metal hydroxyl group includes a metal directly bonded to oxygen and hydrogen directly bonded to oxygen, the metal being different from silicon; treating the metal-containing layer to reduce the concentration of metal-hydroxyl groups in the metal-containing layer such that the treated metal-containing layer has a second concentration of the metal-hydroxyl groups that is less than the first concentration; and forming a photosensitive layer on the treated metal-containing layer. 17. the method of claim 16 , further comprising developing the photosensitive layer so as to allow at least about 6% decrease of optimum exposure (e op ). 18. the method of claim 16 , wherein the treating the metal-containing layer includes applying a material on a surface of the metal-containing layer, the material selected from the group consisting of hmds, diols, alcohols, organometallic with organic ligands, metal oxide, metal nitride, and metal sulfide. 19. the method of claim 18 , wherein the treating of the metal-containing layer includes performing a thermal treatment process on the metal-containing layer at temperature at a temperature ranging from about 100° c. to about 300° c. during the entire thermal treatment process. 20. the method of claim 16 , wherein the forming of the photosensitive layer on the treated metal-containing layer includes forming the photosensitive layer directly on the treated metal-containing layer such that the photosensitive layer interfaces with the treated metal-containing layer.
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priority data the present application is a continuation application of u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/868,043, filed sep. 28, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. background in integrated circuit (ic) fabrications, a patterned photoresist layer is used to transfer a designed pattern having small feature sizes from a photomask to a wafer. the photoresist is light-sensitive and can be patterned by a photolithography process. furthermore, the photoresist layer provides resistance to etch or ion implantation, which further requires a sufficient thickness. when ic technologies are continually progressing to smaller feature sizes, for example, down to 32 nanometers, 28 nanometers, 20 nanometers and below, the thickness is not scaled down accordingly because of the resistance requirement. depth of focus sufficient enough to cover the thicker photoresist degrades the imaging resolution. multiple-film photoresist is introduced to overcome the above challenge. however, while a variety of such multiple-film photoresists have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect. brief description of the drawings aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. it is noted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. in fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. fig. 1 illustrates a method for fabricating a semiconductor device using a trilayer photoresist in accordance with various embodiments. figs. 2a through 2g illustrate sectional views of one exemplary semiconductor structure at various fabrication stages, constructed in accordance with some embodiments. fig. 3 illustrates an example of a chemical reaction of a treatment to a hardmask, constructed according to aspects of the present disclosure in some embodiments. fig. 4 illustrates an example of a chemical reaction of a treatment to a hardmask, constructed according to aspects of the present disclosure in some embodiments. detailed description it is understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of various embodiments. specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. these are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. for example, the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in the description that follows may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features may be formed interposing the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact. in addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. this repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed. as lithographic features are reduced, for example, to below 40 nanometers (nm), high numerical aperture processes are needed to overcome the resolution limit. the use of a multiple-film photoresist (e.g., trilayer photoresist stack) appears to be promising in this regard. specifically, trilayer photoresist stack may provide for improvements in pattern transfer, line edge roughness (ler), and line width roughness (lwr) among other benefits. in general, such a trilayer photoresist stack includes an under layer, a middle layer over the under layer, and a photoresist layer over the middle layer. conventionally, the under layer and/or the middle layer of the trilayer stack may contain silicon. the silicon-containing under layer and/or middle layer have demonstrated good reflectivity control and reasonable etch selectivity. moreover, for a trilayer photoresist stack to be used in an extreme ultraviolet lithography (euvl), a metal-containing middle layer may be used. such a metal-containing middle layer (e.g., a hardmask layer) absorbs euv wavelengths, so that using the metal-containing hardmask layer may provide increased sensitivity of a euv photoresist that is formed over the metal-containing middle layer. however, a variety of issues may occur especially at the interface of the metal-containing middle layer and the euv photoresist such as for example, one or more conjugates of metal-hydroxyl groups formed on the surface of the metal-containing hardmask layer (i.e., the interface between the euv photoresist and the hardmask layer). usually, such conjugates of metal-hydroxyl groups formed at the interface may in turn result in undesirably formed pattern of the photoresist (e.g., an undercut profile and/or a footing profile of the photoresist). thus, the present disclosure provides methods to treat such metal-containing hardmask layers thereby providing an improved interface between a hardmask layer and an overlaying photoresist. fig. 1 is a flow chart of a method 100 of patterning a substrate (e.g., a semiconductor wafer) according to various aspects of the present disclosure. the method 100 may be implemented, in whole or in part, by a system employing deep ultraviolet (duv) lithography, extreme ultraviolet (euv) lithography, electron beam (e-beam) lithography, x-ray lithography, and/or other lithography processes to improve pattern dimension accuracy. in the present embodiment, euv and/or e-beam lithography is used as the primary example. additional operations can be provided before, during, and after the method 100 , and some operations described can be replaced, eliminated, or moved around for additional embodiments of the method. the method 100 is described below in conjunction with figs. 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g wherein a semiconductor device 200 is fabricated by using embodiments of the method 100 . the semiconductor device 200 may be an intermediate device fabricated during processing of an ic, or a portion thereof, that may comprise sram and/or other logic circuits, passive components such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors, and active components such as p-type fets (pfets), n-type fets (nfets), fin-like fets (finfets), other three-dimensional (3d) fets, metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (mosfet), complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (cmos) transistors, bipolar transistors, high voltage transistors, high frequency transistors, other memory cells, and/or combinations thereof. referring now to fig. 1 in conjunction with fig. 2a , the method 100 begins with operation 102 in which a substrate 202 of a semiconductor device 200 is provided. the semiconductor device 200 is a semiconductor wafer in the present embodiment. the semiconductor device 200 includes a semiconductor substrate 202 , such as a silicon substrate in some embodiments. the substrate 202 may include another elementary semiconductor, such as germanium, or diamond in some embodiments. the substrate 202 may include a compound semiconductor, such as silicon carbide, gallium arsenic, indium arsenide, and indium phosphide. the substrate 202 may include an alloy semiconductor, such as silicon germanium, silicon germanium carbide, gallium arsenic phosphide, and gallium indium phosphide. the substrate 202 may include one or more epitaxial semiconductor layer, such as semiconductor layer(s) epitaxially grown on a silicon substrate. for example, the substrate may have an epitaxial layer overlying a bulk semiconductor. further, the substrate may be strained for performance enhancement. for example, the epitaxial layer may include semiconductor materials different from those of the bulk semiconductor such as a layer of silicon germanium overlying a bulk silicon, or a layer of silicon overlying a bulk silicon germanium formed by a process including selective epitaxial growth (seg). furthermore, the substrate 202 may include a semiconductor-on-insulator (soi) structure. for examples, the substrate may include a buried oxide (box) layer formed by a process such as separation by implanted oxygen (simox). in other embodiments, the substrate 202 may include a glass such as in thin film transistor (tft) technologies. referring to fig. 2b , method 100 proceeds to operation 104 with forming an underlayer (or material layer) 204 over the substrate 202 . the semiconductor device 200 may also include other material layers and other circuit patterns. for example, the semiconductor device 200 may include various doped features, such as doped well structure (e.g., a p-typed doped well and an n-type doped well) formed in the semiconductor substrate 202 . in other embodiments, the semiconductor device 200 may further include one or more material layers to be patterned (by etching to remove or ion implantation to introduce dopants), such as a dielectric layer to be patterned to form trenches for conductive lines or holes for contacts or vias; a gate material stack to be patterned to form gates; and/or a semiconductor material to be patterned to form isolation trenches. in other embodiments, multiple semiconductor material layers, such as gallium arsenic (gaas) and aluminum gallium arsenic (algaas), are epitaxially grown on the semiconductor substrate and are patterned to form various devices, such as light-emitting diodes (leds). in some other embodiments, the semiconductor device 200 includes fin active regions and three dimensional fin field-effect transistors (finfets) formed or to be formed thereon. the underlayer 204 is configured to provide resistance to etching or ion implantation. the underlayer 204 functions as a mask to protect the substrate 202 from etching or ion implantation. accordingly, the underlayer 202 has a sufficient thickness in this regard. in some embodiments, the underlayer 202 includes an organic polymer free of silicon. in some embodiments, the forming the under layer 202 (i.e., operation 104 ) includes spin-on coating and curing (such as a thermal baking process with a proper baking temperature). referring to fig. 2c , method 100 then continues to operation 106 with forming a hardmask layer 206 (or metal-containing layer) over the underlayer 204 . hardmask layer 206 is a silicon-based and metal-containing layer so as to provide etch selectivity from the underlayer 204 . furthermore, hardmask layer 206 provides increased sensitivity to euv light to a overlaying photoresist layer. in some other embodiments, hardmask layer 206 is designed to function as a bottom anti-reflective coating that reduces reflection during a lithography exposure process, thereby increasing the imaging contrast and enhancing the imaging resolution. in some alternative embodiments, hardmask layer 206 is formed over a underlayer 204 that is free of silicon (i.e. a silicon-free underlayer 202 ) to enhance etching selectivity between the layers. in some embodiments, forming the hardmask layer 206 includes spin-on coating and curing (such as a thermal baking process with a suitable baking temperature). the present disclosure provides various embodiments of hardmask layer 206 . in an embodiment, hardmask layer 206 is a metal-containing silicon-based hardmask. such metal-containing silicon-based hardmask 206 may be formed of any combination selected from a group consisting of: a silicon-containing polymer, a metalline polymer, an organic polymer, a metalorganic polymer, a crosslinker, a chromophore, a photo acid generator (pag), a quencher, a fluoro additive, and a solvent. examples of the metal composition of the hardmask 206 may include hf, zr, ti, cr, w, mo, fe, ru, os, co, rh, ir, ni, pd, pt, cu, ag, au, zn, cd, al, ga, tl, ge, sn, pb, sb, ca, ba, and/or bi. in addition, the hardmask 206 may further include a non-metallic catalyst and a metallic catalyst in accordance with various embodiments. regarding the catalysts, example of the metallic catalysts may include organometallic with organic ligands, metal oxide, metal nitride, and/or metal sulfide. embodiments of the non-metallic catalysts may include acids, bases, and ionic salts such as for example, hydrogen chloride, sulfonic acid, acetic acid, amine, and/or ammonium salt. by including such catalysts in the formed hardmask layer 206 , a conjugation of metal-hydroxyl groups within and/or on a surface of the hardmask layer 206 may be reduced via a condensation reaction on the conjugation of metal-hydroxyl groups. details of the catalysts for reducing a conjugation of metal-hydroxyl groups is discussed below. in another embodiment, the metal-containing silicon-based hardmask layer 206 may further include additives such as capping agent(s) and/or chelating ligand(s). the additive may be blended with the silicon-containing polymer, the metalline polymer, the organic polymer, and/or the metalorganic polymer that are used to form the metal-containing silicon-based hardmask 206 . such additives may be configured to passivate/cover free hydroxyl groups within and/or on the surface of the hardmask layer 206 thereby reducing the conjugation of metal-hydroxyl groups within and/or on a surface of the hardmask layer 206 . in accordance with an embodiment, the additive may include at least one of the functional groups: alcohol, diol, thiol, dithiol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (edta), amine, phosphine, alkene, alkyne, —i, —br, —cl, —nh2, —cooh, —oh, —sh, —n3, —s(═o)—, imine, vinyl ether, acetal, hemiacetal, ester, aldehyde, ketone, amide, sulfone, acetic acid, cyanide, and/or allene. some specific examples of the capping agent may be represented as: similarly, some specific examples of the chelating ligand may be represented as: more specifically, the chelating ligand may be in a variety of compositions and/or forms such as for example, m-or, m-oocr, m-oc(═o)or, m-cl, m-br, m-nr3, m-cn, m-sr, m-c(═o)r, m-n(r)—c(═o)r, m-cr═crr, m-r, edta, a bidentate ligand, a tridentate ligand, a hexadentate ligand, a polydentate ligand, wherein m represents a metal atom coordinated with the chelating ligand. the method 100 proceeds to operation 108 with treating ( 207 in fig. 2d ) the metal-containing silicon-based hardmask layer 206 so as to form a treated hardmask layer 206 ′ in accordance with various embodiments. a variety of approaches may be used to treat the hardmask 206 . in an embodiment, treating the hardmask 206 may include baking the semiconductor device 200 in temperature ranging from about 100° c. to about 300° c. in the example in which the hardmask 206 includes the metallic and/or the non-metallic catalysts, after the treating (i.e., operation 108 in figs. 1 and 207 in fig. 2d ), the catalyst may induce a condensation reaction on at least two conjugates of the metal-hydroxyl groups within or on the surface of the hardmask 206 . on the other hand, in the example in which the additive (e.g., the capping agent and/or the chelating ligand) is blended into the composition to form the hardmask 206 , a variety of chemical reactions (e.g., a replacement reaction, a condensation reaction, a s n 2 reaction, a s n 1 reaction, an e1 reaction, an e2 reaction, an oxidation reaction, a reduction reaction, a cycloaddition reaction, an elimination reaction, and a crosslinking reaction) may occur on the conjugates of the metal-hydroxyl groups within or on the surface of the hardmask 206 . in a specific embodiment, the chemical reaction induced by the capping agent and/or the chelating ligand may include passivate/cover free hydroxyl groups on the surface of the hardmask 206 . moreover, the functional groups (e.g., alcohol, diol, thiol, dithiol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (edta), amine, phosphine, alkene, alkyne, —i, —br, —cl, —nh2, —cooh, —oh, —sh, —n3, —s(═o)—, imine, vinyl ether, acetal, hemiacetal, ester, aldehyde, ketone, amide, sulfone, acetic acid, cyanide, ketene, isocyanate, and allene) of the capping agent and/or the chelating ligand may be configured to induce the above-mentioned chemical reactions. alternatively or additionally, in another embodiment, treating the hardmask 206 may include forming a passivation layer 208 over the hardmask 206 ( fig. 2e ). in a specific embodiment, the passivation layer may be a polymeric layer formed on the surface of the hardmask 206 wherein the polymeric layer includes polyhydroxystyrene (phs), methacrylate, polyether, silicon-containing polymers, organic polymers containing aromatic rings, or a combination hereof. according to the current embodiment, a thickness of the passivation layer 208 may be ⅙ the thickness of the hardmask 206 . yet in another embodiment, the treating the hardmask 206 may include modifying the surface of the hardmask 206 using a variety of compositions such as for example, hmds, diols, alcohols, organometallic with organic ligands, metal oxide, metal nitride, and/or metal sulfide. furthermore, such a variety of compositions may be applied to the surface of the hardmask 206 and a baking step may be followed so as to reduce free hydroxyl groups on the surface of the hardmask 206 . referring now to fig. 3 , an example of the condensation reaction induced by the catalyst is illustrated. as shown in fig. 3 , two free hydroxyl groups 301 and 303 (“—oh”) are formed and bonded to the metal(s) (“m”) 305 and 307 of the hardmask 206 . after the treating step 207 (operation 108 ), the catalyst 309 may induce a condensation reaction to remove the free hydroxyl groups to form treated hardmask 206 ′. more specifically, the condensation reaction may include combining one hydroxide from one of the free hydroxyl groups and one hydrogen from the other free hydroxyl group to form water 311 . referring now to fig. 4 , an example of a reaction induced by the capping agent 401 is illustrated. as shown in, the capping agent 401 is configured to react with each of the free hydroxyl groups 301 and 303 of the hardmask 206 so as to form a passivated/treated hardmask 206 ′ (i.e., free of free hydroxyl groups as shown in fig. 4 ). referring to fig. 2f , method 100 proceeds to operation 110 with forming a material layer 210 over the treated hardmask 206 ′. in an embodiment, the material layer 210 is formed by spin-on coating a liquid polymeric material onto the treated hardmask 206 ′. in an embodiment, the material layer 210 is further treated with a soft baking process and a hard baking process. in an embodiment, the material layer 210 is a radiation sensitive layer, such as a photoresist including an i-line resist, a duv resist including a krypton fluoride (krf) resist and argon fluoride (arf) resist, a euv resist, an electron beam (e-beam) resist, and an ion beam resist. in the present embodiment, the material layer 210 is a resist sensitive to euv radiation. the method 100 proceeds to operation 112 by exposing the photoresist 210 to a radiation beam 230 in a lithography system, as shown in fig. 2f . the radiation beam may be an i-line (365 nm), a duv radiation such as krf excimer laser (248 nm) or arf excimer laser (193 nm), a euv radiation (e.g., 13.5 nm), an e-beam, an x-ray, an ion beam, and/or other suitable radiations. operation 112 may be performed in air, in a liquid (immersion lithography), and/or in a vacuum (e.g., for euv lithography and e-beam lithography). in an embodiment, the radiation beam is patterned with a mask, such as a transmissive mask or a reflective mask, which may include resolution enhancement techniques such as phase-shifting and/or optical proximity correction (opc). in another embodiment, the radiation beam is directly modulated with a predefined pattern, such as an ic layout, without using a mask (maskless lithography). in the present embodiment, the radiation beam is a euv radiation and the operation 112 is performed in a euv lithography system, such as the euv lithography system. still referring to operation 112 , after the exposure, the operation 112 may further include a treatment process. an example of such treatment processes may include baking the substrate 202 . the method 100 then proceeds to operation 114 by developing the exposed photoresist 210 in a developer as shown in fig. 2g . in an embodiment, the developer may be a positive tone developer that dissolves and removes exposed portions of the photoresist 210 or a negative tone developer that selectively dissolves and removes the unexposed areas of the photoresist 210 as well as the under-exposed areas of the photoresist 210 , thereby forming a patterned photoresist 210 ′. in the example as shown in fig. 2g , the patterned photoresist 210 ′ are represented by two line patterns. however, the following discussion is equally applicable to resist patterns represented by trenches. by using the current embodiments of the hardmask layer 206 , a variety of improvements of the developed photoresist 210 may be provided such as, for example, sensitivity of the photoresist 210 , reflectivity of the photoresist, and other characteristic of the photoresist 210 known in the art. in an example, for the hardmask layer 206 that includes aluminum oxide (al 2 o 3 ), an optimum exposure (e op ) may be decreased to about 11 mj while an e op of about 13 mj may be required with a conventional hardmask layer. that is, about 15% decrease of e op may be provided. in another example in which the hardmask layer 206 includes germanium (ge), an optimum exposure (e op ) may be decreased to about 16 mj while an e op of about 17 mj may be required with a conventional hardmask layer. that is, about 6% decrease of e op may be provided. the method 100 may proceed to forming a final pattern and/or an ic device on the substrate 202 . for example, method 100 proceeds to one or more further operations to etch the substrate 202 using the patterned photoresist 210 ′ as an etch mask, thereby transferring the pattern from the patterned photoresist 210 ′ to the treated hardmask 206 ′, the underlayer 204 , and/or the substrate 202 . the present disclosure provides a lithography method for fabricating a semiconductor device. more specifically, the currently disclosed method is directed to fabricating a semiconductor device using a multi-layer photoresist stack (e.g., a trilayer photoresist stack). as mentioned above, a conventional trilayer photoresist stack uses silicon-containing middle layer as a hardmask, and in a further embodiment of using a trilayer photoresist in a euvl, a metal-containing silicon-based hardmask is employed in order to enhance sensitivity of the trilayer photoresist to euv light. however, in such a trilayer photoresist stack with a metal-containing silicon-based hardmask, issues such as interface degradation between a hardmask and a photoresist may arise. conventionally, such issues may be resolved by baking the substrate/hardmask in temperature generally higher than about 400° c. in turn, baking the substrate in such high temperature, other issues (e.g., contamination) may arise. thus, the present disclosure provides various embodiments to provide an improved hardmask and/or a passivated surface of a hardmask of a multi-layer photoresist stack. as such, the interface between a hardmask and a photoresist may not be subjected to the above-mentioned issues. moreover, by using the presently disclosed embodiments, high baking temperature that is conventionally required to passivate a hardmask surface is not needed. in accordance with the current embodiments, baking the disclosed hardmask at temperature between about 100° c. and about 300° c. may be sufficient to cause the metal-containing silicon-based hardmask to avoid the issue (e.g., interface degradation between the hardmask and a coupled photoresist). as such, the coupled photoresist may be more sensitive to a radiation source (e.g., euv radiation source), which means that the coupled photoresist may only require lower exposure energy (e.g., decrease of optimum exposure (e op )) to be patterned/developed. accordingly, a more flexible lithography method may be provided. a lithography method is provided in accordance with some embodiments. the lithography method includes forming a metal-containing layer on a substrate, the metal-containing layer including a plurality of conjugates of metal-hydroxyl groups; treating the metal-containing layer at temperature that is lower than about 300° c. thereby causing a condensation reaction involving the plurality of conjugates of metal-hydroxyl groups; forming a patterned photosensitive layer on the treated metal-containing layer; and developing the patterned photosensitive layer so as to allow at least about 6% decrease of optimum exposure (e op ). a lithography method is provided in accordance with some embodiments. the lithography method includes forming a metal-containing layer having a metal hydroxide group on a substrate, wherein the metal-containing layer includes an additive, wherein the additive is selected from the group consisting of a capping agent and a chelating ligand; treating the metal-containing layer at temperature that is lower than about 300° c. thereby causing the additive to react with the metal-hydroxyl group; forming a patterned photosensitive layer on the treated metal-containing layer; and developing the patterned photosensitive layer so as to allow at least about 6% decrease of optimum exposure (e op ). a lithography method is provided in accordance with some embodiments. the lithography method includes forming an under layer on a substrate; forming a metal-containing middle layer on the under layer; treating the metal-containing middle layer at temperature that is lower than about 300° c. thereby reducing at least, in part, a plurality of conjugates of metal-hydroxyl group on a surface of the metal-containing layer; forming a patterned photosensitive layer on the metal-containing middle layer; and developing the patterned photosensitive layer so as to allow at least about 6% decrease of optimum exposure (e op ). the foregoing has outlined features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description that follows. those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
|
032-332-445-698-977
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
F03D9/00,H02P9/04,H02K7/09
| 2007-01-19T00:00:00 |
2007
|
[
"F03",
"H02"
] |
magnetic levitation weight reduction structure for a vertical wind turbine generator
|
a magnetic levitation weight reduction structure for a vertical wind turbine generator includes a frame, a fixed permanent magnet, an axle, a revolving permanent magnet, a blade hub, and a generator. the fixed permanent magnet fixed to the frame has a first repulsive surface. the axle is connected to the frame. the revolving permanent magnet fixed to the axle has a second repulsive surface in relation to the first repulsive surface of the fixed permanent magnet. both the first and the second repulsive surfaces repel with each other. the blade hub and the generator are connected to the axle. when the revolving permanent magnet is rotated, the axle functions as a balance center.
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1. a magnetic levitation weight reduction structure for a vertical wind turbine generator, comprising: a frame; a fixed permanent magnet fixed to the frame having a first repulsive surface; an axle connected to the frame comprising a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion; a revolving permanent magnet secured to the axle having a second repulsive surface in relation to the first repulsive surface of the fixed permanent magnet, the first repulsive surface and the second repulsive surface repelling with each other, the axle functioning as a balance center when the revolving permanent magnet is rotated; a blade hub connected to the first connecting portion of the axle; a generator connected to the second connecting portion of the axle; wherein the fixed permanent magnet and the revolving permanent magnet each has at least one inclined portion, wherein the first repulsive surface and the second repulsive surface correspond to each other, to create a repulsive force so that the axle remains in a vertical position while turning without bias to exaggerate a resistance; and wherein the fixed permanent magnet and the revolving permanent magnet have a disk shape. 2. a magnetic levitation weight reduction structure for a vertical wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the fixed permanent magnet and the revolving permanent magnet has a flat portion and an inclined portion abutting the flat portion. 3. a magnetic levitation weight reduction structure for a vertical wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the fixed permanent magnet and the revolving permanent magnet has a flat portion and a vertical portion abutting the flat portion.
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background of the invention (a) field of the invention the present invention relates to a magnetic levitation weight reduction structure adapted to a vertical wind turbine generator, and more particularly, to one that is capable of producing repulsive force from the same magnetic pole of a fixed permanent magnet and a revolving permanent magnet thus to drive a hub to revolve with reduced support weight while upgrading the turning efficiency of the hub and increasing its revolving speed. (b) description of the prior art a conventional wind turbine generator comprises a base, a turbine hub, a linking shaft, and a generator. the base includes a locating portion. the turbine hub is disposed with multiple blades and a fixed shaft at the center. the fixed shaft corresponds to the locating portion of the base to revolve. the fixed shaft is provided with a gear set. the linking shaft corresponds to the gear set and turns around when the gear set is engaged with the linking shaft to transmit wind velocity to the generator. however, as the size and weight ratio of the hub varies, the revolving efficiency and speed of the fixed shaft supporting the hub are compromised due to the weight ratio, resulting in noise due to friction. summary of the invention the primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a magnetic levitation weight reduction structure for a vertical wind turbine generator by having repulsive force created due to same magnetic pole thus to alleviate support weight sustained by the axle and minimize operating noise of the turbine. to achieve the purpose, the present invention comprises a frame; a fixed permanent magnet secured to the frame having a first repulsive surface; an axle assembled by rotation to the frame comprising a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion; a revolving permanent magnet secured to the axle having a second repulsive surface in relation to the first repulsive surface of the fixed permanent magnet; a blade hub connected to the first connecting portion of the axle; a generator connected to the second connecting portion of the axle. the axle functions as a balance center when the revolving permanent magnet is rotated. a repulsive force created by the same magnetic pole of the fixed permanent magnet and the revolving permanent alleviates the burden while the axle drives the blade hub to revolve, offsets the resistance by friction of the generator connected to the axle, promotes the revolving efficiency and speed of the axle, and reduces the noise created by friction against the generator. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is an exploded view of a first embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is a sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention as assembled. fig. 3 is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the present invention in an operating status. fig. 4 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the present invention. fig. 5 is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the present invention. fig. 6 is a schematic view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7 is a schematic view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention. detailed description of the preferred embodiments referring to fig. 1 , the present invention includes a frame ( 1 ), a fixed permanent magnet ( 2 ), an axle ( 3 ), a revolving permanent magnet ( 4 ) a blade hub ( 5 ), and a generator ( 6 ). the frame ( 1 ) contains a chamber ( 11 ), a first through hole ( 12 ) disposed at the top of the frame ( 1 ), and a second through hole ( 13 ) disposed at the bottom of the frame ( 1 ). a first bearing ( 121 ) is provided in the first hole ( 12 ) of the frame ( 1 ), and a second bearing ( 131 ) is provided in the second through hole ( 13 ) of the frame ( 1 ). the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 ) fixed to the frame ( 1 ) has a first repulsive surface ( 20 ), and is disposed with a through hole ( 21 ) in relation to the first through hole ( 12 ) of the frame ( 1 ). the axle ( 3 ) pivotally connected to the first bearing ( 121 ) and the second bearing ( 131 ) of the frame ( 1 ) comprises a first connecting portion ( 31 ) and a second connecting portion ( 32 ). the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 ) has a second repulsive surface ( 40 ) and a through hole ( 41 ). the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 ) is secured to the axle ( 3 ) through the through hole ( 41 ) and corresponds in position to the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 ). the second repulsive surface ( 4 ) is repulsive in relation to the first repulsive surface ( 20 ). when the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 ) is rotated, the axle ( 3 ) functions as a balance center. the blade hub ( 5 ) connected to the first connecting portion ( 31 ) of the axle ( 3 ) comprises a plurality of spaced blades ( 51 ). the generator ( 6 ) is connected to the second connecting portion ( 32 ) of the axle ( 3 ). to assemble the present invention, as illustrated in fig. 2 , the axle ( 3 ) penetrates into the first through hole ( 12 ), the second through hole ( 13 ) of the frame ( 1 ), and the through hole ( 21 ). the axle ( 3 ) is secured in the first bearing ( 121 ) and the second bearing ( 131 ) to freely rotate and to secure the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 ). the first repulsive surface ( 20 ) of the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 ) corresponds in position to the second repulsive surface ( 40 ) of the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 ), and both have the same magnetic pole to repel with each other, so that a floating force is formed between the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 ) and the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 ). the blade hub ( 5 ) is fixed to the first connecting portion ( 31 ) of the axle ( 3 ), and the second connecting portion ( 32 ) of the axle ( 3 ) is connected to the generator ( 6 ). in operation as illustrated in fig. 3 , the repulsive force created by the same magnetic pole of both the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 ) and the revolving permanent ( 4 ) alleviates the burden while the axle ( 3 ) drives the blade hub ( 5 ) to revolve, offsets the resistance by friction of the generator ( 6 ) connected to the axle ( 3 ), promotes the revolving efficiency and speed of the axle ( 3 ), and reduces the noise created by friction against the generator ( 6 ). in a second embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in fig. 4 , a fixed permanent magnet ( 2 a) is fixed to a frame ( 1 a). the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 a) has a first repulsive surface ( 20 a), a circular flat portion ( 21 a) and an inclined portion ( 22 a) extending from the circumference of the flat portion ( 21 a). an axle ( 3 a) is inserted through the frame ( 1 a) and the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 a). a revolving permanent magnet ( 4 a) fixed to the axle ( 3 a) has a second repulsive surface ( 40 a), a flat portion ( 41 a) and an inclined portion ( 42 a) extending from the circumference of the flat portion ( 41 a). both the first repulsive surface ( 20 a) of the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 a) and the second repulsive surface ( 40 a) of the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 a) are assembled in the shape of a bowl. a repulsive force is created by the same magnetic pole of the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 a) and the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 a). when the blades are revolving for being subject to wind velocity, a repulsive force is relatively created by and between both the inclined portions ( 22 a, 42 a) to help the axle ( 3 a) remain its vertical position while turning without bias to exaggerate the resistance. fig. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. a fixed permanent magnet ( 2 b) is fixed to a frame ( 1 b). the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 b) has a first repulsive surface ( 20 b), a flat portion ( 21 b) and a flange ( 22 b) vertically extending from the circumference of the flat portion ( 21 b). an axle ( 3 b) penetrates through the frame ( 1 b) and the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 b). a revolving permanent magnet ( 4 b) fixed to the axle ( 3 b) has a second repulsive surface ( 40 b), a flat portion ( 41 b) and a flange ( 42 b) vertically extending from the circumference of the flat portion ( 41 b). accordingly, the configuration between the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 b) and the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 b) indicates a reverse u-like shape; and a repulsive force is relatively produced by the same magnetic pole of the permanent magnet ( 2 b) and the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 b). once the blades revolve for being subject to wind velocity, a repulsive force is relatively created between the vertical flange ( 22 b) and the vertical flange ( 42 b) to maintain the axle ( 3 b) its vertical position while revolving without bias to exaggerate the resistance. figs. 6 and 7 show a fourth embodiment and a fifth embodiment of the present invention. a fixed permanent magnet ( 2 c, 2 d) is fixed to a frame ( 1 c). the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 c, 2 d) has a first repulsive surface ( 20 c, 20 d) and an inclined portion ( 21 c, 21 d). an axle ( 3 c) penetrates through the frame ( 1 c) and the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 c, 2 d). a revolving permanent magnet ( 4 c) fixed to the axle ( 3 c) has a second repulsive surface ( 40 c, 40 d) and an inclined portion ( 41 c, 41 d). the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 c) and the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 c) indicate an inverse v-shaped configuration as illustrated in fig. 6 . the fixed permanent magnet ( 2 d) and the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 d) indicate a v-shaped configuration as illustrated in fig. 7 . a repulsive force is relatively created by the same magnetic pole of the first repulsive surface ( 20 c, 20 d) of the fixed permanent member ( 2 c, 2 d) and the second repulsive surface ( 40 c, 40 d) of the revolving permanent magnet ( 4 c, 4 d). accordingly when the blades revolve for being subject to wind velocity, a repulsive force is relatively created by and between the inclined portion ( 21 c, 21 d) and the inclined portion ( 41 c, 41 d) to maintain the axle ( 3 b) its vertical position while revolving without bias to exaggerate the resistance.
|
033-988-878-356-620
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
G06F8/65,G06F8/71,G06F9/4401,G06F9/455,H04L12/24,H04L12/26,G06F9/44,H04L29/08
| 2018-08-03T00:00:00 |
2018
|
[
"G06",
"H04"
] |
systems and methods to stage external device firmware for an external device in an information handling system
|
systems and methods to stage firmware capsule package for an external device in a firmware client system. the firmware client system may include a basic input/output system (bios) and an operating system (os). the bios may create a virtual device. the os may download a virtual device driver package associated with the virtual device from an update service. the virtual device driver package may include a first virtual device driver and a first external device firmware. the os may also install the first virtual device driver of the virtual device driver package, stage the first external device firmware on a storage device, and execute the first virtual device driver. the first virtual device driver may, when a first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available, deliver the first external device firmware to the first external device using an update firmware mechanism.
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1 . a firmware client system, comprising: a processor; a memory; a basic input/output system (bios) stored in the memory and executable by the processor, the bios configured to create a virtual device; and an operating system (os) stored in the memory and executable by the processor, the os configured to: download a virtual device driver package associated with the virtual device from an update service, the virtual device driver package including a first virtual device driver and a first external device firmware; install the first virtual device driver of the virtual device driver package; stage the first external device firmware on a storage device coupled to the firmware client system; and execute the first virtual device driver, the first virtual device driver configured to: when a first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available, deliver the first external device firmware to the first external device using an update firmware mechanism. 2 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the first virtual device driver further configured to: when the first external device firmware is being delivered to the first external device, display a user interface to alert a user that a second external device firmware installed on the first external device is being updated to the first external device firmware using a user-mode device driver associated with the virtual device. 3 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the delivery of the first external device firmware to the first external device is scheduled at a first time based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. 4 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the delivery of the first external device firmware to the first external device is based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. 5 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the delivery of the first external device firmware to the first external device is based on a version of the first external device firmware and the version of a second external device firmware installed on the first external device. 6 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the first virtual device driver determines that the first external device is available by polling for the first external device. 7 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the first virtual device driver further configured to: install an event handler to detect when the first external device becomes available. 8 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein prior to the download of the virtual device driver package, publish the virtual device driver package to the update service. 9 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the os further configured to: prior to the download of the virtual device driver package, determine that the update service has the virtual device driver package. 10 . the firmware client system of claim 1 , wherein the os comprises a microsoft windows operating system, wherein the update service comprises a microsoft windows update service, and wherein the update firmware mechanism comprises a unified extensible firmware interface (uefi) microsoft windows update capsule mechanism. 11 . a method, comprising: creating, by a basic input/output system (bios) of a firmware client system, a virtual device; downloading, by an operating system (os), a virtual device driver package associated with the virtual device from an update service, the virtual device driver package including a first virtual device driver and a first external device firmware; installing, by the os, the first virtual device driver of the virtual device driver package; staging, by the os, the first external device firmware on a storage device coupled to the firmware client system; executing, by the os, the first virtual device driver; and when a first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available, delivering, by the first virtual device driver, the first external device firmware to the first external device using an update firmware mechanism. 12 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprising: when the first external device firmware is delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device, displaying a user interface to alert a user that a second external device firmware installed on the first external device is being updated to the first external device firmware using a user-mode device driver associated with the virtual device. 13 . the method of claim 11 , wherein delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device is scheduled at a first time based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. 14 . the method of claim 11 , wherein delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device is based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. 15 . the method of claim 11 , wherein delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device is based on a version of the first external device firmware and a version of a second external device firmware installed on the first external device. 16 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the first virtual device driver determines that the first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available by polling for the first external device. 17 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprising: installing, by the first virtual device driver, an event handler to detect when the first external device becomes available. 18 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprising: prior to downloading the virtual device driver package: publishing the virtual device driver package to the update service. 19 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprising: prior to downloading the virtual device driver package: determining that the update service has the virtual device driver package. 20 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the os comprises a microsoft windows operating system, wherein the update service comprises a microsoft windows update service, and wherein the update firmware mechanism comprises a unified extensible firmware interface (uefi) microsoft windows update capsule mechanism.
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background field of the disclosure this disclosure relates generally to information handling systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods to stage external device firmware for an external device in an information handling system. description of the related art as the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. one option available to users is firmware client systems. a firmware client system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, firmware client systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. the variations in firmware client systems allow for firmware client systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. in addition, firmware client systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. summary in one embodiment, a disclosed firmware client system may include a processor, a memory, and a basic input/output system (bios) stored in the memory and executable by the processor. the bios may create a virtual device. the firmware client system may also include an operating system (os) stored in the memory and executable by the processor. the os may download a virtual device driver package associated with the virtual device from an update service. the virtual device driver package may include a first virtual device driver and a first external device firmware. the os may also install the first virtual device driver of the virtual device driver package, stage the first external device firmware on a storage device coupled to the firmware client system, and execute the first virtual device driver. the first virtual device driver may, when a first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available, deliver the first external device firmware to the first external device using an update firmware mechanism. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the first virtual device driver may also, when the first external device firmware is being delivered to the first external device, display a user interface that may alert a user that a second external device firmware installed on the first external device may be being updated to the first external device firmware using a user-mode device driver associated with the virtual device. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the delivery of the first external device firmware to the first external device may be scheduled at a first time based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the delivery of the first external device firmware to the first external device may be based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the delivery of the first external device firmware to the first external device may be based on a version of the first external device firmware and the version of a second external device firmware installed on the first external device. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the first virtual device driver may determine that the first external device is available by polling for the first external device. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the first virtual device driver may install an event handler that may detect when the first external device becomes available. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, prior to the download of the virtual device driver package, publish the virtual device driver package to the update service. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the os may, prior to the download of the virtual device driver package, determine that the update service has the virtual device driver package. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the firmware client system, the os may comprise a microsoft windows operating system, the update service may comprise a microsoft windows update service, and the update firmware mechanism may comprise a unified extensible firmware interface (uefi) microsoft windows update capsule mechanism. in a second embodiment, a disclosed method may include creating, by a basic input/output system (bios) of a firmware client system, a virtual device and downloading, by an operating system (os), a virtual device driver package associated with the virtual device from an update service. the virtual device driver package may include a first virtual device driver and a first external device firmware. the method may also include installing, by the os, the first virtual device driver of the virtual device driver package, staging, by the os, the first external device firmware on a storage device coupled to the firmware client system, executing, by the os, the first virtual device driver, and when a first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available, delivering, by the first virtual device driver, the first external device firmware to the first external device using a uefi firmware capsule update mechanism. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, the method may also include, when the first external device firmware may be delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device, displaying a user interface that may alert a user that a second external device firmware installed on the first external device may be being updated to the first external device firmware using a user-mode device driver associated with the virtual device. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device may be scheduled at a first time based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device may be based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of the firmware client system. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, delivering the first external device firmware to the first external device may be based on a version of the first external device firmware and a version of a second external device firmware installed on the first external device. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, the first virtual device driver may determine that the first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available by polling for the first external device. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, the method may also include installing, by the first virtual device driver, an event handler to detect when the first external device becomes available. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, the method may also include, prior to downloading the virtual device driver package, publishing the virtual device driver package to the update service. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, the method may also include, prior to downloading the virtual device driver package, determining that the update service has the virtual device driver package. in a number of the disclosed embodiments of the method, the os may comprise a microsoft windows operating system, the update service may comprise a microsoft windows update service, and the update firmware mechanism may comprise a unified extensible firmware interface (uefi) microsoft windows update capsule mechanism. brief description of the drawings for a more complete understanding of the present invention and its features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of an information handling system; fig. 2 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of an exemplary firmware management system for staging external device firmware for an external device; fig. 3 is a flowchart depicting selected elements of an embodiment of a method to stage external device firmware for an external device in a firmware client system; and fig. 4 is a flowchart depicting selected elements of an embodiment of a method to stage external device firmware for an external device in a firmware client system. description of particular embodiment(s) in the following description, details are set forth by way of example to facilitate discussion of the disclosed subject matter. it should be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the field, however, that the disclosed embodiments are exemplary and not exhaustive of all possible embodiments. as used herein, a hyphenated form of a reference numeral refers to a specific instance of an element and the un-hyphenated form of the reference numeral refers to the collective or generic element. thus, for example, widget “ 72 - 1 ” refers to an instance of a widget class, which may be referred to collectively as widgets “ 72 ” and any one of which may be referred to generically as a widget “ 72 .” for the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include an instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize various forms of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. for example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a pda, a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or another suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. the information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (cpu) or hardware or software control logic. additional components or the information handling system may include one or more storage devices, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (i/o) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. the information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communication between the various hardware components. for the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may include an instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retain data and/or instructions for a period of time. computer-readable media may include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct access storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk), a sequential access storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, cd-rom, dvd, random access memory (ram), read-only memory (rom), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (eeprom), and/or flash memory (ssd); as well as communications media such wires, optical fibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/or any combination of the foregoing. particular embodiments are best understood by reference to figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 wherein like numbers are used to indicate like and corresponding parts. turning now to the drawings, fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram depicting selected elements of an information handling system 100 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. in various embodiments, information handling system 100 may represent different types of portable information handling systems, such as, display devices, head mounted displays, head mount display systems, smart phones, tablet computers, notebook computers, media players, digital cameras, 2-in-1 tablet-laptop combination computers, and wireless organizers, or other types of portable information handling systems. in one or more embodiments, information handling system 100 may also represent other types of information handling systems, including desktop computers, server systems, controllers, and microcontroller units, among other types of information handling systems. components of information handling system 100 may include, but are not limited to, a processor subsystem 120 , which may comprise one or more processors, and system bus 121 that communicatively couples various system components to processor subsystem 120 including, for example, a memory subsystem 130 , an i/o subsystem 140 , a local storage resource 150 , and a network interface 160 . system bus 121 may represent a variety of suitable types of bus structures, e.g., a memory bus, a peripheral bus, or a local bus using various bus architectures in selected embodiments. for example, such architectures may include, but are not limited to, micro channel architecture (mca) bus, industry standard architecture (isa) bus, enhanced isa (eisa) bus, peripheral component interconnect (pci) bus, pci-express bus, hypertransport (ht) bus, and video electronics standards association (vesa) local bus. as depicted in fig. 1 , processor subsystem 120 may comprise a system, device, or apparatus operable to interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data, and may include a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (dsp), application specific integrated circuit (asic), or another digital or analog circuitry configured to interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data. in some embodiments, processor subsystem 120 may interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data stored locally (e.g., in memory subsystem 130 and/or another component of information handling system). in the same or alternative embodiments, processor subsystem 120 may interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data stored remotely (e.g., in network storage resource 170 ). also in fig. 1 , memory subsystem 130 may comprise a system, device, or apparatus operable to retain and/or retrieve program instructions and/or data for a period of time (e.g., computer-readable media). memory subsystem 130 may comprise random access memory (ram), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (eeprom), a pcmcia card, flash memory, magnetic storage, opto-magnetic storage, and/or a suitable selection and/or array of volatile or non-volatile memory that retains data after power to its associated information handling system, such as system 100 , is powered down. as shown in fig. 1 , memory subsystem 130 may include a memory 190 having a basic input/output system (bios) 192 and an operating system (os) 194 . in information handling system 100 , i/o subsystem 140 may comprise a system, device, or apparatus generally operable to receive and/or transmit data to/from/within information handling system 100 . i/o subsystem 140 may represent, for example, a variety of communication interfaces, graphics interfaces, video interfaces, user input interfaces, and/or peripheral interfaces. in various embodiments, i/o subsystem 140 may be used to support various peripheral devices, such as a touch panel, a display adapter, a keyboard, an accelerometer, a touch pad, a gyroscope, an ir sensor, a microphone, a sensor, or a camera, or another type of peripheral device. local storage resource 150 may comprise computer-readable media (e.g., hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, cd-rom, and/or other type of rotating storage media, flash memory, eeprom, and/or another type of solid state storage media) and may be generally operable to store instructions and/or data. likewise, the network storage resource may comprise computer-readable media (e.g., hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, cd-rom, and/or other type of rotating storage media, flash memory, eeprom, and/or other type of solid state storage media) and may be generally operable to store instructions and/or data. in fig. 1 , network interface 160 may be a suitable system, apparatus, or device operable to serve as an interface between information handling system 100 and a network 110 . network interface 160 may enable information handling system 100 to communicate over network 110 using a suitable transmission protocol and/or standard, including, but not limited to, transmission protocols and/or standards enumerated below with respect to the discussion of network 110 . in some embodiments, network interface 160 may be communicatively coupled via network 110 to a network storage resource 170 . network 110 may be a public network or a private (e.g. corporate) network. the network may be implemented as, or may be a part of, a storage area network (san), personal area network (pan), local area network (lan), a metropolitan area network (man), a wide area network (wan), a wireless local area network (wlan), a virtual private network (vpn), an intranet, the internet or another appropriate architecture or system that facilitates the communication of signals, data and/or messages (generally referred to as data). network interface 160 may enable wired and/or wireless communications to and/or from information handling system 100 . in particular embodiments, network 110 may include one or more routers for routing data between client information handling systems 100 and server information handling systems 100 . a device (e.g., a client information handling system 100 or a server information handling system 100 ) on network 110 may be addressed by a corresponding network address including, for example, an internet protocol (ip) address, an internet name, a windows internet name service (wins) name, a domain name or other system name. in particular embodiments, network 110 may include one or more logical groupings of network devices such as, for example, one or more sites (e.g. customer sites) or subnets. as an example, a corporate network may include potentially thousands of offices or branches, each with its own subnet (or multiple subnets) having many devices. one or more client information handling systems 100 may communicate with one or more server information handling systems 100 via any suitable connection including, for example, a modem connection, a lan connection including the ethernet or a broadband wan connection including dsl, cable, ti, t3, fiber optics, wi-fi, or a mobile network connection including gsm, gprs, 3g, or wimax. network 110 may transmit data using a desired storage and/or communication protocol, including, but not limited to, fibre channel, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (atm), internet protocol (ip), other packet-based protocol, small computer system interface (scsi), internet scsi (iscsi), serial attached scsi (sas) or another transport that operates with the scsi protocol, advanced technology attachment (ata), serial ata (sata), advanced technology attachment packet interface (atapi), serial storage architecture (ssa), integrated drive electronics (ide), and/or any combination thereof. network 110 and its various components may be implemented using hardware, software, or any combination thereof. bios 192 may comprise firmware executable by a processor of processor subsystem 120 for performing various tasks including creating virtual devices and updating external device firmware associated with the virtual devices during the booting process and power-on startup. os 194 may comprise instructions executable by a processor of processor subsystem 120 for performing various functions during the booting process, power-on startup, and runtime. a firmware management system for updating firmware for external devices may utilize an update service such as microsoft windows update service. the microsoft windows update service utilizes a windows capsule update mechanism to update external device firmware on an external device. windows capsule update mechanism depends on an extensible firmware interface system resource table (esrt) and utilizes data within the esrt to update the external device firmware on the external device. the esrt data is determined at system boot time of a client system and esrt data remains static after completion of the system boot. the esrt data may comprise a boot loader or a kernel image for each installed operating system (os), device driver files for external devices present in the client system and used by the client system firmware at system boot time, system utility programs intended to run before and os is booted, and data files such as data files. since the esrt data remains static after the system boot, a firmware update failure may occur if an external device is not available when the esrt is polled by a plug-and-play (pnp) manager or the version of the external device firmware is only updated after a system boot or re-boot, which may result in a firmware version mismatch during polling. as such, updating external device firmware for an external device utilizing the windows update is problematic, as the external device may be unavailable and will be passed up for a firmware update by the windows update. a standalone desktop application to update the external device firmware is also not viable because microsoft windows level 10s os prohibits such applications to run. as will be described in further detail herein, the inventors of the present disclosure have discovered systems and methods to stage external device firmware for an external device in an information handling system. in the present solution, a firmware management system may utilize a device driver update mechanism, such as the microsoft windows driver update mechanism, to stage external device firmware for an associated external device. a virtual device driver is utilized to manage and stage the windows update service external device firmware update. a virtual device is created by a bios of a firmware client system of the firmware management system and the virtual device driver is associated to this virtual device. the virtual device driver loads every time the firmware client system boots up. the external device firmware is packaged with this virtual device driver. when a new version of the external device firmware is released to a firmware server system, the new version of the external device firmware is package to a new version of the virtual device driver and submitted to the windows update service. when the os of the firmware client system detects a new version of the virtual device driver on the windows update service, the os downloads the new version of the virtual device driver and the new version of the external device firmware embedded within the new virtual device driver. when the download completes, the os updates the virtual device driver to the new virtual device driver, installs the new virtual device driver, stages the new external device firmware on a storage device coupled to the firmware client system for future installation, and runs the new virtual device driver. the new virtual device driver may install an event handler to detect an associated external device. when the external device is detected and is available, the new virtual device driver will deliver the new external device firmware to the external device using the universal extensible firmware interface (uefi) to update the firmware. the disclosed firmware management system is dynamic and is independent of the state of the esrt. the firmware management system provides a way for a firmware client system to obtain the latest external device firmware for an external device and then apply the firmware update when the external device is available later. the firmware management system also allows an administrator of the firmware client system to schedule a firmware update at a specific time based on a rules-based policy set by the administrator or deliver the new external device firmware based on this rules-based policy. turning now to fig. 2 , a block diagram depicting selected elements of an embodiment of an exemplary firmware management system 200 for staging external device firmware for an external device. as shown in fig. 2 , components of firmware management system 200 may include, but are not limited to, a firmware server system 202 , a firmware client system 204 , a storage device 208 , an external device 210 , and network 110 . each of firmware server system 202 and firmware client system 204 may comprise information handling system 100 . firmware server system 202 and firmware client system 204 may be coupled to each other via network 110 . storage device 208 may be coupled to firmware client system 204 and external device 210 may be coupled to firmware client system 204 . firmware server system 202 may include a processor 212 - 1 and a memory 214 - 1 . memory 214 - 1 may include a virtual device driver package 222 - 1 and os 194 - 1 . os 194 - 1 may be executable by processor 212 - 1 . in one or more embodiments, os 194 - 1 may comprise a microsoft windows operating system, a microsoft windows 10 s operating system, or another type of operating system. os 194 - 1 may include an update service 236 which may be executable by processor 212 - 1 . in one or more embodiments, update service 236 may comprise a microsoft windows update service. virtual device driver package 222 - 1 may include a virtual device driver 232 - 1 and external device firmware 234 - 1 embedded within virtual device driver 232 - 1 . firmware client system 204 may include a processor 212 - 2 and a memory 214 - 2 . memory 214 - 2 may include bios 192 , os 194 - 2 , a virtual device driver package 222 - 2 , and a virtual device 228 . bios 192 may be stored in memory 214 - 2 and may be executable by processor 212 - 2 . virtual device driver package 222 - 2 may include a virtual device driver 232 - 2 and external device firmware 234 - 2 embedded within virtual device driver 232 - 2 . os 194 - 2 may be stored in memory 214 - 2 and may be executable by processor 212 - 2 . in one or more embodiments, os 194 - 2 may comprise a microsoft windows operating system, a microsoft windows 10 s operating system, or another type of operating system. storage device 208 may include external device firmware 234 - 3 . external device 210 may include a memory 214 - 3 . memory 214 - 2 may include external device firmware 234 - 4 . during operation, a developer may develop virtual device driver 232 - 1 and external device firmware 234 - 1 on a development system (not shown). the developer may embed external device firmware 234 - 1 within virtual device driver 232 - 1 . the developer may create virtual device driver package 222 - 1 including virtual device driver 232 - 1 and external device firmware 234 - 1 embedded with virtual device driver 232 - 1 . the developer may publish virtual device driver package 222 - 1 to update service 236 of firmware server system 202 . during system boot of firmware client system 204 , bios 192 may create virtual device 228 with a unique advanced configuration and power interface (acpi) identification (id) associated with virtual device 228 . the virtual device 228 is added to the memory 214 - 2 in the form of acpi table. during boot of os 194 - 2 , os 194 - 2 may attach a current virtual device driver 232 (not shown) stored at memory 214 - 2 to virtual device 228 . during operation of firmware client system 204 , os 194 - 2 may periodically query update service 236 of firmware server system 202 for a new virtual device driver package 222 . os 194 - 2 may query update service 236 based on a programmable period, which may be set to a value of 5 minutes, 5 hours, or another appropriate time period. os 194 - 2 may determine whether a newer version of virtual device driver package 222 exists based on the query of update service 236 . when update service 236 indicates that a newer version of virtual device driver package 222 does not exist, os 194 - 2 may continue periodically querying update service 236 . when update service 236 indicates that the newer version of virtual device driver package 222 - 1 exists, os 194 - 2 may download virtual device driver package 222 - 1 associated with virtual device 228 from update service 236 . virtual device driver package 222 - 1 may be downloaded at virtual device driver package 222 - 2 at memory 214 - 2 . when the download is complete, os 192 - 2 may install this newer version virtual device driver 232 - 2 of virtual device driver package 222 - 2 . once the newer version of the virtual device driver 232 - 2 has been installed, virtual device driver 232 - 2 may stage the new version of external device firmware 234 - 2 on storage device 208 by storing external device firmware 234 - 2 at storage device 208 . os 194 - 2 may execute and run virtual device driver 232 - 2 . virtual device driver 232 - 2 may check for external device 210 associated with external device firmware 234 - 2 availability. when virtual device driver 232 - 2 determines that external device 210 is not available, virtual device driver 232 - 2 may continue to check for external device 210 availability. in some embodiments, virtual device driver 232 - 2 may check for external device 210 availability by polling external device 210 . when external device 210 responds, external device 210 is available. in one or more other embodiments, virtual device driver 232 - 2 may install an event handler that may detect when external device 210 is coupled to firmware client system 204 . when the event handler detects that external device 210 is coupled to firmware client system 204 , external device 210 is available. when external device 210 is available, virtual device driver 232 - 2 may deliver external device firmware 234 - 2 to memory 214 - 2 . at this point, external device firmware 234 - 2 has been staged for external device 210 . on a subsequent re-boot of firmware client system 204 , bios 192 may read external device firmware 234 - 2 from memory 214 - 2 and update external device firmware 234 - 4 of external device 210 with the new external device firmware 234 - 2 using an update firmware mechanism. the update firmware mechanism may comprise a unified extensible firmware interface (uefi) microsoft windows update capsule mechanism. in one or more embodiments, virtual device driver 232 - 2 may, when external device firmware 234 - 2 is being delivered to external device 210 , display a user interface that may alert a user that external device firmware 234 - 4 currently installed on external device 210 may be being updated to external device firmware 234 - 2 using a user-mode device driver associated with virtual device 228 . in one or more embodiments, delivery of external device firmware 234 - 2 to external device 210 may be scheduled at a first time based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of firmware client system 204 . in one or more embodiments, delivery of external device firmware 234 - 2 to external device 210 may be based on a rules-based policy set by an administrator of firmware client system 204 . in one or more embodiments, delivery of external device firmware 234 - 2 to external device 210 may be based on a version of external device firmware 234 - 2 and the version of external device firmware 234 - 4 installed on external device 210 . for example, when the version of external device firmware 234 - 2 is newer than the version of external device firmware 234 - 4 , external device firmware 234 - 2 is delivered to and installed on external device 210 . when the version of external device firmware 234 - 2 is older than the version of external device firmware 234 - 4 , external device firmware 234 - 2 is not delivered to and installed on external device 210 and the newer version of external device firmware 234 - 4 remains on external device 210 . fig. 3 is a flowchart depicting selected elements of an embodiment of a method 300 to stage external device firmware for an external device in a firmware client system. method 300 may be performed by information handling system 100 , firmware client system 204 , firmware management system 200 previously described with reference to figs. 1 and 2 , or another information handling system. it is noted that certain operations described in method 300 may be optional or may be rearranged in different embodiments. method 300 may begin at step 302 , by embedding new external device firmware in a virtual device driver of a virtual device driver package. at step 304 , publishing a new version of the virtual device driver package to an update service. at step 306 , creating, by a bios, a virtual device during a system boot. at step 308 , attaching, by an os, a current version of the virtual device driver to the virtual device during booting of the os. at step 310 , querying, by the os, the update service periodically for a new virtual device driver package. at step 312 , determining whether the new device driver package exists. when the new device driver package exists, method 300 proceeds to step 314 . otherwise, method 300 loops back to step 310 . at step 314 , downloading, by the os, the new virtual device driver package. at step 316 , installing, by the os, the new virtual device driver of the virtual device driver package. at step 318 , staging, by the new virtual device driver, the new external device firmware on a storage device. at step 320 , running, by the os, the new virtual device driver. at step 322 , checking, by the new virtual device driver, for external device availability. at step 324 , determining, by the new virtual device driver, whether the external device is available. when the external device is available, method 300 proceeds to step 326 . otherwise, method 300 loops back to step 322 . at step 326 , delivering, by the new virtual device driver, the new external device firmware to the external device. at step 328 , when the system re-boots, reading, by the bios, the current external device firmware from the external device, and updating the current external device firmware with the new external device firmware. fig. 4 is a flowchart depicting selected elements of an embodiment of a method 400 to stage external device firmware for an external device in a firmware client system. method 400 may be performed by information handling system 100 , firmware client system 204 , firmware management system 200 previously described with reference to figs. 1 and 2 , or another information handling system. it is noted that certain operations described in method 300 may be optional or may be rearranged in different embodiments. method 400 may begin at step 402 , by creating, by a bios of a firmware client system, a virtual device. at step 404 , downloading, by an os, a virtual device driver package associated with the virtual device from an update service. the virtual device driver package may include a first virtual device driver and a first external device firmware. at step 406 , installing, by the os, the first virtual device driver of the virtual device driver package. at step 408 , staging, by the os, the first external device firmware on a storage device coupled to the firmware client system. at step 410 , executing, by the os, the first virtual device driver. at step 412 , when a first external device associated with the first external device firmware is available, delivering, by the first virtual device driver, the first external device firmware to the first external device using an update firmware mechanism. the above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure. thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
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035-319-810-471-918
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
A63F9/24,G07F17/32,A63F13/00,G07F17/34
| 2009-10-17T00:00:00 |
2009
|
[
"A63",
"G07"
] |
preserving game state data for asynchronous persistent group bonus games
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a system, apparatus, and method for preserving game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game may have a plurality of gaming machines associated with the asynchronous persistent group bonus game and at least one network server having at least one processor and at least one non-volatile memory. the processor may be configured to determine whether a bonus game session is triggered on any of the plurality of gaming machines; and if the bonus game session is triggered, display live game monitor activities, and periodically save the persistent bonus game state and other data on the at least one non-volatile memory.
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1 . a system for preserving persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game, comprising: a plurality of gaming machines associated with the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, each of the plurality of gaming machines including: at least one processor, at least one input device, at least one display, at least one local non-volatile memory configured to store a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display and the at least one input device to enable a player to play a primary game of chance upon receipt of a wager; and at least one network server having at least one processor and at least one non-volatile memory, the at least one processor configured to communicate with each of the plurality of gaming machines via a network to: determine whether a bonus game session is triggered on any of the plurality of gaming machines; and if the bonus game session is triggered: cause the asynchronous persistent group bonus game to be displayed for any gaming machine that has triggered the bonus game session; determine whether the player is a new player to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; modify the persistent bonus game state data when an event occurs in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; and save the persistent bonus game state data on the at least one non-volatile memory. 2 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the gaming machine is configured to transmit primary player data to the at least one network server, and the at least one network server is configured to transmit persistent bonus game state data associated with the player data to at least one of the plurality of gaming machines. 3 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one network server is configured to transmit data to at least one of the plurality of gaming machines to display the asynchronous persistent group bonus game on the at least one display. 4 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one network server further comprises a bonus game database configured to store persistent bonus game state data. 5 . the system of claim 4 , wherein previously saved persistent bonus player data is obtained from the bonus game database, if it is determined that the player is not a new player to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, and wherein the previously saved persistent bonus player data allows the player to play the bonus game session using bonus game play assets obtained from the player's previous play of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. 6 . the system of claim 1 , further comprising: at least one locator device to determine a location of each of the plurality of gaming machines, the at least one locator device configured to communicate with the at least one network server via the network. 7 . the system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one network server is configured to configure each of the plurality of gaming machines in accordance with at least one location based characteristic based on the location of the gaming machine. 8 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one network server is on a peer-to-peer network. 9 . the system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one network server is a bonus server. 10 . a method for preserving persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one network server configured to communicate with a plurality of gaming machines, the plurality of gaming machines being configured to receive a wager from a player to play a primary game of chance on the plurality of gaming machines, comprising: receiving a request to play the primary game of chance; determining if a bonus game session is triggered, wherein upon the triggering of the bonus game session: obtaining persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game from a network server, the network server having at least one non-volatile memory configured to store the persistent bonus game state data for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; and determining whether a game state saving event occurs; and saving a persistent bonus player data on the at least one non-volatile memory on the at least one network server when it is determined that the game state saving event occurred. 11 . the method of claim 10 , further comprising saving a persistent bonus world data on the at least one non-volatile memory when it is determined that the game state saving event occurred. 12 . the method of claim 10 , further comprising: determining if another bonus game session is triggered for a player; recalling the saved persistent bonus player data from the at least one non-volatile memory if it is determined that another bonus game session is triggered, wherein the saved persistent bonus player data allows the player to play the bonus game session using at least one bonus game play asset obtained from the player's previous play of a bonus game session of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. 13 . the method of claim 12 , further comprises receiving an input to use a bonus game play asset to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game 14 . the method of claim 10 , further comprising: updating a player account data based upon the persistent bonus player data from the bonus game session; and saving the player account data on the at least one non-volatile memory. 15 . a program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for preserving persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one network server configured to communicate with a plurality of gaming machines, the plurality of gaming machines being configured to receive a wager from a player to play a primary game of chance on the plurality of gaming machines, comprising: receiving a request to play the primary game of chance; determining if a bonus game session is triggered, wherein upon the triggering of the bonus game session: obtaining persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game from a network server, the network server having at least one non-volatile memory configured to store the persistent bonus game state data for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; and receiving an input to use at least one bonus game play asset to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game during the bonus game session; determining whether a game state saving event occurs; and saving a persistent bonus player data on the at least one non-volatile memory on the at least one network server when it is determined that the game state saving event occurred. 16 . a method for preserving persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one network server configured to communicate with a plurality of gaming machines, the plurality of gaming machines being configured to receive a wager from a player to play a primary game of chance on the plurality of gaming machines, comprising: operating an asynchronous persistent group bonus game from at least one network server, receiving a request from at least one of the plurality of gaming machines to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; displaying the asynchronous persistent group bonus game on a display visible to the player; detecting an event in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game that modifies the persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game; and periodically saving the persistent bonus game state data on at least one non-volatile memory, the at least one non-volatile memory stored on at least one network server. 17 . the method of claim 16 , wherein the displaying further comprises displaying the asynchronous persistent group bonus game on a community display. 18 . the method of claim 16 , wherein the detecting an event further comprises receiving an input to use a bonus game play asset to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. 19 . the method of claim 16 , wherein the saving further comprises: saving persistent bonus group data, wherein the persistent bonus group data includes information about at least one team. 20 . the method of claim 16 , wherein the saving further comprises: saving persistent bonus world data, wherein the persistent bonus world data includes information about the environment of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. 21 . the method of claim 16 , further comprising: converting a persistent bonus award into at least one credit; updating a player account data with the at least one credit; saving the player account data on the at least one non-volatile memory at the at least one network server; and redeeming the at least one credit for a monetary value or other non-monetary prize if the player elects to cash out. 22 . the method of claim 16 , further comprising: converting a persistent group award into at least one credit; distributing the at least one credit among players who are members of a group that has won a persistent group award in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; updating a player account data with the at least one credit distributed to each player; saving the player account data on the on the at least one non-volatile memory at the at least one network server; and redeeming the at least one credit for a monetary value or other non-monetary prize if the player elects to cash out. 23 . a program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for preserving persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one network server configured to communicate with a plurality of gaming machines, the plurality of gaming machines being configured to receive a wager from a player to play a primary game of chance on the plurality of gaming machines, comprising: operating an asynchronous persistent group bonus game from at least one network server, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game having persistent bonus game state data; receiving a request from at least one of the plurality of gaming machines to save the asynchronous persistent bonus game state data; and saving the persistent bonus game state data on at least one non-volatile memory, the at least one non-volatile memory stored on at least one network server. 24 . a program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for preserving persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one network server configured to communicate with a plurality of gaming machines, the plurality of gaming machines being configured to receive a wager from a player to play a primary game of chance on the plurality of gaming machines, comprising: receiving a request to open a player session for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game from at least one of the plurality of gaming machines; determining if existing player game session data is associated with the player session; sending the existing player game session data to the at least one gaming machine if existing player game session data exists; receiving a request to save asynchronous persistent group bonus game data for the player session; and saving the persistent group bonus game data on at least one non-volatile memory on the at least one network server. 25 . the program storage device of claim 24 further comprising opening a new player session for the at least one gaming machine if the previous player game session data does not exist.
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field of the invention the present disclosure relates generally to the field of gaming systems, and more particularly to preserving or saving game state data for bonus games in gaming machines. background of the invention in gaming machines, an award is based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager (e.g., the higher the wager, the higher the award). generally, symbols or symbol combinations that are less likely to occur provide higher awards. secondary or bonus games usually provide an additional award to the player. secondary or bonus games usually do not require an additional wager by the player to be activated and are generally activated by a triggering symbol or a triggering symbol combination in the primary or base game. for instance, bonus symbols occurring in specific patterns on reels of a slot machine may trigger a secondary bonus game. certain awards may also be available to multiple gaming machines or groups of gaming machines, such as progressive awards. in one form, a progressive award is an award amount that includes an initial amount funded by a casino and an additional amount funded through a portion of each wager made on the progressive award associated with the gaming machine. for example, one percent of each wager on the primary game of the gaming machine may be allocated to the progressive award or progressive award fund. certain types of game play data from gaming machines are often stored in gaming machines such as games won, credits remaining, prizes paid out. such data may be necessary to calculate revenue and profits, to calculate a machine's hold percentage, reconcile accounting, and to address disputes that players may have with a casino over whether or not a winning combination occurred, the amount of payout due, and the like. further, casino operators and/or gaming regulators may sometime need the same or related information for other reasons such as examining the sequence of events prior to a malfunction, verifying the electronic “signature” of software and/or firmware; reviewing the complete history of past games, and the like. among the types of commonly preserved data is so-called “critical data” or “critical game information,” which must be maintained by casinos. such data as game state, credits bet, number of lines bet, credits remain, random number generator results, number of games played, and the like may be stored as simple text and/or graphics inside the slot machine. in some cases, entire frames of video data may be captured and stored. gaming regulators, such as the nevada gaming commission, may require that gaming machines save critical data for a certain length of time or a set number of games before allowing older critical data to be overwritten or purged from a gaming machine or network server. to this end, gaming machine manufacturers sometimes store such data in battery-backed non-volatile random access memory. this allows critical data to be preserved even in the event of a loss of primary power, during transport or relocation, or while the machine is intentionally turned off for service. in the recent years, casino games where multiple players sharing a bonus game was also introduced. typically, five to eight slot machines surround a shared bonus screen. occasionally, when the bonus game is triggered, and one or more players may optionally participate in the bonus game. however, the bonus game lasts for only a few seconds, and the passive player(s) do not interact with the bonus game. without interaction with the bonus game, without interaction between players, and with the brief nature of the group bonus game and the small number of players in a group participating simultaneously, the group bonus game is the same as the single player game, and the critical data is stored locally at the slot machine. summary a system, apparatus, and method for preserving persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game are discussed. the system may have a plurality of gaming machines configured to communicate with at least one network server through a network, which allows players to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may last for any period of time and players can enter, pause and exit the bonus game asynchronously. persistent bonus game state data such as player's game states and history, team's state and history, player relationships, player conversations, transactions between players or teams, assets collected, local game environments, global game state, game accounting data, and the like, may be modified and saved on one or more network servers, or alternatively on one or more slot machines in a peer-to-peer distributed storage manner. this allows the persistent bonus game state and other data to be recalled when needed, such as when a player plays another individual bonus game session in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the triggering events that cause the saving of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game data may be any change in the data themselves, the end of the bonus session for each player, or any other conditions depending on the game or jurisdictional requirements. when a player drops out of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, or when the asynchronous persistent group bonus game terminates, any credits or items the player has collected may be converted and redeemed for monetary, non-monetary prizes, and/or roll over to equivalent features in another group game. in a first embodiment, a system for preserving persistent bonus game state and other data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game is described. the system includes a plurality of gaming machines associated with the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. each of the plurality of gaming machines includes at least one processor, at least one input device, at least one display, and at least one local non-volatile memory. the local non-volatile memory may be configured to store a plurality of instructions and data. the at least one processor may execute the plurality of instructions to operate with the at least one display and the at least one input device. this enables a player to play a primary game of chance upon receipt of a wager. the system also includes at least one network server having at least one processor and at least one non-volatile memory. the at least one processor may be configured to communicate with each of the plurality of gaming machines via a network. the at least one network server may determine whether a bonus game session is triggered on any of the plurality of gaming machines. if a bonus game session is triggered, the at least one network server may cause the asynchronous persistent group bonus game to be displayed for any gaming machine that has triggered the bonus game session. the network server will also determine whether the player is a new player to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, create new player record in the game database, modify the persistent bonus game state data when an event occurs in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, and periodically save the persistent bonus game state data (representative of all individual players' progress) on the at least one non-volatile memory. in another embodiment, a method for preserving persistent bonus game state and other data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one network server configured to communicate with a plurality of gaming machines is described. the plurality of gaming machines may be configured to receive a wager from a player to play a primary game of chance. the method includes receiving a request to play the primary game of chance and determining if a bonus game session is triggered. the triggering of the bonus game session may cause persistent bonus game state data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game to be recalled from at least one non-volatile memory on at least one network server. the at least one network server may receive an input to use at least one bonus game play asset in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game during the bonus game session, to track progress the player's progress, and to update the persistent bonus game state data on the at least one network server, and determine whether a bonus ending event has occurred to end the bonus game session for the player. when a bonus ending event has occurred for the player, at least one persistent bonus player data may be saved on the at least one non-volatile memory on the at least one network server. in yet another embodiment, a method for preserving persistent bonus game state and other data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one network server configured to communicate with a plurality of gaming machines is described. the plurality of gaming machines may be configured to receive a wager from a player to play a primary game of chance. the method includes operating an asynchronous persistent group bonus game from at least one network server upon receipt of a request from at least one of the plurality of gaming machines to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the method further includes displaying the asynchronous persistent group bonus game on a display visible to the player or group of players, detecting an event in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game that modifies the persistent bonus game state and other data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game, and periodically saving the persistent bonus game state and other data on at least one non-volatile memory stored on the at least one network server. in yet another embodiment, a method for preserving the persistent bonus game state and other data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game are collected and stored in a distributed manner on a peer-to-peer storage network. in a peer-to-peer storage network, data may be distributed among member nodes instead of concentrated on a server. such a distributed storage system is highly available, scalable, has redundant capability, and thus can avoid the single-point-of-failure issue associated with a client/server network. the method further includes displaying the asynchronous persistent group bonus game on a display visible to the player or group of players, detecting events in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game that modifies the persistent bonus game state and other data for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game, and periodically saving the persistent bonus game state and other data on at least one non-volatile memory stored on the at least one slot machine in a peer-to-peer storage network. the present invention provides other hardware configured to perform the methods of the invention, as well as software stored in a machine-readable medium (e.g., a tangible storage medium) to control devices to perform these methods. these and other features will be presented in more detail in the following detailed description of the invention and the associated figures. brief description of the drawings the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodiments and, together with the description of example embodiments, serve to explain the principles and implementations. in the drawings: fig. 1 illustrates a front view of an example gaming machine. figs. 2a-2c illustrate the asynchronous persistent group bonus game displayed on a community display. fig. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a group gaming system. fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the group gaming system for playing an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. fig. 5 illustrates yet another embodiment of a group gaming system for playing an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. figs. 6a and 6b are flow charts illustrating an example method to play an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example operation of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for determining the location of a gaming machine. fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating another example method of an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. fig. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example method to distribute an asynchronous persistent group bonus team award. description of example embodiments embodiments are described herein in the context of preserving game state data for asynchronous persistent group bonus games. the following detailed description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. reference will now be made in detail to implementations as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. the same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts. in the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. it will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. a system, apparatus, and method for preserving persistent bonus game state and other data (e.g. player account data) for an asynchronous persistent group bonus game are discussed. the system may have a plurality of gaming machines configured to communicate with at least one network server through a network, which allows players to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may last for any period of time and players can enter and exit the bonus game asynchronously. persistent bonus game state data (e.g. player's primary and bonus game states and history, team's states and history, player relationships, player conversations, transactions between players or teams, assets collected, local game environments, global game state, game accounting data, and the like) and other data may be modified and saved on the at least one network server when an event occurs in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, allowing the persistent bonus game state and other data to be recalled when needed, such as when a player resumes play in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the triggering events that cause the saving of the data may be any change in the data themselves, or the end of the bonus session for each player, or other conditions depending on the game or jurisdictional requirements. when a player drops out of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, or when the asynchronous persistent group bonus game normally terminates, any credits or items the player has collected may be converted and redeemed for monetary, non-monetary prizes, used as rollover credits to play a game on another gaming machine. a gaming machine can be a fixed gaming machine such as a slot machine, an electronic table with multiple gaming stations, or a wireless mobile equivalent device such as a tablet computer or a smart phone. fig. 1 illustrates a front view of an example gaming machine. a gaming machine 100 may have a main display 110 . the main display 110 may display any type of primary game of chance upon receipt of a wager from a player. for example, the main display 110 may display reel-based slot games, video poker, video blackjack, lottery games, or any other type of known games of chance. in some embodiments, the main display may also display other types of text and graphics, including videos, pay tables, advertisements, secondary games, bonus games, player tracking information, announcements, or any other type of text and graphic. the gaming machine 100 may have a player interface to play the primary game of chance. in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 1 , the player interface may be either buttons 112 or a lever 114 . in other embodiments, the main display 110 may be the player interface. for example, the user interface may be a touch screen display configured to receive an input from the player. the player interface may be any type of input mechanism capable of allowing a player to select options, play the primary game of chance, play a bonus game, or enter any other player input. for example, pushing a button 112 or pulling a lever 114 may prompt the gaming machine 100 to begin a spin of a reel in a slot game to play a primary game of chance. in another example, a player may use the touch screen display to enter player account information. the gaming machine 100 may also have speakers 122 , lights, or other output devices. the gaming machine 100 may also have a tito (ticket in, ticket out) system. tito uses tickets encoded with monetary amounts, which can be converted into credits to be played in the gaming machine 100 when inserted into the gaming machine 100 . the gaming machine 100 may have a bill acceptor 116 configured to receive the tickets. the gaming machine 100 may also have a ticket printer 124 configured to print out similar tickets encoded with the amount of credits remaining on the gaming machine 100 when the player desires to no longer play the gaming machine 100 and cash out. the bill acceptor 116 may also be configured to receive currency, for example paper bills. the gaming machine 100 may also have a mechanism to accept currency in other forms such as coins, vouchers, smart cards, electronic funds, and the like. the currency can then be converted into credits to be played on the gaming machine 100 . the gaming machine 100 may have a credit dispenser 120 where the credits on the gaming machine 100 can be cashed out when the player desires to no longer play the gaming machine 100 . the gaming machine 100 may have a player tracking device 118 configured to receive a player loyalty card. casinos may issue players a player loyalty card for player tracking and rewarding purposes. the player loyalty card may be associated with a player account. player account data may be stored on a network server, which may be on a network database server configured to communicate with the gaming machines in the casino. the network may be a client-server network, a peer-to-peer network, a wired or wireless network, a wide area network (wan), a local area network (lan), or any other type of network. the player may insert his or her player loyalty card into the player tracking device 118 to log into the player's account, as further discussed below with reference to figs. 6a-6b . data about the player's play, such as outcomes, bet amounts, time played, or any other type of information, may also be saved over the network to non-volatile memory at a player tracking server or any other network server. the gaming machine 100 may have a secondary display 108 which may display information about an asynchronous persistent group bonus game separate from the primary game of chance. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be a bonus game triggered by an outcome in the primary game of chance, randomly triggered independent of the primary game, or by any other triggering event. the secondary display 108 may display bonus game environment 102 for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the secondary display 108 may also display bonus game information 106 . the bonus game information 106 may be information such as scores, leader boards, rankings, team progress, statistics, messages, or any other information related to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the bonus game environment 102 may have avatars 104 a, 104 b, 104 n (where n is an integer). the avatars 104 a - n may be graphical representations of each player or team that is participating in the group bonus game. for example, the avatars 104 a - n may graphically depict characters, vehicles, boats or other images used to play the bonus game. in some embodiments, players may be allowed to select an avatar they wish to use in the bonus game environment 102 . in one embodiment, multiple players who each play a primary game of chance, on different gaming machines 100 , may form a team and work toward an overall team goal in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. having an overall team goal may promote competition between teams and collaboration or camaraderie between team members, as team members strive to reach the overall team goal together. this may enhance the enjoyment of the players in playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, which may also increase the amounts the player decides to wager. it may also provide a social environment where friends can play with or against each other to augment their gaming experience. in one embodiment, players may be prompted to create a new team, join an existing team, or be randomly assigned to a team. in another embodiment, a team may consist of only one player. teams may or may not be competing with each other, depending on the game design. when not competing, team members collaborate together to achieve one or more common goals such as a total score, catching a predetermined pound of fish, or any other goals determined by the teams and/or game type. when competing, teams may be balanced such that competition between teams is fair. if the teams were not balanced, all players might choose to be a part of the same team and there would be no competition against another team. for example, if one team has only five members and another team has 20 members, the team with 20 members might have a better chance of accomplishing the overall team goal, which would decrease the enjoyment of players on the smaller team. thus, a new player may be prompted to join the team with five members as opposed to the team with 20 members. by ensuring that teams have comparable numbers of members, players may feel that they have a more equal chance of attaining the overall group goal. in one embodiment, balancing the teams may be accomplished by allowing players to only join a team with the fewest number of members. in another embodiment, factors such as the level of experience a player has (e.g. rank), tools a player has access to, previous teams the player has played on, and the like make be used to balance the teams. more complex formulas with appropriate weights, statistics, and probabilities are assigned to each factor so that the aggregate team's capability is balanced to ensure a level playing field for all participating teams. other methods to balance the teams are also possible depending on the design of the games and the associated rules. in another embodiment, a player may prefer to play in the same group game environment, but not participate with a group or team. thus, the group or team may be formed with 1 person and no load balancing required. the solo player keeps all the wins she is entitled to. however, the possibility of getting additional prizes when a group achieves a bonus is not available. thus, a hybrid game environment where single players and teams can simultaneously participate can accommodate every player's preference, resulting in higher earnings for the game. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may last for a longer period of time than traditional bonus games. for example, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue for several minutes, hours, weeks, months or in perpetuity as designed by the game developer and configured by the game operators. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be played asynchronously, i.e. players may not be playing with all of the other members of their team simultaneously. for example, player 1 104 a may enter the bonus game environment 102 in the morning, but his friend (player 2 104 b ) may not enter the bonus game environment 102 until the evening, even though both may be on the same team. on another example, player 2 104 b may enter the bonus game environment 102 while player 1 104 a is already playing his bonus game session. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game data may comprise the global game environment data, individual game player data, team data, player and team relationship data, historical data, and any other relevant data needed to maintain the integrity of the asynchronous persistent group game environment. asynchronous persistent group bonus game data can be partitioned into global and local game states since the asynchronous persistent group bonus game can take place at multiple casino locations, in different cities and states, with multiple sets of regulations. global game data states are states that involve the overall world game environment such as the groups participating, their id's, their locations, team members, team scores, team goals and progresses, prizes won, prizes remain, leaderboard information, global game time and calendar, time elapsed, game stage (start, on going, end), etc. local game states concern with the local data associated with nearby players at the same casino, at the same game carousel, or even at the same virtual location (players grouped logically to be at the same virtual location, not physical location). example of local asynchronous persistent group bonus game data are date and time of the local bonus game, game machine id, player id, player's tools accumulated, local viewport (versus global map) size and position, virtual location of participating player within the asynchronous persistent group bonus game world, absolute location of the gaming machine and the controlling jurisdiction, nearby activities (virtual or absolute), last known set of good data, etc. the global and local asynchronous persistent group bonus game data are used to maintain world and players/teams statuses, store players and teams progresses, keep track of game accountings, help with recalling of games to resolve a dispute, help a player review her recent or past activities, provide a method for disaster recovery of game data, etc. in one embodiment, local asynchronous persistent group bonus data are collected and stored temporarily at a local server. periodically, the data is pushed to a global asynchronous persistent group bonus game server to update the global game states. similarly, global asynchronous persistent group bonus game data relevant to the local server is pulled from the global asynchronous persistent group bonus game server periodically to update local machines of changes (e.g. leaderboard information, jackpot status, prizes won, and the like). in between the data updates, the local server monitors, interacts, serves up data, save local game states, and generally controls the gaming machines assigned to it. such a system architecture minimizes network activities generated by the myriads of micro-transactions that are not relevant to the global bonus game states such as when a player moves two yards in the west direction. it also allows the asynchronous persistent group bonus game to proceed locally even if communication is temporarily cut off from the global asynchronous persistent group bonus game server. in another embodiment, global and local asynchronous persistent group bonus data are stored at a central server. although this generates more data traffic on the network, such an architecture is easy to maintain and all participating games are assured to have the most updated game states. this is advantageous for certain game types such as real-time car races. in another embodiment, global and local asynchronous persistent group bonus data are stored in a hybrid peer-to-peer distributed file storage system. with this approach, each machine (node) can act as a client requesting data or a server sending data to a requesting machine. additionally, designated machines (nodes) can be equipped with software to be both a global asynchronous persistent group bonus data server and a local asynchronous persistent group bonus data server. other machines (nodes) stores primarily local asynchronous persistent group bonus data, and periodically pushes the local data to the designated global/local asynchronous persistent bonus group data nodes and pulls global asynchronous persistent bonus group data from the designated nodes as needed. as each designated global/local asynchronous persistent group bonus data server node may receive different updates from nearby nodes, the designated global/local nodes periodically communicate with each other separately at the application level to keep their databases in synchronization with each other. such a hybrid peer-to-peer distributed storage architecture provides data to other nodes in a fast, resilient, scalable, load balanced, and asynchronous persistent manner. for instance, a network of fixed gaming machines configured in this manner can scale up, on demand, to include new mobile gaming terminals such as the mobile smart phones. the distributed file storage approach also keeps the costs low while minimizing communication bandwidth across the network. figs. 2a-2c illustrate the asynchronous persistent group bonus game displayed on a community display. referring to fig. 2a , a plurality of gaming machines 210 a - n may be configured to communicate with a community display 208 via network 212 . the network 212 may be a client-server network, a peer-to-peer network, a wired or wireless network, a wan, a lan, or any other type of network. each of the plurality of gaming machines 210 a - n may be generally similar to the gaming machine 100 shown in fig. 1 . however, in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 , there may be a community display 208 visible to all players of each of the plurality of gaming machines 210 a - n instead of each of the plurality of gaming machines 210 a - n having its own individual secondary display 108 as illustrated in fig. 1 . however, this is not intended to be limiting as each of the plurality of gaming machines 210 a - n may also have a secondary display to display the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the community secondary display 208 may display the bonus game environment 202 for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the bonus game environment 202 may have avatars 204 a - n individual players may use to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 2a , the avatars 204 a - n appear as boats with fishermen. however, the avatars 204 a - n may be any design or have any characteristics as determined by the type of asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the community display 208 may also display bonus game information 206 . the bonus game information 206 may be information such as scores, leader boards, rankings, team progress, statistics, messages, or any other information related to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. example 1 once a bonus game session is triggered on the gaming machine 100 , the asynchronous persistent group bonus game begins and may be displayed on the secondary display 108 ( fig. 1 ) and/or on the community display 218 as illustrated in fig. 2b . for exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, an example asynchronous persistent group bonus game will be described. although described with reference to a fishing-type bonus game, this is not intended to be limiting as any type of game may be developed for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be a fishing game where the bonus game environment may be a pond 220 and the avatars 204 a - n may be fishermen. each player may have bonus assets 226 to use when playing the bonus game. such assets may be displayed on a first portion 234 of the community display 218 or on the secondary display 108 ( fig. 1 ). such assets may be a boat 228 , hooks or lures 230 , fishing rod 232 , or any other items to assist a player or team in catching more fish in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the bonus game play assets may be acquired from a player's play in the primary game of chance, obtained while playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, or bought with credit at a virtual bonus game store. a virtual bonus game store is an online store where players can buy, sell, or trade their virtual assets. the virtual bonus game store may be uniquely designed as a part of an asynchronous persistent group bonus game or be a generic application that associates with multiple asynchronous persistent group bonus games. in one embodiment, the virtual bonus game store may be implemented as a software application with its associated database operating on a server connected to the network and accessible by participating players. the first portion 234 may also provide the name of the player 236 , the team 237 the player is on, the avatar 235 for the player, and any other information. as illustrated, john 236 may have a row boat 228 , worm lures 230 , and a basic fishing rod 232 . each avatar 204 a - n may be labeled by team 222 and/or the player's name 224 . however, this is not intended to be limiting as each player may be identified by any other means, such as the color of the avatar, use of other identifiers, such as flags, and the like. furthermore, the bonus game environment and the avatars 204 a - n can have any design or any characteristics as needed for a player to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. fig. 2c illustrates example bonus assets that may be used to play the bonus game. as stated above, the bonus game play assets may be bought with credit at a virtual bonus game store or may be earned via playing the primary game. the store 250 may provide different types of assets that a player may use to play the bonus game. for this example, the store may sell a variety of boats 228 , lures 230 , and fishing rods 232 . the player may select from a row boat 238 a, ski boat 238 b, or a racing boat 238 c. each boat may allow the player the move around the pond faster to provide a better chance of catching fish. the player may also select to use a worm 240 a, shrimp 240 b, or a minnow 240 c as a lure. for a fishing rod, the player may elect to use the basic fishing rod 242 a, the super rod 242 b, or the professional rod 242 c. the type of lure and/or fishing rod selected may determine the type and/or weight of fish caught as well as the speed at which the player catches the fish. by using superior tools or having better or more experience than other participating players, the player may have a better probability that a winning random number is drawn. for instance, the player may be assigned a number ranging between 1-5 when a random number is drawn between 1-100 by a random number generator, compared to other less experienced players who may be assigned a number ranging between 1-3. in one embodiment, for each asset, the player may elect to choose the quantity 252 desired. additionally, the amount of credits 254 required to obtain each asset may be displayed. as the asynchronous persistent group bonus game is played, events may occur that can change the state of the bonus game environment 102 . each player may move their fishermen avatar around the pond 220 and attempt to catch fish using bonus game play assets 226 . for example, fish might be caught while playing in the bonus game environment 102 , boats might be moved around the pond to different locations, a player may have entered the pondor left the pond, a team may have completed its objective, scores and game statistics may be updated, or any other gaming related events. as these events occur, the new state of the bonus game environment 102 may be saved to the network server, a local server, a slot machine, or any combination of these. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game displays are updated so that new players coming into the bonus game environment 102 will see the current state of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game displayed and begin their new bonus game session in the current state of the bonus game environment 102 . while the network server may usually be a bonus server, a player tracking server or any other local or network server may also be used. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may terminate at any predefined event, such as at a certain time (i.e., one week tournament), a certain event (i.e., top 10 teams completed their objectives or goals), or the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue perpetually, depending on the design of the game. throughout the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, the global game environment can be saved so that entering players will be in the most current state of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. some example of global environment data that may be saved periodically (the saving may occur based upon a time snap shot, an event(s), or both) are: 1) game time stamp; 2) rules in effect at the actual (physical) casino; 3) active player identification (id) and/or active team's id; 4) global map of players, their virtual locations, and their activities; 5) active rules set for the virtual location and time; 6) current scores and prizes accumulated by each player and their composite teams; 7) game state (e.g. start, end, paused, running); 8) indication of the status of the leaders, individuals and/or teams; 9) prize distribution parameters (i.e., where, how much, what it takes to reveal a prize); 10) relationships between teams (friendly, hostile, indifference); or nay other global game environment data. in addition to the global game state data, the micro state data of each player can also be saved or stored. each player can have an account recorded in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game database, as well as the player's historical activities such as time, date, location, cumulated amount of time spent in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, prizes won, current score, assets/tools remained, participation state (e.g. enter, exit, pause, drop out, and the like), and the like. in another embodiment, an asynchronous persistent group bonus game may have an overall team goal each team is to achieve. for example, the team goal might be to catch a certain amount of fish, such as 300 pounds of fish. each team would complete to be the first team to catch 300 pounds of fish. this is only one example of an overall team goal, as the overall team goal can vary depending on the characteristics of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the first team to complete the overall team goal would win the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, and an overall prize can be distributed among all the members of the winning team. in addition to the overall prize, each player may also win an individual prize(s) based on the amount of fish the player caught. within the asynchronous persistent group bonus game environment, multiple tournaments, that are independent of each other, may occur concurrently. thus, the termination of one local fishing tournament between five local teams does not terminate all the other parallel tournaments. the global game termination is often set by the casino operators or game designers to take place at a pre-defined or certain time, when large prizes have been exhausted, when the progressive prizes have been won, or any other criteria. the player's activities in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game during the bonus game session may be applied towards the overall progress of the player's team in reaching the overall team goal of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the player's individual bonus gaming session may end prior to the termination of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game such that the player may play several individual bonus gaming sessions in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game before the asynchronous persistent group bonus game terminates. additionally, the player may enter and exit the asynchronous persistent group bonus game independent of and without regard to whether other players are playing or exiting or entering the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue to run until an overall team goal is reached by one or more of the teams, regardless of the number of players playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at any one time. in another embodiment, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue to run until a timer has expired, or some other ending condition or event has occurred. fig. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a multi-player system. a networked multi-player system 300 may have a plurality of gaming machines 310 a - n configured to communicate with at least one network server 302 via a network 308 . the network 308 may be a client-server network, a peer-to-peer network, a wired or wireless network, a wan, a lan, or any other type of network. each of the plurality of gaming machines 310 a - n may be similar to the gaming machine 100 illustrated in fig. 1 . however, other embodiments are possible, including the use of a community display, as illustrated in fig. 2a . other devices such as a gaming server, a player tracking server, a bonus server, a location tracking server, or any other type of device, may be configured to communicate via the network 308 , as illustrated in fig. 5 . each of the at least one network servers 302 in the networked multi-player system 300 illustrated in fig. 3 may have a processor 304 . each of the at least one network servers 302 may also have a non-volatile memory 306 configured to communicate with the processor 304 . the non-volatile memory 306 may store data that can be transmitted over the network 308 from the at least one network server 302 to any other devices via the network 308 . the non-volatile memory 306 may be non-volatile random access memory (nv-ram), ferromagnetic hard disk drive, optical disk drive, magnetoresistive random access memory (mram), flash memory, or any other type of data storage solution that will not lose stored data or data loaded into memory in the event of a power loss or malfunction. the non-volatile memory 306 at the network server 302 may store various types of game state data to allow asynchonicity and the persistence nature of the game over a period of time. saving game state data on the network server 302 may allow the casino to restore either a primary game of chance or an asynchronous persistent group bonus game to the state it was in prior to a power loss or malfunction . for example, if a player is playing a video poker game when the power goes out, the casino can resume the video poker game in the exact state it was in immediately prior to the loss of power, with the same cards displayed, the same amount of credits in the player's account, and the same wagered amount. the player can then continue his game as if the power loss never happened. the network server 302 may also store prior versions of the game state data for a predetermined period of time to assist in verification of previous game outcomes. for example, if a player claims that he or she won a prize on a gaming machine but was not awarded his or her credits, the casino may be able to review the game state data from the network server 302 and confirm or disprove the player's claim. additionally, game state data may need to be saved and retained for a predetermined period of time to comply with certain local regulations that casinos and other gaming operators must follow. furthermore, saving game state data allows a player to enter an asynchronous persistent group bonus game at its current game state, as discussed above in example 1. game state data stored for these purposes may include several different components, such as primary player data, persistent bonus player data, persistent bonus group data, and persistent bonus world data. the primary player data may include information and statistics about a player's play of a primary game of chance. for example, player tracking data about the type of games the player likes to play, denomination amount, time between plays, and any other player tracking and/or account data may be stored as part of primary player data. another component of the game state data that may be saved may be persistent bonus player data. persistent bonus player data may be information about each player's play in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game as well as the relationship (e.g. friends, foes, acquaintances of the player with others inside or outside of the team, and the like). referring back to example 1, such information might include the amount of fish caught, the bonus game play assets acquired and used, the last location of the player's boat, or any other data or statistic about the player's play in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the persistent bonus player data may be saved in a bonus game database 312 . the persistent bonus player data may be recalled from the bonus game database, for example, when the player triggers another bonus game session while playing the primary game of chance. this allows the player to start the bonus game session with all of the bonus game play assets and/or data from the last previously saved bonus game session in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. another component of the game state data that is saved may be persistent bonus group data. persistent bonus group data may include data about the current state of at least one group of players on a team. for example, players may join together to form teams to play toward an overall group goal. in another example, groups may challenge one another in a tournament environment. in one embodiment, the persistent bonus group data may include a roster of the team members on the team, the team's progress toward the overall group goal, the amount of time that the team has been playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, and any other information that is desired to be saved about the team. interspersed among teams may be individual players (e.g. a team or group having 1 player) who chose not to join any team, but still want to participate and possibly win the grand prize without having to share or split the winnings with other players. another component of the game state data that may be saved on the network server 302 may be persistent bonus world data. the persistent bonus world data may include information about the asynchronous persistent group bonus game environment. for example, in example 1 discussed above, the persistent bonus world data may be information about the location of fish, the overall team scores, start time, end time, pay tables, probabilities of catching fish in certain locations on the pond, total prizes already paid out, and any other information that is desired to be saved about the overall asynchronous persistent group bonus game environment. fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the multi-player system for playing an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the system may have a plurality of gaming machines 410 a - n configured to communicate with at least one network server 402 through a network 408 . the network 408 may be a client-server network, a peer-to-peer network, a wired or wireless network, a wan, a lan, or any other type of network. the network server 402 may have a processor 404 configured to communicate with a non-volatile memory 406 . a plurality of gaming machines 410 a - n may be configured to communicate with the network server 402 via the network 408 . each of the plurality of gaming machines 410 a - n may have a local non-volatile memory 412 a - n configured to communicate with a processor 414 a - n . the processor 414 a - n may also be configured to communicate with at least one input/output device 416 a - n and at least one display device 418 a - n. the local non-volatile memory 412 a - n may store data related to the primary game of chance played on the respective gaming machine 410 a - n , such as object code, game history, pay tables, local game states, global game states and any other gaming data. in one embodiment, a decentralized peer-to-peer storage environment may be used to store data. each gaming node in the decentralized peer-to-peer storage environment may be configured to store at least a portion of the total asynchronous persistent group bonus game environment data. the peer-to-peer distributed storage system can have a self-organizing characteristic as storage nodes can come and go and the peer-to-peer storage network adapts accordingly. in an asynchronous persistent group bonus game environment, the robustness of a distributed storage system is a viable implementation that will allow players to continue to play even if a network disruption occurred. various known look-up algorithms can be implemented to allow data to be retrieved by any node regardless of where the data were stored. the technical paper “a survey of peer to peer storage techniques for distributed file systems” by the department of computer science of the university of ill., urbana champaign, which is incorporate herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes, discussed these methods in details. the processor 414 a - n may use software or may be programmed to run the operation of each of the plurality of gaming machines 410 a - n , including operation of the primary game of chance. the at least one input/output device 416 a - n may be any device that can accept commands from a player (input device) or provides feedback to the player (output device). for example, the buttons 112 , the microphone (not shown), and the lever 114 ( fig. 1 ) may be input devices. examples of output devices may include the display 110 ( fig. 1 ), speakers 122 ( fig. 1 ) or lights connected to each of the plurality of gaming machines 410 a - n . the at least one display device 418 a - n may be a screen or other mechanism for displaying the primary game of chance. the main display 110 or secondary display 108 illustrated in fig. 1 is an example of the at least one display device 418 a - n. fig. 5 illustrates yet another embodiment of a multi-player system for playing an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the multi-player system 500 may have a gaming server 534 , a bonus server 502 , a player tracking server 508 , and a location tracking server 514 . although only illustrated with four example servers, the number and type of server is not intended to be limiting as any number and type of server may be used as desired. the gaming server 534 , the bonus server 502 , the player tracking server 508 , and the location tracking server 514 may be configured to communicate via a network 520 with each other and with each of a plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n . the network 520 may be a client-server network, a peer-to-peer network, a wired or wireless network, a wan, a lan, or any other type of network. each of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n may have a processor 526 a - n . each of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n may also have a local non-volatile memory 524 a - n configured to communicate with the processor 526 a - n . each of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n may also have an input/output device 528 a - n and/or a display device 530 a - n configured to communicate with the processor 526 a - n . a locator device or location determination device 532 a - n may also be configured to communicate with the processor 526 a - n . the locator device 532 a - n may determine the general physical geographic location of the casino, or the specific location on the casino floor of each of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n . location information can be used to enforce local jurisdictional requirements (e.g., minimum payout percentage, bet size, and the like), or to modify the asynchronous persistent group bonus game (e.g., game rules, localization features for the city, the casino brands, prizes, and the like). in one embodiment, a global positioning system (gps), a cellular towers triangulation or trilateration system, a wimax triangulation or trilateration system, a wifi triangulation or trilateration system, or some combination of these triangulation and trilateration system may be used. in another embodiment, ip address analysis may be used. in still other embodiments, the location determination device 532 a - n may use any known method, system, or device to determine the physical location of each of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n (some of which may also be gaming machinemobile devices such as smart phones), such as a nearby access point, signal strength analysis, time difference of arrival, or other rf location methods. the gaming server 534 may store data or information related to the primary game of chance. for example, the gaming server 534 may store the object code for running a primary game of chance on a gaming machine. the gaming server 534 may have a processor 538 and a memory 536 configured to communicate with the processor 538 . the memory 536 may be any type of memory, but is illustrated as a non-volatile memory. the processor 538 on the gaming server 534 may be configured to run the operation of the primary game of chance. the processor 538 may receive requests and/or commands from any of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n , execute such requests or commands, and save game state data on the non-volatile memory 536 . the gaming server 534 may also be configured to download a plurality of primary games to any of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n via network 520 . this may allow a player to choose from a variety of primary games of chance to be played on each of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n. the bonus server 502 may execute and store data or information related to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. in one embodiment, the bonus server 502 may be configured to store game state data specific to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. such game state data may include persistent bonus player data, persistent bonus group data, and/or persistent bonus world data. the bonus server 502 may have a processor 506 configured to communicate with a memory 504 . the memory 504 may be any type of memory, although illustrated as a non-volatile memory. the processor 506 on the bonus server 502 may be configured to run the operation of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the processor 506 may receive requests and/or commands from any of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n , update the bonus gaming environment 102 based on the commands, and save or update game state data on the non-volatile memory 504 and any active local or global environment displays. the player tracking server 508 may store data or information related to player accounts. in one embodiment, the player tracking server 508 may be specialized to store data about each individual player's play in a primary game of chance and/or the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. the player tracking server 508 may have a processor 512 configured to communicate with a memory 510 . the memory 510 may be any type of memory, although illustrated as a non-volatile memory. the player tracking server 508 may identify individual players when players insert their player loyalty cards into a gaming machine, such as through the use of a player tracking device 118 ( fig. 1 ). after inserting the player loyalty card, the player tracking server 508 may access and store information or data about the player in the memory 510 , track statistics about the player's play, such as the type of game, amount of money wagered, or any other statistics. in one embodiment, a location tracking server 514 may be used to determine the location of each of the gaming machines 522 a - n . a game's characteristic may varied due to its location. the location tracking server 514 may be used in addition to the location determination device 532 a - n in each of the gaming machines 522 a - n or may be used if there is no location determination device 532 a - n in the gaming machines 522 a - n . once the location of each of the gaming machines 522 a - n is determined, the information may be transmitted via the network 520 to the gaming server 534 and/or the bonus server 502 . the gaming server 534 and/or the bonus server 502 may then configure the primary game of chance and/or the asynchronous persistent group bonus game to comply with rules, laws, or regulations of local government jurisdictions, local game rules created by the casino operator, themes created by the game designer, localization features associated with the city, casino brands, and the like, based upon the location of each of the gaming machines 522 a - n. the location tracking server 514 may have a processor 518 configured to communicate with a memory 516 . the memory 516 may be any type of memory, although illustrated as a non-volatile memory. the physical location of each of the plurality of gaming machines 522 a - n may be stored in the memory 516 at the location tracking server 514 . figs. 6a and 6b are flow charts illustrating an example method to play an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. referring to fig. 6a , the method 600 starts with a wager received on a gaming machine to play a primary game of chance at 602 . the primary game of chance is then operated at 604 on the gaming machine. a determination is then made as to whether a bonus game session is triggered at 606 . a bonus game session can be triggered for the player randomly, when a certain symbol or combination is generated on the main display of the gaming machine during the player's play of the primary game of chance, or when other predetermined criteria are met. a bonus game session may be a bonus game played by a player in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. in one embodiment, the bonus game session may be played for a pre-determined amount of time and/or until the player meets an objective of the bonus game session. for example, an objective of the game described in example 1 discussed above may be once the player catches a fish. in another embodiment, the amount of time the player may play the bonus game session may be based on the player's score in the primary game of chance. the time a player is allowed to play the bonus game session may be pre-determined, such as for two minutes, or based on any other criteria. if a bonus game session has not been triggered at 606 , and a wager is received to play a primary game of chance on the gaming machine at 602 , another primary game of chance is operated on the gaming machine at 604 . if the bonus game session has been triggered for the player at 606 , then a determination of whether the player is new to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 608 . to determine whether the player is new to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 608 , in one embodiment, the player might be asked to input a player identification number or insert their player loyalty card into the player tracking device on the gaming machine if the player has not previously done so. a player tracking server or bonus server may check player game data stored in memory to determine if the player has previously played the asynchronous persistent group bonus game for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game session. referring now to fig. 6b , if it is determined that the player is new to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 608 , player may register to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 610 . in one embodiment, the player may input a player name and password. in another embodiment, the player may simply input the player loyalty card in the player tracking device on the gaming machine. in still another embodiment, the player loyalty card may already be inserted in the player tracking device. in a further embodiment, the player can remain anonymous by entering a random id, or request that the gaming system generate a random id. a new record may then be created in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game database for the player. the player account data may then be saved on a memory of the bonus server and/or player tracking device at 612 . the player account data may be any information, including, but not limited to, a player identification, player password, contact information for the player, associating the player with a team, wager amount, and other data. referring back to fig. 6a , if the player is not a new player to the current session of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, then previously saved persistent bonus player data for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be recalled at 614 . as the player plays the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, any winnings from the bonus game session may be added and updated to the previously saved persistent bonus player data. the updated persistent bonus player data may then be saved on a memory of the bonus game and/or player tracking server. an input may be received to use at least one bonus game play asset in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 616 . a bonus game play asset may be any asset or tool that a player may utilize in playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. bonus game play assets may either be won in the primary game of chance, purchased with credits from the virtual bonus store, and/or obtained while playing the bonus game session. assets can also be transferred from another player. in the example described above in example 1, a bonus game play asset may include a fishing rod, boat, a lure, or any other item(s) to assist a player in catching more and bigger fish in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. bonus game play assets may also be implemented as a default set of assets so all players will be on an equal footing on the play field. in case of a default set of assets, a request to use a tool is not needed. at 617 , if the bonus game play assets were not a default set, a player's request to use a certain asset from the set is fulfilled. the bonus game session may be operated at 618 . the bonus game session may be displayed on a display of the local gaming machine and/or on a community display. the bonus game session continues until the bonus session ends at 620 . in one embodiment, the bonus game session may end after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed. in another embodiment, the bonus game session ends when the player or team reaches a team goal. in still another embodiment, the bonus game session may end when any other bonus ending event occurs, such as the player catching a fish or completing a task. once the bonus game session ends for the player at 620 , the persistent bonus game state and other data may be updated at 622 . the bonus game state data may be updated in the bonus server, player tracking server, and/or on the gaming machine itself. the bonus game state data may then be saved to the non-volatile memory on the bonus server at 624 . as discussed previously, the triggering events that cause the saving of the data may be any change in the data themselves, end of the bonus session for each player, or any other conditions depending on the game or jurisdictional requirements. in another embodiment, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game state data may also be saved to the memory on the player tracking server, the gaming machine itself, or any other network server. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game state and other data may include the persistent bonus player data, which may be updated with any new prizes the player has won while playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. asynchronous persistent group bonus game state and other data may also include the persistent bonus group data, which may represent the current state of each team competing in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, as well as the list of players associated with each team or group. furthermore, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game state and other data may include persistent bonus world data that represents the current state of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. in the example discussed above in example 1, the persistent bonus world data can include data such as total amount of fish caught by the players of each team, location of fish remaining to be caught (which may or may not be revealed to active players), and other data representing the operation of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. all the data may be updated at 622 and saved at 624 after each individual bonus game session ends for each player. thus, when another player enters the bonus game environment to play a bonus game session, the current state of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be up-to-date. fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example operation of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. an asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be operated at 702 . in one embodiment, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be operated from a bonus server. in another embodiment, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be operated from the gaming server. in another embodiment, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be operated at the gaming machine. the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be displayed on a display at 704 . the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be displayed on a community display and/or on a display of a gaming machine. in another embodiment, the display may occur on a plurality of game machines, in a synchronized manner. an event in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be detected that modifies the persistent bonus game state and other data at 706 . as discussed before, the triggering events that cause the saving of the data may be any change in the data themselves, the end of the bonus session for each player, or other conditions depending on the game or jurisdictional requirements. since asynchronous persistent group bonus game state and other data may include data on each player, groups, their interactions, and the entire bonus world environment, any changes to the data may qualify as an event that modifies the asynchronous persistent group bonus game state and other data. for example, a new player may enter or exit the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, a player may be added to (or removed from) a group, or a goal or objective of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be attained. other events may occur that modifies the asynchronous persistent group bonus game state and other data. the bonus game state data may be saved at 708 . in one embodiment, the bonus game state data may be saved each time an event is detected at 706 . in another embodiment, the bonus game state data may be saved based upon a predetermined time limit, such as every five minutes. in yet another embodiment, the constant changes in the player's local game environment (such as moving from location to location) is accumulated in the local machine's nonvolatile memory. when a significant event occurs, such as when a player catches a fish, the accumulated data for the environment is uploaded to the server in a client-server network or to designated peer machines in a peer to peer storage network. if an asynchronous persistent group bonus game termination event has not occurred at 710 , the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue at 702 . however, if an asynchronous persistent group bonus game termination event has occurred at 710 , the asynchronous persistent group bonus game ends. there are multiple levels of termination. termination may occur at the player's level, team level, tournament level, or at the global level. the termination event may be a predetermined amount of time has elapsed, a player or group has reached the overall group goal, or any other event that terminates the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. for example, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue for three months, three weeks, or three days. in another example, as described in example 1 above, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue until a team has caught 300 pounds of fish. once the asynchronous persistent group bonus game is terminated and saved, another asynchronous persistent group bonus game may automatically start. fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for determining the location of a gaming machine. a location determination device may determine the location of each of the plurality of gaming machines at 802 . the location determination device may be positioned within each of the plurality of gaming machines or located on a separate server. the location determination device may determine the location of the gaming machine via a gps, a triangulation, a trilateration, a nearby network node, or any other mechanism for determining the location of the gaming machine as discussed above. the location of each of the plurality of gaming machines may be saved at 804 . the location may be saved on a memory at a gaming server, a bonus server, a player tracking server, a location tracking server, or any other type of network server. in one embodiment, the location may also be save on a local game machine node of a peer to peer distributed storage network. the saved location information may then be used to configure each of the plurality of gaming machines to comply with any applicable regulations and location-based game rules at 806 based on the detected location. for example, a state may have a $500 limit on the maximum amount of money a player can lose in any given day. each gaming machine may then be configured to comply with the state law to, whether it be to play a primary game of chance or the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, refuse a player's wager to play additional games of chance after the player has lost $500 within a 24 hour period. in another example, the specific location of the gaming machine may cause the rules of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game to change, the game theme to change, localization features (e.g., city scape, casino brands) to be added or displayed on the gaming machine. for example, certain sections of the casino floor may be designated as a promotional zone where game machines are entitled to additional game benefits such as more powerful tools or additional prizes given out by 3 rd party sponsors. fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating another example method of an asynchronous persistent group bonus game. a determination is made whether a player's bonus game session ended at 902 . the bonus game session continues at 903 if it is determined that the bonus game session did not end at 902 . if the bonus game session ended at 902 , a determination is made if a persistent bonus award was granted at 904 . the player may be awarded persistent bonus awards for certain achievements while playing the bonus game session in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. for example, in example 1, achievements resulting in persistent bonus awards may include catching fish of a certain weight, obtaining a certain bonus game play asset(s), completing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game within a certain amount of time, or any other criteria as desired. if the player was granted a persistent bonus award at 904 , the persistent bonus award may be converted into at least one credit at 906 . the player may use the credit to play additional primary games of chance, purchase additional bonus game assets, cash out the credits, or even rolling the credits over to another game. the player's account data may then be updated at 908 and saved in a memory at 910 . the player's account data may be saved on a memory on the bonus server, player tracking server, one or more gaming machines, and/or on a gaming server. the player account data may include information such as amount of credits, assets obtained from the bonus game session, or any other player gaming or account data. if a persistent bonus award was not granted at 904 , a determination is made whether the player elected to cash out at 912 and no longer play the game of chance on the gaming machine. if the player elected to cash out at 912 , the credits may be redeemed or rollover the credits to another game at 914 . the credits may be redeemed for cash or non-cash assets, such as entertainment shows, food, concierge services, or any other item. if the player does not elected to cash out at 912 , the player may continue to play the primary game of chance at 916 on the gaming machine. fig. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example method to distribute an asynchronous persistent group bonus team award. if the asynchronous persistent group bonus game does not end at 1002 , the asynchronous persistent group bonus game continues at 1006 . if the asynchronous persistent group bonus game ends at 1002 , then a determination is made as to whether a team award is granted at 1004 for the team. if a team award is granted at 1004 , the team award is distributed among each of the members of the team at 1008 . if no team award is granted at 1004 , the bonus award distribution phase may end. the team award may be any award granted to a team at the conclusion of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. for example, a team may be awarded a team award for being the first team to reach the overall team goal of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. in example 1, the team goal may be to catch 300 pounds of fish, and the first team to reach this goal may win the team award. in one embodiment, teams that come in second or third place, or any other rank, may also be awarded smaller award amounts. in other embodiments, team awards may also be awarded prior to the conclusion of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game upon certain event. for example, team awards may be obtained if a team member catches a rare fish, obtains a specific bonus game play asset, or any other criteria. in another embodiment, any bonus game asset each team member acquired while playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be converted and added to the team award or to the individual player's distributed team award amount. for example, based on example 1,if the team has three racing boats, the team award may be increased by a predetermined amount, such as $1,000.00. alternatively, each player having the race boat may have an additional predetermined amount added to their distributed team amount, such as an additional $500.00. the team award may be distributed among the members of the team at 1008 based on any criteria, such as, the proportional contribution of each team member towards the overall team goal, the amount of time played by each player, the amount of bonus game play assets accumulated by each player, randomly, or any other criteria. once the team award is distributed, each player's account data may be updated at 1010 and saved at 1012 . the player account data may be saved on a memory at the gaming server, player tracking server, bonus server, gaming machine, or any other network server. the player's account data may include any information as discussed above. there could be many collaboration games, competition games between teams, or individual games occurring simultaneously in the same asynchronous persistent bonus group game environment. thus, a termination of one local competition tournament does not necessarily terminate the global asynchronous persistent group bonus game. while embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.
|
035-531-403-746-10X
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GB
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[
"CA",
"GB",
"JP",
"WO",
"US",
"EP"
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C12Q1/68,C12Q1/6886,C07K16/18,C12N15/09,C12Q1/02,G01N27/62,G01N33/15,G01N33/50,A61K31/522
| 2003-04-02T00:00:00 |
2003
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[
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cell cycle related markers
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the present invention relates to pharmacodynamic markers for cdkis including the candidate 2,6,9-tri-substituted purine known as roscovitine. the identit y of these markers facilitates the convenient identification of roscovitine-li ke activity both in vitro and in vivo.
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claims 1. a method of momtoring activity of a cdki comprising: a) isolating a sample from a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human, wherein said cell, group of cells, an animal model or human has been treated with cdki; b) determining altered expression of at least one of i) a gene identified in any of tables 1 to 12; ii) a 28 kda protein or iii) a 14 kda protein in said treated sample as compared to an untreated control sample as an indication of cdki activity. 2. a method as claimed in claim 1 wherein altered expression is an increase or decrease of gene expression of a gene identified in any of tables 1 to 12. 3. a method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the gene identified in tables 1 to 12 is selected from adm, fadd, pah, plau, pnuts, tnfsf14, c/ebp alpha, 20585, fut4, e2f6, 18747, 22147, zkl, kiaa1698, ccrl2, myc and mcl-1. 4. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein the group of cells is a cell culture. 5. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the cells are selected from pbmc, ht29, and a549 cells. 6. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 wherein the group of cells is tumor cells, pbmc or lymphocytes. 7. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein the sample is blood. 8. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 further comprising extracting rna from said sample and detecting gene expression by qpcr. 9. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein the altered expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 is a decrease in expression compared to the untreated sample. 10. a method as claimed in claim 1 wherein altered expression is a decrease in a 28 kda protein. 11. a method as claimed in claim 1 wherein altered expression is the presence or absence of one or more post translational modifications of a 28 kda protein or a 14 kda protein in the treated sample compared to the untreated control sample. 12. a method as claimed in claims 1, 10 or 11 wherein the 28 kda protein is apolipoprotein al. 13. a method as claimed in claims 1 or 11 wherein the 14 kda protein is transthyretin. 14. a method as claimed in claims 1 or 10 to 13 wherein the sample is serum, plasma or tissue culture supernatant. 15. a method as claimed in claims 1 or 10 to 14 wherein the sample is analysed by protein analysis. 16. a method as claimed in claims 1 or 10 to 15 wherein protein analysis is by seldi- tof ms or 2-d page. 17. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 16 wherein a cdki is administered to a mammal. 18. a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 16 wherein a cdki is administered to a human. 19. a method of assessing suitable dose levels of a cdki comprising monitoring altered expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 after administration of a cdki to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human. 20. a method of assessing suitable dose levels of a cdki comprising monitoring altered expression of a 28 or 14 kda protein after administration of a cdki to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human. 21. a method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the 28 kda or 14kda protein is a post translationally modified form. 22. a method for identifying a candidate drug having cdki-like activity comprising administering said candidate drug to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human and detecting altered expression of at least one of i) a gene identified in any of tables 1 to 12; ii) a 28 kda protein or iii) a 14 kda protein in said treated sample as compared to an untreated control sample as an indication of cdki activity. 23. a method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the cdki is roscovitine. 24. a method as claimed in claim 23 wherein roscovitine is r-roscovitine. 25. use of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12 or a gene encoding apolipoprotein al or transthyretin in the monitoring of activity of a cdki. 26. use according to claim 25 wherein the presence of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12 or a 28 or 14 kda protein is monitored after the administration of a cdki to a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human. 27. use according to claim 26 wherein the cdki is roscovitine is r-roscovitine. 28. use according to claim 27 wherein roscovitine is r-roscovitine. 29. a kit for assessing the activity of roscovitine comprising antibodies for a protein encoded by at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12, or a 28 or 14 kda protein. 30. a kit for assessing the activity of roscovitine comprising a nucleic acid probe for at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12. 31. a kit for assessing the activity of roscovitine comprising a qpcr primer having a sequence as set out in table 13 or 14. 32. use of a kit as defined in any of claims 29 to 31 in a method defined in any of claims 1 to 24. 33. a method of monitoring the activity of roscovitine comprising: (i) administering roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human; and (ii) measuring gene expression in samples derived from the treated and the untreated cells, animal or human; and (iii) detecting an increase or a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 in the treated sample as compared to the untreated sample as an indication of roscovitine activity. 34. a method as claimed in claim 33 wherein the gene identified in tables 1 to 12 is selected from adm, fadd, pah, plau, pnuts, tnfsf14, c/ebp alpha, 20585, fut4, e2f6, 18747, 22147, zkl, kiaa1698, ccrl2, myc and mcl-1. 35. a method according to claim 33 or claim 34, wherein roscovitine is administered to a mammal. 36. a method according to any of claims 33 to 35, wherein roscovitine is administered to a human. 37. a method according to claim 33 or claim 34, wherein the group of cells is a cell culture. 38. a method according to claim 37, wherein the cells are selected from pbmc, ht29, and a549 cells. 39. a method according to any previous claim, wherein the presence of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 is detected in tumor cells or lymphocytes. 40. a method according to any preceding claim, wherein the level of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 is less than that detected prior to administration of roscovitine. 41. a method of assessing suitable dose levels of roscovitine comprising monitoring the degree and rate of expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 after administration of roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human. 42. a method of identifying a candidate drag having roscovitine-like activity comprising administering said candidate drag to cell, group of cells, animal model or human and monitoring the presence or absence of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12. 43. a method according to any preceding claims, wherein roscovitine is r-roscovitine. 44. use of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12 in the monitoring of activity of roscovitine. 45. use according to claim 44, wherein the presence of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12 is monitored after the administration of roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human. 46. use according to claim 44 or 45, wherein roscovitine is r-roscovitine. 47. a kit for assessing the activity of roscovitine comprising antibodies for at least one of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12. 48. a kit for assessing the activity of roscovitine comprising a nucleic acid probe for at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12. 49. use of a kit as defined in any of claims 47 to 48, in a method defined in any of claims 1 to 12. 50. a method of momtoring the activity of a cdki comprising: (i) administering said cdki to a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human; and (ii) measuring gene expression in samples derived from the treated and the untreated cells, animal or human; and (iii) detecting an increase or a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in any of tables 1 to 12 in the treated sample as compared to the untreated sample as an indication of cdki activity.
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markers the present invention relates to pharmacodynamic markers for cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors. in particular, the present invention relates to pharmacodynamic markers for the candidate 2,6,9-tri-substituted purine known as roscovitine (cyc 202) and roscovitine-like compounds. the identity of these markers facilitates the convenient identification of roscovitine-like activity both in vitro and in vivo. a growing family of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (cdkts) have been identified. these inhibitors have varying activities against the multiple cdk family members. generally, these inhibitors bind to the atp binding pockets of cdks. the 2,6,9-tri-substituted purines are becoming a well studied class of compound showing promise as cdk s of use in the treatment of proliferative disorders such as cancers, leukemias and glomeralar nephritis. fischer p & lane d (curr med chem (2000), vol 7, page 1213) provides a detailed review of cdkfs, their origins and described activities. in particular, roscovitine has been shown to inhibit cdk1, cdk2, cdk5, cdk 7 and cdk 9 and to block cell cycle progression in late gl/early s and in m-phase. the compound (r)-2-[(l-ethyl-2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-6-benzylamino-9- isopropylpurine, known as r-roscovitine was first described in wo97/20842 (meijer l et al) and has since been developed as a promising candidate anti-cancer agent. in the development of such agents, extensive pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic investigations must be undertaken in order to understand the actual mechanism of action upon administration and satisfy the regulatory authority's requirements as to toxicity and dosing. such analysis is based upon the complex biochemistry of the cell cycle control system and detailed studies undertaken in the pre-clinical phase of drug development to ascertain the particular mode of activity of the candidate drug. of particular advantage in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic investigations is the identity of specific markers of activity for the candidate drag. the present invention relates to the observation that a number of genes identified in any of tables 1 to 12 act as specific pharmacodynamic (pd) markers, or "biomarkers", for the activity of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor, roscovitine. in particular, the expression of the genes identified is up or down regulated after roscovitine treatment. in addition, the present invention relates to the observation that a number of genes, expressed as proteins, can act as protein markers which are pharmacodynamic markers for roscovitine activity. accordingly, the present invention relates to the identification of protein markers as specific pharmacodynamic markers for roscovitine activity and, in particular, the identification of 28 and 14 kda markers. suitably these markers are apolipoprotein al and transthyretin, respectively. these protein markers can be proteins whose expression is up or down regulated after roscovitine treatment or can be altered post-translationally modified fomis, those forms not being detectable or being detectable to a greater or lesser extent prior to roscovitine treatment. accordingly, in a first aspect, there is provided a method of monitoring activity of a cdki comprising: a) isolating a sample, a "treated sample", from a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human, wherein said cell, group of cells, an animal model or human has been treated with cdki; b) determining altered expression of at least one of i) a gene identified in any of tables 1 to 12; ii) a 28 kda protein or iii) a 14 kda protein in said treated sample as compared to an untreated control sample as an indication of cdki activity. detection of altered expression including gene expression may be performed by any one of the methods known in the art, particularly by microaπay analysis, western blotting or by pcr techniques such as qpcr as described herein. altered expression may also be detected by analysing protein content of samples using methods such as seldi-tof ms as described herein and using further analytical techniques such as 2dgel electrophoresis. techniques such as this can be particularly useful for detecting altered expression in the form of alternative post translationally modified forms of a protein. in one embodiment, "altered expression" is an increase or decrease of gene expression of a gene identified in any of tables 1 to 12. suitably, the gene identified in tables 1 to 12 is selected from adm, fadd, pah, plau, pnuts, tnfsf14, c/ebp alpha, 20585, fut4, e2f6, 18747, 22147, zk1, kiaa1698, ccrl2, myc and mcl-1. suitably, the altered expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 is a decrease in expression compared to the untreated sample. alternatively, the altered expression is an increase compared to the untreated sample. when the invention is performed ex vivo for example, in the pharmacodynamic investigation of cdkts such as roscovitine, it is preferably performed on a group of cells preferably a cell culture. prefeπed cell types are selected from colonic tumour cell lines such as ht29, lung tumour cell lines such as a549, renal tumour cell lines such as a498, bladder tumour cell lines such as ht13, breast tumour cell lines such as mcf7, endometrial tumour cell lines such as an3ca, uterine tumour cell lines such as messa dh6 uterine sarcoma cells, hepatic tumour cell lines such as hep2g, prostate tumour cell lines such as dtj145, t cell tumour cell lines such as cem t cell, pancreatic tumour cell lines such as miapaca2. alternatively, the cells may be in the form of a histological sample of a tumor biopsy. in another alternative, the cells may be blood cell cultures such as pbmcs. suitably, alterations in expression including changes in gene expression are monitored in samples taken from the mammal or human. suitable samples include tissue samples such as biopsy, blood, urine, buccal scrapes etc. in one embodiment, gene expression is preferably detected in tumour cells, particularly cells derived from a tumour such as breast, lung, gastric, head and neck, colorectal, renal, pancreatic, uterine, hepatic, bladder, endometrial and prostate cancers and leukemias or from blood cells such as lymphocytes and, preferably, peripheral lymphocytes such as pbmc. in another embodiment altered protein expression is detected in serum or plasma samples from a mammal or human. in these prefeπed embodiments, the presence of one of adm, fadd, pah, plau, pnuts, tnfsf14, c/ebp alpha, 20585, fut4, e2f6, 18747, 22147, zk1, kiaa1698, ccrl2, myc and mcl-1 is preferably detected in tumor cells, particularly cells derived from colonic or lung tumours or from blood cells such as lymphocytes and, preferably, peripheral lymphocytes such as pbmc. in a preferred embodiment, the group of cells is a cell culture and, preferably, selected from pbmc, ht29, and a549 cells. in another embodiment, the group of cells is tumor cells, pbmcs or lymphocytes. suitably, the sample is blood. alternatively the sample may be a tumour biopsy such as a sample taken by laser capture microsurgery. preferably, the method further comprises extracting rna from said sample and detecting gene expression by qpcr. in another embodiment, gene expression is detected by detecting protein products such as, for example, by western blot. in another embodiment, "altered expression" is an altered pattern of protein expression. suitably, the altered expression is a decrease in a 28 kda protein. altered protein expression may also be the presence or absence of one or more post translational modifications of a 28 kda protein or a 14 kda protein in the treated sample compared to the untreated control sample. preferably, the 28 kda protein is apolipoprotein al and the 14 kda protein is transthyretin. suitably, where altered protein expression is detected, the sample is serum, plasma or tissue culture supernatant. alternatively, the sample may be a tumour biopsy such as a sample taken by laser capture microscopy. in detection of proteins in serum and, in particular, in plasma samples of patients, samples are removed and subjected to protein analytical techniques such as seldi- tof ms, as described herein. in a prefeπed embodiment of the method in accordance with any embodiment recited above the cdki is a compound having roscovitine activity, and preferably is roscovitine or a roscovitine analogue or derivative. most preferably, roscovitine is r- roscovitine. suitably, roscovitine is administered to a mammal and, preferably, a human. in another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of assessing suitable dose levels of roscovitine comprising monitoring the altered expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 after administration of roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human. i a further aspect, there is provided a method of assessing suitable dose levels of roscovitine comprising monitoring the altered expression of a 28 or 14 kda protein after administration of roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human. in another aspect there is provided a method for identifying a candidate drag having cdki-like activity comprising administering said candidate drag to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human and detecting altered expression of at least one of i) a gene identified in any of tables 1 to 12; ii) a 28 kda protein or iii) a 14 kda protein in said treated sample as compared to an untreated control sample as an indication of cdki activity. in this aspect, a candidate drag will show a similar pattern of altered expression of the biomarker to that obtained using a known cdki. use of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12 or a gene encoding apolipoprotein al or transthyretin in the monitoring of activity of a cdki, preferably, roscovitine. suitably, the presence of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12 or a 28 or 14 kda protein is monitored after the administration of a cdki such as roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human. kits for assessing the activity of a cdki such as roscovitine may be made, comprising nucleic acid primers or antibodies for at least one of the genes or proteins as identified herein. the kits may be used in accordance with any of the hereinbefore described methods for monitoring roscovitine activity, assessing roscovitine dosage or the roscovitine-like activity of a candidate drag. in a further aspect, there is provided a kit for assessing the activity of a cdki such as roscovitine comprising antibodies for a protein encoded by at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12, or a 28 or 14 kda protein. suitably, such kits may comprise the antibodies recognising the protein product of a gene identified herein alone or in combination with antibodies directed to another gene identified herein. antibodies for the genes or proteins identified herein may be derived from commercial sources or through techniques which are familiar to those skilled in the art. in one embodiment, and where altered expression manifests itself through the expression of alteration of post translationally-modified forms of a protein biomarker, antibodies specific for those different forms may be used. in yet another aspect there is provided a kit for assessing the activity of a cdki such as roscovitine comprising a probe for detecting gene expression such as a nucleic acid probe for at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12. for example, suitable kits may be kits for qpcr analysis comprising primers for the detection of expression of at least one of the genes identified herein. examples of suitable primers are set out in tables 13 and 14. suitably, kits for qpcr analysis may detect at least one gene, and may also comprise primers directed to another gene identified herein. for altered expression detected by analysis of protein samples, a kit may comprise a buffer, chip and quality controls (i.e. known positives or negatives) for detection of a 28 kda or a 14 kda protein. suitable buffers and chips are described herein. in another aspect there is provided a method of monitoring the activity of a cdki comprising: (i) administering said cdki to a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human; and (ii) measuring gene expression in samples derived from the treated and the untreated cells, animal or human; and (iii) detecting an increase or a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in any of tables 1 to 12 or a 28 or 14 kda protein in the treated sample as compared to the untreated sample as an indication of cdki activity. in a further aspect, there is provided a method of monitoring the activity of roscovitine comprising: (i) administering roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, an animal model or human; and (ii) measuring gene expression in samples derived from the treated and the untreated cells, animal or human; and (iii) detecting an increase or a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 in the treated sample as compared to the untreated sample as an indication of roscovitine activity. in another aspect there is provided a method according to any preceding claim, wherein the level of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 is less than that detected prior to administration of roscovitine. in a further aspect there is provided a method of assessing suitable dose levels of roscovitine comprising monitoring the degree and rate of expression of at least one of the genes identified in tables 1 to 12 after administration of roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human. in a yet further aspect, there is provided a method of identifying a candidate drag having roscovitine-like activity comprising administering said candidate drug to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human and monitoring the presence or absence of at least one of the genes as identified in tables 1 to 12. suitably, a number of the biomarkers of roscovitine activity (i.e. genes identified in any of tables 1 to 12 or expressed as protein markers including apolipoprotein al or transthyretin) may be observed in combination. preferably, where roscovitine is administered to a human, the effective concentration of roscovitine administered to a cell is greater than 5 micromolar and, more preferably greater than 10 micromolar. suitably, where roscovitine is administered to a human, treatment with the drug is for 2, 4 or 8 hours prior to removing blood samples for analysis of gene expression. where serum or plasma samples are removed for analysis of altered protein expression, roscovitine is administered over a period of days. in one embodiment, where roscovitine is administered to a cell, the effective concentration of roscovitine is preferably upto 75 micromolar. in one prefeπed embodiment, the cell, group of cells, animal model or human, is treated with roscovitine at 7.5, 15 or 30 micromolar for 1.5 hours before analysis to detect gene expression. in this embodiment, a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in table 3 or table 7 is detected as an indication of roscovitine activity. in this embodiment, gene expression in cells is preferably detected in pbmc or cells having a phenotype similar to ht29. in another embodiment, the cell, group of cells, animal model or human, is treated with roscovitine at 7.5, 15 or 30 micromolar for 3 hours before analysis to detect gene expression. in this embodiment, a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in table 4 or table 8 is detected as an indication of roscovitine activity. in this embodiment, gene expression in cells is preferably detected in pbmc or cells having a phenotype similar to ht29. in another embodiment, the cell, group of cells, animal model or human, is treated with roscovitine at 15, 45 or 75 micromolar for 2 hours before analysis to detect gene expression. in this embodiment, a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in table 11 is detected as an indication of roscovitine activity. in this embodiment, gene expression in cells is preferably detected in cells having a phenotype similar to a549. in another embodiment, the cell, group of cells, animal model or human, is treated with roscovitine at 15, 45 or 75 micromolar for 4 hours before analysis to detect gene expression. in this embodiment, a decrease in gene expression of at least one of the genes identified in table 12 is detected as an indication of roscovitine activity. in this embodiment, gene expression in cells is preferably detected in cells having a phenotype similar to a549. in another embodiment, the cell, group of cells, animal model or human, is treated with roscovitine at 50 micromolar for 4, 12, 24 or 48 hours before analysis to detect gene expression. in yet another embodiment, where a human is treated, the roscovitine is administered at between 0.8 to 3.6g per day and, preferably, 1.6 to 2.4g per day for 1 to 10 days. as used herein, the term "pbmc" refers to peripheral blood mononuclear cells and includes pbls (peripheral blood lymphocytes). in one preferred embodiment, the gene whose expression is detected is selected from adm, fadd, pah, plau, pnuts, tnfsf14, c/ebp alpha, nm_017665 (refeπed to herein as "20585" which corresponds to nm_017665 homo sapiens hypothetical protein flj20094), fut4, e2f6, nm_018316 (refeπed to herein as "18747" which coπesponds to nm_018316 homo sapiens hypothetical protein flj 11078), nm_033410 (refeπed to herein as "22147" which coπesponds to nm_033410 homo sapiens hypothetical protein mgc13138), zk1, kiaa1698, ccrl2, myc and mcl-1. as used herein the terms "roscovitine" and "r-roscovitine" is used to refer to the compound 2-(r)-( 1 -ethyl-2-hydroxyethylamino)-6-benzylamino-9-isopropylpurine, also refeπed to as cyc202. in its unqualified form the term "roscovitine" is used to include the r-roscovitine, the s enantiomer and racemic mixtures thereof. this compound and its preparation are described in us patent 6,316,456. analogues of roscovitine are described, for example, in wo 03/002565. in a preferred embodiment of the invention roscovitine is admimstered to a mammal or a human, more preferably a human. when performed on an animal model, the invention is preferably performed on a tumour model such as ht29 or a549 xenograft mouse model. the methods of the present invention where the levels of expression of any of the genes identified herein are monitored will preferably involve momtoring the levels prior to administration of roscovitine and then again preferably 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 24 or 48 hours after administration. in a prefeπed embodiment, the level is monitored again at least 1.5 hours after administration of roscovitine. in further embodiments, altered protein expression is measured 1 to 10 days after administration. in one prefeπed embodiment, the level of a gene detected after administration of roscovitine is preferably lower than that detected prior to administration of roscovitine. a further aspect of the invention relates to the independent monitoring of roscovitine activity by monitoring altered expression including monitoring the levels of gene expression. in one embodiment, the level of gene expression detected after administration of roscovitine is preferably higher than that detected prior to administration of roscovitine. in another embodiment, the level of gene expression detected after administration of roscovitine is preferably lower than that detected prior to administration of roscovitine. the methods of the present invention may be further utilised in; (a) methods of assessing suitable dose levels of roscovitine comprising monitoring the degree and rate of gene expression after administration of roscovitine to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human, (b) methods of identifying a candidate drag having roscovitine-like activity comprising administering said candidate drug to a cell, group of cells, animal model or human and monitoring the presence or absence of a gene or altered expression of a protein. methods such as described in (a) may further comprise coπelating the degree and rate of gene expression with the known rate of inhibition of a known gene whose expression is modulated by roscovitine at the same dosage, over the same time period. in one embodiment, phosphorylation status of rb may be compared to the pattern of expression of any one of the genes identified herein. rb as a marker of roscovitine activity is described in wo 02/061386. in a further aspect, the invention relates to the use of a gene or protein in the monitoring of activity of roscovitine utilising any of the methods described above. typically in cell line investigations a cdk2 inhibitory (ic 50 ) dosage of roscovitine is administered and samples extracted over a 24 or 48 hour time period for example at 2, 4, 12, 24 and 48 hours after administration. protein samples are isolated, loaded and resolved on sds-page, blotted and probed for the appropriate marker. when conducting investigation in animal models or humans, a suitable proliferating tissue must be identified as being a source of cells that can be extracted from the animal or human for assessment of roscovitine activity. suitable tissue includes any proliferating tissue. in particular including a tumor biopsy, but it has now been observed that circulating lymphocytes and cells of the buccal mucosa may also be used. once extracted, these cells can be treated in a manner identical to that described for cell lines. in most cases a pool of markers including a gene as identified herein is identified. suitable methods for detecting gene expression in biopsy samples include using fish or immunohistochemistry techniques using antibodies that recognise the genes identified herein as well as methods for analysing the protein composition of samples. this embodiment of the invention may be further developed to use the effect of roscovitine on gene expression as a tool in dose titration i.e. by monitoring the degree and rate of gene expression a suitable dose of roscovitine may be determined. such analysis may further involve coπelation of changes of gene expression with the known rate of inhibition of, for example, either cdk2 activity or rb phosphorylation by roscovitine at the same dosage. in this manner, a single measurement of the rate and degree of gene expression may be taken as indicative of further activities of roscovitine. in an even further embodiment of the invention the altered expression including altered gene expression level by a candidate drug may be taken as an indication of its mode of activity in that it may be classified as roscovitine-like. response of a cancer patient to treatment with a particular course of therapy can be highly variable. for example, a patient may be sensitive to treatment with a particular therapy and therefore exhibit reduced tumour burden or improved symptoms. alternatively, a patient may be resistant to treatment and show no or little improvement in response to a particular therapy. detecting genes whose expression is modified by a cdki such as roscovitine may also be useful in methods of identifying markers for the prediction of a response to treatment with a cdki. accordingly, in another aspect there is provided a method for identifying genes whose expression in tumours enables a response to treatment with a cdki such as roscovitine to be predicted, said method comprising: a) taking a sample from a patient showing sensitivity to treatment with a cdki such as roscovitine and detecting expression of at least one of the genes as identified herein; b) taking a sample from a patient showing resistance to treatment with a cdki such as roscovitine and detecting expression of at least one of the genes as identified herein; and c) comparing the patterns of gene expression from a) and b) and therefore identifying those genes which correlate with sensitivity and those which correlate with resistance. patterns of gene expression from tumours may then be determined and a particular tumour classified as "sensitive" or "resistant" to treatment according to the expression of those marker genes identified according to the above method. brief description of the figures and tables table 1 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of pbmc, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 1.5 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 2 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of pbmc, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 3 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 3 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 1.5 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 1). table 4 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 3 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 2). table 5 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of ht29 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 1.5 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 6 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of ht29 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 3 hr along with the corresponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 7 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 1.5 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 5). table 8 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 3 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 6). table 9 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of a549 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 2 hours along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 10 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of a549 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 4 hours along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 11 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 2 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 9). table 12 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 4 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 10). table 13 shows the sequences of the primers used for qpcr analysis. table 14 shows the sequences of optimised primers used for qpcr analysis. figure 1 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for adm figure 2 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for fadd figure 3 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for pah figure 4 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for plau figure 5 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data pnuts figure 6 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for tnfsf14 figure 7 shows a comparison of microarray data and q pcr data for c/ebp alpha figure 8 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for 20585 figure 9 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for fut4 figure 10 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for e2f6 figure 11 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for 18747 figure 12 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for 22147 figure 13 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for zk1 figure 14 shows a comparison of microarray data and q pcr data for kiaa1698 figure 15 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for ccrl2 figure 16 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for myc figure 17 shows a comparison of microaπay data and q pcr data for mel 1 figure 18 shows the effect of cyc202 on the expression of pnuts in blood prepared using the paxgene system from several donors (lower panel) and the effect of storage on the cyc202 -mediated changes in gene expression in a single donor (upper panel). figure 19 shows pharmacokinetic data for patient 02-2-01 (08) showing the data for the full time-course on day 1 and a single point prior to dose on day 5. plasma concentrations of cyc202 are given in μm. figure 20 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of pnuts, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. figure 21 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of cebp, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. figure 22 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of fut4, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. figure 23 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of nm_033410, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. figure 24: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of fraction 4 from 16 phase lb patients on the sax chip ph9. only the mass region between 13.5 and 14.6kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown (u) and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown (t). lower half: representative spectra from two patients showing the appearance of an additional peak following treatment. figure 25 shows 2d gels of patient plasma. neat plasma samples were applied to ipg strips ph4-7 to resolve proteins in the first dimension by charge and then in the second dimension by sds-page to separate by size. molecular weight size markers are on the left of each gel. the spots of interest lie just between the 14 and 17kda markers shown on the left of each gel. the lower gels represent an enlarged view of a further two patients, showing that the change is reproducible. figure 26 shows a comparison between the original seldi-tof ms profiles and the passive elution sample extracted from 2d gels. gels were run in duplicate and the 2 spots at approximately 14kda in each sample (day 1 or day 10) were excised and processed in parallel for passive elution or trypsin digestion. passive elution allows the extraction of proteins from gel slices and permits their analysis on the seldi-tof- ms. this is shown in the top 4 profiles, which are compared to the original seldi profiles of these samples (shown in the bottom two spectra). figure 27: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of fraction 4 from 16 phase lb patients on the sax chip ph9. only the mass region between 26.5kda and 30.5kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown (u) and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown (t). the log normalised intensity plots the log of peak intensity, normalising the average intensity to 0, thereby expressing the difference between sample groups regardless of absolute intensity. lower half: representative spectra from two patients showing a decrease in the first two peaks, which coπespond to the first two biomarkers, and the appearance or increase in the 3 rd peak, which coπesponds to the third biomarker, following treatment. figure 28 shows 2d gels of patient plasma. neat plasma samples were applied to ipg strips ph4-7 to resolve proteins in the first dimension by charge and then in the second dimension by sds-page to separate by size. molecular weight size markers are on the left of each gel. the spots of interest lie just below the 28kda marker. figure 29 shows enlarged views of 2d gels for patients 209 and 116. figure 30 shows 2d gel analysis of patient plasma using a ph3-10 ipg strip. the gel was run in duplicate and the spots at 28kda were excised and processed in parallel for passive elution or trypsin digestion. figure 31: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of fraction 6 from 16 phase lb patients on the h50 chip. only the mass region between 5 and 8.5kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown (u) and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown (t). the log normalised intensity plots the log of peak intensity, normalising the average intensity to 0, thereby expressing the difference between sample groups regardless of absolute intensity. lower half: representative spectra from three patients showing the appearance of an additional two peaks following treatment. figure 32: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of neat plasma from 16 phase lb patients on the cm10 chip. only the mass region between 6 and 8kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown in (u) and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown (t). the log normalised intensity plots the log of peak intensity, normalising the average intensity to 0, thereby expressing the difference between sample groups regardless of absolute intensity. lower half: representative spectra from three patients showing the appearance of an additional two peaks following treatment. detailed description of the invention the practice of the present invention will employ, unless otherwise indicated, conventional techniques of chemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology, recombinant dna and immunology, which are within the capabilities of a person of ordinary skill in the art. such techniques are explained in the literature. see, for example, j. sambrook, e. f. fritsch, and t. maniatis, 1989, molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, second edition, books 1-3, cold spring harbor laboratory press; ausubel, f. m. et al. (1995 and periodic supplements; current protocols in molecular biology, ch. 9, 13, and 16, john wiley & sons, new york, n.y.); b. roe, j. crabtree, and a. kahn, 1996, dna isolation and sequencing: essential techniques, john wiley & sons; j. m. polak and james o'd. mcgee, 1990, in situ hybridization: principles and practice; oxford university press; m. j. gait (editor), 1984, oligonucleotide synthesis: a practical approach, irl press; and, d. m. j. lilley and j. e. dahlberg, 1992, methods of enzymology: dna structure part a: synthesis and physical analysis of dna methods in enzymology, academic press. each of these general texts is herein incorporated by reference. by "cdki" is meant an inhibitor of cdk activity. roscovitine is just one of a number of compounds known to be inhibitors of cdk activity. by "roscovitine activity" or "roscovitine-like activity" is meant an activity exhibited by roscovitine. for example, roscovitine-like means capable of inhibiting cell cycle progression in late gl /early s or m phase. preferably, said inhibition of cell cycle progression is through inhibiting cdks including cdki, cdk2, cdk5, cdk7 and cdk9. a study of roscovitine activity is reported in mcclue et al. int. j. cancer, 2002, 102, 463-468. the term "marker" or "biomarker" of roscovitine activity is used herein to refer to a gjene or protein whose expression in a sample derived from a cell or mammal is altered or modulated, for example, up or down regulated, in response to treatment with roscovitine. where the biomarker is a protein, modulation or alteration of expression encompasses modulation through different post translational modifications. also used herein is the term "biomarker cluster" which means a group of distinct protein forms having a similar mass, when separated by seldi-tof ms. biomarker clusters are described in the examples section herein. a sample derived from a treated or untreated cell can be a lysate, extract or nucleic acid sample derived from a group of cells which can be from tissue culture or animal or human. for protein analysis, a sample can be a tissue culture supernatant. a cell can be isolated from an individual (e.g. from a blood, serum or plasma sample) or can be part of a tissue sample such as a biopsy. by "altered expression" is meant an increase, decrease or otherwise modified level or pattern of expression in a sample derived from a treated cell when compared to an untreated, control sample. the term "expression" refers to the transcription of a gene's dna template to produce the coπesponding mrna and translation of this mrna to produce the corresponding gene product (i.e., a peptide, polypeptide, or protein) as well as the "expression" of a protein in one or more forms that may have been modified post translation. post translational modifications are covalent processing events that change the properties of a protein by proteolytic cleavage or by addition of a modifying group to one or more amino acids. common post translational modifications include phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation, acylation, glycosylation, gpi anchor, ubiquitination and so forth. a review of such modifications and methods for detection may be found in mann et al. nature biotechnology march 2003, vol. 21, pages 255-261. by "polynucleotide" or "polypeptide" is meant the dna and protein sequences disclosed herein whose expression is modified in response to roscovitine. the terms also include close variants of those sequences, where the variant possesses the same biological activity as the reference sequence. such variant sequences include "alleles" (variant sequences found at the same genetic locus in the same or closely-related species), "homologs" (a gene related to a second gene by descent from a common ancestral dna sequence, and separated by either speciation ("ortholog") or genetic duplication ("paralog")), so long as such variants retain the same biological activity as the reference sequence(s) disclosed herein. the invention is also intended to include detection of genes having silent polymorphisms and conservative substitutions in the polynucleotides and polypeptides disclosed herein, so long as such variants retain the same biological activity as the reference sequence(s) as disclosed herein. measuring altered expression of gene and protein markers of cdki activity levels of gene and protein expression may be determined using a number of different techniques. a) at the rna level gene expression can be detected at the rna level. rna may be extracted from cells using rna extraction techniques including, for example, using acid phenol guanidine isothiocyanate extraction (rnazol b; biogenesis), rneasy rna preparation kits (qiagen) or paxgene (preanalytix, switzerland). typical assay formats utilising ribonucleic acid hybridisation include nuclear run-on assays, rt-pcr, rnase protection assays (melton et al, nuc. acids res. 12:7035), northern blotting and in situ hybridization. gene expression can also be detected by microaπay analysis as described below. for northern blotting, rna samples are first separated by size via electrophoresis in an agarose gel under denaturing conditions. the rna is then transfeπed to a membrane, crosslinked and hybridized with a labeled probe. nonisotopic or high specific activity radiolabeled probes can be used including random-primed, nick- translated, or pcr-generated dna probes, in vitro transcribed rna probes, and oligonucleotides. additionally, sequences with only partial homo logy (e.g., cdna from a different species or genomic dna fragments that might contain an exon) may be used as probes. nuclease protection assays (including both ribonuclease protection assays and si nuclease assays) provide an extremely sensitive method for the detection and quantitation of specific mrnas. the basis of the npa is solution hybridization of an antisense probe (radiolabeled or nonisotopic) to an rna sample. after hybridization, single-stranded, unhybridized probe and rna are degraded by nucleases. the remaining protected fragments are separated on an acrylamide gel. npas allow the simultaneous detection of several rna species. in situ hybridization (ish) is a powerful and versatile tool for the localization of specific mrnas in cells or tissues. hybridization of the probe takes place within the cell or tissue. since cellular stracture is maintained throughout the procedure, ish provides information about the location of mrna within the tissue sample. the procedure begins by fixing samples in neutral-buffered formalin, and embedding the tissue in paraffin. the samples are then sliced into thin sections and mounted onto microscope slides. (alternatively, tissue can be sectioned frozen and post-fixed in paraformaldehyde.) after a series of washes to dewax and rehydrate the sections, a proteinase k digestion is performed to increase probe accessibility, and a labeled probe is then hybridized to the sample sections. radiolabeled probes are visualized with liquid film dried onto the slides, while nonisotopically labeled probes are conveniently detected with colorimetric or fluorescent reagents. this latter method of detection is the basis for fluorescent in situ hybridisation (fish). methods for detection which can be employed include radioactive labels, enzyme labels, chemiluminescent labels, fluorescent labels and other suitable labels. typically, rt-pcr is used to amplify rna targets. in this process, the reverse transcriptase enzyme is used to convert rna to complementary dna (cdna) which can then be amplified to facilitate detection. relative quantitative rt-pcr involves amplifying an internal control simultaneously with the gene of interest. the internal control is used to normalize the samples. once normalized, direct comparisons of relative abundance of a specific mrna can be made across the samples. commonly used internal controls include, for example, gapdh, hprt, actin and cyclophilin. many dna amplification methods are known, most of which rely on an enzymatic chain reaction (such as a polymerase chain reaction, a ligase chain reaction, or a self- sustained sequence replication) or from the replication of all or part of the vector into which it has been cloned. many target and signal amplification (tas) methods have been described in the literature, for example, general reviews of these methods in landegren, u. et al, science 242:229-237 (1988) and lewis, r., genetic engineering news 10:1, 54-55 (1990). pcr is a nucleic acid amplification method described inter alia in u.s. pat. nos. 4,683,195 and 4,683,202. pcr can be used to amplify any known nucleic acid in a diagnostic context (mok et al, 1994, gynaecologic oncology 52:247-252). self- sustained sequence replication (3sr) is a variation of tas, which involves the isothermal amplification of a nucleic acid template via sequential rounds of reverse transcriptase (rt), polymerase and nuclease activities that are mediated by an enzyme cocktail and appropriate oligonucleotide primers (guatelli et al, 1990, proc. nail. acad. sci. usa 87:1874). ligation amplification reaction or ligation amplification system uses dna ligase and four oligonucleotides, two per target strand. this technique is described by wu, d. y. and wallace, r. b., 1989, genomics 4:560. in the qβ replicase technique, rna replicase for the bacteriophage qβ, which replicates single-stranded rna, is used to amplify the target dna, as described by lizardi et al , 1988, bio/technology 6: 1197. quantitative pcr (q-pcr) is a technique which allows relative amounts of transcripts within a sample to be determined. a suitable method for performing qpcr is described herein. alternative amplification technology can be exploited in the present invention. for example, rolling circle amplification (lizardi et al, 1998, nat genet 19:225) is an amplification technology available commercially (rcat™) which is driven by dna polymerase and can replicate circular oligonucleotide probes with either linear or geometric kinetics under isothermal conditions. a further technique, strand displacement amplification (sda; walker et al, 1992, proc. natl. acad. sci. usa 80:392) begins with a specifically defined sequence unique to a specific target. suitable probes for detecting the markers of roscovitine activity identified herein may conveniently be packaged in the form of a test kit in a suitable container. in such kits the probe may be bound to a solid support where the assay format for which the kit is designed requires such binding. the kit may also contain suitable reagents for treating the sample to be probed, hybridising the probe to nucleic acid in the sample, control reagents, instructions, and the like. suitable kits may comprise, for example, primers for a qpcr reaction or labelled probes for performing fish. b at the polypeptide level altered gene or protein expression may also be detected by measuring the polypeptides encoded by the gene markers of roscovitine activity. this may be achieved by using molecules which bind to the polypeptides encoded by any one of the genes identified herein as a marker of roscovitine activity. suitable molecules/agents which bind either directly or indirectly to the polypeptides in order to detect the presence of the protein include naturally occurring molecules such as peptides and proteins, for example antibodies, or they may be synthetic molecules. methods for production of antibodies are known by those skilled in the art. if polyclonal antibodies are desired, a selected mammal (e.g., mouse, rabbit, goat, horse, etc.) is immunised with an immunogenic polypeptide bearing an epitope(s) from a polypeptide. serum from the immunised animal is collected and treated according to known procedures. if serum containing polyclonal antibodies to an epitope from a polypeptide contains antibodies to other antigens, the polyclonal antibodies can be purified by immunoaffmity chromatography. techniques for producing and processing polyclonal antisera are known in the art. in order to generate a larger immunogenic response, polypeptides or fragments thereof may be haptenised to another polypeptide for use as immunogens in animals or humans. monoclonal antibodies directed against epitopes in polypeptides can also be readily produced by one skilled in the art. the general methodology for making monoclonal antibodies by hybridomas is well known. immortal antibody-producing cell lines can be created by cell fusion, and also by other techniques such as direct transformation of b lymphocytes with oncogenic dna, or transfection with epstein-ban virus. panels of monoclonal antibodies produced against epitopes in the polypeptides of the invention can be screened for various properties; i.e., for isotype and epitope affinity. an alternative technique involves screening phage display libraries where, for example the phage express scfv fragments on the surface of their coat with a large variety of complementarity determining regions (cdrs). this technique is well known in the art. for the pmposes of this invention, the term "antibody", unless specified to the contrary, includes fragments of whole antibodies which retain their binding activity for a target antigen. such fragments include fv, f(ab') and f(ab') 2 fragments, as well as single chain antibodies (scfv). furthermore, the antibodies and fragments thereof may be humanised antibodies, for example as described in ep-a-239400. standard laboratory techniques such as immunoblotting as described above can be used to detect altered levels of markers of roscovitine activity, as compared with untreated cells in the same cell population. gene expression may also be determined by detecting changes in post-translational processing of polypeptides or post-transcriptional modification of nucleic acids. for example, differential phosphorylation of polypeptides, the cleavage of polypeptides or alternative splicing of rna, and the like may be measured. levels of expression of gene products such as polypeptides, as well as their post-translational modification, may be detected using proprietary protein assays or techniques such as 2d polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. antibodies may be used in detecting markers of roscovitine activity identified herein in biological samples by a method which comprises: (a) providing an antibody of the invention; (b) incubating a biological sample with said antibody under conditions which allow for the formation of an antibody-antigen complex; and (c) determining whether antibody-antigen complex comprising said antibody is formed. suitable samples include extracts of tissues such as brain, breast, ovary, lung, colon, pancreas, testes, liver, muscle and bone tissues or from neoplastic growths derived from such tissues. other suitable examples include blood or urine samples. antibodies that specifically bind to protein markers of roscovitine activity can be used in diagnostic methods and kits that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art to detect or quantify the markers of roscovitine activity proteins in a body fluid or tissue. results from these tests can be used to diagnose or predict the occurrence or recuπence of a cancer and other cell cycle progression-mediated diseases or to assess the effectiveness of drug dosage and treatment. antibodies can be assayed for immunospecific binding by any method known in the art. the immunoassays which can be used include but are not limited to competitive and non-competitive assay systems using techniques such as western blots, immunohistochemistry, radioimmunoassays, elisa, sandwich immunoassays, immunoprecipitation assays, precipitin reactions, gel diffusion precipitin reactions, immunodiffusion assays, agglutination assays, complement-fixation assays, immunoradiometric assays, fluorescent immunoassays and protein a immunoassays. such assays are routine in the art (see, for example, ausubel et al, eds, 1994, current protocols in molecular biology, vol. 1, john wiley & sons, inc., new york, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety). antibodies for use in the invention may be bound to a solid support and/or packaged into kits in a suitable container along with suitable reagents, controls, instructions and the like. other methods include 2d-page although this is not suitable for large-scale screening. newer techniques include matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (maldi-tof ms). in maldi-tof analysis, proteins in a complex mixture are affixed to a solid metallic matrix, desorbed with a pulsed laser beam to generate gas-phase ions that traverse a field-free flight tube, and are then separated according to their mass-dependent velocities. individual proteins and peptides can be identified through the use of informatics tools to search protein and peptide sequence databases. surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time of flight ms (seldi-tof ms) is an affinity-based ms method in which proteins are selectively adsorbed to a chemically modified solid surface, impurities are removed by washing, an energy-absorbing matrix is applied, and the proteins are identified by laser desorption mass analysis. in order to identify protein biomarkers, seldi-tof-ms can be used for the detection of the appearance/loss of either intact proteins or fragments of specific proteins. in addition seldi-tof-ms can also be used for detection of post translational modifications of proteins due to the difference in mass caused by the addition/removal of chemical groups. thus phosphorylation of a single residue will cause a mass shift of 80 da due to the phosphate group. a data base of molecular weights that can be attributed to post-translational modifications is freely accessible on the internet (http://www.abrf.org/index.cfin dm.home?avgmass= : aiπ. moreover specific polypeptides can be captured by affinity-based approaches using seldi-tof-ms by employing antibodies that specifically recognise a post-translationally modified form of the protein, or that can recognise all forms of the protein equally well. arrays array technology and the various techniques and applications associated with it is described generally in numerous textbooks and documents. these include lemieux et al, 1998, molecular breeding 4:277-289; schena and davis. parallel analysis with biological chips, in pcr methods manual (eds. m. frinis, d. gelfand, j. sninsky); schena and davis, 1999, genes, genomes and chips, hi dna microarrays: a practical approach (ed. m. schena), oxford university press, oxford, uk, 1999); the chipping forecast (nature genetics special issue; january 1999 supplement); mark schena (ed.), microarray biochip technology, (eaton publishing company); cortes, 2000, tlie scientist 14(17):25; gwynne and page, microarray analysis: the next revolution in molecular biology, science, 1999, august 6; eakins and chu, 1999, trends in biotechnology, 17:217-218, and also at various world wide web sites. array technology overcomes the disadvantages with traditional methods in molecular biology, which generally work on a "one gene in one experiment" basis, resulting in low throughput and the inability to appreciate the "whole picture" of gene function. cuπently, the major applications for array technology include the identification of sequence (gene / gene mutation) and the determination of expression level (abundance) of genes. gene expression profiling may make use of aπay technology, optionally in combination with proteomics techniques (celis et al, 2000, febs lett, 480(1):2-16; lockhart and winzeler, 2000, nature 405(6788):827-836; khan et al, 1999, 20(2):223-9). other applications of array technology are also known in the art; for example, gene discovery, cancer research (marx, 2000, science 289: 1670-1672; scherf et alet al, 2000, nat genet 24(3):236-44; ross et al, 2000, nat genet 2000, 24(3):227-35), snp analysis (wang et al, 1998, science 280(5366): 1077-82), drug discovery, pharmacogenomics, disease diagnosis (for example, utilising microfluidics devices: chemical & engineering news, february 22, 1999, 77(8):27-36), toxicology (rockett and dix (2000), xenobiotica 30(2):155-77; afshari et al, 1999, cancer res 59(19):4759-60) and toxicogenomics (a hybrid of functional genomics and molecular toxicology). the goal of toxicogenomics is to find coπelations between toxic responses to toxicants and changes in the genetic profiles of the objects exposed to such toxicants (nuwaysir et al, 1999, molecular carcinogenesis 24:153-159). in the context of the present invention, array technology can be used, for example, in the analysis of the expression of one or more of the protein markers of roscovitine activity identified herein. in one embodiment, array technology may be used to assay the effect of a candidate compound on a number of the markers of roscovitine activity identified herein simultaneously. accordingly, another aspect of the present invention is to provide microaπays that include at least one, at least two or at least several of the nucleic acids identified in any of tables 1 to 12, or fragments thereof, or protein or antibody arrays. in general, any library or group of samples may be aπanged in an orderly manner into an aπay, by spatially separating the members of the library or group. examples of suitable libraries for arraying include nucleic acid libraries (including dna, cdna, oligonucleotide, etc. libraries), peptide, polypeptide and protein libraries, as well as libraries comprising any molecules, such as ligand libraries, among others. accordingly, where reference is made to a "library" in this document, unless the context dictates otherwise, such reference should be taken to include reference to a library in the form of an array. in the context of the present invention, a "library" may include a sample of markers of roscovitine activity as identified herein. the samples (e.g., members of a library) are generally fixed or immobilised onto a solid phase, preferably a solid substrate, to limit diffusion and admixing of the samples. in a prefeπed embodiment, libraries of dna binding ligands may be prepared. in particular, the libraries may be immobilised to a substantially planar solid phase, including membranes and non-porous substrates such as plastic and glass. furthermore, the samples are preferably arranged in such a way that indexing (i.e., reference or access to a particular sample) is facilitated. typically the samples are applied as spots in a grid formation. common assay systems may be adapted for this purpose. for example, an array may be immobilised on the surface of a microplate, either with multiple samples in a well, or with a single sample in each well. furthermore, the solid substrate may be a membrane, such as a nitrocellulose or nylon membrane (for example, membranes used in blotting experiments). alternative substrates include glass, or silica based substrates. thus, the samples are immobilised by any suitable method known in the art, for example, by charge interactions, or by chemical coupling to the walls or bottom of the wells, or the surface of the membrane. other means of arranging and fixing may be used, for example, pipetting, drop-touch, piezoelectric means, ink-jet and bubblejet technology, electrostatic application, etc. in the case of silicon-based chips, photolithography may be utilised to arrange and fix the samples on the chip. the samples may be arranged by being "spotted" onto the solid substrate; this may be done by hand or by making use of robotics to deposit the sample. in general, arrays may be described as macroaπays or microaπays, the difference being the size of the sample spots. macroaπays typically contain sample spot sizes of about 300 microns or larger and may be easily imaged by existing gel and blot scanners. the sample spot sizes in microaπays are typically less than 200 microns in diameter and these arrays usually contain thousands of spots. thus, microaπays may require specialized robotics and imaging equipment, which may need to be custom made. instrumentation is described generally in a review by cortese, 2000, the scientist 14(11):26. techniques for producing immobilised libraries of dna molecules have been described in the art. generally, most prior art methods described how to synthesise single-stranded nucleic acid molecule libraries, using for example masking techniques to build up various permutations of sequences at the various discrete positions on the solid substrate. u.s. patent no. 5,837,832, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes an improved method for producing dna arrays immobilised to silicon substrates based on very large scale integration technology. in particular, u.s. patent no. 5,837,832 describes a strategy called "tiling" to synthesize specific sets of probes at spatially-defined locations on a substrate which may be used to produced the immobilised dna libraries of the present invention. u.s. patent no. 5,837,832 also provides references for earlier techniques that may also be used. arrays of peptides (or peptidomimetics) may also be synthesised on a surface in a manner that places each distinct library member (e.g., unique peptide sequence) at a discrete, predefined location in the aπay. the identity of each library member is determined by its spatial location in the aπay. the locations in the array where binding interactions between a predetermined molecule (e.g., a target or probe) and reactive library members occur is determined, thereby identifying the sequences of the reactive library members on the basis of spatial location. these methods are described in u.s. patent no. 5,143,854; wo 90/15070 and wo 92/10092; fodor et al, 1991, science 251:767; dower and fodor, 1991, ann. rep. med. chem. 26:271. to aid detection, targets and probes may be labelled with any readily detectable reporter, for example, a fluorescent, bioluminescent, phosphorescent, radioactive, etc reporter. such reporters, their detection, coupling to targets/probes, etc are discussed elsewhere in this document. labelling of probes and targets is also disclosed in shalon et al, 1996, genome res 6(7):639-45. specific examples of dna arrays include the following: format i: probe cdna (~500 - ~5,000 bases long) is immobilized to a solid surface such as glass using robot spotting and exposed to a set of targets either separately or in a mixture. this method is widely considered as having been developed at stanford university (ekins and chu, 1999, trends in biotechnology, 17:217-218). format ii: an array of oligonucleotide (~20 - ~25-mer oligos) or peptide nucleic acid (pna) probes is synthesized either in situ (on-chip) or by conventional synthesis followed by on-chip immobilization. the array is exposed to labeled sample dna, hybridized, and the identity/abundance of complementary sequences are determined. such a dna chip is sold by affymetrix, inc., under the genechip® trademark. examples of some commercially available microaπay formats are set out, for example, in marshall and hodgson, 1998, nature biotechnology 16(l):27-31. data analysis is also an important part of an experiment involving arrays. the raw data from a microarray experiment typically are images, which need to be transformed into gene expression matrices - tables where rows represent for example genes, columns represent for example various samples such as tissues or experimental conditions, and numbers in each cell for example characterize the expression level of the particular gene in the particular sample. these matrices have to be analyzed further, if any knowledge about the underlying biological processes is to be extracted. methods of data analysis (including supervised and unsupervised data analysis as well as bioinformatics approaches) are disclosed in brazma and vilo j, 2000, febs lett 480(l):17-24. as disclosed above, proteins, polypeptides, etc may also be immobilised in aπays. for example, antibodies have been used in microarray analysis of the proteome using protein chips (boπebaeck ca, 2000, immunol today 21(8):379-82). polypeptide aπays are reviewed in, for example, macbeath and schreiber, 2000, science, 289(5485): 1760-1763. diagnostics and prognostics the invention also includes use of the markers of roscovitine activity, antibodies to those proteins, and compositions comprising those proteins and/or their antibodies in diagnosis or prognosis of diseases characterized by proliferative activity, particularly in individuals being treated with roscovitine. as used herein, the term "prognostic method" means a method that enables a prediction regarding the progression of a disease of a human or animal diagnosed with the disease, in particular, cancer. in particular, cancers of interest with respect to roscovitine treatment include breast, lung, gastric, head and neck, colorectal, renal, pancreatic, uterine, hepatic, bladder, endometrial and prostate cancers and leukemias. the term "diagnostic method" as used herein means a method that enables a determination of the presence or type of cancer in or on a human or animal. suitably the marker allows success of roscovitine treatment to be assessed. as discussed above, suitable diagnostics include probes directed to any of the genes as identified herein such as, for example, qpcr primers, fish probes and so forth. the present invention will now be described with reference to the following examples. examples: example 1 - identification of genes expressed in cyc202 treated cells. methods cell culture peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) were purified by centrifugation in vacutainer cpt tubes (becton dickinson, n.j., usa) according to the manufacturer's instructions. the cells were seeded at a density of approximately 2 x 10 7 cells in 40ml rpmi medium containing 10% foetal calf serum and penicillin-streptomycin. ht29 and a549 cells, which are derived from human colon and lung tumours respectively, were seeded at approximately 20% confluency, which was equivalent to 1.5xl0 6 cells per 10cm plate in dmem containing 10% fcs, so that they were actively proliferating upon treatment with the compound the following day. all cell cultures were incubated overnight in a 37°c incubator in the presence of 5%> co 2 , prior to treatment with cyc202 or the vehicle control, dmso. pbmc and ht29 cells were treated with cyc202 at 7.5, 15 or 30μm and samples taken at 1.5, 3, 5, 8 and 24 hours. a549 cells were treated with cyc202 at 15, 45 and 75μm and samples were taken at 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours. rna extraction rna was extracted from the a549 cells used in the microarray experiment using trizol reagent (invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. for all other cell lines, total rna was extracted from the cultures with the rneasy midi kit (qiagen, hilden, germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions. cells were lysed in buffer rlt, then passed through qiashredder columns prior to rna extraction. samples were treated with rnase-free dnase (qiagen) while bound to the columns. rna was eluted in rnase-free water and quantified using ribogreen (molecular probes, leiden, the netherlands). aliquots of the samples were run on agarose gels to check the integrity and quality of the rna. synthesis of double-stranded cdna 10 μg total rna was used as starting material for the cdna preparation. the first and second strand cdna synthesis was performed using the superscri.pt ii system (invitrogen, carlsbad, ca) according to the manufacturer's instructions except using an oligo-dt primer containing a t7 rna polymerase promoter site. labelled crna was prepared using the bioarray high yield rna transcript labelling kit (enzo). biotin labelled ctp and utp (enzo) were used in the reaction together with unlabeled ntp's. following the tvt reaction, the unincorporated nucleotides were removed using rneasy columns (qiagen, hilden , germany). microarray hybridisation and scanning the crna was fragmented by metal-induced hydrolysis according to affymetrix technical manual, resulting in fragments of between 35 and 200 bases. 15 μg of crna was fragmented at 94°c for 35 min in a fragmentation buffer containing 40 mm tris-acetate ph 8.1, 100 mm koac, 30 mm mgoac. prior to hybridisation, the fragmented crna in a 6xsspe-t hybridisation buffer (1 m nacl, 10 mm tris ph 7.6, 0.005% triton), was heated to 95°c for 5 min and subsequently to 45°c for 5 min before loading onto the affymetrix probe aπay cartridge. rna extracted from a549 cells was used with the hu gene fl cartridge while rna from ht-29 cells and pbmc was loaded onto hu gene u133a cartridges. the probe array was then incubated for 16 h at 45°c at constant rotation (60 rpm). the washing and staining procedure was performed in the affymetrix fluidics station. the probe aπay was exposed to 10 washes in 6xsspe-t at 25°c followed by 4 washes in 0.5xsspe-t at 50°c. the biotinylated crna was detected with an antibody amplification step using normal goat igg as blocking reagent, final concentration 0.1 mg/ml (sigma) and biotinylated anti-streptavidin antibody (goat), final concentration 3 mg/ml (vector laboratories). this was followed by a staining step with a streptavidin- phycoerythrin conjugate, final concentration 2 mg/ml (molecular probes, eugene, or) in 6xsspe-t for 30 min at 25°c and 10 washes in 6xsspe-t at 25°c. the probe aπays were scanned at 560 nm using a confocal laser-scanning microscope (hewlett packard geneaπay scanner g2500a). the readings from the quantitative scanning were analysed by the affymetrix gene expression analysis software. analysis of microarray data data analysis was performed using the affymetrix software packages; mas ver. 5.0, microdb ver. 3.0, and dmt ver. 3.0. all raw analyses were global scaled to 150 units, and subsequently compared by pairwise comparison analysis. selection of genes of interest data from the affymetrix chips were analysed at individual time points following cyc202 treatment. the genes identified as markers of cyc202 treatment are those that were present in the rna isolated from cells treated with dmso but whose expression was determined to be down regulated in the rna isolated from cells treated with all concentrations of cyc202. expression data obtained in microarrays using samples derived from pbmc treated with cyc202 at 7.5, 15 and 30 micromolar for 1.5, 3, 5, 8 and 24 hrs is given in the following tables. table 1 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of pbmc, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 1.5 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 2 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of pbmc, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 3 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 3 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 1.5 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 1) table 4 shows the identity of the genes corresponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 3 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 2). expression data obtained in microarrays using samples derived from ht29 cells treated with cyc202 at 7.5, 15 and 30 micromolar for 1.5, 3, 5, 8 and 24 hrs is given in the following tables. table 5 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of ht29 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 1.5 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 6 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of ht29 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 3 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 7 shows the identity of the genes corresponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 1.5 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 5). table 8 shows the identity of the genes corresponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 3 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 6). expression data obtained in microarrays using samples derived from a549 cells treated with cyc202 at 15, 45 and 75 micromolar for 2, 4, 8 and 24 hrs is given in the following tables. table 9 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of a549 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 2 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 10 shows the results of cyc202 treatment of a549 cells, identifying those genes whose expression is significantly down regulated at 4 hr along with the coπesponding data for expression of those genes at later time points. table 11 shows the identity of the genes corresponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 2 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 9). table 12 shows the identity of the genes coπesponding to the probes on the affymetrix chips whose expression is down regulated at 4 hours (i.e. those probes identified in table 10). example 2 - confirming microarray data using real-time quantitative pcr real-time quantitative pcr (qpcr) total rna samples obtained from the same three cell lines were used for verification of gene expression levels observed on the microarrays. quantitative rt-pcr was performed on a roche lightcycler machine (roche, uk). primers were chosen to exclude the possibility of obtaining products arising from trace contamination of the rna samples with genomic dna. in addition, rna from whole blood samples was analysed by qpcr. blood from volunteers was collected into vacutainer heparin cpt tubes. the blood was then treated with various concentrations of cyc202 or dmso, and incubated at 37°c in an incubator in the presence of 5% co 2 for 1.5 hours, with inverting of the tubes every 30 minutes. the blood was then transfeπed into paxgene tubes (preanalytix), inverted several times, and placed at -20°c after an initial incubation of 2 hours at room temperature to allow lysis of the cells. when ready for analysis, blood was left to thaw at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, and then processed according to the manufacturer's instructions. the optional dnase digestion step was included. rna samples were quantified and then used directly in qpcr assays. primers are listed in table 13. for one-step reverse transcription, the rna master sybr green i kit (roche, uk) was used. in a 20μl reaction volume, loong or lμg total rna was added to 7.5μl rna master sybr green i, 3.25mm mn(oac) 2 and 0.3μm each primer. reaction conditions were as follows: an rt step for 20 minutes at 61°c, followed by a denaturation step for 2 minutes at 95°c, an amplification step consisting of 45 cycles of 95°c for 5 seconds, 55°c for 5 seconds and 72°c for 13 seconds, followed by a melting curve analysis step to distinguish between primer-dimers and product, comprising of 95°c for 5 seconds, 65°c for 15 seconds and increasing to 95°c at the rate of 0.1 °c / second, and finally finishing with a cooling step of 40°c for 30 seconds. analysis of qpcr data all samples were normalized to lμg/μl, and equivalent total amounts of rna were used in the assay (either loong or lμg, depending on the target gene of interest). samples were prepared in duplicate and pcr reactions were also run in duplicate. the formula for calculating the fold change in expression levels in the presence of compound compared with the dmso vehicle control was calculated as follows: 2 δct where 2 is the maximum efficiency of each pcr reaction and δct is the change in crossing point values (sample ct - dmso control ct) in addition, where the expression levels of housekeeper genes have been measured in these samples, the data has been normalized using a derivative of this formula: 2 δct target / 2 δct housekeeper results figures 1 to 17 show a graphical representation of a selection of 16 genes (adm, fadd, pai1, plau, pnuts, tnfsf14, c/ebp alpha, 20585, fut4, e2f6, 18747, 22147, zkl, kiaa1698, ccrl2, myc and mcl-1) whose expression data is presented in the microarray data in tables 1 to 12. the microaπay data obtained for each of the 16 genes in pbmc and/or ht29 and/or a549 cells is compared to the results of qpcr analysis. these results confirm the microaπay data. example 3 - analysis of gene expression in a patient treated with cyc202 for analysis of patient samples, a method that preserves the rna expression profile during and immediately after blood is drawn is essential for accurate analysis of gene expression in human whole blood by techniques such as qpcr. preanalytix have shown that the copy numbers of individual mrna species in whole blood can change more than 1000-fold during storage or transport at room temperature. this is caused by rapid degradation of rna as well as by induced expression of certain genes after the blood is drawn. accordingly, the paxgene (preanalytix, switzerland) method is used for collection, stabilisation and transportation of whole blood specimens, together with the rapid and efficient protocol for isolation of cellular rna. use of this system combats the problems relating to eπoneous fluctuations in gene expression, and yields several micrograms of high quality rna from only 2.5ml whole blood. methodology blood from volunteers was collected into vacutainer heparin cpt tubes at hawkhill medical centre, dundee and treated as described above in example 2. after transfer to paxgene tubes, the tubes were placed at room temperature, 4°c or -20°c after an initial incubation of 2 hours al room temperature to allow lysis of the cells. blood that had been stored for various lengths of time and under various storage conditions was left to thaw at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, and then processed according to the manufacturer's instructions. the optional dnase digestion step was included. rna samples were quantified and then used directly in qpcr assays. results yields of rna varied between 3-5ug per 2.5ml blood, and the rna was of an acceptable quality. the expression of one target gene (pnuts) and one housekeeping gene (hprt) has been measured in all of these samples. figure 18 shows the effect of cyc202 on the expression of pnuts (lower panel) and the effect of storage on the cyc202 -mediated changes in gene expression in a single donor (upper panel). the expression of pnuts was normalised to that of the housekeeper, and the data in the graph is expressed as the normalised fold decrease in expression of pnuts following exposure of the blood in vitro to 30μm cyc202 for a period of 1.5 hours. expression of these genes could be detected in all samples, and was reproducibly downregulated by exposure of the blood to cyc202 (figure 18, lower panel). the optimum conditions have been found to be storage at -20°c, and expression has been deemed to be stable for up to one month at -20°c (figure 18, upper panel). this is in preference to storage at 4°c or room temperature, and is in agreement with the manufacturer's recommendations. optimisation of qpcr assays optimisation of qpcr assays was undertaken to maximise the differences between the positive and negative signals in order to permit accurate predictions about fold changes in gene expression. optimisation was performed using the rna amplification kit, and the primer concentration, annealing temperature and mgcl 2 concentration were all varied to obtain the best separation between signal and noise. primers were optimised and the final primer set list is shown in table 14. in addition, all pcr products were cloned and sequenced to verify that the coπect rna was being amplified. analysis of gene expression in a breast cancer patient treated with cyc202 patient 02-2-01 (08) was treated with 600mg b.i.d. cyc202 on days 1 to 5, overlapping with capecitabine administration, also oral b.i.d. on days 2-15. pharmacokinetic analysis was performed on this patient, which revealed that this patient had maintained efficacious levels of cyc202 over several hours. figure 19 shows pharmacokinetic data for patient 02-2-01 (08) showing the data for the full time-course on day 1 and a single point prior to dose on day 5. plasma concentrations of cyc202 are given in μm. effects on pnuts and other target genes in vitro has been observed with concentrations of 7.5-15μm for 1.5-3 hours, which is within the range represented here. for this reason, it was deemed of interest to analyse the effect of the compound on gene expression in rna extracted from whole blood taken from this patient at multiple time-points on day 1 of treatment. the expression of pnuts was examined in all samples and this data was normalised against the expression levels of 28 s rrna which ought to be stable. figure 20 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of pnuts, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. pnuts expression is decreased approximately 2-3-fold following the first dose of cyc202, and then returns to normal levels as measured prior to dosing on day 5. figure 21 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of c/ebpalpha, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. the decrease in c/ebpalpha expression peaks at 8hr after the first dose of cyc202 by approximately 4.5-fold and then returns to noπnal levels as measured prior to dosing on day 5. figure 22 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of fut4, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. the decrease in ftjt4 expression peaks at 3hr after the first dose of cyc202 by approximately 2-fold and then returns to normal levels by 8hrs after the first dose and as measured prior to dosing on day 5. figure 23 is a graph showing the fold decrease in expression of nm_033410, after normalisation with 28s rrna levels. the decrease in nm 033410 expression peaks at 2hr after the first dose of cyc202 by approximately 2-fold and then returns to normal levels as measured prior to dosing on day 5. conclusions the kinetics of the effects on gene expression vary considerably with the maximum effects on gene expression occurring at different times after the dose of cyc202 for different genes. in the case of pnuts, the changes in gene expression mimic the pk data very closely. all rna samples were normalised to lmg/ml and following dilution, were measured for concentration again to ensure all samples were at the same concentration. moreover, this was confirmed by analysing the expression of 28s rrna. any small fluctuations in 28s rrna would take into account any small variations in rna concentration between samples, since the expression of all genes was normalised to 28s rrna. this data confirms that the differential effects on gene expression seen here are not due to differences in rna concentration but are real changes that occur in patients treated with cyc202 in the expression of several genes highlighted by the in vitro microarray and qpcr experiments on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and tumour cells. example 4 - analysis of plasma proteomic profiles and identification of biomarkers using seldi-tof-ms seldi plasma samples were obtained from patients on the first and last days of treatment with cyc202. a total of 16 patients were analysed in this study, consisting of patients with different tumour types, and receiving different doses and scheduling regimes of cyc202. 10 patients were on 5 days continuous treatment from 1.6g to 3.2g cyc202 per day every 3 weeks, 4 patients were on 10 days continuous treatment every 3 weeks from 1.6g to 2g cyc202 per day, 2 patients were on 3 days treatment every 3 weeks 2.4g cyc202 per day. all samples were stored at -80°c in aliquots. samples were analysed on 4 different proteinchip® array surfaces either neat or following fractionation on a q ceramic hyperd®f 96 well plate (ciphergen). the technique separates proteins from a complex biological source into fractions on the basis of charge. anion exchange sorbents are designed for fractionation of proteins such that proteins having similar pi or binding affinity to the ion exchangers elute together. this also provides the benefit that highly abundant proteins in the sample are segregated into a limited number of fractions, reducing their signal suppression effects on lower abundance proteins, as well as ensuring that the capacity of the proteinchip® array surfaces are not exceeded. s for fractionation, 20μl of each plasma sample was mixed with 30μl u9 buffer (9m urea, 2% chaps, 50mm tris-hcl ph9) for 30 minutes at room temperature. it was then diluted with the same volume of ui buffer (1m urea, 0.2% chaps, 50mm tris- hcl, ph9) prior to addition to the q hyperd® f plate. the fractionation procedure was completed as per the manufacturer's instructions for the expression difference mapping™ kit, which basically involved elution by successive lowering of ph to yield 6 fractions. all chip surfaces were equilibrated with the appropriate binding buffer as detailed below. fractionated samples were then applied to the various surfaces at a 1:10 dilution with the appropriate binding buffer. neat samples were diluted 1:6 in u9 buffer, mixed for 30 minutes at room temperature and then also diluted 1:10 with the appropriate buffer for binding to the proteinchip® array surfaces. sax-2 or q10 proteinchip® arrays are strong anion exchange surfaces, and samples were applied to these proteinchip® arrays in ph9 buffer (loomm tris-hcl ρh9, 0.1% triton x- 100). wcx2 and cm10 chips are weak cation exchange surfaces and the buffer used was loomm naoac ph3.5, 0.1% triton x-100. the hydrophobic chip surface (h50) utilised 10% acn + 0.1% tfa and imac chips were activated with 0.1m cupric sulfate according to manufacturer's instructions. all samples were allowed to bind for 1 hour at room temperature on a platform shaker. the aπays were washed once with the binding buffer, followed by two washes with the binding buffer in the absence of detergent, each for 5 minutes on the shaking platform. they were then rinsed briefly with lomm hepes ph7 and left to air-dry. 0.8μl of 50% saturated sinapinic acid (prepared in 50% acetonitrile, 0.05% tfa) was applied twice to each spot. proteins were then detected with the proteinchip® reader. data was collected using three different mass ranges; from 0-50,000 (low), 0 to 100,000 (mid) and 0 to 200,000 (high) by averaging approx. 150 laser shots with an intensity of between 190 and 210. using the biomarker wizard software all spectra were compiled, and qualified mass peaks (signal-to-noise ratio >5) with mass-to-charge ratios (m/z) between 2000 and 200,000 were autodetected. peak clusters were completed using second-pass peak selection (signal-to-noise ratio >2, within 0.3% mass window), and estimated peaks were added. the peak intensities were normalized to the total ion current of m/z between 2000 and 50,000, 100,000 or 200,000 depending on whether the data was extracted from the low, mid or high mass range. all these were performed using proteinchip® software 3.1 (ciphergen). the only additional preprocessing step was logarithmic transformation of the peak intensity data. the biomarker wizard groups peaks of similar molecular weight from across sample groups of spectra, then statistically and visually displays differences in expression levels between sample groups. the mean and standard deviation for each sample group is reported and the appropriate statistics applied. parametric tests are applied to very large data sets, but for this study, non-parametric tests have been performed, which assume that the data is too small to have a normal distribution. in this case the mann- whitney u test is used to analyse the data and a p-value less than 0.05 is assigned to each cluster group that is deemed to be statistically significantly different between the two groups, representing before or after treatment. 2d gels 2d gel electrophoresis was carried out using the epgphor (amersham pharmacia biotech) system for the first-dimensional isoelectric focusing and novex minicell system (invitrogen) for the second-dimensional sds-page. samples for isoelectric focusing were loaded into immobiline drystrips (7cm, ph3- lθ(linear) or ph4-7), by in-gel rehydration using rehydration buffer (8m urea, 2% chaps, bromophenol blue and 0.5% ipg buffer appropriate to the ph) plus 5μl plasma sample plus 20mm dtt in the ipgphor at 20°c for 16hrs, according to the manufacturer's instructions. proteins were focused in the first dimension using a total of approximately 40000v over a period of 8hrs with a constant current of 50ma per strip. after isoelectric focusing, the hnmobiline drystrips were equilibrated at room temperature for 30 minutes with equilibration buffer containing 50mm tris-hcl, ph8.8, 6m urea, 30% glycerol, 2% sds, 0.01% bromophenol blue and lomg/ml dtt. this was followed by a further 15 minutes in equilibration buffer with no dtt, but containing 25mg/ml iodoacetamide. second-dimensional electrophoresis was performed using 4-12% gradient sds-page gels. the focused/equilibrated hnmobiline drystrips were placed in direct contact with the sds-page gels and proteins were separated using electrophoresis at a constant voltage of 150v until bromophenol blue reached the bottom of the gel. colloidal blue staining (invitrogen) was carried out as per the manufacturer's instructions, and spots of interest were excised from duplicate gels and processed in parallel for protein identification and protein extraction by passive elution. protein identification for protein identification, gel pieces were incubated sequentially in loomm ammonium bicarbonate/50% acetonitrile for three washes of 10 minutes each to remove excess stain and sds, then with 100% acetonitrile for 5 minutes. this solution was removed and the gel pieces incubated on a heat block briefly to dehydrate the gel pieces. trypsin (promega porcine trypsin at long/ul in 25mm ammom ' um bicarbonate) was then added and the gel pieces incubated overnight at 37°c to digest the protein. to ascertain whether the tryptic digestion has been successful, samples were analysed on the seldi-tof ms. to do this, 0.5μl of the tryptic digest was mixed with 0.5μl of a 20% solution of α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (chca) matrix in 50% acn, 0.5% tfa, and applied to an np20 chip. to identify the protein, the peptide digests were submitted to the university of dundee 'fingerprints' proteomics facility. the digests were analysed by ms and ms-ms on an abi 4700 proteomics analyzer with tof/tof optics. the combined ms and ms-ms data from the peptide mass fingerprints of each digested gel spot was used to search the cds database using the mascot search engines from matrix science. passive elution the passive elution technique allows the extraction of proteins from gel pieces such that they can be re-analysed on the seldi-tof. gel pieces were incubated with 100% acetonitrile for 5 minutes on a shaker, the solution was then removed and the gel pieces left to dehydrate for a short time on a heat block. faph solution (50% formic acid, 25% acetonitrile, 15% isopropanol, 10% water) was then added to the gel piece and the sample sonicated for 30 minutes at room temperature. it was then vortexed for a further 2-3 hours, and applied to an np20 chip to compare the passive elution profile with that of the original sample spectra revealing the biomarker. 4.1 identification of a 14kda biomarker and evidence that it is transthyretin a 14kda biomarker, which was increased upon treatment, was identified on both the imac-cu 2+ and sax chips. the biomarker wizard data from the analysis of fraction 4 on the sax chip at ph9 is shown as well as representative profiles from patients. figure 24: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of fraction 4 from 16 phase lb patients on the sax chip ph9. only the mass region between 13.5 and 14.6kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown in blue (u) and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown in red (t). the log normalised intensity plots the log of peak intensity, normalising the average intensity to 0, thereby expressing the difference between sample groups regardless of absolute intensity. lower half: representative spectra from two patients showing the appearance of an additional peak following treatment. statistically significantly higher normalised intensities were observed in the 'after treatment' group compared with the 'before treatment' group for m/z 14255 (49.7+λ8.4 vs 20.4+/-3.9; p=0.0000031, mann- whitney l/test). following analysis on the seldi-tof ms, samples from 4 patients were applied to a ph 4-7 immobilised ph gradient strip to separate proteins according to their isoelectric point (charge). after isoelectric focusing, the second dimension separation by size was performed. the gels were stained with colloidal blue strain to look for differences between the first and last days of treatment. the changes are highlighted in the boxes. figure 25 shows 2d gels of patient plasma. neat plasma samples were applied to ipg strips ph4-7 to resolve proteins in the first dimension by charge and then in the second dimension by sds-page to separate by size. molecular weight size markers are on the left of each gel. the spots of interest lie just between the 14 and 17kda markers shown on the left of each gel. the lower gels represent an enlarged view of a further two patients, showing that the change is reproducible. the top 2 gel spots from each sample were excised and processed in parallel for tryptic digests and passive elution to elute the protein from the gel and permit re-analysis on the seldi-tof. the passive elution sample was applied to an np20 chip to examine the size and profile of the protein peaks to determine whether they are similar to the biomarker peak itself (figure 25). a parallel sample was processed for trypsin digestion and peptide mapping, and these spots were identified by the university of dundee proteomics facility as transthyretin, both by ms and ms-ms. figure 26 shows a comparison between the original seldi-tof profiles and the passive elution sample extracted from 2d gels. gels were run in duplicate and the 2 spots at approximately 14kda in each sample (day 1 or day 10) were excised and processed in parallel for passive elution or trypsin digestion. passive elution allows the extraction of proteins from gel slices and permits their analysis on the seldi-tof- ms. this is shown in the top 4 profiles, which are compared to the original seldi profiles of these samples (shown in the bottom two spectra). passive elution of the day 1 spot 2 did not yield any profile, in agreement with the observation that this spot stains very weakly with the colloidal stain prior to treatment. although the passive elution profiles tend to be less well resolved, nevertheless, it does appear that they align perfectly with two of the peaks in the original seldi profile, as shown by the dashed lines, and the extra spot, present in day 10, aligns perfectly with the 14255 biomarker identified by the biomarker wizard. tryptic digests were analysed by the university of dundee. the two lower spots, which did not appear to change with treatment, were also analysed by tryptic digestion, and were identified as haptoglobin. the top two spots in the before and after samples were all identified as transthyretin. this suggested that the unique spot after treatment was due to posttranslational modifications of transthyretin, resulting in a more acidic form of the protein, rather than the appearance of a new and different protein. the parallel determination of protein identification and analysis of the sample following passive elution provides unequivocal evidence that the 14kda biomarker identified by the biomarker wizard is in fact transthyretin. the two peaks that coπespond to the spots on the 2d gel were approximately 332- 341 da apart. this size difference is indicative of s-palmityl cysteinyl modification of proteins as determined from the delta mass reference database for protein translational modifications (http ://www. abrf. org) suggesting that the additional acidic form of ttr observed following treatment with cyc202 may be due to s-palmityl cysteinylation. 4.2 identification of a 28kda biomarker cluster, apolipoprotein al two statistically significant 28kda biomarkers were identified that were present on all 4 chip surfaces that decreased upon treatment. an additional two peaks were observed adjacent to these two peaks that did not reach statistical significance but nevertheless appeared to change reproducibly in response to treatment. the biomarker wizard data from the analysis of fraction 4 on the sax chip at ph9 is shown in figure 26 as well as representative profiles from patients. treatment with cyc202 results in a decrease in two peaks at 27923 and 28126, while the peaks at 28292 and 28799, while not reaching statistical significance, nevertheless appear to dramatically increase following treatment. figure 27: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of fraction 4 from 16 phase lb patients on the sax chip ph9. only the mass region between 26.5kda and 30.5kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown in blue and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown in red. the log normalised intensity plots the log of peak intensity, normalising the average intensity to 0, thereby expressing the difference between sample groups regardless of absolute intensity. lower half: representative spectra from two patients showing a decrease in the first two peaks, which coπespond to the first two biomarkers, and the appearance or increase in the 3 rd peak, which coπesponds to the third biomarker, following treatment. statistically significantly lower normalised intensities were observed in the 'after treatment' group compared with the 'before treatment' group for m/z 27923 (31.8+/- 13.7 vs 50.6+/-11.8; p = 0.00097, mann-whitney u test) and m/z 28126 (20.4+/-9.9 vs 32.0+/-9.6; p = 0.0058, mann-whitney £7 test). the two markers at m/z 28292 and m/z 28799 were not deemed to be statistically significant (p = 0.95 and 0.19 respectively), although there does appear to be a clear increase in these two patients following treatment. following analysis on the seldi-tof ms, samples from 4 patients were applied to a ph 4-7 immobilised ph gradient strip to separate proteins according to their isoelectric point (charge). after isoelectric focusing, the second dimension separation by size was performed. the gels were stained with colloidal blue to look for differences between the first and last days of treatment. the changes are highlighted in the boxes. figure 28 shows 2d gels of patient plasma. neat plasma samples were applied to ipg strips ph4-7 to resolve proteins in the first dimension by charge and then in the second dimension by sds-page to separate by size. molecular weight size markers are on the left of each gel. the spots of interest lie just below the 28kda marker. the images in figure 28 represent enlarged views of the 2d gels for a further two patients, showing the appearance of an additional more acidic spot after treatment. figure 29: enlarged views of 2d gels for patients 209 and 116 indicating the appearance of a third more acidic spot after treatment, and a moderate decrease in the first spot in agreement with the biomarker wizard plot. the sample from patient 209 day 1 was then run on an ipg strip with a wider ph range (ph 3-10) resulting in a single unresolved spot. the gel spot containing this material was excised from the gel and passive elution was performed to extract the protein from the gel piece. this was then applied to an np20 chip to examine the size and profile of the protein on the seldi-tof ms (figure 30) a parallel sample was processed for trypsin digestion and peptide mapping, and was identified by the university of dundee proteomics facility as apolipoprotein al, both by ms and ms-ms. the same procedure was also performed on the resolved apo al spots shown above. all spots were identified as apoal suggesting that the unique spot after treatment was due to posttranslational modifications of apoal rather than the appearance of a new and different protein. this most likely coπesponded to the 3 rd biomarker at 28.292 that did not reach statistical significance across all 16 patients. figure 30: 2d gel analysis of patient plasma using a ph3-10 ipg strip. the gel was run in duplicate and the spots at 28kda were excised and processed in parallel for passive elution or trypsin digestion. passive elution allows the extraction of proteins from gel slices and permits their analysis on the seldi-tof-ms. this is shown in the bottom profile, which compares favourably with the original 209 day 1 sample - the top profile. tryptic digests were analysed by the university of dundee. the parallel determination of protein identification and analysis of the sample following passive elution provides unequivocal evidence that the 28kda biomarker identified by the seldi is in fact apolipoprotein al. therefore, the 28kda peaks identified by the biomarker wizard as being altered by cyc202 treatment are apolipoprotein al (apoal). apoal is subject to post-translational modifications such as glycosylation, acylation and phosphorylation. deamidated forms of apoal have also been identified. 4.3 identification of a 7kda biomarker cluster a cluster of 7kda biomarkers, which appeared only after treatment, were identified on several chip surfaces. the biomarker wizard data from the analysis of fraction 6 on the h50 chip at ph9 and neat plasma on the cm 10 chip is shown as well as representative profiles from several patients. figure 31: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of fraction 6 from 16 phase lb patients on the h50 chip. only the mass region between 5 and 8.5kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown in (u) and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown in (t). the log normalised intensity plots the log of peak intensity, normalising the average intensity to 0, thereby expressing the difference between sample groups regardless of absolute intensity. lower half: representative spectra from three patients showing the appearance of an additional two peaks following treatment. statistically significantly higher normalised intensities were observed in the 'after treatment' group compared with the 'before treatment' group for m/z 6799 (2.9+/- 1.2 vs 29.1+/-8.1; p=0.0000031, mann-whitney u test) and m/z 6998 (2.1+/-0.7 vs 42.0+/-9.1; ρ=0.0000031, mann-whitney c/test) figure 32: top half: biomarker wizard plot from analysis of neat plasma from 16 phase lb patients on the cm10 chip. only the mass region between 6 and 8kda is shown here. the day 1 samples prior to start of treatment are shown in blue and the samples from the last day of treatment are shown in red. the log normalised intensity plots the log of peak intensity, normalising the average intensity to 0, thereby expressing the difference between sample groups regardless of absolute intensity. lower half: representative spectra from three patients showing the appearance of an additional two peaks following treatment. statistically significantly higher normalised intensities were observed in the 'after treatment' group compared with the 'before treatment' group for m/z 6787 (5.6+/-1.9 vs 27.5+/-10.4; p=0.0000014, mann- whitney u test) and m/z 6984 (3.1+/-1.2 vs 42.2+/-11.8; p=0.0000014, mann- whitney c test) following analysis on the seldi-tof ms, samples from one patient (209) were applied to a cm10 chip to examine the binding characteristics of the proteins. binding was performed on all 8 spots at ph3.5, and the chip spots were washed with increasing ph, ph 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 and 7. the biomarker was only present on the chip if it had been washed with ph4.5 or less, suggesting that the approximate pi of the proteins is 4.5-5. all publications mentioned in the above specification, and references cited in said publications, are herein incorporated by reference. various modifications and variations of the described methods and system of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. although the invention has been described in connection with specific prefeπed embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in molecular biology or related fields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.
|
035-601-982-606-89X
|
US
|
[
"CA",
"JP",
"US",
"WO",
"EP",
"AU"
] |
A23D9/007,A23D9/013,A23L1/308,A23L33/20,A61K31/23,A61K31/70,A61K38/00,A61P1/00,A61P3/00
| 1991-03-29T00:00:00 |
1991
|
[
"A23",
"A61"
] |
fat substitute compositions having reduced laxative effects
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2107222 9217077 pctabs00016 anti-laxative agents are included in fat substitute compositions to reduce or eliminate anal leakage in mammals of fat substitute materials having a melting point of about 37 ·c or less. in one embodiment, the anti-laxative agents are emulsifiers such as polyglyceryl esters of fatty acids; mono- and di-glycerides; microcrystalline cellulose; ethoxylated mono- and di-glycerides; sorbitan esters of fatty acids; glyceryl-lacto esters of fatty acids; acetylated monoglycerides; polyglycerol lactic acid ester; and propylene glycol mono stearate; or gums, such as xanthan gum.
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1. a fat substitute food composition comprising fat ingredients and non-fat ingredients, wherein greater than 10% of the fat ingredients are replaced by a fat substitute composition comprising an edible, substantially non-digestible fat substitute material having a melting point of about 37.degree. c. or less and a wax as an anti-laxative agent in an amount sufficient to reduce leakage of the non-digestible fat substitute material through the anal sphincter of a mammal, wherein the wax is selected from the group consisting of animal and insect waxes, vegetable waxes, mineral waxes, synthetic waxes, and mixtures thereof, wherein the fat substitute composition is incorporated into said non-fat ingredients of said food composition, by mixing the fat substitute composition into said non-fat ingredients or frying said non-fat ingredients in said fat substitute material at elevated temperature with adsorption of said fat substitute material to result in a calorie reduction. 2. the fat substitute food composition of claim 1, wherein the wax comprises beeswax. 3. the fat substitute food composition of claim 1, wherein the wax is a vegetable wax selected from the group consisting of candelilla, carnauba, japan wax, ouricury wax, douglas-fir bark wax, rice-bran wax, jojoba, castor wax, and bayberry wax, and mixtures thereof. 4. the fat substitute food composition of claim 1, wherein the wax comprises a mineral wax selected from the group consisting of montan wax, peat wax, ozokerite wax, ceresin wax, petroleum waxes, and mixtures thereof. 5. the fat substitute food composition of claim 1, wherein the wax comprises a synthetic wax selected from the group consisting of polyethylene waxes, fischer-tropsch waxes, chemically modified hydrocarbon waxes, substituted amide waxes, and mixtures thereof. 6. the fat substitute food composition of claim 1, wherein the wax comprises less than or equal to 10% of the weight of the fat substitute material. 7. the fat substitute food composition of claim 6, wherein the wax comprises from 2% to 7% by weight of the fat substitute material. 8. a method for reducing anal leakage in a mammal resulting from ingestion of a food composition comprising fat ingredients and non-fat ingredients, wherein greater than 10% of the fat ingredients have been replaced by a fat substitute composition comprising an edible, substantially non-digestible fat substitute material having a melting point of about 37.degree. c. or less, the method comprising incorporating into said food composition an effective amount of a wax as an anti-laxative agent to reduce leakage of the non-digestible fat substitute material through the anal sphincter, the wax being selected from the group consisting of animal and insect waxes, vegetable waxes, mineral waxes, synthetic waxes, and mixtures thereof. 9. the method of claim 8, wherein the wax anti-laxative agent comprises less than or equal to 10% by weight of the fat substitute material. 10. the method of claim 9, wherein the wax anti-laxative agent comprises from 2% to 7% by weight of the fat substitute material. 11. the method of claim 8, wherein the wax comprises beeswax. 12. the method of claim 8, wherein the wax is a vegetable wax selected from the group consisting of candelilla, carnauba, japan wax, ouricury wax, douglas-fir bark wax, rice-bran wax, jojoba, castor wax, bayberry wax, and mixtures thereof. 13. the method of claim 8, wherein the wax comprises a mineral wax selected from the group consisting of montan wax, peat wax, ozokerite wax, ceresin wax, petroleum waxes, and mixtures thereof. 14. the method of claim 8, wherein the wax comprises a synthetic wax selected from the group consisting of polyethylene waxes, fischer-tropsch waxes, chemically modified hydrocarbon waxes, substituted amide waxes, and mixtures thereof.
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field of the invention the present invention relates generally to the field of fat substitute compositions, more particularly to those exhibiting reduced laxative effects after ingestion by a mammal. background of the invention fats contribute from 30% to 40% of the total calories consumed by most americans. one of the most common nutritional problems in the united states today is obesity, which results from the consumption of more calories than are expended. consumption of fat is related to many disease states, such as heart disease. successful reduction of fat consumption has not been achieved because of the dietary habits of the traditional american. therefore, the search for fat substitutes or low-calorie fats has attracted attention in recent years. among the possible low-calorie fats or fat substitutes synthesized to date are polyglycerol esters, sucrose polyesters (spe), neopentyl-type alcohols and other sugar derivatives such as sorbitol and mannitol, glycerol dialkyl ethers, triglyceride esters of alpha carboxylic acids, diglyceride esters of short-chain dibasic acids, trialkoxytricarballyate, polydextrose, palatinose, polygalactose, n-oil (tapioca dextrin), microbiologically derived products, nonabsorbable synthetic polymers with properties similar to edible oil, tree-derived products, low-metabolized natural fats and oils, biopolymers, branched polysaccharides and jojoba oil. many of these are reviewed by hamm, j. food sci. 49 419 (1984). the present inventors have previously discovered a class of fat substitute materials comprising alkyl and hydroxyalkyl glycoside fatty acid polyesters, some of which are disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 4,840,815 and 4,942,054. another class of fat substitute materials of note are sucrose fatty acid polyesters, which are disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 3,600,186, 4,368,213, and 4,461,782. a significant problem associated with the use of liquid fat substitute materials, i.e., those having a melting point at or below body temperature of about 37.degree. c., is an undesired "laxative" effect, which is manifested in leakage of the liquid fat substitute material through the anal sphincter after ingestion. as is common in the art of fat substitute materials, the phrases "laxative effect" and "anal leakage effect" are equivalent terms for the present purposes. previously, in u.s. pat. no. 4,005,195, it has been disclosed that the laxative effect can be reduced or eliminated by combining higher melting material, such as solid triglycerides and solid sucrose polyesters, with the liquid polyesters. another approach to preventing the undesirable laxative effect is to formulate the fat substitute materials to be completely solid at body temperature. completely solid esters and solid triglycerides used as anti-laxative agents have drawbacks when used in low calorie food compositions. for example, the high solids content can result in a "waxy" feel in the mouth when ingested. it would be desirable to have a fat substitute composition that is effective at reducing calories and cholesterol and also has a relatively low solids content, so that it does not feel waxy in the mouth. at the same time, it is also important that the fat substitute composition not exhibit the laxative side effect. accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide agents that exert an anti-laxative effect when used in combination with fat substitute materials in foods. it is yet another object of the present invention to provide new methods for reducing the laxative side effects associated with fat substitute materials as compared to the prior art. the above and other objects of the present invention as will hereinafter become more readily apparent have been achieved by the present invention, which is disclosed in detail herein. summary of the invention the present invention relates to the discovery by the present inventors of new ways to reduce the laxative or anal-leakage effect of nondigestible liquid fat substitutes. in one embodiment, the inventors discovered that polyol fatty acid polyesters having three or fewer ester groups, which are at least partially digestible, can serve effectively as anti-laxative agents. in another embodiment of this invention, the inventors discovered that various types of emulsifiers and gums can also exert an anti-laxative effect when used with fat substitute materials. the following are exemplary anti-laxative agents of this invention: polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (in bead form) [pge]; polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (in plastic form) [pge]; sucrose mono-, di-, and tri-polyesters; mono- and di-glycerides (in solid form) [mdg]; microcrystalline cellulose (i.e., avicel); ethoxylated mono-, di-glycerides (e.g., durfax eom) [emd]; monoglyceride (in bead form) (e.g., dimodan pvk) [mg]; sorbitan esters of fatty acids (e.g., famodan ms veg) [sefa]; glyceryl-lacto esters of fatty acids (in solid form) (e.g., durlac 100w) [gle]; acetylated monoglycerides (e.g., cetodan); poly glycerol lactic acid ester (e.g. lactodan); propylene glycol mono stearate; and xanthan gum. thus, the present invention is directed to fat substitute compositions, which comprise a fat substitute material and an anti-laxative agent as described herein, methods of reducing anal leakage resulting from ingestion of food compositions containing fat substitute materials, and to low calorie food compositions containing the fat substitute compositions. in a further aspect of the present invention, it has been discovered that fat substitute food compositions can be repaired wherein the fat substitute includes a wax as an anti-laxative agent. suitable waxes include animal waxes, insect waxes, vegetable waxes, mineral waxes and synthetic waxes. waxes are believed to be effective as anti-laxative agents in fat substitute food compositions at concentrations lower than that required for previously known anti-laxative agents, such as solid triglycerides and solid sucrose polyesters. because the wax anti-laxative agents are included at such a relatively low percentage, the "waxy" feel is believed to be substantially avoided. detailed description of the preferred embodiment terminology the fat substitute materials useful in connection with the present invention may vary widely in chemical structures, but all of them can be described as edible, fat-like materials that are liquids at body temperature and, thus, exhibit an anal leakage or laxative effect after ingestion. in one preferred embodiment, these materials are polyol fatty acid polyesters. such materials are referred to herein by the equivalent terms: "polyol fatty acid polyester fat substitute materials," or "polyol fat substitute materials." in another preferred embodiment, these materials are dicarboxylic acid esters based on malonic acid. these materials are referred to herein as "dicarboxylic acid ester fat substitute materials." other specific fat substitute materials that may be used in connection with this invention are: esterified propoxylated glycerols, such as those described in u.s. pat. no. 4,861,613; polysiloxanes, such as those described in u.s. pat. no. 4,983,413; complex linked esters, such as those described in u.s. pat. no. 4,963,386; polyvinyl oleates, such as those described in u.s. pat. no. 4,915,974, and the like. each of the u.s. patents cited herein is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. the expression "fat substitute material" is used to refer to all of these various types of materials, insofar as they are edible, fat-like materials that are liquids at body temperature. typically, such fat substitutes will also be at most partially digestible (and preferably substantially nondigestible). although the present disclosure is preferably directed to human usage, such that body temperature is ca. 37.degree. c., veterinary usages are also contemplated. in the case of veterinary embodiments, the present invention is expected to be applicable when the fat substitute materials cause an anal leakage or laxative effect when fed to an animal, preferably a mammal. mixtures of fat substitute materials are also contemplated in connection with the present invention. a more detailed description of the fat substitute materials is provided below under the heading "fat substitute materials." as noted above, when the fat substitute materials are liquid at body temperature, they have a tendency to cause an undesirable so-called laxative effect, i.e., leakage of the liquid fat substitute material through the anal sphincter. this effect is referred to herein as the "laxative effect" or the "anal leakage effect." the agents that are used to reduce or eliminate the laxative effect of the fat substitute materials of this invention are referred to herein as "anti-laxative agents" or "anti-anal leakage agents". these agents are capable of reducing or preventing frank leakage of the fat substitute materials; the natural stool-softening effect of the fat substitute materials may not be substantially affected, but this latter effect is not a significant problem. the combination of a fat substitute material with an anti-laxative agent is referred to as a "fat substitute composition" herein. inclusion of a fat substitute composition of the present invention into a food results in a "low calorie food composition." these food compositions will provide the benefits of low caloric content while causing reduced or, preferably, eliminated laxative side effects in a mammal after ingestion of the low calorie food compositions. anti-laxative agents the present inventors have discovered that certain compounds that possess emulsification properties exhibit an anti-laxative effect when used in combination with fat substitute materials. in a first preferred embodiment of this invention, the anti-laxative agents are edible, digestible polyol fatty acid polyesters, which differ from the polyol fat substitute materials in that the anti-laxative agents contain three or fewer esterified hydroxyl groups and are at least partially digestible. therefore, these mono-, di-, and tri-fatty acid esters of a polyol are not considered fat substitute materials. because the anti-laxative agents possess both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups, these compounds may be classified as amphipathic molecules, which have emulsification properties. to exert the anti-laxative effect, these polyol fatty acid polyesters are typically non-liquids at 37.degree. c. in broad terms, the above-described anti-laxative agents are polyols, especially sugars or sugar alcohols esterified with three or fewer fatty acid groups. the polyol may be a monosaccharide, a disaccharide, or a higher saccharide (e.g., a trisaccharide, etc.). preferred polyols for preparing the polyesters that are useful as anti-laxative agents in the present invention are selected from the group consisting of glucose and sucrose. the sugar may be in the form of a glycoside, wherein an alkyl or hydroxyalkyl group is present on the anomeric carbon of the sugar residue. for example, when the sugar is glucose, the glycoside is a glucoside. the alkyl and hydroxyalkyl residues will typically have from about 1 to about 18 carbon atoms, preferably 1 to 12 carbon atoms; the hydroxyalkyl residues will typically contain from 1 to 4 hydroxyl groups. the anti-laxative polyols are esterified on three or fewer of the polyol hydroxyl groups with a fatty acid. of the mono-, di-, and tri-esters, the mono- and di-esters are preferred because of their greater emulsification properties. the di- or tri-esters may contain multiple identical fatty acids, or they can all be the same. the fatty acid preferably has from about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms and may be straight chain, branched, cyclic, or a mixture thereof. although both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are possible, the fatty acids are preferably saturated. specific nonlimiting examples of the above type of anti-laxative agent are the following: sucrose mono-, di-, and tri- palmitates and stearates, and methyl glucoside mono-, di-, and tri- palmitates and stearates. in another embodiment of this invention, the present inventors have discovered that certain other compounds, which can be characterized as either emulsifiers or gums, have an anti-laxative effect when combined with a fat substitute material. specific anti-laxative agents of the emulsifying type are: polyglyceryl esters of fatty acids (beads) [pge]; polyglyceryl esters of fatty acids (plastic) [pge]; mono- and di-glycerides (solid) [mdg]; microcrystalline cellulose; ethoxylated mono-, di-glycerides (e.g., durfax eom) [emd]; mono-glyceride (bead) (e.g., dimodan pvk) [mg]; sorbitan esters of fatty acids (e.g., famodan ms veg) [sefa]; glyceryl-lacto esters of fatty acids (solid) (e.g., durlac 100w) [gle]; acetylated monoglycerides (e.g., cetodan, available from grindsted chemical corp.); poly glycerol lactic acid ester (e.g., lactodan, available from grindsted chemical corp.); and propylene glycol mono stearate. these compounds are distinct from the bulking agents which have previously been disclosed as useful in combination with fat substitute materials in u.s. pat. no. 4,797,300. gums have also been found effective as anti-laxative agents. a specific gum found suitable as an anti-laxative agent is xanthan gum, preferably when used at levels of at least about 20% by weight of the fat substitute material. by "polyglyceryl esters of fatty acids" is meant molecules containing from 3 to 10 glyceryl groups esterified to 1 to 10 c.sub.1 -c.sub.18 fatty acids. these compounds should also be non-liquids at room temperature to exert a sufficient anti-laxative effect. those polyglyceryl esters of fatty acids that are in bead or plastic form at room temperature are effective anti-laxative agents, whereas those that are liquids at room temperature are not. by "mono- and di-glycerides" is meant molecules containing one glyceryl group esterified to one or two c.sub.1 -c.sub.18 fatty acids. these compounds should also be non-liquids at room temperature to exert a sufficient anti-laxative effect. an example is dur em 207e (bead form). "microcrystalline cellulose" is derived from crystallite zones found in regenerated, mercerized and alkali celluloses. by applying a chemical pretreatment to destroy molecular bonds holding these crystallite zones, followed by mechanically treating to disperse the crystallites in aqueous phase, smooth, colloidal, microcrystalline cellulose gels with useful functional and rheological properties are produced. an exemplary material is avicel cc691, which is a mixture of microcrystalline cellulose and carboxy-methyl cellulose. "ethoxylated mono- and di-glycerides" are molecules containing one glyceryl group esterified to one or two c.sub.1 -c.sub.18 fatty acids, wherein 1 or 2 ethoxylate moieties are bonded to the glyceryl group by means of an ether linkage. an example is durfax.tm. eom. "sorbitan esters of fatty acids" are made up of sorbitan esterified to 1 to 4 c.sub.1 -c.sub.18 fatty acids. one example is famodan.tm. ms veg. "glyceryl-lacto esters of fatty acids" are made up of lactic acid esterified to a glyceryl group, and also, from 1 to 3 c.sub.1 -c.sub.18 fatty acids esterified to the molecule. one example is durlac.tm. 100 w. in preferred embodiments, the fatty acids in the above compounds are c.sub.12 -c.sub.18 saturated acids. the above anti-laxative agents are usually incorporated into the fat substitute compositions in an effective amount of from about 10% to about 50% by weight based on the weight of the fat substitute material. preferably, the amount will be from about 10% to about 30%, and most preferably from about 15% to about 25%. the anti-laxative agent typically constitutes from about 0.5 to 10% by weight of the overall low calorie food composition. mixtures of one or more of the above-described fat substitute materials and/or anti-laxative agents may be incorporated into the fat substitute composition, where desired. in a further embodiment of the present invention, it is believed that waxes are also effective at reducing the laxative or anal-leakage effect of nondigestible liquid fat substitutes. thus, low calorie food compositions including non-fat ingredients and fat ingredients, wherein at least a portion of the fat ingredients have been substituted with a fat substitute composition, including a substantially non-digestible fat substitute material, as described hereinbelow, and an effective amount of a wax as an anti-laxative agent may be prepared in accordance with the present invention. suitable waxes include animal and insect waxes, vegetable waxes, mineral waxes and synthetic waxes. specific examples of animal and insect waxes believed suitable for practice of the present invention are spermaceti and beeswax, respectively. examples of vegetable waxes believed to be suitable include candelilla, carnauba, japan wax, ouricury wax, douglas-fir bark wax, rice-bran wax, jojoba, castor wax and bayberry wax. suitable examples of mineral waxes are believed to include montan wax, peat waxes, ozokerite and ceresin waxes, and petroleum waxes, e.g., paraffin and microcrystalline and semicrystalline waxes. suitable synthetic waxes are believed to include low molecular weight polyethylene waxes (<ca 10,000) fischer-tropsch waxes, chemically modified hydrocarbon waxes and substituted amide waxes. the amount of these waxes believed to be effective as anti-laxative agents is believed to be from about 1% to about 25% by weight, and preferably less than or equal to 10% by weight, based on the weight of the fat substitute material. most preferably, between about 2% to about 7% wax as an anti-laxative agent by weight based on the weight of the fat substitute material is included. the waxes are believed to reduce anal leakage as the result of a "stiffening" effect imparted to the fat substitute. fat substitute materials the following are some representative fat substitute materials, which are included for illustrative purposes. in a first embodiment, the fat substitute materials of the present invention are edible, non-digestible polyol fatty acid polyesters that cause a laxative effect when ingested by a mammal. the polyester fat substitutes that cause the laxative effect are those that are liquid at body temperature (e.g., 37.degree. c. for humans). preferred polyol fatty acid polyester fat substitute materials are sugar fatty acid polyesters, and sugar alcohol fatty acid polyesters. preferred polyol fat substitute materials are sucrose polyesters and alkyl/hydroxyalkyl glycoside polyesters. the sugars will typically contain from 4 to 8 hydroxyl groups. sugar and sugar alcohol fatty acid polyesters comprise sugar moieties and fatty acid moieties. the term "sugar" is used as generic to mono-, di-, and trisaccharides, and to both reducing or nonreducing sugars. the term "sugar" includes glycosides derived from reducing sugars, e.g., alkyl and hydroxyalkyl glycosides. the term "sugar alcohol" is used as generic to the reduction product of sugars in which the aldehyde or ketone group has been reduced to an alcohol. the fatty acid ester compounds are prepared by reacting a monosaccharide, disaccharide, trisaccharide, sugar alcohol, alkyl glycoside or hydroxyalkyl glycoside with a fatty acid as described previously, e.g., in u.s. pat. no. 4,973,489; 4,942,054; and 4,840,815, which are hereby incorporated by reference. examples of suitable monosaccharides are those containing four hydroxyl groups, such as xylose, arabinose, and ribose; the sugar alcohol derived from xylose, i.e., xylitol, is also suitable. the monosaccharide erythrose is not suitable as the fat substitute material since it only contains three hydroxyl groups; however, the sugar alcohol derived from erythrose, i.e., erythritol, contains four hydroxyl groups and is thus suitable. among five hydroxyl-containing monosaccharides that are suitable for use herein are glucose, mannose, galactose, fructose, and sorbose. a sugar alcohol derived from sucrose, glucose, or sorbose, e.g., sorbitol, contains six hydroxyl groups and is also suitable as the alcohol moiety of the fatty acid ester compound. examples of suitable disaccharides are maltose, lactose, and sucrose, all of which contain eight hydroxyl groups. an example of a suitable trisaccharide is raffinose. in preparing sugar or sugar alcohol fatty acid polyesters of the present invention a sugar or sugar alcohol compound such as those identified above may also be esterified with one type or a mixture of fatty acids having from about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms. examples of suitable fatty acids are caprylic, capric, lauric, myristic, myristoleic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, ricinoleic, linoleic, and linolenic. the fatty acids can be derived from naturally occurring or synthetic fatty acids and can be saturated or unsaturated, including positional and geometric isomers. fatty acids per se or naturally occurring fats and oils can serve as the source for the fatty acid component of the polyester fat substitute material. for example, c.sub.16 -c.sub.18 fatty acids can be provided by tallow, soybean oil, or cottonseed oil. shorter chain fatty acids can be provided by coconut, palm kernel, or babassu oils. corn oil, lard, olive oil, palm oil, peanut oil, safflower seed oil, sesame seed oil, and sunflower seed oil, are examples of other natural oils which can serve as the source of the fatty acid component. the polyol fatty acid polyesters (both those suitable for use as fat substitute materials and as anti-laxative agents) can be prepared by any of a variety of methods well known to those skilled in the art. these methods include: transesterification of the sugar or sugar alcohol with methyl, ethyl or glycerol fatty acid esters using a variety of catalysts; acylation of the sugar or sugar alcohol with a fatty acid chloride; acylation of the sugar or sugar alcohol with a fatty acid anhydride; and acylation of the sugar or sugar alcohol with a fatty acid per se. as an example, the preparation of sugar and sugar alcohol fatty acid esters is described in u.s. pat. no. 2,831,845, incorporated herein by reference. other examples of suitable reactants, procedures and conditions may be found in u.s. pat. nos.: 4,973,489; 4,942,054; and 4,840,815, each of which is also incorporated by reference herein. two important features of the polyester fat substitute materials useful in this invention are that they predominantly contain at least four fatty acid polyester groups and that they melt at 37.degree. c. or less. polyol fatty acid polyester compounds that contain four or more fatty acid ester groups are digested very little if at all and thus have desirable low calorie properties for use as fat substitutes. in contrast, polyol fatty acid polyester compounds that contain three or fewer fatty acid ester groups are digested in the intestinal tract much in the manner as ordinary triglyceride fats; they are useful as anti-laxative agents but not as fat substitutes. preferred polyol fat substitute materials for the purposes of this invention are sucrose fatty acid polyesters. especially preferred sucrose fatty acid polyesters have the majority of their hydroxyl groups esterified with fatty acids. preferably at least about 85%, and most preferably at least about 95%, of the sucrose fatty acid polyesters are selected from the group consisting of octaesters, heptaesters and hexaesters, and mixtures thereof. preferably, no more than about 35% of the esters are hexaesters or heptaesters, and at least about 60% of the sucrose fatty acid polyesters are octaesters. most preferably, at least about 70% of the sucrose polyesters are octaesters. other preferred polyol fat substitute materials are alkyl or hydroxyalkyl glycoside fatty acid polyesters. alkyl/hydroxyalkyl glycosides are the reaction products of a reducing mono-, di-, or trisaccharide with a monohydric, dihydric, trihydric or tetrahydric alcohol having from 2 to 18 carbons (excluding carbon atoms contained in any hydroxyl protecting groups used in synthesizing the esters). the fatty acid portion of the alkyl glycoside preferably has 4 to 18 carbon atoms. these fatty acids may be saturated, unsaturated, straight chain, branched, cyclic, or a mixture thereof. the preferred glycosides are formed of glucose, galactose, lactose, or maltose and ethanol, propanol, monohydroxyl protected propanediol, or dihydroxy protected glycerol. the dihydroxy protected glycerol is preferably 1,2-isopropylidene glycerol or 1,3-benzylidene glycerol. in a second embodiment, the fat substitute materials are edible, non-digestible dicarboxylic acid esters, such as those previously disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 4,673,581 and 4,582,927, which are hereby incorporated by reference. these esters have the general formula: ##str1## wherein r.sub.1 and r.sub.2 are h or c.sub.1 -c.sub.20 alkyl groups and x and y are c.sub.12 -c.sub.18 alkyl, alkenyl, or dienyl groups. these compounds are synthetic oils or low-melting solids (i.e., they have a melting point of about 37.degree. c. or less). preferably, at least one r group is a c.sub.1 -c.sub.20 alkyl group and the other r group is hydrogen or a c.sub.1 -c.sub.20 alkyl group. in particularly preferred compounds, one r group is hydrogen and the other r group is a c.sub.16 -c.sub.18 alkyl group, or both r groups are c.sub.16 -c.sub.18 alkyl groups. the x and y groups are preferably c.sub.14 -c.sub.18 alkyl, alkenyl or dienyl groups. two exemplary fat substitutes of this type are hexadecyl dioleylmalonate and dihexadecyl dioleylmalonate. exemplary fatty alcohols suitable for use in this embodiment of the invention are oleic, myristic, linoleic, palmitic, and stearic alcohols. suitable acids are malonic, mono-alkylmalonic, and dialkylmalonic acids. mixtures of these fat substitutes may be utilized where desired. in a third embodiment, esterified propoxylated glycerols are employed as the fat substitute materials. these molecules have the following exemplary formula: ##str2## wherein x+y+z.gtoreq.5, and r.sub.1, r.sub.2, and r.sub.3 are independently selected from fatty acids. preferably, the fatty acids are c.sub.8 -c.sub.24 moieties, which may be straight chain, branched, saturated or unsaturated. in a fourth embodiment, the fat substitute material is a complex linked ester, having the following exemplary formula: ##str3## wherein r is a linking covalent bond or saturated or unsaturated aliphatic group; n is 2 to 6; and the r' groups comprise residues defined by the following formula: ##str4## where: c is a carbon atom; x is a bridging bonding valence, hydrogen, or substituted or unsubstituted lower aliphatic group (e.g., c.sub.1 -c.sub.4), the various x groups being the same or different; ##str5## --o--r" (alkoxy), or --r"'--o--r" (alkylalkoxy) radicals; with the priviso that at least one of the q radicals be other than carboxy; r" is a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, containing, for example, no more than 30 carbons, e.g., ##str6## the various r' and r" groups, respectively, being the same or different; r'" is a lower alkylene, desirably methylene or ethylene, preferably methylene, group which can be the same or different; t is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, e.g., no greater than 22 carbons, containing 0 to 5 unsaturated linkages (e.g., c.dbd.c double bonds, c.tbd.c triple bonds) per t residue; z is a bridging bonding valence, hydrogen, or an alcohol, glycol, ester, e.g., ##str7## ether, or the like, residue; with the proviso that there is only one bridging bonding valence per r' group; and where: a=0 to 3, preferably 0 to 2; b=0 to 4, preferably 0 to 1; d=1 or 2; e=0 to 5, preferably 1 to 2; f=0 to 3, preferably 0 to 2; g=0 to 4, preferably 0 to 1; h=1 or 2; j=0 to 10, preferably 0 to 3. preferably, each r' group will contain from 2 to 3, most desirably 2, q radicals. in a fifth embodiment, the fat substitute may be a polysiloxane, having the following exemplary formula: ##str8## wherein each r is independently selected from c.sub.1 -c.sub.6 lower alkyl, phenyl, preferably methyl and/or phenyl, and n ranges from 1 to 100. in a sixth embodiment, the fat substitute material is polyvinyl alcohol esterified with fatty acids. preferably, the polyvinyl alcohol backbone has a molecular weight of from 500 to 8000, particularly preferably, 1000 to 5000. the fatty acids are preferably c.sub.4 -c.sub.30, straight chain or branched, saturated or unsaturated. c.sub.10 -c.sub.22 fatty acids are preferred. especially preferred is the unsaturated fatty acid oleic acid. other exemplary fat substitute materials suitable for use in connection with this invention are trialkoxycarballyates and polydextroses. it is to be understood that the above embodiments of the fat substitute materials are only examples of the range of fat substitute materials that can be used in connection with the present invention. that is, the present anti-laxative agents are contemplated to be useful with any fat substitute material that is a liquid at body temperature and creates an anal leakage problem upon ingestion. these fat substitute materials should also be "fat-like" in terms of mouth feel and physiochemical properties (e.g., rheology, viscosity, and the like). low calorie food compositions the fat substitute compositions comprising the fat substitute materials and the anti-laxative agents can be used as a partial or total replacement for normal fats in any fat-containing food to provide low calorie benefits. the amount of the fat substitute composition to be substituted for the fat ingredients to produce a low calorie food depends on the application. in most cases, greater than 10% of the fat ingredients are replaced with the fat substitute composition to achieve meaningful calorie reduction. up to 100% of the fat ingredients of a food can be substituted with the fat substitute compositions of the present invention. however, it is recognized that fat ingredients provide many essential nutrients in human and animal diets. for example, fat ingredients in foods provide fatty acids, which are precursors of the prostaglandins as well as being carriers for fat-soluble vitamins. it is therefore preferred that less than 100% of the fat ingredients be replaced by the fat substitute compositions of the instant invention in any one food product. accordingly, it is preferred that from 25% to 85% of the fat ingredients in a food be replaced with a fat substitute composition according to the present invention. particularly preferably 33% to 75% of the fat ingredients are replaced with a fat substitute composition. incorporation of the fat substitute compositions of the present invention may be carried out by including a measured quantity thereof to a foodstuff or by cooking (e.g., frying) the foodstuff in the fat substitute compositions, etc. methods of reducing anal leakage also provided by the present invention are methods of reducing anal leakage in a mammal after ingestion by the mammal of a food composition comprising the fat substitute compositions of the present invention. essentially, the method involves incorporating an amount of one or more of the anti-laxative agents described hereinabove effective to reduce or eliminate anal leakage of the fat substitute material. the effective amount of the anti-laxative agent is described above. preferably the anti-laxative agent will be added to the fat substitute material to form a fat substitute composition prior to addition to the food. however, the anti-laxative agent could be added to the food before or after a fat substitute material is included in the food. the following examples are intended to be illustrative of the present invention and to teach one of ordinary skill how to make and use the invention. these examples are not intended in any way to limit the invention or otherwise limit the protection afforded by letters patent hereon. example i an emulsifier feeding study was conducted to determine disposition of anal leakage in rats. rats species-sprague dawley; weight-150 to 250 g; sex-female feed teklad rat chow (fat free)-granular the feed is admixed with sucrose polyesters (oleate) at a level of 16% as the fat substitute material. of the 16% spe-oleate, 20% consists of the specific emulsifier, respectively. emulsifiers the following were the emulsifiers tested: poly glyceryl esters of fatty acids (liquid) [pge]; poly glyceryl esters of fatty acids (beads) [pge]; poly glyceryl esters of fatty acids (plastic) [pge]; sucrose polyesters (mixture of mono-, di-, and tri-esters) [dk20]; polypropylene alginate [ppa]; mono- and di-glycerides (solid) [mdg]; locust bean gum [loc. bean]; carboxy methyl cellulose [cmc]; and avicel cc691. controls sucrose polyester (oleate) [spe]; peanut oil scoring the degree of anal leakage is determined on a scale of 0 to 4, defined as follows: 0=none; 1=trace; 2=slight; 3=moderate; 4=severe those compounds that rated less than one are preferred as anti-laxative agents. those that rated 1 or slightly above one can also be used as anti-laxative agents. scoring was conducted twice daily. the results are reported in the following table 1: table 1 ______________________________________ average % diet score effectiveness ______________________________________ 1. pge (liquid) 1.18 70.50 2. pge (beads) 0.33 91.75 3. pge (plastic) 0.69 82.75 4. dk20 - spe 0.49 87.75 5. ppa 2.22 44.50 6. mdg (solid) 0.18 95.50 7. loc. bean 2.07 48.25 8. cmc 1.62 59.5 9. avicel 691 1.00 75.00 10. spe - control 2.59 35.25 11. peanut oil - control 0.00 100.00 ______________________________________ example ii an emulsifier feeding study was done to determine disposition of anal leakage in rats. rats species-sprague dawley; weight-150 to 250 g; sex-female feed teklad rat chow (fat free)-granular the feed was admixed with sucrose polyesters (oleate) at a level of 16% as the fat substitute material. of the 16% spe-oleate, 20% consists of the specific emulsifier, respectively, except that in the case of the mono-, di-glycerides, 10% consists of the specific emulsifier. emulsifiers the following are the emulsifiers tested: lecithin-alcolec f100; mono-, di-glyceride (solid) 10% - dur em 207e beads [md]; ethoxylated mono-, di-glycerides-durfax eom [emd]; polysorbate 60-durfax 60k [poly 60]; sodium stearoyl lactolate - artodan sp55k [ssl]; mono-glyceride (soft plastic)-dimodan lsk [mg]; mono-glyceride (plastic)-dimodan cpk [mg]; mono- glyceride (bead)-dimodan pvk [mg]; sorbitan esters of fatty acids-famodan ms veg [sefa]; diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono glycerides-panodan fdp [datae]; and glyceryl-lacto esters of fatty acids (solid)-durlac 100 w [gle]. controls sucrose polyester (oleate) [spe]; peanut oil the degree of anal leakage is determined on a scale of 0 to 4, defined as follows: 0=none; 1=trace; 2=slight; 3=moderate; 4=severe scoring was conducted twice daily. the results are reported in the following table 2: table 2 ______________________________________ average % diet score effectiveness ______________________________________ 1. lecithin 1.56 61.00 2. md 10% 0.69 82.75 3. emd 1.02 74.50 4. poly 60 1.08 73.00 5. ssl 1.46 63.50 6. mg soft plastic 2.37 40.75 7. mg plastic 2.10 47.50 8. mg bead 0.85 78.75 9. sefa 1.07 73.25 10. datae 1.39 64.75 11. gle 0.26 93.50 12. spe - control 2.58 35.50 13. peanut oil - control 0.00 100.00 ______________________________________ what follows is two more examples. example iii a feeding study was done to determine the disposition of anal leakage in rats fed with a fat substitute material containing various emulsifiers or gums as an anti-anal leakage agent. the rats were female, of the sprague dawley species, weighing 150 to 200 grams. the rats were fed teklad fat free rat chow, admixed with sucrose polyester (oleic acid esters) as a fat substitute material and the specific emulsifier or gum to be tested. the combined sucrose polyester and the specific emulsifier or gum being tested comprised 16% by weight of the mixture, based on the weight of the fat free teklad rat chow. the specific emulsifier or gum being tested comprised 20% by weight of the combined sucrose polyester and emulsifier or gum. the degree of anal leakage resulting was determined once each day, and scored on a scale of 0 to 4, defined as follows: 0=no anal leakage; 1=trace anal leakage; 2=slight anal leakage; 3=mild anal leakage; and 4=severe anal leakage. each formulation of feed, sucrose polyester, and specific emulsifier or gum being tested was fed to each of a group of five rats for a period of ten days. the anal leakage over the period of the experiment was scored for each rat, and then averaged over the ten-day period. the average scores were also converted to a percent effectiveness, as follows: an average score of 0=100% effectiveness; an average score of 1=75% effectiveness; an average score of 2=50% effectiveness; an average score of 3=25% effectiveness; and an average score of 4=0% effectiveness. one feed formulation contained 100% of the sucrose polyester (oleic acid esters), with no added emulsifier or gum, as a control. the following emulsifiers or gums were tested: acetylated monoglycerides - cetodan, available from grindsted chemical corp.; hydroxylated lecithin ("lecithin"); xanthan gum; sodium hexa meta phosphate ("shmp"); carrageenan gum; pectin; mono-, di-glycerides 20%-emuldan, solid ("emuldan"); and sucrose polyester ("spe") (control). the results achieved from feeding studies for formulations containing each of these emulsifiers or gums are listed below in table 3. table 3 ______________________________________ average % emulsifier/gum score effectiveness ______________________________________ acetylated monoglycerides 0.26 93.50 lecithin 1.66 59.50 xanthan gum 1.16 71.00 shmp 2.54 36.50 carrageenan gum 1.72 54.50 pectin 2.22 44.50 emuldan 20% 0.00 100.00 spe 3.00 25.00 ______________________________________ acetylated monoglycerides and emuldan 20% were found to be effective anti-anal leakage agents. xanthan gum was also found to be a suitable anti-anal leakage agent at this concentration. hydroxylated lecithin indicated promise as being an effective anti-anal leakage agent at higher percentages. example iv a feeding study was done to determine the disposition of anal leakage in rats fed with a fat substitute material containing various emulsifiers or gums as an anti-anal leakage agent. the rats were female, of the sprague dawley species, weighing 150 to 200 grams. the rats were fed teklad fat free rat chow, admixed with sucrose polyesters (oleate) as a fat substitute material and the specific emulsifier or gum to be tested. the combined sucrose polyester and the specific emulsifier or gum being tested comprised 16% by weight of the mixture, based on the weight of the fat free teklad rat chow. a specific emulsifier or gum being tested comprised 20% by weight of the combined sucrose polyester and emulsifier or gum, except in the case of the mono-, di-glycerides (emuldan). the emuldan comprised 20%, 10% or 5% of the combined sucrose polyester and emuldan, as indicated. the degree of anal leakage resulting was determined once each day, and scored on a scale of 0 to 4, defined as follows: 0=no anal leakage; 1=trace anal leakage; 2=slight anal leakage; 3=mild anal leakage; and 4=severe anal leakage. each formulation of feed, sucrose polyester, and specific emulsifier or gum being tested was fed to each of a group of five rats for a period of ten days. the anal leakage over the period of the experiment was scored for each rat, and then averaged over the ten day period. the average scores were also converted to a percent effectiveness, as follows: an average score of 0=100% effectiveness; an average score of 1=75% effectiveness; an average score of 2=50% effectiveness; an average score of 3=25% effectiveness; and an average score of 4=0% effectiveness. the following emulsifiers and gums were tested: mono-, di-glycerides 10% - emuldan ("emuldan 10%"); gum arabic; poly glycerol lactic acid ester - lactodan, available from grindsted chemical corp. ("lactodan"); mono-, di-glycerides 5% - emuldan ("emuldan 5%"); propylene glycol mono stearate ("pgms"); sucrose polyester ("spe"); guar gum; poly aldo deca glycerol deca stearate palmitate mixture, available from lanza chemical corp. ("poly aldo dgdsp"); poly aldo hexa glycerol mono palmitate, available from lanza chemical corp. ("poly aldo hgmp"); gellan gum, available from kelco, inc.; and mono-, di-glycerides 20% - emuldan ("emuldan 20%"). results from feeding studies conducted with these emulsifiers and gums are listed below in table 4. table 4 ______________________________________ average % emulsifier/gum score effectiveness ______________________________________ emuldan 10% 0.74 81.50 gum arabic 3.36 16.00 lactodan 0.44 90.00 emuldan 5% 2.59 44.00 pgms 0.00 100.00 spe 3.30 17.50 guar gum 2.10 47.00 poly aldo dgdsp 2.74 31.50 poly aldo hgmp 2.74 31.00 gellan gum 1.44 64.00 emuldan 20% 0.00 100.00 ______________________________________ emuldan at concentrations of about 10 to 20%, lactodan, and propylene glycol mono stearate were found to be effective anti-anal leakage agents. based on the performance of propylene glycol mono stearate, poly glycerol mono stearates in general are suspected as being suitable anti-anal leakage agents. gellan gun showed promise as an anti-anal leakage agent if included at higher concentrations (i.e., greater than 20%). example v a low calorie peanut butter can be prepared by substituting a fat substitute composition for substantially all of the peanut oil and other triglyercides that would otherwise be used. the fat substitute composition includes a non-digestible polyol fatty acid polyester and candelilla wax. the wax is included at a level of 4% to 6% by weight based on the weight of the non-digestible fat substitute oil and any remaining triglycerides, and amounts to 2% to 3% by weight of the total low calorie peanut butter product. incorporating wax at this proportion with digestible triglyceride oils (i.e., peanut oil) in peanut butter has been found to stiffen the peanut butter product without exhibiting any substantial undesirable waxy mouth feel. it is thus believed that this same percentage of wax used with non-digestible oils will provide a "stiffening" anti-laxative effect without an undesirable waxy mouth feel. while the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, other modifications may be made thereto and other embodiments may be devised within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.
|
036-008-617-917-760
|
EP
|
[
"MX",
"RU",
"WO",
"CN",
"US",
"KR",
"EP"
] |
B05D7/00,B05D1/06,B05B1/06,C09D5/24,B05D3/02,B05D1/36
| 2012-03-28T00:00:00 |
2012
|
[
"B05",
"C09"
] |
method for applying a powder coating.
|
a method for the application of at least two different powder coating layers to a substrate comprising the steps of application of a first powder coating layer followed by the application of a second powder coating layer, without any substantial curing of the first powder coating layer prior to the application of the second powder coating layer, followed by the simultaneous curing of the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer, wherein the first powder coating layer or the second powder coating layer comprises 1 to 10 weight % of a conductive component having a resistivity of below 5 î©cm at a packing volume of â¤70%.
|
a method for the application of at least two different powder coating layers to a substrate comprising the steps of application of a first powder coating layer followed by the application of a second powder coating layer, without any substantial curing of the first powder coating layer prior to the application of the second powder coating layer, followed by the simultaneous curing of the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer, wherein the first powder coating layer comprises 1 to 10 weight % of a conductive component, the conductive component having a resistivity of below 5 qcm at a packing volume of < 70% and the weight % being calculated based upon the total composition of the first powder coating layer. a method for the application of at least two different powder coating layers to a substrate comprising the steps of application of a first powder coating layer followed by the application of a second powder coating layer, without any substantial curing of the first powder coating layer prior to the application of the second powder coating layer, followed by the simultaneous curing of the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer, wherein the second powder coating layer comprises 1 to 10 weight % of a conductive component having a resistivity of below 5 qcm at a packing volume of < 70% and the weight % being calculated based upon the total composition of the second powder coating layer. the method of claim 1 or 2 in wherein the first or the second powder coating layer comprises 1 to 7 weight % of the conductive component, the weight % being calculated based upon the total composition of the powder coating layer. 4. the method of claim 1 or 2 in wherein the first or the second powder coating layer comprises 1 to 5 weight % of the conductive component. 5. the method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer are applied by using a corona charging system. 6. the method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the corona charging system is charged to a potential of between 70 and 10okv. 7. the method according to claims 5 or 6 wherein the first or the second powder coating layer is applied using a corona charging system at an application rate between 100 and 300g/min. 8. the method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer are applied at a temperature below 50°c and no heating is applied to the substrate or the first powder coating layer prior to the application of the second powder coating layer. 9. the method of claim 8 wherein the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer are applied at ambient temperature.
|
method for applying a powder coating background of the invention field of the invention powder coatings are solid compositions which are generally applied by an electrostatic spray process in which the powder coating particles are electrostatically charged by the spray gun and the substrate is earthed. alternative application methods include fluidised-bed and electrostatic fluidised- bed processes. after application, the powder is heated to melt and fuse the particles and to cure the coating. the compositions generally comprise a solid film-forming resin, usually with one or more colouring agents such as pigments, and optionally they also contain one or more performance add itives . they are usual ly thermosetti ng , incorporating, for example, a film-forming polymer and a corresponding crosslinking agent (which may itself be another film-forming polymer). generally, the resins have a tg, softening point or melting point above 30°c. the compositions are generally prepared by mixing ingredients, e.g. in an extruder, at a temperature above the softening temperature of the resin but below the curing temperature. the composition is then cooled to solidify it and is subsequently pulverised. the particle size distribution required for most commercial electrostatic spray apparatus is up to a maximum of 120 microns, with a mean particle size within the range of 15 to 75 microns, preferably 25 to 50 microns, more especially 20 to 45 microns. the present invention relates to a method for applying a powder coating to a substrate, more in particular to a process for applying at least two powder coating layers to a substrate without any substantial curing of the first layer prior to the application of the second or further layers. this process is sometimes referred to as a dry-on-dry application process. prior art in wo 97/05965 a method is disclosed for simulating wood or marble in a finish by coating metal surfaces with a first layer of a colored powder coating layer, heating this layer to get a partial cure of this first layer (sometimes referred to as green cure), and thereafter applying a second colored powder coating layer, and subsequent heating of both layers to obtain a full cure of both layers. in ep 1547698 a method is disclosed which is similar to the process in wo 97/05965, albeit that in the process of ep 1547698 the heating step after the application of the first powder coating layer is absent. in wo 2008/088605 a method is disclosed for painting a substrate wherein in a first step a powder primer is applied to the substrate, in a next step a powder basecoat comprising a flake additive is applied onto the primer, the powder primer and powder basecoat are simultaneously cured and thereafter a topcoat is applied onto the powder basecoat and in a last step this topcoat is cured. it was found that this method only works at very specific conditions and control of certain parameters, such as layer thickness, charging of the powder particles, and settings of the application equipment. in ep994141 a method is disclosed which is similar to the process in wo 2008/088605. in some of the examples carbon black is added in small amount (< 1 wt.%) to the primer coating layer. however, it was found that in a process where the powder basecoat and powder topcoat are simultaneously cured, this only works at very specific conditions and control of certain parameters, such as layer thickness, charging of the powder particles, and settings of the application equipment. in us 200601 10601 a process for the application of a flouropolymer primer and overcoat is disclosed that uses a process similar to the process in wo 2008/088605. it is said that metal flake and carbon black can be added as filler. it is advised that the powder primer coating should contain 10 to 20 wt.% of such filler. in ep 2060328 a method for forming a composite powder coating is disclosed wherein multiple layers of a powder coating are deposited on a substrate, wherein adjacent layers are formed of different types of powder coating compositions and wherein the multiple layers of the powder coating composition are cured in a single thermal step. in wo 2005/018832 a method for coating substrates is disclosed wherein an image coat is applied over a background coating. both image coating and background coating can be powder coatings. it is not necessary to partially cure the background coating before the image coat is applied. in this process the polarity of the background/base coat and the image coat must be the same. in us 2004/0159282 a respray or repair coating method using powder coatings is disclosed where the respray or repair coating may be performed before or after the cure of the initial layer. the initial coating layer and the repair/respray coating layer should have the same electrostatic polarity. so far, there has been little commercial success for systems based on any of the above processes for the dry-on-dry application of at least two powder coating layers. main reasons for this are surface defects in the top powder layer which, when cured lead to an unsatisfactory appearance with evidence of mixing of the two layers. these surface defects can be masked by using a matt or dull colored coating for the top powder layer. however, the surface defects are clearly visible when a high gloss topcoat is used. summary of the invention accordingly, in one embodiment the present invention comprises a method for the application of at least two different powder coating layers to a substrate comprising the steps of application of a first powder coating layer followed by the application of a second powder coating layer, without any substantial curing of the first powder coating layer prior to the application of the second powder coating layer, followed by the simultaneous curing of the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer, wherein the first powder coating layer comprises a conductive component. in another embodiment of the present invention, the second powder coating layer comprises a conductive component. within the framework of the present invention, a conductive component is a component that has a resistivity of below 1 qcm at a packing volume of < 70%. the resistivity of a component that is used in a powder coating composition can be measured by placing a certain amount of the component between two conductive elements, and measuring the resistance between the two conductive elements. an example of an apparatus that can be used for this measurement is displayed in figure 1 . 1 . is the upper conductive element having a circular shape; 2. is the left side of a glass ring; 3. is the sample of the conductive component to be measured; 4. is the right side of the glass ring; 5. is the lower conductive element having a circular shape; the glass ring (or a ring of a non-conductive material) should enclose the lower part of the upper conductive element, the sample of the conductive component, and the upper part of the lower conductive element. a sample of the conductive component is placed in between the upper and lower conductive element (the upper and lower conductive element are normally metal elements) and is further enclosed by the glass ring. if the conductive elements and the glass ring have a circular shape, the sample will have a shape with a surface area a where the sample is in contact with the upper or lower conductive element and a length i, where the sample is in contact with the glass ring. to conduct a measurement, a certain amount (w s in g) of the sample is weighed and put between the conductive elements 1 and 5. a current ( ource) is applied to the conductive element and potential v mea s is measured. the resistivity of the sample can now be calculated as: resistivity (qcm) = vmeas x - isource 1 the packing volume of the sample can be calculated as: packing volume (%) = ws x— x 100% psample a x l wherein p sam pie is the density of the sample. this density can be measured in accordance with astm d-5965, method b, using a helium pycnometer detailed discretion of the invention an essential element of the process of the present invention is the presence of a conductive component in the first powder coating layer that is applied to a substrate. a conductive component is a component that has a resistivity of below 5 qcm at a packing volume of < 70%. the resistivity and packing volume can be measured and calculated as indicated above. in one embodiment the conductive component has a resistivity of below 1 qcm at a packing volume of < 70%. in one embodiment of the process according to the present invention, the conductive component is a conductive pigment. examples of conductive pigments that are suitable for use in the process of the present invention include black pearls (carbon black additives for rubber), ketjenblack ec-600jd and regal 600. examples of pigments that are frequently used in powder coatings, but not suitable for use in the process of the present invention include sagem zinc, mz3043 zinc and mz1279 zinc. these pigments show a resistivity of above 5 qcm at a packing volume of < 70%. in one embodiment of the process according to the present invention the first powder coating layer comprises 1 to 10 weight % of the conductive component. the weight % being based on the total weight of the powder coating composition. it was found that when the conductive component is present at a level below 1 weight %, failures occur when the first and second powder coating layer are cured, for example surface defects can be found on the surface of the second cured powder coating layer. if the level of the conductive component is above 10 weight %, the mechanical properties of the cured powder coating layers is not sufficient to provide durability and good mechanical strength to the coating system. it was also found that at higher levels of the conductive component the flow properties of the powder coating are affected, leading to a poor flow of the powder coating. in a further embodiment, the first powder coating layer comprises 1 to 7 weight % of the conductive component. in yet another embodiment, the first powder coating layer comprises 1 to 5 weight % of the conductive component. it was found that the process according to the present invention can be used to produce, in a reliable and consistent way, coated substrates without any surface defects and/or flaws in aesthetic appearance and with comparable performance characteristics to an equivalent two layered system prepared with an intermediate curing step. the first and the second powder coating layer can be applied by any powder coating application technique known to the skilled person. of practical use are in particular the use of a corona charging system or a tribo charging system for the application of the powder coating layers. corona charging system in a corona charging system a high voltage generator is used to charge an electrode at the tip of the powder coating spray gun which creates an el ectrostati c fi el d or ion cl ou d (co ron a ) between th e g u n a nd th e workpiece/substrate. the powder coating spray gun used in this type of process is called a corona gun. compressed air is used to transport the powder through the gun, and also through the ion cloud. the powder particles pick up charge as they move throug h the cloud , and throug h a combination of pneumatic and electrostatic forces, travel towards and deposit upon the earthed target substrate. most manufacturers of corona spray equipment utilize a negative corona voltage to impart a negative charge to the powder particles. it is possible, however, to use a positive corona voltage to apply a positive charge to a powder particle and such corona charging techniques fall within the scope of this invention. in one embodiment, the corona spray gun is charged between 30 and 100 kv when the powder coating is applied. in a further, embodiment the corona spray gun is charged between 70 and 100 kv when the powder coating is applied. in a further embodiment, the powder throughput using the corona application system is between 100 and 300 g/min. in a further embodiment, the powder throughput using the corona application system is between 150 and 250 g/min. tribo charging system. in a tribo charging system use is made of the phenomenon that when two different insulating materials are rubbed together and then separated, they acquire opposite charges (+ and -). this method of generating charge via friction is one of the earl iest phenomena associated with the electrical properties of materials. instead of an electrode, tribo guns for the application of a powder coating rely on this friction charging to impart an electrostatic charge onto the powder particles. compressed air is used to transport the powder particles through the gun. as they travel, the particles strike the walls of the gun, picking up a charge. the pneumatic force of the compressed air then carries the charged particles to the earthed substrate. it is known in the art that a positive charge can be applied to the powder particles by using a tribo gun made of a negative tribo material such as ptfe or similar material and that a negative charge can be applied to the particles by using a gun made of a positive tribo material such as nylon. in one embodiment, the powder throughput using the tribo charging application system is between 50 and 300 g/min. in another embodiment, the powder throughput using the tribo charging application system is between 150 and 250 g/min. coating formulation the function of coatings is to provide protection and/or an aesthetic appearance to a substrate. the film-forming resin and other ingredients are selected so as to provide the desired performance and appearance characteristics. in relation to performance, coatings should generally be durable and exh ibit good weatherability, stain or dirt resistance, chemical or solvent resistance and/or corrosion resistance, as well as good mechanical properties, e.g. hardness, flexibil ity or resistance to mechan ical impact; the precise characteristics required will depend on the intended use. the final composition must, of course, be capable of forming a coherent film on the substrate, and good flow and leveling of the final composition on the substrate are required. accordingly, within a film-forming base, in addition to film-forming binder resin and optional crosslinker, pigment and/or filler there are generally one or more performance additives such as, for example, a flow-promoting agent, a wax, a plasticiser, a stabiliser, for example a stabiliser against uv degradation, or an anti-gassing agent, such as benzoin, an anti-settling agent, a surface-active agent, a uv- absorber, an optical whitener, a radical scavenger, a thickener, an anti-oxidant, a fungicide, a biocide, and/or an effect material, such as a material for gloss reduction, gloss enhancement, toughness, texture, sparkle and structure and the l ike. the following ranges should be mentioned for the total of the performance additive content of a film-forming polymeric material: 0% to 7% (preferably 0 to 5%) by weight, 0% to 3% by weight, and 1 % to 2% by weight. if performance additives are used, they are generally applied in a total amount of at most 5 wt. %, preferably at most 3 wt. %, more specifically at most 2 wt. %, calculated on the final composition. if they are applied, they are generally applied in an amount of at least 0.1 wt. %, more specifically at least 1 wt. %, calculated on the final composition as with pigments, these standard additives can be included during or after dispersing the binder components, but for optimum distribution it is preferred that they are mixed with the binder components before both are dispersed. the film-forming polymer used in the manufacture of a film-forming component of a thermosetting powder coating material according to the invention may, for example, be one or more selected from carboxy-functional polyester resins, hydroxy-functional polyester resins, epoxy resins, functional acrylic resins and fluoropolymers. suitable thermally curable cross-linking systems for application as a coating composition are for example acid/epoxy, acid anhydride/epoxy, epoxy/amino resin, polyphenol/epoxy, phenol formaldehyde/epoxy, epoxy/amine, epoxy/amide, isocyanate/hydroxy, carboxy/hydroxyalkylamide, or hydroxylepoxy cross-linking systems. suitable examples of these chemistries applied as powder coatings compositions are described in t. a. misev, powder coatings chemistry and technology, john wiley & sons ltd., 1991 . a film-forming component of the powder coating material can, for example, be based on a solid polymeric binder system comprising a carboxy-functional polyester film-forming resin used with a polyepoxide curing agent. such carboxy-functional polyester systems are currently the most widely used powder coatings materials. the polyester generally has an acid value in the range 10- 100, a number average molecular weight mn of 1 ,500 to 1 0,000 and a glass transition temperature tg of from 30°c . to 85°c, preferably at least 40°c. examples of commercial carboxy-functional polyesters are: uralac (registered trademark) p3560 (dsm resins) and crylcoat (registered trademark) 314 or (ucb chemicals). the poly-epoxide can, for example, be a low molecular weight epoxy compound such as triglycidyl isocyanurate (tgic), a compound such as diglycidyl terephthalate condensed glycidyl ether of bisphenol a or a light-stable epoxy resin. examples of bisphenol-a epoxy resins are epikote (registered trademark) 1055 (shell) and araldite (registered trademark) gt 7004 (ciba chemicals). a carboxy-functional polyester film-forming resin can alternatively be used with a bis(beta-hydroxyalkylamide) curing agent such as tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl) adipamide (primid (registered trademark) xl-552). it was found that in the process according to the present invention any type of powder coating composition can be used for the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer, provided that the first powder coating layer and/or the second powder coating layer comprises a conductive component. in one embodiment, only the first powder coating layer comprises a conductive component (and the second powder coating layer does not comprise a conductive component). in another embodiment, the second powder coating layer comprises a conductive component. in a further embodiment, the second powder coating layer comprises a conductive component and an aluminium pigment. the film forming component in the first powder coating layer can be the same as in the second powder coating layer, but they can also be different. in one embodiment, the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer are applied at a temperature below 50°c and no heating is applied to the substrate or the first powder coating layer prior to the application of the second powder coating layer. in a further embodiment, the first powder coating layer and the second powder coating layer are applied at ambient temperature and no heating is applied to the substrate or the first powder coating layer prior to the application of the second powder coating layer. a powder coating composition comprising a conductive component can be prepared in various ways. the compositions can be prepared by mixing all ingredients, e.g. in an extruder, at a temperature above the softening temperature of the resin but below the curing temperature. the composition is then extruded and cooled to solidify it and is subsequently pulverized. it is also possible to mix the ingredients, excluding the conductive component, in an extruder at a temperature above the softening temperature of the resin but below the curing temperature. the composition is then extruded and cooled to solidify it and is subsequently pulverized. the conductive component is then mixed with the thus obtained composition. the invention will be elucidated with reference to the following examples. these are intended to illustrate the invention but are not to be construed as limiting in any manner the scope thereof. examples the powder coating compositions of table 1 were prepared by mixing all ingredients in an extruder at a temperature above the softening temperature of the resin but below the curing temperature. the compositions were then extruded and cooled to solidify and then subsequently pulverized. table 1 various combinations of a black coating as a primer (first layer) in combination with a white coating (pc6) as topcoat (second layer) were applied to aluminium panels in a dry-on-dry process using a corona charging system. after the application thereof, the primer layer was not heated or cured, only after application of the topcoat was the whole coated substrate was stoved at 180°c for 15 minutes to get a full cure of both coating layers. the coated panels were then analysed using a standard scanner. an image was produced of the coated side of the panel. this image was converted into a binary image, and the fraction of pixels in the image that are white were measured. when there is a full coverage of the (black) primer layer by the (white) topcoat, the fraction of white pixels is 100%. any lower value for this fraction indicate that there is no full coverage by the topcoat. the results of the various measurements are listed in table 2. table 2 primer topcoat fraction type and amount of conductive white component in primer pc1 pc4 75% * pc2 pc4 80% 0,3 wt.% of ketjenblack * pc3 pc4 83% 0,6 wt.% of ketjenblack * pc5 pc4 100% 1 ,5 wt.% of ketjenblack pc6 pc4 100% 3,0 wt.% of black beads 800 * ) comparative examp e
|
036-240-642-382-434
|
US
|
[
"DE",
"CN",
"US"
] |
G06V10/774
| 2012-06-12T00:00:00 |
2012
|
[
"G06"
] |
complex-object detection using a cascade of classifiers
|
complex-object detection using a cascade of classifiers for identifying complex-objects parts in an image in which successive classifiers process pixel patches on condition that respective discriminatory features sets of previous classifiers have been identified and selecting additional pixel patches from a query image by applying known positional relationships between an identified complex-object part and another part to be identified.
|
1. a method for identifying a complex-object in a query image, the method comprising: performing computer-enabled steps of: processing at least one pixel patch from the query image with a cascade of classifiers, each classifier of the cascade configured to identify at least one discriminative feature characteristic of a part of the complex-object, wherein each successive classifier of the cascade identifies a number of discriminative features greater than a number of discriminative features identified by prior classifiers of the cascade; and selecting an additional pixel patch from the query image for processing after a last classifier of the cascade has identified the distinguishing feature, wherein the selecting is based on a known positional relationship between the part and an additional part of the complex-object. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein the known positional relationship is learned from a sample image. 3. the method of claim 1 , wherein the known positional relationship is an anthropometric relationship. 4. the method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a second additional pixel patch from the query image for processing after a last classifier of the cascade has identified a distinguishing feature of a second part, wherein the selecting is based on a known positional relationship between the part, the second part and a third additional part of the complex object. 5. the method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying at least one discriminative feature of a part of a sample complex-image, the discriminative features characteristic of the part of the complex-object. 6. the method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting an additional pixel patch on a random basis. 7. the method of claim 1 , further comprising designating a searched pixel patch to be disregarded when selecting future pixel patches, the searched pixel patch determined to be devoid of the discriminative features characterizing a part of the complex-object. 8. a system for identifying a complex-object in a query image, the system comprising: a processor configured to: process at least one pixel patch from the query image with a cascade of classifiers, each of the classifiers of the cascade configured to identify at least one discriminative feature characteristic of a part of the complex-object, wherein each successive classifier of the cascade uses a number of discriminative features greater than a number of the discriminative features used in prior classifiers of the cascade; and select an additional pixel patch from the query image for processing after a last classifier of the cascade has identified the distinguishing feature, wherein the selecting is based on a known positional relationship between the part and an additional part of the complex-object. 9. the system of claim 8 , wherein the known positional relationship is learned from a sample image. 10. the system of claim 8 , wherein the known positional relationship is an anthropometric relationship. 11. the system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to select a second additional pixel patch from the query image for processing after a last classifier of the cascade has identified a second part, wherein the second additional pixel patch is selected based on a known positional relationship between the part, the second part and a third additional part of the complex object. 12. the system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to identify discriminative features of a part of a sample complex-image, the discriminative feature characteristic of the part of the complex-object. 13. the system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to select an additional pixel patch based on a random basis. 14. the system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to designate a searched pixel patch to be disregarded when selecting future pixel patches, the searched pixel patch found to be to be devoid of the discriminative features characterizing a feature of a part of the complex-object. 15. a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for identifying a complex-object in a query image, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform the instructions comprising of: processing at least one pixel patch from the query image with a cascade of classifiers, each successive classifier of the cascade configured to identify at least one discriminative feature in the pixel patch that characterizes a part of the complex-object; wherein each successive classifier of the cascade uses a number of discriminative features greater than a number of the discriminative features used in prior classifiers of the cascade; and selecting an additional pixel patch from the query image for processing after a last classifier of the cascade has identified the distinguishing feature, wherein the selecting is based on a known positional relationship between the part and an additional part of the complex-object. 16. the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the known positional relationship is learned from a sample image. 17. the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the program code is further configured to combine parts of the complex-object identified in the query image so as to indentify a complete-complex-object. 18. the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the program code is further configured to cause the processor to select a second additional pixel patch from the query image for processing after a last classifier of the cascade has identified a distinguishing feature of a second part, wherein the second additional pixel patch is selected based on a known positional relationship between the part, the second part and a third additional part of the complex object. 19. the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the program code is further configured to cause the processor to identify discriminative features of a part of a sample complex-image, the discriminative feature characteristic of the part of the complex-object. 20. the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the program code is further configured to cause the processor to designate a searched pixel patch to be disregarded when selecting future pixel patches, the searched pixel patch found to be to be devoid the discriminative features characterizing a feature of a part of the complex-object.
|
background of the present invention computer-based object detection systems and methods are used in many different applications requiring high accuracy achieved in near real-time. examples of such applications include active vehicular safety systems, smart surveillance systems, and robotics. in the area of vehicular safety, for example, accurate high-speed identification of pedestrians or objects in the path of travel enables an automated safety system to take necessary measures to avoid collision or enables the automated system to alert the driver allowing the driver to take necessary precautions to avoid collision. brief description of the drawings the subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. the invention, however, in regards to the its components, features, method of operation, and advantages may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which: fig. 1 is a schematic, block diagram of a system for complex-object detection using a cascade of classifiers, according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a query image having a complex-object to be identified; fig. 3 is sample complex-object whose parts have been designated for learning for use by classifiers of a cascade of classifiers. fig. 4 is a graphical representation of features from which discriminative features are derived for use by each of three classifiers of a cascade of classifiers when identifying features associated with a part of a complex-object according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 depicts a three-classifier cascade of classifiers in which each classifier identifies its respective set of learned discriminative features characteristic of a distinguishing feature of part associated with complex-object depicted in fig. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 6 depicts a processing configuration of the cascade of classifiers of fig. 5 for three object parts from multiple locations in which each successive classifier processes a pixel patch on condition that prior classifiers successfully identified their respective discriminative features according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the method of identifying additional pixel patches likely containing additional complex-object parts based on learned positional relationships with respect to an identified part according to an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the method of identifying additional pixel patches likely containing additional complex-object parts based on calculated probability with respect to an identified part according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 9 depicts the query image of fig. 2 in which multiple search windows enclosing pixel patches have been propagated at various locations prior to successful identification of an complex-object part and a first preferred location following successful identification of the part according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 10 depicts the query image of fig. 9 in which multiple search windows enclosing pixel patches have been propagated at various locations prior to successful identification of a part and a second preferred location following successful identification of a part according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 11 depicts the query image of fig. 2 in which a search windows enclosing a pixel patch rejected from future attempts to identify relevant features and a search window propagated in search of complex-object parts at a preferred location based on successful identification of two object parts according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 12 depicts the query image of fig. 2 having a complex-object partially obstructed in which search windows enclosing pixel patches likely containing another object part based on a previously identified part according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 13 depicts the query image of fig. 2 having a complex-object in reduced scale in which search windows enclosing pixel patches likely containing another object part based on a previously identified part according to an embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 14 depicts a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for identifying a complex-object using a cascade of classifiers in a query image according to an embodiment of the present invention. it will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale and reference numerals may be repeated in different figures to indicate same, corresponding or analogous elements. detailed description of the present invention in the following detailed description, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. however, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. furthermore, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention. it should be appreciated that the following terms will be used throughout this document. “complex-object” refers to an object which is present in an image and requires a plurality of templates to be described or identified because of various complexities associated with the object. these complexities may include object parts having a variant anthropometric relationship with each other, large size variations within a particular classification, partial obstruction, and multiple views. typical examples include inter-alia people, animals, or vehicles. for the purposes of this document, and without derogating generality, a person will be highlighted as an example of a complex-object. “classifier” refers to a function (e.g. a computer executable function) configured to identify image object parts based on discriminative features characteristic of parts associated with complex-objects. the discriminative features may typically be processed to produce, for example, an output value which is compared to a threshold value derived analogously from a model image to determine a “match”. such matching may be based, for example, on imaging parameters like pixel intensities, geometrical primitives, and/or other image parameters. “cascade of classifiers” refers to a plurality of successive classifiers. “pixel patch” refers to a region of pixels. “discriminative features” refers to parameters of such image pixels as, for example, intensities gradients, average intensities, pixel colors and are representative of a feature of the image content. “anthropometric relationship” refers to the relative size, placement and orientation of body parts in human beings as projected in the image. “collaborative search” refers to selecting pixel patches in a query image based on prior, successful identification or classification of at least one complex-object part. according to embodiments of the present invention a method for complex-object detection using a cascade of classifiers may involve identifying a pixel patch in a query image and processing it using a cascade of classifiers in search of learned discriminatory features. as noted above, the cascade of classifiers may have a succession of classifiers in which each classifier may be configured to identify its respective discriminatory feature set. each successive classifier in the cascade searches for a greater number of discriminatory features for the same object part and is configured to identify its respective discriminative feature set only after previously employed classifier have successfully identified their respective discriminatory features. if this has not been achieved, each successive stage-classifier does not process the pixel patch and that particular patch is rejected and designated as an area lacking the required discriminative features. another pixel patch may be then selected from the query image on a random or semi-random basis. in other embodiments an adjacent patch or any other patch may be selected as the next patch to process when prior classifiers do identify their respective discriminatory feature sets, successive classifiers process the pixel set until an object part is identified. after found, the object part location together with learned spatial relationships between object parts of a model object image serves as the basis for propagating additional, pixel patches within the query image likely to contain additional object parts. other embodiments employ a data map in which the maximum of an argument of a probability function is used to select an additional pixel set having the greatest probability of containing an object part. the collective computational savings afforded by the reduced number of classification operations for each part and the reduced number of search locations, according to embodiments of the present invention, enable near real-time, highly accurate identification of complex objects. accordingly, the method and system according to the present invention have application in a wide variety of real world applications requiring accurate and quick complex-object identification like active vehicular safety features, smart surveillance systems, and robotics. turning now to the figures, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for complex-object detection using a cascade of classifiers according to an embodiment of the present invention. complex object detection system 100 may include one or more computer vision sensors 10 (e.g., cameras, video camera, digital camera, or other image collection devices). computer vision sensor 10 may capture an image that may include one or more objects and/or features. images may also be otherwise input into system 100 , for example, as downloads from other computers, databases or systems. object detection system 100 may include one or more processors or controllers 20 , memory 30 , long term non-transitory storage 40 , input devices 50 , and output devices 60 . non-limiting examples of input devices 50 may be, for example, a touch screen, a capacitive input device, a keyboard, microphone, pointer device, a button, a switch, or other device. non-limiting examples of output devices include a display screen, audio device such as speaker or headphones. input devices 50 and output devices 60 may be combined into a single device. processor or controller 20 may be, for example, a central processing unit (cpu), a chip or any suitable computing device. processor or controller 20 may include multiple processors, and may include general purpose processors and/or dedicated processors such as graphics processing chips. processor 20 may execute code or instructions, for example stored in memory 30 or long term storage 40 , to carry out embodiments of the present invention. memory 30 may be random access memory (ram), a read only memory (rom), a dynamic ram (dram), a synchronous dram (sd-ram), a double data rate (ddr) memory chip, a flash memory, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, a cache memory, a buffer, a short term memory unit, a long term memory unit, or other suitable memory units or storage units. memory 30 may be or may include multiple memory units. long term, non-transitory storage 40 may be or may include, for example, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a compact disk (cd) drive, a cd-recordable (cd-r) drive, a universal serial bus (usb) device or other suitable removable and/or fixed storage unit, and may include multiple or a combination of such units. it should be appreciated that image data, code and other relevant data structures are stored in the above noted memory and/or storage devices. fig. 2 is a query image 210 containing a complex object 220 of a person to be classified by indentifying various parts; head 240 , back 250 , and foot 260 . it should be appreciated that for the purpose of this document a person will be used as a non-limiting example of a complex-object. fig. 3 depicts an image of complex-object model 330 from which discriminative feature sets for each part and anthropometric relationships between the parts may be extracted. model complex object 330 is divided into pixel patches or image areas containing object parts. in the non-limiting example of fig. 3 the complex object is person 330 in which three independent parts have been identified; a head 340 , a back 350 , and a foot 360 . it should be appreciated that a wide variety of complex-objects are suitable models that can be used to learn stage-classifiers. such models include living and inanimate objects, objects having a large number of parts, objects having parts whose geometrical relationship to each other is variant, objects partially obstructed, all objects viewed from various angles or distances as noted above. fig. 4 depicts three graphical representations, 405 , 410 , and 415 , of features derived from a front view of image sample (not shown). these features are used in learning successive classifiers of a cascade according to embodiments of the present invention. a feature selection algorithm may be applied to image sample to obtain graphical representations 405 , 410 , and 415 that may be further processed to identify discriminative features most characteristic of features associated with a sample. for example, the feature selection algorithm may generate ideal discriminative features based on only two pixel areas 406 and 407 for use with a first classifier, ideal discriminative features based also on pixel areas 411 - 413 for use with a second classifier, and seven additional pixel areas collectively designated 414 for use with a third classifier. in this manner, each classifier of a three-classifier cascade is enabled to identify distinguishing features of an object part associated with the complex-object with increasing accuracy and clarity. it should be noted that there are many pixel or image parameters that may be used for extracting most effective feature identifying discriminative features and a few examples include histogram of gradients (hogs), integral channel features and haar features. furthermore, it should be appreciated that in the example of fig. 4 frontal facial features are identified from a sample image; however, features may be extracted from side views of sample images in accordance with the particular view of the object part to be identified. fig. 5 depicts a three-classifier cascade configured to use the learned discriminative features on a stage-by-stage basis to identify complex-object part 240 according to embodiments of the present invention. as noted above, each successive classifier searches object part 240 to identify its respective set of discriminative features. in the present, non-limiting example, first stage-classifier 505 checks candidate object part 240 for discriminative features derived from graphic representation 405 . if they are not found, the identified pixel patch is rejected and system 100 either propagates additional search areas in query image 210 or applies first stage-classifier 505 to additional pixel patches of complex-object parts in queue. if first classifier 505 identifies this first set of discriminative features, second classifier 510 searches for a second set of discriminative features derived from graphic representation 410 . if classifier 510 does not identify them, this pixel patch object is also rejected as noted above. if a match is achieved, third classifier 515 is applied and attempts to identify the discriminative features derived form graphic representation 415 . if a match is not identified, the searched pixel patch part is rejected, whereas, if a match is identified the object part 240 is deemed to have been identified by the cascade of classifiers 520 . it should be noted that any cascade of classifiers including any number of classifiers employing any numbers of discriminative features may be considered in embodiments of the present invention. it should be noted that upon rejection, the pixel patch found to be devoid of the discriminative features is designated as a non-viable area in regards to this particular object part to avoid unnecessary searches in the same area for the part for which it was rejected. it should be noted that the present invention includes embodiments in which pixel patches are rejected in reference to a particular part and may indeed be searched for additional object parts. fig. 6 depicts an example of classifier processing of pixel patches at five different locations i-v in which five separate cascades of three classifiers 1 - 3 each are employed to identify three complex-object parts 1 - 3 according to embodiments of the present invention. as depicted, classifiers 1 a determine that content from locations i and iii lack the desired features and so there is no further processing of remaining classifiers 1 b and 1 c of content from these locations. classifiers 2 b continue processing content from remaining locations ii, iv and v. classifier 2 b determines that content from location v also lacks the desired features and so classifiers 1 c continue processing content from locations ii and iv only. classifier 1 c determines that content from location iv also lacks the desired features and classifier 1 processing content from location ii identifies the desired features and so part 1 is deemed to have been located at location ii. the search for complex-object part 2 may be continued at several (e.g. five) different locations in which respective pixel patches from locations vi-x are processed by another cascade of three classifiers 2 a - 2 c . content from locations vii and viii is rejected by classifier 2 a and so processing continues by classifiers 2 b of content from remaining locations vi, viii and x. classifiers 2 b reject content from location viii and so processing continues by classifiers 2 c of content derived from locations vi and x. classifier 2 c rejects content derived from location vi while classifier 2 a identifies the relevant features in the content derived from location x. since all three classifiers 2 a - 2 c identified the relevant features in the content derived form location x, part 2 is deemed to have been identified. the search for part three continues with five cascades of three classifiers each 3 a - 3 c of content derived from locations vi-x. classifier 3 a rejects content derived from location xiiii so processing continues of pixel patches derived from remaining locations xi-xii and xv. classifier 3 b rejects content derived from location xiii and classifiers 3 c continue processing content derived from remaining locations xi-xii and xv and then reject content derived form locations xii and xv. remaining classifier 3 c identifies the relevant features in content derived from location xi. again, since all three classifiers 3 a - 3 c have identified the relevant features in the content derived from this location, part 3 is deemed identified at location xi. fig. 7 and is a flow charts depicting the method described above with the additional steps of propagating additional search areas or pixel patches for remaining object parts after classification of an object part. specifically, in step 710 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a first pixel patch may be selected from query image 210 , e.g. on a random basis according to embodiments of the invention. in step 715 , successive classifiers may be applied to each part on condition that all previous classifiers of the cascade have identified their respective discriminatory feature sets. in step 720 , if all respective discriminatory feature sets of all the classifiers have been identified, an object part is deemed to have been classified or identified as noted above. if, however, not all respective discriminatory feature sets have been identified, that pixel patch is designated as “rejected” in step 721 and a new pixel patch is selected from the query image 210 on a random or semi-random basis in step 710 . again, successive classifiers process the newly selected pixel patch as shown in step 715 . when all classifiers have successfully identified their respective discriminatory features, then an object part has been classified as shown in step 725 and an additional pixel patch is selected from query image based on learned spatial relationships between the previously identified object part (if there is one) and the part to be indentified as depicted in step 730 . after a new pixel patch likely containing the additional object part is selected, the process is repeated by applying successive classifiers associated with the additional part as shown in step 715 . the method depicted in fig. 8 is analogous to the method illustrated in fig. 7 with an alternative manner of selecting additional pixel patches likely containing additional object parts in which a probability map is employed as shown in step 830 . specifically, a probability value ranging between zero and one is assigned to every pixel in response to output values of each classifier processing a particular pixel patch. after an object part is identified, the probability map is updated accordingly and a pixel patch selected is by calculating the argument of the maximum (argmax) of a probability function for the next object part, or equivalently: argmaxp n+1 prob(p n+1 |p′ n+1 ,p 1 , . . . ,p n ) wherein: p n is the probability map of detecting part n=1 . . . n; p n+1 is the previous probability map. regions having probability values less than a pre-defined value are rejected by setting the probability values to zero. fig. 9 and fig. 10 are query images 210 of fig. 2 with superimposed search windows indicating areas being searched for an object part. in various embodiments, system for complex-object detection using a cascade of classifiers, according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured to propagate search windows enclosing an area substantially corresponding to the area of the learned object part. by way of a non-limiting example, search windows 970 and 975 enclose areas corresponding to areas containing a learned head 340 and a learned back 350 , respectively, of fig. 3 . furthermore, search windows 970 and 975 may be propagated in a plurality of locations in which a portion of the new search area overlaps a portion of the previous searched area as shown or in a method which is entirely random for either the first pixel patch selected or two replace patches rejected as lacking the relevant discriminative features. when an object part is identified, it is used as a basis for propagating additional search areas most likely containing the requested object part as noted above. some embodiments apply a learned anthropometric relationship to the identified part to direct the ensuing search area to pixel areas most likely containing the additional part as noted above. other embodiments use the location of the identified part as a priori data when determining the “maxarg” of a probability function for all parts as noted above. window 980 indicates that head 240 ( fig. 2 ) has been located and therefore search windows 990 and 1090 ( fig. 10 ) are propagated in areas most likely to contain back 250 because these areas represent the anthropometric relationship of these parts in model image 330 of fig. 3 . since both sides of the object 220 fulfill leaned anthropometric relationship, both search windows 990 and 1090 areas are identified as appropriate pixel patches to be searched. in some embodiments of the present invention, when employing probability maps, both areas enclosed in windows 990 and 1090 may be determined to have a high probability of containing back. 250 in view of the updated probability data. it should be appreciated that any plurality of searches are included within the scope of the present invention. fig. 11 illustrates an embodiment in which pixel patches are propagated on the basis of successful identification or classification of a plurality of object parts. for example, both head 240 and foot 260 ( fig. 3 ) have been identified in search windows 1110 and 1120 , respectively. search window 1190 is propagated on the basis of learned anthropometric relationships between each of these parts from the model image 330 depicted in fig. 3 or updated probability data. it should be appreciated that embodiments in which additional search areas are propagated on the basis of any number of previously identified object parts are included within the scope of the present invention. in some embodiments of the present invention computational is efficiency further optimized by reducing search redundancy. window 1100 is a window designating a rejected pixel patch or area after any one of the classifiers of a cascade has determined that the patch is devoid of discriminative features. fig. 12 and fig. 13 illustrate applications of the above described, cascade-classifier assisted search for complex-object partially obstructed or reduced-in-scale, respectively according to embodiments of the present invention. specifically, head 240 is identified within window 1210 and window 1220 is propagated as a possible location for foot 260 based on either learned anthropometric relationship between the head 340 and feet 360 of fig. 3 or based on probability data in view of identified head 240 , as noted above. fig. 14 depicts a non-limiting, computer-readable media containing executable code for configuring a computer system to execute the above described, cascade-classifier assisted search for complex-objects within an image according to embodiments of the present invention. embodiments of the present invention identify a complete-object by combining object parts indentified in various pixel patches. it should be appreciated that search areas may be propagated on the basis of any number of successfully identified object parts in accordance to the particular embodiment. it should be further appreciated that search like circular, triangular, and polygonal shaped search widows are within the scope of the present invention. while certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. it is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.
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038-084-465-467-904
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US
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[
"JP",
"US"
] |
G06T7/20,G06V10/24
| 2005-05-20T00:00:00 |
2005
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[
"G06"
] |
method for modeling scene
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<p>problem to be solved: to improve tracking performance at a low frame rate. <p>solution: a video is acquired about a scene. each pixel in each frame of the video is represented by multiple layers. each layer includes multiple gaussian distributions. each gaussian distribution includes a mean and a covariance. the covariance is an inverse wishart distribution. then, the layers are updated for each frame with a recursive bayesian estimation process to construct a model of the scene. the model can be used to detect foreground and background pixels according to confidence scores of the layers. <p>copyright: (c)2007,jpo&inpit
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1. a method for modeling a scene, comprising: acquiring a video of a scene; representing each pixel in each frame of the video with a plurality of layers, each layer including a plurality of gaussian distributions, each gaussian distribution including a mean and a covariance, the covariance being an inverse wishart distribution; and updating, for each frame, the plurality of layers with a recursive bayesian estimation process to construct a model of the scene, and in which the recursive bayesian estimation process determines a probability distribution of the mean and the covariance of each gaussian distribution over time, and in which a variance of the mean is a confidence score of each layer according to the bayesian estimation process. 2. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: assigning the means of the estimated probability distributions as parameters of the layers of the model. 3. the method of claim 1 , in which each layer of each pixel corresponds to a different appearance of the pixel over time. 4. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining changes in the plurality of layers to detect moving objects in the scene. 5. the method of claim 1 , in which layers having a confidence score less than a predetermined threshold represent background pixels, and foreground pixels otherwise. 6. the method of claim 1 , in which each layer is represented as three univariate gaussian distributions, one univariate distribution for each color channel in the video. 7. the method of claim 1 , in which a number of the layers depends on a complexity of the scene. 8. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: deleting, over time, layers having low confidences; and initializing new layers. 9. the method of claim 1 , in which the video is acquired at a frame rate of one frame per second. 10. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: measuring a mahalanobis distance for each layer. 11. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: storing a set of previously sampled color values for each pixel; decreasing a rate of the updating; and using previously sampled color values for the recursive bayesian estimation process. 12. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining a motion for each pixel in each frame; representing the motion of each pixel in each frame of the video with a plurality of motion layers; and updating, for each frame, the plurality motion layers with the recursive bayesian estimation process to construct a motion model of the scene. 13. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining a texture for each pixel; representing the texture of each pixel in each frame of the video with a plurality of texture layers; and updating, for each frame, the plurality texture layers with the recursive bayesian estimation process to construct a texture model of the scene. 14. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining a gradient for each pixel; determining an orientation of each pixel according to the gradient; representing the orientation of each pixel in each frame of the video with a plurality of orientation layers; and updating, for each frame, the plurality orientation layers with the recursive bayesian estimation process to construct an orientation model of the scene. 15. a method for modeling a scene, comprising: acquiring a video of a scene; and updating, for each pixel in each frame of the video, a first mean and a first covariance of a color of the pixel and a second mean and a second covariance of the first covariance, using a recursive bayesian estimation process, in which the recursive bayesian estimation process determines a probability distribution of the mean and the covariance of each gaussian distribution over time, and in which a variance of the mean is a confidence score of each layer according to the bayesian estimation process. 16. the method of claim 15 further comprising: representing, for each pixel, the first mean, the first covariance, the second mean and the second covariance as a plurality of layers, each layer including a plurality of gaussian distributions. 17. the method of claim 15 in which the first covariance and the second covariance are inverse wishart distributions. 18. the method of claim 15 further comprising: determining changes in the first mean, the first covariance, the second mean and a second covariance to detect moving objects in the scene. 19. the method of claim 15 in which the recursive bayesian estimation process determines a probability distribution of the mean and a variance of each gaussian distribution over time, and in which an inverse of the variance of the mean is a confidence score of each layer. 20. the method of claim 19 in which layers having a confidence score more than a predetermined threshold represent background pixels, and foreground pixels otherwise. 21. the method of claim 15 in which each layer is represented as a multitude of multivariate gaussian distributions, one multivariate distribution for all color channels in the video. 22. the method of claim 15 in which a maximum number of the layers depends on a complexity of the scene. 23. the method of claim 15 further comprising: measuring a mahalanobis distance for each layer from the observed color of each pixel in the current frame of the video. 24. the method of claim 23 further comprising: decreasing, over time, the confidence of a layer in which the computed mahalanobis distance is larger than a threshold proportional to the covariance of the layer; deleting, over time, layers having low confidences; and initializing new layers. 25. the method of claim 15 further comprising: incrementing a number of prior measurements that updates the layer mean, a degree of freedom, and a layer scale matrix. 26. the method of claim 15 further comprising: storing a set of previous color values for each pixel, decreasing a frame rate of the updating; adjusting an update parameter equal to the number of color values in the set; and using the set of color values and update parameter for the recursive bayesian estimation process.
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field of the invention this invention relates generally to computer vision and modeling scenes, and more particularly to tracking objects in videos acquired of scenes at low frame rates. background of the invention one fundamental task in many computer vision applications segments foreground and background regions in a sequence of frames, i.e., a video, acquired of a scene. the segmentation is useful for higher-level operations, such as tracking moving objects. one way to detect a region of “moving” pixels in a video is to first acquire a reference frame of a static scene. then, subsequent frames acquired of the scene are subtracted from the reference frame, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, to segment the video into difference images. the intensity values in the difference images can be thresholded to detect the regions of moving pixels that are likely associated with moving objects in the scene. although this task appears fairly simple, in real world applications this approach rarely works. usually, the background is never static. instead, the background varies over time due to lighting changes, movement in the background, for example, clouds, leaves in trees, and waves on water, and camera noise. moreover, in many applications, it is desirable to model different appearances of the background, for example, difference due to sunlight producing slowly moving shadows in the background that are not necessarily associated with moving foreground objects. to overcome these problems, adaptive background models and filters have been used. for example, a kalman-filter can model dynamic properties of each pixel, dieter koller, joseph weber, and jitendra malik, “robust multiple car tracking with occlusion reasoning,” eccv'94, may 1994. a simple version of the kalman-filter, e.g., the weiner filter, can make probabilistic predictions based on a recent history of pixel intensity values, k. toyama, j. krumm, b. brumitt, and b. meyers, “wallflower: principles and practice of background maintenance,” proc. 7th intl. conf. on computer vision, pp. 255-261, 1999. an alternative method models probability distributions of pixel intensity values, c. r. wren, a. azarbayejani, t. j. darrell, and a. p. pentland, “pfinder: real-time tracking of the human body,” pami, 19(7), pp. 780-785, july 1997. that method essentially ignores an order in which observations are made. usually, each pixel is modeled with a normal distribution n(μ, σ 2 ), which varies over time. noise is assumed to be coming from a zero-mean, normal distribution n(0, σ 2 ). hence, a reasonable model to represent such a statistical distribution is a single gaussian function. the parameters of the model are updated according to an adaptive filter. that model performs adequately when the background of the scene background is uni-modal. however, this is usually not the case in real world applications. often, a single gaussian model is inadequate to accurately model the temporal changes of pixel intensities value in a dynamic background, such a background with changing shadows due to changing lighting conditions. therefore, more complex systems include mechanisms for rejecting lighting changes, such as intensity variability caused by shadows, ismail haritaoglu, david harwood, and larry s. davis, “w4: who? when? where? what?” proceedings of fg'98, ieee, april 1998. the use of multiple models to describe dynamic backgrounds at the pixel level was a breakthrough in background modeling. specifically, methods employing a mixture of gaussian distributions have become a popular for a large number of related computer vision applications. a mixture of three gaussian components can be used to model visual properties of each pixel, n. friedman and s. russell, “image segmentation in video sequences: a probabilistic approach,” thirteenth conference on uncertainty in artificial intelligence, august 1997. that model also uses an expectation-maximization (em) process to adapt the gaussian mixture model (gmm) over time. in a traffic surveillance application, the intensity value of each pixel is restricted to three hypotheses: road, shadow, and vehicles. unfortunately, that simple assumption significantly degrades the ability of the gmm to model arbitrary distributions for individual pixels. moreover, that method is computationally demanding. another method allows the scene to be non-static, chris stauffer and w. e. l. grimson, “adaptive background mixture models for real-time tracking,” computer vision and pattern recognition, volume 2, june 1999. in that method, each pixel is modeled as a mixture of gaussian distributions with a variable number of gaussian components. those methods represent the background as a multi-modal process, where each mode is a static model plus a zero-mean, white, gaussian noise process. the models can be updates in real-time using approximations. that video surveillance system is adequate for day and night cycles, and for scene changes over long periods of time. that method can be extended by using a feature vector that includes depth information acquired from a pair of stereo cameras, m. harville, g. gordon, and j. woodfill, “foreground segmentation using adaptive mixture models in color and depth,” in ieee workshop on detection and recognition of events in video, pp. 3-11, 2001. gradient information can also be used to achieve a more accurate background segmentation, s. jabri, z. duric, h. wechsler, and a. rosenfeld, “location of people in video images using adaptive fusion of color and edge information,” proc. 15th int'l conf. on pattern recognition, volume 4, pp. 627-630, 2000, and k. javed, o. shafique and m. shah, “a hierarchical approach to robust background subtraction using color and gradient information,” ieee workshop on motion and video computing, 2002. although a mixture of gaussian models can converge to any arbitrary distribution provided there are a sufficient number of components, that normally requires a large number of components. however, that is not computationally feasible for real time applications. generally, three to five components are used per pixel. to address such challenging situations, non-parametric techniques have been developed. those techniques use kernel densities to estimate background properties at each pixel, based on recently acquired samples. those techniques can adapt to rapid background changes, elgammal, d. harwood, l. s. davis, “non-parametric model for background subtraction,” eccv 2000, june 2000. that method uses a normal kernel function for density estimation. the model represents a history of recent sample values over a long video sequence. other similar techniques emphasize a variable bandwidth kernel for the purpose of adaptive density estimation. an optical flow can also be used, anurag mittal, nikos paragios, “motion-based background subtraction using adaptive kernel density estimation,” cvpr 2004, volume 2, pp. 302-309, june, 2004. although non-parametric models seem like a reasonable choice for background modeling, the non-parametric models are time consuming, and cannot be used for real time applications. another method represents the scene as discrete states. the states correspond to environmental conditions in the scene. the method switches among the states according to observations. hidden markov models (hmms) are very suitable for this purpose. a three state hmm is used by rittscher et al., “a probabilistic background model for tracking,” proc. european conf on computer vision, volume ii, pp. 336-350, 2000. another method learns a topology from the observations, b. stenger, v. ramesh, n. paragios, f. coetzee, and j. buhmann, “topology free hidden markov models: application to background modeling,” proc. 8th intl. conf. on computer vision, pp. 294-301, 2001. therefore, it is desired to provide a method for modeling a dynamic scene. furthermore, it is desired to use the model to track objects in videos acquired at very low frame rates. summary of the invention the invention provides a method for modeling a scene, and using the model to track moving objects in a video acquired of the scene at a low frame rate, for example, one frame per second (1 fps), or less. acquiring a video at a lower frame rate reduces required resources such as processors, network bandwidth and storage media. however, in a low frame rate video, objects move at a speed faster than expected from frame to frame, and there rarely is an overlap of locations of the object in successive frames. hence, conventional object tracking methods cannot be used. tracking objects in a video, especially a video acquired at a low frame rate, is a difficult computer vision task. when a stationary camera is used, an accurate scene model can improve object tracking. therefore, the invention provides a method for modeling a dynamic scene from a low frame rate video acquired of the scene. each pixel is represented with multiple layers of gaussian distributions to construct the model of the scene. the model is updated on a frame-by-frame basis. using recursive bayesian estimation, the method estimates a mean and covariance of each gaussian distribution. the method according to the invention preserves multi-modality of the background and estimates the number of necessary layers for representing each pixel. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a flow diagram of a method for modeling a scene according to the invention; fig. 2 is a schematic of a model of the scene including multiple layers of gaussian distributions according to the invention; and fig. 3 is a detailed flow diagram of the method of fig. 1 . detailed description of the preferred embodiment method overview fig. 1 shows a method 100 according to our invention for modeling a scene 102 in order to detect moving objects in the scene. a video 101 is acquired of the scene 102 with a camera 103 . for each pixel in each frame of the video, the scene is modeled 110 by multiple layers 200 of 3d multivariate gaussian distributions according to model parameters 109 . each layer corresponds to a different appearance, i.e., color intensity, of the pixel over time. we perform our operations in a red, green, and blue (rgb) color space. changes in the layers of the scene model are determined to detect 120 moving objects 121 in the scene. the detailed steps of the method are shown in fig. 3 , described below. model layers fig. 2 is a simplified schematic of the multiple layers 200 of the model according to our invention. a vertical axis 201 indicates a confidence score, and a horizontal axis 202 a pixel color value, both normalized to a range [0, 1]. if a layer is less than a predetermined confidence threshold 203 , it is considered to model the background in the scene, otherwise the layer models the foreground. for the example shown, a layer 210 is considered the ‘most confident’ foreground layer, and a layer 220 is the ‘least confident’ background layer. recursive bayesian estimation although we use a recursive bayesian estimation for updating the model, we do not estimate the mean and variance parameters of each layer, instead we estimate probability distributions of the mean and variance of each gaussian distribution, as shown in fig. 2 . then, we extract statistical information of the model parameters of the layers from the probability distributions. we detect changes in a scene by using expectations of the mean and variance. the variance of the mean is an embedded confidence score 201 of our recursive bayesian estimation. prior knowledge can be integrated in our method with prior parameters. because we determine a full covariance matrix, our feature space can be modified to include other information, such as motion information. the multi-modality of our scene model is maintained by a recursive bayesian update process. during each update, at most, one layer is updated according to the pixels values of the current frame. this assures a minimum overlap between the layers of the model. we also determine how many layers are necessary to best represent each pixel, and use only the necessary layers when we segment background and foreground pixels. this is performed according to the confidence scores embedded in our model. multiple layer model we assume that the pixel color intensities in the video, are normally distributed with a mean μ and a covariance σ. the mean and variance are unknown and modeled as random variables. according to bayes theorem, the joint posterior density can be expressed as: p (μ,σ| x )∝ p ( x |μ,σ) p (μ,σ). (1) to perform recursive bayesian estimation with new pixel values during the updating, the joint prior density p(μ, σ) has the same form as the joint posterior density p(μ,σ|x). when conditioned on the variance, the joint prior density can be expressed as: p (μ,σ)= p (μ|σ) p (σ). (2) the above condition is realized when we assume an inverse wishart distribution for the covariance, and a multivariate normal distribution for the mean conditioned on the covariance. the inverse wishart distribution is a multivariate generalization of a scaled inverse-χ 2 distribution. the parameterization of the wishart distribution is σ˜inv-wishart ν t−1 (λ t−1 −1 ) (3) μ|σ˜ n (θ t−1 ,σ/κ t−1 ). (4) where ν t−1 and λ t−1 are respectively the degrees of freedom 331 and the scale matrix 334 for the inverse wishart distribution, θ t−1 is the mean 333 of the previous density, and κ t−1 is the number of previous density measurements 332 , see fig. 3 . with these assumptions, the joint prior density becomes for a feature space with three dimensions. we label this as a normal-inverse-wishart distribution (θ t−1 ,λ t−1 /κ t−1 ;ν t−1 ,λ t−1 ). multiplying the prior density by the normal likelihood, and arranging the terms, the joint posterior density becomes a normal-inverse-wishart distribution (θ t−1 ,λ/κ t−1 ,λ t−1 ). the parameters 109 are updated according to: where x is the mean of new samples, and n is the number of samples used to update the model, see fig. 3 . if the recursive bayesian update is performed for each frame, then n becomes one. to speed up the system, the update can be performed periodically. we update one quarter of the model for each frame, therefore the weight n is assigned 340 four. the new parameters combine the previous measurement 332 with the observed samples. the posterior mean θ t is a weighted average of the prior mean and the sample mean. the posterior degrees of freedom are equal to the prior degrees of freedom plus the sample size. our model is initialized with the following parameters: κ 0 =10,ν 0 =10,θ 0 =x 0 ,λ 0 =(ν 0 −4)16 2 i (9) where i is a three-dimensional identity matrix. by integrating the joint posterior density with respect to the covariance σ, we obtain the marginal posterior density for the mean: p (μ| x )∝ t ν t −2 (μ|θ t ,λ t /(κ t (ν t −2))) (10) where t ν t −2 is a multivariate t-distribution with ν t −2 degrees of freedom. we use the expectations of the marginal posterior distributions for the mean and the covariance as the parameters of our model at a time t. then, the expectation for the marginal posterior mean, i.e., the expectation of the multivariate t-distribution, becomes: μ t =ε(μ| x )=θ t (11) and the expectation of the marginal posterior covariance, i.e., the expectation of the inverse wishart distribution, becomes: σ t =ε(σ| x )=(ν t −4) −1 λ t . (12) our confidence score for the layer is equal to one over the determinant of the covariance of μ|x: if the marginal posterior mean has a large variance, then the layer is less confident. the variance of the multivariate t-distribution with a scale matrix σ and degrees of freedom ν is equal to making independent assumptions for each color channel can accelerate the method. the update of the full covariance matrix determined nine parameters. moreover, during distance estimation, we invert the full covariance matrix. instead of a single multivariate gaussian distribution for a single layer, we use three univariate gaussian distributions, one for each color channel in the video. after updating each color channel independently, we join the variances, and construct a diagonal covariance matrix for the three (rgb) colors: in this case, for each univariate gaussian, we assume a scaled inverse-χ 2 distribution for the variance conditioned on the variance univariate normal distribution for the mean. model update as shown in fig. 3 , we initialize our model 200 with k layers of gaussian distributions for each pixel. usually, we select three to five layers, depending on the complexity of the scene. additional layers can be used for highly dynamic scenes. as we observe new samples x for each pixel, we update the parameters 109 of our model. we start 301 our update from the most confident layer 210 in our current model. if the observed sample is inside the 99% confidence interval of the current model, then the parameters of the model are updated according equations (6), (7) and (8). lower layers are not updated. for modeling the background, it is useful to have a ‘forgetting’ mechanism so that earlier observations have less effect on the model. thus, changes in the background are dynamically adapted over time. forgetting is performed by reducing the number of parameters of prior observations of an unmatched model. if the current sample is outside the confidence interval, then we update the number of prior measurements parameter 332 as: κ t =κ t−1 −n (15) and proceed 302 with the update of the next confident layer. we do not let κ t become less than the initial value ten. if none of the layers are updated, then we delete (‘forget’) 303 the least confident layer and initialize a new layer having the current sample as the initial mean and a variance. the update process for a single pixel can be summarized as follows. input to the update process is a new sample x at time t, and k background layers {(θ t−1 ,λ t−1 ,i,k t−1 ,ν t−1 ,i)} for i=1, . . . , k, at time t −1. first, update 310 the confidence scores and sort 311 the layers according to the confidence score defined in equation (13). then, while i is less than k, for each next layer, measure 320 the mahalanobis distance: if the sample x is in the 99% confidence interval 321 , then update the parameters 109 of the model according to equations (6), (7), (8), as described above. the parameters that are updated include the degrees of freedom 331 , the number of previous measurements 332 , the mean, 333 , and the scale matrix 334 . else, update the model parameters 109 according to equation (15), increment 340 the layer index i, and do the next layer. after all layers have been updated 304 , initialize 305 a new layer having parameters defined according to equation (9). if a maximum layer count is reached 306 delete 307 the last layer k, i.e., the layer 220 with the least confidence score. this update process suppresses noise or foreground pixels in the background portion of the model. in addition, the update process adapts to smooth intensity changes, such as, lighting effects. the embedded confidence score determines the number of layers to be used and prevents unnecessary layers. typically, the secondary layers correspond to a shadowed form of the background pixel, or different colors of the moving regions of the scene. if the scene is uni-modal, then the confidence scores of layers, other than first layer, become very low. comparison with online-expectation maximization (em) although our model looks similar to the model produced by stauffer et al., see above, there are major differences. in the stauffer model, each pixel is represented as a mixture of gaussian distributions. parameters of gaussian distributions and mixing coefficients are updated with an online k-means approximation of expectation maximization (em). that method is very sensitive to initial observations. if the gaussian distributions are improperly initialized, then every component eventually converges to the most significant mode of the distribution. smaller modes in the vicinity of larger modes are never detected. in contrast, we model each pixel with multiple layers of gaussian distributions, and perform recursive bayesian estimation to determine the probability distribution of the parameters of our model. we interpret each layer as being independent of every other layer. thus, our method is more flexible. foreground segmentation the estimated statistics of the scene model can be used to detect regions that are ‘changing’ in the scene, i.e., presumably regions of pixels corresponding to moving objects. because the number of layers required to represent a pixel is not known beforehand, the model is initialized with more layers than required. using the confidence scores, we determine how many layers are significant for each pixel. we sort 311 the layers according to confidence score as determined by equation (13), and select only those layers that have a confidence score greater than the predetermine threshold t c 203 . we refer to these layers as ‘confident layers’. the threshold t c 203 is dependent on the covariance of the mean of the pixel intensity. therefore, the threshold is dependent on the color range 202 of the pixel. for different color ranges the threshold t c can be modified. we measure 320 the mahalanobis distance of observed color from the confident layers. pixels that are outside of the 99% confidence interval of all confident layers are considered as foreground (moving) pixels. finally, connected component analysis is performed on foreground pixels to detect a moving object. motion, texture and orientation as described above the scene model represents the colors of the pixels in the video. it is also possible to augment the model with motion, texture, and orientation features of the pixels. for example, it is possible to determine, for each pixel, a motion, texture and orientation, in addition to the color. the orientation of the pixels can be determined from pixel intensity gradients. the motions, textures and orientations can then likewise by represented by multiple motion, texture and orientation layers of gaussian distributions, as described above, to construct corresponding motion, texture and orientation models of the scene. effect of the invention the invention provides an efficient method for modeling a scene using recursive bayesian estimation. the scene model is very effective for representing multi-modal scenes. using the model, tracking moving objects in a video acquired at a low frame rate is enabled. the time to process one frame is 0.05 seconds for a 320×240 colored video monitor on a pentium iv 2.4 ghz processor with five layers per pixel. therefore, the method according to the invention can also work for videos acquired at higher frame rates. although the invention has been described by way of examples of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that various other adaptations and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention. therefore, it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
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040-853-744-546-504
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US
|
[
"US"
] |
A47G19/22,B65D88/34
| 2002-05-21T00:00:00 |
2002
|
[
"A47",
"B65"
] |
floatable barrier for use with a beverage container
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a floatable barrier suitably adapted for use with a beverage container having a circular base and a cylindrical wall extending vertically therefrom. the floatable barrier comprising top and bottom surfaces for displaying advertising material thereon and for floatingly engaging a substantial portion of a comestible liquid contained in the beverage container, respectively; an outer wall integrally connecting the top and bottom surfaces along the periphery thereof principally serving as means to space apart and maintain a parallel relationship of the surfaces to form an inner chamber possessing thermal retaining and buoyancy characteristics; and a plurality of apertures located along the periphery of and extending through the top and bottom surfaces to assist in promoting the condition of laminar flow over the floatable barrier as the beverage container is being filled with the comestible liquid.
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1 . a floatable barrier for use with a beverage container having a circular base and a cylindrical wall substantially extending vertically therefrom, principally serving to contain a comestible liquid, said floatable barrier comprising, in combination: top and bottom surfaces for displaying advertising material thereon and for engaging a substantial portion of the comestible liquid contained in the beverage container, respectively, said top and bottom surfaces each having a peripheral edge in proximity to the cylindrical wall of the beverage container; an outer wall being located and positioned at said peripheral edge of said top and bottom surfaces, said top and bottom surface being substantially spaced apart a predetermined distance, in a parallel arrangement, and being integrally connected by said outer wall to form an inner chamber possessing thermal retaining and buoyancy characteristics; and a plurality of apertures substantially extending through said top and bottom surfaces, near and along the peripheral edge of said top and bottom surfaces, to substantially ensure the continuous passing of the comestible liquid into and from the beverage container. 2 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein each of said apertures comprises an inner wall to promote laminar flow conditions and to mitigate the occurrence of turbulence leading to undue volatilization as the comestible liquid is placed into and drawn from the beverage container. 3 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 2 , wherein said inner wall comprises a pair of beveled edges of equivalent shape and form and a vertical wall situated therebetween, said beveled edges being adaptably configured to assist in allowing flow of the comestible liquid to said bottom surface insofar to promote buoyancy and raise said top and bottom surfaces from the circular base of the beverage container, being notably needed when the beverage container is absent of and later filled with the comestible liquid. 4 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 3 , wherein each of said beveled edges comprises an angular relationship to a vertical axis extending perpendicular to said top and bottom surfaces ranging from 45 to 60. 5 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 3 , wherein each of said beveled edges comprises an angular relationship to a vertical axis extending perpendicular to said top and bottom surfaces of 60. 6 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said top and bottom surfaces comprise a diameter ranging from 90% to less than 100% of the effective inner diameter of the beverage container insofar to form an annular opening between said outer wall and the cylindrical wall of the beverage container for passage of the comestible liquid. 7 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 6 , wherein said annular opening is approximately wide. 8 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said bottom surface comprises a plurality of protuberances extending downwardly therefrom to substantially engage and assist in stirring the comestible liquid. 9 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 8 , wherein each of said protuberances comprises a conically-shaped wall converging downwardly to a lowermost tip and an inner cavity integrally communicating with said inner chamber. 10 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said inner chamber is filled with an inert gas to promote continued buoyancy of said top and bottom surfaces and outer wall and to retain the thermal capacity of the comestible liquid within the beverage container. 11 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said top and bottom surfaces are fabricated from a translucent polypropylene material and said inner chamber is filled with thermotropic liquid crystals having temperature dependent characteristics insofar to promote time-delayed display of advertising material adaptably affixed to said top surface. 12 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said top and bottom surfaces and outer wall are fabricated from a hydrophobic, food-grade polymeric material having heat resisting and thermal retaining characteristics. 13 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said top surface further comprises a handle affixed thereto to assist in stirring the comestible liquid within and removing said floatable barrier from the beverage container. 14 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said inner chamber is filled with an air-entrained, light-weighted solid to promote continued buoyancy of said top and bottom surfaces and outer wall and to retain the thermal capacity of the comestible liquid within the beverage container. 15 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said outer wall further comprises an apex extending furthermost a predetermined distance from the peripheral edge of said top and bottom surfaces, along the diametric axis thereof, said apex being substantially capable of corresponding to the level of the comestible liquid in either a static or dynamic state. 16 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 15 , wherein said outer wall comprises a rounded geometric configuration. 17 . a method for displaying advertising material and mitigating the inadvertent release of a comestible liquid from a beverage container during the handling and transport thereof, said method comprising the steps of: positioning top and bottom surfaces parallel to and apart from one another a predetermined distance by an outer wall integrally connected thereto to form an inner chamber substantially configured to house a gas for continued buoyancy and retain the thermal characteristics of the comestible liquid; affixing to said top surface advertising material made suitable for promoting an event or the sale of a good or service; configuring said bottom surface with a plurality of protuberances capable of extending downwardly therefrom to substantially engage and permit stirring of the comestible liquid; and placing said top surface upright into the beverage container, with said bottom surface being downwardly positioned insofar to permit substantial contact with the comestible liquid. 18 . a method as set forth in claim 17 , further comprising the step of configuring said top and bottom surfaces with a plurality of apertures along the periphery thereof to permit the passage of comestible liquids to and from the beverage container. 19 . a floatable barrier for use with a beverage container having a circular base and a cylindrical wall substantially extending vertically therefrom, principally serving to contain a comestible liquid, said floatable barrier comprising, in combination: top and bottom surfaces for displaying advertising material thereon and for engaging a substantial portion of the comestible liquid contained in the beverage container, respectively, said top and bottom surfaces each having a peripheral edge in proximity to the cylindrical wall of the beverage container; an outer wall being located and positioned at said peripheral edge of said top and bottom surfaces, said top and bottom surface being substantially spaced apart a predetermined distance, in a parallel arrangement, and being integrally connected by said outer wall to form an inner chamber possessing thermal retaining and buoyancy characteristics; a plurality of protuberances integrally attached to said bottom surface and extending downwardly therefrom to substantially engage and permit stirring of the comestible liquid; and a plurality of apertures substantially extending through said top and bottom surfaces, near and along the peripheral edge of said top and bottom surfaces, each of said apertures comprising an inner wall to promote laminar flow conditions and to mitigate the occurrence of turbulence leading to undue volatilization as the comestible liquid is placed into and drawn from the beverage container, said inner wall comprising a pair of beveled edges of equivalent shape and form and a vertical wall situated therebetween, said beveled edges being adaptably configured to allow flow of the comestible liquid to said bottom surface insofar to promote buoyancy and raise said top and bottom surfaces from the circular base of the beverage container, being notably needed when the beverage container is absent of and later filled with the comestible liquid. 20 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 19 , wherein said inner chamber is filled with an inert gas to promote continued buoyancy of said top and bottom surfaces and outer wall and to retain the thermal capacity of the comestible liquid within the beverage container. 21 . a floatable barrier as set forth in claim 19 , wherein each of said protuberances comprises a conically-shaped wall converging downward to a lowermost tip and an inner cavity integrally communicating with said inner chamber.
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field of the invention the present invention relates in general to a floatable barrier made adaptable for use with a beverage container. more specifically, the present invention provides means to retain liquids in a beverage container and prevent spillage therefrom during transport and handling thereof as well as serving as a device to display advertising material thereon to promote an event or the sale of a good or service. background of the invention traditionally, a product and/or the accompanying packaging material bearing the trademark of the manufacture suffices as the most common or typical means to market a product in commerce. obviously, this form of advertising is very limited insofar that the commercial impression on the consumer is short-lived due its basic inadequacy of being a disposable item. thus, once used, each is loss of means for effective advertising. nonetheless, numerous devices have evolved over the years to assist in the effective marketing of products besides that of the packaging material or the product in and of itself. one would be hard-pressed not to find such devices in today's advertising-savvy economy; one simply cannot avoid such means of advertising. those worth mentioning and most relevant to the present invention generally comprise of some sort of transportable carrier having sufficient area to bear a company's trademark or slogan to draw further attention to a particular product or event worth promotion. in typical instances of its usage as an advertising medium, the carrier may be either used in further promotion of the product it accompanies or used to promote another product, quite different from the one it attaches to. such devices well known in the art for use with a beverage container and serving as a medium for advertising include a coaster of the type generally placed on a table's surface, below a beverage container, an all-encompassing insulating barrier fitted about and around the beverage container, commonly known in the art as a huggy, and a stir stick placed within the beverage container, to name a few. as in most cases, particularly with those as previously mentioned, the advertising medium may comprise of added functionality besides that of promoting a product or event. for example, the coaster generally serves as a protective barrier between the beverage bottom and table surface to inhibit scratching thereof or spillage thereon, while the huggy assists in retaining the thermal capacity of the liquid contained within the beverage container. although each of these devices more or less possesses dual capabilities, and in some cases more, there are apparent limitations or draw backs associated with each device, particularly relating to the means for effective promotion of a product or event. the most apparent limitation is associated with the user's handing and use of the product insofar to interfere with the device's ability to continually serve as an effective advertising medium. for example, the coaster as well as the huggy will generally comprise of an adequate surface for displaying advertising material thereon, but later may be obstructed by the user's placement or usage of the product (i.e., placement of hands about the huggy and beverage container sitting atop the coaster effectively block-out the advertisement). in accordance with the present invention, applicant has appreciably devised a -mechanism for repeated and continual means of promoting a product or event in anticipation of enhancing the overall commercial impression on the consumer, while at the same time providing a device having spill prevention and thermal retention capabilities, such device being easily fitted into and movable from an existing beverage container without undue modification thereof. brief summary of the invention in order to overcome the numerous drawbacks apparent in the prior art, a floatable barrier has been devised for use with a beverage container of predetermined size and shape. it is thus an object of the present invention to provide a low cost, non-complicated device which may be reliably used with numerous types of beverage containers to retain liquids therein and prevent spillage therefrom during transport and handling thereof it is another object of the present invention to provide such a floatable barrier which affords versatility in terms of functioning as means to display advertising material thereon for continuous promotion of a product or an event. it is another object of the present invention to provide such a floatable barrier which possesses the capacity of being completely fitted into and removed from an existing beverage container without undue modification thereof. it is another object of the present invention to provide such a floatable barrier having the capacity to mitigate heat loss of substances contained within the beverage container during use thereof. it is another object of the present invention to provide such a floatable barrier to mitigate the opportunity for introducing foreign objects and the like into substances contained in the beverage container and provide easy means for retrieval of such objects in the event of inadvertent placement thereof into the beverage container. it is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a floatable barrier which accomplishes the foregoing and other objects and advantages and which is economical, durable, and fully effective in performing its intended functions without undue retrofitting of the beverage container. in accordance with the present invention, a floatable barrier has been devised for use with a beverage container being geometrically configured to accept and receive such device, the floatable barrier comprising in combination top and bottom surfaces for displaying advertising material thereon and for floatingly engaging a substantial portion of a comestible liquid contained in the beverage container, respectively, each surface further comprising a peripheral edge of which is maintained away from the cylindrical wall of the beverage container a predetermined distance to form an annular opening to permit the passage of the comestible liquid; the top and bottom surfaces being substantially spaced apart in a parallel arrangement and being integrally connected along the peripheral edge by an outer wall to form an inner chamber possessing thermal retaining and buoyancy characteristics; and a plurality of apertures substantially extending through the top and bottom surfaces, near the outer wall and along the peripheral edge, to ensure an opportunity for the continuous passing of the comestible liquid into and from the beverage container together with that of the annular opening, each aperture further comprising an inner wall to assist in promoting the condition of laminar flow over the top surface and to mitigate the occurrence of turbulence leading to undue volatilization of the comestible liquid as the beverage container is being filled to capacity. other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals depict the same parts in the various views. brief description of the several views of the drawings a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a side perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating advertising material displayed thereon; fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4 is a side cross sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention taken on line 4 - 4 of fig. 1 ; fig. 5 is a side cross sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention taken on line 5 - 5 of fig. 6 illustrating a floatable barrier positioned in a beverage container; fig. 6 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating a floatable barrier positioned in a beverage container; fig. 7 is a top view of a second embodiment of the present invention illustrating a plurality of apertures extending therethrough and a handle assembly connected to a top surface; fig. 8 is a side perspective view of second embodiment of the present invention illustrating the positioning of a plurality of protuberances extending downwardly from a bottom surface; fig. 9 is a top view of a third embodiment of the present invention illustrating the configuration of a plurality of apertures extending therethrough; fig. 10 is a side perspective view of the third embodiment of the present invention illustrating the positioning of a plurality of protuberances extending downwardly from a bottom surface; fig. 11 is a bottom view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating the positioning of a plurality of protuberances connected to a bottom surface; and fig. 12 is a side cross sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention taken on line 5 - 5 of fig. 6 illustrating the positioning thereof in a beverage container absent a comestible liquid. detailed description of the preferred embodiment while this invention is susceptible of being embodied in many different forms, the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail hereinafter with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered to exemplify the principles of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated and presented herein. the present invention has particular utility as a device for use with a beverage container to display advertising material and mitigate inadvertent release of liquids from the beverage container during transport and handling thereof and retain the thermal capacity of substances contained therewithin. referring to figs. 1 and 2 , there is shown generally at 10 a floatable barrier having a top surface 12 suitably configured to display advertising material thereon and a bottom surface 14 adaptably configured to engage a substantial portion of a comestible liquid contained in a beverage container 16 . it should be noted that the present invention is suitably adapted for use with a beverage container 16 having a geometric configuration comprising a circular base 18 and a cylindrical wall 20 extending vertically therefrom, substantially straight, most notably resembling a coffee mug of the type commonly known in the art. in the preferred embodiment, the top and bottom surfaces 12 , 14 are configurably parallel and substantially symmetrical to one another in terms of shape and form and are integrally connected and separated apart from one another a predetermined distance by an outer wall 22 located at peripheral edges 24 , 26 of the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, a configuration of which principally forms and defines an inner chamber 28 possessing buoyancy and thermal-retaining characteristics. preferably, the top and bottom surfaces 12 , 14 as well as the outer wall 22 are made from a hydrophobic, food-grade polymeric material. the polymeric material of choice must be capable of resisting heat and not degrade after sustained exposure to high temperatures and acidic/basic conditions. moreover, the polymeric material should be readily impervious to the adsorption of odors or binding of aromas and posses a sufficiently smooth surface for ready cleanup after prolong and sustained use. suitable types of materials considered most appropriate for this application may consist of polycarbonate, polyvinyl chloride, teflon, and ultem, to name a few of the types readily available and commonly known in the art. as depicted in figs. 3 and 4 , the inner chamber 28 is configured to receive and house a gas possessing sufficient capabilities to insulate and further retain the thermal capacity of the comestible liquid contained in the beverage container 16 . in typical applications, air or an equivalent gas having a low thermal conductivity would be most suitable and, therefore, preferred over a solid or liquid having similar thermal conducting properties. however, in the alternative, the inner chamber 28 may comprise simply of an air-entrained, light-weighted solid, such as styrofoam, to aid in gaining desirable insulating characteristics while retaining acceptable weight limits for continued buoyancy. in an alternative embodiment, one of which enhances the display of advertising material in a controlled manner in terms of time, the top and bottom surfaces 12 , 14 of the floatable barrier 10 may be fabricated from a translucent polypropylene material, with the inner chamber 28 containing thermotropic liquid crystals having temperature dependent characteristics. preferably the liquids crystals would comprise the same color as the advertising print embedded on the top surface insofar to allow the advertising print to be non-visible at room temperature. once a liquid of a higher or lower temperature is introduced into the beverage container and contacts the floatable barrier, the temperature sensitive crystals contained within the inner chamber 28 would favorably react to a different contrasting color, thereby promoting the exposure of advertising material adaptably affixed to the top surface of the floatable barrier. this configuration is particularly suitable for use where the floatable barrier 10 is placed into the beverage container 16 absent any liquid content, and the user later places a comestible liquid therein to correspondingly produce a vivid display of advertising material. as best illustrated in figs. 5 and 6 , the outer wall 22 is preferably disposed in proximity to the cylindrical wall 20 of the beverage container, but away therefrom a predetermined distance to form an annular opening 30 . this annular opening principally serves as means for continuous passing of the comestible liquid to and from the beverage container without necessitating removal of the floatable barrier 10 therefrom and to permit unhindered movement of the floatable barrier as it floatingly engages the beverage container's contents. the dimensioning of the annular opening 30 is principally established by the diameter of the floatable barrier relative to the diameter of the beverage container, preferably equating to approximately 90%, but less than 100% of the effective inner diameter of the beverage container. however, a distance of approximately between the outer wall 22 and cylindrical wall 20 of the beverage container has been shown to serve as an effective passageway for liquids as the floatable barrier 10 transitions from a static state to one of a dynamic state, noticeably at the moment when the contents are drawn from the beverage container by the user. in some instances, to ensure continued, unhindered movement of the floatable barrier as it follows and conforms to the substance's level, most notably when the user tips the beverage container to consume the contents therefrom, the outer wall 22 may be rounded and comprise an apex 32 existing near the peripheral edges 24 , 26 and extending furthermost beyond the diameter of the top and bottom surfaces 12 , 14 a predetermined distance. as depicted in fig. 3 , the apex is substantially established at the midpoint between the top and bottom surfaces, along the outer wall 22 , and will momentarily engage a portion of the cylindrical wall 20 of the beverage container as the beverage container 16 configurably tips to release substances therefrom. in a static state, one of which the beverage container is placed on a supporting surface or not in motion or being handled by the user, the apex 32 will generally establish itself to substantially coincide with the liquid level, as best illustrated in fig. 5 . referring now to fig. 1 , the floatable barrier 10 further comprises a plurality of apertures 34 located near and along the periphery thereof, near the outer edge, each substantially extending through both the top and bottom surfaces 12 , 14 . the apertures, as shown in figs. 7 through 10 , may comprise of various geometric shapes, but would be limited in number to retain the desirable objectives presented herein. preferably, each aperture comprises a circular configuration to simplify the process of manufacture. as illustrated in figs. 7 and 9 , the apertures are spaced equally apart from one another in a linear fashion and collectively serve to enhance the passage of substances into the beverage container 16 together with that of the annular opening 30 existing between the outer wall 22 and cylindrical wall 20 of the beverage container. although the presence of the apertures may have deleterious impact on the available space for displaying adverting material, each aperture 34 is sufficiently small in size so as not to unduly compromise other desirable characteristics of the present invention, namely a floating device having the capacity to act in retarding oxidation, preventing the loss of volatiles, and mitigating the potential for contamination of the beverage container's contents. in some instances, it may be more desirable or appropriate, particularly when the contents are established at a high thermal capacity, to place the floatable barrier into the beverage container prior to the introduction of the comestible liquid to prevent the occurrence of injury to the user, as the placement of the floatable barrier after the introduction of the liquid may splash onto the user. in an alternative embodiment, the top surface may further comprise of a handle assembly 36 integrally connected thereto to assist in inserting and removing the floatable barrier 10 into and from the beverage container 16 , respectively, being most needed if the beverage container is filled with a heated comestible liquid, as shown in figs. 7 and 8 . also, the handle may serve to assist in stirring the comestible liquid should the same be introduced after placement of the floatable barrier into the beverage container. in order to promote the desirable condition of laminar flow over the floatable barrier and alleviate any concern of causing unwanted turbulence leading to undue volatilization at the moment of introducing heated liquids into the beverage container 16 , specifically after placement of the floatable barrier therein, each aperture 34 comprises an inner wall 38 . as shown in fig. 4 , each inner wall is geometrically configured with a pair of beveled edges 40 of equivalent shape and form and a vertical wall 42 situated therebetween. a beveled edge ranging from approximately 45-60 from the vertical axis, as depicted along path m in fig. 4 , acceptably provides for laminar flow conditions as substances are introduced into and released from the beverage container. in an alternative embodiment, as specifically illustrated in fig. 11 , the bottom surface 14 may be adaptably configured with a plurality of protuberances 44 extending downwardly therefrom to principally serve as means for stirring the contents contained in the beverage container 16 , since the presence of the floatable barrier 10 in the beverage container can effectively limit the user's ability to mix and stir the contents therewithin should the need arise. moreover, the protuberances 44 effectively serve as means for allowing liquids to flow under the floatable barrier in direct communication with the bottom surface 14 to assist in raising and initiating the buoyancy action of the floatable barrier, being notably needed when the floatable barrier is placed into the beverage container absent of any liquid content. as shown in fig. 12 , each protuberance comprises a conically-shaped wall 46 converging to a lowermost tip 48 for engaging the circular base 18 of the beverage container 16 , being appreciably apparent absent any liquefiable content in the beverage container. although the presence of the protuberances may deleteriously impact the weight of the floatable barrier, and thus its buoyancy, it is preferred that each protuberance comprise an inner cavity 50 preferably containing therein the same or equivalent material used in the inner chamber 28 , namely a gas. in some instances of its use, the floatable barrier may be temporarily attached to the circular base 18 of the beverage container using a dissolvable, edible substance, such as corn syrup or an equivalent adhering substance, placed at the lowermost tip 48 . release of the floatable barrier from the circular base is simply accomplished by dissolving the adhering substance through the introduction of a heated comestible liquid, such as coffee or tea, into the beverage container. this arrangement is particularly suitable where the beverage container 16 is preferably placed in an inverted orientation to inhibit the introduction or prevent the accumulation of foreign matter into the beverage container prior to the introduction of the comestible liquid. this attachment methodology effectively provides an opportunity to time delay the promotion of an event while retaining the desirable orientation of the beverage container for short-term storage, an arrangement of which can be readily observed at seminars, conventions and other promoting events where beverages are being offered apart from the beverage container. it can be seen from the foregoing that there is provided in accordance with this invention a simple and easily operated device, which is particularly suitable for use in a beverage container 16 of the type commonly known in the art and utilized in a typical office or home environment. the floatable barrier 10 is completely functional in terms of accommodating the geometric configuration of the beverage container 16 so as to effectively mitigate the release of liquids therefrom during transport and handling thereof as well as retaining the thermal capacity of substances contained therewithin. it is obvious that the components comprising the floatable barrier may be fabricated from a variety of materials, providing such selection or use of materials possess the capacity of withstanding moderate to high temperatures of liquids that may be introduced into the beverage container. it is most desirable, and therefore preferred, to construct the floatable barrier 10 from a hydrophobic, food-grade polymeric material to ensure sustained reliability during use thereof, as hereinbefore stated. while there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and alterations can be made therein without departing from the invention and, therefore, it is aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and alterations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
|
041-417-637-058-383
|
AT
|
[
"WO",
"ES",
"EP",
"US",
"AT"
] |
G01G19/414,G06Q10/08,B65G1/137,G06K19/08
| 2017-02-03T00:00:00 |
2017
|
[
"G01",
"G06",
"B65"
] |
storage system comprising a detection arrangement assigned to the storage area
|
the invention relates to a storage system and a method for monitoring logistics systems, having at least one storage area for stored goods and having at least one detection arrangement that is assigned to the storage area for identifying the stored goods stored in the storage area, said detection arrangement comprising at least one weight sensor (6) and at least one further sensor (7) for identifying the stored goods, wherein the weight sensor (6) is linked to the further sensor (7) and wherein the weight sensor (6) is embodied to trigger a recognition process by the further sensor (7) if the measured weight changes. the problem of providing a system and a method for monitoring logistics systems which can be operated so as to save as much energy as possible and which can be installed easily in existing stores without needing a large-scale installation of supply and data lines, and which facilitates a storage arrangement that is as flexible as possible and easily modifiable is solved by virtue of an interface that is separable when operated as intended being arranged between the detection arrangement and storage area such that the detection arrangement is separable from the storage space and consequently mobile.
|
storage system having at least one storage location for a stored item and having at least one detection arrangement assigned to the storage location for identifying the stored item stored at the storage location, which detection arrangement comprises at least one weight sensor (6) and at least one further sensor (7) for identifying the stored item, wherein the weight sensor (6) is connected to the further sensor (7), and the weight sensor (6) is designed to trigger a recognition process of the further sensor (7) when the measured weight changes, characterised in that an operatively separable interface is arranged between the detection arrangement and the storage location, so that the detection arrangement can be separated from the storage location and is therefore mobile and that the further sensor (7) has a rest state which can be activated between the performance of recognition processes. storage system according to claim 1, characterised in that at least one additional sensor is provided for detecting a further state variable of the stored item. storage system according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterised in that the further sensor (7) is an rfid sensor, a radio sensor, an optical sensor, in particular a barcode and qr code reader or a magnetic sensor. storage system according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the further sensor (7) carries out an identification of the stored item by reading an identification means attached to the stored item or, optionally, its transport cover. storage system according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the detection arrangement is connected to a warehouse center and can exchange information with it. storage system according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that at least one light and/or acoustic source (4) is provided on the detection arrangement. storage system according to claims 5 and 6, characterised in that the light and/or acoustic source (4) can be activated by a localization signal from the warehouse center. storage system according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the storage location is identifiable by the detection arrangement. storage system according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that a data memory is assigned to the detection arrangement. storage system according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that an energy storage device is assigned to the detection arrangement.
|
the invention relates to a storage system for monitoring logistic systems having at least one storage location for a stored item and having at least one detection arrangement assigned to the storage location for identifying the stored item stored at the storage location, which detection arrangement comprises at least one weight sensor and at least one further sensor for identifying the stored item, wherein the weight sensor is connected to the further sensor, and the weight sensor is designed to trigger a recognition process of the further sensor when the measured weight changes. from wo 2016/166698 a1 a storage system is known, which can detect by a detection arrangement at the storage place a removal, storage or change of a stored item, and can pass this information on to a computer for the production of a stock list. in addition, an identification means is provided for the recognition of a code that identifies the person changing the stock. a system of this type is very complex to set up and not very suitable for retrofitting into an existing warehouse, as energy supply and data lines have to be laid to each storage location. if the detection arrangements are equipped with energy storage devices, this is usually not practicable, since common means of identification, such as rfid recognition modules, consume a lot of energy and the storage devices are emptied quickly as a result. wo 2005/088494 a1 describes storage systems which have gravimetric sensor rows or sensor matrices, which detect the movements of the stored items and transmit corresponding signals to a computing unit via a communication network. such systems are more energy-efficient, but purely gravimetric sensor technology does not provide clear identification of the stored items. however, the installation of additional sensors for unambiguous detection brings with it the problem of additional energy consumers. de 10 2013 004 594 a1 describes a sensor device which initiates a recognition process when the weight of the stored item changes. the sensor device identifies a stored item at a storage location. although this system is very energy-efficient, it is very rigid because each storage location must be equipped with such a sensor device, which is both structurally complex and expensive. in addition, a costly retrofit must be carried out if the storage system is modified or expanded. it is thus the object of the invention to overcome the problems described and to provide a storage system or method for monitoring logistic systems that can be operated as energy-efficiently as possible and can be easily installed in existing warehouses without having to install supply or data lines on a large scale, and that is as flexible and easy to change as possible. this is solved according to the invention by arranging an operationally separable interface between the detection arrangement and the storage location so that the detection arrangement can be separated from the storage location and is therefore mobile. in the case of a respective embodiment of the gravimetric sensor, the measurement of the weight consumes hardly any or no energy if the weight remains the same. however, it is usually necessary to determine further properties, the type of stored item or the identity of the stored item. this requires at least one more sensor. operation of this sensor is usually energy-intensive but at the same time only necessary if the stored item is being removed from the storage location, placed on the storage location or otherwise manipulated. by triggering the recognition process when the weight changes, it is prevented that the sensor for identification has to carry out recognition processes at regular intervals in order to detect a change. thus a great deal of energy is saved, which also makes an energy supply possible through a local energy storage device. this means that no complicated supply is necessary and the detection arrangement can be easily integrated into existing warehouses. of course, further recognition processes can still be carried out at regular intervals, if necessary. however, the frequency of these security measurements can be greatly reduced, for example to three security measurements per day or less. the frequency of the security measurements can also be made dependent on the number of stock movements per time of the warehouse or only of the specific storage location. in addition to the unique identification of the stored item, the weight sensor, the identification sensor or other sensors, such as optical sensors or temperature sensors, can also be used to measure other parameters or information about the stored item. for example, if only part of the stored items is removed from the warehouse, the weight sensor can record the exact quantity removed, or the temperature of the stored items can be measured. an embodiment is particularly energy-saving in which the sensor that carries out the identification, or possibly other sensors as well, can be put into a standby state between two necessary recognition processes. if no change in weight is detected, no measurement is usually necessary and the sensor can be brought into idle state or, particularly advantageous, switched off completely. the sensor for identification of the stored items can be designed in different ways. however, the use of a radio sensor, an rfid recognition sensor, an optical sensor, in particular barcode and qr code readers, or a magnetic sensor is advantageous because they can easily and quickly identify stored items unambiguously. in principle, recognition can be carried out by pure measurements without interaction with identification marks on the stored items, but it is particularly advantageous if the stored items or, if applicable, their transport cover carries an identification device such as a barcode or an rfid chip. by reading this means of identification by an appropriate sensor, the stored items can be determined unambiguously in a quick, simple and energy-saving manner. as a rule, the range of the sensors for identification should be set so that their reception range covers only a small range. this saves energy and ensures that no stored item is mistakenly identified in a neighboring storage location. if the identification is carried out by reading an identification means, it makes sense to arrange the identification means at a predefined location on the stored item, for example at a corner, or, if necessary, at several predefined locations, such as two opposite corners. if the sensor for identification of the identification means is arranged in the detection arrangement or the detection arrangement itself is arranged in such a way that the sensor is close to the identification means when the stored items have been readily stored, a particularly low range of the sensor, for example a few centimeters, is sufficient. this is particularly advantageous when using uniform storage containers, such as uniformly designed containers or pallets. if the detection arrangement is connected to a warehouse center, this warehouse center can create a warehouse list or organize the warehouse. especially in a complex warehouse, this is very important for the management of the warehouse. the warehouse center is usually designed in the form of a warehouse computer which continuously receives data from the detection arrangements about storage, retrieval and other changes to the warehouse and, if necessary, exchanges further data with them. the connection can be made via a wire connection, such as a classic data cable connection, or wirelessly, e.g. via wlan. depending on the embodiment, corresponding communication units shall be provided in the detection arrangements or in the storage locations. it can also be advantageous to route the wire connection over the storage location and to continue the wire connection in the detection arrangement via an interface. the connection with the warehouse center can be continuous, but it can also be repeatedly interrupted, which saves additional energy. if the detection arrangement is equipped with a light and/or acoustic source, such as a single or multicolored led and/or a loudspeaker, signals can be emitted which facilitate the processing of the warehouse. the system can also indicate incorrectly stored items, empty energy storage devices or other conditions. if the storage system is designed in such a way that the warehouse center can send a localization signal to one or more detection arrangements, thereby bringing the light and/or acoustic source into a changed state, this additionally facilitates storage work. the localization signals may contain different additional information. for example, when searching for a stored item, the warehouse center can send a signal to the corresponding detection arrangement indicating how many stored items are to be removed. this then causes an led to light up or flash in a specific color. this makes it easier for the searching person to find the storage location. if said person removes the stored items or a part thereof, this is registered by the detection system, the information is forwarded to the warehouse center and the led is switched off again. this can be further developed at will, for example in that all other or all detection arrangements surrounding the searched stored items generate other order signals in order to further increase the distinctiveness between the searched stored items and the others. stock transfer processes for optimizing the warehouse and various other processes can also be displayed in this way. such pick-by-light systems, put-by-light systems and others of this kind are already well known and often applied in practice, as they facilitate warehouse work and reduce the number of errors. systems of this type can be designed in many different ways, for example, confirmation mechanisms such as buttons or switches can be provided, which the warehouse worker actuates when he has found the storage location. identification mechanisms can also be provided that uniquely identify the warehouse worker. but it is precisely the automatic change in weight that makes it possible to dispense with the installation of actuating mechanisms. depending on the embodiment, it may also be advantageous to arrange the light and/or acoustic source directly at the storage location and to control it via a connection to the detection arrangement, optionally with a corresponding interface between the storage location and the detection arrangement. when retrofitting an existing warehouse, it is particularly advantageous to use embodiments of detection arrangements that provide an energy storage device and communicate with the central warehouse via a wireless connection. this means that installation in the existing system can be carried out very quickly and cost-effectively. according to the invention, the detection arrangement can be separated from the storage location. this makes the storage system even more flexible. this allows the detection arrangement to be moved from one storage location to another without major conversion work. the relocation of the detection arrangement can take place without or with stored items currently assigned to it. due to the mobility of the detection arrangement, the warehouse can also be continuously optimized in terms of efficiency, i.e. rearranged, which is common practice in many production plants with variable orders, without having to carry out time-consuming reprogramming. at the same time, the advantages of the embodiments described can be continuously used not only in a central warehouse but also variably and distributed in operation, e.g. on different production lines. a localization of the detection arrangement, or of the goods associated with it in the system, can also be easily achieved by light/acoustics. individual buffer storage locations within, outside or near the actual storage system could also be provided, which are only intended for the temporary storage of stored items, if this is necessary, for example, due to a bottleneck in storage personnel or in the course of a stock relocation. it is advantageous if the storage location that is assigned to the detection arrangement can be identified by it. this can be carried out, for example, by an additional rfid chip at the storage location. for the identification of the storage location, either the same sensor as for the identification of the stored items or an additional sensor can be used. in this way, the detection arrangement can immediately determine its position when a new allocation to a storage location is made and, if necessary, transmit a signal to the warehouse center. if the recognition process of the storage location and others is carried out when a recognition process of the stored items is carried out, this is particularly advantageous. if a data memory is assigned to the detection arrangement, all changes to the stored items or the storage location can be recorded, logged and saved. this is particularly advantageous in the case of embodiments which provide for a time-interrupted connection to the warehouse center, since new data can be stored in this way if data transmission is not possible or desired at this time. however, it can also be used as unchangeable, tamper-proof memory if this is necessary for security reasons, for example. the method of triggering a recognition process during continuous weight monitoring when a weight change takes place is advantageous for the reason that hardly any or no energy needs to be consumed to monitor the weight. if no storage or removal takes place, the consumption of the detection arrangement is reduced to a minimum. the exact number and timing of recognition operations may vary depending on the type of embodiment. for example, it can be advantageous to carry out a recognition process immediately if the weight changes and to carry out a further recognition process after the manipulation process if the weight remains unchanged for a certain period of time in order to detect any incorrect measurements. if a stored item is searched for, a protocol as described above can be used by directing a localization location from the warehouse center to one or more detection arrangements which, depending on this signal, mark the searched storage location with order signals via light and/or acoustic sources. when the stock is changed, the detection arrangements can transmit corresponding signals to the warehouse center, for example to verify the correct implementation of the storage process or to report incorrect storage processes. in the following, the present invention will be explained in more detail on the basis of the embodiment variant depicted in the figure, wherein: fig. 1 shows a plan view of an embodiment of a detection arrangement in accordance with the invention. fig. 1 discloses a representation of an embodiment according to the invention from above. the plate-shaped detection arrangement has a surface 1 for placing the stored items on it and stands on four feet 2 , to which weight sensors 6 are assigned. four weight sensors 6 , to which weighing electronics are assigned, are used in the embodiment shown. the values of the weight sensors 6 are added by the weighing electronics or further processed as required. the illustrated embodiment is designed in a flat manner, but it should be emphasized that this is only one of many variants. thus, it is also conceivable to form the detection arrangement like a box, which can be filled with stored items. on one side, the detection arrangement has a light source 4 in the form of an led strip, which can be switched on or made to blink, for example, when a detection signal is received by the detection arrangement. in addition, on the side opposite the light source 4 , there is a connection 5 for a power supply and/or data line. on the same side there is a further sensor 7 in the form of an rfid recognition sensor in the middle of the detection arrangement. if the measured values of the weight sensors 6 change, this is registered and evaluated by the weighing electronics and, if a minimum value is exceeded, a corresponding signal is sent to the other sensor 7 , which detects an rfid transmitter on the item to be weighed or on its packaging, envelope or pallet. ideally, the item to be weighed should be placed on the scale in such a way that the rfid transmitter is close to the rfid recognition sensor 7 .
|
042-828-102-584-662
|
CL
|
[
"JP",
"CO",
"IL",
"CL",
"US",
"PE",
"MX",
"WO"
] |
G01V1/00,G08B21/10,G08B21/00,G08B31/00,G01V1/22
| 2018-07-24T00:00:00 |
2018
|
[
"G01",
"G08"
] |
system and method for warning of the estimated arrival time and expected intensity in a particular area, caused by a seismic movement
|
the present invention relates to a method and system of warning of estimated time of arrival and expected intensity in a given area resulting from a seismic movement, which comprises a plurality of measurement elements or monitoring stations configuring a network of measurement elements, said method comprising the steps of: arranging the plurality of measurement elements in a specific area; communicating each of the measuring elements with at least one common point or control center; storing in each measuring element an identifier that will uniquely identify the same within the network of monitoring stations; transforming by means of the measuring element the measurement of the movement to a scalar or set of scalars representing the intensity of the movement; transmitting periodically and in real time the measurement and the unique identifier thereof to the control center for the duration of the movement; recording through the control center the individualized measurements from each of the monitoring stations; verifying through the control center if the received measurement corresponds to an actual earthquake or a mechanical noise; designating a destination point; determining the expected intensity and expected arrival time; automatically dispatching an earthquake early warning to the destination point.
|
1 . a method of warning of estimated time of arrival and expected intensity in a given area resulting from a seismic movement, said method using a system comprising a plurality of measurement elements or monitoring stations configuring a network of measurement elements, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a. arranging the plurality of measurement elements in a specific area or coverage area, which corresponds to the geographic region delimited by perimeter monitoring stations; b. communicating each of the measuring elements with at least one common point or control center; c. storing in each measuring element an identifier that will uniquely identify the same within the network of monitoring stations, having the ability to detect and measure the movement it experiences; d. transforming by means of the measuring element the measurement of the movement to a scalar or set of scalars representing the intensity of the movement; e. transmitting periodically and in real time the measurement and the unique identifier thereof to the control center, generating an individualized measurement, for the duration of the movement experienced by each measurement element until the measurement element does not experience any movement; f. recording through the control center the individualized measurements from each of the monitoring stations; g. verifying through the control center if the received measurement corresponds to an actual earthquake or a mechanical noise; h. designating a destination point to the geographic location where an earthquake early warning message is to be delivered, which is within the coverage area of the monitoring station network; i. determining the expected intensity and expected arrival time at the destination point by comparing the measurement recorded from a monitoring station with historical intensity and arrival time records at the control center from an initial station, which is part of a set of monitoring stations or initial swarm; j. in the event that a historical record coincides with the initial swarm of the new earthquake in progress, the geo-referenced location of the destination point to which the alert is to be sent shall be considered, searching the records for the monitoring station ( 1 ) closest to the location of the destination point of interest; and k. automatically dispatching an earthquake early warning to the destination point, where the warning signal will have as parameters the expected time of arrival and the expected intensity. 2 . the method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the control center corresponds to an automatic logical entity, which has data storage and processing capacity, and comprises at least one or more data servers that may be physically located in the same place or geographically distributed in different locations. 3 . the method according to claim 1 , characterized in that when recording each measurement, the control center also records the time said measurement is received, including the date, hour, minute, second, millisecond and microsecond of reception, thus defining a time stamp. 4 . the method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the monitoring stations are logically associated in sets of geographically close stations or swarms of stations. 5 . the method according to claim 4 , characterized in that a swarm of stations comprises n monitoring stations ( 1 ), wherein n>1. 6 . the method according to claim 5 , characterized in that each swarm of stations comprises a unique identifier, which is represented within the control center, where the swarm identifier and the identifiers of the monitoring stations grouped therein are recorded. 7 . the method according to claim 6 , characterized in that the same monitoring station may belong to more than one swarm. 8 . the method according to claim 7 , characterized in that in order to verify if the measurement corresponds to a real earthquake, t is defined as a predetermined and particular time window for each swarm of stations. 9 . the method according to claim 8 , characterized in that a telluric phenomenon is defined as real if m stations of a given swarm (wherein 1<m<=n) report similar measurements to the control center within the time window t. 10 . the method according to claim 9 , characterized in that the maximum distance at which two monitoring stations belonging to the same swarm x a and x b can be located from each other is such that the time elapsed since x a detects a real telluric movement and x b detects the same movement is less than t. 11 . the method according to claim 9 , characterized in that the minimum distance at which x a and x b may be located is such that the same mechanical noise of a non-telluric nature will be measured by x a at a value much higher (l a ) or much lower than the measurement of the same movement made by x b (l b ). 12 . the method according to claim 1 , characterized in that in the step of recording the measurement through the control center, the measurement is recorded in tables so as to determine the expected intensity and the estimated time of arrival. 13 . a system of warning of estimated time of arrival and expected intensity in a given area resulting from a seismic movement, comprising a plurality of measuring elements or monitoring stations that form a network of measuring elements, characterized in that it further comprises at least one common point or control center that communicates with each of the measuring elements, and at least one destination point at the geographic location where it is desired to deliver an earthquake early warning message, which is within the coverage area of the network of monitoring stations. 14 . the system according to claim 13 , characterized in that the monitoring stations are logically associated in sets of geographically close stations or swarms of stations. 15 . the system according to claim 14 , characterized in that a swarm of stations comprises n monitoring stations ( 1 ), wherein n>1. 16 . the system according to claim 15 , characterized in that each swarm of stations comprises a unique identifier, which is represented within the control center, where the swarm identifier and the identifiers of the monitoring stations grouped therein are recorded. 17 . the system according to claim 16 , characterized in that the same monitoring station may belong to more than one swarm.
|
field of application the present invention belongs to the area of the communications industry; particularly, it corresponds to a system and method for early warning and reporting the probable intensity and estimated time of arrival of a seismic wave at a given location. background of the invention a yet unsolved problem is the possibility of predicting the occurrence of an earthquake, particularly the intensity range it will be involved in a specific zone, and the time it will take to reach that zone from the fracture point. there are currently only three seismic early-warning systems worldwide, which have any real application: mexico, japan and taiwan. these systems are different in their implementation; however, they are based on the same principle: seismic waves propagate, i.e., they come from a source (the hypocenter) and travel towards the periphery of the hypocenter at a relatively slow speed. if sensors are located geographically close to the point of origin of the earthquake, as soon as they detect the movement, the information is automatically communicated to a control center, which processes the data and transmits an alert to the relevant geographical areas, all at the speed of telecommunications, which is much faster than the propagation speed of seismic waves. for example, the earthquake of feb. 27, 2010, was felt in santiago de chile approximately 2 minutes after the onset thereof in the biobio region. the earthquake of sep. 16, 2015, was felt in santiago approximately 1 minute after the onset thereof in canela baja, coquimbo region. the japanese and taiwanese systems are essentially the same. a plurality of sensors reports their measurements constantly, whether an earthquake takes place or not. a powerful control center analyzes the data from each sensor in real time and determines if the readings represent an earthquake. as soon as the threat is identified, the probable magnitude of the earthquake is calculated and a relevant geographic radius is alerted. the alert is transmitted through the digital television system (japan). in mexico, seismic activity is concentrated on the coast of the state of guerrero, while the greatest damage caused by this activity is located in the federal district of mexico, more than 300 km away. therefore, the mexican model requires a reduced number of sensors in comparison to the ones of the asian cases. furthermore, the alert is propagated through a network of radio antennas to mexico city. the warning-signal receiving devices are radio sets tuned to one of the frequencies intended for this purpose. compared to the previous cases, chile has the worst conditions in the world, since seismic activity is spread over a large geographical area, close to industrial and residential centers. accordingly, chile requires an ad-hoc, exceptionally efficient and reliable solution. therefore, in the context of a seismic early-warning system, the fact of determining that the involved phenomenon is an actual earthquake and not some other mechanical phenomenon is crucial to generate a real warning that allows maintaining public reliability in the system. transmitting a false warning is as bad as not transmitting a warning when facing an actual earthquake. on the other hand, the longer it takes for an automatic system to dispatch an alert, the less effective it will be. for example, in the taiwanese system each sensor in the network transmits its motion readings (the waveform of the perceived motion) continuously and in real time, whether there is motion or not. for this same reason, the control center must continuously process the readings from all the sensors in the network to determine if an earthquake is starting in any region of the country or in the ocean. in addition, the sensors are logically grouped into so-called “sub-networks”. as soon as the control center detects movement coming from the readings of any sensor of the network, a procedure is initiated, in which the readings of all the sensors of the corresponding sub-network are recorded for ten seconds so as to process the respective waveforms and determine—by extrapolation, the magnitude of the detected earthquake. likewise, it is used to estimate the earthquake hypocenter by means of triangulation by time of arrival. with this data, a determination is made as to whether to produce an alert or not, and to which area it should be transmitted. other solutions related to early-warning systems have been described in the state of the art. for example, u.s. pat. no. 4,152,691 describes a system of seismic exploration, which eliminates the requirement for a main land cable to transmit seismic data from the sensors to a central recorder. the system includes: a data acquisition unit for collecting seismic information; and a master control and collecting unit for transmitting signals. each data acquisition unit includes its own controller, sensor group, analog to digital converter, signal conditioner data recorder, and radio frequency receiver. on the other hand, document us2008080310 describes a system and method for acquiring seismic data, which utilizes a plurality of field station (data acquisition), placed over a region of interest and a remote central unit. the system and method determine a condition associated with preselected attributes relating to the acquisition of the seismic data at each of the field station units. this condition allows the generation of messages at each field station, when the condition of any particular attribute meets a selected criterion and transmitting the generated messages to a wireless remote unit. the central unit recognizes the location of each sensor using a gps system. jp2006331150 relates to a system and method for preventing disasters, wherein the seismic intensity value measured by at least one local sensor is transmitted to a real-time operating controller. if the measured seismic intensity value transmitted from the sensor is equal or superior to a specified reference value, the controller automatically accesses a disaster prevention information center through the internet, in order to acquire disaster information, such as epicenter, magnitude and seismic intensity at each location. subsequently, the acquired disaster information is displayed on a display screen. the location of the sensors is pre-detailed in the controller. u.s. pat. no. 7,656,288 describes a system for data communications within a remote sensor system. the system includes a control center node. the control center is adapted to receive data, process the data based on a rule (threshold), and notify a user when the rule is satisfied. the central control comprises a gps database, where the location of each sensor is determined. another solution is posed by us20100169021, which describes an apparatus, system, and method for a communication network that includes a wireless terminal and a central unit. the wireless terminal is configured to receive potential seismic data from a plurality of sensors, analyze said potential seismic data, determine whether an occurrence of an actual seismic event is sufficiently probable, and generate a potential seismic event message configured to indicate a potential occurrence of a seismic event. the central unit is configured to receive the potential seismic event message from the wireless terminal, analyze the potential seismic event message, determine whether a seismic event has occurred, and generate a seismic event message. the central unit has recorded the locations of the sensors by gps. cn105843146 discloses seismic station equipment management system. the seismic station equipment management system comprises an equipment data redundancy backup unit, which provides two kinds of backup modes: one is a working mode for automatically reading data of an internal storage device of the seismic station equipment at fixed time, and the other one is a working mode for reading and storing data collected currently by the seismic station equipment in real time. the system further comprises a remote data searching and downloading unit, which is used for supporting a station center to search and download the observation data of a seismic station; and a control unit, which is used for controlling the equipment data redundancy backup unit and the remote data searching and downloading unit according to a control instruction of the station center, and is used for carrying out diagnosis on the observation data of the seismic station equipment, and carrying out alarming or restarting when abnormity appears. the system provides guarantee for keeping of the collected data of the seismic station. cn106530655 discloses a network transmission method used for seismic prospecting data wireless acquisition. the method is based on regional clustering, each cluster network is composed of seismic acquisition nodes, and a node network adopts a mesh network architecture based on the ieee 802.15.4 standard; the node network connecting with the cluster network in each cluster adopts an ad-hoc network architecture based on the arm-linux and ieee 802.11b/g standard. the innovation of regional clustering of a heterogeneous wireless network lies in the following aspects: the use of ieee 802.15.4 network structures in the clusters ensures the low speed transmission among the nodes in the clusters and the low power consumption, ieee 802.11b/g networks are adopted among the clusters, data among cluster heads of the clusters is transmitted at high speed and seismic data is gathered to a center control system. a wireless transmission system gets rid of the limitation of a conventional wired cable, the deployment of the collecting nodes is more convenient, the nodes are easy to expand and replace, and a large number of cable equipment, maintenance costs and manpower resources are saved. the problem with the existing systems—such as the ones described above, is that they do not provide in their warning signal the expected time for the earthquake to be perceived at the point where the alert is received, nor the intensity said earthquake will experience. the fact of not being able to estimate the expected time and intensity to be experienced in a given area may generate certain problems in the warning systems. in particular, the risk of an earthquake may be overestimated, and issuing a warning could be risky for the population or for a particular industry. accordingly, the required solution shall be adapted to complex seismicity conditions such as those of chile, while being exceptionally efficient and reliable. brief summary of the invention the present invention is related to a system and method of warning of the estimated time of arrival and expected intensity in a given area, as a result of a seismic movement. the system of the present invention is basically composed of a combination of a large number of intelligent sensors and a sophisticated seismic confirmation strategy, which allows generating alerts with very high levels of certainty in just milliseconds. the sensors intended for this function can measure both the velocity and the acceleration of the oscillatory motion (in three axes). each sensor processes the measurement and turns it into a seismic intensity value according to the tables published by the usgs 1 . only when this value reaches the configured threshold, the sensor makes the decision to report the event to a control center. the arrival of each new event allows a control center to compare the time at which each sensor reported, and the order in which they did so. this may or may not conform to a seismic propagation pattern. as soon as the threat is confirmed, the first alert is issued, which can be complemented with successive updates of the intensity that will be experienced locally, based on the intensity being measured by sensors near the source. for this reason, the system requires a large number of sensors to operate properly, but the costs of commercial seismic sensors are very restrictive for a project of this nature. 1 relationships between peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and modified mercalli intensity in california the use of the system of the present invention is mainly oriented to all those industries and institutions that can mitigate the effects of an earthquake by receiving an automatic preventive alert seconds or even minutes in advance. the type of actions that the involved institution can take upon receiving this alert are divided into two types: the ones aimed at protecting the physical integrity of people, and those directed to protect assets, specifically in those production processes, wherein a stopped machine or at a slower speed is less affected by the earthquake. some industry examples are: metallurgical industry, chemical industry, glass and plastic industry, bottling companies, power generation industry, warehouses, schools, universities, hospitals, subway trains, etc. description of the figures fig. 1 shows a diagram of the interaction between the monitoring stations and the control center according to one embodiment of the invention. fig. 2 shows a diagram of the network of monitoring stations distributed in a geographical area, according to one embodiment of the invention. fig. 3 shows a diagram of the distribution of swarms of stations distributed in a geographical area, according to one embodiment of the invention. fig. 4 shows a diagram of the distribution of swarms of intersecting stations distributed in a geographical area, according to one embodiment of the invention. fig. 5 shows a diagram of the detection of an actual earthquake, according to one embodiment of the invention. fig. 6 shows a diagram of the detection of a fake earthquake, according to one embodiment of the invention. detailed description of the invention the system ( 100 ) of the present invention comprises a plurality of measuring elements or monitoring stations ( 1 ) configuring a network ( 10 ) of measuring elements ( 1 ), wherein each of the measuring elements ( 1 ) is communicated to at least one common point or control center ( 2 ), as symbolically depicted in fig. 1 . the measurement elements ( 1 ) are arranged in a specific area or coverage area, which corresponds to the geographic region delimited by perimeter monitoring stations. each measuring element ( 1 ) stores an identifier that will uniquely identify the same within the network ( 10 ) of monitoring stations ( 1 ) having the ability to detect and measure the movement it experiences. the measuring element ( 1 ) can transform the measurement of the movement to a scalar or set of scalars representing the intensity of the movement. the measurement and its unique identifier are then transmitted in real time to the control center, thus generating an individualized measurement. for the duration of the movement of each measuring element ( 1 ), individual measurements will continue to be transmitted periodically to the control center ( 2 ). if a measuring element ( 1 ) is no longer moving, it will no longer transmit any measurements to the control center ( 2 ). in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the control center ( 2 ) corresponds to an automatic logical entity, which has data storage and processing capacity, and comprises at least one or more data servers that may be physically located in the same place or geographically distributed in different locations. the control center ( 2 ) receives and records the individualized measurements coming from each of the monitoring stations ( 1 ) of the system ( 100 ). by recording each measurement, the control center ( 2 ) also records the time at which it is received, including—to the extent possible, the date, hour, minute, second, millisecond, and microsecond of receipt. this record of time is called a time stamp. the time stamp shall be unique for each individualized measurement received from each monitoring station ( 1 ) of the system ( 100 ). the system ( 100 ) of the present invention requires the presence of a large number of monitoring stations ( 1 ), geographically distributed in the region to be monitored (see fig. 2 ). the higher the density of monitoring stations ( 1 ) in the system ( 100 ), the greater the effectiveness of functionality thereof. for the operation of the system ( 100 ) monitoring stations ( 1 ) are required to be logically associated in sets of geographically close stations or swarms of stations ( 11 ) (see fig. 3 ). a swarm of stations ( 11 ) comprises n monitoring stations ( 1 ), wherein n>1. each swarm of stations ( 11 ) comprises a unique identifier, which is represented within the control center ( 2 ), where the swarm identifier and the identifiers of the monitoring stations grouped therein are recorded. as this is a logical association, it is possible that the same monitoring station ( 1 ) may belong to more than one swarm ( 11 ) as shown in fig. 4 , where it can be seen that station 168 is part of swarm d and swarm f, for example. furthermore, the control center ( 2 ) has the capability to record the time stamp for all individualized measurements coming from the monitoring stations ( 1 ) of the system ( 100 ). in order to detect as early as possible an earthquake, differentiating it from another source of mechanical noise, the system ( 100 ) performs the following operations: t is defined as a predetermined and particular time window for each swarm of stations ( 11 ). the time window t will have certain restrictions that will be detailed hereinafter. in order to conclude that a real telluric phenomenon is taking place, it will suffice that m stations of a given swarm ( 11 ) (being 1<m<=n) report similar measurements to the control center ( 2 ) within the time window t. m will be a function of the number of monitoring stations ( 1 ) of the respective swarm ( 11 ). being x i the swarm monitoring stations, where 0<i<=n. being x a and x b any two stations in the swarm so as to the maximum distance at which they can be located from each other is such that the time elapsed since x a detects a real telluric movement and x b detects the same movement is less than t. likewise, the minimum distance at which x a and x b may be located is such that the same mechanical noise of a non-telluric nature will be measured by x a at a value much higher (l a ) or much lower than the measurement of the same movement made by x b (l b ). in particular, if x a perceives a noise of non-telluric origin, x b will not perceive it and vice versa, as shown in figs. 5 and 6 . in order for the system ( 100 ) to determine the expected intensity and expected time of arrival, the destination point is designated as the geographic location where an earthquake early-warning message is to be delivered. in addition, the destination point shall be within the coverage area of the monitoring station network ( 10 ). arrival time is further defined as the measured time it takes for seismic waves to propagate from the point on the surface where they were detected by the network of monitoring stations ( 10 ) and the destination point during a historical seismic event. expected arrival time is defined as the time it should take for seismic waves to propagate from the point on the surface where they were detected by the network of monitoring stations ( 10 ) and the destination point during a new seismic event that is in progress. expected intensity will be defined as the intensity that the destination point is expected to experience during an earthquake. in the system ( 100 ) of the present invention, each time an earthquake occurs in the region of location of the network of monitoring stations ( 10 ), the individualized measurements are recorded in the control center ( 1 ) along with their respective time stamp. it is known that the displacement velocity of telluric waves depends on the geology between the point of origin of the earthquake (hypocenter) and the point of destination (on the surface). similarly, the change in seismic intensity between the point of origin of the earthquake measured on the surface, and the point of destination will vary depending on the geology of the land through which the telluric waves have to pass, and depending on the energy released by the seismic event. in the system ( 100 ) of the present invention it is possible to record the historical behavior of seismic wave propagation through the network of monitoring stations ( 10 ). considering that the network of monitoring stations ( 10 ) involves a suffice density, it is possible to construct the following tables that will be used to determine both the estimated time of arrival and the expected intensity. tables of historical intensities by origin each time an earthquake is recorded, it is followed by a series of tremors known as aftershocks, which usually take place in a volumetric zone close to the hypocenter. this feature of large earthquakes—as well as the fact that in most cases earthquakes at a given geographic point will occur at approximately the same depth, will be exploited in favor of the warning method of the present invention. in either case, each time an earthquake occurs, the monitoring station ( 1 ) that first detected the event will be known, which will be referred to as the initial station. in particular, the swarm to which the initial station belongs will also be known, and will be referred to as the initial swarm. this will allow the creation of a table called as table of historical intensities by origin, which will allow the initial swarm to be related to the rest of the monitoring stations in the network, showing how the intensity and arrival time behaved. for example, tables 1 and 2 are shown. these two tables correspond to a series of tables representing all swarms ( 11 ) of stations ( 1 ) that were once initial swarms for some historical earthquake. tables 1 and 2 are intended to represent that there will not be a historical record of all possible maximum intensities; however, in order to supplement the historical information, the effects of the missing maximum intensities for each origin could be interpolated or extrapolated, as the case may be, by means of some relevant function. thus, the tables would consist of historical information supplemented with inferred data. the proposed system ( 100 ) and method can be improved with each new seismic event that occurs, having more historical information that allows adjusting those data that have been initially inferred. tables of historical intensities by origin swarm bhistorical intensity (mm)monitoring stationarrival time (s)86543station 12263210station 21675400station 31175520station 4086543station 5086443station 61575332station 72174220station 82263000station 92163000station 103150000station 113240000station 124730000 swarm jhistorical intensity (mm)monitoring stationarrival time (s)975station 159500station 240500station 332620station 431640station 525652station 620753station 714864station 812974station 90975station 100975station 1110964station 1212853 the reason why only one column appears with the arrival time for each table is due to the propagation velocity of the seismic waves; therefore, the respective arrival time does not depend on the earthquake intensity. hence, every time a new earthquake occurs, the control center ( 2 ) will have to review its historical tables of intensities by origin. in the event that a table coincides with the initial swarm of the new earthquake in progress, the geo-referenced location of the destination point to which the alert is to be sent shall be considered, searching in said table the monitoring station ( 1 ) closest to the location of the destination point of interest. this cross-checking of data allows the control center ( 2 ) to automatically dispatch an earthquake early warning to the destination point, where the warning signal will have as parameters the expected time of arrival and the expected intensity.
|
043-098-147-903-940
|
AU
|
[
"WO",
"DE",
"EP",
"JP",
"US"
] |
F01L1/24,F01L9/10,F01L13/00,F02D13/02
| 1981-01-20T00:00:00 |
1981
|
[
"F01",
"F02"
] |
variable lift cam follower
|
a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves (1) of an internal combustion engine comprises a primary hydraulic cam follower (4) actuated by a primary cam (5), a secondary hydraulic cam follower (8) actuated by a secondary cam (7), a housing (18) for the secondary cam follower (8) adjustable about the axis of the secondary cam (7) so that the timing operation of the secondary cam follower (8) can be varied, characterised in that the bleed of hydraulic oil from the primary hydraulic cam follower (4) is controlled through the secondary cam follower (8) and thereby the rate and timing of lift of the primary cam follower (4) to thus give a variation of the time and rate of opening and duration of opening of the valves (1).
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the claims defining the invention are as follows:- 1. a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves of the internal combustion engine, the engine having a cam shaft and hydraulic cam followers characterised in that the bleed of hydraulic oil from the hydraulic cam follower is controlled through a secondary cam follower, the secondary cam follower operating in a housing adjustably rotatable about a secondary cam shaft. 2. a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves of an internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1 characterised in that the hydraulic cam follower has a body, a cam follower piston actuated directly by the cam shaft, a push rod piston spaced from the cam follower piston to form a chamber therein, means for feeding hydraulic fluid to said chamber, said chamber being hydraulically connected to said secondary cam follower to regulate the bleed from the said cam follower. 3. a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves of an internal combustion engine as defined in claim 2 characterised in that said secondar cam follower is actuated by a secondary cam shaft driven by said engine, said secondary cam follower having a body rotatable about the axis of said secondary cam shaft. 4. a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves of an internal combustion engine as defined in claim 3 characterised in that said secondary cam follower had a bleed passage, said bleed passage having an adjustable valve ther.ein. om7i 5. a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves of an internal combustion engine as defined in claim 2 characterised in that the means to feed hydraulic fluid to said chamber comprises a hydraulic pump, a line connecting said pump to a pressure valve block, said pressure valve block having an adjustable valve therein to regulate pressure to said cam follower. 6. a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves of an internal combustion engine as defined in claim 2 characterised in that the hydraulic connection to said chamber from said secondary cam follower comprises a flexible pressure line between said secondary cam follower and a connector block, and a hydraulic line from said connector block to said cam follower. 7. a mechanism for varying the lift and duration of lift of the valves of an internal combustion engine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
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"variable lift cam follower" this invention relates to hydraulic valves or hydraulic cam followers for internal combustion engines and more particularly relates to a cam follower in which a variable lift is provided to vary the opening of the valves of the internal combustion engine. in internal combustion engines the cam shafts are usually connected in operation to the tappets of the valves, or directly to the valve stems through means which compensate for wear, temperature and other differences which would increase the amount of slack between the tappet and the cam follower- according to a known method the tappets are operated by direct contact or through a push rod and rocker gear to a cam follower which is guided axially and positioned adjacent the cam so that it moves under the influence of the cam, spring loading being provided to return the cam follower after displacement to ensure that at all times it maintains contact with the cam. hydraulic cam followers are of two types, each however using a fluid such as oil to take up any slack in the action, the one type being actuated by engine oil and the other being self contained by having a sealed oil supply which takes up the necessary slack should it occur. the principle of operation is to have between the cam follower member and the push rod or valve stem, a member which is kept extended from the cam follower by oil pressure plus spring pressure between . the cam follower and this member, the arrangement however being such that over a time oil is drawn into the space between the cam follower and the inner end of the member which operates a tappet to fill this space so that when the cam pushes on the cam follower, because of the presence of oil which is sealed in this position, the cam follower and tappet member moves simultaneously. however during such motion some oil is expressed from the oil reservoir within the cam follower and the loss is replaced when the cam follower is stationary, either from engine supply or from a sealed reservoir forming a part of the cam follower assembly. then with these devices as used hereinbefore, motion of the cam follower is simply transmitted to the valve which it operates so that the cam follower moves the required distance such that proper opening and closing of the valve occurs. if is known also to provide a hydraulic cam follower to provide a fast lift or a high lift and in which the movement of the cam lobe itself is amplified hydraulically to give a greater movement of the valve or push rod, this . movement being greater than the actual lift of the cam itself. one form of such cam follower for actuating the valves of internal combustion engines and the like comprises a hollow cylindrical body closed at one end and slidably mounted on a sleeve fixed relative to the body, the hollow cylindrical body being formed as the cam follower to be in contact with the cam body itself. a piston is slidably mounted within the sleeve, the outer end of the piston being in engagement with the push rod, a chamber being defined between the inner end of the piston and the closed end of the body and containing hydraulic fluid. displacement of the body by the cam displaces the hydraulic fluid which moves the piston within the fixed sleeve to give the push rod a longer and quicker stroke than the stroke of the cam or body. however with internal combustion engines the valve timing is critical for the performance of the engine and thus if the valves are timed to give maxi-mum performance then due to the large period of overlap of the valves and the timing of the opening of the valves and closing of the valves in relation to the piston movement these engines are difficult to run at lower speeds and poor performance is achieved at lower speeds and light loads of the engine. conversely if the engine is timed to have a satisfactory performance at lower speeds and to be able to idle satisfactorily then the performance suffers a higher speeds and under higher loadings. thus it is an object of this invention to provide a means whereby the valve timing can be varied as desired. a further object of this invention is to provide a means whereby the valve timing can be ' varied automatic¬ ally depending upon the operating conditions of the engine. thus there is provided according to this invention a variable lift cam follower comprising a hydraulic cam follower, and means to vary the lift produced by the cam follower. in order to more fully describe the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which: fig. 1 is a schematic view of the invention, fig. 2 is a form of primary cam follower, fig. 3 is a vi «ew of part of the pump of secondary cam follower, fig. 4 is a view of the presssure-block, fig. 5 is an end view of the secondary cam follower and housing, fig. 6 is a'view of an alternate arrangement using a variable cam shaft only; and fig. 7 is a view of a connector block. referring to fig. 1, there is shown a diagramatic illustration of the invention as applied to one valve 1 of an internal combustion engine, which may be an exhaust valve or an inlet valve. the valve 1 is operated by a rocker arm 2 from a push rod 3 actuated by a primary cam follower 4 which is in contact with a primary cam 5 of the engine. as later described the primary cam follower 4 is fed by engine oil from the normal engine oil pump through inlet 6. a secondary cam 7 actuates a secondary cam follower 8 having a hydraulic piston connected by a flexible, line 9 to a connector block 10. the block 10 can be rigidly mounted on the engine and connected by hydraulic line 11 to the primary cam follower. a secondary oil pump 12 is driven by the engine and also supplies pressure oil to the primary cam follower 4 through lines 13 to pressure valve block 14 having an adjustable relief valve 15 to provide an oil relief passage 16. the pressure side of the valve block 14 is connected by a pressure line 17 to the primary cam follower 4. the housing 18 for the secondary cam follower 8 is adjustable about the axis of the secondary cam 7, so that the timing operation of the secondary cam follower 8 can be varied. as later explained this variation causes the variation of the rate and timing of lift of the primary cam follower 4 to thus give a variation of the time and rate of opening and duration of opening of the valve 1. the pump 12 draws its oil from a separate reservoir 19 into which the relief passage 16 feeds. the primary cam follower unit can be provided by a body 20 which is locked to the engine block or frame, the body being provided towards its lower end with a cam follower 21 forming a piston 22 operating in the body, a suitable seal 23 being provided between the piston portion 22 and the body portion 20. at its upper end the primary cam follower is provided with a push rod piston 24 having a socket 25 to receive the end of the push rod. this push rod piston 24 is provided with a through passage 26 so that oil can flov through this piston follower piston so that the push rod piston moves further than the cam follower piston to give an amplified movement to the valve gear. in order to vary the movement of the push rod piston 24, the leakage path which is required to the reservoir from between the two pistons is sealed by the seal 23 and this leakage can be controlled through line 11 connected to the secondary- cam follower 8 with the body of the secondary cam follower being able to be adjusted around the axis of the secondary cam shaft 7. thus the primary cam follower 4 has its piston sealed and is connected to a cylinder 36 and piston 37 in the secondary cam follower by tubing 11 to the connector block 10 that is mounted on the engine block and flexible tubing 9 to the secondary cam follower. the secondary cam shaft is preferably an identical shape to the primary cam shaft and is connected by chains or gears to the crank shaft or the primary cam shaft and is driven at the same speed as the primary cam shaft. the pistons in the secondary unit are spring loaded by spring 38 to the cam shaft 7 and control the leakage path through bleed hole 39 adjustable valve 40 and passage 41 to the reservoir 19. preferably this unit can be made in two separate units, the bodies 18 of which can partly revolve clockwise or anti-clockwise independently of each other about the secondary cam shaft. one body could have within its units all the secondary cam followers for all the exhaust valves and the other have all the secondarv cam followers for the inlet valves, these being in their respective firing orders. the two units are thus separated even though they are connected to the one cam shaft that # extends through the primary and secondary unit. the secondary cam follower pistons 37 may bear directly on the cam shaft 7 or alternatively as shown, the movement may be varied by a lever system shown, the lever 42 bearing on the cam shaft and also the piston whereby a lesser movement is obtained. this can preclude the formation of a special cam shaft and the conventional shaft for that particular engine may be used. the housings of the two units can be connected to their respective vacuum control units mounted on the engine block, and/or controlled by throttle openings, engine revolutions and tail shaft speeds or in the case of stationary engines to depend on the amount of load that is on the engine. in operation the valve 15 is adjusted to give the desired leakage rate of the oil from the secondary cam, and this leakage can be varied and set for a particular engine, and also for the desired lift of the valves. this is a controlled leakage path between piston 37 and sleeve 36 by accurate clearance. valve 15 is to maintain an even oil pressure from low revs to high revs of engine so as not to combine with inertia and other factors to bounce the valves. also this variation can be made to the engine depending upon whether the engine is desired to operate at a slow speed and smooth running, or whether it is desired to operate the engine at higher speeds with maximum performance. the movement of the block of the secondary cam follower can either be manually controlled, or as described being automatic in response to the engine condition that is one or more of the following, speed, manifold pressure, throttle opening, torque, gear ratio, etc. in an alternative embodiment the secondary cam follower need not have a ball valve therein, but the pressure fluid can be fed direct to the chamber between the pistons. also the feeder to the push rod may only open upon movement of the push rod piston uncovering of feed port. thus the unit can be used to obtain a high lift valve opening at a crucial time in relation to the piston movement. thus this control can be at the beginning of the inlet stroke where the cam is shaped to provide a gradual opening to prevent harsh pressures and wear.on the valve mechanisms, but retards the intake of the fuel air mixtures and also lowers the compression of the chambers. thus the valve movement in relation to the piston stroke is gradual opening to full opening at half completion of the stroke and then gradual closure to completion of the stroke. the cams on the variable unit can be timed and shaped to give greater opening at the beginning of the stroke and remaining open for the duration of the stroke and give full intake of the fuel air mixture. thus the valve can open quicker and remain open for a greater period of time. the exhaust valve timing can also be extended to prevent pressures or vacuums in the cylinders as desired by creating a greater valve overlap. the variable valve timing device main function is to reduce the intake capacity of the cylinders in relation to the throttle opening and the revolutions of the engine. both primary and secondary cams may be identical and be shaped to have an operating period of forty five degrees thus if both units are operating simultan¬ eously then the units would have half the openings at the lower end of the stroke of the piston to full stroke by rotating the housing in the other direction. at the same time the exhaust unit would prolong the opening to cover this period. in a further alternative the exhaust unit itself could be halved to provide two separate exhaust units and each of these are free to rotate independently of any other units. for example on a six cylinder engine, the first part of the unit would control three pistons and if the firing order of the engine were 1 5 3 6 2 4, the first unit would control pistons 1 3 and 2 and the second unit pistons 5 6 and 4. this would enable the motor to be cut back to a three cylinder engine either manually or automatically at a time when the load was minimum and the power was not needed. this would be by causing the exhaust valves to have a long period of stroke and thus a large overlap to thus cause the loading in the pistons to be reduced and become virtually ineffective. separate exhaust systems for 132 and 564 would be needed to stop flow of working cylinders into non working cylinders. the system on the exhaust valves could also be used for starting especially for heavy engines such as diesel engines where the exhaust valves could be controlled to stay open during the inlet stroke and most of the compression stroke to allow the starter motor to spin the motor to the required speed for starting. in a further embodiment, (fig. 6) the main or primary cam shaft need not be used, but the follower 45 is provided with a closed end outer member fixed to the engine block, or in the case of an overhead cam shaft engine, fitter and secured to the engine head adjacent the valve stem. the closed end follower 45 is supplied with oil from an oil feed 46, such as lubricating oil or from a separate oil supply. this supply being to the upper portion in a manner similar to the previous embodiments. a fluid passage or line 47 connects from the closed end follower to the follower on the auxilliary cam shaft 7 through the connector block 10 with oil also being supplied from the pressure valve block 14 through line 48 so that in this way the positioning of the auxilliary cam shaft, in relation to the valve gear or valves themselves is not critical. the follower 45 thus acts on the rocker arm 49 to control valve 1. in all of the embodiments, there is the controlled bleed from the correct operation of the valves, this bleed being necessay for the correct functioning of the valves. although the bleed has not been described in any detail, those skilled in the act will understand that the bleed is required for the operation of the valves utilising the invention. it will be realised also that the oil can be fed from the engine oil sump without utilising a separate pump. the separated pump is utilised when the invention is applied as a modification to existing engines, and if an engine is designed with the invention a single pump can be used. thus it will be seen that there is provided a relatively simple system which can be controlled either manually or automatically to vary the valve timing of the valves of an internal combustion engine so that the engine would run most efficiently at all speeds, this saving in fuel and also reducing the amount of pollutants passing out through the exhaust, gases. although one form of the invention has been described in some detail it is to be realised that the invention is not to be limited thereto but can include various modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.
|
043-222-872-183-398
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
H01M8/04
| 1998-08-20T00:00:00 |
1998
|
[
"H01"
] |
system and method for automatically providing fuel to a fuel cell in response to a power failure in a primary power system
|
the present invention provides, in one embodiment, a system for providing fuel to a backup electrical fuel cell. in this particular embodiment, the system includes a sealed fuel container having a pierceable membrane with a container seal associated therewith, an acerate tube proximate the pierceable membrane, and an actuator. the actuator is coupled to the acerate tube and automatically drives the acerate tube through the pierceable membrane to provide fluid communication from the fuel container to the fuel cell in response to a failure of a primary electrical power system. the container seal is configured to form a seal about the acerate tube when the acerate tube pierces the pierceable membrane to prevent unnecessary loss of fuel, such as methanol, from the container. in alternative embodiments, the system may also include the primary power system and a backup electrical fuel cell that is electrically coupled to the primary power system.
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1. a system for providing fuel to a backup electrical fuel cell, comprising: a sealed fuel container having a pierceable membrane with a container seal associated therewith; an acerate tube proximate said pierceable membrane; and an actuator, coupled to said acerate tube, that automatically drives said acerate tube through said pierceable membrane to provide fluid communication from said fuel container to said fuel cell in response to a failure of a primary electrical power system, said container seal configured to form a seal about said acerate tube when said acerate tube pierces said pierceable membrane. 2. the system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a controller that determines when said actuator drives said acerate tube. 3. the system as recited in claim 2 wherein said actuator is selected from the group consisting of: an electrical actuator, a mechanical actuator, and an electromechanical actuator. 4. the system as recited in claim 2 further comprising a sensor electrically coupled to said controller and configured to sense a fuel level within said fuel container and transmit a fuel signal to said controller, said controller causing said actuator to drive said acerate tube upon receiving said fuel level signal. 5. the system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sealed container contains methanol. 6. the system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sealed fuel container comprises a plurality of sealed fuel containers each having a pierceable membrane. 7. the system as recited in claim 6 further comprising an acerate tube proximate each of said pierceable membranes, each of said acerate tubes having an actuator coupled thereto that automatically drives said acerate tube through said pierceable membrane to provide fluid communication from each of said fuel containers to said fuel cell in response to a failure of said primary electrical power system. 8. the system as recited in claim 7 further comprising a controller that determines when each of said actuators drives each of said acerate tubes. 9. the system as recited in claim 8 wherein said actuator is selected from the group consisting of: an electrical actuator, a mechanical actuator, and an electromechanical actuator. 10. the system as recited in claim 6 wherein each of said plurality of containers includes a sensor electrically coupled to said controller and configured to sense a fuel level within said fuel container and transmit a fuel level signal to said controller, said controller causing one of said actuators to drive one of said acerate tubes upon receiving said fuel level signal. 11. the system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sealed fuel container further comprises a fuel sight gauge. 12. a method for providing fuel to a backup electrical fuel cell, comprising: automatically driving an acerate tube proximate a pierceable membrane of a sealed fuel container with an actuator coupled to said acerate tube; piercing said pierceable membrane with said acerate tube; forming a seal about said acerate tube during said piercing with a container seal associated with said pierceable membrane; and providing fluid communication from said fuel container to said fuel cell in response to a failure of a primary electrical power system. 13. the method as recited in claim 12 further comprising determining when said actuator drives said acerate tube with a controller. 14. the method as recited in claim 13 wherein said determining includes determining with a actuator selected from the group consisting of: an electrical actuator, a mechanical actuator, and an electromechanical actuator. 15. the method as recited in claim 13 further comprising: sensing a fuel level within said fuel container with a sensor electrically coupled to said controller; transmitting a fuel signal from said sensor to said controller; and causing said controller to cause said actuator to drive said acerate tube upon said controller receiving said fuel level signal. 16. the method as recited in claim 12 wherein said providing fluid communication includes providing methanol to said electrical fuel cell.
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technical field of the invention the present invention is directed, in general, to a system and method for providing fuel to a fuel cell and, more specifically, to a system and method for automatically providing fuel to a fuel cell in response to a power failure in a primary power system. background of the invention in our complex society today, numerous systems rely upon electrical power to function properly. under normal circumstances, operating power is provided by the commercial ac power distribution system for heat, air conditioning, traffic lights, cooking, telecommunications, etc. since many, if not all, major power distribution lines are located on poles or towers, a natural disaster, such as a tornado, hurricane, or blizzard, frequently causes the loss of commercial ac power. the failure of commercial ac power may constitute a significant danger to life or property depending upon the system impacted. for instance, failure of ac power supplying the lighting or air conditioning in a hospital or nursing home could readily result in loss of life. therefore, backup power systems have been developed to assure that the loss of primary power does not seriously affect critical systems. the one critical system most often taken for granted is the telecommunications system. significantly, when an emergency occurs, virtually everyone expects that telephone communications will remain unaffected. clearly, this is essential since it is through the telephone that we normally summon medical or rescue aid. therefore, because of this essential nature, the telecommunications system has been provided with a complex backup power system in the event of commercial ac power failure. traditionally, backup electricity for telecommunications has been achieved by dispersing batteries throughout the telecommunications system to power the necessary switches, amplifiers, etc., of the system. these batteries, amounting to millions worldwide, are located in special rooms, in enclosures atop telephone poles, or even atop mountains, depending upon the local system needs. these batteries may be in place for years before a power failure requires them. naturally, these batteries employ a very well understood and proven technology. however, the batteries require physical maintenance from time to time, and generally require a charging circuit to maintain them at a sufficiently charged state to perform their intended function. the power fraction, that is the power developed per unit of weight, is typically very low for lead-acid batteries because the components are inherently extremely heavy. additionally, the lead is very toxic and, when the batteries are no longer useable, must be properly recycled. in flooded cell batteries, the acid electrolyte is also a significant hazard to those who must service the batteries, or to anyone who comes in contact with them. the very nature of charging lead-acid batteries from the commercial power system causes gassing and consumes some of the water that is a part of the electrolyte solution, thereby necessitating service. in the case of valve-regulated lead-acid (vrla) batteries, including many types of "maintenance free" batteries, the electrolyte may not be serviceable and the batteries are permanently degraded. additionally, because battery life and capacity are dependent on ambient temperature, the state of the electrolyte chemistry, and the condition of the grids, it is difficult and expensive to predict the battery reserve power available at any given time. however, experience has shown that telecommunication grade vrla batteries in non-extreme environmental conditions exhibit a useful life of about four to five years, regardless of the manufacturer's claims. one alternative to batteries as a backup power source might be a generator powered by a liquid fuel. significantly, the power fraction for liquid fuels is many times higher than that of lead-acid batteries. such power generators for both ac and sc power generation are quite common; most are gasoline engine driven. gasoline however has several disadvantages for a backup power system that may not be needed for several years. gasoline is actually a mixture of several chemical compounds, each with its own volatility. over even a short period, the lighter (high volatility) compounds evaporate more quickly, leaving the heavier components behind. this fuel condition makes starting the engine more difficult; as the longer the fuel stands, or the warmer the ambient temperature is, more of the lighter compounds evaporate. also over time, the more complex organic compounds may break down into simpler compounds that are not as readily useable as fuel. while many liquid fuels are highly volatile and evaporate readily, one liquid fuel that is significantly more stable than gasoline is methanol (ch.sub.3 oh). among the organic compounds, methanol is one of the simplest compounds, and therefore does not break down into other components. although methanol will readily evaporate if left open to the atmosphere, it will remain stable for an extended period of time if kept in a well-sealed container. as with any system, liquid fuels have some drawbacks. in some respects, they are more difficult to handle and store than the typical battery, simply because they are liquid. measuring the fuel remaining involves measuring a liquid volume. because the fuel quantity is analog in nature, there are no readily established decision points for accomplishing a refueling. also, some type of a pumping capability must be provided to move the fuel to the generator. accordingly, what is needed in the art is a backup power system that takes advantage of the high power fraction of liquid fuels, methanol in particular, while providing: (a) an ease of handling the fuel, (b) elimination of fuel evaporation, (c) long shelf life fuel storage, (d) controlled quality of the liquid fuel, and (e) an easy decision point for refueling. summary of the invention to address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides, in one embodiment, a system for providing fuel to a backup electrical fuel cell, such as a generator. in this particular embodiment, the system includes a sealed fuel container having a pierceable membrane with a container seal associated therewith, an acerate tube proximate the pierceable membrane, and an actuator. the actuator is coupled to the acerate tube and automatically drives the acerate tube through the pierceable membrane to provide fluid communication from the fuel container to the fuel cell in response to a failure of a primary electrical power system. the container seal is configured to form a seal about the acerate tube when the acerate tube pierces the pierceable membrane to prevent unnecessary loss of fuel, such as methanol, from the container. in alternative embodiments, the system may also include the primary power system and a backup electrical fuel cell that is electrically coupled to the primary power system. thus, this particular embodiment, provides a system that automatically provides fuel to a fuel cell in response to a failure of a primary electrical power system. as a primary electrical power system, such as a telecommunications power system, fails the present system senses the failure and automatically delivers fuel to a fuel cell, such as a generator, so that it, in turn, can provide an alternate source of electricity until the primary electrical power system is fully restored. the present invention, therefore, eliminates the need for constant servicing and maintenance that is typically required of conventional back-up power systems, such as batteries. in one particular embodiment, the system further comprises a controller that determines when the actuator drives the acerate tube. the actuator may be a variety of mechanical or electrical devices such as an electrical controller, a mechanical controller, or an electromechanical controller. in another aspect, the system may further comprise a sensor that is electrically coupled to the controller and configured to sense a fuel level within the fuel container and transmit a fuel signal to the controller. in such instances, the controller causes the actuator to drive the acerate tube upon receiving the fuel level signal. in another embodiment the sealed fuel container may comprise a plurality of sealed fuel containers each having a pierceable membrane. in such embodiments, the system further comprises an acerate tube proximate each of the pierceable membranes. this particular embodiment includes an embodiment where only one acerate tube is present in the system that can be automatically positioned, when needed, proximate each of the pierceable membranes. in those embodiments wherein there is a plurality of acerate tubes, each of the acerate tubes has an actuator coupled thereto that automatically drives the acerate tube through the pierceable membrane to provide fluid communication from each of the fuel containers to the fuel cell in response to a failure of the primary electrical power system. alternatively, however, in those embodiments where just one acerate tube is present, only one actuator may be required to insert the acerate tube through the pierceable membrane. in another aspect of this particular embodiment, the system may further comprise a controller that determines when each of the actuators drives each of the acerate tubes. in alternative embodiments, the system may include a plurality of such controllers. the system may further include a sensor, electrically coupled to the controller, that is configured to sense a fuel level within the fuel container and transmit a fuel level signal to the controller. again, the controller causes one of the actuators to drive one of the acerate tubes upon receiving the fuel level signal. as in other embodiments described above, the actuator may be an electrical controller, a mechanical controller, or an electromechanical controller. the present invention also provides a method for providing fuel to a backup electrical fuel cell. an advantageous method includes automatically driving an acerate tube proximate a pierceable membrane of a sealed fuel container with an actuator coupled to the acerate tube, piercing the pierceable membrane with the acerate tube, forming a seal about the acerate tube with a container seal associated with the pierceable membrane when the acerate tube pierces the membrane, and providing fluid communication from the fuel container to the fuel cell in response to a failure of a primary electrical power system. the foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. brief description of the drawings for a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 illustrates an isometric view of one embodiment of a liquid fuel storage and delivery system constructed according to the principles of the present invention; fig. 2 illustrates a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the liquid fuel storage and delivery system of fig. 1; fig. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the liquid fuel storage and delivery system of fig. 2; and fig. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the liquid fuel storage and delivery system of fig. 3. detailed description referring initially to fig. 1, illustrated is an isometric view of one embodiment of a liquid fuel storage and delivery system constructed according to the principles of the present invention. the liquid fuel storage and delivery system, generally designated 100, comprises a sealed fuel container 110, an acerate tube 120, and an actuator 130. in one embodiment, the fuel container 110 comprises a protective carton 111, a flexible bladder 112, a container seal 113, and a fuel sight gauge 115. the protective carton 111 may be manufactured of any suitable rigid material, e.g., heavy cardboard, plastic, hardboard, etc., which offers the desired degree of protection to the bladder 112 and its contents during shipping, handling, and storage. in one embodiment, the interior of the protective carton 111 may be communicated with ambient air pressure so that the fuel will flow out of the bladder 112 due to air pressure. in an alternative embodiment, a positive fuel head may be provided by a pressure bleed conduit taken from a pressure source, e.g., the pressure stage of a microturbine 140 to be described below, and fed into the cavity 114 between the bladder 112 and the inside of a sealed protective carton. it should be noted that such a pressure source is available during starting even before the microturbine or engine is running. in yet another embodiment, the cavity 114 between the bladder 112 and the inside of the sealed protective carton 111 of the previous embodiment may be factory-pressurized with a suitable gas to provide a positive flow of fuel. in yet another alternative embodiment, the protective carton 111 may comprise a rigid shape with an integral, impermeable, pierceable membrane that is internally factory-pressurized with a gas. one who is skilled in the art will recognize that the shape and size of the protective carton 111 may vary, or may even be absent, and is not a limiting factor of the present invention. in one advantageous embodiment, the flexible bladder 112 comprises an impermeable, pierceable membrane containing a liquid fuel, such a plastic-based or metalized film. in the illustrated embodiment, the container seal 113 is a flexible, rubber-like circular mass assembled by any suitable means, e.g., adhesive, thermoforming, etc., to the flexible bladder 112. one who is skilled in the art will readily recognize that the container seal 113 may also be any or all of: (a) integral to and formed of the same material as the flexible bladder 112, (b) manufactured of any material acceptable for the intended purpose, and (c) of any appropriate shape. in one particularly advantageous embodiment, the liquid fuel within the bladder 112 is methanol. in one advantageous embodiment, the fuel sight gauge 115 may be fluidly coupled to the bladder 112, providing a visual indication of fuel remaining within the container 110. to ease the decision making of replacing an "empty" container, a mark 116 may be inscribed on the container 110 or fuel sight gauge 115 to indicate a fuel level below which the container is considered empty. in this embodiment, a colorant may be added to the colorless methanol, if necessary, to show the remaining fuel level. one who is skilled in the art will readily envision other methods of determining fuel remaining within the container 110. in the illustrated embodiment, the acerate tube 120 is proximate the bladder 112 and the container seal 113. the acerate tube 120 is in fluid connection with a fuel control mechanism 145 of a microturbine 140 by a flexible conduit 125. the acerate tube 120 is configured to be driven by the actuator 130 into the bladder 112. in one embodiment, the actuator 130 is a mechanical, spring-loaded device that holds the acerate tube 120 away from the container seal 113 so long as commercial electrical power is applied to a primary electrical power distribution system 150. upon commercial power failure, the acerate tube 120 is released, and the spring-loaded device drives the acerate tube 120 through the permeable membrane of the bladder 112. as the acerate tube 120 passes through the container seal 113, the flexible container seal 113 constricts about the acerate tube 120 and prevents air or liquid from leaking around the acerate tube 120. with the opening of the acerate tube 120 within the bladder 112 and in contact with the fuel, the methanol fuel flows under ambient air pressure through a flexible conduit 125 to the microturbine 140 or other electrical generating device, such as a fuel cell. the electrical output of the microturbine 140 is electrically connected to the electrical power distribution system 150. when provided with fuel, the microturbine 140 starts and powers the electrical power distribution system 150. one who is skilled in the art is familiar with methods for starting a microturbine 140. in a particularly advantageous embodiment the electrical power distribution system 150 supplies power to a telecommunications system, however, one who is skilled in the art will readily identify other applications. referring now to fig. 2, illustrated is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the liquid fuel storage and delivery system of fig. 1. in the illustrated embodiment, a liquid fuel storage and delivery system 200 comprises a plurality of fuel containers 210a-210e, a corresponding plurality of acerate tubes 220a-220e, a corresponding plurality of actuators 230a-230e, and a controller 260. the operation and function of the plurality of acerate tubes 220a-220e, actuators 230a-230e, and fuel containers 210a-210e are analogous to the acerate tube 120, actuator 130, and fuel container 110, respectively, of fig. 1. although the system 200 is described with five fuel containers 210a-210e, one who is skilled in the art will recognize that analogous systems may be constructed to employ a quantity of fuel containers ranging in number from a single container to n containers while remaining within the scope of the present invention. in this embodiment, any empty container 210a-210e may be removed and replaced with a new, sealed container while the fuel cell 140 is running on fuel from a different container 210. because the containers 210a-210e remain sealed until needed, the hazard of fire during refueling is significantly reduced. in a particularly advantageous embodiment, the controller 260 is connected to: the primary electrical power distribution system 150, the actuators 230a-230e, and a fuel level sensor 270. the fuel level sensor 270 is proximate the fuel containers 210a-210e so as to be able to measure and manage the fuel remaining in each container 210a-210e. in one embodiment, the fuel level sensor 210 may be a plurality of strain gauges or a segmented electronic scale that provides a quantity for each individual fuel container 210a-210e to the controller 260. one who is skilled in the art will readily conceive of other methods by which the fuel status may be ascertained. in one embodiment, the controller 260 is an electrical controller that electrically monitors the power status of the primary power distribution system 150 and the fuel remaining in the fuel containers 210a-210e so as to operate an appropriate actuator 230a-230e when primary electrical power fails. the controller 260 may also selectively operate a plurality of valves 233a-233e that control fuel flow to the microturbine 140 and limit fuel loss through evaporation into empty fuel containers. to provide for long term primary power outages, the system 200 may employ multiple fuel containers 210a-210e as shown. as each fuel container approaches empty, the controller 260 selects an unused fuel container to provide uninterrupted fuel to a microturbine 140. alternatively, a plurality of fuel containers 210a-210e may be employed at remote sites to provide power in the event of multiple power failures over an extended period of time, e.g., several years, without an urgent need to replace expended fuel containers. one who is skilled in the art will readily recognize that alternative embodiments employing mechanical or electromechanical controllers are clearly within the scope and intent of the present invention. in yet another alternative embodiment, the controller 260 may also comprise a microprocessor that monitors the total fuel remaining and automatically sends an alert message to an attendant if the fuel level falls below a required minimum. also, one who is skilled in the art will recognize that the controller 260 of the described system 200 may be capable of distinguishing and tracking the fuel quantity within each container 210a-210e so as to compensate for an unexpectedly, empty container. referring now to fig. 3, illustrated is an alternative embodiment of the liquid fuel storage and delivery system of fig. 2. in the illustrated embodiment, a liquid fuel storage and delivery system 300 comprises a plurality of fuel containers 310a-310e, an acerate tube 320, an actuator 330, a controller 360, a positioner 380, and a positioning rail 390. the operation and function of the controller 360 and fuel containers 310a-310e are analogous to the controller 260 and fuel containers 210a-210e of fig. 2. upon determination of a need for fuel, the controller 360: (a) selects a fuel container 310a-310e to provide fuel for the microturbine 140, (b) commands the positioner 380 to move the actuator 330 and the acerate tube 320 proximate the selected fuel container 310a-310e along the positioning rail 390, and (c) commands the actuator 330 to drive the acerate tube 320 to puncture the bladder of the selected fuel container 310a-310e. although the illustrated embodiment details an electromechanical system, one who is skilled in the art will readily envision alternative methods of positioning the actuator 330 and acerate tube 320. referring now to fig. 4, illustrated is an alternative embodiment of the liquid fuel storage and delivery system of fig. 3. in the illustrated embodiment, a liquid fuel storage and delivery system 400 comprises a plurality of fuel containers 410a-410e, an acerate tube 420, an actuator 430, and a controller 460. the operation and function of the controller 460 and fuel containers 410a-410e are analogous to the controller 360 and fuel containers 310a-310e of fig. 3. upon determination of the first need for fuel, the controller 460 commands the actuator 430 to advance the acerate tube 420 sufficiently to puncture the bladder of the first fuel container 410a, positioning the opening in the acerate tube 420 within the bladder. upon determination of a second need for fuel, the controller 460 commands the actuator 430 to advance the acerate tube 420 through the remaining wall of the bladder in the first fuel container 410a and sufficiently beyond to puncture the bladder of the second fuel container 410b. each successive fuel container 410c-410e may be accessed in a similar manner. although the illustrated embodiment details an electromechanical system, one who is skilled in the art will readily envision alternative methods of positioning the actuator 430 and acerate tube 420. from the foregoing, it is readily apparent that the present invention provides a system for providing fuel to a backup electrical fuel cell. the system preferably includes a scaled fuel container having a pierceable membrane with a container seal associated therewith, an acerate tube proximate the pierceable membrane, and an actuator. the actuator is coupled to the acerate tube and automatically drives the acerate tube through the pierceable membrane to provide fluid communication from the fuel container to the fuel cell in response to a failure of a primary electrical power system. the container seal is configured to form a seal about the acerate tube when the acerate tube pierces the pierceable membrane to prevent unnecessary loss of fuel, such as methanol, from the container. in alternative embodiments, the system may also include the primary power system and a backup electrical fuel cell that is electrically coupled to the primary power system. although the present invention has been described in detail, those skilled in the art should understand that they can make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.
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043-934-476-605-195
|
US
|
[
"WO",
"US",
"CA",
"EP",
"JP"
] |
A61F5/44,A61B10/00,A61F2/00,A61F5/451,A61F5/455,B01L3/00,A61B8/12,G01N1/10
| 2020-02-24T00:00:00 |
2020
|
[
"A61",
"B01",
"G01"
] |
female urinary diagnostic device
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a female urinary diagnostic device including a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening, a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening, and an internal baffle that defines an interior wall of the urine stream collection container that provides a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device, where the spillway provides urine passage to the urine sensing device and a collection tank, wherein the internal baffle forms at least a portion of the probe guide passage and defines a sounding probe guide surface that positions a sounding probe within the vaginal opening.
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claims 1. a female urinary diagnostic device comprising: a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening; a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening; and an internal baffle that defines an interior wall of the urine stream collection container that provides a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device, where the spillway provides urine passage to the urine sensing device and a collection tank, wherein the internal baffle forms at least a portion of the probe guide passage and defines a sounding probe guide surface that positions a sounding probe within the vaginal opening. 2. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the sounding probe guide surface positions the sounding probe against a wall of the vaginal opening. 3. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the interior wall has an anterior surface forming the spillway, and a posterior surface, opposite the anterior surface that forms the sounding probe guide surface within the probe guide passage. 4. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the interior wall substantially surrounds at least part of the probe guide passage. 5. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the interior wall is disposed around the probe guide passage so that the stream collection opening and the discharge opening of the urine stream collection container are on opposite sides of the probe guide passage. 6. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the discharge opening is located below the probe guide passage. 7. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the urine stream collection container has a viewing aperture through which placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening is observed. 8. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface configured for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous interior engagement of the probe guide passage with the vaginal opening for placement of the sounding probe in a predetermined position. 9. a method of performing a vaginal diagnostic procedure and discharging urine with a female urinary diagnostic device comprising: providing a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening; effecting placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening with a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening; providing an internal baffle that defines an interior wall of the urine stream collection container, the internal baffle forming at least a portion of the probe guide passage, the internal baffle providing a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening, the spillway cooperating with at least a urine sensing device to provide urine passage to the urine sensing device and a collection tank; and positioning a sounding probe within the vaginal opening via a sounding probe guide surface defined by the internal baffle forming at least a portion of the probe guide passage. 10. the method of claim 9, further comprising positioning, with the sounding probe guide surface, the sounding probe against a wall of the vaginal opening. 11. the method of claim 9, wherein the interior wall has an anterior surface forming the spillway, and a posterior surface, opposite the anterior surface that forms the sounding probe guide surface within the probe guide passage. 12. the method of claim 9, wherein the interior wall substantially surrounds at least part of the probe guide passage. 13. the method of claim 9, wherein the interior wall is disposed around the probe guide passage so that the stream collection opening and the discharge opening of the urine stream collection container are on opposite sides of the probe guide passage. 14. the method of claim 9, wherein the discharge opening is located below the probe guide passage. 15. the method of claim 9, wherein the urine stream collection container has a viewing aperture through which placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening is observed. 16. the method of claim 9, wherein at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface, the method further comprising positioning, with the integrated interface, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous engaging an interior of the vaginal opening with the probe guide passage for placement of the sounding probe in a predetermined position. 17. a female urinary diagnostic device comprising: a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening; a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening; and a common wall, joining the probe guide passage and the urine stream collection container and isolating the probe guide passage from the urine stream collection container, wherein the common wall provides a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device coupled to the urine stream collection container to sense flow from the discharge opening; wherein the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage, and wherein the probe guide passage is configured so as to receive a sounding probe through the probe guide passage and position the sounding probe in a predetermined position relative to a wall of the vagina. 18. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 17, wherein the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage so that the at least part of the probe guide passage is defined by the urine stream collection container. 19. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 17, wherein at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface configured for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous interior engagement of the probe guide passage with the vaginal opening for placement of the sounding probe in the predetermined position. 20. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 19, wherein the common wall forms part of the edge of the stream collection opening. 21. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 17, wherein at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface configured for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and interior engagement of the probe guide passage with the vaginal opening to provide substantially simultaneous isolated passages respectively for passing a urine stream via the spillway to the urine sensing device in one of the isolated passages, and for positioning the sounding probe in the predetermined position through another of the isolated passages. 22. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 21, wherein the isolated passages provided by the integrated interface are disposed so as to substantially simultaneously direct passage of urine stream past the urine sensing device via the spillway in the one of the isolated passages and position the sounding probe in the predetermined position through the other isolated passage to sound a predetermined anatomical region coincident with passage of the urine stream. 23. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 17, further comprising a coupling connected to the discharge opening configured for coupling the urine sensing device to the discharge opening. 24. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 17, wherein the discharge opening is configured so as to define a coupling sized and shaped so as to conformally couple an entry port of the urine sensing device to the female urinary diagnostic device, so that the urine sensing device is dependent from the female urinary diagnostic device, and the female urinary diagnostic device and urine sensing device form an assembled unit. 25. the female urinary diagnostic device of claim 17, wherein the probe guide passage comprises a coupling configured so as to engage the sounding probe disposed in the probe guide passage and clamp the sounding probe to the diagnostic device so that the diagnostic device and sounding probe form an assembled unit. 26. a method of performing a vaginal diagnostic procedure and discharging urine with a female urinary diagnostic device comprising: providing a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening; positioning, with a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening; providing a common wall, joining the probe guide passage and the urine stream collection container and isolating the probe guide passage from the urine stream collection container, the common wall providing a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening, wherein the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device coupled to the urine stream collection container; positioning, a sounding probe, through the probe guide passage, in a predetermined position relative to a wall of the vagina; and sensing, with the urine sensing device or sounding probe, urine flow. 27. the method of claim 26, wherein the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage so that the at least part of the probe guide passage is defined by the urine stream collection container. 28. the method of claim 26, wherein at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface, the method further comprising positioning, with the integrated interface, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous engaging an interior of the vaginal opening with the probe guide passage for placement of the sounding probe in the predetermined position. 29. the method of claim 28, wherein the common wall forms part of the edge of the stream collection opening. 30. the method of claim 26, wherein at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface, the method further comprising positioning, with the integrated interface, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and engaging an interior of the vaginal opening with the probe guide passage to provide substantially simultaneous isolated passages respectively for passing a urine stream via the spillway to the urine sensing device in one of the isolated passages, and for positioning the sounding probe in the predetermined position through another of the isolated passages. 31. the method of claim 30, further comprising substantially simultaneously directing passage of urine stream past the urine sensing device via the spillway in the one of the isolated passages and positioning the sounding probe in the predetermined position through the other isolated passage to sound a predetermined anatomical region coincident with passage of the urine stream. 32. the method of claim 26, further comprising a coupling connected to the discharge opening configured for coupling the urine sensing device to the discharge opening. 33. the method of claim 26, wherein the discharge opening is configured so as to define a coupling sized and shaped so as to conformally couple an entry port of the urine sensing device to the female urinary diagnostic device, so that the urine sensing device is dependent from the female urinary diagnostic device, and the female urinary diagnostic device and urine sensing device form an assembled unit. 34. the method of claim 26, further comprising engaging the sounding probe with a coupling disposed in the probe guide passage and clamping the sounding probe to the diagnostic device so that the diagnostic device and sounding probe form an assembled unit.
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female urinary diagnostic device cross-reference to related applications [0001] this application is non-provisional which claims priority from and the benefit of united states provisional patent application no. 62/980,610 filed on february 24, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. background 1. field [0002] the disclosed embodiment relates to the collection of a human urine-specimen, the storage of said urine-specimen and the primary testing or analysis of said urine-specimen. 2. brief description of related developments [0003] a video urodynamic ultrasound test is a diagnostic procedure which involves monitoring a female patient voiding her full bladder while a vaginal ultrasound transducer probe is inserted within her vagina in order to visually monitor and record the contracting bladder from a full condition to an empty condition. it should be obvious that the patient, the doctor and or medical technicians might experience a fair amount of stress, discomfort and embarrassment as the free-flowing urine is expelled all over the ultrasound transducer probe, the doctor's hands holding the ultrasound transducer probe, over the patient herself and the examination table, floor, etc. embarrassment and discomfort aside, there are some very serious urine contamination and other hygienic issues to consider in addition to the time, effort, and cost involved in cleaning up and decontamination each and every time such a procedure is performed. [0004] referring to figs. 11a-11b, illustrated is a conventional ultrasound transducer probe 2399, e.g., a "bk medical-model endocavity 3dx14la", but any other suitable vaginal/rectal ultrasound transducer could be utilized. one of the major negative aspects of performing a conventional video urodynamic ultrasound test on a female patient involves collecting video ultrasound data as a bladder contracts from a full condition to an empty condition. currently, during the conventional video urodynamic ultrasound test, there is no control or restriction on the flow of the urine stream 32 during release of the urine from the bladder. because of the close proximity of the female urethral opening 37 to the ultrasound transducer probe 2399, the staff performing this procedure must contend with the urine 32 freely flowing over and contaminating the patient, the exam table, the urologist performing the procedure, the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 and possibly anything else in the immediate vicinity. thus, it would be advantageous to capture, contain, and redirect the urine flow into a suitable container to substantially reduce the negative stress and contamination factors previously mentioned. [0005] a second negative factor related to the conventional video urodynamic ultrasound test is that because there is no control over the urine stream 32, there are no other diagnostic tests that may be performed simultaneously such as an uroflowmetry test. under current medical procedures, getting additional diagnostic urodynamic data such as urine flow rate, urine flow duration, urine flow intervals, urine stream pressure, urine volume, etc. is normally and currently gathered through one or more separate uroflowmetry test procedures during one or more separate visits to the urologist's clinic. by combining the two and possibly three of the most commonly performed female urodynamic tests into one procedure, both clinic and urologist time and costs can be significantly reduced. by having the data from each test procedure correlated and synchronized at one central collection point for review, the data gathered becomes significantly more informative and valuable. additionally, the time saved in both cleanup and decontamination efforts after a video urodynamic ultrasound test also becomes a major time and cost saving consideration. brief decription of the drawings [0006] the foregoing aspects and other features of the disclosed embodiment are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0007] fig. 1a is a cross-sectional side-view of the urine- specimen-container in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0008] fig. ib is a cross-sectional side-view of a check valve of the urine specimen container of fig. 1a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0009] fig. 1c is a bottom exterior view of the check valve of fig. ib in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0010] fig. id is a cross-sectional side-view of the urine specimen container and the check valve of figs. 1a-1c in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0011] fig. ie illustrates the urine specimen container of fig. 1a co-operating with a tubular object in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0012] fig. if is a cross-sectional bottom view of the urine specimen container of fig. 1a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0013] fig. 1g is a cross-sectional bottom view of the urine specimen container of fig. 1a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0014] fig. 2a illustrates a urine collection attachment in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0015] fig. 2b is a cross-sectional side view of the urine collection attachment of fig. 2a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0016] fig. 2c illustrates the urine collection attachment of fig. 2a properly attached to the urine specimen container of fig. 1a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0017] fig. 2d illustrates a urine stream flowing into the urine collection attachment and into the urine specimen container in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0018] fig. 2e illustrates a portion of a urine collection process in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0019] fig. 3a illustrates components of a urine test strip container assembly in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0020] fig. 3b is a schematic illustration of the urine test strip container assembly of fig. 3a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0021] figs. 3c-3e illustrate the urine test strip container of fig. 3a properly attached to the urine specimen container of fig. 1a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0022] fig. 4a illustrates a top and side cross-sectional view of a urine test panel container in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0023] figs. 4b illustrates the urine test panel container of fig. 4a positioned just prior to being lowered into an access portion of the urine specimen container of fig. 1a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0024] figs. 4c-4e illustrate the urine test panel container of fig. 4a properly interfaced with the urine specimen container of fig. 1a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0025] figs. 5a-5b illustrate a cross-sectional side-view of a female urinary diagnostic device and a cross-sectional side- view of placement of the female urinary diagnostic device in a human pelvic region in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0026] figs. 6a-6g illustrate various views of the female urinary diagnostic device of fig. 5a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0027] fig. 7a illustrate a cross-sectional side-view of a female urinary diagnostic device in accordance with another aspect of the disclosed embodiment; [0028] figs. 7b-7c illustrate various views of the female urinary diagnostic device of fig. 7a in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0029] fig. 8 illustrates a cross-sectional side-view of placement of the female urinary diagnostic device of fig. 7a in a human pelvic region in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0030] figs. 9 and 10 are flow diagrams in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment; [0031] figs. 11a-11b illustrate a cross-sectional side-view of a conventional ultrasound transducer probe and a cross- sectional side-view of placement of the conventional ultrasound transducer probe in a human pelvic region. detailed description [0032] the instant invention resolves the above noted deficiencies of conventional systems and methods by combining the ultrasound transducer probe and coupling one or more appropriate data collection sensors to a device having similar urine collecting features as the fud devices described in u.s. patent application no. 14/557,791 filed on december 2, 2014 and u.s. patent application no. 15/644,296 filed july, 7, 2017, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, to form a new self-contained uroflowmetry device which is designed to cooperate with the conventional ultrasound transducer probe. this new uroflowmetry device would have significant advantages over existing uroflowmetry devices in that it would allow various types of diagnostic data to be collected at or near the actual source of the urine stream, that being the urethral opening itself as opposed to current uroflowmetry devices which attempt to gather and interpret limited information related to urine flow at some distance from the source. new and significantly more accurate and informative data may now be collected such as but not limited to urine- stream temperature, urine stream force/pressure at the source along with urine flow rate, urine flow duration, urine flow intermittent stoppages and voided urine volume. [0033] referring to figs. 5a-5b, a female urinary diagnostic device 2300 for performing a video urodynamic ultrasound test is illustrated. the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 is configured to cooperate with the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 (also referred to herein as a sounding probe) so as to provide an efficient and cost effective video urodynamic ultrasound diagnostic tool which substantially reduces urine stream contamination and also provides for substantially simultaneous gathering of data from the urine stream 32 such as the data gathered from a uroflowmetry test procedure. [0034] such a diagnostic device offers certain advantages reported herein arising from urine stream collection to specimen containers such as shown in figs. 1a-4e and described below. first: the issue of potential contamination of the interior of said urine-specimen-container (also referred to as a urine- storage-container) (1) through physical contact by the patient or the medical staff is removed by the elimination of a need for a traditional screw-on lid through the implementation of an automatically self-closing check-valve device (3) regulating access to the interior of said urine-storage-container. a human hand or finger simply cannot physically pass through said check- valve and come into physical contact with the interior of said urine-specimen-container (1) or its contents. [0035] second: by virtue of the over-all design of said check-valve (3), accidental spillage of the contents of said urine-specimen-container (1) is also eliminated. [0036] third: through the implementation of a separate attachable urine-collection (6, 7, 12, 17) device designed to co-operate with said check-valve (3), said urine-specimen- container (1) is kept some distance away from the urine-stream during urine collection thereby significantly reducing the risk of urine coming into contact with either the urine-specimen- container's exterior or with the patient's hand holding the urine-specimen-container (1). [0037] fourth: through the implementation of a separate attachable urine test-strip-container device (12) designed to co-operate with said check-valve (3), any test-strips or reagents exposed to the urine specimen are at all times safely enclosed and isolated away from human contact within said test- strip container device (17). [0038] fifth: as the test-strips and reagents are at all times contained within said test-strip container device (17) and because the test-strip container (12) remains attached to the urine-specimen-container (1) until after the test-strip is analyzed, the potential issue of a test-strip being miss-matched to another patient's urine-specimen-container is eliminated. [0039] sixth: (the aforementioned bd vacutainer™ system includes a semi-exposed hypodermic needle attached to the lid of the specimen-cup container. although there is a prominent warning label referring to this needle, medical staff commonly feels the need to warn patients of the danger of this needle while providing a urine-specimen. the aspects of the disclosed embodiment are designed to be able to co-operate with the bd vacutainer™ system is such a way as to limit potential exposure to the needle to trained medical staff only, thus making the system substantially safer for patients. [0040] at no time during the whole process of urine-specimen collection through urine-specimen analysis is the urine-specimen exposed to human contact while properly implementing the aspects of the disclosed embodiment. [0041] according to one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, a urine-specimen-container (1) includes a flat exterior bottom surface and an opposing upper access portal incorporating a check-valve device (3) having a normal closed condition. said check-valve (3) is designed to co-operate with any number of interchangeable system attachments (6, 7, 12, 17), that in one aspect may be considered a set, each of which can cause said check-valve to have an open condition when properly attached to said urine-specimen-container (1). [0042] in a preferred aspect, said check-valve (3) has a one- piece construction design and is made of a flexible resilient synthetic material, that is, the material has an innate propensity to return to its original manufactured shape after being manually deformed or flexed. in a preferred aspect, said check-valve (3) may have a shape and form not dissimilar to a common infant's feeding bottle nipple; said nipple having a short slit (4) and (5) cleanly cut across the lower end of said nipple allowing for a small tubular object to pass through said slit. [0043] according to another aspect of the disclosed embodiment, said urine-specimen-container (1) may co-operate with a temporarily attached urine-collection device having the sole function of facilitating the collection of urine from a flowing urine-stream. said urine-collection device (7) may have a funnel shaped reservoir (8) at its top end and a hollow exit- tube (6) at its lower end; said hollow-tube (6) designed to co operate with said check-valve (3) causing said check-valve (3) to have an open-condition when said hollow-tube (6) is manually passed through said check-valve (3). after a sufficient amount of urine has flowed into said urine-storage-container, said urine-collection device (7) is intended to be detached from said urine-specimen-container (1) and properly disposed of. detaching said urine-collection device from said urine-storage- container causes said check-valve (3) to automatically resume its original closed condition thereby safely sealing the collected urine specimen within said urine-storage-container. [0044] as the disposable urine-collection device (7) effectively separates the co-operating urine-storage-container by some distance from the urine-stream itself, both the exterior of said urine-storage-container and the patient's hand holding said urine-collection-container are substantially isolated from potential exposure to and contamination by the flowing urine- stream. [0045] according to still another aspect of the disclosed embodiment, said urine-storage-container may co-operate with a temporarily attached urine test-strip-container device (12) having one function of isolating a generic urine test-strip from user contact both before and after said test-strip has been exposed to a urine-specimen and another function of keeping said test-strip physically related to the original urine-specimen- container thereby avoiding potential miss-matching of test-strip data to the wrong patient. [0046] said test-strip-container device (12) may be a simple transparent hollow-tube of sufficient internal diameter to accept a generic urine test-strip within said hollow-tube. included is a separate slender rod or straw (14) with a means at one end of attaching a generic urine-test-strip; said straw (14) being able to move freely within said hollow-tube and being of a length preferably an inch or two longer then said hollow tube. in a preferred aspect, said straw (14) is indeed a simple common drinking straw of sufficient diameter to allow the non-reagent end of a generic test-strip to be securely lodged a short distance into one end of said straw. of course, any other efficient means of securing the test-strip to the end of the straw may be employed. [0047] said test-strip-container device (12) may have an exterior flange (13) located close to its lower end regulating the depth said test-strip-container can be inserted into said urine-storage-container; said test-strip container device (12) is designed to co-operate with said check-valve (3) causing said check-valve (3) to have an open-condition when said test-strip container device (12) is manually passed through said check- valve (3). [0048] with said test-strip-container device (12) properly attached to said urine-specimen-container, said combined rod or straw (14) and test-strip may be pushed downwards into said urine-specimen-container sufficient for the reagent-end of said test-strip to make full contact with the urine-sample collected within said urine-storage-container and immediately withdrawn up into said hollow tube only to a level where said test-strip is still contained within said transparent hollow-tube. after the prescribed waiting period for said generic test-strip, said test-strip may be safely viewed through said transparent hollow- tube and analyzed by comparison to a control-strip according to normal clinic procedure. [0049] after said test-strip-container (12) has served its intended function, said device is intended to be detached from said urine-storage-container and properly disposed of. detaching said test-strip-container device (12) from said urine- storage-container causes said check-valve to automatically resume its original closed condition thereby safely sealing the original collected urine specimen within said urine-storage- container ready for future testing or proper disposal. [0050] said test-strip, after making contact with the urine- sample has never been exposed to contact with the medical staff or any work surfaces and the original urine-sample remains at all times securely contained within said urine-storage-container safe from accidental spillage or unwanted contamination. [0051] according to another aspect of the disclosed embodiment, said urine-storage-container may co-operate with an alternative temporarily attached test-strip or reagent container device (17); said alternative design intended to facilitate the testing of generic multi-panel urine test devices. said alternative design being a hollow-tube designed to co-operate with said check-valve (3) causing said check-valve (3) to have an open condition when said hollow-tube (20) is passed through said check-valve (3). said hollow tube may incorporate a transparent reservoir (18) at the top end of said hollow-tube (20), said reservoir sufficient in size and shape to contain one of a variety of commonly used generic multi-panel urine test devices. said multi-panel test device container may also have a tapered exterior section (19) just below said reservoir designed to co-operate with said access portal (2) of said urine-storage- container forming an air-tight seal between said tapered section (19) and said urine-specimen-container (1). [0052] with said multi-panel test device container (17) properly attached to said urine-specimen-container (1) and a multi-panel test device (21) in place within said reservoir (18), said urine-specimen-container (1) may be manually squeezed sufficient to cause the urine sample contained within to flow upwards into said multi-panel container reservoir and just sufficient to temporarily make contact with the lower end of said generic multi-panel test device. once the multi-panel test-device has been properly exposed to the urine sample, manual pressure is removed from the urine-storage-container thereby causing the urine sample to return to the interior of the urine-storage-container, leaving said urine-test-device container reservoir empty of urine. [0053] after the prescribed waiting period, the multi-panel test device may be read through the transparent walls of said reservoir after which the test-device container device itself may be detached from the urine-storage-container, causing said check-valve to resume its normal closed condition. said test- device and test device container may now be properly disposed of leaving the original urine-sample safely contained within said urine-storage-container for future testing or proper disposal. [0054] alternatively, the urine-specimen-container (1) may be coupled to a discharge opening 2900 of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 illustrated in, e.g., figs 5a-5b so as to cooperate there similar to the fub as described in u.s. patent application no. 14/557,791 filed on december 2, 2014 and u.s. patent application no. 15/644,296 filed july, 7, 2017, the disclosures of which were previously incorporated herein by reference. [0055] figs. 1a-1g illustrate both the urine-specimen- container and the check-valve device. [0056] fig. 1a is a cross-sectional side-view of the urine- specimen-container (1) showing the access-portal (2) which serves as access to the interior of said container (1). the urine-specimen-container (1) may be constructed of any suitable material commonly used for such urine-specimen-containers in the medical industry and may be of any size or shape having a flat bottom designed to keep the urine-specimen-container (1) in a stable upright position. [0057] in one aspect the urine specimen container or fluid sample collection device includes at least one fluid conduit penetrator (6, 7, 12, 17) as described herein, and a container and penetration fitment (see, e.g., the combination of container (1), check-valve (3) which includes slit (4, 5) with a valved opening penetration into the container, the valved opening penetration being configured to seal the container (1) and includes a valve, such as check-valve (3) configured to accept through the valve the at least one fluid conduit penetrator to effect a transfer of fluid into and out of the container (1). as described herein the at least one fluid conduit penetrator (6, 7, 12, 17) and the container and penetration fitment are configured for urine specimen collection. in one aspect the at least one fluid conduit penetrator (6, 7, 12, 17) is provided as a set of interchangeable fluid conduit penetrators. [0058] fig. ib is a cross-sectional side-view of the check- valve (3) which permanently fits within portal (2) of urine- specimen-container (1). check-valve (3) includes a slit at its lower end comprising two deformable opposing surfaces noted as surface (4) and surface (5). surface (4) and surface (5) are shown contacting each other thereby indicating check-valve (3) is in its normal closed condition. [0059] fig. 1c is a bottom exterior view of the check-valve (3) showing a cleanly cut slit located in the bottom of check- valve (3). said slit comprises two opposing surfaces (4) and (5) which are designed to have a normal condition such that when said opposing surfaces (4) and (5) meet, they form an effective barrier or seal against the movement of liquids through said check-valve (3). [0060] check-valve (3) may be constructed of any flexible synthetic material which reliably returns to its original shape and form after being manually deformed or flexed. in other words, the check-valve (3) is resiliently closable where the check-valve automatically opens from an insertion of the at least one fluid conduit penetrator (6, 7, 12, 17) through the check-valve (3). in one aspect, as described herein the check- valve (3) includes a resilient membrane having a slit (4) and (5) where the resilient membrane comprises a bulb having a convex surface extending into the container (1) where the slit (4) and (5) is located on the convex surface so as to be resilient to fluid pressure. the proven and preferred check- valve (3) design shown is very similar to a common infant's feeding-bottle nipple both in material and form with the addition of a slit (4) and (5) added to the end of the nipple. of course, any other check-valve design with a normal closed condition could also function. an alternative functional design might comprise a flexible membrane with a centrally located pin sized piercing which could be manually forced to expand radially to cause an open condition which automatically returns to a closed condition when said manually applied force is removed. [0061] fig. id illustrates a cross-sectional side-view of both urine-specimen-container (1) and check-valve (3) with check-valve (3) properly positioned within access-portal (2) of said container (1). opposing surfaces (4) and (5) of check- valve (3) are seen in contact with each other indicating check- valve (3) is in its normal closed-condition. any fluid contents contained within urine-specimen-container (1) would thereby be sealed within urine specimen container (1) regardless of the physical position or rotational attitude of said container (1). [0062] fig. ie illustrates the urine-specimen-container (1) co-operating with a tubular object or fluid conduit penetrator (6) which is sized to accept urine stream collection. as will be described herein, in one aspect the tubular object (6) is interchangeable from a group of different fluid conduit penetrators (6, 7, 12, 17) each of which is configured for penetration of and interfacing with the check-valve (3) and each having different predetermined characteristics that include, as described herein a hollow tube, a circular funnel, a test panel container, a female urinary device and a collection tube interface. object (6) is a hollow-tube which represents a sub part common to each of several attachments designed to attach to and co-operate with said urine-specimen-container (1). said attachments being designed to facilitate both the collection and the testing of a urine specimen sealed within said urine- specimen-container (1). attachment sub-part (6) being a hollow- tube which, when inserted through check-valve (3), parts the opposing flexible surfaces (4) and (5) of check-valve (3) thereby allowing for the free movement of fluids through hollow- tube sub-part (6). sub-part (6) may also represent the lower end of a common laboratory pipette which could be used to extract a sample of the urine from within the urine-specimen- container. [0063] fig. if is a cross-sectional bottom view of urine- specimen-container (1) showing the check-valve (3) with opposing surfaces (4) and (5) in contact with each other thereby indicating check-valve (3) is in a closed condition. [0064] fig. 1g is a cross-sectional bottom-view of urine- specimen-container (1) showing the check-valve (3) in an open condition caused by the insertion of attachment sub-part (6) which has forced opposing flexible surfaces (4) and (5) to separate and no longer have physical contact with each other. when sub-part (6) is removed, opposing surfaces (4) and (5) of check-valve (3) will automatically resume contact with each other thereby reforming the original liquid-tight seal. [0065] figs. 2a-2e illustrate the sequential steps of collecting a urine sample into urine-specimen-container (1) through the implementation of a urine-collection device or attachment (7). [0066] fig. 2a shows the urine-collection device (7) comprising a circular funnel-like form with the top (8) cut at a bias and a hollow exit-tube (6) at the bottom. [0067] fig. 2b shows a cross-sectional side view of the urine-collection attachment (7) entering urine-specimen- container (1) through access-portal (2) just prior to co operating with check-valve (3) which is still in its normal closed condition. [0068] fig. 2c shows urine-collection attachment (7) properly attached to urine-specimen-container (1). the urine-collection attachment's lower exit-tube (6) has passed through check-valve (3) causing said check-valve (3) to assume its temporary open condition. [0069] fig. 2d shows a urine-stream (9) flowing into urine- collection attachment (7); passing through exit-tube (6) and finally into urine-specimen-container (1). [0070] fig. 2e shows the final step in the urine collection process wherein the urine-collection attachment (7), having served its urine collection purpose, has been detached from urine-collection-container (1) and has been properly disposed of. check-valve (3) has automatically returned to its normal closed condition, thereby safely and automatically sealing the urine sample within urine-collection-container (1). the urine- specimen-container (1) is now ready to be handed over to the medical staff for analysis. [0071] urine-collection attachment (7) may be constructed of any material which will not contaminate the urine sample. there may be multiple alternative external shapes given to the urine- collection attachment (7) to be determined by such possible factors as the patient's gender, physical size, health condition or possibly even whether the patient is standing or reclining while the urine-specimen is being collected; all the while maintaining the primary function of collecting urine from a flowing urine-stream and simultaneously transferring the urine into said urine-specimen-container. [0072] figs. 3a-3e illustrate the sequential steps of testing a urine-sample (10) contained with urine-specimen-container (1) utilizing urine-test-strip container assembly (a) designed to co-operate with said urine-specimen-container (1). [0073] fig. 3a shows the separate components of the urine test-strip-container assembly (a) comprising: a transparent hollow-tube (12); a rod (14) designed to move freely within said hollow-tube (12) and having a method of attaching a generic urine test-strip (15) to one end of said rod (14); rod (14) preferably being an inch or two longer in length than transparent hollow-tube (12). the bold arrow indicates rod (14) with attached test-strip (15) being inserted into the top end of transparent hollow-tube (12). a flange (13) at the lower end of hollow tube (12) regulates the proper depth to which hollow-tube (12) may be inserted into urine specimen-container (1). [0074] fig. 3b shows the urine test-strip-container assembly (a) positioned just prior to being inserted into urine-specimen container (7) which has a urine sample (10) ready to be analyzed. check-valve (3) is seen in fig-2 in its normal closed and sealed condition. [0075] fig. 3c shows the assembled urine test-strip-container assembly (a) properly attached to urine-specimen-container (1) and co-operating with check-valve (3) now seen in its temporary open condition. [0076] fig. 3d shows the rod (14) having been manually pushed downwards into transparent hollow-tube (12) causing the reagent- end (16) of test-strip (15) to momentarily dip below the surface of the urine-sample (10). [0077] fig. 3e shows rod (14) and attached test-strip (15) being drawn upwards within transparent hollow-tube (12) to a position similar to that seen in fig-5 wherein the test strip is clearly visible but still contained within transparent hollow- tube (12). after the prescribed waiting period for the specific type of test-strip, the color of the reagent-end (16) of the urine-test strip (15) may be visually compared to a control- strip (11) for proper primary analysis of the urine sample. [0078] the final step of the total procedure is the detachment and sanitary disposal of the urine test-strip- container assembly (a) leaving the original urine sample (10) safely and securely sealed within the urine-specimen-container (1) as it is seen back in fig-c2. urine-specimen-container (1) may now be stored for future testing or be properly disposed of. [0079] at no time from the point of urine collection to final disposal of all components of the disclosed embodiment has the urine sample been exposed to contact by either the patient or the medical staff involved in the procedure. [0080] figs. 4a-4e illustrate the sequential steps of analyzing a urine-sample contained within urine-specimen- container (1) utilizing a urine test-panel-container (17) designed to attach to and co-operate with said urine-specimen- container (1). [0081] fig. 4a shows top and side cross-sectional views of said urine-test-panel-container (17) said test-panel-container comprises a transparent upper rectangular reservoir (18) with a lower exit-tube (20) having an upper tapered section (19). [0082] fig. 4b shows urine test-panel-container (17) positioned just prior to being lowered into access-portal (2) of urine-specimen-container (1) containing a previously collected urine specimen (10). check-valve (3) is in its normal closed and sealed condition. [0083] fig. 4c shows test-panel-container (17) properly attached to urine-specimen-container (1) having caused check- valve (3) to assume an open condition. the tapered section (19) of exit-tube (20) is and must be seated firmly within urine- specimen-container entrance-portal (2) forming an air-tight seal. also shown is a generic four-panel urine-test-panel (21) being lowered into reservoir (18). [0084] fig. 4d shows urine-specimen-container (1) being manually compressed at points (p-p) thereby forcing the collected urine-specimen (10) to flow upwards into reservoir (18) of test-panel-container (17) sufficient to cover the lower end of urine-test-panel (21). [0085] fig. 4e shows urine-specimen-container (1) in its normal uncompressed condition after the external pressure has been removed thereby allowing urine in reservoir (18) to drain back down into urine-specimen-container (1). after a designated waiting period, the analyzed results for urine-test-panel (21) may be read through the transparent sides of test-panel- container (17). [0086] the final step of the total procedure being the detachment and sanitary disposal of the urine test-panel- container (17) leaving the original urine sample safely and securely sealed within the urine-specimen-container (1) with check-valve (3) having automatically returned to its normal closed and sealed condition. urine-specimen-container (1) may now be stored for future testing or properly disposed of. [0087] at no time from the point of urine collection to final disposal of all the used components of the disclosed embodiment have the urine-sample or the activated urine test-panel been exposed to contact by either the patient or the medical staff involved in the procedure. [0088] referring again to figs. 5a-5b, the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 is configured to cooperate with the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 to form a single combined unit and diagnostic tool. the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 includes a urine stream collection container 2301 having the discharge opening 2900 and a stream collection opening 2400, the stream collection opening 2400 being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening 37. the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 further includes a probe guide passage 2305 and an internal baffle 2310. [0089] the probe guide passage 2305 is configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening 35 for placement of the stream collection opening 2400 relative to the urethra opening 37. the probe guide passage 2305 is shaped and sized so as to conform to the shape of the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 allowing the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 to easily move in either direction within the probe guide passage 2305. for example, the probe guide passage 2305 defines a sounding probe guide surface 2320 that positions the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 within the vagina opening 35. the sounding probe guide surface 2320 is configured for positioning the stream collection opening 2400 over the urethral opening 37 and as a passageway and guide for the ultrasound transducer probe 2399. at least part of the probe guide passage 2305 and an edge 2401 of the stream collection opening 2400 of the urine stream collection container 2301 form an integrated interface 2450 configured for placement of the stream collection opening 2400 relative to the urethra opening 37 and substantially simultaneous interior engagement of the probe guide passage 2305 with the vaginal opening 35 for placement of the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 in a predetermined position within the vagina. [0090] in one aspect, the internal baffle 2310 forms at least a portion of the probe guide passage 2305 and defines a sounding probe guide surface 2320 that positions the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 within the vaginal opening 35 against a wall in the vagina. the internal baffle 2310 defines an interior wall of the urine stream collection container 2301 that provides a spillway from the stream collection opening 2400 to the discharge opening 2900. the discharge opening 2900 may cooperate with the urine specimen container 1 (fig. 1a) as previously described, or may be directed to urine collection. in one aspect, the interior wall substantially surrounds at least part of the probe guide passage 2305. for example, the interior wall has an anterior surface forming the spillway, and a posterior surface, opposite the anterior surface that forms the probe guide surface 2320 within the probe guide passage 2305. in one aspect, the interior wall is disposed around the probe guide passage 2305 so that the stream collection opening 2400 and the discharge opening 2900 of the urine stream collection container 2301 are on opposite sides of the probe guide passage 2305 (e.g., the discharge opening 2900 is located below the probe guide passage 2305 and the stream collection opening 2400 is located above the probe guide passage 2305). in one aspect, the spillway cooperates with at least a urine sensing device or sensor 2390, such as a liquid flow sensor "sensirion liquid flow sensor-ld20 ", a "laborie-flowstar" or any other similar device, so that the spillway provides urine passage to the sensor 2390 and/or a collection tank. [0091] fig. 5b illustrates the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 positioned over the urethral opening 37 and within the vagina 38 while performing a video urodynamic ultrasound test of a contracting bladder 42. the urine stream 32 can be seen entering the stream collection opening 2400 into the urine stream collection container 2301 of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300, flowing over either side of the internal baffle 2310 and exiting out of the discharge opening 2900 and into an attached sensor 2390 (see fig. 7a) which may measure such data as urine-flow-rate and volume, to specimen container 1, or to waste discharge. the data collected from the sensor 2390 may be synchronized and correlated to the data collected from the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 at a central data collection point for viewing and analysis. the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 thereby can substantially simultaneously perform two of the most common female urodynamic testing procedures during one clinic visit and procedure which currently requires two separate clinic visits while also substantially reducing the major urine contamination issues normally associated with current video urodynamic ultrasound tests. [0092] referring also to figs. 6a-6g, various views of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 are illustrated. fig. 6a is a front view of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 showing the stream collection opening 2400 which is designed to contact the tissue of the vulva immediately surrounding the urethral opening 37 forming a seal which isolates the urine stream 32 from contact with any tissue outside the perimeter of the stream collection opening 2400. urine enters the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 via the stream collection opening 2400, fills the urine stream collection container 2301 and exits the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 via the discharge opening 2900. fig. 6b is a cross-sectional view of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300. the probe passageway 2305, which is comprised of the internal baffle 2310 and the probe guide passage 2320, corresponds to the shape of the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 when the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 is cooperating with the female urinary diagnostic device 2300. the probe guide passage 2305 is designed to fit into the vaginal opening 35 to align the stream collection opening 2400 over the urethral opening while simultaneously guiding the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 into the vagina. the probe passageway 2305 traverses the urine stream collection container 2301 of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 while still allowing the urine stream 32 to freely flow over and around said the internal baffle 2310 to exit the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 via the discharge opening 2900. this ensures an accurate positioning of the sounding probe 2399 via passageway 2305, coincident substantially with accurate placement of the stream collection opening 2400 of the urethral opening 37, and isolation of urine discharge from the urethral opening 37 during testing from the surrounding environment and persons, including the patient. [0093] in one aspect, the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 further includes air vent 2340 and/or optional observation cover or lid 2350. the air vent 2340 serves to prevent an airlock within the urine stream collection container 2301 which might impede the smooth flow of urine exiting the discharge opening 2900 thereby resulting in inaccurate urine flow data. the lid 2350 may be configured to pivot about a hinge 2360 so as to provide visual ingress into the urine stream collection container 2301 via a viewing aperture. in one aspect, the viewing aperture is configured such that placement of the stream collection opening 2400 relative to the urethra opening 37 is observed through the viewing aperture. fig. 6c is a cross- sectional view of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 showing the lid 2350 in its open position which allows the urologist an unobstructed view for more accurate positioning of the stream collection opening 2400 over the urethral opening. also shown is the tip of the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 probe about to be inserted into and through the probe guide passage 2305. the lid 2350 is further configured to seal the urine stream collection container 2301 when closed. as seen in fig. 6g, the urine stream 32 enters the stream collection opening 2400 flowing into the urine stream collection container 2301 of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300, around the internal baffle 2310 and finally exits via the discharge opening 2900. in one aspect, the exiting urine may be directed to the sensor 2390 or simply to some the collection tank or another suitable container. [0094] referring now to figs. 7a-7c and 8, another aspect of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' is illustrated. in this aspect, the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' is substantially similar to the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 described above, however, a common wall 2310' joins the probe guide passage 2305 and the urine stream collection container 2304, isolating the probe guide passage 2305 from the urine stream collection container 2301 and providing a spillway from the stream collection opening 2400' to the discharge opening 2900'. in one aspect, the common wall 2310' forms at least part of the probe guide passage 2305' so that the at least part of the probe guide passage 2305' is defined by the urine stream collection container 2301'. in one aspect, the common wall 2310' forms part of the edge of the stream collection opening 2400'. the at least part of the probe guide passage 2305' and an edge of the stream collection opening 2400' of the urine stream collection container 2301' form an integrated interface 2450' configured for placement of the stream collection opening 2400' relative to the urethra opening 37 and substantially simultaneous interior engagement of the probe guide passage 2305' with the vaginal opening 35 for placement of the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 in a predetermined position. placement of the stream collection opening 2400' relative to the urethra opening 37 and the probe guide passage 2305' in the vaginal opening 35 provides substantially simultaneous isolated passages respectively for passing the urine stream 32 via the spillway to the sensor 2390 in one of the passages, and for positioning the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 in the predetermined position through the probe guide passage 2305'. the isolated passages provided by the integrated interface are disposed so as to substantially simultaneously direct passage of the urine stream 32 past the sensor 2390 via the spillway in the one of the isolated passages and position the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 in the predetermined position through the other passage to sound a predetermined anatomical region coincident with passage of the urine stream 32. [0095] in this aspect, the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' further includes a coupling 2905 connected to the discharge opening 2900' configured for coupling one or more sensors 2390to the female urinary diagnostic device 2300'. in another aspect, the discharge opening 2900' is configured so as to define a coupling sized and shaped so as to conformally couple an entry port of the sensor 2390 to the female urinary diagnostic device 2300', so that the sensor 2390 is dependent from the diagnostic device, and the female urinary diagnostic device 2300'and sensor 2390 form an assembled unit. providing the uroflowmetry device 2390 attached directly to the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' allows gathering urine-flow data closer to the source of the urine stream 32 (i.e., the urethral opening itself) so that a more varied and possibly more accurate data such as true urine-flow rate, bladder pressure, or even urine temperature, for example, rather than the relatively limited data that is gathered from the sensor 2390 several feet away from the source of the urine stream 32. because the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' creates a stable platform between the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' and the urethral opening, any category of sensor desired could now be positioned within millimeters of the urethral opening 37 allowing for very accurate and consistent data of whatever type to be collected regarding the urine stream 32 at its very source. this ability could possibly provide similar data currently only available during a cystometric urodynamic procedure which is an invasive procedure requiring two internal catheters and anesthetics, a separate clinic visit and unfortunately also commonly results in urinary tract infections. [0096] fig. 7b is a front view of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' and the attached sensor 2390. fig. 7c is a side cross section view of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300'. urine enters the urine stream collection container 2301' via the stream collection opening 2400' and exits via the discharge opening 2900'. in one aspect, the probe guide passage 2305 may include a coupling 2370 (also referred to as a locking mechanism) configured so as to engage the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 disposed in the probe guide passage 2305 and clamp the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 to the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' so that the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' and ultrasound transducer probe 2399 form an assembled unit. for example, a locking mechanism 2370 is activated once the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' is correctly positioned thereby firmly attaching the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' to the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 forming a single unit. [0097] fig. 7a illustrates the complete assembled diagnostic device 2300' with the sensor 2390 attached to the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' at the discharge opening 2900'. the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 is firmly locked into position within the probe guide passage 2305' of the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' via locking mechanism 2370. [0098] the pathway of the urine-stream 32 as it enters the stream collection opening 2400' of female urinary diagnostic device 2300' and exits via the discharge opening 2900' entering the sensor 2390 within which liquid flow-data is gathered before exiting the sensor 2390 and continuing into a urine collection tank. [0099] fig. 8 illustrates the female urinary diagnostic device 2300' as it interfaces with the female anatomy during a combined and simultaneous female video urodynamic ultrasound test and uroflowmetry test. [0100] temporarily deactivating the locking mechanism 2370 allows the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 to move fore and aft while searching for the best video image of the bladder 42. once the best position is achieved, the locking mechanism 2370 is re-activated so that gentle forward pressure now ensures a proper seal of the stream collection opening 2400' over the urethral opening 37. once the act of urination (bladder contraction) begins, data being gathered from both the ultrasound transducer probe 2399 and from the sensor 2390 is being sent to a common data gathering point for future review and analysis. [0101] referring to figs. 9 and 10, in one aspect a method of performing a vaginal diagnostic procedure and discharging urine with the female urinary device attachment 2300, 2300' includes providing a urine stream collection container 2301 having a discharge opening 2900 and a stream collection opening 2400 (fig. 9, block 900), the stream collection opening 2400 being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening 37; positioning, with a probe guide passage 2305 configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening 35, the stream collection opening 2400 relative to the urethral opening 37 (fig. 9, block 910); providing a common wall 2310, joining the probe guide passage 2305 and the urine stream collection container 2301 and isolating the probe guide passage 2305 from the urine stream collection container 2301, the common wall providing a spillway from the stream collection opening 2400 to the discharge opening 2900 (fig. 9, block 920), wherein the common wall 2310 forms at least part of the probe guide passage 2305 and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device 2390 coupled to the urine stream collection container 2301 (fig. 9, block 930); positioning, a sounding probe 2399, through the probe guide passage 2305, in a predetermined position relative to a wall of the vagina (fig. 9, block 940); and sensing, with the urine sensing device 2390 or sounding probe 2399, urine flow from the discharge opening 2900 (fig. 9, block 950). in one aspect the method includes providing a urine stream collection container 2301 having a discharge opening 2900 and a stream collection opening 2400 (fig. 10, block 1000), the stream collection opening 2400 being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening 37; effecting placement of the stream collection opening 2400 relative to the urethral opening 37 with a probe guide passage 2305 configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening 35 (fig. 10, block 1010); providing an internal baffle that defines an interior wall of the urine stream collection container, the internal baffle forming at least a portion of the probe guide passage, the internal baffle providing a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening, the spillway cooperating with at least a urine sensing device to provide urine passage to the urine sensing device and a collection tank (fig. 10, block 1020); positioning a sounding probe 2399 within the vaginal opening 35 via a sounding probe guide surface defined by the internal baffle 2310 forming at least a portion of the probe guide passage 2305 (fig. 10, block 1030) and sensing, with the sounding probe 2399, urine flow from the discharge opening 2900 (fig. 10, block 1040). [0102] because the aspects of the present embodiment allow for urine stream pressure/force, flow rate and volume to be measured at the urethral opening itself, another urodynamic test known as a cystometric test which is physically invasive in that it requires the insertion of two catheters and the use of anesthetics could possibly be avoided in many cases. as a cystometric test measures internal bladder pressure over time and therefore also records changes in bladder pressure caused by involuntary spasms etc., similar data could be also be recorded and interpreted by measuring changes in urine stream pressure/force as the urine exits the urethral opening. if the urine flow is temporarily blocked at a point just past the sensor 2390, then the pressure within the bladder and the pressure within the urine stream collection container 2301, 2301' will equalize, in other words, pressure data gathered from within the female urinary diagnostic device 2300, 2300' and sensor 2390 would be the same as pressure data gathered from within the bladder itself thus avoiding the need for an invasive internal cystometric test as currently performed. an advantage of collecting pressure data at the urethral opening as opposed to within the bladder itself via an internal catheter is that the catheter technically replaces the urethra and therefore should there be any negative conditions or anomalies related to the urethra itself, then these conditions will not be accounted for in the results of the diagnosis. if the urologist finds the data gathered from a urine pressure/force sensor located at the urethral opening sufficiently informative to avoid an invasive cystometric test, then the female urinary diagnostic device 2300 would provide data currently requiring three separate procedures performed on three separate clinic visits into data gathered during one single non-invasive procedure requiring only one clinic visit. [0103] measuring urine stream temperature accurately at the source could prove significant as a temperature above normal could indicate a condition such as a bladder or kidney infection and therefore have a direct correlation or impact on the results relating to the other data that was simultaneously collected. [0104] additionally, negative pressure could be introduced within the collection tank which would be located past the sensor 2390 (in a closed air-tight system) and the resulting suction would help draw the stream collection opening 2400 more tightly against the vulva forming an even more secure seal against urine leakage than physical hand pressure alone. also, in order to further inhibit any urine leakage at the stream collection opening 2400, the urine stream collection container 2301 could be divided into two chambers separated by a one-way valve designed to allow urine to flow towards the sensor 2390 but not back out the stream collection opening 2400. such a valve could be of a common duckbill design. the second chamber in this embodiment could be flexible or expandable in nature (balloon-like) which would also decrease the likelihood of urine back-flow resulting in possible urine leakage at the stream collection opening 2400. [0105] reviewing the test results on, e.g., a computer monitor, the urologist will not only see the ultrasound video but will also see displayed one or more other graphs or other forms of data that were simultaneously gathered during the same bladder voiding event. so now, if the video is paused at a specific point where the urologist viewed, for example, an involuntary bladder spasm or any other notable anomaly, the urologist could now accurately confirm this occurrence by viewing the uroflowmetry graph which would confirm that at that very point in time, an increase in urine stream pressure/force did indeed occur and by how much. by employing the aspects of the disclosed embodiment, the urologist now has significantly more accurate, more informative and more varied data with which to form a significantly more informed diagnosis regarding the patient than previously possible. [0106] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment a female urinary diagnostic device is provided. the female urinary diagnostic device including a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening, a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening, and an internal baffle that defines an interior wall of the urine stream collection container that provides a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device, where the spillway provides urine passage to the urine sensing device and a collection tank, wherein the internal baffle forms at least a portion of the probe guide passage and defines a sounding probe guide surface that positions a sounding probe within the vaginal opening. [0107] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the sounding probe guide surface positions the sounding probe against a wall of the vaginal opening. [0108] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the interior wall has an anterior surface forming the spillway, and a posterior surface, opposite the anterior surface that forms the sounding probe guide surface within the probe guide passage. [0109] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the interior wall substantially surrounds at least part of the probe guide passage. [0110] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the interior wall is disposed around the probe guide passage so that the stream collection opening and the discharge opening of the urine stream collection container are on opposite sides of the probe guide passage. [0111] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the discharge opening is located below the probe guide passage. [0112] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the urine stream collection container has a viewing aperture through which placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening is observed. [0113] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface configured for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous interior engagement of the probe guide passage with the vaginal opening for placement of the sounding probe in a predetermined position. [0114] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment a method of performing a vaginal diagnostic procedure and discharging urine with a female urinary diagnostic device is provided. the method including providing a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening, effecting placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening with a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening, providing an internal baffle that defines an interior wall of the urine stream collection container, the internal baffle forming at least a portion of the probe guide passage, the internal baffle providing a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening, the spillway cooperating with at least a urine sensing device to provide urine passage to the urine sensing device and a collection tank, and positioning a sounding probe within the vaginal opening via a sounding probe guide surface defined by the internal baffle forming at least a portion of the probe guide passage. [0115] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the method further including positioning, with the sounding probe guide surface, the sounding probe against a wall of the vaginal opening. [0116] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the interior wall has an anterior surface forming the spillway, and a posterior surface, opposite the anterior surface that forms the sounding probe guide surface within the probe guide passage. [0117] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the interior wall substantially surrounds at least part of the probe guide passage. [0118] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the interior wall is disposed around the probe guide passage so that the stream collection opening and the discharge opening of the urine stream collection container are on opposite sides of the probe guide passage. [0119] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the discharge opening is located below the probe guide passage. [0120] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the urine stream collection container has a viewing aperture through which placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening is observed. [0121] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface, the method further comprising positioning, with the integrated interface, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous engaging an interior of the vaginal opening with the probe guide passage for placement of the sounding probe in a predetermined position. [0122] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment a female urinary diagnostic device is provided. the female urinary diagnostic device including a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening, a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening, and a common wall, joining the probe guide passage and the urine stream collection container and isolating the probe guide passage from the urine stream collection container, wherein the common wall provides a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device coupled to the urine stream collection container to sense flow from the discharge opening, wherein the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage, and wherein the probe guide passage is configured so as to receive a sounding probe through the probe guide passage and position the sounding probe in a predetermined position relative to a wall of the vagina. [0123] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage so that the at least part of the probe guide passage is defined by the urine stream collection container. [0124] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface configured for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous interior engagement of the probe guide passage with the vaginal opening for placement of the sounding probe in the predetermined position. [0125] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the common wall forms part of the edge of the stream collection opening. [0126] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface configured for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and interior engagement of the probe guide passage with the vaginal opening to provide substantially simultaneous isolated passages respectively for passing a urine stream via the spillway to the urine sensing device in one of the isolated passages, and for positioning the sounding probe in the predetermined position through another of the isolated passages. [0127] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the isolated passages provided by the integrated interface are disposed so as to substantially simultaneously direct passage of urine stream past the urine sensing device via the spillway in the one of the isolated passages and position the sounding probe in the predetermined position through the other isolated passage to sound a predetermined anatomical region coincident with passage of the urine stream. [0128] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the female urinary diagnostic device further including a coupling connected to the discharge opening configured for coupling the urine sensing device to the discharge opening. [0129] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the discharge opening is configured so as to define a coupling sized and shaped so as to conformally couple an entry port of the urine sensing device to the female urinary diagnostic device, so that the urine sensing device is dependent from the female urinary diagnostic device, and the female urinary diagnostic device and urine sensing device form an assembled unit. [0130] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the probe guide passage comprises a coupling configured so as to engage the sounding probe disposed in the probe guide passage and clamp the sounding probe to the diagnostic device so that the diagnostic device and sounding probe form an assembled unit. [0131] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment a method of performing a vaginal diagnostic procedure and discharging urine with a female urinary diagnostic device is provided. the method including providing a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening, positioning, with a probe guide passage configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening, providing a common wall, joining the probe guide passage and the urine stream collection container and isolating the probe guide passage from the urine stream collection container, the common wall providing a spillway from the stream collection opening to the discharge opening, wherein the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage and cooperates with at least a urine sensing device coupled to the urine stream collection container, positioning, a sounding probe, through the probe guide passage, in a predetermined position relative to a wall of the vagina and sensing, with the urine sensing device or sounding probe, urine flow. [0132] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the common wall forms at least part of the probe guide passage so that the at least part of the probe guide passage is defined by the urine stream collection container. [0133] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface, the method further comprising positioning, with the integrated interface, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and substantially simultaneous engaging an interior of the vaginal opening with the probe guide passage for placement of the sounding probe in the predetermined position. [0134] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the common wall forms part of the edge of the stream collection opening. [0135] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment at least part of the probe guide passage and an edge of the stream collection opening of the urine stream collection container form an integrated interface, the method further comprising positioning, with the integrated interface, the stream collection opening relative to the urethral opening and engaging an interior of the vaginal opening with the probe guide passage to provide substantially simultaneous isolated passages respectively for passing a urine stream via the spillway to the urine sensing device in one of the isolated passages, and for positioning the sounding probe in the predetermined position through another of the isolated passages. [0136] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the method further including substantially simultaneously directing passage of urine stream past the urine sensing device via the spillway in the one of the isolated passages and positioning the sounding probe in the predetermined position through the other isolated passage to sound a predetermined anatomical region coincident with passage of the urine stream. [0137] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the method further including a coupling connected to the discharge opening configured for coupling the urine sensing device to the discharge opening. [0138] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the discharge opening is configured so as to define a coupling sized and shaped so as to conformally couple an entry port of the urine sensing device to the female urinary diagnostic device, so that the urine sensing device is dependent from the female urinary diagnostic device, and the female urinary diagnostic device and urine sensing device form an assembled unit. [0139] in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed embodiment the method further including engaging the sounding probe with a coupling disposed in the probe guide passage and clamping the sounding probe to the diagnostic device so that the diagnostic device and sounding probe form an assembled unit. [0140] it should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the aspects of the disclosed embodiment. various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the aspects of the disclosed embodiment. accordingly, the aspects of the disclosed embodiment are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the scope of the appended claims. further, the mere fact that different features are recited in mutually different dependent or independent claims does not indicate that a combination of these features cannot be advantageously used, such a combination remaining within the scope of the aspects of the disclosed embodiment . [0141] what is claimed is:
|
044-036-248-817-884
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
A63B71/10,A42B3/06
| 2016-04-05T00:00:00 |
2016
|
[
"A63",
"A42"
] |
safer football helmet
|
a football helmet comprises a rotatable outer shell, an inner shell and a fastener assembly. the inner shell comprises an upper portion and a lower portion. the rotatable outer shell is of a hollow hemisphere shape. the upper portion of the inner shell is of a hollow hemisphere shape. the rotatable outer shell has a cavity to receive the upper portion of the inner shell. an air gap is between the upper portion of the inner shell and the rotatable outer shell. a pre-determined torque is applied to a nut of the fastener assembly so that the nut is loosely tightened to a bolt of the fastener assembly. a ring of the rotatable outer shell is rotatable along a rim track of the inner shell. the rotatable outer shell is in a pogo stick motion when a force is applied to the rotatable outer shell so that the ring rotates along the rim track and an outer shell hole deflects toward an inner shell hole.
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1 . a football helmet comprising: an inner shell having an inner shell hole, the inner shell comprising: an upper portion of a hollow hemisphere shape; and a lower portion; a rotatable outer shell having an outer shell hole, the rotatable outer shell further having a cavity configured to accommodate the upper portion of the inner shell; and a fastener assembly comprising: an upper washer having an upper washer hole; a padding having a padding hole; a lower washer having a lower washer hole; a bolt having a cap, the bolt passing through the outer shell hole, the upper washer hole, the padding hole, the lower washer hole and the inner shell hole; and a nut directly attached to an end of the bolt; wherein an air gap is between the upper portion of the inner shell and the rotatable outer shell. 2 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein the outer shell hole is between the cap of the bolt and the upper washer hole; wherein the upper washer hole is between the outer shell hole and the padding hole; wherein the padding hole is between the upper washer hole and the lower washer hole; wherein the lower washer hole is between the padding hole and the inner shell hole; and wherein the inner shell hole is between the lower washer hole and the nut. 3 . the football helmet of claim 2 , wherein a length of a portion of the bolt between the outer shell hole and the inner shell hole is longer than a sum of a thickness of the upper washer, a thickness of the padding and a thickness of the lower washer so as to allow the outer shell hole to deflect toward the inner shell hole. 4 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein a trim of a ring shape is attached to a lower end of the rotatable outer shell and wherein the trim is made of a damping material. 5 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein an insert of a ring shape is formed at a lower end of the rotatable outer shell and wherein the insert is inserted under a rim track of the inner shell. 6 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein a ring of a letter u shape is formed at a lower end of the rotatable outer shell and wherein the ring directly contacts and is engaged with a rim track of the inner shell. 7 . the football helmet of claim 6 , wherein a pre-determined torque is applied to the nut so that the nut is loosely tightened to the bolt; wherein the ring is rotatable along the rim track and wherein the outer shell hole is deflectable toward the inner shell hole when a force is applied to the rotatable outer shell. 8 . the football helmet of claim 7 , wherein the pre-determined torque is in a range from 10 ft-lb to 150 ft-lb and wherein the rotatable outer shell is in a pogo stick motion when the force is applied to the rotatable outer shell so that the ring rotates along the rim track and the outer shell hole deflects toward the inner shell hole. 9 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein a ventilation slot of the inner shell is aligned with a ventilation slot of the rotatable outer shell. 10 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein the padding of the fastener assembly comprises an upper rubber; a metal shim; and a lower rubber; wherein a bottom surface of the upper rubber is directly attached to a top surface of the metal shim; and wherein a bottom surface of the metal shim is directly attached to a top surface of lower rubber. 11 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein the padding of the fastener assembly comprises a damping material. 12 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein the inner shell and the rotatable outer shell are made of a molded polycarbonate material; 13 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein the bolt is molded into the rotatable outer shell during a molding process. 14 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein the inner shell and the rotatable outer shell are made of steel or aluminum. 15 . the football helmet of claim 1 , wherein the inner shell and the rotatable outer shell are made of vinyl nitrile.
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cross-reference to related applications this patent application is a continuation-in-part application of a pending application ser. no. 14/999,161 filed on apr. 5, 2016. the disclosure made in the patent application ser. no. 14/999,161 is hereby incorporated by reference. field of the invention this invention relates generally to a football helmet. more particularly, the present invention relates to a football helmet having a rotatable outer shell, an inner shell and a fastener assembly. background of the invention professionals and amateurs wear football helmets to reduce chances of head injuries while playing american football games. a plastic helmet was introduced in 1940 by riddell. in the same year, riddell also developed a first chin strap to engage with a user's chin instead of the user's neck. in 1955, g. e. morgan, a consultant to riddell, and paul brown, the coach of the cleveland browns, invented the bt-5 face mask which is a single-bar design. in the late 1976, because of requirement for safety, four chin straps were required in college football games. the football helmet of the present disclosure includes two shells (an rotatable outer shell engaging with an inner shell) and a bolt in a top crown area connecting the two shells. an advantage of the football helmet of the present disclosure is to significantly reduce impact forces at the rotatable outer shell being transferred to the inner shell. summary of the invention a football helmet comprises a rotatable outer shell, an inner shell and a fastener assembly. the inner shell comprises an upper portion and a lower portion. the rotatable outer shell is of a hollow hemisphere shape. the upper portion of the inner shell is of a hollow hemisphere shape. the rotatable outer shell has a cavity to receive the upper portion of the inner shell. an air gap is between the upper portion of the inner shell and the rotatable outer shell. a pre-determined torque is applied to a nut of the fastener assembly so that the nut is loosely tightened to a bolt of the fastener assembly. a ring of the rotatable outer shell is rotatable along a rim track of the inner shell. the rotatable outer shell is in a pogo stick motion when a force is applied to the rotatable outer shell so that the ring rotates along the rim track and an outer shell hole deflects toward an inner shell hole. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a front view of an rotatable outer shell of a football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 2 shows a front view of an inner shell of the football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 3 shows a rear view of the rotatable outer shell of fig. 1 in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 4 shows a rear view of the inner shell of fig. 2 in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 5 shows a side view of an outer shell of a football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 6 shows a side view of an inner shell of the football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 7 shows a top view of an outer shell of a football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 8 shows a top view of an inner shell of the football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 9 shows a cross sectional view of an upper portion of a football helmet and a front view of a lower portion of the football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 10 shows a cross sectional view of an upper portion of another football helmet and a front view of a lower portion of the other football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 11 shows a cross sectional view of a fastener assembly in examples of the present disclosure. detailed description of the invention fig. 1 and fig. 3 show a front view and a rear view of a rotatable outer shell 100 of a football helmet (integration of the rotatable outer shell 100 and an inner shell 200 ) respectively in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 2 and fig. 4 show a front view and a rear view of the inner shell 200 of the football helmet respectively in examples of the present disclosure. the football helmet comprises the rotatable outer shell 100 , the inner shell 200 and a fastener assembly (for example, a fastener assembly 1180 of fig. 11 ). the inner shell 200 comprises an upper portion 202 and a lower portion 204 . the rotatable outer shell 100 further having a cavity 160 to accommodate the upper portion 202 of the inner shell 200 . an air gap (for example, air gap 988 of fig. 9 ) is between the upper portion of the inner shell 200 and the rotatable outer shell 100 . in examples of the present disclosure, the rotatable outer shell 100 is of a hollow hemisphere shape and the upper portion 202 of the inner shell 200 is of a hollow hemisphere shape. in examples of the present disclosure, a trim 140 of a ring shape is attached to a lower end of the rotatable outer shell 100 . the trim 140 is optional, may be with no helmet track and is drawn in dashed lines in figs. 1 and 3 . in one example, the trim 140 is made of a damping material including 3m nvh 04274. in examples of the present disclosure, the rotatable outer shell 100 includes one or more ventilation slots 120 . the upper portion 202 of the inner shell 200 includes one or more ventilation slots 220 . the ventilation slots 120 and the ventilation slots 220 are optional and are drawn in dashed lines in figs. 1-4 . in examples of the present disclosure, a selected ventilation slot of the one or more ventilation slots 220 of the inner shell 200 is aligned with a selected ventilation slot of the one or more ventilation slots 120 of the rotatable outer shell 100 . a center of the hollow hemisphere shape of the rotatable outer shell 100 , a center of the selected ventilation slot of the one or more ventilation slots 220 and a center of the selected ventilation slot of the one or more ventilation slots 120 are aligned along a straight line. in one example, the inner shell 200 and the rotatable outer shell 100 are made of a molded polycarbonate material. in another example, the inner shell 200 and the rotatable outer shell 100 are made of steel or aluminum. in still another example, the inner shell 200 and the rotatable outer shell 100 are made of vinyl nitrile. fig. 5 shows a side view of an outer shell 500 of a football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. fig. 6 shows a side view of an inner shell 600 of the football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. the inner shell 600 comprises an upper portion 602 and a lower portion 604 . fig. 7 shows a top view of an outer shell 700 of a football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. the rotatable outer shell 700 includes an outer shell hole 792 to receive a bolt of a fastener assembly. fig. 8 shows a top view of an inner shell 800 of the football helmet in examples of the present disclosure. the inner shell 800 has an upper portion 802 . the upper portion 802 of the inner shell 800 includes an inner shell hole 892 to receive a bolt of a fastener assembly. in examples of the present disclosure, from top views, the outer shell hole 792 is at a center of a peripheral of the rotatable outer shell 700 and the inner shell hole 892 is at a center of a peripheral of upper portion 802 of the inner shell 800 . fig. 9 shows a cross sectional view (along a direction of plane aa′ of fig. 7 ) of an upper portion of a football helmet 900 and a front view of a lower portion of the football helmet 900 in examples of the present disclosure. the football helmet 900 comprises a rotatable outer shell 960 , a fastener assembly 980 and an inner shell 910 comprising an upper portion 902 and a lower portion 904 . an air gap 988 is between the upper portion 902 of the inner shell 910 and the rotatable outer shell 960 . an insert 962 of a ring shape is formed at a lower end of the rotatable outer shell 960 . the insert 962 is inserted under a rim track 912 of the inner shell 910 . fig. 10 shows a cross sectional view (along a direction of plane aa′ of fig. 7 ) of an upper portion of a football helmet 1000 and a front view of a lower portion of the football helmet 1000 in examples of the present disclosure. the football helmet 1000 comprises a rotatable outer shell 1060 , a fastener assembly 1080 and an inner shell 1010 comprising an upper portion 1002 and a lower portion 1004 . a ring 1062 of a letter u shape is formed at a lower end of the rotatable outer shell 1060 . the ring 1062 directly contacts and is engaged with a rim track 1012 of the inner shell 1010 . a pre-determined torque is applied to a nut (for example, 1158 of fig. 11 ) of the fastener assembly 1080 so that the nut is loosely tightened to a bolt (for example, 1122 of fig. 11 ) of the fastener assembly 1080 . the ring 1062 is rotatable along the rim track 1012 . the outer shell hole (for example, 792 of fig. 7 ) of the rotatable outer shell 1060 is deflectable toward the inner shell hole (for example, 892 of fig. 8 ) of the upper portion 1002 of the inner shell 1010 when a force is applied to the rotatable outer shell. in examples of the present disclosure, a user may rotate the rotatable outer shell 1060 along the rim track 1012 for 360 degrees. in examples of the present disclosure, the pre-determined torque is in a range from 10 ft-lb to 150 ft-lb. the rotatable outer shell 1060 is in a pogo stick motion when the force is applied to the rotatable outer shell 1060 so that the ring 1062 rotates along the rim track 1012 and the outer shell hole deflects toward the inner shell hole. fig. 11 shows a cross sectional view of a portion of a football helmet 1100 including a fastener assembly 1180 in examples of the present disclosure. only a portion of a rotatable outer shell 1160 and a portion of an inner shell 1102 are shown in fig. 11 . the fastener assembly 1180 comprises a bolt 1122 having a cap 1124 , an upper washer 1132 , a padding 1140 , a lower washer 1152 and a nut 1158 . the bolt 1122 passes through the outer shell hole of the rotatable outer shell 1160 , the upper washer hole of the upper washer 1132 , the padding hole of the padding 1140 , the lower washer hole of the lower washer 1152 and the inner shell hole of the inner shell 1102 . in examples of the present disclosure, the nut is directly attached to an end of the bolt 1122 . in examples of the present disclosure, the outer shell hole is between the cap 1124 of the bolt 1122 and the upper washer hole. the upper washer hole is between the outer shell hole and the padding hole. the padding hole is between the upper washer hole and the lower washer hole. the lower washer hole is between the padding hole and the inner shell hole. the inner shell hole is between the lower washer hole and the nut 1158 . a length 1192 of a portion of the bolt 1122 between the outer shell hole and the inner shell hole is longer than a sum of a thickness of the upper washer 1132 , a thickness of the padding 1140 and a thickness of the lower washer 1152 so as to allow the outer shell hole to deflect toward the inner shell hole because a section 1126 of the bolt 1122 is exposed (not surrounded by the upper washer 1132 , the padding 1140 and the lower washer 1152 ). in examples of the present disclosure, the padding 1140 of the fastener assembly 1180 comprises an upper rubber 1142 , a metal shim 1144 and a upper rubber 1142 . in examples of the present disclosure, the upper rubber 1142 and the upper rubber 1142 comprise damping materials including 3m nvh 04274. in examples of the present disclosure, a bottom surface of the upper rubber 1142 is directly attached to a top surface of the metal shim 1144 . a bottom surface of the metal shim 1144 is directly attached to a top surface of lower rubber 1146 . in examples of the present disclosure, the inner shell 1102 and the rotatable outer shell 1160 are made of a molded polycarbonate material. the bolt 1122 is molded into the rotatable outer shell 1160 during a molding process. the rotatable outer shell 1160 has a recess of a circular shape to receive the cap 1124 of the bolt 1122 . those of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that modifications of the embodiments disclosed herein are possible. for example, a number of the ventilation slots may vary. other modifications may occur to those of ordinary skill in this art, and all such modifications are deemed to fall within the purview of the present invention, as defined by the claims.
|
045-266-008-206-945
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
G01N27/00,G01N33/543
| 2003-10-23T00:00:00 |
2003
|
[
"G01"
] |
discrimination of peptides using a molecularly imprinted biosensor
|
based on the direct formation of molecularly imprinted polymer on gold electrode, the present invention provides a peptide sensor for the detection of low-molecular-weight peptides. a new cross-linking monomer, (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 is employed to attach the surface of the chip and to copolymerize with other monomers. interestingly, n-benzylacrylamide participating both polymerization and recognition is carried out in an aqueous environment. using quartz crystal microbalance detection, short peptides can be monitored by their interaction with plastic antibodies specific for the target peptides. the selectivity of molecularly imprinted polymer and the sensitivity of such artificial biosensors have collaborated to differentiate traces of oxytocin and vasopressin to the ng/ml scale.
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1 . a method for discriminating a peptide, comprising steps of: (a) providing an organic compound which serves as an adsorbent, a cross-linker and a monomer; (b) adsorbing said organic compound on a chip to form a single layer; and (c) associating monomers with double bonds and template molecules to said chip to form a molecularly imprinted membrane thereon by polymerization. (d) detecting by a quartz crystal microbalance (qcm) or a surface plasma resonance (spr) equipped with a flow injection system. 2 . the method of claim 1 , wherein said organic compound is a derivative of cystine or homocystine. 3 . the method of claim 2 , wherein said derivative of cystine or homocystine comprises l-cystine, d-cystine, racemic cystine, l-homocystine, d-homocystine or racemic homocystine. 4 . the method of claim 2 , wherein said derivative of cystine is (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 , (acr-cys-nhφ) 2 , (macr-cys-nhbn) 2 , (macr-cys-nhφ) 2 , (acr-hcys-nhbn) 2 , (acr-hcys-nhφ) 2 , (macr-hcys-nhbn) 2 or (macr-hcys-nhφ) 2 ; wherein hcys is homocystine, φ is phenyl, and macr is methacryl. 5 . the method of claim 1 , wherein said monomers are (macr-cys-nhbn) 2 , (macr-aa-nhbn) 2 , (macr-cys-nhφ) 2 , (macr-aa-nhφ) 2 , (acr-hcys-nhbn) 2 , (acr-hcys-nhφ) 2 , (macr-hcys-nhbn) 2 , (macr-hcys-nhφ) 2 , methacrylamide, methacryic acid, n-benzyl-_methacrylamide, (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 , (acr-aa-nhbn) 2 , (acr-cys-nhφ) 2 , (acr-aa-nhφ) 2 , acrylamide, acrylic acid or n-benzyl-acrylamide; wherein aa is l-, d- or racemic amino acid, φ is phenyl and macr is methacryl. 6 . the method of claim 1 , wherein said template molecule is amino acid, nucleo acid, carbohydrate, lipid or peptide. 7 . the method of claim 6 , wherein said peptide is oxytocin. 8 . the method of claim 6 , wherein said peptide is vasopressin. 9 . the method of claim 1 , wherein said organic compound is adsorbed on said chip by dissolving (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 in a mixture of acetonitrile (10 ml) and dmf (0.1 ml), which is then deposited on said chip therein. 10 . the method of claim 1 , wherein said monomers with double bonds are acrylic acid, acrylamide and n-benzylacrylamide which are added at a molar ratio 1:1:2. 11 . the method of claim 1 , wherein said polymerization is carried out by either irradiating with light at 350 nm for 6 hours or heating at 50˜100° c. to completion. 12 . a method for discriminating a peptide, using a combination technology of molecular imprinting and qcm, in which (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 is adsorbed on a chip to form a single layer; and then acrylamide, acrylic acid, n-benzyl-acrylamide are associated to said chip to form a molecularly imprinted membrane by radical polymerization.
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background of the invention molecular imprinting (mips) is a process for synthesizing organic polymers that contain recognition sites for small molecules. the imprinting process consists of a template molecule that organizes functional and cross-linking polymerizable monomers during the polymerization process. the template is extracted from the insoluble network material leaving behind domains that are complementary in size, shape, and functional group orientation to the template molecule. the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers as the stationary phase for selective separation of amino acids and small peptides has been known. some of these systems have utilized protected peptides in organic solvents. these formulations employ free radical polymerization and rely on the use of hydrogen-bonding interactions between the template and functional monomers as the selectivity-providing interaction. direct detection of peptide-macromolecule interaction is rare and is currently under investigation. the preparation of artificial binding sites for such peptides may provide insight into recognition processes. examples include sensing of enkephalins, tripeptides, helical peptides, oxytocin and its derivatives, by imprinted macromolecular receptor. a recent progress was the recognition of his-peptides using peptide-metal interactions. these artificial receptors may also facilitate the screening of peptide mixtures, proteins or assist in the evaluation of peptidomimetics that can be used to either enhance or inhibit receptor responses. the present invention for creating peptide receptors using molecular imprinting takes advantage of quartz crystal microbalance (qcm). the qcm is a kind of bulk-acoustic wave (baw) resonator, as derived by saurbrey. in 1980, konash and bastiaans developed an apparatus—qcm—fixed between two spacers allowing the liquid to flow through one side with the other side in contact with air. this permits the oscillation to occur in the liquid and measuring the qcm in liquid. due to the high sensitivity, simple operation, easy interpretation and “real-time” measurement, qcm allows the label-free detection of molecules with applications to the study of kinetics, peptide binding to immobilized oligonucleotides, protein binding to immobilized receptors, medical diagnosis the detection of pathogenic microorganisms, and other molecular discrimination events. mip-qcm sensor has been reported for the detection of (s)-propanolol and terpenes in organic solvent. summary of the invention the objective of the present invention is to provide a method for discriminating a peptide. in the present invention, the method for discriminating a peptide includes steps of: (a) providing an organic compound which serves as an adsorbent, a cross-linker and a monomer; (b) adsorbing said organic compound on a chip to form a single layer; and (c) associating monomers with double bonds and template molecules to said chip to form a molecularly imprinted membrane thereon by polymerization. the aforementioned organic compound is usually a derivative of cystine, and preferably includes l-cystine, d-cystine, racemic cystine, l-homocystine, d-homocystine or racemic homocystine, for example, (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 , (acr-cys-nhφ) 2 , (macr-cys-nhbn) 2 , (macr-cys-nhφ) 2 , (acr-hcys-nhbn) 2 , (acr-hcys-nhφ) 2 , (macr-hcys-nhbn) 2 and (macr-hcys-nhφ) 2 ; wherein hcys is homocystine, φ is phenyl, macr is methacryl, and (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 is preferred. alternatively, (macr-aa-nhbn) 2 , (macr-aa-nhφ) 2 , methacrylamide, methacrylic acid, n-benzyl-methacrylamide, (acr-aa-nhbn) 2 , (acr-aa-nhφ) 2 , acrylamide, acrylic acid or n-benzyl-acrylamide, wherein aa is l, d, or racemic amino acid, φ is phenyl and macr is methacryl, also can be used in the present invention. the template molecule can be amino acid, nucleo acid, carbohydrate, lipid or peptide such as oxytocin and vasopressin. in step (b), the organic compound can be adsorbed on said chip by dissolving (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 in a mixture of acetonitrile (10 ml) and dmf (0.1 ml), which is then deposited on said chip therein. the monomers with double bonds in step (c) primarily include acrylic acid, acrylamide and n-benzylacrylamide, which are preferably added at a molar ratio 1:1:2. in step (c), polymerization is preferably carried out by either irradiating with light at 350 nm for 6 hours or heating at 50˜100° c. to completion. in general, the method for discriminating a peptide in accordance with the present invention, is preferably carried out by adsorbing (acr-cys-nhbn) 2 on a chip to form a single layer; and then associating acrylamide, acrylic acid and n-benzyl-acrylamide to the chip to form a molecularly imprinted membrane through radical polymerization. other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. brief description of the figures the present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein: fig. 1 shows synthesis of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 ; fig. 2 is schematic representation of the peptide imprinting process; fig. 3 shows the frequency changes of oxytocin and vasopressin obtained using oxytocin-imprinted qcm; fig. 4 shows the frequency changes of oxytocin and vasopressin obtained using vasopressin-imprinted qcm; fig. 5 shows the binding effects of oxytocin-imprinted qcm; and fig. 6 shows the binding effects of vasopressin-imprinted qcm. detailed description of the preferred embodiments the present invention provides protocols for molecular imprinting that create macromolecular receptors for small peptides. oxytocin is a nonapeptide that is synthesized in hypothalamic neurons and transported down axons of the posterior pituitary for secretion into blood. in the preferred embodiments of the present invention, oxytocin and another nonapeptide vasopressin with amino acid sequence shown in table 1 were chosen as the template target for capturing molecular imprint sites. the availability of the water soluble form of both peptides, which could be used to establish the specificity of the interaction. table 1peptidesamino acid sequenceexamples 1 and 2oxytocinexample 3vasopressincomparativeangiotensionasp-arg-val-tyr-ile-his-pro-pheexample 1iicomparativebradykininarg-pro-pro-gly-phe-ser-pro-phe-argexample 2comparative15-merthr-glu-leu-arg-tyr-ser-trp-lys-thr-example 3peptidetrp-gly-lys-ala-lys-met fig. 1 shows synthesis of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 . a new cross-linking monomer in neutral form, containing chiral center as well as disulfide bond was designed and prepared. as shown in fig. 1 , synthesis of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 is straightforward with a total yield of 50% from n,n′-diboc-l-cystine ((boc-l-cys) 2 ). fig. 2 is schematic representation of the peptide imprinting process in accordance with the present invention. fig. 2 also illustrates the present invention for preparing highly cross-linked polyacrylamides containing binding sites, which incorporate a (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 -au complex. the qcm employed in this work consisted of a disk of crystalline quartz with gold electrodes on the upper and lower surfaces. the use of water in the polymer synthesis and recognition steps has obvious advantages over organic systems. although protic solvents such as alcohols and water is compatible with free radical polymerization, they have been largely excluded from use in imprinting due to their abilities to compete with hydrogen-bonding interactions. however, as lack of solubility of peptides in organic media and more subtle effects such as peptide conformation, a water/acetonitrile mixture was made the solvent of choice. the polymerizable (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 -au complex was prepared by combining aqueous solutions of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 on a 4.5 mm diameter gold electrodes. the disulfide functional group was used as a “glue” to attach (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 to the electrode, an asymmetric molecule to provide chirality to the qcm surface and a cross-linker to copolymerize with other monomers. the benzylamide of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 also prevented displacement of the polymer by self-assembly of n-benzylacrylamide (baa) or template to form a hydrophobic layer. all the monomers and cross-linker were thus attached to the surface to formulate mips in a more organized manner after copolymerization. to avoid imbedding too much amounts of the template, copolymerization of the (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 -au complex was carried out without adding other cross-linking monomer. the polymerization complex was then formed by irradiation with baa, acrylic acid, acrylamide and template in a water/acetonitrile mixture. the polymer, which was formed as a thin film, was washed with phosphate buffer to remove template, followed by a wash with acetonitrile and drying. the specificities of the above mip-grafted qcms were evaluated by injecting oxytocin or vasopressin solutions at different concentrations, respectively. more detailed procedures for producing the biosensor of the present invention are described in the following examples. in these examples, (boc-l-cys) 2 , acrylic acid, acrylamide, oxytocin, angiotensin ii, bradykinin and vasopressin, were obtained from sigma-aldrich (st. louis, mo.). n-benzylacrylamide was purchased from lancaster (lancashire, uk). the buffer used for all experiments was pbs (20 mm nah 2 po 4 , ph 7.0). the qcm was obtained from tai-tien electronic co. (taipei, taiwan) with a reproducibility of ±1 hz. the qcm consisted of an 8 mm diameter disk made from an at cut 9 mhz quartz crystal with a gold electrodes on both sides (diameter: 4.5 mm, area: 15.9 mm 2 ) of the crystal. example 1 (1) synthesis of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 synthesis of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 is straightforward with a total yield of 50% from n,n′-diboc-l-cystine ((boc-l-cys) 2 ). (2) preparation of imprinted polymer-coated qcm the qcm disks were immersed in a 10 μm solution of (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 in hplc-grade acetonitrile for 16 hrs, then rinsed exhaustively with acetonitrile and then dried under vacuum. a solution of acrylic acid (55 μmol), acrylamide (55 μmol), n-benzylacrylamide (110 μmol), and 3 μmol of template oxytocin were mixed in 0.3 ml of solution (acetonitrile/water=1:1). the above baa, acrylic acid and acrylamide are at a mole ratio of 2:1:1. after depositing 4 μl of the aliquot on top of the (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn)-gold electrode, the chip was placed horizontally into a 20 ml vial containing acetonitrile (3 ml). the vial was screwed tightly and irradiated with uv-light at 350 nm for 6 hrs. the polymer, which was formed as a thin film on the gold surface, was washed with 20 mm phosphate buffer (ph=3-4) to remove 70 to 80% of the template. this was followed by a wash with acetonitrile and drying. the thickness of the polymer films were measured as 92±15 nm by using a surface profiler from veeco inc. (dekatak 3 st). the frequency shifted −750±44 hz after coating with (n-acr-l-cys-nhbn) 2 and shifted further lower to −3400±800 hz after copolymerization. it shifted back 300±50 hz after the removal of the template. (3) biosensor system the flow injection system containing a hplc pump (model l7110, hitachi, flow rate=0.1 ml min −1 ), home-build flow cell, sample injection valve (model 1106, omnifit), home-built oscillation circuit (including oscillator and frequency counter) and a personal computer. the polymer coated qcm was fixed between two o-ring and inserted into the flow-cell. only one side of the qcm was in contact with the liquid. pbs was used for circulating, washing and testing. example 2 repeat procedures of example 1, but baa, acrylic acid and acrylamide are at a mole ratio of 1:1:1 for preparation of imprinted polymer-coated qcm. example 3 repeat procedures of example 1, but oxytocin is replaced with vasopressin for preparation of imprinted polymer-coated qcm. comparative example 1 repeat procedures of example 1, but oxytocin is replaced with angiotension ii for preparation of imprinted polymer-coated qcm. comparative example 2 repeat procedures of example 1, but oxytocin is replaced with bradykinin for preparation of imprinted polymer-coated qcm. comparative example 3 repeat procedures of example 1, but oxytocin is replaced with 15-mer peptide for preparation of imprinted polymer-coated qcm. evaluation of mip-grafted qcms binding tests were performed to evaluate uptake of the template and non-template peptides. aqueous solutions (pbs, ph=7) were flowed through the system. after equilibration, 100 μl of aqueous solutions of the tested peptide were injected and the change of frequency was measured by qcm. binding isotherms were obtained for the template peptide (oxytocin) as well as vasopressin. figs. 3 and 4 show the frequency changes of oxytocin and vasopressin obtained using oxytocin-imprinted qcm and vasopressin-imprinted qcm, respectively. as shown in figs. 3 and 4 , the adsorption of non-template peptides was not observed until the concentration of other peptides reached 1 ng/ml. the frequency shifts of three other peptides, angiotensin ii, bradykinin, and 15-mer peptide were compared in the same concentration. no trace was detected at 1 ng/ml. however, nonspecific adsorption of these peptides began to be visible when the concentration reached the level of 1 μg/ml. to clearly demonstrate the binding abilities of mips, bmax is set as the maximum frequency shift observed and b is the frequency shift obtained at the indicated concentration of peptide. figs. 5 and 6 show the binding effects of oxytocin-imprinted qcm and vasopressin-imprinted qcm, respectively. thus, k d were calculated from the slope of curves. the best oxytocin mip's k d value for oxytocin was about 1.1*10 −8 m ( fig. 5 ). the best vasopressin mip's k d value for vasopressin was about 2.0*10 −8 m ( fig. 6 ). in general, mip demonstrated a marked 10˜100 times enhancement in k d value toward template-peptide higher than their nonspecific adsorptions to nontemplate-peptide. the peptide recognition sites were formed by incorporating two types of interactions that are established during the polymerization. one consists of ionic binding between acrylic acid and n-terminal of the peptide. this binding is compromised by water or other protic solvents. the second bonding frame comprises multiple weaker interactions between the network polymer chains and the imprinting peptide molecule. fig. 3 shows that the hydrophobic interactions between the peptide and n-benzylacrylamide are very important. without n-benzylacrylamide, the polymer matrixes that are developed during the polymerization are not sufficient to provide sequence selectivity between the imprinted peptide and other amino acid sequences. compared to only one fold of n-benzylacrylamide, the frequency shifts were larger as the monomer ratio is 2:1:1. in conclusion, the present invention shows that it is possible to directly and sensitively discriminate peptides, using a combination technology of molecular imprinting and qcm. interestingly, n-benzylacrylamide participates both polymerization and recognition is carried out in an aqueous environment. therefore, the present invention provided protocols for creating macromolecular receptors for peptides using molecular imprinting. this system may be helpful in understanding the modes of peptide recognition processes. they may also find use as artificial sensors for screening of peptides and peptidomimetics.
|
045-741-574-364-956
|
US
|
[
"WO",
"US"
] |
A61B18/04,A61M37/00
| 2013-10-09T00:00:00 |
2013
|
[
"A61"
] |
integrated treatment system
|
the present invention provides a device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, comprising a housing, said housing comprising: a. n electrodes, where n is greater than two, said electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide rf treatment to said skin; b. energy generating means for generating n/2 independent signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes; each of said n electrodes in independent communication with said energy generating means; c. at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; and d. m needles in fluid communication with said capsule; where m is greater than one; wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said m needles either prior to or during said treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said treatment.
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a device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, comprising a housing, said housing comprising: a. n electrodes, where n is greater than two, said electrodes configured to transmit energy to said skin so as to provide treatment to said skin; b. energy generating means for generating n/2 independent signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes; each of said n electrodes in independent communication with said energy generating means; c. at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; and d. m needles in fluid communication with said capsule; where m is greater than one; wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said m needles either prior to or during said treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said treatment; further wherein said capsule is integrated within said housing. the device of claim 1, wherein said energy is selected from a group consisting of rf, intense pulsed light (ipl), laser and any combination thereof. the device of claim 2, additionally comprising control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means, the device of claim 2, wherein said delivery of said medicament in conjunction with said rf is selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. the device of claim 2, wherein said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin, said rf energy being applied to said skin through a subset of said n electrodes, said subset of said n electrodes changing with time. the device of claim 2, wherein said needles provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin, the medicament being applied to the skin through a subset of said m needles, said subset of said m needles changing with time. 7. the device of claims 5 and 6, wherein said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said m needles change in conjunction with each other. 8. the device of claim 2, wherein the distal end of said electrode has a shape selected from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. 9. the device of claim 2, wherein said capsule is frangible. 10. the device of claim 2, wherein said medicament is squeezed from said housing onto said skin. 11. the device of claim 2, wherein said medicament flows from said housing onto said skin. 12. the device of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of said capsule is adapted such that at least a portion thereof ruptures upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion of the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. 13. the device of claim 12, wherein said capsule is adapted such said rupture induces fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via at least one said needle. 14. the device of claim 2, wherein at least one of said needles penetrates at least one layer of said skin. 15. the device of claim 2, wherein none of said needles penetrates any layer of said skin. 16. the device of claim 2, wherein at least one of said electrodes ablates a portion of at least one layer of said skin. 17. the device according to claim 2, wherein each of said predetermined frequencies is between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz. 18. the device of claim 2, wherein rf signals are transmitted in either a continuous mode or in pulses. 19. the device of claim 18, wherein, when said rf is applied in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1 ms. 20. the device of claim 18, additionally comprising means adapted to apply pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf). 21. the device of claim 20, wherein, when said rf is applied in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.1 ms and about 1000 ms. 22. the device of claim 18, additionally comprising temperature measuring means adapted to measure the temperature of the surface of said skin. 23. the device of claim 22, wherein said temperature measuring means comprises at least one sensor. 24. the device of claim 23, wherein said sensor is chosen from a group consisting of: impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof. 25. the device of claim 22, wherein said temperature measuring means comes into contact with the skin. 26. the device of claim 22, wherein said temperature measuring means is not in contact with the skin. 27. the device of claim 22, wherein said control means are programmed to regulate the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range. 28. the device of claim 22, wherein said predetermined range is between ambient temperature and 42° c. 29. the device of claim 22, wherein said predetermined range is between 30° c and 100° c. 30. the device of claim 2, wherein said housing is electrically insulating. 31. the device of claim 2, wherein said electrodes are disposed about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of: linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above. 32. the device of claim 2, wherein the power transmitted by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means to said skin is between 1 w and 700 w. 33. the device of claim 2, wherein said cosmetic improvement is chosen from a group consisting of skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above. 34. the device of claim 2, additionally comprising cooling means adapted to cool said skin. 35. the device of claim 34, wherein said cooling means are chosen from a group consisting of: a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and a means for blowing air across the skin. 36. the device of claim 2, wherein said rf electrodes are further adapted to provide heat to said skin. 37. the device of claim 2, additionally comprising means for massaging said skin. 38. the device of claim 2, wherein at least one of said rf electrodes comprises a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue. 39. the device according to claim 2, additionally comprising a deep tissue diathermy device. 40. the device according to claim 39, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of: a device emitting rf radiation and any other means adapted for producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. 41. the device according to claim 39, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: a. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate rf electromagnetic energy; and, b. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said rf energy to said skin. 42. the device according to claim 39, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: a. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate electrical current; and, b. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all of said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said electrical current to said skin. 43. the device according to claim 39, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of: acoustic (e.g., ultrasonic) diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat. 44. the device according to claim 39, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 45. the device according to claim 39, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 46. the device according to claim 39, wherein said control means are adapted to monitor physical tissue parameters and to change at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters. 47. the device according to claim 39, wherein said control means further comprise: a. processing means adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; b. sensing means adapted to sense electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, c. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. 48. the device according to claim 2, wherein said control means additionally comprise a feedback mechanism, adapted to change said rf signal according to predetermined medical needs. 49. the device according to claim 48, wherein said feedback mechanism comprises: a. sensing means adapted to monitor electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. processing means, adapted to determine the degree of said esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device when said degree of said esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. 50. the device according to claim 49, wherein said electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. 51. the device according to claim 49, wherein said at least one tissue parameter is chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. 52. the device according to claim 49, wherein said sensing means are adapted to sense electrotherapy parameters. 53. the device according to claim 52, wherein said sensing means adapted to sense electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. 54. the device according to claim 39, wherein said processing means are adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions. 55. the device according to claim 54, wherein said predetermined parameters are chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions, and any combination thereof. 56. a device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, comprising a housing, said housing comprising: a. n electrodes, where n is greater than two, said electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide treatment to said skin; b. energy generating means for generating n/2 independent signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes; each of said n electrode in independent communication with said energy generating means; and c. at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; at least one of said n electrodes is in fluid communication with said capsule; wherein at least one of said n electrodes comprises a distal penetrating means adapted to penetrate said skin so as to deliver said medicament; further wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said distal penetrating means either prior to or during said treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said treatment; further wherein said capsule is integrated within said housing. 57. the device of claim 56, wherein said energy is selected from a group consisting of rf, intense pulsed light (ipl), laser and any combination thereof. 58. the device of claim 57, additionally comprising control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means, 59. the device of claim 57, wherein said delivery of said medicament in conjunction with said rf is selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. 60. the device of claim 57, wherein said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin, said rf energy being applied to the skin through a subset of said n electrodes, said subset of said n electrodes changing with time. 61. the device of claim 57, wherein said penetrating means provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin, the medicament being applied to the skin through a subset of said penetrating means, said subset of said penetrating means changing with time. 62. the device of claims 60 and 61, wherein said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said penetrating means change in conjunction with each other. 63. the device of claim 57, wherein the distal end of said electrode has a shape selected from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. 64. the device of claim 57, wherein said capsule is frangible. 65. the device of claim 57, wherein said medicament is squeezed from said housing onto said skin. 66. the device of claim 57, wherein said medicament flows from said housing onto said skin. 67. the device of claim 57, wherein at least a portion of said capsule is adapted such that at least a portion thereof ruptures upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion of the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. 68. the device of claim 57, wherein said capsule is adapted such that said rupture induces fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via said at least one penetrating means. 69. the device of claim 57, wherein at least one of said penetrating means penetrates at least one layer of said skin. 70. the device of claim 57, wherein none of said penetrating means penetrates any layer of said skin. 71. the device of claim 57, wherein at least one of said electrodes ablates a portion of at least one layer of said skin. 72. the device according to claim 57, wherein each of said predetermined frequencies is between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz. 73. the device of claim 57, wherein rf signals are transmitted in either a continuous mode or in pulses 74. the device of claim 73, wherein, when said rf is applied in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1 ms. 75. the device of claim 73, additionally comprising means adapted to apply pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf). 76. the device of claim 75, wherein, when said rf is applied in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.1 ms and about 1000 ms. 77. the device of claim 75, additionally comprising temperature measuring means adapted to measure the temperature of the surface of said skin. 78. the device of claim 77, wherein said temperature measuring means comprise at least one sensor. 79. the device of claim 78, wherein said sensor is chosen from a group consisting of: impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof. 80. the device of claim 78, wherein said temperature measuring means comes into contact with the skin. 81. the device of claim 78, wherein said temperature measuring means is not in contact with the skin. 82. the device of claim 75, wherein said control means are programmed to regulate the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range. 83. the device of claim 82, wherein said predetermined range is between ambient temperature and 42° c. 84. the device of claim 82, wherein said predetermined range is between 30° c and 100° c. 85. the device of claim 57, wherein said housing is electrically insulating. 86. the device of claim 57, wherein said electrodes are disposed about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above. 87. the device of claim 57, wherein the power transmitted by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means to said skin is between 1 w and 700 w. 88. the device of claim 57, wherein said cosmetic improvement is chosen from a group consisting of skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above. 89. the device of claim 57, additionally comprising cooling means adapted to cool said skin. 90. the device of claim 57, wherein said cooling means are chosen from a group consisting of: a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin. 91. the device of claim 57, wherein said rf electrodes are further adapted to provide heat to said skin. 92. the device of claim 57, additionally comprising means for massaging said skin. 93. the device of claim 57, wherein at least one of said rf electrodes comprises a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue. 94. the device according to claim 57, additionally comprising a deep tissue diathermy device. 95. the device according to claim 93, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of a device emitting rf radiation and any other means adapted for producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. 96. the device of claim 95, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: a. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate rf electromagnetic energy; and, b. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said rf energy to said skin. 97. the device of claim 95, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: a. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate electrical current; and, b. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all of said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said electrical current to said skin. 98. the device of claim 95, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of acoustic (e.g., ultrasonic) diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat. 99. the device of claim 95, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 100. the device of claim 95, wherein said deep tissue diathermy device is a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 101. the device of claim 95, wherein said control means are adapted to monitor physical tissue parameters and to change at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters. 102. the device of claim 101, wherein said control means further comprise: a. processing means adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; b. sensing means adapted to sense electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, c. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. 103. the device according to claim 95, wherein said control means additionally comprise a feedback mechanism, adapted to change said rf signal according to predetermined medical needs. 104. the device of claim 103, wherein said feedback mechanism comprises: a. sensing means adapted to monitor electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. processing means, adapted to determine the degree of said esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device when said degree of said esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. 105. the device according to claim 104, wherein said electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. 106. the device according to claim 104, wherein said at least one tissue parameter is chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. 107. the device according to claim 104, wherein said sensing means are adapted to sense electrotherapy parameters. 108. the device according to claim 104, wherein said sensing means adapted to sense electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. 109. the device according to claim 104, wherein said processing means are adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions. 110. the device according to claim 109, wherein said predetermined parameters are chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions, and any combination thereof. 111. a method for providing cosmetic improvement to the skin, comprising: a. providing a housing, said housing comprising: (i) n electrodes, n greater than or equal to 2, said electrodes configured to transmit energy to said skin so as to provide treatment to said skin; (ii) energy generating means for generating n/2 independent signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes, each of said n electrodes in independent communication with said generating means; (iii) at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; and (iv) m needles in fluid communication with said capsule; where m is greater than one; b. generating at least one independent signal of predetermined waveform, frequency, and amplitude; c. transmitting each of said independent signals to a pair of said electrodes; d. placing said electrodes in physical contact with said skin; and, e. transmitting energy carried by said signals to said skin, thereby providing said treatment; and f. applying said medicament to said skin through at least one of said m needles wherein said medicament is applied to said skin either prior to or during rf treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said treatment; further wherein said capsule is integrated within said housing. 112. the method of claim 111, wherein said energy is selected from a group consisting of rf, intense pulsed light (ipl), laser and any combination thereof 113. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of providing control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means; 114. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament in conjunction with said rf in a manner selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. 115. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of applying said rf energy to a subset of said n electrodes and changing said subset of said n electrodes with time, such that said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin. 116. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament through a subset of said m needles and changing said subset of said m needles with time, such that said needles provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin. 117. the method of claims 115 or 116, additionally comprising steps of changing said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said m needles in conjunction with each other. 118. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of selecting the shape of the distal end of said electrode from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. 119. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of providing said capsule frangible. 120. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of squeezing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. 121. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of flowing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. 122. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of rupturing at least a portion of said capsule upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. 123. the method of claim 122, additionally comprising steps of inducing fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via at least one said needle by said rupture. 124. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of penetrating at least one at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said needles. 125. the method of claim 111, wherein none of said needles penetrates any layer of said skin. 126. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of ablating a portion of at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said electrodes. 127. the method according to claim 111, wherein said steps of generating independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes comprise steps of generating independent rf signals with frequencies between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz. 128. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of transmitting said rf signals either in a continuous mode or in pulses. 129. the method of claim 128, additionally comprising steps of selecting the length of said pulses to be between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1 ms when applying said rf in pulses. 130. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of applying pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf). 131. the method of claim 130, additionally comprising steps selecting the length of said pulses to be between about 0.1 ms and about 1000 ms when applying said rf in pulses. 132. the method according to claim 111, additionally comprising steps of measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin. 133. the method according to claim 132, additionally comprising steps of measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin by means of at least one sensor. 134. the method according to claim 133, additionally comprising steps of selecting said sensor from a group consisting of: impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof. 135. the method according to claim 133, additionally comprising steps of contacting said skin with said temperature sensor. 136. the method according to claim 133, wherein said temperature measuring means is not in contact with said skin. 137. the method according to claim 136, additionally comprising steps of regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range. 138. the method according to claim 136, additionally comprising steps of regulating said amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between ambient temperature and 42° c. 139. the method according to claim 136, additionally comprising steps of regulating said amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between 30° c and 100° c. 140. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of selecting an electrically insulating housing. 141. the method according to claim 111, additionally comprising steps of disposing said electrodes are about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of: linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above. 142. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of transmitting to said skin a power of between 1 w and 700 w by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means. 143. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of selecting said cosmetic/esthetic improvement to said skin from a group consisting of: skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above. 144. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of cooling said skin. 145. the method of claim 143, wherein said steps of cooling said skin are selected from a group consisting of: a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin. 146. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of heating said skin by means of said rf electrodes. 147. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of massaging said skin. 148. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of incorporating a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue into at least one of said electrodes. 149. the method of claim 111, additionally comprising steps of disposing said electrodes about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above. 150. the method according to claim 111, additionally comprising steps of performing deep tissue diathermy. 151. the method according to claim 150, additionally comprising performing said diathermy by a method chosen from a group consisting of: emitting rf radiation and producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. 152. the method according to claim 150, wherein said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy comprise: a. generating rf electromagnetic energy by use of at least one electrical output device; b. coupling at least two electrodes to said at least one electrical output device; and, c. applying simultaneously said rf energy to said skin. 153. the method according to claim 152, wherein said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise: a. generating electrical current by means of at least one electrical output; b. coupling electrically at least two electrodes electrically to said electrical output; c. placing said electrodes on said skin; and, d. applying simultaneously said electrical current to said skin. 154. the method according to claim 150, additionally comprising a step of selecting said deep tissue diathermy device from a group consisting of: ultrasonic diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat. 155. the method according to claim 154, additionally comprising steps of performing said deep tissue diathermy by means of an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 156. the method according to claim 154, additionally comprising steps of performing said deep tissue diathermy by means of a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 157. the method according to claim 150, additionally comprising steps of a. monitoring physical tissue parameters; and, b. changing at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters. 158. the method according to claim 157, additionally comprising steps of: a. storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; b. sensing electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, c. ceasing the continued performance of said method if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. 159. the method according to claim 150, additionally comprising steps of providing a feedback mechanism adapted to change said rf signal according to predetermined medical needs. 160. the method according to claim 159, additionally comprising steps of: a. monitoring electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. determining the degree of said esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. ceasing the continued performance of said method when said degree of said esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. 161. the method according to claim 160, wherein said steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters additionally comprise monitoring at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. 162. the method according to claim 159, additionally comprising determining the degree of said esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. 163. the method according to claim 159, additionally comprising steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. 164. the method according to claim 150, additionally comprising steps of storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions. 165. the method according to claim 164, wherein said steps of storing in a communicable database said predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions additionally comprise storing in a communicable database at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, and superficial muscle contractions. 166. a method for providing cosmetic improvement to the skin, comprising: a. providing a housing, said housing comprising: (i) n electrodes, n greater than or equal to 2, said electrodes configured to transmit energy to said skin so as to provide rf treatment to said skin; (ii) energy generating means for generating n/2 independent signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes, each of said n electrodes in independent communication with said generating means; and (iii) at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; at least one of said n electrodes is in fluid communication with said capsule; b. generating at least one independent signal of predetermined waveform, frequency, and amplitude; c. transmitting each of said independent signals to a pair of said electrodes; d. placing said electrodes in physical contact with said skin; and, e. transmitting energy carried by said signals to said skin, thereby providing said treatment; and f. applying said medicament to said skin through at least one of said n rf electrodes in fluid communication with said capsule wherein at least one of said n electrodes comprises a distal penetrating means adapted to penetrate said skin so as to deliver said medicament; further wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said distal penetrating means either prior to or during said treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said treatment; further wherein said capsule is integrated within said housing. 167. the method of claim 156, wherein said energy is selected from a group consisting of rf, intense pulsed light (ipl), laser and any combination thereof. 168. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of providing control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means; 169. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament in conjunction with said rf in a manner selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. 170. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of applying said rf energy to a subset of said n electrodes and changing said subset of said n electrodes with time, such that said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin. 171. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament through a subset of said penetrating means and changing said subset of said penetrating means with time, such that said penetrating means provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin. 172. the method of claims 170 or 171, additionally comprising steps of changing said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said penetrating means in conjunction with each other. 173. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of selecting the shape of the distal end of said electrode from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. 174. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of providing said capsule frangible. 175. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of squeezing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. 176. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of flowing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. 177. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of rupturing at least a portion of said capsule upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. 178. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of inducing fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via at least one said penetrating means by said rupture. 179. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of penetrating at least one at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said penetrating means. 180. the method of claim 167, wherein none of said penetrating means penetrates any layer of said skin. 181. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of ablating a portion of at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said electrodes. 182. the method according to claim 167, wherein said steps of generating independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes comprise steps of generating independent rf signals with frequencies between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz. 183. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of transmitting said rf signals either in a continuous mode or in pulses. 184. the method of claim 183, additionally comprising steps of selecting the length of said pulses to be between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1ms when applying said rf in pulses. 185. the method of claim 183, additionally comprising steps of applying pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf). 186. the method of claim 184, additionally comprising steps of selecting said pulse lengths to be between about 0.1 ms and about 1000 ms. 187. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of selecting said housing to be an electrically insulating housing. 188. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of disposing said electrodes about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above. 189. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of transmitting to said skin a power of between 1 w and 700 w by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means. 190. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of selecting said improvement to the skin chosen from a group consisting of: skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above. 191. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of cooling said skin. 192. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of cooling said skin by the use of means chosen from a group consisting of: a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin. 193. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of heating said skin by means of said rf electrodes. 194. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of massaging said skin. 195. the method of claim 167, additionally comprising steps of incorporating a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue into at least one of said electrodes. 196. the method according to claim 167, additionally comprising steps of measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin. 197. the method according to claim 196 additionally comprising measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin by means of at least one sensor. 198. the method according to claim 196, additionally comprising selecting said sensor from a group consisting of: impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof. 199. the method according to claim 196 additionally comprising steps of contacting said skin with said temperature measuring means. 200. the method according to claim 196 said temperature measuring means are not in contact with said skin. 201. the method according to claim 196 additionally comprising steps of regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range. 202. the method according to claim 196 additionally comprising regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between ambient temperature and 42° c. 203. the method according to claim 196 additionally comprising regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between 30° c and 100° c. 204. the method according to claim 167, additionally comprising steps of performing deep tissue diathermy. 205. the method according to claim 204 additionally comprising performing deep tissue diathermy by a method chosen from a group consisting of: emitting rf radiation and producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. 206. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of: generating rf electromagnetic energy by use of at least one electrical output device; coupling at least two electrodes to said at least one electrical output device; and applying simultaneously said rf energy to said skin; 207. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of: a. generating electrical current by means of at least one electrical output; b. coupling electrically at least two electrodes electrically to said electrical output; c. placing said electrodes on said skin; and, d. applying simultaneously said electrical current to said skin. 208. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of performing deep tissue diathermy by a means chosen from a group consisting of: ultrasonic diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat. 209. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of performing deep tissue diathermy by means of an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 210. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of performing deep tissue diathermy by means of a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. 211. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of: a. monitoring physical tissue parameters; and, b. changing at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters. 212. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of: a. storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; b. sensing electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, c. ceasing the continued performance of said method if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. 213. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising steps of: a. monitoring electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. ceasing the continued performance of said method when said degree of esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. 214. the method according to claim 213, wherein said steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters additionally comprise monitoring at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. 215. the method according to claim 213, additionally comprising determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. 216. the method according to claim 213, additionally comprising steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. 217. the method according to claim 213, additionally comprising steps of storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions. 218. the method according to claim 204, additionally comprising storing in a communicable database at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, and superficial muscle contractions.
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integrated treatment system field of the invention the present invention generally pertains to a system and method for treating skin conditions by applying medicament and rf treatment in conjunction with each other. background of the invention improving the appearance of the skin has been the goal of many esthetic products and procedures for many years, since a tight skin, without wrinkles or cellulite, has a younger and more appealing appearance. apart from age related changes, the skin also suffers from exposure to chemical and physical injuries, such as tobacco, cosmetics, esthetics and radiation from the sun and other sources. those factors contribute to the decrease in collagen production, to reduced elasticity, and the appearance of wrinkles. the skin and muscles of the face are structured differently than other places on the body. one side of the facial muscles is connected to the bone and the other to the skin. as the muscle deteriorates through the aging process, the attached facial skin loses it elasticity. loss of elasticity causes the skin to sag and wrinkle. strengthening relevant muscle groups restores and maintains the original shape and contour of the muscles. as facial muscles get stronger, they get shorter and flatter, causing the attached skin to become firmer, and smoothing wrinkles, improving facial appearance. additionally, a contracting muscle's blood supply is 10 times greater than a muscle at rest. this fresh blood supply delivers vital oxygen and nutrients to the skin, revitalizing the tissue. the most common method of heating the dermis, is the use of rf radiation, applied by antenna or electrodes. for example, wo98005380 discloses a method of tightening skin using an rf electromagnetic energy delivery device. however, the manner (and specifically, the protocol) in which the rf is transmitted to the region of interest is highly important. some methods will have no effect and others may have the opposite effect. u.s. pat. appl. 20100016850 discloses an invention that demonstrates that application of electrical currents of about 1 milliampere, and voltages greater than 4v have a much greater esthetic effect on the skin than application of lower currents and voltages known in the prior art. this application further discloses that simultaneous application of electrical currents on the skin yields better esthetic results. it can be desirable to include medicaments during the treatment. medicaments can include, but are not limited to, a local anesthetic to reduce the discomfort of the rf treatment, medicaments intended to treat the skin condition, a dye to absorb light in embodiments that use optical means for effecting deep tissue diathermy, a muscle relaxant, etc. . rf energy can improve the efficacy of transdermal delivery of medication. thus, means for providing rf (or in general, any kind of energy) to the region of treatment (e.g., the skin) in conjunction with transdermal delivery of medication remains a long-felt, yet unmet, need. summary of the invention it is one object of the present invention to disclose a device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, comprising a housing, said housing comprising: a. n electrodes, where n is greater than two, said electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide rf treatment to said skin; b. energy generating means for generating n/2 independent signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes; each of said n electrodes in independent communication with said energy generating means; c. at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; and d. m needles in fluid communication with said capsule; where m is greater than one; wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said m needles either prior to or during said treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said treatment. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said energy is selected from a group consisting of rf, intense pulsed light (ipl), laser and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, additionally comprising control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means, it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said delivery of said medicament in conjunction with said rf is selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin, said rf energy being applied to said skin through a subset of said n electrodes, said subset of said n electrodes changing with time. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said needles provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin, the medicament being applied to the skin through a subset of said m needles, said subset of said m needles changing with time. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said m needles change in conjunction with each other. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein the distal end of said electrode has a shape selected from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said capsule is frangible. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said medicament is squeezed from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said medicament flows from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein at least a portion of said capsule is adapted such that at least a portion thereof ruptures upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion of the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said capsule is adapted such said rupture induces fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via at least one said needle. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein at least one of the following is true: a. at least one of said needles penetrates at least one layer of said skin; b. none of said needles penetrates any layer of said skin; c. at least one of said electrodes ablates a portion of at least one layer of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein any of the following is held true: a. each of said predetermined frequencies is between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz; b. rf signals are transmitted in either a continuous mode or in pulses; when the rf is applied in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1 ms; length of said pulses is between about 0.1 and about 1000 ms; c. additionally comprises means adapted to apply pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf); d. additionally comprises temperature measuring means adapted to measure the temperature of the surface of said skin; said temperature measuring means comprises at least one sensor chosen from a group consisting of impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof; said temperature measuring means either come into contact with the skin or are not in contact with the skin; said control means are programmed to regulate the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range; said predetermined range is between ambient temperature and 42° c; said predetermined range is between 30° c and 100° c; e. said electrodes are disposed about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above; f. the power transmitted by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means to said skin is between 1 w and 700 w; g. said cosmetic improvement is chosen from a group consisting of skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above; h. additionally comprising cooling means adapted to cool said skin; i. said cooling means are chosen from a group consisting of a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin; j. said rf electrodes are further adapted to provide heat to said skin; k. additionally comprising means for massaging said skin; and, 1. at least one of said rf electrodes comprises a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, additionally comprising a deep tissue diathermy device. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of any devices emitting rf radiation and any other means adapted for producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. b. said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: i. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate rf electromagnetic energy; and, ii. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said rf energy to said skin. c. said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: i. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate electrical current; and, ii. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all of said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said electrical current to said skin. d. said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of acoustic (e.g., ultrasonic) diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat. e. said deep tissue diathermy device is an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; f. said deep tissue diathermy device is a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; g. said control means are adapted to monitor physical tissue parameters and to change at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters; h. said control means further comprise: i. processing means adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; ii. sensing means adapted to sense electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, iii. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said control means additionally comprise a feedback mechanism, adapted to change said rf signal according to predetermined medical needs, and comprising: a. sensing means adapted to monitor electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. processing means, adapted to determine the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device when said degree of esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. b. said at least one tissue parameter is chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. c. wherein said sensing means are adapted to sense electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. d. said processing means are adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions; said predetermined parameters are chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions, and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose a device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, comprising a housing, said housing comprising: a. n electrodes, where n is greater than two, said electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide treatment to said skin; b. energy generating means for generating n/2 independent signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes; each of said n electrode in independent communication with said generating means; and c. at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; at least one of said rf electrodes is in fluid communication with said capsule; wherein at least one of said n electrodes comprises a distal penetrating means adapted to penetrate said skin so as to deliver said medicament; further wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said distal penetrating means either prior to or during said treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said treatment. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said energy is selected from a group consisting of rf, intense pulsed light (ipl), laser and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, additionally comprising control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means, it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said delivery of said medicament in conjunction with said rf is selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin, said rf energy being applied to the skin through a subset of said n electrodes, said subset of said n electrodes changing with time. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said penetrating means provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin, the medicament being applied to the skin through a subset of said penetrating means, said subset of said penetrating means changing with time. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said penetrating means change in conjunction with each other. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein the distal end of said electrode has a shape selected from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said capsule is frangible. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said medicament is squeezed from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said medicament flows from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein at least a portion of said capsule is adapted such that at least a portion thereof ruptures upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion of the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said capsule is adapted such that said rupture induces fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via said at least one penetrating means. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein at least one of the following is true: a. at least one of said penetrating means penetrates at least one layer of said skin; b. none of said penetrating means penetrates any layer of said skin; c. at least one of said electrodes ablates a portion of at least one layer of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein any of the following is held true: a. each of said predetermined frequencies is between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz; b. rf signals are transmitted in either a continuous mode or in pulses; when the rf is applied in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1 ms; length of said pulses is between about 0.1 and about 1000 ms; c. additionally comprises means adapted to apply pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf); d. additionally comprises temperature measuring means adapted to measure the temperature of the surface of said skin; said temperature measuring means comprises at least one sensor chosen from a group consisting of impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof; said temperature measuring means either come into contact with the skin or are not in contact with the skin; said control means are programmed to regulate the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range; said predetermined range is between ambient temperature and 42° c; said predetermined range is between 30° c and 100° c; e. said electrodes are disposed about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above; f. the power transmitted by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means to said skin is between 1 w and 700 w; g. said cosmetic improvement is chosen from a group consisting of skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above; h. additionally comprising cooling means adapted to cool said skin; i. said cooling means are chosen from a group consisting of a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin; j. said rf electrodes are further adapted to provide heat to said skin; k. additionally comprising means for massaging said skin; and, 1. at least one of said rf electrodes comprises a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, additionally comprising a deep tissue diathermy device. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of any devices emitting rf radiation and any other means adapted for producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. b. said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: i. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate rf electromagnetic energy; and, ii. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said rf energy to said skin. c. said deep tissue diathermy device further comprises: i. at least one electrical output device adapted to generate electrical current; and, ii. at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all of said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said electrical current to said skin. d. said deep tissue diathermy device is chosen from a group consisting of acoustic (e.g., ultrasonic) diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat. e. said deep tissue diathermy device is an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; f. said deep tissue diathermy device is a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; g. said control means are adapted to monitor physical tissue parameters and to change at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters; h. said control means further comprise: i. processing means adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; ii. sensing means adapted to sense electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, iii. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein said control means additionally comprise a feedback mechanism, adapted to change said rf signal according to predetermined medical needs, and comprising: a. sensing means adapted to monitor electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. processing means, adapted to determine the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device when said degree of esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the device, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. b. said at least one tissue parameter is chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. c. wherein said sensing means are adapted to sense electrotherapy parameters are chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. d. said processing means are adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions; said predetermined parameters are chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions, and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose a method for providing cosmetic improvement to the skin, comprising: a. providing a housing, said housing comprising: (i) n rf electrodes, n greater than or equal to 2, said rf electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide rf treatment to said skin; (ii) rf generating means for generating n/2 independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes, each of said n rf electrodes in independent communication with said rf generating means; (iii) at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; and (iv) m needles in fluid communication with said capsule; where m is greater than one; b. generating at least one independent rf signal of predetermined waveform, frequency, and amplitude; c. transmitting each of said independent rf signals to a pair of said electrodes; d. placing said electrodes in physical contact with said skin; and, e. transmitting energy carried by said rf signals to said skin, thereby providing said rf treatment; and f. applying said medicament to said skin through at least one of said m needles wherein said medicament is applied to said skin either prior to or during rf treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said rf treatment. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of providing control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means; it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament in conjunction with said rf in a manner selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of applying said rf energy to a subset of said n electrodes and changing said subset of said n electrodes with time, such that said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament through a subset of said m needles and changing said subset of said m needles with time, such that said needles provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of changing said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said m needles in conjunction with each other. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of selecting the shape of the distal end of said electrode from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of providing said capsule frangible. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of squeezing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of flowing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of rupturing at least a portion of said capsule upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of inducing fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via at least one said needle by said rupture. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein at least one of the following is true: a. comprises steps of penetrating at least one at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said needles; b. none of said needles penetrates any layer of said skin; c. comprises steps of ablating a portion of at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said electrodes. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of generating independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes comprise steps of generating independent rf signals with frequencies between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz; b. transmitting said rf signals either in a continuous mode or in pulses; when applying said rf in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1ms; c. additionally comprising means adapted to apply pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf); said steps of transmitting said rf signals in pulses further comprising transmitting said pulses with pulse lengths of between about 0.1 and about 1000 ms; d. additionally comprising steps of disposing said electrodes within an electrically insulating housing; said steps of disposing electrodes about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above; e. additionally comprising steps of transmitting to said skin a power of between 1 w and 700 w by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means; f. additionally comprising steps of providing a cosmetic/esthetic improvement to the skin chosen from a group consisting of skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above; g. additionally comprising steps of cooling said skin; said steps of cooling said skin further comprising cooling said skin by the use of means chosen from a group consisting of a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin; h. additionally comprising steps of heating said skin by means of said rf electrodes; i. additionally comprising steps of massaging said skin; j. additionally comprising steps of incorporating a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue into at least one of said electrodes. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin further comprise measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin by means of at least one sensor chosen from a group consisting of impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof; b. said temperature measuring means either come into contact with said skin or are not in contact with said skin; c. additionally comprising steps of regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range; said steps of regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin further comprise regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between ambient temperature and 42° c; said steps of regulating said amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin further comprise regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between 30° c and 100° c. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of performing deep tissue diathermy; said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by a method chosen from a group consisting of: emitting rf radiation and producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise: i. generating rf electromagnetic energy by use of at least one electrical output device; ii. coupling at least two electrodes to said at least one electrical output device; and, iii. applying simultaneously said rf energy to said skin; b. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise: i. generating electrical current by means of at least one electrical output; ii. coupling electrically at least two electrodes electrically to said electrical output; iii. placing said electrodes on said skin; and, iv. applying simultaneously said electrical current to said skin; c. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by a means chosen from a group consisting of: ultrasonic diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat; d. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by means of an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; e. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by means of a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; f. additionally comprising steps of: i. monitoring physical tissue parameters; and, ii. changing at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters; g. additionally comprising steps of: i. storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; ii. sensing electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, iii. ceasing the continued performance of said method if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of: a. monitoring electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. ceasing the continued performance of said method when said degree of esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters further comprise monitoring at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. b. said steps of determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality further comprise determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. c. additionally comprising steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. d. additionally comprising steps of storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions, wherein said steps of storing in a communicable database said predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions further comprise storing in a communicable database at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, and superficial muscle contractions. it is another object of the present invention to disclose a method for providing cosmetic improvement to the skin, comprising: a. providing a housing, said housing comprising: (i) n rf electrodes, n greater than or equal to 2, said rf electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide rf treatment to said skin; (ii) rf generating means for generating n/2 independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes, each of said n rf electrodes in independent communication with said rf generating means; and (iii) at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; at least one of said n rf electrodes is in fluid communication with said capsule; b. generating at least one independent rf signal of predetermined waveform, frequency, and amplitude; c. transmitting each of said independent rf signals to a pair of said electrodes; d. placing said electrodes in physical contact with said skin; and, e. transmitting energy carried by said rf signals to said skin, thereby providing said rf treatment; and f. applying said medicament to said skin through at least one of said n rf electrodes in fluid communication with said capsule wherein at least one of said n rf electrodes comprises a distal penetrating means adapted to penetrate said skin so as to deliver said medicament; further wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said distal penetrating means either prior to or during said rf treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said rf treatment. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of providing control means for controlling the output of said rf generating means, said control means in communication with said rf generating means; it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament in conjunction with said rf in a manner selected from a group consisting of: medicament is delivered, then rf is applied, rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, rf is applied and then medicament, and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of applying said rf energy to a subset of said n electrodes and changing said subset of said n electrodes with time, such that said electrodes provide fractional rf treatment of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of delivering said medicament through a subset of said penetrating means and changing said subset of said penetrating means with time, such that said penetrating means provide fractional medicament treatment of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of changing said subset of said n electrodes and said subset of said penetrating means in conjunction with each other. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of selecting the shape of the distal end of said electrode from a group consisting of: pointed, cylindrical, rounded, conic, and truncated conic. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of providing said capsule frangible. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of squeezing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of flowing said medicament from said housing onto said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of rupturing at least a portion of said capsule upon application of at least one of: at least one predetermined pressure on at least a portion the exterior of said housing, rotation of one part of said housing with respect to another part of said housing and any combination thereof. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of inducing fluid connection between the interior of said capsule and said skin via at least one said penetrating means by said rupture. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein at least one of the following is true: a. comprises steps of penetrating at least one at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said penetrating means; b. none of said penetrating means penetrates any layer of said skin; c. comprises steps of ablating a portion of at least one layer of said skin by at least one of said electrodes. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of generating independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes comprise steps of generating independent rf signals with frequencies between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz; b. transmitting said rf signals either in a continuous mode or in pulses; when applying said rf in pulses, the length of said pulses is between about 0.01 μ8 and about 1ms; c. additionally comprising means adapted to apply pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf); said steps of transmitting said rf signals in pulses further comprise transmitting said pulses with pulse lengths of between about 0.1 and about 1000 ms; d. additionally comprising steps of disposing said electrodes within an electrically insulating housing; said steps of disposing electrodes about the distal end of said housing in a geometry chosen from a group consisting of linear; zigzag; on the perimeter of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; within the area of a shape chosen from substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular; and any combination of the above; e. additionally comprising steps of transmitting to said skin a power of between 1 w and 700 w by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means; f. additionally comprising steps of providing a cosmetic/esthetic improvement to the skin chosen from a group consisting of skin rejuvenation, reduction of the number of wrinkles, reduction of the depth of wrinkles, reduction of cellulite, skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and any combination of the above; g. additionally comprising steps of cooling said skin; said steps of cooling said skin further comprising cooling said skin by the use of means chosen from a group consisting of a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin; h. additionally comprising steps of heating said skin by means of said rf electrodes; i. additionally comprising steps of massaging said skin; j. additionally comprising steps of incorporating a hypodermic syringe for penetrating into subcutaneous tissue into at least one of said electrodes. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin further comprise measuring the temperature of the surface of said skin by means of at least one sensor chosen from a group consisting of impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of pair of said rf electrodes; thermal sensor; thermometer; and any combination thereof; b. said temperature measuring means either come into contact with said skin or are not in contact with said skin; c. additionally comprising steps of regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains within a predetermined range; said steps of regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin further comprise regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between ambient temperature and 42° c; said steps of regulating said amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin further comprise regulating the amount of rf energy transmitted to said skin such that the temperature of said skin remains between 30° c and 100° c. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of performing deep tissue diathermy; said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by a method chosen from a group consisting of: emitting rf radiation and producing electrical current absorbed by subcutaneous tissue. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise: i. generating rf electromagnetic energy by use of at least one electrical output device; ii. coupling at least two electrodes to said at least one electrical output device; and, iii. applying simultaneously said rf energy to said skin; b. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise: i. generating electrical current by means of at least one electrical output; ii. coupling electrically at least two electrodes electrically to said electrical output; iii. placing said electrodes on said skin; and, iv. applying simultaneously said electrical current to said skin; c. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by a means chosen from a group consisting of: ultrasonic diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat; d. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by means of an optical device adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; e. said steps of performing deep tissue diathermy further comprise performing deep tissue diathermy by means of a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated; f. additionally comprising steps of: i. monitoring physical tissue parameters; and, ii. changing at least one of (a) the amount of heat applied and (b) the form of said rf in response to the values of said physical tissue parameters; g. additionally comprising steps of: i. storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; ii. sensing electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and, iii. ceasing the continued performance of said method if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, additionally comprising steps of: a. monitoring electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; b. determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and, c. ceasing the continued performance of said method when said degree of esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. it is another object of the present invention to disclose the method, wherein any of the following is held true: a. said steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters further comprise monitoring at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. b. said steps of determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality further comprise determining the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, and skin elasticity. c. additionally comprising steps of monitoring electrotherapy parameters chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. d. additionally comprising steps of storing in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions, wherein said steps of storing in a communicable database said predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions further comprise storing in a communicable database at least one parameter chosen from a group consisting of: time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, and superficial muscle contractions. brief description of the figures in order to better understand the invention and its implementation in practice, a plurality of embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein fig. 1 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the device of the present invention wherein electrodes comprise the medicament delivery means; and fig. 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the device of the present invention wherein electrodes apply the rf energy and separate hollow needles apply the medicament. figs. 3a-e schematically illustrate the distal tip of an exemplary electrode. figs. 4-5 schematically illustrate another embodiment of the present invention in which a combined ipl treatment is illustrated. detailed description of the preferred emb odiemnts the following description is provided, alongside all chapters of the present invention, so as to enable any person skilled in the art to make use of said invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out this invention. various modifications, however, will remain apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined specifically to provide a means and method for treating a skin condition by applying rf energy and a medicament to the skin in conjunction with one another. in the following description, various aspects of the invention will be described. for the purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that there are other embodiments of the invention that differ in details without affecting the essential nature thereof. therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the figures and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims, with the proper scope determined only by the broadest interpretation of said claims. with respect to parameters that characterize the invention disclosed herein and the cosmetic treatment effected thereby, "unsafe" parameters are understood to be parameters that will cause tissue damage or excessive discomfort to the person undergoing treatment, e.g. overheating, transmitting energy to tissue layers below the skin, etc. according to one embodiment, the device of the present invention automatically prevents the parameters from reaching the unsafe zone and maintains the same within the safe zone. the invention comprises a novel device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, which is described in detail below. in preferred embodiments of the invention, the cosmetic improvement achieved includes at least one of skin rejuvenation; reduction in the number of wrinkles; reduction of the depth of wrinkles; reduction of cellulite; skin tightening; circumferential reduction. said cosmetic improvement is achieved by applying energy to the skin. the energy is selected from a group consisting of rf, intense pulsed light (ipl), laser and any combination thereof. the following disclosure is provided for rf energy, however the same applies both to laser or ipl treatment. the invention provides an integrated mechanism for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin. in the prior art the skin is treated with rf, then the rf applicator is removed and medicament is applied to the skin. unlike the prior art, in the present invention, any of the following can be done, all without removing the device from the skin: medicament and rf can be applied simultaneously, or medicament can be applied, then rf, or rf then medicament, or rf and medicament can be applied alternately. furthermore, for the user, the device provides single step application of medicament and rf. in all embodiments, the user applies the device to the skin and operates the device, whether operation involves turning it on, squeezing it, or otherwise manipulating it. the user need not concern herself with the details of operation; the medicament will automatically be dispensed and the rf automatically applied as appropriate for the embodiment. for non-limiting example, in variants of embodiments where rf and medicament are applied simultaneously, each time the user squeezes the housing, medicament is dispensed onto the skin and rf is simultaneously applied to the skin. the present invention provides a device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, comprising a housing, said housing comprising: a. n rf electrodes, where n is greater than two, said rf electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide rf treatment to said skin; b. rf generating means for generating nil independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes; each of said n rf electrodes in independent communication with said rf generating means; c. at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; and d. m needles in fluid communication with said capsule; where m is greater than one; wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said m needles either prior to or during said rf treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said rf treatment. the present invention further provides a device for improving the cosmetic appearance of the skin, comprising a housing, said housing comprising: a. n rf electrodes, where n is greater than two, said rf electrodes configured to transmit rf energy to said skin so as to provide rf treatment to said skin; b. rf generating means for generating n/2 independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes; each of said n rf electrode in independent communication with said rf generating means; and c. at least one capsule, adapted to contain at least one medicament; said capsule within said housing; at least one of said n rf electrodes is in fluid communication with said capsule; wherein at least one of said n rf electrodes comprises a distal penetrating means adapted to penetrate said skin so as to deliver said medicament; further wherein said medicament is applied to said skin through at least one of said distal penetrating means either prior to or during said rf treatment, such that said medicament is applied in conjunction with said rf treatment. fig. 1 schematically illustrates an embodiment (100) of the invention. the housing (120) contains a frangible medicament capsule (130). depending from the base of the capsule are n electrodes (140) with associated electrical connections (not shown); each electrode (140) is independently connectable to a power source (not shown) and a control means (not shown). the proximal end of the electrodes (140) is within the housing (120) or on the interior of the housing (120) such that connection between the electrodes (140) and the housing (120) is fluid-tight. the distal end of the electrodes (140) is exterior to the housing (120). at least a portion of the capsule (130) is frangible, such that exerting at least a predetermined pressure on the capsule (130) causes at least a portion of the capsule (130) to fracture, thereby allowing medicament to escape from the capsule and, as described hereinbelow, to flow onto the skin. the predetermined pressure can be exerted by a method selected from a group consisting of: pressing the sides of the housing (120) toward each other; twisting a portion of the housing (120) relative to another portion, thereby compressing the capsule (130) between an upper anvil (which can be the top of the housing (120)) and the base of the housing (120); twisting a portion of the housing (120) relative to another portion, thereby pressing the capsule (130) against the tops of the electrodes (140), twisting a portion of the housing (120) relative to another portion, thereby pressing the capsule (130) against sharp objects in the base of the housing (120), or any combination thereof. other methods of applying pressure to the capsule (120) will be obvious to one skilled in the art. the electrodes (140) are adapted to deliver energy to the skin, preferably rf energy. the control means enables the energy to be applied to any subset of the electrodes, and to apply it in any desired pattern. for non-limiting example, energy can be applied to the electrodes (140) in random order, minimizing heating of the skin; or energy can be applied along a line of electrodes (140), sweeping along a wrinkle or scar while avoiding treating (or heating) unwrinkled skin. other patterns of application will be obvious to one skilled in the art. in some embodiments, the electrodes (140) are fixed in position. in some embodiments, the electrodes (140) are extendible from the housing (120) such that, during storage and transport, the electrodes (140) are retracted within the housing (120) and are protected from damage. in some embodiments, the electrodes (140) can be retracted into the housing (120) after use, to ensure that the device can be disposed of without danger of someone being inadvertently scratched by the electrodes (140) during, for example, recycling processes. in some embodiments, the electrodes (140) are hollow, open at their proximal end (within the housing (120)) and comprise a hole in the portion of the electrode (140) outside the housing (120), preferably near the distal end of the electrodes (140). these hollow electrodes (140) provide a fluid connection between at least a portion of the interior of the housing (120) and the exterior of the device, through which medicament can flow from the capsule (130) to the skin. fig. 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment (200) of the invention wherein the medicament is delivered to the skin via hollow needles (150). the housing (120) contains a frangible medicament capsule (130). depending from the base of the capsule are n electrodes (140) with associated electrical connections (not shown); each electrode (140) is independently connectable to a power source (not shown) and a control means (not shown). the connection between the electrodes (140) and the housing (120) is fluid-tight. at least the distal end of the electrodes (140) is exterior to the housing (120). in further reference to figs. 1 and 2, the capsule can be positioned anywhere within the housing. in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 1, the capsule is positioned in contact with or nearly in contact with the base of the housing. in some variants of embodiments where the capsule is in contact or nearly in contact with the base of the housing, at least one of the electrodes or needles can have sharp or serrated edges; in such embodiments, pressure on the housing pushes the capsule onto the sharp or serrated edges, thereby breaking the capsule and enabling flow of medicament into the hollow of the needle or electrode. in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 2, the capsule is positioned near the top of the housing. in embodiments of this type, after the capsule has fractured, the medicament will flow from the capsule into the base of the housing, providing an even layer of medicament, thereby assuring that the same amount of medicament is delivered through each of the hollow needles or electrodes. in the exemplary embodiments shown, where it is present, the capsule fills the cross-section of the housing. in other embodiments, the capsule does not fill the entire cross-section; other part of the cross-section can contain, for non-limiting example, electrical connections, power sources, electronics, or piercing mechanisms. in yet other embodiments, the capsules have more than one section, so that, for example, medicaments can be mixed at the time of use and kept separate before use. other positions of the capsule within the housing will be obvious to one skilled in the art. also depending from the base of the capsule (120) are p needles (150). the proximal end of the needles (150) is within the housing or on the interior of the housing such that connection between the needles (150) and the housing (120) is fluid-tight. the distal end of the needles (150) is exterior to the housing (120). the proximal end of the needles (150) is within the housing (120) or on the interior of the housing (120) such that connection between the needles (150) and the housing (120) is fluid-tight. the distal end of the needles (150) is exterior to the housing (120). in preferred embodiments, the needles penetrate the skin. in some variants of these embodiments, the medicament is delivered to the skin below the surface of the skin. in other variants, the medicament is delivered to the skin at or above the level of the skin; in these embodiments, the medicament can flow into the skin via holes created by the penetrating needles. in some embodiments, the electrodes induce holes in the skin, for non-limiting example, by ablation; in some variants of these embodiments, the medicament can flow into the skin via holes created by the electrodes. in the embodiment of fig. 2, rupture of the capsule (130) enables medicament to flow through the needles (150) to the skin. in the embodiment of fig. 2, fluid can flow through the needles (150) only; the electrodes' (140) function is to deliver energy to the skin. in some variants of the embodiment of fig. 2, fluid can flow through both the needles (150) and through the electrodes (140). in reference to fig. 3a-e, the distal tip of the electrode is shown. the distal tip of the electrode can be pointed (fig. 3a, 3d), cylindrical (figs. 3b, 3e), or rounded (fig. 3c). in embodiments such as those shown in figs. 3d and 3e, the electrode narrows only slowly, if it all, until near the tip, so that the tip is conic (fig. 3d) or a truncated cone (fig. 3e), also called the frustum of a cone. near the tip, the narrowing is raped, so that an electrode with small tip area will still have sufficient thermal conductivity to prevent overheating. if the electrode has circular cross-section, the distal tip in fig. 3b will form a circular cylinder; if the electrode has polygonal cross-section, the cylinder will be polygonal. in some embodiments, the medicament is squeezed from the housing; if there is no pressure on the housing, the medicament remains contained therein. in other embodiments, once the capsule has been ruptured, the medicament flows from the capsule through the needles or hollow electrodes to the skin, without requiring further pressure. the medicament can be an analgesic or local anesthetic, to reduce discomfort caused by application of the energy, it can be a skin-treatment medicament such as, but not limited to, retinoids, retinol, alpha hydroxy acids, kinetin, coenzyme q10, copper peptides antioxidants, and topical vitamin c. medicaments can also include, but are not limited to, a dye to absorb light in embodiments that use optical means for effecting deep tissue diathermy, a muscle relaxant, etc. during treatment, the energy can be applied first, with medicament applied afterwards, the medicament can be applied first, with the energy applied afterward, the medicament and energy can be applied simultaneously, and any combination thereof. the electrodes are configured to transmit rf radiation received from the rf source to the skin undergoing cosmetic treatment. the electrodes and electrical connections are enclosed within a housing (120) that is made of electrically non-conducting material such as, for example, plastic. in preferred embodiments, the electrodes are disposed about the distal end of the housing such that all of the electrodes can be placed simultaneously in physical contact with the skin undergoing cosmetic treatment. the geometrical arrangement of the electrodes can be any suitable arrangement; non-limiting examples include circular, linear, zigzag, on the perimeter and/or within the area of a substantially polygonal, circular, oval, or irregular shape, or any combination of the above. reference is now made to another embodiment of the present invention in which combined ipl treatment is illustrated. reference is now made to figs. 4-5 which provides a preliminary sketch of the idea of combined ipl and infection treatment. the ipl is a device utilizing the light from the flash lamp to treat the human tissue. the light usually delivered through the optical light guide which is a block of transparent material like sapphire or quartz. in this embodiment, the light guides are made from few separate blocks and placing between the blocks the metal plates with micro needles. the micro needles are connected inside of the metal plate in parallel. the metal plate connected to injection device by tubing. according to this embodiment, the operation of the device is by positioning the light guide/metal plates sandwich on the tissue; pressing to penetrate into the skin; and, than to infect the some liquid with the pulse of light. in order to ensure the user's safety, in preferred embodiments of the invention, the device is adapted to operate according to a medical electrical equipment standard chosen from a group consisting of iec 60601-2-35, iec 60601-2-33, iec 60601-2-29, iec 60601-2-9, iec 60601-2-5, iec 60601-2- 3, iec 60601-1-8, iec 60601-1-6, iec 60601-1-4, iec 60601-1-3, iec 60601-1-2, iec 60601-1-1 and any combination thereof. the rf generating means comprises means for producing nil independent rf signals of predetermined waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes, (it should be noted that n is the number of electrodes). means for production of rf signals with several independent output channels are well- known in the art. in preferred embodiments, the waveforms, frequencies, and amplitudes are chosen to be those that are most effective for skin treatment. in preferred embodiments, the frequencies of the rf signals are between about 1 hz and about 100 mhz, and the power transmitted by said rf electrodes and said rf generating means to the skin undergoing cosmetic treatment is between 1 w and 700 w. the rf output can be continuous wave or pulsed. in preferred embodiments in which the rf output is pulsed, the pulses have duration of between about 0.01 μ$εο and about 1ms. however, it should be pointed that the rf can be applied in a continuous mode. according to another embodiment of the present invention, there are provided means adapted to apply pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (pemf). in preferred embodiments in which the rf output is pulsed, the pulses have duration of between about 0.1 ms and about 1000 ms. at any given time, the number of pairs of electrodes which are active, which have current flowing through them, can be anywhere between 0 and n/2, where n is the total number of electrodes. in some embodiments of the device, it also comprises means for measuring the temperature of the skin being treated. in preferred embodiments, the temperature measuring is incorporated into housing 120 and disposed in such a manner that the temperature sensor makes contact with the skin while the device is in use. in preferred embodiments of the invention that include a temperature sensor, the sensor is chosen from a group consisting of an impedance meter adapted to measure impedance across at least one of said pairs of rf electrodes; a thermal sensor; a thermometer; and any combination thereof. in more preferred embodiments of the invention that include a temperature sensor, control means are programmed to regulate the amount of rf energy transmitted to the skin such that the temperature of the surface of the skin remains within a predetermined range. feedback mechanisms for raising or lowering the output of a signal generator in response to and in correlation with an input from an external sensor and means for incorporating them into control mechanisms for signal generators are well-known in the art, and any such feedback mechanism appropriate for the control means can be used. in the most preferred embodiments that include a temperature sensor, the temperature range can be (a) from ambient temperature to 42 °c or (b) between 30 °c and 100 °c. it should be noted that according to one embodiment of the present invention, the temperature sensors are embedded within the device and according to another embodiment, the temperature sensors are position on the surface of the device. according to some embodiments, the temperature sensors come in contact with the skin and according to other embodiments, the sensors are not in contact with the skin. in other embodiments of the invention, the device incorporates cooling means adapted to cool the skin being treated. in preferred embodiments that incorporate such cooling means, the cooling means is selected from a group consisting of a peltier effect cooling device, irrigation with cool water, and means for blowing air across the skin. the cooling means can be integrated into housing (120) or applied outside of the housing (120) either as a cooling unit attached to the housing (120) or as a separate unit. in yet other embodiments of the invention, the rf electrodes are further adapted to provide heat to the skin being treated. in some embodiments, the device according to the present invention additionally incorporates a device for performing deep tissue diathermy. in preferred embodiments of the invention that include a device for performing deep tissue diathermy, the device is selected from a group consisting of any devices emitting rf radiation and any other means adapted for producing electrical current absorbable by subcutaneous tissue. in more preferred embodiments of the invention in which a deep tissue diathermy device is incorporated, the electrodes that provide the pulsed electromagnetic field (pemf) therapy also provide rf electrical current for the diathermy treatment. examples of how to incorporate deep tissue diathermy devices into a device for pemf therapy are disclosed in detail in u. s. pat. appl. us2011/0130618; one of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand how to apply the information disclosed in that application to the device disclosed in the present invention. in preferred embodiments of the invention in which it incorporates a deep tissue diathermy device, the deep tissue diathermy device further incorporates at least one electrical output device adapted to generate rf electromagnetic energy; and at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein all said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said rf energy to said skin. in more preferred embodiments of the invention in which it incorporates a deep tissue diathermy device, the deep tissue diathermy device incorporates in addition at least one electrical output device adapted to generate electrical current; and at least two electrodes electrically coupled to said electrical output device and placed on said skin region, wherein any subset of said electrodes are adapted to simultaneously apply said electrical current to said skin, so that the deep tissue diathermy can be applied either to all of the tissue, to the tissue treated by rf, to the tissue treated by the medicament, to tissue different from the tissue treated by rf, to tissue different from the tissue treated by medicament, and any combination thereof, tissue treated by diathermy can be treated in conjunction with rf treatment or medicament treatment, and the diathermy can be before, during or after the rf treatment, the medicament treatment and any combination thereof.. in the most preferred embodiments in which the device incorporates a deep tissue diathermy device, it is chosen from a group consisting of ultrasonic diathermy devices, optical diathermy devices, electromagnetic induction diathermy devices, devices for producing sound waves, acoustic diathermy devices, ultrasonic diathermy devices, and devices for direct application of heat. in preferred embodiments in which the deep tissue diathermy device is an optical device, it is adapted to emit light in wavelengths absorbed by subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. in other preferred embodiments in which the deep tissue diathermy device is a sonic or ultrasonic deep tissue diathermy device, it comprises a device for producing sound waves adapted to emit sound waves of a frequency absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue such that said subcutaneous tissue is heated. all of these means for performing deep tissue diathermy are well-known in the art, and any suitable means for adapting or accommodating them to the present invention can be used. in yet other preferred embodiments of the invention, the control means further comprise processing means adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment parameters, said parameters chosen from a group consisting of time t of said treatment, the temperature of said skin, frequency, power, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; sensing means adapted to sense electromagnetic radiation and heat radiation parameters chosen from a group consisting of time of said treatment, temperature of said tissue, frequency, power, intensity of ultrasound irradiation, energy applied by said rf generating means, depth to which said device operates, magnetic field intensity, tissue impedance, specific absorption rate, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof; and regulating means adapted to stop the operation of said device if said parameters are determined to be unsafe. such measuring, processing, and regulating means are well-known in the art, and one skilled in the art will readily understand how to incorporate them into the present device. in yet other preferred embodiments of the device, the control means further comprise a feedback mechanism adapted to change the rf signal according to predetermined medical needs and comprising: sensing means adapted to monitor electrotherapy parameters related to the level of skin rejuvenation and viability; processing means adapted to determine the degree of esthetic improvement in at least one tissue parameter related to the level of skin rejuvenation and vitality; and regulating means adapted to stop the operation of the device when the degree of esthetic improvement reaches a predetermined value. in more preferred embodiments, the electrotherapy parameters and/or the tissue parameters are chosen from a group consisting of dermal tensile forces, tissue impedance, muscle contraction forces, skin elasticity, and any combination thereof. in other preferred parameters, the sensing means are adapted to sense electrotherapy parameters chosen from a group consisting of duration of the treatment, temperature of the tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions and any combination thereof. means for measuring these parameters and for providing such a feedback mechanism and incorporating it into the device are well-known in the art. in yet other preferred embodiments of the device in which the control means incorporate a feedback mechanism, the processing means are adapted to store in a communicable database predetermined parameters defining safe and unsafe treatment conditions. as above, "unsafe" treatment conditions include those in which tissue damage or discomfort to the person being treated is likely to result. in other preferred parameters, the predetermined parameters are chosen from a group consisting of duration of the treatment, temperature of the tissue, frequency, power, tissue impedance, superficial muscle contractions, and any combination thereof. in yet other embodiments of the invention disclosed herein, it additionally comprises means for massaging said skin. although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims, with the proper scope determined only by the broadest interpretation of the claims. all publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference. in addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.
|
048-331-068-309-214
|
US
|
[
"WO",
"JP",
"AU",
"EP",
"CN",
"CA",
"US"
] |
A61N1/32,A61B5/04,A61N1/05,A61N1/36,A61B5/0488,A61B5/11,A61B5/00
| 2011-02-02T00:00:00 |
2011
|
[
"A61"
] |
devices, systems and methods for the targeted treatment of movement disorders
|
devices, systems and methods are provided for the targeted treatment of movement disorders. typically, the systems and devices are used to stimulate one or more dorsal root ganglia while minimizing or excluding undesired stimulation of other tissues, such as surrounding or nearby tissues, ventral root and portions of the anatomy associated with body regions which are not targeted for treatment. the dorsal root ganglia are utilized in particular due to their specialized role in movement. it is in these areas that sensory fibers are isolated from motor fibers. sensory fibers are involved in a variety of reflexes that are involved in movement control, and these reflexes can be utilized in the treatment of various movement disorders. thus, by stimulating sensory fibers in these areas, fundamental reflexes can be affected to lessen the symptoms of movement disorders.
|
what is claimed is: 1. a stimulation system for treating a patient having a movement disorder comprising: a lead having at least one electrode, wherein the lead is configured for implantation so as to position at least one of the at least one electrode adjacent a dorsal root ganglion associated with a reflex arc utilizable to affect a symptom the movement disorder; and a pulse generator electrically connected to lead, wherein the pulse generator provides a signal to the at least one of the at least one electrode which stimulates at least a portion of the dorsal root ganglion so as to activates the reflex arc in a manner that reduces the symptom of the movement disorder. 2. a stimulation system as in claim 1, wherein activation of the reflex arc comprises stimulation of at least one sensory neuron so as to activate at least one soma of an alpha motor neuron. 3. a stimulation system as in claim 2, wherein the at least one sensory neuron comprises an la sensory fiber. 4. a stimulation system as in claim 2, wherein the at least one sensory neuron comprises an lb sensory fiber. 5. a stimulation system as in claims 2, 3 or 4, wherein the at least one of the at least one electrode has a size that selectively stimulates the at least one sensory neuron. 6. a stimulation system as in claims 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the at least one of the at least one electrode has a shape that selectively stimulates the at least one sensory neuron. 7. a stimulation system as in claim 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, wherein the signal has at least one parameter that is programmable to selectively stimulate the at least one sensory neuron. 8. a stimulation system as in claim 7, wherein the at least one parameter comprises frequency. 9. a stimulation system as in claim 8, wherein the frequency is programmable with a value up to approximately 100 hz. 10. a stimulation system as in claim 8, wherein the frequency is programmable with a value up to approximately 50 hz. 1 1. a stimulation system as in any of the above claims, further comprising at least one sensor configured to sense an indicator of the movement disorder. 12. a system as in claim 1 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer, a strain gauge, or an electrical device which measures electrical activity in a muscle or nerve. 13. a system as in claim 11 or 12, wherein the indicator indicates an onset of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to reduce or avoid the onset of the symptom. 14. a system as in claim 1 1, 12 or 13, wherein the indicator indicates a status of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to treat the symptom in real time. 15. a system as in claim 1 1, 12, 13 or 14, wherein the indicator indicates a position of at least a portion of a body of the patient. 16. a system as in any of the above claims, further comprising at least one sensor configured to sense an activity or an activity level of the patient. 17. a system for treating a patient having a movement disorder, the system comprising: a lead having at least one electrode, wherein the lead is configured to be positioned so that at least one of the at least one electrodes is able to stimulate at least a portion of a target dorsal root associated with the movement disorder; at least one sensor configured to sense a symptom of the movement disorder; and an implantable pulse generator connectable with the lead, wherein the generator includes electronic circuitry configured to receive information from the at least one sensor and provide a stimulation signal to the lead in response to the sensed symptom of the movement disorder, wherein the stimulation signal has an energy below an energy threshold for directly stimulating a ventral root associated with the target dorsal root while the lead is so positioned. 18. a system as in claim 17, wherein the at least one sensor senses an onset of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to reduce or avoid the onset of the symptom. 19. a system as in claim 17 or 18, wherein the at least one sensor senses a status of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to treat the symptom in real time. 20. a system as in claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein the at least one sensor senses an activity or an activity level of the patient. 21. a system as in claim 17, wherein the at least one sensor detects position of the patient. 22. a system as in claim 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21, wherein the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer, a strain gauge, or an electrical device which measures electrical activity in a muscle or nerve. 23. a method of treating a patient having a movement disorder comprising: presenting the patient having the movement disorder; positioning a lead having at least one electrode within the patient so that the at least one electrode is disposed near a target dorsal root ganglion associated with a reflex arc utilizable to affect a symptom of the movement disorder; and providing stimulation energy to the at least one electrode so as to selectively stimulate at least a portion of the target dorsal root ganglion so as to activate the reflex arc in a manner which reduces the symptom of the movement disorder while providing no or imperceptible amounts of stimulation energy directly to a ventral root. 24. a method as in claim 23, wherein the movement disorder includes parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, a demylenating movement disorder, cerebral palsy, chorea, dystonia, spasm, tic disorder or tremor. 25. a method as in claim 23 or 24, wherein activating the reflex arc comprises stimulating at least one sensory neuron so as to activate at least one soma of an alpha motor neuron. 26. a method as in claim 25, wherein the at least one sensory neuron comprises an la sensory fiber. 27. a method as in claim 25 or 26, wherein the at least one sensory neuron comprises an lb sensory fiber. 28. a method as in claim 25, 26, or 27, wherein stimulating the at least one sensory neuron comprises selectively stimulating the at least one sensory neuron by choice of stimulation signal parameters of the stimulation energy. 29. a method as in claim 25, 26, 27 or 28, wherein stimulating the at least one sensory neuron comprises selectively stimulating the at least one sensory neuron by choice of frequency of the stimulation energy. 30. a method as in claim 25, 26, 27, 28 or 29, wherein stimulating the at least one sensory neuron comprises selectively stimulating the at least one sensory neuron by choice of size of the at least one electrode, shape of the at least one electrode, and/or position of the at least one electrode. 31. a method as in any of claims 23-30, wherein providing stimulation energy comprises providing stimulation energy in response to at least one sensor configured to sense an indicator of the movement disorder. 32. a method as in claim 31 , wherein the indicator comprises an onset of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to reduce or avoid the onset of the symptom. 33. a method as in claim 31 or 32, wherein the indicator comprises a status of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to treat the symptom in real time. 34. a method as in any of claims 23-33, wherein providing stimulation energy comprises providing stimulation energy in response to at least one sensor configured to sense an activity or an activity level of the patient. 35. a method as in any of claims 23-34, wherein providing stimulation energy comprises providing stimulation energy in response to at least one sensor configured to detect a position of at least a portion of a body of the patient. 36. a method of treating a movement disorder of a patient comprising: advancing a sheath having a curved distal end along an epidural space of the patient; positioning the curved distal end so as to direct a lead advanced therethrough toward a spinal nerve associated with the movement disorder; advancing the lead having at least one electrode through the sheath so that the at least one electrode is disposed near the spinal nerve; and providing stimulation energy to the at least one electrode so as to stimulate at least a portion of the spinal nerve in a manner which reduces a symptom of the movement disorder. 37. a method as in claim 36, wherein the movement disorder includes parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or a demylenating movement disorder, cerebral palsy, chorea, dystonia, spasm, tic disorder or tremor. 38. a method as in claim 36 or 37, wherein the at least a portion of the spinal nerve comprises at least a portion of a dorsal root ganglion associated with the movement disorder. 39. a method as in claim 36, 37 or 38, wherein providing stimulation energy comprises adjusting at least one signal parameter to reduce the symptom of the movement disorder. 40. a method as in claim 39, wherein adjusting the at least one signal parameter comprises adjusting a frequency of the stimulation energy. 41. a method as in claim 40, wherein adjusting a frequency of the stimulation energy comprises selecting a frequency less than or equal to approximately 100 hz. 42. a method as in claim 41 , wherein adjusting a frequency of the stimulation energy comprises selecting a frequency less than or equal to approximately 50 hz.
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devices, systems and methods for the targeted treatment of movement disorders cross-references to related applications [0001] this application claims priority under 35 u.s.c. 119(e) to u.s. provisional patent application serial no: 61/438,895 filed on february 2, 2011, incorporated herein by reference its entirety. statement as to rights to inventions made under federally sponsored research and development [0002] not applicable reference to a "sequence listing," a table, or a computer program listing appendix submitted on a compact disk. [0003] not applicable background of the invention [0004] movement disorders are neurological conditions that affect the ability to produce and control body movement. in particular, such disorders interfere with the speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement. and, in some cases, cognitive and autonomic functions can be affected. currently it is estimated that over 40 million individuals suffer from some sort of movement disorders. they can occur in all age groups from infancy to the elderly. [0005] treatment for movement disorders depends on the underlying cause. in most cases, the goal of treatment is to relieve symptoms. treatment may include medication, botulinum toxin injection therapy, and surgery. medications that are typically used include the following: antiepileptics, antiseizure medications, beta-blockers, dopamine agonists, and tranquilizers. however, these medications have a variety of side effects. side effects of antiepileptics include dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting. antiseizure medications may cause a lack of coordination and balance (ataxia), dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. side effects caused by beta- blockers include slowed heart rate (bradycardia), depression, light-headedness, and nausea. dopamine agonists may cause nausea, headache, dizziness, and fatigue. tranquilizers such as benzodiazepines may cause blood clots (thrombosis), drowsiness, and fatigue. [0006] botulinum toxin injection therapy is used to treat some types of movement disorders (e.g., spasmodic torticollis, blepharospasm, myoclonus, tremor). in this treatment, a potent neurotoxin (produced by the bacterium clostridium botulinum) is injected into a muscle to inhibit the release of neurotransmitters that cause muscle contraction. in some cases, treatment is repeated every 3 to 4 months. however, patients may develop antibodies to the toxin over time, causing treatment to become ineffective. side effects include temporary weakness in the group of muscles being treated, unintentional paralysis of muscles other than those being treated and rarely, flu-like symptoms. [0007] when medication is ineffective, severe movement disorders may require surgery. in such instances, deep brain stimulation may be performed wherein a surgically implanted neurostimulator is used to deliver electrical stimulation to areas of the brain that control movement. the electrical charge blocks nerve signals that trigger abnormal movement. in deep brain stimulation, a lead is inserted through a small incision in the skull and is implanted in the targeted area of the brain. an insulated wire is then passed under the skin in the head, neck, and shoulder, connecting the lead to the neurostimulator, which is surgically implanted in the chest or upper abdomen. however, negative side effects of deep brain stimulation can occur, including: bleeding at the implantation site, depression, impaired muscle tone, infection, loss of balance, slight paralysis (paresis), slurred speech (dysarthia), and tingling (parethesia) in the head or the hands. [0008] another type of surgical treatment for motion disorders is ablative surgery. ablative surgery locates, targets, and then destroys (ablates) a defined area of the brain that produces chemical or electrical impulses that cause abnormal movements. in this surgery, a heated probe or electrode is inserted into the targeted area. the patient remains awake during the procedure to determine if the problem has been eliminated. a local anesthetic is used to dull the outer part of the brain and skull. the brain is insensitive to pain, so the patient does not feel the actual procedure. however, in some cases, it may be difficult to estimate how much tissue to destroy and the amount of heat to use. this type of surgery involves either ablation in the part of the brain called the globus pallidus (called pallidotomy) or ablation of brain tissue in the thalamus (called thalamotomy). pallidotomy may be used to eliminate uncontrolled dyskinesia (e.g., jerky, involuntary movements) and thalamotomy may be performed to eliminate tremor. a related procedure, cryothalamotomy, uses a supercooled probe that is inserted into the thalamus to freeze and destroy areas that produce tremors. [0009] aside from the risks and side effects associated with the above described therapies, such treatments are not always effective in treating the movement disorder. therefore, improved therapies with higher effectiveness and lower side effects are desired. at least some of these objectives will be met by the following invention. summary of the invention [0010] in a first aspect of the invention, a stimulation system is provided for treating a patient having a movement disorder. in some embodiments, the stimulation system comprises a lead having at least one electrode, wherein the lead is configured for implantation so as to position at least one of the at least one electrode adjacent a dorsal root ganglion associated with a reflex arc utilizable to affect a symptom the movement disorder, and a pulse generator electrically connected to lead, wherein the pulse generator provides a signal to the at least one of the at least one electrode which stimulates at least a portion of the dorsal root ganglion so as to activates the reflex arc in a manner that reduces the symptom of the movement disorder. [0011] in some embodiments, activation of the reflex arc comprises stimulation of at least one sensory neuron so as to activate at least one soma of an alpha motor neuron. in some instances, the at least one sensory neuron comprises an la sensory fiber. in other instances, the at least one sensory neuron comprises an lb sensory fiber. in some embodiments, the at least of the at least one electrode has a size that selectively stimulates the at least one sensory neuron. in some embodiments, the at least of the at least one electrode has a shape that selectively stimulates the at least one sensory neuron. [0012] in some embodiments, the signal has at least one parameter that is programmable to selectively stimulate the at least one sensory neuron. in some embodiments, the at least one parameter comprises frequency. in some instances, the frequency is programmable with a value up to approximately 100 hz. in some instances, the frequency is programmable with a value up to approximately 50 hz. [0013] in some embodiments, the stimulation system further comprises at least one sensor configured to sense an indicator of the movement disorder. in some embodiments, the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer, a strain gauge, or an electrical device which measures electrical activity in a muscle or nerve. in some embodiments, the indicator indicates an onset of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to reduce or avoid the onset of the symptom. in some embodiments, the indicator indicates a status of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to treat the symptom in real time. in some embodiments, the indicator indicates a position of at least a portion of a body of the patient. [0014] in some embodiments, the system further comprises at least one sensor configured to sense an activity or an activity level of the patient. [0015] in a second aspect of the invention, a system is provided for treating a patient having a movement disorder, the system comprising a lead having at least one electrode, wherein the lead is configured to be positioned so that at least one of the at least one electrodes is able to stimulate at least a portion of a target dorsal root associated with the movement disorder, at least one sensor configured to sense a symptom of the movement disorder, and an implantable pulse generator connectable with the lead, wherein the generator includes electronic circuitry configured to receive information from the at least one sensor and provide a stimulation signal to the lead in response to the sensed symptom of the movement disorder, wherein the stimulation signal has an energy below an energy threshold for directly stimulating a ventral root associated with the target dorsal root while the lead is so positioned. [0016] in some embodiments, the at least one sensor senses an onset of the symptom of the movement disorder, and the stimulation signal is provided to reduce or avoid the onset of the symptom. in some embodiments, the at least one sensor senses a status of the symptom of the movement disorder, and the stimulation signal is provided to treat the symptom in real time. in some embodiments, the at least one sensor senses an activity or an activity level of the patient. in some embodiments, the at least one sensor detects position of the patient. in some instances, the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer, a strain gauge, or an electrical device which measures electrical activity in a muscle or nerve. [0017] in a third aspect of the present invention, a method is provided of treating a patient having a movement disorder. in some embodiments, the method comprises presenting the patient having the movement disorder, positioning a lead having at least one electrode within the patient so that the at least one electrode is disposed near a target dorsal root ganglion associated with a reflex arc utilizable to affect a symptom of the movement disorder, and providing stimulation energy to the at least one electrode so as to selectively stimulate at least a portion of the target dorsal root ganglion so as to activate the reflex arc in a manner which reduces the symptom of the movement disorder while providing no or imperceptible amounts of stimulation energy directly to a ventral root. in some embodiments, the movement disorder includes parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, a demylenating movement disorder, cerebral palsy, chorea, dystonia, spasm, tic disorder or tremor. it may be appreciated that other movement disorders may also be treated with the methods, devices and systems of the present invention. [0018] in some embodiments, activating the re flex arc comprises stimulating at least one sensory neuron so as to activate at least one soma of an alpha motor neuron. in some instances, the at least one sensory neuron comprises an la sensory fiber. in some instances, the at least one sensory neuron comprises an lb sensory fiber. [0019] in some embodiments, stimulating the at least one sensory neuron comprises selectively stimulating the at least one sensory neuron by choice of stimulation signal parameters of the stimulation energy. in some instances, stimulating the at least one sensory neuron comprises selectively stimulating the at least one sensory neuron by choice of frequency of the stimulation energy. in some instances, stimulating the at least one sensory neuron comprises selectively stimulating the at least one sensory neuron by choice of size of the at least one electrode, shape of the at least one electrode, and/or position of the at least one electrode. [0020] in some embodiments, providing stimulation energy comprises providing stimulation energy in response to at least one sensor configured to sense an indicator of the movement disorder. in some embodiments, the indicator comprises an onset of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to reduce or avoid the onset of the symptom. in some embodiments, the indicator comprises a status of the symptom of the movement disorder, and wherein the stimulation signal is provided to treat the symptom in real time. [0021] in some embodiments, providing stimulation energy comprises providing stimulation energy in response to at least one sensor configured to sense an activity or an activity level of the patient. [0022] in some embodiments, providing stimulation energy comprises providing stimulation energy in response to at least one sensor configured to detect a position of at least a portion of a body of the patient. [0023] in a fourth aspect of the invention, a method is provided of treating a movement disorder of a patient, the method comprising advancing a sheath having a curved distal end along an epidural space of the patient, positioning the curved distal end so as to direct a lead advanced therethrough toward a spinal nerve associated with the movement disorder, advancing the lead having at least one electrode through the sheath so that the at least one electrode is disposed near the spinal nerve, and providing stimulation energy to the at least one electrode so as to stimulate at least a portion of the spinal nerve in a manner which reduces a symptom of the movement disorder. in some embodiments, the movement disorder includes parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or a demylenating movement disorder, cerebral palsy, chorea, dystonia, spasm, tic disorder or tremor. it may be appreciated that other movement disorders may also be treated with the methods, devices and systems of the present invention. [0024] in some embodiments, the at least a portion of the spinal nerve comprises at least a portion of a dorsal root ganglion associated with the movement disorder. in some embodiments, providing stimulation energy comprises adjusting at least one signal parameter to reduce the symptom of the movement disorder. in some embodiments, adjusting the at least one signal parameter comprises adjusting a frequency of the stimulation energy. in some instances, adjusting a frequency of the stimulation energy comprises selecting a frequency less than or equal to approximately 100 hz. in some instances, adjusting a frequency of the stimulation energy comprises selecting a frequency less than or equal to approximately 50 hz. [0025] other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description to follow, together with the accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawings [0026] fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an implantable stimulation system. [0027] fig. 2 illustrates example placement of the leads of the embodiment of fig. 1 within a patient anatomy. [0028] fig. 3 illustrates an example cross-sectional view of an individual spinal level showing a lead positioned on, near or about a target dorsal root ganglion. [0029] figs. 4-5 illustrates example activation of reflex arc in the treatment of movement disorders. detailed description of the invention [0030] the present invention provides devices, systems and methods for the targeted treatment of movement disorders. such movement disorders include, among others, 1) akathisia 2) akinesia (lack of movement) 3) associated movements (mirror movements or homolateral synkinesis) 4) athetosis (contorted torsion or twisting) 5) ataxia 6) ballismus (violent involuntary rapid and irregular movements) and hemiballismus (affecting only one side of the body) 7) bradykinesia (slow movement) 8) cerebral palsy 9) chorea (rapid, involuntary movement), including sydenham's chorea, rheumatic chorea and huntington's disease 10) dystonia (sustained torsion), including dystonia muscularum, blepharospasm, writer's cramp, spasmodic torticollis (twisting of head and neck), and dopamine-responsive dystonia (hereditary progressive dystonia with diurnal fluctuation or segawa's disease) 1 1) geniospasm (episodic involuntary up and down movements of the chin and lower lip) 12) myoclonus (brief, involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles) 13) metabolic general unwellness movement syndrome (mgums) 14) multiple sclerosis 15) parkinson's disease 16) restless legs syndrome rls (wittmaack-ekboms disease) 17) spasms (contractions) 18) stereotypic movement disorder 19) stereotypy (repetition) 20) tardive dyskinesia 21) tic disorders (involuntary, compulsive, repetitive, stereotyped), including tourette's syndrome 22) tremor (oscillations) 23) rest tremor (approximately 4-8 hz) 24) postural tremor 25) kinetic tremor 26) essential tremor (approximately 6-8 hz variable amplitude) 27) cerebellar tremor (approximately 6-8 hz variable amplitude) 28) parkinsonian tremors (approximately 4-8 hz variable amplitude) 29) physiological tremor (approximately 10-12 hz low amplitude) 30) wilson's disease [0031] the present invention provides for targeted treatment of such conditions with minimal deleterious side effects, such as undesired motor responses or undesired stimulation of unaffected body regions. this is achieved by directly neuromodulating a target anatomy associated with the condition while minimizing or excluding undesired neuromodulation of other anatomies. in most embodiments, neuromodulation comprises stimulation, however it may be appreciated that neuromodulation may include a variety of forms of altering or modulating nerve activity by delivering electrical and/or pharmaceutical agents directly to a target area. for illustrative purposes, descriptions herein will be provided in terms of stimulation and stimulation parameters, however, it may be appreciated that such descriptions are not so limited and may include any form of neuromodulation and neuromodulation parameters. [0032] typically, the systems and devices are used to stimulate portions of neural tissue of the central nervous system, wherein the central nervous system includes the spinal cord and the pairs of nerves along the spinal cord which are known as spinal nerves. the spinal nerves include both dorsal and ventral roots which fuse to create a mixed nerve which is part of the peripheral nervous system. at least one dorsal root ganglion (drg) is disposed along each dorsal root prior to the point of mixing. thus, the neural tissue of the central nervous system is considered to include the dorsal root ganglions and exclude the portion of the nervous system beyond the dorsal root ganglions, such as the mixed nerves of the peripheral nervous system. typically, the systems and devices of the present invention are used to stimulate one or more dorsal root ganglia, dorsal roots, dorsal root entry zones, or portions thereof, while minimizing or excluding undesired stimulation of other tissues, such as surrounding or nearby tissues, ventral root and portions of the anatomy associated with body regions which are not targeted for treatment. however, it may be appreciated that stimulation of other tissues are contemplated. [0033] the target stimulation areas of the present invention, particularly the dorsal root ganglia, are utilized due to their specialized role in movement. it is in these areas that sensory fibers are isolated from motor fibers. sensory fibers are involved in a variety of reflexes that are involved in movement control, and these reflexes can be utilized in the treatment of various movement disorders. thus, by stimulating sensory fibers in these areas, fundamental reflexes can be affected to lessen the symptoms of movement disorders. in addition, such targeted stimulation reduces undesired side effects, such as painful tingling or unwanted movements caused by direct stimulation of motor nerves, such as within the ventral root. [0034] a variety of motor reflexes are involved in movement control. a reflex or reflex arc is the neural pathway that mediates a reflex action. a motor reflex action occurs relatively quickly by activating motor neurons in the spinal cord without the delay of routing signals through the brain. normally, messages from nerve cells in the brain (upper motor neurons) are transmitted to nerve cells in the brain stem and spinal cord (lower motor neurons) and from there to particular muscles. thus, upper motor neurons direct the lower motor neurons to produce movements such as walking or chewing. lower motor neurons control movement in the arms, legs, chest, face, throat, and tongue. however, lower motor neurons can be accessed via a reflex arc to circumvent the involvement of upper neurons. this is beneficial when responding to a harmful stimulus, such as a hot surface, wherein speed is critical. and, this is beneficial when there is damage or disease affecting upper neurons resulting in a movement disorder. [0035] the present invention utilizes such reflex arcs to treat patients presenting with one or more movement disorders. fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an implantable stimulation system 100 for treatment of such patients. the system 100 includes an implantable pulse generator (ipg) 102 and at least one lead 104 connectable thereto. in preferred embodiments, the system 100 includes four leads 104, as shown, however any number of leads 104 may be used including one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, up to 58 or more. each lead 104 includes at least one electrode 106. in preferred embodiments, each lead 104 includes four electrodes 106, as shown, however any number of electrodes 106 may be used including one, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen or more. each electrode can be configured as off, anode or cathode. in some embodiments, even though each lead and electrode are independently configurable, at any given time the software ensures only one lead is stimulating at any time. in other embodiments, more than one lead is stimulating at any time, or stimulation by the leads is staggered or overlapping. [0036] referring again to fig. 1, the ipg 102 includes electronic circuitry 107 as well as a power supply 1 10, e.g., a battery, such as a rechargeable or non-rechargeable battery, so that once programmed and turned on, the ipg 102 can operate independently of external hardware. in some embodiments, the electronic circuitry 107 includes a processor 109 and programmable stimulation information in memory 108. [0037] the implantable stimulation system 100 can be used to stimulate a variety of anatomical locations within a patient's body. in preferred embodiments, the system 100 is used to stimulate one or more dorsal roots, particularly one or more dorsal root ganglions. fig. 2 illustrates example placement of the leads 104 of the embodiment of fig. 1 within the patient anatomy. in this example, each lead 104 is individually advanced within the spinal column s in an antegrade direction. each lead 104 has a distal end which is guidable toward a target drg and positionable so that its electrodes 106 are in proximity to the target drg. specifically, each lead 104 is positionable so that its electrodes 106 are able to selectively stimulate the drg, either due to position, electrode configuration, electrode shape, electric field shape, stimulation signal parameters or a combination of these. fig. 17 illustrates the stimulation of four drgs, each drg stimulated by one lead 104. these four drgs are located on three levels, wherein two drgs are stimulated on the same level. it may be appreciated that any number of drgs and any combination of drgs may be stimulated with the stimulation system 100 of the present invention. it may also be appreciated that more than one lead 104 may be positioned so as to stimulate an individual drg and one lead 104 may be positioned so as to stimulate more than one drg. [0038] fig. 3 illustrates an example cross-sectional view of an individual spinal level showing a lead 104 of the stimulation system 100 positioned on, near or about a target drg. the lead 104 is advanced along the spinal cord s to the appropriate spinal level wherein the lead 104 is advanced laterally toward the target drg. in some instances, the lead 104 is advanced through or partially through a foramen. at least one, some or all of the electrodes 106 are positioned on, about or in proximity to the drg. in preferred embodiments, the lead 104 is positioned so that the electrodes 106 are disposed along a surface of the drg opposite to the ventral root vr, as illustrated in fig. 3. it may be appreciated that the surface of the drg opposite the ventral root vr may be diametrically opposed to portions of the ventral root vr but is not so limited. such a surface may reside along a variety of areas of the drg which are separated from the ventral root vr by a distance. [0039] in some instances, such electrodes 106 may provide a stimulation region indicated by dashed line 1 10, wherein the drg receives stimulation energy within the stimulation region and the ventral root vr does not as it is outside of the stimulation region. thus, such placement of the lead 104 may assist in reducing any possible stimulation of the ventral root vr due to distance. however, it may be appreciated that the electrodes 106 may be positioned in a variety of locations in relation to the drg and may selectively stimulate the drg due to factors other than or in addition to distance, such as due to stimulation profile shape and stimulation signal parameters, to name a few. it may also be appreciated that the target drg may be approached by other methods, such as a retrograde epidural approach. likewise, the drg may be approached from outside of the spinal column wherein the lead 104 is advanced from a peripheral direction toward the spinal column, optionally passes through or partially through a foramen and is implanted so that at least some of the electrodes 106 are positioned on, about or in proximity to the drg. [0040] in order to position the lead 104 in such close proximity to the drg, the lead 104 is appropriately sized and configured to maneuver through the anatomy. in some embodiments, such maneuvering includes atraumatic epidural advancement along the spinal cord s, through a sharp curve toward a drg, and optionally through a foramen wherein the distal end of the lead 104 is configured to then reside in close proximity to a small target such as the drg. consequently, the lead 104 is significantly smaller and more easily maneuverable than conventional spinal cord stimulator leads. example leads and delivery systems for delivering the leads to a target such as the drg are provided in us patent application no. 12/687,737, entitled "stimulation leads, delivery systems and methods of use", incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. [0041] fig. 4 illustrates the lead 104 positioned near a drg so as to activate an example reflex arc in the treatment of a movement disorder. in this example, the reflex arc includes a sensory neuron sn, which includes a soma sa disposed within the drg and an axon ax which extends through the dorsal root dr to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord s. the sensory neuron sn connects with a variety of motor neurons mn and interconnector neurons in within the spinal cord s. in this example, the sensory neuron sn connects with two motor neurons mn1, mn2 and an interconnector neuron in which connects with motor neuron mn3. motor neuron mn1 (an alpha motor neuron) includes a soma sal disposed within the ventral horn of the spinal cord s and an axon ax1 which extends through the ventral root vr and innervates a skeletal muscle ml, such as a flexor muscle. motor neuron mn2 (a second alpha motor neuron) includes a soma sa2 disposed within the ventral horn of the spinal cord s and an axon ax2 which extends through the ventral root vr and innervates a skeletal muscle m2 which is synergistic with muscle ml . motor neuron mn3 (a third alpha motor neuron) includes a soma sa3 disposed within the ventral horn of the spinal cord s and an axon ax3 which extends through the ventral root vr and innervates a skeletal muscle m3 which is antagonistic to muscle ml and muscle m2. [0042] in many movement disorders, improper action potentials are generated, either from damage to the upper motor neurons or from other causes. in some instances, such improper action potentials cause muscles (such as muscle ml) and synergistic muscles (such as m2) to undesirably contract while causing antagonistic muscles (such as muscle m3) to undesirably relax. in some embodiments, treatment of such a condition is achieved by providing selective stimulation to the dorsal root and/or drg associated with the muscles ml , m2, m3, with the use of an appropriately positioned lead 104, as illustrated in fig. 4. as mentioned previously, at least one, some or all of the electrodes 106 are positioned on, about or in proximity to the target drg. in some embodiments, the involved sensory neuron sn, particularly its soma sa within the target drg, is selectively stimulated so as to inhibit the improper action potentials causing muscles ml , m2 to contract and muscle m3 to relax. this is particularly the case when the involved sensory neuron sn is an la sensory fiber. such stimulation reduces the symptoms of the movement disorder in treatment of the condition. [0043] in some embodiments, selective stimulation of the involved sensory neuron sn is achieved with the choice of the size of the electrode(s), the shape of the electrode(s), the position of the electrode(s), the stimulation signal, pattern or algorithm, or any combination of these. such selective stimulation stimulates the targeted neural tissue while excluding untargeted tissue, such as surrounding or nearby tissue. in some embodiments, the stimulation energy is delivered to the targeted neural tissue so that the energy dissipates or attenuates beyond the targeted tissue or region to a level insufficient to stimulate modulate or influence such untargeted tissue. in particular, selective stimulation of tissues, such as the dorsal root, drg, or portions thereof, exclude stimulation of the ventral root wherein the stimulation signal has an energy below an energy threshold for stimulating a ventral root associated with the target dorsal root while the lead is so positioned. examples of methods and devices to achieve such selective stimulation of the dorsal root and/or drg are provided in us patent application no. 12/607,009, entitled "selective stimulation systems and signal parameters for medical conditions", incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. it may be appreciated that indiscriminant stimulation of the ventral root, such as from an electrode which emits stimulation energy which directly stimulates the ventral root, typically causes unpleasant sensations for the patient, such as tingling, buzzing or undesired motions or movements. therefore, it is desired to stimulate motor neurons ml, m2 and/or m3 via synapses in the spinal cord rather than directly via the ventral root. [0044] it may be appreciated that even though the motor neurons are stimulated via synapses in the spinal cord, such stimulation is differentiated from stimulating the spinal cord directly to affect motor neurons. the spinal cord is a highly innervated portion of the anatomy; sensory information from receptors throughout most of the body is relayed to the brain by means of ascending tracts of fibers that conduct impulses up the spinal cord, and, the brain directs motor activities in the form of nerve impulses that travel down the spinal cord in descending tracts of fibers. the white matter of the spinal cord is composed of ascending and descending fiber tracts. these are arranged into six columns of white matter called funiculi. the ascending fiber tracts convey sensory information from cutaneous receptors, proprioceptors (muscle and joint senses), and visceral receptors. the descending fiber tracts convey motor information, and there are two major groups of descending tracts from the brain: the corticospinal, or pyramidal tracts, and the extrapyramidal tracts. [0045] from 80%-90% of the corticospinal fibers decussate in the pyramids of the medulla oblongata (hence the name "pyramidal tracts") and descend in the lateral corticospinal tracts, which decussate in the spinal cord. because of the crossing of fibers, the right cerebral hemisphere controls the musculature on the left side of the body, where the left hemisphere controls the right musculature. the corticospinal tracts are primarily concerned with the control of fine movement that requires dexterity. [0046] given the high number of fiber tracts within the spinal cord and the extensive crossing of fibers, direct stimulation of the spinal cord typically yields highly variable and/or non-specific generalized results. slight changes in position of the stimulation electrodes on the spinal cord causes stimulation of different tracts which can easily lead to undesired side effects. for example, given that both sensory and motor information is conveyed within the spinal cord, attempts at stimulating the motor fiber tract often causes inadvertent stimulation of the sensory fiber tract. likewise, given the interconnectivity of pathways across various spinal levels within the spinal cord, targeting of a particular spinal level or a particular pair of opposing muscle groups is very difficult when applying stimulation to the spinal cord. further, a higher frequency signal and a higher level of power is also typically required in attempts to reach specific nerve types with stimulation when directly stimulating the spinal cord. [0047] by stimulating the motor neurons in the spinal cord via the dorsal root ganglion, the drawbacks associated with direct stimulation of the spinal cord are avoided. in particular, since the dorsal root ganglion houses primarily sensory neurons, rather than mixed neurons such as in the spinal cord or peripheral nerves, inadvertent stimulation of unrelated or undesired anatomies is obviated. in addition, stimulation of a single dorsal root ganglion only affects muscles that are innervated with motor nerves that synapse with that dorsal root ganglion. consequently, a single muscle, a single muscle group, pair of opposing muscles or muscle groups or a particular localized area may be precisely targeted by stimulating a corresponding dorsal root ganglion. such specificity and targeting is beneficial for treating localized spasticity or other such movement disorders, among other conditions. further, stimulation of a dorsal root ganglion requires less power than comparative stimulation on the spinal cord. and, stimulation of the dorsal root ganglion involves a lower frequency than comparative stimulation of the spinal cord. in some embodiments, a low frequency signal is used, particularly a frequency less than or equal to approximately 100 hz, more particularly less than or equal to approximately 80 hz, and more particularly 4-80 hz. in some embodiments, the signal has a frequency of approximately less than or equal to 70 hz, 60 hz, 50hz, 40 hz, 30 hz, 20 hz, 10 hz, or 5 hz. it may be appreciated that typically the desired frequency used to treat a movement disorder varies from patient to patient. for example, in one patient a symptom of a movement disorder is reduced with the use of a stimulation signal having a given frequency, such as 100 hz, by stimulating a particular dorsal root ganglion. and, in another patient having the same or similar movement disorder, a symptom of the movement disorder is reduced with the use of a stimulation signal having a different frequency, such as 50 hz, by stimulating a corresponding particular dorsal root ganglion. such variations may be due to slight differences in anatomy between the patients and differences in disease pathology, to name a few. however, it may be appreciated that the frequency is typically in the low frequency range. [0048] in other instances, improper action potentials due to movement disorders cause muscles (such as muscle ml) and synergistic muscles (such as m2) to undesirably relax while causing antagonistic muscles (such as muscle m3) to undesirably contract. in some embodiments, treatment of such a condition is achieved by providing selective stimulation to the dorsal root and/or drg associated with the muscles ml, m2, m3, with the use of an appropriately positioned lead 104, as illustrated in fig. 5. in this example, the reflex arc again includes a sensory neuron sn, which includes a soma sa disposed within the drg and an axon ax which extends through the dorsal root dr to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord s. the sensory neuron sn connects with a variety of interconnector neurons ini, γν2, γν3 within the spinal cord s. interconnector neuron ini connects with motor neuron mn1 (an alpha motor neuron) which innervates a skeletal muscle ml, such as a flexor muscle, interconnector neuron γν2 connects with motor neuron mn2 (a second alpha motor neuron) which innervates a skeletal muscle m2 which is synergistic with muscle ml . interconnector neuron in3 connects with motor neuron mn3 (a third alpha motor neuron) which innervates a skeletal muscle m3 which is antagonistic to muscle ml and muscle m2. as mentioned previously, at least one, some or all of the electrodes 106 are positioned on, about or in proximity to the target drg. in some embodiments, the involved sensory neuron sn, particularly its soma sa within the target drg, is selectively stimulated so as to inhibit the improper action potentials causing muscles ml , m2 to relax and muscle m3 to contract. this is particularly the case when the involved sensory neuron sn is an lb sensory fiber. such stimulation reduces the symptoms of the movement disorder in treatment of the condition. [0049] in some embodiments, the implantable pulse generator (ipg) 102 comprises circuitry which initiates or modifies the electrical stimulation in response to one or more sensors. example sensors include, among others, accelerometers, strain gauges, electrical devices which measure electrical activity in muscles and/or nerves, or other devices capable of measuring physiological parameters indicative of symptoms of the movement disorder under treatment. in some embodiments, the one or more sensors sense the onset of symptoms of the movement disorder, transmitting such information to the electronic circuitry 107 of the ipg 102 so that electrical stimulation is provided to the patient to counteract, reduce and/or avoid the onset of symptoms of the movement disorder. for example, in patients suffering from tremors, such tremors may be sudden in onset and remission. some have increased incidence with stress or decreased incidence when the patient is distracted. this is particularly the case with psychogenic tremors. in such patients, the tremor activity may be sensed with a sensor, such as on a bracelet or anklet worn on the affected limb or limbs. the sensor may sense a change in acceleration of the limb, frequency of movement of the limb, position of the limb, or a combination of these, to name a few. it may be appreciated that such sensors may also be used on other affected areas of the body, such as the head, neck, shoulder, torso, etc. when the tremor activity is sensed as increased, such as an onset or increase in activity, the electrical stimulation is changed to inhibit or diminish the increase in tremor activity. this may be achieved by increasing or decreasing one or more signal parameters, such as amplitude, frequency, pulse width or a combination of these. likewise, it may be appreciated that when the tremor activity is sensed as decreased, such as a remission or decrease in activity, the electrical stimulation may be changed, such as to more appropriately match the stimulation to the tremor activity. in other instances, stimulation may be changed during remission or decrease in tremor activity to conserve power, prolong battery life, or reduce any side effects or symptoms related to unnecessary or undesired stimulation, to name a few. it may be appreciated that tremor has been used merely as an example and other movement disorders or symptoms related to movement disorders may be similarly sensed. for example, some patients with movement disorders experience jerks or twitches in some part of the body. these jerky movements may be triggered by pain, certain lighting, or even loud noises. the occurrence of these symptoms may be sensed and counteracted in a manner as described above. [0050] in some embodiments, the one or more sensors sense the status of the symptoms of the movement disorder, such as the extent of contraction or limb movement. such status information is utilized to modify the electrical stimulation to a level which is appropriate to counteract or treat the symptoms of the movement disorder in real time. for example, patients suffering from spasticity have altered skeletal muscle performance in muscle tone involving hypertonia. it is often referred to as an unusual tightness, stiffness, and/or pull of muscles. spasticity is found in conditions where the brain and/or spinal cord are damaged or fail to develop normally; these include cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and acquired brain injury including stroke. in some instances, the level of spasticity may increase or decrease, such as over time or with stimulation. in some embodiments, the status of the symptom, such as spasticity, is sensed to determine if a change has occurred. when the symptom is sensed as changed, the electrical stimulation is changed to inhibit or diminish the change in symptom. this may be achieved by increasing or decreasing one or more signal parameters, such as amplitude, frequency, pulse width or a combination of these. again, it may be appreciated that spasticity has been used merely as an example and other movement disorders or symptoms related to movement disorders may be similarly sensed. [0051] in other embodiments, the one or more sensors sense a specific activity or an activity level of the patient. some movement disorders are correlated to certain activities, such as walking. for example, functional movement disorders often cause problems in coordinated locomotion or walking. these problems could involve dragging one foot or difficulty balancing while walking. an activity or activity level sensor may be used to detect the type of activity (such as walking) and/or amount or degree of activity (such as slow walk or fast walk). the sensed information could be an input to dynamically modify the stimulation program to determine the appropriate level of stimulation. alternatively or additionally, different pre- programmed stimulation algorithms may be designed for an individual patient based on that specific patient's pattern of activity. pre-programmed stimulation algorithms may be stored in an appropriate medium for use by a stimulation system described herein. conventional transcutaneous programming techniques may also be used to update, modify or remove stimulation algorithms. [0052] in other embodiments, the one or more sensors comprise a position sensor which may be used to detect position of the patient. the position of the patient could be an input to the stimulation control system to dynamically modify the stimulation program to determine the appropriate level of stimulation. one example of such a sensor is a multi-axis accelerometer. a conventional 3 or 4 axis accelerometer could be implanted into a patient or maintained on the patient to provide position, activity, activity level, activity duration or other indications of patient status. the detected indications of patient status could in turn be used in determining stimulation level and pattern. the position sensor can be set up or calibrated once positioned or implanted on or in a person. the calibration aids the sensor in correctly recognizing the persons orientation and activity levels. [0053] in some embodiments, the sensor senses when a patient has lowered to laying or sleeping position. since most movement disorders rarely occur during sleep, stimulation may be reduced or ceased during sleep to reduce power consumption and extend battery life. [0054] in some embodiments, the sensor senses when a patient has risen to a standing position and stimulation is provided to counteract a symptom of a movement disorder related to standing. for example, orthostatic tremor is characterized by fast (>12 hz) rhythmic muscle contractions that occur in the legs and trunk immediately after standing. cramps are felt in the thighs and legs and the patient may shake uncontrollably when asked to stand in one spot. no other clinical signs or symptoms are present and the shaking ceases when the patient sits or is lifted off the ground. the high frequency of the tremor often makes the tremor look like rippling of leg muscles while standing. in such patients, stimulation is provided upon sensing of standing wherein the patient immediately feels relief of such symptoms. when the patient moves to a different position, such as sitting, the stimulation is ceased or reduced to a desired level. [0055] in some embodiments, the sensor senses a particular movement pattern and stimulation is provided to counteract a symptom of a movement disorder related to that particular movement pattern. for example, cerebellar tremor is a slow, broad tremor of the extremities that occurs at the end of a purposeful movement, such as trying to press a button or touching a finger to the tip of one's nose. when such a movement patterns is sensed, stimulation is then provided to counteract the symptom of the movement disorder that follows. cerebellar tremor is caused by lesions in or damage to the cerebellum resulting from stroke, tumor, or disease such as multiple sclerosis or some inherited degenerative disorder. it can also result from chronic alcoholism or overuse of some medicines. in classic cerebellar tremor, a lesion on one side of the brain produces a tremor in that same side of the body that worsens with directed movement. cerebellar damage can also produce a "wing-beating" type of tremor called rubral or holmes' tremor— a combination of rest, action, and postural tremors. the tremor is often most prominent when the affected person is active or is maintaining a particular posture. thus, a variety of sensors may be used in a complex array of decision making processes as to when and how stimulation is provided or changed for a particular patient. [0056] optionally, a position sensor is located within the same physical housing as the ipg 102. if desired, the position sensor may be located elsewhere on the body in an implanted location or may be worn externally by the person. position information from the position and/or activity sensor is provided to the ipg 102 using suitable means including direct connections or percutaneous transmission. although a number of embodiments are suitable, the preferred mode employs, by way of example and not to be construed as limiting of the present invention, one or more accelerometers to determine patient state including, at least, the ability to sense whether the person is erect or recumbent. additionally, the position sensor could be adapted to provide an indication of activity or level of activity such as the difference between walking and running. in another embodiment, a position sensor may be positioned to sense specific motion such as activity of a particular part of the body to detect specific movement of a body part or limb that, for example, is being treated for a movement disorder. using this position sensor embodiment, when the person started activity related to a movement disorder, the sensor would detect such activity and provide the appropriate stimulation. in additional alternatives, the position and/or activity sensor includes one or more multi-axis accelerometers. [0057] in some embodiments, the implantable pulse generator (ipg) 102 comprises circuitry which initiates or modifies the electrical stimulation in response to a timer or clock. thus, stimulation may be reduced or eliminated during times in which the patient is sleeping or times in which it is determined that the patient desires reduced or no treatment of the movement disorder. such periods of reduced usage may extend the life of the power supply 1 10. [0058] as mentioned previously, it may be appreciated that neuromodulation may include a variety of forms of altering or modulating nerve activity by delivering electrical and/or pharmaceutical agents directly to a target area. for illustrative purposes, descriptions herein were provided in terms of stimulation and stimulation parameters, however, it may be appreciated that such descriptions are not so limited and may include any form of neuromodulation and neuromodulation parameters, particularly delivery of agents to the dorsal root ganglion. methods, devices and agents for such delivery are further described in u.s. patent application no. 13/309,429 entitled, "directed delivery of agents to neural anatomy", incorporated herein by reference. [0059] although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example, for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be obvious that various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents may be used and the above description should not be taken as limiting in scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.
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048-963-453-432-679
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CN
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[
"EP",
"WO",
"CN"
] |
H04W4/14,H04L67/12,H04L69/08,H04L69/18,H04W4/18,H04W4/44,H04W36/14,H04W36/30,H04W88/06,H04L29/06,H04L29/08
| 2017-09-30T00:00:00 |
2017
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[
"H04"
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vehicle data transmission method and receiving method, and corresponding system
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provided in the present invention is a vehicle data transmission method, comprising: when a vehicle-mounted communication module determines the abnormality of a first communication network in the process of transmitting vehicle data to an external data processing device by means of the first communication network, switching to a second communication network to transmit the vehicle data; and when the vehicle-mounted communication module switches so as to transmit the vehicle data by means of the second communication network, converting vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format for transmission.
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an on-vehicle data transmission method, comprising: switching to transmitting on-vehicle data via a second communication network by an on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50), if it is determined by the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) that a first communication network is abnormal in a process of transmitting the on-vehicle data to an external data processing device (62) via the first communication network; and converting the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format for transmission when the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network, wherein the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; and that the converting the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in the preset format is to convert the long data into corresponding one or more short messages comprising a message header and a message body, wherein the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message, characterized in that the long data is converted into corresponding multiple short messages based on a pdu encoding format, and that the message body of each short message is capable of independently expressing sub-data having independent meaning in the long data. the on-vehicle data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data indicates whether the content represented by the short message is all or a part of the long data; and if the content represented by the short message is a part of the long data, the message header further indicates which part of short messages corresponding to the long data the short message where the message header is located is. the on-vehicle data transmission method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first standard is set according to service type directed to the on-vehicle data. the on-vehicle data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a transmission capacity of the first communication network is stronger than that of the second communication network. an on-vehicle data receiving method, comprising: when on-vehicle data transmitted by an on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) through a second communication network and having a preset format is received, parsing and processing the received on-vehicle data; wherein a transmission capacity of the second communication network is weaker than that of a first communication network, and the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) transmits data via the second communication network only when data transmission via the first communication network is abnormal, wherein the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of on-vehicle data, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; and wherein the on-vehicle data in the preset format is one or more short messages comprising a message header and a message body corresponding to the long data and obtained after conversion, characterized in that the long data is converted into corresponding multiple short messages based on a pdu encoding format, and that the message body of each short message is capable of independently expressing sub-data having independent meaning in the long data. the on-vehicle data receiving method according to claim 6, wherein the parsing the received on-vehicle data comprises: parsing the received short message, wherein if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to the long data, a subsequent processing is performed; if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to a part of the long data, the parsed short message is buffered, and a subsequent processing is performed after all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received; or if not all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received but the waiting time is exceeded, a subsequent processing is performed. an on-vehicle data transmission system, comprising: an on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) configured to transmit on-vehicle data to an external data processing device (62) through a network, and switch to transmitting the on-vehicle data via a second communication network if it is determined that a first communication network is abnormal; and a conversion unit (42, 52) configured to convert the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format for transmission by the on-vehicle communication module, when the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network; wherein the conversion unit is integrated in the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) or is independent from the on-vehicle communication module, wherein a transmission capacity of the first communication network is stronger than that of the second communication network, wherein the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; and the conversion unit (42, 52) is configured to convert the long data into corresponding one or more short messages comprising a message header and a message body, wherein the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message, characterized in that the long data is converted into corresponding multiple short messages based on a pdu encoding format, and that the message body of each short message is capable of independently expressing sub-data having independent meaning in the long data. an on-vehicle data transmission system, comprising: an on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) provided in the vehicle (10), which is configured to transmit on-vehicle data via a network, and configured to switch to transmitting the on-vehicle data via a second communication network if it is determined that a first communication network is abnormal; a conversion unit (42, 52), which is configured to convert the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format for transmission by the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) when the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network, and the conversion unit (42, 52) is integrated in the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50) or is independent from the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50); a receiving unit (60) provided at an on-vehicle data receiving end (20, 6), which is configured to receive the on-vehicle data transmitted by the on-vehicle communication module (102, 40, 50); and a processing unit (62) provided at the on-vehicle data receiving end (20, 6), which is configured to parse and process the received on-vehicle data when the on-vehicle data received by the receiving unit (60) is on-vehicle data in a preset format, wherein the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of the on-vehicle data to be transmitted, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; wherein the conversion unit (42, 52) is configured to convert the long data into corresponding one or more short messages comprising a message header and a message body, wherein the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message, characterized in that the long data is converted into corresponding multiple short messages based on a pdu encoding format, and that the message body of each short message is capable of independently expressing sub-data having independent meaning in the long data. the on-vehicle data transmission system according to claim 8, wherein the processing unit (62) is configured to parse the received short messages; wherein if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to the long data, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing; if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to a part of the long data, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing after all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received; or if not all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received but the waiting time is exceeded, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing. the on-vehicle data transmission system according to claim 8 or 9, wherein a transmission capability of the first communication network is stronger than that of the second communication network.
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this application claims the benefit and priority from chinese patent application cn201710919998.9, filed september 30, 2017 . field of the invention the present disclosure relates to vehicles, and more particularly, the present disclosure relates to transmission technology of on-vehicle data. background of the invention in today's society, with the popularization of intelligent vehicles, more and more vehicles are capable of accessing the internet of vehicles services through network, and through the internet of vehicles services, the driving experience that cannot be provided by traditional vehicles are be enjoyed. however, due to the limitations of the physical environment, the network is poor or even unavailable in many cases. for example, in a mountainous environment with imperfect network facilities, accidents may cause the failure of devices connected by the network, and network communication modules may be maliciously destroyed by people, etc., resulting in the inability to connect to the internet of vehicles through high-speed network channels. in the above-mentioned similar situations, the internet of vehicles system cannot obtain vehicle-related data as soon as possible, so it cannot provide relevant services such as emergency rescue, remote vehicle control, positioning and so on. therefore, if the vehicle can report the data to the internet of vehicles back-end service through other data channels, the above situation can be avoided to the greatest extent possible so that the user experience is improved. chinese patent publication cn104618479a relates to a method for achieving information transmission of a vehicle-mounted cloud service terminal of a commercial vehicle in a layering communication mode. in particular, it teaches that basic information is divided into different types, and that when the message transmission rate of existing wireless network is lower than the first threshold values preset, switch to uploading data under gprs state, and that when the gprs data transmission rate is lower than the second threshold values preset, use short message mode uploading data. us patent publication us2015/0289116a1 relates to a secure sms messaging, and teaches converting pdp (proprietary data parcel) into a bundle of sms (short message service) messages. summary of the invention the main object of the present disclosure is to provide an on-vehicle data transmission method capable of efficiently transmitting on-vehicle data via a second communication network when a first communication network is abnormal. the present invention is as defined in claims 1, 5, 7 and 8. further embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims. illustratively, in the on-vehicle data transmission method according to an example of the present disclosure, the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; and the converting the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in the preset format is to convert the long data into corresponding one or more short messages including a message header and a message body, wherein the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message. illustratively, in the on-vehicle data transmission method according to an example of the present disclosure, the relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data indicates whether the content represented by the short message is all or a part of the long data; and if the content represented by the short message is a part of the long data, the message header further indicates which part of the short messages corresponding to the long data the short message where the message header is located is. illustratively, in the on-vehicle data transmission method according to an example of the present disclosure, the long data is converted into corresponding multiple short messages, and the message body of each short message is capable of independently expressing sub-data having independent meaning in the long data, wherein the first standard is set according to service type directed to the on-vehicle data. in addition, a transmission capacity of the first communication network is stronger than that of the second communication network. illustratively, in each example of the present disclosure, the first communication network is a 3g network, a td-lte network, a td-lte-a network, a 4g+ network, a 5g network, or a network based on the ieee 802 standard, and the second communication network is any one of gsm, gprs and edge network. illustratively, in each example of the present disclosure, the short message is a short message based on pdu encoding. according to an aspect of the present disclosure, an on-vehicle data receiving method is also provided, which includes: when on-vehicle data transmitted by an on-vehicle communication module through a second communication network and having a preset format is received, parsing the received on-vehicle data and processing; wherein a transmission capacity of the second communication network is weaker than that of a first communication network, and the on-vehicle communication module transmits data via the second communication network only when data transmission via the first communication network is abnormal. according to still another aspect of the present disclosure, an on-vehicle data transmission system is also provided, which includes: an on-vehicle communication module configured to transmit on-vehicle data to an external data processing device through a network, and switch to transmitting the on-vehicle data via a second communication network if it is determined that a first communication network is abnormal; and a conversion unit configured to convert the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format for transmission by the on-vehicle communication module, when the on-vehicle communication module switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network; wherein the conversion unit is a part of the on-vehicle communication module or is independent from the on-vehicle communication module. according to the on-vehicle data transmission system of the present disclosure, illustratively, the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; and the conversion unit is configured to convert the long data into corresponding one or more short messages including a message header and a message body, wherein the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message. according to the on-vehicle data transmission system of the present disclosure, illustratively, a transmission capacity of the first communication network is stronger than that of the second communication network. according to the on-vehicle data transmission system of the present disclosure, illustratively, the first communication network is a 3g network, a td-lte network, a td-lte-a network, a 4g+ network, a 5g network, or a network based on the ieee 802 standard, and the second communication network is any one of gsm, gprs and edge network. the present disclosure also provides a receiving end for receiving on-vehicle data, which includes: a receiving unit configured to receive on-vehicle data transmitted by an on-vehicle communication module; and a processing unit configured to, when the on-vehicle data received by the receiving unit is on-vehicle data in a preset format, parse and process the received on-vehicle data; wherein the on-vehicle data in the preset format is data transmitted by the on-vehicle communication module via a second communication network when a first communication network is abnormal. according to the receiving end for receiving on-vehicle data provided by the present disclosure, illustratively, the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of the on-vehicle data, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data, and the on-vehicle data in the preset format is one or more short messages including a message header and a message body corresponding to the long data and obtained after conversion; and the processing unit is configured to parse the received short messages; wherein if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to the long data, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing; if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to a part of the long data, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing after all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received; or if not all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received but the waiting time is exceeded, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing. the present disclosure provides an on-vehicle data transmission system, which includes: an on-vehicle communication module provided in the vehicle, which is configured to transmit on-vehicle data via a network, and configured to switch to transmitting the on-vehicle data via a second communication network if it is determined that a first communication network is abnormal; a conversion unit, which is configured to convert the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format for transmission by the on-vehicle communication module when the on-vehicle communication module switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network, and the conversion unit is a part of the on-vehicle communication module or is independent from the on-vehicle communication module; a receiving unit provided at an on-vehicle data receiving end, which is configured to receive the on-vehicle data transmitted by the on-vehicle communication module; and a processing unit provided at the on-vehicle data receiving end, which is configured to parse and process the received on-vehicle data when the on-vehicle data received by the receiving unit is on-vehicle data in a preset format. in the on-vehicle data transmission system described herein, illustratively, the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of the on-vehicle data to be transmitted, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; the conversion unit is configured to convert the long data into corresponding one or more short messages including a message header and a message body, wherein the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message; and the processing unit is configured to parse the received short messages; wherein if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to the long data, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing; if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to a part of the long data, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing after all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received; or if not all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received but the waiting time is exceeded, then the processing unit performs subsequent processing. in the on-vehicle data transmission system described herein, illustratively, a transmission capability of the first communication network is stronger than that of the second communication network. according to the present disclosure, a storage medium for storing instructions is also provided, wherein when the instructions are executed, the on-vehicle data transmission method as described in the above examples is implemented. according to the present disclosure, a processor on which instructions are stored is also provided, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the on-vehicle data transmission method as described in the above examples is implemented. according to the present disclosure, a storage medium for storing instructions is also provided, wherein when the instructions are executed, the on-vehicle data receiving method as described in the above examples is implemented. according to the present disclosure, a processor on which instructions are stored is also provided, wherein when the instructions are executed, the on-vehicle data receiving method as described in the above examples is implemented. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method for configuring a data format of short message of the present disclosure. fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of an on-vehicle data transmission method according to an example of the present disclosure. fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of the method in fig. 2 when implemented in the application scene shown in fig. 1 . fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of an on-vehicle data transmission system according to an example of the present disclosure. fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of an on-vehicle data transmission system according to an example of the present disclosure. detailed description of the embodiment(s) of the invention to further elaborate on the technical means adopted by the present disclosure to achieve the expected object of the present disclosure and the effects, the specific implementations, methods, structures, features and effects of the short message data reporting method and system proposed by the present disclosure will be described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and preferred embodiments. the on-vehicle data transmission method according to an example of the present disclosure may be applied to a system including a vehicle and an external data processing device. the external data processing device mentioned herein refers to a data processing device which is not disposed in the vehicle and may be a remote server (such as a remote diagnosis server, etc.), or a cloud server, or various portable electronic devices (such as mobile phones, etc.), and all the data processing devices which establish a direct or indirect communication relationship with the vehicle and can receive data transmitted from the vehicle should be included herein. fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of an exemplary application scene in which the on-vehicle data transmission method is adopted. in this application scene, sensors, cameras, and/or other electronic systems provided in the vehicle 10 acquire relevant data of the vehicle. an on-vehicle communication module 102 provided in the vehicle 10 transmits the acquired data to a remote server (hereinafter also referred to as a remote end) 20. in some cases, the on-vehicle communication module 102 will also receive communication feedback from the remote end 20, depending on the need for the vehicle to interact with the remote end. herein, the relevant data of the vehicle as mentioned is either related to the vehicle itself (such as tire pressure, vehicle speed, wheel speed, etc.) or to the external environment during the traveling of the vehicle, such as road conditions. under normal circumstances, the on-vehicle communication module 102 of the vehicle 10 communicates with the remote end 20 through a first communication network, which refers to a td-lte network, td-lte-a network, a 4g+ network, a network based on the ieee 802 standard, or a 5g network, which have large bandwidths sufficient to transmit voice and/or video, as well as communication networks that may arise in the future and have a network transmission capability superior to the networks listed above. fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of an on-vehicle data transmission method according to an example of the present disclosure. as shown in fig. 2 , in step 200, in a process of transmitting on-vehicle data to the external data processing device via a first communication network, if it is determined by the on-vehicle communication module that the transmission via the first communication network is abnormal, the on-vehicle communication module switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via a second communication network. the on-vehicle communication module is a communication module used by the vehicle to send/receive data transmitted via a network. it may be a communication module fixedly disposed on the vehicle, or a communication module that is not fixed relative to the vehicle, but may be carried by the user. such a portable communication module may be a communication module dedicated to sending/receiving, or may be a device such as a mobile phone that can implement a communication function. the communication module itself has functions of detecting whether there is an available communication network and determining the status of the communication network. the abnormality of the first communication network mentioned herein includes that the first communication network cannot be detected, the signal of the first communication network is too weak to effectively transmit the data, the data transmitted via the first communication network cannot be safely received by a receiving end (e.g., the on-vehicle communication module as the sending end cannot receive ack messages from the receiving end, etc.), and various abnormal conditions. in step 202, when the on-vehicle communication module switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network, it converts the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format for transmission. according to an example of the present disclosure, the on-vehicle data has been divided in advance into different types of data to be transmitted according to a first standard. the first standard may be set according to the needs in practical applications. herein, by way of example rather than limitation, the first standard is set according to the service type of the on-vehicle data. for example, data related to tire monitoring will be categorized into a type, data related to vehicle doors and windows will be categorized into a type, and data related to vehicle positioning will be categorized into a type, etc. optionally, each type of data may be further divided according to other standards as needed. for example, the data related to tire monitoring may be sub-divided into tire pressure data, tire temperature data, and so on. in the example of the present disclosure, for each of the different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted, data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data. the expected complete content means it can express a complete item for the user. for example, for the tire pressure monitoring data mentioned above, data that is capable of expressing tire pressures of the four tires and temperatures of the four tires is the expected complete content. according to the example of the present disclosure, the data in the preset format is a short message including a message header and a message body. in step 202, it should be understood that some on-vehicle data to be transmitted may express the expected complete content by using only one piece of long data, and some on-vehicle data to be transmitted may include multiple pieces of long data, where each piece of long data can express one expected complete content. in step 202, a piece of long data to be transmitted is converted into corresponding one or more short messages including a message header and a message body. the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message. for example, for the tire pressure monitoring data mentioned above, a piece of long data includes the tire pressure data of the four tires and the temperature data of the four tires. according to the example of the present disclosure, if one short message cannot carry all the data of this long data, it is converted into multiple short messages. when converting the short message into multiple short messages, the message body of each short message should be able to independently express the sub-data having an independent meaning in the long data. the sub-data having an independent meaning means that the sub-data can express a piece of available data having an independent meaning after the short message is interpreted. still taking the tire pressure monitoring data as an example, the smallest sub-data thereof may either indicate the tire pressure of a tire or the temperature of a tire. for a vehicle door and window system, the smallest sub-data thereof may either indicate whether one of the doors and windows is opened or closed, or may indicate the opening and closing degree of one of the doors and windows. in this way, even if the receiving end fails to completely receive all the short messages of one piece of long data, available information can still be obtained after parsing the remaining short messages. without requiring each short message to represent one sub-data having an independent meaning, when a piece of long data is converted into multiple short messages, it will be arbitrarily divided according to the length of the short message, thus making it possible that one of the short messages includes the tire pressure of one tire and the id of another tire, while the subsequent short messages include the temperature and tire pressure of another tire but fail to include the id, etc. in this case, after the data is parsed by the receiving end, i) errors may easily occur when the data is reconstructed; and ii) the information of at least one of the received short messages cannot be used if there is any one of the short messages lost. as far as the long data of tire pressure and tire temperature being converted into two short messages is concerned, the situation may be one of the following: one short message includes the complete tire pressure data of one tire, and the other short message includes the tire pressure data of the remaining three tires and the temperature data of the four tires; or one short message includes the tire pressure data of two tires, and another short message includes the other tire pressure and temperature data; or one short message includes all the tire pressure data and another short message includes all the temperature data, etc., without being limited to these situations listed above. in the case of converting the data into three short messages, four short messages, ..., eight short messages, the conversion method is consistent with the conversion rule of two short messages, that is, each short message can at least express the tire pressure of one tire or the temperature of one tire. in the examples described in the present disclosure, by way of example rather than limitation, the first network is any one of a 3g network, a td-lte network, a td-lte-a network, a 4g+ network, a 5g network, and a network based on the ieee 802 standard, and the second network is any one of the gsm, gprs, and edge network, such as a 2g network or a 2.5g network. in the examples described in the present disclosure, the short message is a short message based on pdu encoding. fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of the method in fig. 2 when implemented in the application scene shown in fig. 1 . in step 300, the on-vehicle communication module 102 of the vehicle 10 transmits the vehicle-related data acquired by the sensors and cameras in the vehicle 10 and/or other electronic systems of the vehicle to the remote end 20 through the first communication network. in step 302, during data transmission, if the on-vehicle communication module 102 finds that the first communication network is abnormal, it switches to an available network based on any one of gsm, gprs, and edge mode to transmit data. in step 304, after switching to transmitting data via the second communication network (based on any one of gsm, gprs, and edge mode in this example), the long data in the data to be transmitted is converted into one or more short messages including a message header and a message body so as to be transmitted to the remote end 20 by the on-vehicle communication module. as an example, the conversion of the data to be transmitted into data in a preset format (in the example of fig. 3 , it is converted into a short message) may be performed by the communication module 102, or may be completed by a processing module independent from the communication module 102. after the processing module converts the data to be transmitted into data in a preset format, it transmits the data in the preset format to the communication module 102. as is known, the communication module itself has the ability to judge the strength of the network. for example, communication modules such as mobile phones and computers can detect whether there is a network in the environment when the power is turned on, what type of network it is (if any), and what the status of the network is. the on-vehicle communication module 102 also has these functions. herein, the on-vehicle data includes data related to the vehicle itself, and data related to the external environment of the vehicle (including those sensed while the vehicle is traveling and sensed when the vehicle is stationary). the data related to the vehicle itself includes, for example, vehicle tire pressure data, vehicle wheel speed, use statuses of various components such as vehicle engine, and the like. the data related to the external environment is, for example, road conditions, vehicle location, whether there are biological and non-biological objects in the vicinity of the vehicle, etc. these data can be obtained by sensors disposed on the vehicle, or by electronic components on the vehicle and a third-party system in collaboration. for example, the location information of the vehicle is obtained by the satellite positioning system such as gps and an electronic map collectively. there are many types of on-vehicle data, and the on-vehicle data mentioned herein covers various types of data that can be transmitted through a communication network. according to some examples of the present disclosure, the data in the preset format is a short message, and thus the long data in the preset format is converted into one or more short messages, and the message body of each short message is required to be capable of at least independently expressing the sub-data having an independent meaning in the long data. as mentioned above, illustratively, the data in the preset format is a short message. the short message includes a message header and a message body. the message header at least indicates the relationship between the short message and the data to be transmitted, and the message body indicates the message content. the example of the present disclosure uses pdu encoded short messages. in a more specific example, 8-bit encoding is used. it should be understood that the short message as used may also be in other encoding formats, and even if in the case of pdu encoding, 7-bit method may also be used. table 1 shows the structure of a message header according to an example of the present disclosure. in this example, the message header occupies a total of 8 bytes, wherein sms_type occupies two bytes to distinguish different message types. when two bytes are used, there can be 65536 message types in total. for different message types, different processing strategies can be used. sms_id occupies two bytes, and it is used to identify the id of this short message, ranging from 0 to 65535. sms_total_num occupies one byte, ranging from 0 to 255, which represents the total number by which the long message where this short message is located is divided. sms_num represents which one of the long message the short message where the message header is located is. crc is a cyclic redundancy check, which is used to ensure that the data will not be modified. through the settings of sms_id and sms num, it can be ensured that the divided long message can be correctly combined together, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the data. table-tabl0001 table 1 byte byte sms_version=0x0100 sms_type=ox0001 sms_id sms_total_num sms_num crc table 2 shows the structure of a message body according to an example of the present disclosure. in this example, the message body includes three parts, and the first part key represents the data type of the message. as mentioned above, the on-vehicle data that can be transmitted through the network includes multiple types. these types are predefined and identified by different serial numbers, and the key is a value used to identify the type of on-vehicle data transmitted. in the present disclosure, as an example, 2 bytes are allocated for the key. in the present disclosure, one byte is allocated for each value_info field and is used to represent the type information of the value. specifically, in the example of the present disclosure, two high-order bits in the info field indicate the type, and the remaining 6 bits indicate the length. two high-order bits of 00 indicate that the type is enumeration, two high-order bits of 01 indicate that the type is string, two high-order bits of 10 indicate that the type is numeric value, and two high-order bits of 11 indicate that the type is binary data. in the example of the present disclosure, value is a variable-length byte, and the length and type are determined by the length field in value info. table-tabl0002 table 2 key value_info value table 3 is a schematic byte of value_info according to an example of the present disclosure. as mentioned above, the two high-order bits in the value info field indicate the type, and the remaining 6 bits indicate the length. table-tabl0003 table 3 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 type len the configuration of the short message according to the example of the present disclosure has been explained above in conjunction with table 1, table 2 and table 3. it can be seen that, according to the present disclosure, when a piece of long data is converted into multiple short messages, the message header in each short message will clearly indicate how many short messages the long data where the short message is located is divided into and the order of the short messages in the long message. an on-vehicle data transmission method according to an example of the present disclosure will be described below by taking the transmission of tire pressure monitoring data and entire-vehicle monitoring service data as an example. as an example, assuming that there are 730 pieces of on-vehicle data that can be transmitted to the remote end, with the numbering of the data being 0 to 729, which means that the value of the key in table 2 is one of 0 to 729, including 0 and 729. the tire pressure monitoring data differentiated according to the service type requires 20 of them, and the other type of on-vehicle data, i.e., the entire-vehicle monitoring service data, requires 180 of them. it should be noted that the tire pressure monitoring data may specifically include tire pressure data and tire temperature data. the entire-vehicle monitoring service data may include data such as the statuses of the vehicle doors and windows, and the use status of the air conditioner. referring to figs. 1 and 3 , if the on-vehicle communication module 102 does not find that the first communication network is abnormal during data transmission when the vehicle is traveling, data is transmitted through the first communication network. when the on-vehicle communication module 102 detects that the first communication network is abnormal, it switches to transmitting the data via the second communication network. before transmitting the data via the second communication network, the data to be transmitted is first converted into a short message. in the example of the present disclosure, the data to be transmitted is converted into a short message in the format described above in conjunction with table 1 and table 2. it is assumed herein that the vehicle enters an area b with poor network facilities from an area a with good network facilities. when the vehicle 10 is traveling in area a, the on-vehicle communication module 102 transmits data to the remote end 20 through the first communication network (such as a 4g network), as shown in step 300. when the vehicle travels to area b, if the on-vehicle communication module 102 finds that the first communication network is abnormal, for example, the first communication network cannot be detected suddenly, etc., then the on-vehicle communication module 102 switches to transmitting data via the second communication network, such as a 2g network, as shown in step 302. when switching to the second communication network to transmit data, the data processing module (not shown) provided in the vehicle 10 converts the tire pressure data of the data to be transmitted into short messages according to the formats in table 1 and table 2, as shown in step 304. for example, since the tire pressure and temperature data of four tires cannot be conveyed by one short message, in this example, the tire pressure data and tire temperature data of a total of four tires in the front, back, left, and right are divided into eight messages. in the message header of each message, as shown in table 1, the sms_total_num bit indicates that there are a total of eight short messages; if the sms_num bit number is 0, it indicates that the short message where the message header is located is the first one of the eight short messages, and the data in the message body of this short message will indicate which tire's pressure the tire pressure is and how much the tire pressure is; if the sms num number is 1, it indicates that the short message where the message header is located is the second one of the eight short messages, and the data in the message body of this short message will indicate which tire's pressure the tire pressure is and how much the tire pressure is, ......, and so on, until the tire pressures of the four tires and the temperatures of the four tires are indicated by eight short messages. after receiving the short message, the receiving end first determines whether the received short message is one of multiple short messages expressing one piece of long data according to the contents of the sms_total_num and sms_num fields. if it is, after all the short messages have been received, these short messages are combined in order to obtain complete long data. as described in this example, even if one or more of the eight short messages are missed due to any problem, the received ones can still transmit complete sub-information, or the tire pressure of any one of the four tires or the temperature of any one of the four tires. in the example described in conjunction with the tire pressure monitoring data, if the short message itself received by the receiving end represents the content of one piece of long data, then the receiving end can directly parse the short message. if the short message is a part of the long data, then in the example of the present disclosure, the receiving end first places the received short message in a buffer, and then performs processing such as parsing after all the short messages are received. as an example, the key value in the short message is parsed and converted into a json object. in the example of the present disclosure, the on-vehicle data transmission method according to the example of the present disclosure may be implemented by software. when the method implemented by software is performed in a vehicle, the software implementing the method may have an application program interface (api) and the like with existing software in the vehicle, such as the on-vehicle communication module. according to yet another example of the present disclosure, an on-vehicle data receiving method is also provided. in this example, when receiving the on-vehicle data transmitted by the on-vehicle communication module through the second communication network and having a preset format, the receiving end parses and processes the received on-vehicle data. the receiving end is, for example, the external data processing device mentioned in the examples described in conjunction with figs. 1 to 3 above, which has been explained in detail above and will not be described again. after receiving the on-vehicle data in a preset format, the receiving end first parses the data in the preset format, and then performs corresponding processing. according to the example of the present disclosure, the transmission capacity of the second communication network is weaker than the transmission capacity of the first communication network. in this regard, detailed description has been given above and will not be repeated again. more specifically, the received on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of on-vehicle data, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data; and the on-vehicle data in the preset format is one or more short messages including a message header and a message body corresponding to the long data and obtained after conversion. according to the present disclosure, the parsing the received on-vehicle data includes: parsing the received short message, and performing the corresponding processing if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to the long data, or performing the corresponding processing after all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received if the message header indicates that the short message corresponds to a part of the long data. the on-vehicle data receiving method according to the present disclosure can receive the short message transmitted by the on-vehicle data transmission method in any of the above examples, parse the received short message, and determine whether the short message is a part or all of a piece of long data according to the content of the relevant field in the message header; in other words, it is determined whether the short message corresponds to a piece of long data or a part of a piece of long data according to the content of the relevant field in the message header. if it is a part of the long data, it will be determined the short message is which one of multiple short messages corresponding to the long data, and all the short messages will be reconstructed into the long data after all the short messages are received; in some cases, if the waiting for receiving all the short messages of the long data is timed out, then the short messages will not be waited for, and the processing of reconstructing the long data is directly performed. it should also be noted that in the example of the present disclosure, the short messages are reconstructed into the long data at the receiving end, but it is not excluded in some examples that the received short messages are subjected to other processing. in this process, it should be understood that processing such as buffering the first received short message will be involved. taking the tire pressure monitoring data mentioned above as an example, after all the eight short messages are received, the eight pieces of data represented by these eight pieces of data are combined into one piece of long data, and then subsequent processing is performed. "subsequent processing" herein refers to the processing originally expected to be performed on the received tire pressure monitoring data by the receiving end. in some cases, the short messages are first reconstructed into the long data, and then the expected processing is performed. if it is determined according to the content of the relevant fields in the message header that the short message is all of one piece of long data, then it is directly parsed and then processed. fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of an on-vehicle data transmission system according to the present disclosure. as shown in the figure, the on-vehicle data transmission system includes an on-vehicle communication module 40 and a conversion unit 42. the on-vehicle communication module is configured to transmit on-vehicle data to an external data processing device via a network, and configured to switch to transmitting the on-vehicle data via a second communication network if it is determined that a first communication network is abnormal. according to this example, the conversion unit 42 may be a part of the on-vehicle communication module 40 or may be independent from the on-vehicle communication module 40. for example, the conversion unit 42 is implemented as a part of the on-vehicle communication module 40; or the conversion unit 42 is implemented as an independent module/component that is independent from the on-vehicle communication module 40 but can communicate with the on-vehicle communication module 40 so that when the on-vehicle communication module 40 determines to transmit the on-vehicle data via the second communication network, the conversion unit 42 converts the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into a preset format according to the judgment result, and transmits the data converted into the preset format to the on-vehicle communication module 40. according to the example of the present disclosure, the on-vehicle data is divided into different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted according to a first standard, and for each of the different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted, the data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data. the conversion unit 42 is configured to convert the long data into corresponding one or more short messages including a message header and a message body, wherein the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message. herein, the on-vehicle data, the first standard, the long data, the message header, the message body, and the like have been described in the above examples, and will not be described again. the function implemented by the conversion unit 42 is similar to the processing unit mentioned above in the examples described in connection with figs. 2 and 3 . fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of an on-vehicle data transmission system according to an example of the present disclosure. the system includes an on-vehicle communication module 50 provided in the vehicle, a conversion unit 52, a receiving unit 60 provided in an on-vehicle data receiving end 6, and a processing unit 62 provided in an on-vehicle data receiving end. the on-vehicle communication module 50 is configured to transmit on-vehicle data via a network, and is configured to switch to transmitting on-vehicle data via a second communication network when it is determined that the first communication network is abnormal. the conversion unit 52 is configured to convert the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into data in a preset format when the on-vehicle communication module switches to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network, so that the data in the preset format is transmitted by the on-vehicle communication module. the conversion unit 52 is a part of the on-vehicle communication module 50 or independent from the on-vehicle communication module 50. the on-vehicle communication module 50 is basically the same as the on-vehicle communication module 40 described in connection with fig. 4 , and the conversion unit 52 is basically the same as the on-vehicle communication module 42 described in connection with fig. 4 . therefore, the on-vehicle communication module 50 and the conversion unit 52 will not be described in detail herein. the receiving unit 60 of the on-vehicle data receiving end is configured to receive the on-vehicle data transmitted by the on-vehicle communication module, and the processing unit 62 of the on-vehicle data receiving end is configured to parse and process the received on-vehicle data when the data received by the receiving unit 60 is the on-vehicle data in the preset format. the on-vehicle data transmission method and on-vehicle data receiving method according to examples of the present disclosure will be described with reference to fig. 5 . the on-vehicle communication module 50 transmits the on-vehicle data to the on-vehicle data receiving end 6 through the first network, the receiving unit 60 of the on-vehicle data receiving end 6 receives the on-vehicle data, and the processing unit 62 processes the on-vehicle data. generally speaking, the on-vehicle communication module 50 selects the first communication network with better network performance to transmit the on-vehicle data, but in the case of abnormality in the first communication network, the on-vehicle communication module 50 will switch to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network data. in the case of switching to transmitting the on-vehicle data via the second communication network, the conversion unit 52 converts the on-vehicle data to be transmitted into a short message in a preset format. more specifically, the on-vehicle data has been divided in advance into different types of data to be transmitted according to a first standard. the first standard may be set according to the needs in practical applications. by way of example rather than limitation, the first standard is set according to the service type of the on-vehicle data. for example, data related to tire monitoring will be categorized into a type, data related to vehicle doors and windows will be categorized into a type, and data related to vehicle positioning will be categorized into a type, etc. each type of data may be further divided according to other standards as needed. for example, the data related to tire monitoring may be sub-divided into tire pressure data, tire temperature data, and so on. in the example of the present disclosure, for each of the different types of on-vehicle data to be transmitted, data that is capable of expressing expected complete content is long data. the expected complete content means it can express a complete item for the user. the data in the preset format is a short message including a message header and a message body. some on-vehicle data to be transmitted may express the expected complete content by using only one piece of long data, and some on-vehicle data to be transmitted may include multiple pieces of long data, where each piece of long data can express one expected complete content. the conversion unit 52 converts a piece of long data to be transmitted into corresponding one or more short messages including a message header and a message body. the message header at least indicates a relationship between the short message where the message header is located and the long data, and the message body indicates the content represented by the short message. the conversion of the long data implemented by the conversion unit 52 is basically the same as the process of converting the long data into short message described above in connection with figs. 2 and 3 . after receiving the short message in the preset format, the receiving unit 60 parses the short message, and from the relevant information in its message header (such as sms_type, sms_id, sms_total_num, sms_num mentioned above in the description of table 1 to table 3), the receiving unit 60 determines information such as the type of the short message, the id identifier, the number of short messages into which the corresponding long data is totally converted, and which one of these short messages the received short message is. if the parsing result indicates that the short message is all of the corresponding long data, in other words, the long data corresponding to the short message is only converted into this short message, then the processing unit 62 processes the data. if the parsing result indicates that the short message is a part of its corresponding long data, then the receiving end 6 will perform processing after all the short messages corresponding to the long data are received. as mentioned above, in the case of multiple short messages, the receiving end 6 will performs processing such as buffering. according to the present disclosure, a receiving end for receiving on-vehicle data is also provided. the receiving end is, for example, the receiving end 6 in fig. 5 . it should be noted that the receiving unit 60 and the processing unit 62 may be two modules that are independent from each other and only communicate with each other and, or may be set as the same module. according to the present disclosure, a program storage medium for storing instructions is also provided. when these instructions are executed, the above on-vehicle data transmission method described in conjunction with various examples will be implemented. according to the present disclosure, a processor is also provided, on which instructions are stored, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the above on-vehicle data transmission method described in conjunction with various examples is implemented. the processor is, for example, composed of the on-vehicle communication module 50 and the conversion unit 52 described above; or the processor is a separate device, but it is capable of controlling the operation of the on-vehicle communication module 50 and the conversion unit 52 which are in communication with the processor, so that when the instructions are executed by the processor, the on-vehicle data transmission method is implemented by the on-vehicle communication module and the conversion unit. according to the present disclosure, another storage medium for storing instructions is provided, wherein when the instructions are executed, the on-vehicle data receiving method as described above is implemented. according to the present disclosure, another processor for storing instructions is also provided, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the above described on-vehicle data receiving method is implemented. the processor is, for example, composed of the receiving unit 60 and the processing unit 62 described above; or the processor is a separate device, but it is capable of controlling the operation of the receiving unit 60 and the processing unit 62 which are in communication with the processor, so that when the instructions are executed by the processor, the on-vehicle data transmission method is implemented by the on-vehicle communication module and the conversion unit. no matter which one of the on-vehicle data transmission method, system and the on-vehicle data processing system according to the present disclosure is adopted, in the case that the vehicle cannot transmit data through any one of the 3g network, td-lte network, td-lte-a network, 4g+ network, 5g network, or a network based on the ieee 802 standard, a network based on any of gsm, gprs, or edge mode can be switched to. moreover, according to the present disclosure, after the network is switched, the data to be transmitted is converted into a short message for transmission. it is assumed that if the vehicle cannot transmit data when the first communication network in a certain area has failed, and it is urgently required to send monitoring data such as tire pressure to the remote end to receive remote diagnosis, then in the case of adopting the present disclosure, the data can be transmitted by short messages to receive remote diagnosis and rescue. in the case of not adopting the technical solution provided by the present disclosure, the transmission cannot be implemented, and diagnosis and rescue cannot be received. using the on-vehicle data transmission method according to the examples of the present disclosure, the second communication network can be switched to for data transmission when the first communication network adopted by default by the communication module is abnormal, which is very useful in some situations where the network is poor and rescue is also required. for example, when the vehicle travels to an area with poor network and the vehicle suddenly has a failure, then in this situation, some on-vehicle data needs to be transmitted to the remote end for diagnosis by the remote end. in this case, the examples of the present disclosure are particularly advantageous. described above are only preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, which are not intended to limit the present disclosure in any way. although the present disclosure has been disclosed above by way of preferred embodiments, they are not intended to define the present disclosure. any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the technical solutions of the present disclosure, can devise equivalent embodiments in which some minor equivalent changes or modifications are made based on the technical contents disclosed above. any simple changes, equivalent variations and modifications made to the above embodiments in the light of the present disclosure without departing from the contents of the technical solutions of the present disclosure will still fall within the scope of the technical solutions of the present disclosure.
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050-884-542-267-464
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US
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[
"US"
] |
C12M3/00,C12M1/00,C12M1/34,C12N15/87
| 2020-01-11T00:00:00 |
2020
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[
"C12"
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automated multi-module cell processing methods, instruments, and systems
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the present disclosure provides automated multi-module instruments, compositions and methods to increase the percentage of edited mammalian cells in a cell population when employing nucleic-acid guided editing.
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1. an automated multi-module cell editing instrument comprising: a housing configured to house all of some of the modules; a receptacle configured to receive cells; one or more receptacles configured to receive nucleic acids and/or proteins, wherein the nucleic acids and/or proteins comprise editing machinery; an editing machinery introduction module configured to introduce the nucleic acids and/or proteins into the cells; an editing module configured to allow the introduced nucleic acids to edit nucleic acids in the cells; an enrichment module to enrich for cells receiving the editing machinery; a processor configured to operate the automated multi-module cell editing instrument based on user input and/or selection of a pre-programmed script; and an automated liquid handling system to move cells from the receptacle configured to receive cells to the editing machinery introduction module, from the editing machinery introduction module to the editing module, and from the editing module to the enrichment module; and to move nucleic acids and/or proteins to the editing machinery introduction module, all without user intervention. 2. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acids in the one or more receptacles comprise a backbone and an editing cassette, the automated multi-module cell editing instrument further comprises a nucleic acid assembly module. 3. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , wherein the enrichment module uses facs to enrich for cells receiving the editing machinery. 4. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , wherein the enrichment module uses macs to enrich for cells receiving the editing machinery. 5. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , wherein the editing module further comprises a recovery module following introduction of the editing machinery. 6. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , further comprising a growth module configured to grow the cells. 7. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 6 , wherein the growth module measures optical density of the growing cells. 8. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 7 , wherein optical density is measured continuously. 9. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to adjust growth conditions in the growth module such that the cells reach a target optical density at a time requested by a user. 10. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , wherein the receptacle configured to receive cells and the one or more receptacles configured to receive nucleic acids are contained within a reagent cartridge. 11. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 10 , wherein some or all reagents required for cell editing are contained within the reagent cartridge. 12. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 11 , wherein the reagents contained within the reagent cartridge are locatable by a script read by the processor. 13. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 12 , wherein the reagent cartridge includes reagents and is provided in a kit. 14. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , wherein the editing machinery introduction module comprises an electroporation device. 15. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 14 , wherein the electroporation device is a flow-through electroporation device. 16. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 1 , further comprising a filtration module configured to concentrate the cells and render the cells electrocompetent. 17. an automated multi-module cell editing instrument comprising: a housing configured to house all of some of the modules; a receptacle configured to receive cells, nucleic acids and/or proteins, wherein the nucleic acids and/or proteins comprise editing machinery; an editing machinery introduction module configured to introduce the nucleic acids and/or proteins into the cells; an editing module configured to allow the introduced nucleic acids and/or proteins to edit nucleic acids in the cells; an enrichment module to enrich for cells receiving the editing machinery; a processor configured to operate the automated multi-module cell editing instrument based on user input and/or selection of a pre-programmed script; and an automated liquid handling system to move cells from the receptacle configured to receive cells to the editing machinery introduction module, from the editing machinery introduction module to the editing module, and from the editing module to the enrichment module; and to move nucleic acids and/or proteins to the editing machinery introduction module, all without user intervention. 18. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 17 , further comprising at least one reagent cartridge containing reagents to perform cell editing in the automated multi-module cell editing instrument. 19. the automated multi-module cell editing instrument of claim 18 , wherein the receptacles for the cells and nucleic acids are disposed within the reagent cartridge. 20. an automated multi-module cell editing instrument comprising: a housing configured to house some or all of the modules; a receptacle configured to receive cells; at least one receptacle configured to receive nucleic acids, wherein the nucleic acids comprise editing machinery; a growth module configured to grow the cells; a filtration module configured to concentrate the cells and render the cells electrocompetent; a transformation module comprising a flow-through electroporator to introduce the nucleic acids into the cells; a combination recovery and editing module configured to allow the cells to recover after electroporation in the transformation module and to allow the nucleic acids to edit the cells; an enrichment module to enrich for cells receiving the editing machinery; a processor configured to operate the automated multi-module cell editing instrument based on user input and/or selection of a pre-programmed script; and an automated liquid handling system to move cells from the receptacle configured to receive cells to the growth module; from the growth module to the filtration module, from the filtration module to the transformation module, from the transformation module to the combination recovery and editing module, and from the combination recovery and editing module to the enrichment module; and to move nucleic acids from the receptacle configured to receive nucleic acids to the transformation module, all without user intervention.
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field of the invention the present disclosure relates to methods and compositions to increase the percentage of edited mammalian cells in a cell population when using nucleic-acid guided editing, as well as automated multi-module instruments for performing these methods using the disclosed compositions. background of the invention in the following discussion certain articles and methods will be described for background and introductory purposes. nothing contained herein is to be construed as an “admission” of prior art. applicant expressly reserves the right to demonstrate, where appropriate, that the articles and methods referenced herein do not constitute prior art under the applicable statutory provisions. the ability to make precise, targeted changes to the genome of living cells has been a long-standing goal in biomedical research and development. recently, various nucleases have been identified that allow for manipulation of gene sequences, and hence gene function. the nucleases include nucleic acid-guided nucleases, which enable researchers to generate permanent edits in live cells. of course, it is desirable to attain the highest editing rates possible in a cell population; however, in many instances the percentage of edited cells resulting from nucleic acid-guided nuclease editing can be in the single digits. there is thus a need in the art of nucleic acid-guided nuclease editing for improved methods, compositions, modules and instruments for increasing the efficiency of editing. the present disclosure addresses this need. summary of the invention this summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. other features, details, utilities, and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following written detailed description including those aspects illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims. in certain aspects, the present disclosure relates to methods, compositions, modules and automated multi-module cell processing instruments that increase the efficiency of nucleic-acid guided editing in a cell population, e.g., a mammalian cell population. thus, methods presented herein include methods for increasing the rate of targeted editing using non-homologous end joining (nhej) repair, base editing, microhomology-directed repair (mmej) and/or homology-directed repair (hdr). in some aspects, the disclosure provides methods for improving nuclease-directed editing of cells using enrichment means to identify cells that have received the editing components needed to perform the intended editing operation. enrichment can be performed directly or using surrogates, e.g., cell surface handles co-introduced with one or more components of the editing components. in specific aspects, the disclosure provides methods for improving nuclease-directed editing of cells using enrichment means to identify cells that have received the editing components needed to perform the intended editing operation. in some aspects, the enrichment handle and method can be based on a positive versus negative signal of the surrogate. in other aspects, the enrichment method can be based on a threshold level of a surrogate, e.g., a high level of an enrichment handle versus a low or absent level of an enrichment handle. in some aspects, the disclosure provides methods for improving nuclease-directed editing rates by enriching for mammalian cells that have received an hdr donor, e.g., identifying cells that are more likely to have received the editing apparatus along with the designs encoding the enrichment handle. in specific aspects, the disclosure provides methods for improving nuclease-directed editing of mammalian cells using enrichment means to identifying mammalian cells that have received the hdr donor, the guide nucleic acid, and/or the nuclease. such enrichment may involve a single enrichment method for hdr donor, the guide nucleic acid, and the nuclease, or two or more separate enrichment events for one or more of these elements. the hdr donor and guide nucleic acid may be introduced separately or covalently linked, as disclosed in, e.g., u.s. pat. no. 9,982,278. in some aspects, the disclosure provides methods of enriching for the editing efficiency of a target region in a cell population, the method comprising contacting a population of two or more cells with editing machinery comprising (a) one or more editing cassettes comprising a nucleic acid encoding a grna sequence targeting a first target region, wherein the grna is covalently attached to a region homologous to said first target region comprising an intended change in sequence relative to said target region, (b) one or more editing cassettes comprising a nucleic acid encoding a grna sequence targeting a second target region, wherein the grna is covalently attached to a region encoding a selectable marker and (c) a nuclease compatible with said grna sequence, exposing the population of cells to conditions to allow the cells to edit at the first and second target regions; and enriching for the cells from the population that express the selectable marker, wherein the selectable marker serves as a surrogate for editing of the first target region in the enriched cells of the cell population; and wherein the cells expressing the selectable marker are enriched for editing of the first target regions as compared to the cells of the population that do not express the selectable marker. in some aspects, the disclosure provides a method of increasing the editing efficiency of a cell population, the method comprising contacting a population of two or more cells with editing machinery comprising (a) one or more editing cassettes comprising a nucleic acid encoding a grna sequence targeting a first target region, wherein the grna is covalently attached to a region homologous to said first target region comprising an intended change in sequence relative to said target region, (b) one or more editing cassettes comprising a nucleic acid encoding a grna sequence targeting a second target region, wherein the grna is covalently attached to a region encoding a selectable marker, and (c) nucleic acids encoding a nuclease compatible with said grna sequence, exposing the population of cells to conditions to allow the cells to edit at the first and second target regions, and enriching for the cells from the population that express the selectable marker, wherein the selectable marker serves as a surrogate for editing of the first target region in the enriched cells of the cell population. in certain aspects, the cell enrichment uses a physical enrichment of the cells expressing the selectable marker. examples of this include fluorescent-activated cell sorting selection, magnetic-activated cell sorting selection, antibiotic selection, and the like. in certain aspects, the cell enrichment uses a computational enrichment based on the presence of a selectable marker. in some aspects, the editing cassette targeting the first target region further comprises a barcode. in a specific aspect, the method further comprises incorporation of site-specific genomic barcodes that enable tracking of individual edited cells within a population. in specific aspects of the invention, the hdr is improved using fusion proteins that retain certain characteristics of rna-directed nucleases (e.g., the binding specificity and ability to cleave one or more dna strands) and also utilize other enzymatic activities, e.g., replication inhibition, reverse transcriptase activity, transcription enhancement activity, and the like. these nuclease fusion proteins can be used in nuclease-directed editing using the disclosed methods, with or without the enrichment methods as disclosed herein. the hdr donor and guide nucleic acid may be introduced separately or covalently linked, as disclosed in, e.g., u.s. pat. no. 9,982,278. in specific aspects of the invention, the hdr is improved using fusion proteins that retain the binding function and nickase activity of an rna-directed nuclease and also utilize other enzymatic activities, e.g., replication inhibition, reverse transcriptase activity, transcription enhancement activity, and the like. these nickase fusion proteins can be used in rna-directed nickase editing using the disclosed methods, with or without the enrichment methods as disclosed herein. the hdr donor and guide nucleic acid may be introduced separately or covalently linked, as disclosed in, e.g., u.s. pat. no. 9,982,278. in addition, nickase can be introduced using dna coding for the nickase introduced separately or covalently linked to the donor and guide dna, or introduced separately in protein form. in specific aspects, the editing methods include the use of a fusion protein with nucleic acids having a guide rna covalently attached to a region homologous to a target region that contains one or more changes from the native target sequence, and preferably at least one enrichment mechanism, physical or computational. such methods can use a single guide rna construct, or use two or more guide rna constructs to target different genomic locations. in some aspects, the nucleic acids contain multiple guide rnas covalently attached to different target regions within the genome. in specific aspects, the editing methods include the use of a nickase fusion protein with nucleic acids having a guide rna covalently attached to a region homologous to a target region that contains one or more changes from the native target sequence, and at least one enrichment mechanism, physical or computational. use of fusion proteins and enrichment for editing methods may involve a single enrichment method for hdr donor, the guide nucleic acid, and the nuclease, or two or more separate enrichment events for one or more of these editing machinery elements. in specific aspects, the cells receiving the hdr donor can be enriched using an initial enrichment step, e.g., using an antibiotic selection or fluorescent detection, following by an enrichment step using an enrichment of the cells receiving and expressing the co-introduced cell surface antigen. numerous enrichment handles may be used in the methods and instruments of the disclosure, including but not limited to various cell surface molecules linked to tag, e.g., a hemagglutinin (ha) tag, a flag tag, an sbp tag, and the like. in certain aspects, the tagged cell surface marker is modified to alter its activity, including but not limited to δtetherin-ha, δtetherin-flag, δtetherin-sbp and the like. in some aspects, the enrichment handle can bind affinity ligands (e.g., engineered to contain an ha tag, a flag tag, an sbp tag, and the like). in some aspects, the enrichment handle can be a heterologous cell surface receptor (a cell surface receptor not generally present in the cell type to be edited) or autologous cell surface antigen with an engineered epitope tag. in specific aspects the methods use an editing selection cassette, e.g., a gfp-to-bfp editing cassette. the disclosure also includes automated multi-module cell editing instruments with an enrichment module that performs enrichment methods including those described herein to increase the overall editing efficiency in a population of cells, e.g., mammalian cells. one exemplary automated multi-module cell editing instrument of the disclosure includes a housing configured to house all or some of the modules, a receptacle configured to receive cells, one or more receptacles configured to receive nucleic acids, an editing machinery introduction module configured to introduce the nucleic acids and/or proteins into the cells, a recovery module configured to allow the cells to recover after introduction of the editing machinery, an enrichment module for enrichment of cells that have received the editing nucleic acids and/or nuclease, an editing module configured to allow the introduced nucleic acids to edit nucleic acids in the cells, and a processor configured to operate the automated multi-module cell editing instrument based on user input and/or selection of a pre-programmed script. one exemplary automated multi-module cell editing instrument of the disclosure includes a housing configured to house all or some of the modules, a receptacle configured to receive cells and editing nucleic acids, an editing machinery introduction module configured to introduce the nucleic acids into the cells, a recovery module configured to allow the cells to recover after introduction of the editing machinery, an enrichment module for enrichment of cells that have received the editing nucleic acids and/or nuclease, an editing module configured to allow the introduced nucleic acids to edit nucleic acids in the cells, and a processor configured to operate the automated multi-module cell editing instrument based on user input and/or selection of a pre-programmed script. one exemplary automated multi-module cell editing instrument of the disclosure includes a housing configured to house some or all of the modules, a receptacle configured to receive cells, at least one receptacle configured to receive nucleic acids for editing, a growth module configured to grow the cells, an editing machinery introduction module comprising a flow-through electroporator to introduce editing nucleic acids into the cells, an enrichment module for enrichment of cells that have received the editing nucleic acids and/or nuclease, an editing module configured to allow the editing nucleic acids to edit nucleic acids in the cells, and a processor configured to operate the automated multi-module cell editing instrument based on user input and/or selection of a pre-programmed script. one exemplary automated multi-module cell editing instrument of the disclosure includes a housing configured to house some or all of the modules, a receptacle configured to receive cells and editing nucleic acids, a growth module configured to grow the cells, a filtration module configured to concentrate the cells and render the cells electrocompetent, an editing machinery introduction module comprising a flow-through electroporator to introduce editing nucleic acids into the cells, an enrichment module for enrichment of cells that have received the editing nucleic acids, an editing module configured to allow the cells to recover after electroporation and to allow the nucleic acids to edit the cells, and a processor configured to operate the automated multi-module cell editing instrument based on user input. optionally, the nucleic acids and/or cells are contained within a reagent cartridge, which is introduced into a receptacle of the instrument. such cartridges for use with the present disclosure are described, e.g., in u.s. pat. nos. 10,376,889, 10,478,822, and 10,406,525, which are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. the methods described herein enable the user to obtain a population of cells with a much higher proportion of cells with precise, intended edits and fewer unedited and/or imprecisely edited cells. the present methods can result in 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or more intended edits within a cell population. accordingly, in some aspects, the disclosure provides cell libraries created using the editing methods described herein in the disclosure. in some aspects, the disclosure provides cell libraries created using an automated editing system for nickase-directed genome editing, wherein the system comprises a housing, a receptacle configured to receive cells and one or more rationally designed nucleic acids comprising sequences to facilitate nickase-directed genome editing events in the cells, a transformation unit for introduction of the nucleic acid(s) into the cells, an editing unit for allowing the nickase-directed genome editing events to occur in the cells, an enrichment module, and a processor-based system configured to operate the instrument based on user input, where the nickase-directed genome editing events created by the automated system result in a cell library comprising individual cells with rationally designed edits. in some aspects, the disclosure provides cell libraries created using an automated editing system for nickase-directed genome editing, wherein the system comprises a housing, a cell receptacle configured to receive cells, a nucleic acid receptacle configured to receive one or more rationally designed nucleic acids comprising sequences to facilitate nickase-directed genome editing events in the cells, a transformation unit for introduction of the nucleic acid(s) into the cells, an editing unit for allowing the nickase-directed genome editing events to occur in the cells, and a processor based system configured to operate the instrument based on user input, where the nickase-directed genome editing events created by the automated system result in a cell library comprising individual cells with rationally designed edits. these aspects and other features and advantages of the invention are described below in more detail. detailed description all of the functionalities described in connection with one embodiment of the methods, devices or instruments described herein are intended to be applicable to the additional embodiments of the methods, devices and instruments described herein except where expressly stated or where the feature or function is incompatible with the additional embodiments. for example, where a given feature or function is expressly described in connection with one embodiment but not expressly mentioned in connection with an alternative embodiment, it should be understood that the feature or function may be deployed, utilized, or implemented in connection with the alternative embodiment unless the feature or function is incompatible with the alternative embodiment. the practice of the techniques described herein may employ, unless otherwise indicated, conventional techniques and descriptions of molecular biology (including recombinant techniques), cell biology, biochemistry, and genetic engineering technology, which are within the skill of those who practice in the art. such conventional techniques and descriptions can be found in standard laboratory manuals such as green and sambrook, molecular cloning: a laboratory manual. 4th, ed., cold spring harbor laboratory press, cold spring harbor, n.y., (2014); current protocols in molecular biology , ausubel, et al. eds., (2017); neumann, et al., electroporation and electrofusion in cell biology , plenum press, new york, 1989; and chang, et al., guide to electroporation and electrofusion , academic press, california (1992), all of which are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference for all purposes. nucleic acid-guided nuclease techniques can be found in, e.g., genome editing and engineering from talens and crisprs to molecular surgery , appasani and church (2018); and crispr: methods and protocols , lindgren and charpentier (2015); both of which are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference for all purposes. note that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. thus, for example, reference to “a cell” refers to one or more cells, and reference to “the system” includes reference to equivalent steps, methods and devices known to those skilled in the art, and so forth. additionally, it is to be understood that terms such as “left,” “right,” “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “rear,” “side,” “height,” “length,” “width,” “upper,” “lower,” “interior,” “exterior,” “inner,” “outer” that may be used herein merely describe points of reference and do not necessarily limit embodiments of the present disclosure to any particular orientation or configuration. furthermore, terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., merely identify one of a number of portions, components, steps, operations, functions, and/or points of reference as disclosed herein, and likewise do not necessarily limit embodiments of the present disclosure to any particular configuration or orientation. unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. all publications mentioned herein are incorporated by reference for all purposes, including but not limited to describing and disclosing devices, formulations and methodologies that may be used in connection with the presently described invention. where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the invention. the upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included in smaller ranges, and are also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included in the invention. in the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. however, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. in other instances, features and procedures well known to those skilled in the art have not been described in order to avoid obscuring the invention. the terms used herein are intended to have the plain and ordinary meaning as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. the term “complementary” as used herein refers to watson-crick base pairing between nucleotides and specifically refers to nucleotides hydrogen-bonded to one another with thymine or uracil residues linked to adenine residues by two hydrogen bonds and cytosine and guanine residues linked by three hydrogen bonds. in general, a nucleic acid includes a nucleotide sequence described as having a “percent complementarity” or “percent homology” to a specified second nucleotide sequence. for example, a nucleotide sequence may have 80%, 90%, or 100% complementarity to a specified second nucleotide sequence, indicating that 8 of 10, 9 of 10 or 10 of 10 nucleotides of a sequence are complementary to the specified second nucleotide sequence. for instance, the nucleotide sequence 3′-tcga-5′ is 100% complementary to the nucleotide sequence 5′-agct-3′; and the nucleotide sequence 3′-tcga-5′ is 100% complementary to a region of the nucleotide sequence 5′-ttagctgg-3′. the term dna “control sequences” refers collectively to promoter sequences, polyadenylation signals, transcription termination sequences, upstream regulatory domains, origins of replication, internal ribosome entry sites, nuclear localization sequences, enhancers, and the like, which collectively provide for the replication, transcription and translation of a coding sequence in a recipient cell. not all of these types of control sequences need to be present so long as a selected coding sequence is capable of being replicated, transcribed and—for some components—translated in an appropriate host cell. as used herein the term “donor dna” or “donor nucleic acid” refers to nucleic acid that is designed to introduce a dna sequence modification (insertion, deletion, substitution) into a locus (e.g., a target genomic dna sequence or cellular target sequence) by homologous recombination using nucleic acid-guided nucleases. for homology-directed repair, the donor dna must have sufficient homology to the regions flanking the “cut site” or site to be edited in the genomic target sequence. the length of the homology arm(s) will depend on, e.g., the type and size of the modification being made. in many instances and preferably, the donor dna will have two regions of sequence homology (e.g., two homology arms) to the genomic target locus. preferably, an “insert” region or “dna sequence modification” region—the nucleic acid modification that one desires to be introduced into a genome target locus in a cell-will be located between two regions of homology. the dna sequence modification may change one or more bases of the target genomic dna sequence at one specific site or multiple specific sites. a change may include changing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 300, 400, or 500 or more base pairs of the genomic target sequence. a deletion or insertion may be a deletion or insertion of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 300, 400, or 500 or more base pairs of the genomic target sequence. the terms “guide nucleic acid” or “guide rna” or “grna” refer to a polynucleotide comprising 1) a guide sequence capable of hybridizing to a genomic target locus, and 2) a scaffold sequence capable of interacting or complexing with a nucleic acid-guided nuclease. “homology” or “identity” or “similarity” refers to sequence similarity between two peptides or, more often in the context of the present disclosure, between two nucleic acid molecules. the term “homologous region” or “homology arm” refers to a region on the donor dna with a certain degree of homology with the target genomic dna sequence. homology can be determined by comparing a position in each sequence which may be aligned for purposes of comparison. when a position in the compared sequence is occupied by the same base or amino acid, then the molecules are homologous at that position. a degree of homology between sequences is a function of the number of matching or homologous positions shared by the sequences. the term “nickase” as used herein refers to a nuclease that cuts one strand of a double-stranded dna at a specific recognition nucleotide sequence. “operably linked” refers to an arrangement of elements where the components so described are configured so as to perform their usual function. thus, control sequences operably linked to a coding sequence are capable of effecting the transcription, and in some cases, the translation, of a coding sequence. the control sequences need not be contiguous with the coding sequence so long as they function to direct the expression of the coding sequence. thus, for example, intervening untranslated yet transcribed sequences can be present between a promoter sequence and the coding sequence and the promoter sequence can still be considered “operably linked” to the coding sequence. in fact, such sequences need not reside on the same contiguous dna molecule (i.e. chromosome) and may still have interactions resulting in altered regulation. as used herein, the terms “protein” and “polypeptide” are used interchangeably. proteins may or may not be made up entirely of amino acids. a “promoter” or “promoter sequence” is a dna regulatory region capable of binding rna polymerase and initiating transcription of a polynucleotide or polypeptide coding sequence such as messenger rna, ribosomal rna, small nuclear or nucleolar rna, guide rna, or any kind of rna transcribed by any class of any rna polymerase i, ii or iii. promoters may be constitutive or inducible. as used herein the term “selectable marker” refers to a gene introduced into a cell, which confers a trait suitable for artificial selection. general use selectable markers are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art. for examples, selectable markers can use means that deplete a cell population to enrich for editing, and include ampicillin/carbenicillin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, nourseothricin n-acetyl transferase, erythromycin, tetracycline, gentamicin, bleomycin, streptomycin, puromycin, hygromycin, blasticidin, and g418 or other selectable markers may be employed. in addition, selectable markers include physical markers that confer a phenotype that can be utilized for physical or computations cell enrichment, e.g., optical selectable markers such as fluorescent proteins (e.g., green fluorescent protein, blue fluorescent protein) and cell surface handles. the term “specifically binds” as used herein includes an interaction between two molecules, e.g., an engineered peptide antigen and a binding target, with a binding affinity represented by a dissociation constant of about 10 −7 m, about 10 −8 m, about 10 −9 m, about 10 −10 m, about 10 −11 m, about 10 −12 m, about 10 −13 m, about 10 −14 m or about 10 −15 m. the terms “target genomic dna sequence”, “cellular target sequence”, “target sequence”, or “genomic target locus” refer to any locus in vitro or in vivo, or in a nucleic acid (e.g., genome or episome) of a cell or population of cells, in which a change of at least one nucleotide is desired using a nucleic acid-guided nuclease editing system. the target sequence can be a genomic locus or extrachromosomal locus. the term “variant” may refer to a polypeptide or polynucleotide that differs from a reference polypeptide or polynucleotide but retains essential properties. a typical variant of a polypeptide differs in amino acid sequence from another reference polypeptide. generally, differences are limited so that the sequences of the reference polypeptide and the variant are closely similar overall and, in many regions, identical. a variant and reference polypeptide may differ in amino acid sequence by one or more modifications (e.g., substitutions, additions, and/or deletions). a variant of a polypeptide may be a conservatively modified variant. a substituted or inserted amino acid residue may or may not be one encoded by the genetic code (e.g., a non-natural amino acid). a variant of a polypeptide may be naturally occurring, such as an allelic variant, or it may be a variant that is not known to occur naturally. a “vector” is any of a variety of nucleic acids that comprise a desired sequence or sequences to be delivered to and/or expressed in a cell. vectors are typically composed of dna, although rna vectors are also available. vectors include, but are not limited to, plasmids, fosmids, phagemids, virus genomes, synthetic chromosomes, and the like. in the present disclosure, the term “editing vector” includes a coding sequence for a nuclease, a grna sequence to be transcribed, and a donor dna sequence. in other embodiments, however, two vectors—an engine vector comprising the coding sequence for a nuclease, and an editing vector, comprising the grna sequence to be transcribed and the donor dna sequence—may be used. brief description of the drawings the foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: figs. 1a-1d depict an automated multi-module instrument and components thereof with which to practice the recursive editing methods as taught herein. fig. 2a depicts one embodiment of a rotating growth vial for use with the cell growth module described herein. fig. 2b illustrates a perspective view of one embodiment of a rotating growth vial in a cell growth module. fig. 2c depicts a cut-away view of the cell growth module from fig. 2b . fig. 2d illustrates the cell growth module of fig. 2b coupled to led, detector, and temperature regulating components. fig. 3a is a model of tangential flow filtration used in the tff device presented herein. fig. 3b depicts a top view of a lower member of one embodiment of an exemplary tff device. fig. 3c depicts a top view of upper and lower members and a membrane of an exemplary tff device. fig. 3d depicts a bottom view of upper and lower members and a membrane of an exemplary tff device. figs. 3e-3k depict various views of yet another embodiment of a tff module having fluidically coupled reservoirs. fig. 3l is an exemplary pneumatic architecture diagram for the tff module described in relation to figs. 3e-3k . fig. 4a shows a flow-through electroporation device exemplary (here, there are six such devices co-joined). fig. 4b is a top view of one embodiment of an exemplary flow-through electroporation device. fig. 4c depicts a top view of a cross section of the electroporation device of fig. 4c . fig. 4d is a side view cross section of a lower portion of the electroporation devices of figs. 4c and 4d . figs. 5a and 5b depict the structure and components of one embodiment of a reagent cartridge. fig. 6 is a simplified block diagram of an embodiment of an exemplary automated multi-module cell processing instrument. fig. 7 is a diagram showing a first set of exemplary workflows for carrying out editing and selection protocols of the disclosure. fig. 8 is a diagram showing a second set of exemplary workflows for carrying out editing and selection protocols of the disclosure. fig. 9 is a diagram showing a first set of exemplary workflows for carrying out create fusion editing protocols of the disclosure. fig. 10 is a diagram showing a second set of exemplary workflows for carrying out create fusion protocols of the disclosure. fig. 11 is a diagram showing potential mechanism for editing using a fusion protein with reverse transcriptase activity over multiple cell cycles. fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating exemplary elements in a plasmid structure used for the gfp expression assay. figs. 13a and 13b are plots showing the delivery of nuclease-gfp expression cassettes as monitored by facs. figs. 14a and 14b are plots showing gfp to bfp conversion for phenotypic assessment of nhej and hdr-mediated editing. fig. 15 is a plot showing differential expression levels of a thy1.2 reporter expressed from a gfp to bfp editing cassette. figs. 16a-16e are a series of plots showing the effects of the enrichment process on levels of thy1.2 high cells by macs. fig. 17 is a bar graph showing comparable enrichment of cell populations with higher editing rates (nhej and hdr) by either facs or macs. fig. 18 is a bar graph showing δtetherin-ha editing cassette enriched editing demonstrated using facs sorted cells. figs. 19a and 19b are a graph and table showing how macs bead concentrations during enrichment affects the relative proportions of thy1.2 high and thy1.2 low expressing cells isolated by enrichment. figs. 20a and 20b are a graph and table showing how macs bead concentrations during enrichment affect the relative proportions of δtetherin-ha enriched cells. fig. 21 is a bar graph showing edit rates for cells enriched using various amounts of thy1.2-specific macs beads. fig. 22 is a bar graph showing analysis post enrichment for cells expressing high levels of the δtetherin-ha reporter in hap1. fig. 23 is a bar graph showing enrichment of cells with higher knock-in editing rates at the dnmt3b gene using facs enrichment techniques. fig. 24 shows the designs of the cfe editing constructs cfe2.1 and cfe 2.2. fig. 25 shows the designs of various grnas that include the 13 bp ty-to-sh edit or a second region of 13 bp that is complementary to the nicked egfp dna sequence. fig. 26 is a diagram showing the basic protocol for editing using the create fusion editing cassettes of fig. 25 in comparison to direct nuclease editing. figs. 27a-27d are graphs showing the editing of gfp-to-bfp hek293t cells using various protocols. fig. 28 is a diagram showing the basic protocol for create fusion editing in conjunction with facs selection. fig. 29 is a graph showing the level of dsred-lo and dsred-high cells resulting from editing with mad7 nuclease editing versus create fusion editing. fig. 30 is a plot showing the differential expression levels of dsred in the edited cell populations. fig. 31 is a bar graph showing dsred editing for mad7 or create fusion editing using gfp to bfp time course of facs sorted cells. fig. 32 is a diagram showing the basic protocol for create fusion editing using a single grna. figs. 33a-33c are bar graphs showing the editing efficiencies of using the create fusion constructs cfe2.1 and cfe2.2 with lentiviral delivery. figs. 34a and 34b are bar graphs comparing the editing efficiencies of using the create fusion construct cfe2.2 versus mad7 editing, both with lentiviral delivery. figs. 35a and 35b are figures showing exemplary strategies for using a create fusion editing system with a tracking or recording technology. the invention in general this disclosure is directed to methods and instruments for improving precise editing in a population of cells. various cellular mechanisms may be used in the editing process, including non-homologous end joining (nhej) repair, base editing, microhomology-directed repair (mmej) and/or homology-directed repair (hdr). in specific aspects, the methods and instruments improve editing via homology-directed repair (hdr); accordingly, in specific aspects, the disclosure provides methods of improving hdr in mammalian cells. in more specific aspects, the disclosure provides methods of improving hdr in human cells. in certain specific aspects, the disclosure provides methods of improving hdr in human pluripotent cells, e.g., induced pluripotent stem cells. in certain aspects, the disclosure provides enrichment of co-introduced nucleic acids for the enrichment of cells that have received the editing components necessary for nucleic acid-directed editing, e.g., using specific selection of cells that have been transfected with a plasmid containing a nucleic acid encoding a donor nucleic acid and/or a guide nucleic acid, and optionally a nuclease. more specifically, enrichment of a subpopulation of cells with the highest amount of reporter expression enriches for a population of cells that undergo gene editing at higher rates than unenriched populations or subpopulations with relatively lower levels of reporter expression. in specific aspects, the disclosure is directed to automated methods of increasing editing efficiencies using co-introduction of nucleic acids encoding editing machinery and a cell surface selection handle. in specific aspects, the co-introduction of nucleic acids occurs in a multi-module automated instrument, as described in more detail herein. in certain aspects, the disclosure provides methods of improving homology-directed repair (hdr) using proteins that are a combination of an rna-directed nuclease and an enzymatic activity from a different protein, e.g., replication inhibition, reverse transcriptase activity, transcription enhancement activity, and the like. in preferred aspects, these nuclease fusion proteins have a nickase function, and thus result in a nick on a single strand of the dna to be edited instead of a double stranded break. the editing nuclease fusion proteins can be used with editing nucleic acids such as those found, e.g., in u.s. pat. no. 9,982,278 and related patents. such nucleic acids encoding a grna comprising a region complementary to a target region of a nucleic acid in one or more cells covalently linked to an editing cassette comprising a region homologous to the target region in the one or more cells with a mutation of at least one nucleotide relative to the target region in the one or more cells. these nucleic acids can optionally include a protospacer and/or a barcode. the editing methods can involve one or more sets of these nucleic acids, and result in two or more nicks in the target region for the intended edit. examples of such methods include, but are not limited to, those described in liu et al (nature, 2019 december; 576(7785):149-157). in certain preferred embodiments, the methods employ a novel method termed “create fusion editing”. “create fusion editing” is a novel technique that uses a nuclease editing enzyme having nickase activity in conjunction with one or more nucleic acids to facilitate editing. in specific aspects, create fusion editing methods utilize an editing fusion protein (e.g., a protein having crispr targeting activity and reverse transcriptase activity) and a nucleic acid encoding one or more grnas comprising a region complementary to a target region of a nucleic acid. the one or more grnas are covalently linked to an editing cassette comprising a region homologous to the target region having a mutation of at least one nucleotide relative to the target region for the intended edit in the one or more cells. optionally, the nucleic acid may further comprise a protospacer adjacent motif (pam) mutation and/or a barcode indicative of the intended mutation in the target region. further description of the use of such create nucleic acids can be found, e.g., in u.s. pat. no. 9,982,278, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. the use of a single grna to achieve editing rates of 30% or greater has numerous benefits over the dual nick system described in liu et al. supra, that they taught was needed to achieve such editing rates in mammalian cells. for example, eliminating the need for a second nick allows much greater scalability for multiplexed genome editing, as each cell requires only one editing construct to target the site of the intended edit. this also increases the number of sites in the genome of cells that are available for editing, enhancing the potential design and coverage of a library of editing vectors to be introduced to a cell population. the use of a single grna as described herein will also decrease indel formation as compared to a dual nick system, and is predicted to reduce off target effects, e.g., due to specificity issued from the nickase activity. in some aspects, an edit in the nuclease binding seed region can be utilized to render a site nuclease resistant, preventing additional cutting using the nuclease (e.g., a nuclease fusion protein containing nicking activity) in specific aspects, the create fusion methods can utilize a fusion protein having nickase activity and a single grna to achieve high efficiency editing, two-fold or more over the techniques taught in liu et al, supra. by creating a single nick in the target region the methods of the present disclosure were able to achieve editing efficiencies of over 20%, including precise editing rates of up to 45%, in mammalian cells without enrichment. thus, the single nick system disclosed herein which was able to achieve the high levels of editing efficiency previously described only utilizing a dual nick system. certain workflows for carrying out create fusion editing are summarized in figs. 7 and 8 . in certain preferred embodiments, these workflows are carried out using an automated system or instrument, e.g., a multi-module instrument and set forth in the disclosure. without being bound by a particular mechanism, the editing machinery can be allowed to persist for several cell divisions. as shown in fig. 9 , this editing cycle in the cell population allows a higher percentage of the cells to be edited using the introduced create fusion editing machinery. nuclease-directed genome editing generally the compositions and methods described herein are employed to perform nuclease-directed genome editing to introduce desired edits to a population of mammalian cells. in some embodiments, a single edit is introduced in a single round of editing. in some embodiments, multiple edits are introduced in a single round of editing using simultaneous editing, e.g., the introduction of two or more edits on a single vector. in some embodiments, recursive cell editing is performed where edits are introduced in successive rounds of editing. a nucleic acid-guided nuclease complexed with an appropriate synthetic guide nucleic acid in a cell can cut the genome of the cell at a desired location. the guide nucleic acid helps the nucleic acid-guided nuclease recognize and cut the dna at a specific target sequence. by manipulating the nucleotide sequence of the guide nucleic acid, the nucleic acid-guided nuclease may be programmed to target any dna sequence for cleavage as long as an appropriate protospacer adjacent motif (pam) is nearby. in certain aspects, the nucleic acid-guided nuclease editing system may use two separate guide nucleic acid molecules that combine to function as a guide nucleic acid, e.g., a crispr rna (crrna) and trans-activating crispr rna (tracrrna). in other aspects and preferably, the guide nucleic acid is a single guide nucleic acid construct that includes both 1 ) a guide sequence capable of hybridizing to a genomic target locus, and 2) a scaffold sequence capable of interacting or complexing with a nucleic acid-guided nuclease. in general, a guide nucleic acid (e.g., grna) complexes with a compatible nucleic acid-guided nuclease and can then hybridize with a target sequence, thereby directing the nuclease to the target sequence. a guide nucleic acid can be dna or rna; alternatively, a guide nucleic acid may comprise both dna and rna. in some embodiments, a guide nucleic acid may comprise modified or non-naturally occurring nucleotides. in cases where the guide nucleic acid comprises rna, the grna may be encoded by a dna sequence on a polynucleotide molecule such as a plasmid, linear construct, or the coding sequence may and preferably does reside within an editing cassette. for additional information regarding editing cassettes, see, e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 10,240,167; 10,266,849; 9,982,278; 10,351,877; 10,364,442; and 10,435,715; and u.s. ser. no. 16/275,465, filed 14 feb. 2019, all of which are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. a guide nucleic acid comprises a guide sequence, where the guide sequence is a polynucleotide sequence having sufficient complementarity (i.e homology) with a target sequence to hybridize with the target sequence and direct sequence-specific binding of a complexed nucleic acid-guided nuclease to the target sequence. the degree of complementarity between a guide sequence and the corresponding target sequence, when optimally aligned using a suitable alignment algorithm, is about or more than about 50%, 60%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97.5%, 99%, or more. optimal alignment may be determined with the use of any suitable algorithm for aligning sequences. in some embodiments, a guide sequence is about or more than about 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 75, or more nucleotides in length. in some embodiments, a guide sequence is less than about 75, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20 nucleotides in length. preferably the guide sequence is 10-30 or 15-20 nucleotides long, or 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 nucleotides in length. in general, to generate an edit in the target sequence, the grna/nuclease complex binds to a target sequence as determined by the guide rna, and the nuclease recognizes a protospacer adjacent motif (pam) sequence adjacent to the target sequence. the target sequence can be any polynucleotide endogenous or exogenous to the mammalian cell, or in vitro. for example, the target sequence can be a polynucleotide residing in the nucleus of the mammalian cell. a target sequence can be a sequence encoding a gene product (e.g., a protein) or a non-coding sequence (e.g., a regulatory polynucleotide, an intron, a pam, a control sequence, or “junk” dna). the guide nucleic acid may be and preferably is part of an editing cassette that encodes the donor nucleic acid that targets a cellular target sequence. alternatively, the guide nucleic acid may not be part of the editing cassette and instead may be encoded on the editing vector backbone. for example, a sequence coding for a guide nucleic acid can be assembled or inserted into a vector backbone first, followed by insertion of the donor nucleic acid in, e.g., an editing cassette. in other cases, the donor nucleic acid in, e.g., an editing cassette can be inserted or assembled into a vector backbone first, followed by insertion of the sequence coding for the guide nucleic acid. preferably, the sequence encoding the guide nucleic acid and the donor nucleic acid are located together in a rationally-designed editing cassette and are simultaneously inserted or assembled via gap repair into a linear plasmid or vector backbone to create an editing vector. in some aspects, a pcr amplicon of the editing cassette can be used for editing. the target sequence is associated with a proto-spacer mutation (pam), which is a short nucleotide sequence recognized by the grna/nuclease complex. the precise preferred pam sequence and length requirements for different nucleic acid-guided nucleases vary; however, pams typically are 2-7 base-pair sequences adjacent or in proximity to the target sequence and, depending on the nuclease, can be 5′ or 3′ to the target sequence. engineering of the pam-interacting domain of a nucleic acid-guided nuclease may allow for alteration of pam specificity, improve target site recognition fidelity, decrease target site recognition fidelity, or increase the versatility of a nucleic acid-guided nuclease. in certain embodiments, the genome editing of a cellular target sequence both introduces a desired dna change to a cellular target sequence, e.g., the genomic dna of a cell, and removes, mutates, or renders inactive a proto-spacer mutation (pam) region in the cellular target sequence. rendering the pam at the cellular target sequence inactive precludes additional editing of the cell genome at that cellular target sequence, e.g., upon subsequent exposure to a nucleic acid-guided nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide nucleic acid in later rounds of editing. thus, cells having the desired cellular target sequence edit and an altered pam can be selected for by using a nucleic acid-guided nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide nucleic acid complementary to the cellular target sequence. cells that did not undergo the first editing event will be cut rendering a double-stranded dna break, and thus will not continue to be viable. the cells containing the desired cellular target sequence edit and pam alteration will not be cut, as these edited cells no longer contain the necessary pam site and will continue to grow and propagate. as for the nuclease component of the nucleic acid-guided nuclease editing system, a polynucleotide sequence encoding the nucleic acid-guided nuclease can be codon optimized for expression in particular mammalian cell types, such as stem cells. the choice of nucleic acid-guided nuclease to be employed depends on many factors, such as what type of edit is to be made in the target sequence and whether an appropriate pam is located close to the desired target sequence. nucleases of use in the methods described herein include but are not limited to cas 9, cas 12/cpf1, mad2, or mad7 or other madzymes. as with the guide nucleic acid, the nuclease is encoded by a dna sequence on a vector and optionally is under the control of an inducible promoter. in some embodiments, the promoter may be separate from but the same as the promoter controlling transcription of the guide nucleic acid; that is, a separate promoter drives the transcription of the nuclease and guide nucleic acid sequences but the two promoters may be the same type of promoter. alternatively, the promoter controlling expression of the nuclease may be different from the promoter controlling transcription of the guide nucleic acid; that is, e.g., the nuclease may be under the control of, e.g., the ptef promoter, and the guide nucleic acid may be under the control of the, e.g., pcyc1 promoter. another component of the nucleic acid-guided nuclease system is the donor nucleic acid comprising homology to the cellular target sequence. the donor nucleic acid is on the same vector and even in the same editing cassette as the guide nucleic acid and preferably is (but not necessarily is) under the control of the same promoter as the editing grna (that is, a single promoter driving the transcription of both the editing grna and the donor nucleic acid). the donor nucleic acid is designed to serve as a template for homologous recombination with a cellular target sequence nicked or cleaved by the nucleic acid-guided nuclease as a part of the grna/nuclease complex. a donor nucleic acid polynucleotide may be of any suitable length, such as about or more than about 20, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 500, or 1000 nucleotides in length, and up to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and up to 20 kb in length if combined with a dual grna architecture as described in u.s. ser. no. 62/869,240, filed 1 jul. 2019. in certain preferred aspects, the donor nucleic acid can be provided as an oligonucleotide of between 20-300 nucleotides, more preferably between 50-250 nucleotides. the donor nucleic acid comprises a region that is complementary to a portion of the cellular target sequence (e.g., a homology arm). when optimally aligned, the donor nucleic acid overlaps with (is complementary to) the cellular target sequence by, e.g., about 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 or more nucleotides. in many embodiments, the donor nucleic acid comprises two homology arms (regions complementary to the cellular target sequence) flanking the mutation or difference between the donor nucleic acid and the cellular target sequence. the donor nucleic acid comprises at least one mutation or alteration compared to the cellular target sequence, such as an insertion, deletion, modification, or any combination thereof compared to the cellular target sequence. as described in relation to the grna, the donor nucleic acid can be provided as part of a rationally-designed editing cassette, which is inserted into an editing plasmid backbone where the editing plasmid backbone may comprise a promoter to drive transcription of the editing grna and the donor dna when the editing cassette is inserted into the editing plasmid backbone. moreover, there may be more than one, e.g., two, three, four, or more editing grna/donor nucleic acid rationally-designed editing cassettes inserted into an editing vector; alternatively, a single rationally-designed editing cassette may comprise two to several editing grna/donor dna pairs, where each editing grna is under the control of separate different promoters, separate like promoters, or where all grnas/donor nucleic acid pairs are under the control of a single promoter. in some embodiments the promoter driving transcription of the editing grna and the donor nucleic acid (or driving more than one editing grna/donor nucleic acid pair) is optionally an inducible promoter. in addition to the donor nucleic acid, an editing cassette may comprise one or more primer sites. the primer sites can be used to amplify the editing cassette by using oligonucleotide primers; for example, if the primer sites flank one or more of the other components of the editing cassette. in addition, the editing cassette may comprise a barcode. a barcode is a unique dna sequence that corresponds to the donor dna sequence such that the barcode can identify the edit made to the corresponding cellular target sequence. the barcode typically comprises four or more nucleotides. in some embodiments, the editing cassettes comprise a collection or library editing grnas and of donor nucleic acids representing, e.g., gene-wide or genome-wide libraries of editing grnas and donor nucleic acids. the library of editing cassettes is cloned into vector backbones where, e.g., each different donor nucleic acid is associated with a different barcode. also, in preferred embodiments, an editing vector or plasmid encoding components of the nucleic acid-guided nuclease system further encodes a nucleic acid-guided nuclease comprising one or more nuclear localization sequences (nlss), such as about or more than about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more nlss, particularly as an element of the nuclease sequence. in some embodiments, the engineered nuclease comprises nlss at or near the amino-terminus, nlss at or near the carboxy-terminus, or a combination. cells with a stably integrated genomic copy of the gfp gene can enable phenotypic detection of genomic edits of different classes (nhej, hdr, no edit) by flow cytometry, fluorescent cell imaging, or genotypic detection by sequencing of the genome-integrated gfp gene. lack of editing, or perfect repair of cut events in the gfp gene result in cells that remain gfp-positive. cut events that are repaired by the non-homologous end-joining (nhej) pathway often result in nucleotide insertion or deletion events (indel). these indel edits often result in frame-shift mutations in the coding sequence that cause loss of gfp gene expression and fluorescence. cut events that are repaired by the homology-directed repair (hdr) pathway, using the gfp to bfp hdr donor as a repair template result in conversion of the cell fluorescence profile from that of gfp to that of bfp. editing cassette the editing cassette used was a plasmid that mediates expression of a grna that targets the nuclease to a specific dna sequence. the editing cassette plasmid can also have a dna sequence (e.g., hdr donor) to provide a template for targeted insertions, deletions, or nucleotide swaps proximal to the nuclease-targeted cut site. in one example, the editing cassette plasmid expresses a grna targeting a stably integrated genomic copy of the gfp gene and provides an hdr donor that mediates nucleotide swaps which convert the amino acid coding sequence of gfp to that of bfp. an rna-guided nuclease (e.g., cas9, cpf1, mad7) can be delivered to the cell by means of a nuclease-encoding expression plasmid, nuclease-encoding mrna, recombinant nuclease protein, or by generation of a nuclease-expressing stable cell line. in this specific example, the mad7 nuclease was delivered by means of a nuclease-encoding expression plasmid. editing cassette plasmid and nuclease can be delivered to the target cell by traditional mammalian cell transfection techniques. automated cell editing instruments and modules to perform nucleic acid-guided nuclease editing automated cell editing instruments fig. 1a depicts an exemplary automated multi-module cell processing instrument 100 to, e.g., perform one of the exemplary workflows comprising a split protein reporter system as described herein. the instrument 100 , for example, may be and preferably is designed as a stand-alone desktop instrument for use within a laboratory environment. the instrument 100 may incorporate a mixture of reusable and disposable components for performing the various integrated processes in conducting automated genome cleavage and/or editing in cells without human intervention. illustrated is a gantry 102 , providing an automated mechanical motion system (actuator) (not shown) that supplies xyz axis motion control to, e.g., an automated (i.e., robotic) liquid handling system 158 including, e.g., an air displacement pipettor 132 which allows for cell processing among multiple modules without human intervention. in some automated multi-module cell processing instruments, the air displacement pipettor 132 is moved by gantry 102 and the various modules and reagent cartridges remain stationary; however, in other embodiments, the liquid handling system 158 may stay stationary while the various modules and reagent cartridges are moved. also included in the automated multi-module cell processing instrument 100 are reagent cartridges 110 comprising reservoirs 112 and editing machinery introduction module 130 (e.g., a flow-through electroporation device as described in detail in relation to figs. 4a-4d ), as well as wash reservoirs 106 , cell input reservoir 151 and cell output reservoir 153 . the wash reservoirs 106 may be configured to accommodate large tubes, for example, wash solutions, or solutions that are used often throughout an iterative process. although two of the reagent cartridges 110 comprise a wash reservoir 106 in fig. 1a , the wash reservoirs instead could be included in a wash cartridge where the reagent and wash cartridges are separate cartridges. in such a case, the reagent cartridge 110 and wash cartridge 104 may be identical except for the consumables (reagents or other components contained within the various inserts) inserted therein. note that an exemplary reagent cartridge is illustrated in figs. 5a and 5b . in some implementations, the reagent cartridges 110 are disposable kits comprising reagents and cells for use in the automated multi-module cell processing/editing instrument 100 . for example, a user may open and position each of the reagent cartridges 110 comprising various desired inserts and reagents within the chassis of the automated multi-module cell editing instrument 100 prior to activating cell processing. further, each of the reagent cartridges 110 may be inserted into receptacles in the chassis having different temperature zones appropriate for the reagents contained therein. also illustrated in fig. 1a is the robotic liquid handling system 158 including the gantry 102 and air displacement pipettor 132 . in some examples, the robotic handling system 158 may include an automated liquid handling system such as those manufactured by tecan group ltd. of mannedorf, switzerland, hamilton company of reno, nev. (see, e.g., wo2018015544a1), or beckman coulter, inc. of fort collins, colo. (see, e.g., us20160018427a1). pipette tips may be provided in a pipette transfer tip supply (not shown) for use with the air displacement pipettor 132 . inserts or components of the reagent cartridges 110 , in some implementations, are marked with machine-readable indicia (not shown), such as bar codes, for recognition by the robotic handling system 158 . for example, the robotic liquid handling system 158 may scan one or more inserts within each of the reagent cartridges 110 to confirm contents. in other implementations, machine-readable indicia may be marked upon each reagent cartridge 110 , and a processing system (not shown, but see element 137 of fig. 1b ) of the automated multi-module cell editing instrument 100 may identify a stored materials map based upon the machine-readable indicia. in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 1a , a cell growth module comprises two cell growth vials 118 , 120 (described in greater detail below in relation to figs. 2a-2d ). additionally seen is the tff module 122 (described above in detail in relation to figs. 3a-3l ). additionally seen is an enrichment module 140 . also note the placement of three heatsinks 155 . fig. 1b is a simplified representation of the contents of the exemplary multi-module cell processing instrument 100 depicted in fig. 1a . cartridge-based source materials (such as in reagent cartridges 110 ), for example, may be positioned in designated areas on a deck of the instrument 100 for access by an air displacement pipettor 132 . the deck of the multi-module cell processing instrument 100 may include a protection sink such that contaminants spilling, dripping, or overflowing from any of the modules of the instrument 100 are contained within a lip of the protection sink. also seen are reagent cartridges 110 , which are shown disposed with thermal assemblies 111 which can create temperature zones appropriate for different regions. note that one of the reagent cartridges also comprises a flow-through electroporation device 130 (ftep), served by ftep interface (e.g., manifold arm) and actuator 131 . also seen is tff module 122 with adjacent thermal assembly 125 , where the tff module is served by tff interface (e.g., manifold arm) and actuator 133 . thermal assemblies 125 , 135 , and 145 encompass thermal electric devices such as peltier devices, as well as heatsinks, fans and coolers. the rotating growth vials 118 , 120 are within a growth module 134 , where the growth module is served by two thermal assemblies 135 . an enrichment module is seen at 140 , where the enrichment module is served by selection interface (e.g., manifold arm) and actuator 147 . also seen in this view is touch screen display 101 , display actuator 103 , illumination 105 (one on either side of multi-module cell processing instrument 100 ), and cameras 139 (one illumination device on either side of multi-module cell processing instrument 100 ). finally, element 137 comprises electronics, such as circuit control boards, high-voltage amplifiers, power supplies, and power entry; as well as pneumatics, such as pumps, valves and sensors. fig. 1c illustrates a front perspective (door open) view of multi-module cell processing instrument 100 for use in as a desktop version of the automated multi-module cell editing instrument 100 . for example, a chassis 190 may have a width of about 24-48 inches, a height of about 24-48 inches and a depth of about 24-48 inches. chassis 190 may be and preferably is designed to hold all modules and disposable supplies used in automated cell processing and to perform all processes required without human intervention; that is, chassis 190 is configured to provide an integrated, stand-alone automated multi-module cell processing instrument. as illustrated in fig. 1c , chassis 190 includes touch screen display 101 , cooling grate 164 , which allows for air flow via an internal fan (not shown). the touch screen display provides information to a user regarding the processing status of the automated multi-module cell editing instrument 100 and accepts inputs from the user for conducting the cell processing. in this embodiment, the chassis 190 is lifted by adjustable feet 170 a , 170 b , 170 c and 170 d (feet 170 a - 170 c are shown in this fig. 1c ). adjustable feet 170 a - 170 d , for example, allow for additional air flow beneath the chassis 290 . inside the chassis 190 , in some implementations, will be most or all of the components described in relation to figs. 1a and 1b , including the robotic liquid handling system disposed along a gantry, reagent cartridges 110 including a flow-through electroporation device, rotating growth vials 118 , 120 in a cell growth module 134 , a tangential flow filtration module 122 , an enrichment module 140 as well as interfaces and actuators for the various modules. in addition, chassis 190 houses control circuitry, liquid handling tubes, air pump controls, valves, sensors, thermal assemblies (e.g., heating and cooling units) and other control mechanisms. for examples of multi-module cell editing instruments, see u.s. pat. no. 10,253,316, issued 9 apr. 2019; u.s. pat. no. 10,329,559, issued 25 jun. 2019; u.s. pat. no. 10,323,242, issued 18 jun. 2019; u.s. pat. no. 10,421,959, issued 24 sep. 2019; u.s. pat. no. 10,465,185, issued 5 nov. 2019; and u.s. ser. no. 16/412,195, filed 14 may 2019; ser. no. 16/571,091, filed 14 sep. 2019; and ser. no. 16/666,964, filed 29 oct. 2019, all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. the rotating cell growth module fig. 2a shows one embodiment of a rotating growth vial 200 for use with the cell growth device described herein configured to grow various cell types including microbial and mammalian cells lines and primary or generated stem cells (e.g., induced pluripotent stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, embryonic stem cells and the like). the rotating growth vial is an optically-transparent container having an open end 204 for receiving liquid media and cells, a central vial region 206 that defines the primary container for growing cells, a tapered-to-constricted region 218 defining at least one light path 210 , a closed end 216 , and a drive engagement mechanism 212 . the rotating growth vial has a central longitudinal axis 220 around which the vial rotates, and the light path 210 is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vial. the first light path 210 is positioned in the lower constricted portion of the tapered-to-constricted region 218 . optionally, some embodiments of the rotating growth vial 200 have a second light path 208 in the tapered region of the tapered-to-constricted region 218 . both light paths in this embodiment are positioned in a region of the rotating growth vial that is constantly filled with the cell culture (cells+growth media) and is not affected by the rotational speed of the growth vial. the first light path 210 is shorter than the second light path 208 allowing for sensitive measurement of od values when the od values of the cell culture in the vial are at a high level (e.g., later in the cell growth process), whereas the second light path 208 allows for sensitive measurement of od values when the od values of the cell culture in the vial are at a lower level (e.g., earlier in the cell growth process). also shown is lip 202 , which allows the rotating growth vial to be seated in a growth module (not shown) and further allows for easy handling for the user. in some configurations of the rotating growth vial, the rotating growth vial has two or more “paddles” or interior features disposed within the rotating growth vial, extending from the inner wall of the rotating growth vial toward the center of the central vial region. in some aspects, the width of the paddles or features varies with the size or volume of the rotating growth vial, and may range from 1/20 to just over ⅓ the diameter of the rotating growth vial, or from 1/15 to ¼ the diameter of the rotating growth vial, or from 1/10 to ⅕ the diameter of the rotating growth vial. in some aspects, the length of the paddles varies with the size or volume of the rotating growth vial, and may range from ⅘ to ¼ the length of the main body of the rotating growth vial, or from ¾ to ⅓ the length of the main body of the rotating growth vial, or from ½ to ⅓ the length of the main body of the rotating growth vial. in other aspects, there may be concentric rows of raised features disposed on the inner surface of the main body of the rotating growth vial arranged horizontally or vertically; and in other aspects, there may be a spiral configuration of raised features disposed on the inner surface of the main body of the rotating growth vial. in alternative aspects, the concentric rows of raised features or spiral configuration may be disposed upon a post or center structure of the rotating growth vial. though described above as having two paddles, the rotating growth vial may comprise 3, 4, 5, 6 or more paddles, and up to 20 paddles. the number of paddles will depend upon, e.g., the size or volume of the rotating growth vial. the paddles may be arranged symmetrically as single paddles extending from the inner wall of the vial into the interior of the vial, or the paddles may be symmetrically arranged in groups of 2, 3, 4 or more paddles in a group (for example, a pair of paddles opposite another pair of paddles) extending from the inner wall of the vial into the interior of the vial. in another embodiment, the paddles may extend from the middle of the rotating growth vial out toward the wall of the rotating growth vial, from, e.g., a post or other support structure in the interior of the rotating growth vial. the drive engagement mechanism 212 engages with a motor (not shown) to rotate the vial. in some embodiments, the motor drives the drive engagement mechanism 212 such that the rotating growth vial is rotated in one direction only, and in other embodiments, the rotating growth vial is rotated in a first direction for a first amount of time or periodicity, rotated in a second direction (i.e., the opposite direction) for a second amount of time or periodicity, and this process may be repeated so that the rotating growth vial (and the cell culture contents) are subjected to an oscillating motion. the first amount of time and the second amount of time may be the same or may be different. the amount of time may be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or more seconds, or may be 1, 2, 3, 4 or more minutes. in another embodiment, in an early stage of cell growth the rotating growth vial may be oscillated at a first periodicity (e.g., every 60 seconds), and then a later stage of cell growth the rotating growth vial may be oscillated at a second periodicity (e.g., every one second) different from the first periodicity. the rotating growth vial 200 may be specifically tailored for the growth of particular cell types. for example, o 2 and/or co 2 can be specifically monitored or controlled, and the rotating growth vial may be designed and od measurement modified to be compatible with use of specific carrier substrates for growth of adherent cells. the rotating growth vial 200 may be reusable or, preferably, the rotating growth vial is consumable. in some embodiments, the rotating growth vial is consumable and is presented to the user pre-filled with growth medium, where the vial is hermetically sealed at the open end 204 with a foil seal. a medium-filled rotating growth vial packaged in such a manner may be part of a kit for use with a stand-alone cell growth device or with a cell growth module that is part of an automated multi-module cell processing instrument. to introduce cells into the vial, a user need only pipette up a desired volume of cells and use the pipette tip to punch through the foil seal of the vial. open end 204 may optionally include an extended lip 202 to overlap and engage with the cell growth device (not shown). in automated systems, the rotating growth vial 200 may be tagged with a barcode or other identifying means that can be read by a scanner or camera that is part of the automated system (not shown). the volume of the rotating growth vial 200 and the volume of the cell culture (including growth medium) may vary greatly, but the volume of the rotating growth vial 200 must be large enough for the cell culture in the growth vial to get proper aeration while the vial is rotating. in practice, the volume of the rotating growth vial 200 may range from 1-250 ml, 2-100 ml, from 5-80 ml, 10-50 ml, or from 12-35 ml. likewise, the volume of the cell culture (cells+growth media) should be appropriate to allow proper aeration in the rotating growth vial. thus, the volume of the cell culture should be approximately 10-85% of the volume of the growth vial or from 20-60% of the volume of the growth vial. for example, for a 35 ml growth vial, the volume of the cell culture would be from about 4 ml to about 27 ml, or from 7 ml to about 21 ml. the rotating growth vial 200 preferably is fabricated from a bio-compatible optically transparent material—or at least the portion of the vial comprising the light path(s) is transparent. additionally, material from which the rotating growth vial is fabricated should be able to be cooled to about 4° c. or lower and heated to about 55° c. or higher to accommodate both temperature-based cell assays and long-term storage at low temperatures. further, the material that is used to fabricate the vial must be able to withstand temperatures up to 55° c. without deformation while spinning. suitable materials include glass, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, poly(methyl methacrylate (pmma), polysulfone, polyurethane, and co-polymers of these and other polymers. preferred materials include polypropylene, polycarbonate, or polystyrene. in some embodiments, the rotating growth vial is inexpensively fabricated by, e.g., injection molding or extrusion. figs. 2b-2d show an embodiment of a cell growth module 250 comprising a rotating growth vial 200 . fig. 2b is a perspective view of one embodiment of a cell growth device 250 . fig. 2c depicts a cut-away view of the cell growth device 250 from fig. 2b . in both figures, the rotating growth vial 200 is seen positioned inside a main housing 226 with the extended lip 202 of the rotating growth vial 200 extending above the main housing 226 . additionally, end housings 222 , a lower housing 232 , and flanges 224 are indicated in both figures. flanges 224 are used to attach the cell growth device to heating/cooling means or other structure (not shown). fig. 2c depicts additional detail. in fig. 2c , upper bearing 242 and lower bearing 230 are shown positioned in main housing 226 . upper bearing 242 and lower bearing 230 support the vertical load of rotating growth vial 200 . lower housing 232 contains the drive motor 236 . the cell growth device of fig. 2c comprises two light paths: a primary light path 234 , and a secondary light path 230 . light path 234 corresponds to light path 210 positioned in the constricted portion of the tapered-to-constricted portion of the rotating growth vial, and light path 230 corresponds to light path 208 in the tapered portion of the tapered-to-constricted portion of the rotating growth vial. light paths 210 and 208 are not shown in fig. 2c but may be seen in, e.g., fig. 2a . in addition to light paths 234 and 230 , there is an emission board 228 to illuminate the light path(s), and detector board 246 to detect the light after the light travels through the cell culture liquid in the rotating growth vial. the motor 236 used to rotate the rotating growth vial 200 in some embodiments is a brushless dc type drive motor with built-in drive controls that can be set to hold a constant revolution per minute (rpm) between 0 and about 3000 rpm. alternatively, other motor types such as a stepper, servo, brushed dc, and the like can be used. optionally, the motor 206 may also have direction control to allow reversing of the rotational direction, and a tachometer to sense and report actual rpm. the motor is controlled by a processor (not shown) according to, e.g., standard protocols programmed into the processor and/or user input, and the motor may be configured to vary rpm to cause axial precession of the cell culture thereby enhancing mixing, e.g., to prevent cell aggregation, increase aeration, and optimize cellular respiration. main housing 226 , end housings 222 and lower housing 232 of the cell growth device 250 may be fabricated from any suitable, robust material including aluminum, stainless steel, and other thermally conductive materials, including plastics. these structures or portions thereof can be created through various techniques, e.g., metal fabrication, injection molding, creation of structural layers that are fused, etc. whereas the rotating growth vial is envisioned in some embodiments to be reusable but preferably is consumable, the other components of the cell growth device 250 are preferably reusable and can function as a stand-alone benchtop device or, as here, as a module in a multi-module cell processing system. the processor (not shown) of the cell growth system may be programmed with information to be used as a “blank” or control for the growing cell culture. a “blank” or control is a vessel containing cell growth medium only, which yields 100% transmittance and 0 od, while the cell sample will deflect light rays and will have a lower percent transmittance and higher od. as the cells grow in the media and become denser, transmittance will decrease and od will increase. the processor of the cell growth system may be programmed to use wavelength values for blanks commensurate with the growth media typically used in mammalian cell culture. alternatively, a second spectrophotometer and vessel may be included in the cell growth system, where the second spectrophotometer is used to read a blank at designated intervals. fig. 2d illustrates a cell growth device as part of an assembly comprising the cell growth device of fig. 2b coupled to light source 290 , detector 292 , and thermal components 294 . the rotating growth vial 200 is inserted into the cell growth device. components of the light source 290 and detector 292 (e.g., such as a photodiode with gain control to cover 5-log) are coupled to the main housing of the cell growth device. the lower housing 232 that houses the motor that rotates the rotating growth vial is illustrated, as is one of the flanges 224 that secures the cell growth device to the assembly. also illustrated is a peltier device or thermoelectric cooler 294 . in this embodiment, thermal control is accomplished by attachment and electrical integration of the cell growth device 200 to the thermal device 294 via the flange 204 on the base of the lower housing 232 . thermoelectric coolers are capable of “pumping” heat to either side of a junction, either cooling a surface or heating a surface depending on the direction of current flow. in one embodiment, a thermistor is used to measure the temperature of the main housing and then, through a standard electronic proportional-integral-derivative (pid) controller loop, the rotating growth vial 200 is controlled to approximately +/−0.5° c. in certain embodiments, a rear-mounted power entry module contains the safety fuses and the on-off switch, which when switched on powers the internal ac and dc power supplies (not shown) activating the processor. measurements of optical densities (od) at programmed time intervals are accomplished using a 600 nm light emitting diode (led) (not shown) that has been columnated through an optic into the lower constricted portion of the rotating growth vial which contains the cells of interest. the light continues through a collection optic to the detection system which consists of a (digital) gain-controlled silicone photodiode. generally, optical density is normally shown as the absolute value of the logarithm with base 10 of the power transmission factors of an optical attenuator: od=−log 10 (power out/power in). since od is the measure of optical attenuation—that is, the sum of absorption, scattering, and reflection—the cell growth device od measurement records the overall power transmission, so as the cells grow and become denser in population the od (the loss of signal) increases. the od system is pre-calibrated against od standards with these values stored in an on-board memory accessible by the measurement program. in use, cells are inoculated (cells can be pipetted, e.g., from an automated liquid handling system or by a user) into pre-filled growth media of a rotating growth vial by piercing though the foil seal. the programmed software of the cell growth device sets the control temperature for growth, typically 30° c., then slowly starts the rotation of the rotating growth vial. the cell/growth media mixture slowly moves vertically up the wall due to centrifugal force allowing the rotating growth vial to expose a large surface area of the mixture to a normal oxygen environment. the growth monitoring system takes either continuous readings of the od or od measurements at pre-set or pre-programmed time intervals. these measurements are stored in internal memory and if requested the software plots the measurements versus time to display a growth curve. if enhanced mixing is required, e.g., to optimize growth conditions, the speed of the vial rotation can be varied to cause an axial precession of the liquid, and/or a complete directional change can be performed at programmed intervals. the growth monitoring can be programmed to automatically terminate the growth stage at a pre-determined od, and then quickly cool the mixture to a lower temperature to inhibit further growth. one application for the cell growth device 250 is to constantly measure the optical density of a growing cell culture. one advantage of the described cell growth device is that optical density can be measured continuously (kinetic monitoring) or at specific time intervals; e.g., every 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 45, or 60 seconds, or every 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 on minutes. while the cell growth device has been described in the context of measuring the optical density (od) of a growing cell culture, it should, however, be understood by a skilled artisan given the teachings of the present specification that other cell growth parameters can be measured in addition to or instead of cell culture od. for example, spectroscopy using visible, uv, or near infrared (nir) light allows monitoring the concentration of nutrients and/or wastes in the cell culture. additionally, spectroscopic measurements may be used to quantify multiple chemical species simultaneously. nonsymmetric chemical species may be quantified by identification of characteristic absorbance features in the nir. conversely, symmetric chemical species can be readily quantified using raman spectroscopy. many critical metabolites, such as glucose, glutamine, ammonia, and lactate have distinct spectral features in the ir, such that they may be easily quantified. the amount and frequencies of light absorbed by the sample can be correlated to the type and concentration of chemical species present in the sample. each of these measurement types provides specific advantages. ft-nir provides the greatest light penetration depth and can be used for thicker sample. ft-mid-ir (mir) provides information that is more easily discernible as being specific for certain analytes as these wavelengths are closer to the fundamental ir absorptions. ft-raman is advantageous when interference due to water is to be minimized. other spectral properties can be measured via, e.g., dielectric impedance spectroscopy, visible fluorescence, fluorescence polarization, or luminescence. additionally, the cell growth device may include additional sensors for measuring, e.g., dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide, ph, conductivity, and the like. the cell concentration module figs. 3a-3k depict variations on one embodiment of a cell concentration/buffer exchange cassette and module that utilizes tangential flow filtration and is configured for use with all cell types, including immortalized cell lines, primary cells and/or stem cells. one embodiment of a cell concentration device described herein operates using tangential flow filtration (tff), also known as crossflow filtration, in which the majority of the feed flows tangentially over the surface of the filter thereby reducing cake (retentate) formation as compared to dead-end filtration, in which the feed flows into the filter. secondary flows relative to the main feed are also exploited to generate shear forces that prevent filter cake formation and membrane fouling thus maximizing particle recovery, as described below. the tff device described herein was designed to take into account two primary design considerations. first, the geometry of the tff device leads to filtering the cell culture over a large surface area so as to minimize processing time. second, the design of the tff device is configured to minimize filter fouling. fig. 3a is a general model of tangential flow filtration. the tff device operates using tangential flow filtration, also known as cross-flow filtration. fig. 3a shows a system 390 with cells flowing over a membrane 394 , where the feed flow of the cells 392 in medium or buffer is parallel to the membrane 394 . tff is different from dead-end filtration where both the feed flow and the pressure drop are perpendicular to a membrane or filter. fig. 3b depicts a top view of the lower member of one embodiment of a tff device/module providing tangential flow filtration. as can be seen in the embodiment of the tff device of fig. 3b , tff device 300 comprises a channel structure 316 comprising a flow channel 302 b through which a cell culture is flowed. the channel structure 316 comprises a single flow channel 302 b that is horizontally bifurcated by a membrane (not shown) through which buffer or medium may flow, but cells cannot. this particular embodiment comprises an undulating serpentine geometry 314 (i.e., the small “wiggles” in the flow channel 302 ) and a serpentine “zig-zag” pattern where the flow channel 302 crisscrosses the device from one end at the left of the device to the other end at the right of the device. the serpentine pattern allows for filtration over a high surface area relative to the device size and total channel volume, while the undulating contribution creates a secondary inertial flow to enable effective membrane regeneration preventing membrane fouling. although an undulating geometry and serpentine pattern are exemplified here, other channel configurations may be used as long as the channel can be bifurcated by a membrane, and as long as the channel configuration provides for flow through the tff module in alternating directions. in addition to the flow channel 302 b , portals 304 and 306 as part of the channel structure 316 can be seen, as well as recesses 308 . portals 304 collect cells passing through the channel on one side of a membrane (not shown) (the “retentate”), and portals 306 collect the medium (“filtrate” or “permeate”) passing through the channel on the opposite side of the membrane (not shown). in this embodiment, recesses 308 accommodate screws or other fasteners (not shown) that allow the components of the tff device to be secured to one another. the length 310 and width 312 of the channel structure 316 may vary depending on the volume of the cell culture to be grown and the optical density of the cell culture to be concentrated. the length 310 of the channel structure 316 typically is from 1 mm to 300 mm, or from 50 mm to 250 mm, or from 60 mm to 200 mm, or from 70 mm to 150 mm, or from 80 mm to 100 mm. the width of the channel structure 316 typically is from 1 mm to 120 mm, or from 20 mm to 100 mm, or from 30 mm to 80 mm, or from 40 mm to 70 mm, or from 50 mm to 60 mm. the cross-section configuration of the flow channel 102 may be round, elliptical, oval, square, rectangular, trapezoidal, or irregular. if square, rectangular, or another shape with generally straight sides, the cross section may be from about 10 μm to 1000 μm wide, or from 200 μm to 800 μm wide, or from 300 μm to 700 μm wide, or from 400 μm to 600 μm wide; and from about 10 μm to 1000 μm high, or from 200 μm to 800 μm high, or from 300 μm to 700 μm high, or from 400 μm to 600 μm high. if the cross section of the flow channel 302 is generally round, oval or elliptical, the radius of the channel may be from about 50 μm to 1000 μm in hydraulic radius, or from 5 μm to 800 μm in hydraulic radius, or from 200 μm to 700 μm in hydraulic radius, or from 300 μm to 600 μm wide in hydraulic radius, or from about 200 to 500 μm in hydraulic radius. when looking at the top view of the tff device/module of fig. 3b , note that there are two retentate portals 304 and two filtrate portals 306 , where there is one of each type portal at both ends (e.g., the narrow edge) of the device 300 . in other embodiments, retentate and filtrate portals can on the same surface of the same member (e.g., upper or lower member), or they can be arranged on the side surfaces of the assembly. unlike other tff devices that operate continuously, the tff device/module described herein uses an alternating method for concentrating cells. the overall workflow for cell concentration using the tff device/module involves flowing a cell culture or cell sample tangentially through the channel structure. the membrane bifurcating the flow channels retains the cells on one side of the membrane and allows unwanted medium or buffer to flow across the membrane into a filtrate side (e.g., lower member 320 ) of the device. in this process, a fixed volume of cells in medium or buffer is driven through the device until the cell sample is collected into one of the retentate portals 304 , and the medium/buffer that has passed through the membrane is collected through one or both of the filtrate portals 306 . all types of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells—both adherent and non-adherent cells—can be grown in the tff device. adherent cells may be grown on beads or other cell scaffolds suspended in medium that flow through the tff device. in the cell concentration process, passing the cell sample through the tff device and collecting the cells in one of the retentate portals 304 while collecting the medium in one of the filtrate portals 306 is considered “one pass” of the cell sample. the transfer between retentate reservoirs “flips” the culture. the retentate and filtrate portals collecting the cells and medium, respectively, for a given pass reside on the same end of tff device/module 300 with fluidic connections arranged so that there are two distinct flow layers for the retentate and filtrate sides, but if the retentate portal 304 resides on the upper member of device/module 300 (that is, the cells are driven through the channel above the membrane and the filtrate (medium) passes to the portion of the channel below the membrane), the filtrate portal 306 will reside on the lower member of device/module 100 and vice versa (that is, if the cell sample is driven through the channel below the membrane, the filtrate (medium) passes to the portion of the channel above the membrane). this configuration can be seen more clearly in figs. 3c-3d , where the retentate flows 360 from the retentate portals 304 and the filtrate flows 370 from the filtrate portals 306 . at the conclusion of a “pass” in the growth concentration process, the cell sample is collected by passing through the retentate portal 304 and into the retentate reservoir (not shown). to initiate another “pass”, the cell sample is passed again through the tff device, this time in a flow direction that is reversed from the first pass. the cell sample is collected by passing through the retentate portal 304 and into retentate reservoir (not shown) on the opposite end of the device/module from the retentate portal 304 that was used to collect cells during the first pass. likewise, the medium/buffer that passes through the membrane on the second pass is collected through the filtrate portal 306 on the opposite end of the device/module from the filtrate portal 306 that was used to collect the filtrate during the first pass, or through both portals. this alternating process of passing the retentate (the concentrated cell sample) through the device/module is repeated until the cells have been concentrated to a desired volume, and both filtrate portals can be open during the passes to reduce operating time. in addition, buffer exchange may be effected by adding a desired buffer (or fresh medium) to the cell sample in the retentate reservoir, before initiating another “pass”, and repeating this process until the old medium or buffer is diluted and filtered out and the cells reside in fresh medium or buffer. note that buffer exchange and cell concentration may (and typically do) take place simultaneously. fig. 3c depicts a top view of upper ( 322 ) and lower ( 320 ) members of an exemplary tff module. again, portals 304 and 306 are seen. as noted above, recesses—such as the recesses 308 seen in fig. 3b —provide a means to secure the components (upper member 322 , lower member 320 , and membrane 324 ) of the tff device/membrane to one another during operation via, e.g., screws or other like fasteners. however, in alternative embodiments an adhesive, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive, or ultrasonic welding, or solvent bonding, may be used to couple the upper member 322 , lower member 320 , and membrane 324 together. indeed, one of ordinary skill in the art given the guidance of the present disclosure can find yet other configurations for coupling the components of the tff device, such as e.g., clamps; mated fittings disposed on the upper and lower members; combination of adhesives, welding, solvent bonding, and mated fittings; and other such fasteners and couplings. note that there is one retentate portal and one filtrate portal on each “end” (e.g., the narrow edges) of the tff device/module. the retentate and filtrate portals on the left side of the device/module will collect cells (flow path at 360 ) and medium (flow path at 370 ), respectively, for the same pass. likewise, the retentate and filtrate portals on the right side of the device/module will collect cells (flow path at 360 ) and medium (flow path at 370 ), respectively, for the same pass. in this embodiment, the retentate is collected from portals 304 on the top surface of the tff device, and filtrate is collected from portals 306 on the bottom surface of the device. the cells are maintained in the tff flow channel above the membrane 324 , while the filtrate (medium) flows through membrane 324 and then through portals 306 ; thus, the top/retentate portals and bottom/filtrate portals configuration is practical. it should be recognized, however, that other configurations of retentate and filtrate portals may be implemented such as positioning both the retentate and filtrate portals on the side (as opposed to the top and bottom surfaces) of the tff device. in fig. 3c , the channel structure 302 b can be seen on the bottom member 320 of the tff device 300 . however, in other embodiments, retentate and filtrate portals can reside on the same of the tff device. also seen in fig. 3c is membrane or filter 324 . filters or membranes appropriate for use in the tff device/module are those that are solvent resistant, are contamination free during filtration, and are able to retain the types and sizes of cells of interest. for example, pore sizes can be as low as 0.2 μm, however for other cell types, the pore sizes can be as high as 5 μm. indeed, the pore sizes useful in the tff device/module include filters with sizes from 0.20 μm, 0.21 μm, 0.22 μm, 0.23 μm, 0.24 μm, 0.25 μm, 0.26 μm, 0.27 μm, 0.28 μm, 0.29 μm, 0.30 μm, 0.31 μm, 0.32 μm, 0.33 μm, 0.34 μm, 0.35 μm, 0.36 μm, 0.37 μm, 0.38 μm, 0.39 μm, 0.40 μm, 0.41 μm, 0.42 μm, 0.43 μm, 0.44 μm, 0.45 μm, 0.46 μm, 0.47 μm, 0.48 μm, 0.49 μm, 0.50 μm and larger. the filters may be fabricated from any suitable non-reactive material including cellulose mixed ester (cellulose nitrate and acetate) (cme), polycarbonate (pc), polyvinylidene fluoride (pvdf), polyethersulfone (pes), polytetrafluoroethylene (ptfe), nylon, glass fiber, or metal substrates as in the case of laser or electrochemical etching. the tff device shown in figs. 3c and 3d do not show a seat in the upper 312 and lower 320 members where the filter 324 can be seated or secured (for example, a seat half the thickness of the filter in each of upper 312 and lower 320 members); however, such a seat is contemplated in some embodiments. fig. 3d depicts a bottom view of upper and lower components of the exemplary tff module shown in fig. 3c . fig. 3d depicts a bottom view of upper ( 322 ) and lower ( 320 ) components of an exemplary tff module. again portals 304 and 306 are seen. note again that there is one retentate portal and one filtrate portal on each end of the device/module. the retentate and filtrate portals on the left side of the device/module will collect cells (flow path at 360 ) and medium (flow path at 370 ), respectively, for the same pass. likewise, the retentate and filtrate portals on the right side of the device/module will collect cells (flow path at 360 ) and medium (flow path at 370 ), respectively, for the same pass. in fig. 3d , the channel structure 302 a can be seen on the upper member 322 of the tff device 300 . thus, looking at figs. 3c and 3d , note that there is a channel structure 302 ( 302 a and 302 b ) in both the upper and lower members, with a membrane 324 between the upper and lower portions of the channel structure. the channel structure 302 of the upper 322 and lower 320 members ( 302 a and 302 b , respectively) mate to create the flow channel with the membrane 324 positioned horizontally between the upper and lower members of the flow channel thereby bifurcating the flow channel. medium exchange (during cell growth) or buffer exchange (during cell concentration or rendering the cells competent) is performed on the tff device/module by adding fresh medium to growing cells or a desired buffer to the cells concentrated to a desired volume; for example, after the cells have been concentrated at least 20-fold, 30-fold, 40-fold, 50-fold, 60-fold, 70-fold, 80-fold, 90-fold, 100-fold, 150-fold, 200-fold or more. a desired exchange medium or exchange buffer is added to the cells either by addition to the retentate reservoir or thorough the membrane from the filtrate side and the process of passing the cells through the tff device 300 is repeated until the cells have been grown to a desired optical density or concentrated to a desired volume in the exchange medium or buffer. this process can be repeated any number of desired times so as to achieve a desired level of exchange of the buffer and a desired volume of cells. the exchange buffer may comprise, e.g., glycerol or sorbitol thereby rendering the cells competent for transformation in addition to decreasing the overall volume of the cell sample. the tff device 300 may be fabricated from any robust material in which channels (and channel branches) may be milled including stainless steel, silicon, glass, aluminum, or plastics including cyclic-olefin copolymer (coc), cyclo-olefin polymer (cop), polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene, polycarbonate, polyetheretheketone (peek), poly(methyl methylacrylate) (pmma), polysulfone, and polyurethane, and co-polymers of these and other polymers. if the tff device/module is disposable, preferably it is made of plastic. in some embodiments, the material used to fabricate the tff device/module is thermally-conductive so that the cell culture may be heated or cooled to a desired temperature. in certain embodiments, the tff device is formed by precision mechanical machining, laser machining, electro discharge machining (for metal devices); wet or dry etching (for silicon devices); dry or wet etching, powder or sandblasting, photostructuring (for glass devices); or thermoforming, injection molding, hot embossing, or laser machining (for plastic devices) using the materials mentioned above that are amenable to this mass production techniques. figs. 3e-3k depict an alternative embodiment of a tangential flow filtration (tff) device/module. fig. 3e depicts a configuration of an upper (retentate) member 3022 (on left), a membrane or filter 3024 (middle), and a lower (permeate/filtrate) member 3020 (on the right). in the configuration shown in figs. 3e-3 , the retentate member 3022 is no longer “upper” and the permeate/filtrate member 3020 is no longer “lower”, as the retentate member 3022 and permeate/filtrate member 3020 are coupled side-to-side as seen in figs. 3j and 3k . in fig. 3e , retentate member 3022 comprises a tangential flow channel 3002 , which has a serpentine configuration that initiates at one lower corner of retentate member 3022 —specifically at retentate port 3028 —traverses across and up then down and across retentate member 3022 , ending in the other lower corner of retentate member 3022 at a second retentate port 3028 . also seen on retentate member 3022 is energy director 3091 , which circumscribes the region where membrane or filter 3024 is seated. energy director 3091 in this embodiment mates with and serves to facilitate ultrasonic wending or bonding of retentate member 3022 with permeate/filtrate member 3020 via the energy director component on permeate/filtrate member 3020 . also seen is membrane or filter 3024 has through-holes for retentate ports 3028 , which is configured to seat within the circumference of energy directors 3091 between the retentate member 3022 and the permeate/filtrate member 3020 . permeate/filtrate member 3020 comprises, in addition to energy director 3091 , through-holes for retentate port 3028 at each bottom corner (which mate with the through-holes for retentate ports 3028 at the bottom corners of membrane 3024 and retentate ports 3028 in retentate member 3022 ), as well as a tangential flow channel 3002 and a single permeate/filtrate port 3026 positioned at the top and center of permeate/filtrate member 3020 . the tangential flow channel 3002 structure in this embodiment has a serpentine configuration and an undulating geometry, although other geometries may be used. in some aspects, the length of the tangential flow channel is from 10 mm to 1000 mm, from 60 mm to 200 mm, or from 80 mm to 100 mm. in some aspects, the width of the channel structure is from 10 mm to 120 mm, from 40 mm to 70 mm, or from 50 mm to 60 mm. in some aspects, the cross section of the tangential flow channel 1202 is rectangular. in some aspects, the cross section of the tangential flow channel 1202 is 5 μm to 1000 μm wide and 5 μm to 1000 μm high, 300 μm to 700 μm wide and 300 μm to 700 μm high, or 400 μm to 600 μm wide and 400 μm to 600 μm high. in other aspects, the cross section of the tangential flow channel 1202 is circular, elliptical, trapezoidal, or oblong, and is 100 μm to 1000 μm in hydraulic radius, 300 μm to 700 μm in hydraulic radius, or 400 μm to 600 μm in hydraulic radius. fig. 3f is a side perspective view of a reservoir assembly 3050 . the embodiment of fig. 3f , the retentate member is separate from the reservoir assembly. reservoir assembly 3050 comprises retentate reservoirs 3052 on either side of a single permeate reservoir 3054 . retentate reservoirs 3052 are used to contain the cells and medium as the cells are transferred through the cell concentration/growth device or module and into the retentate reservoirs during cell concentration and/or growth. permeate/filtrate reservoir 3054 is used to collect the filtrate fluids removed from the cell culture during cell concentration, or old buffer or medium during cell growth. in the embodiment depicted in figs. 3e-3l , buffer or medium is supplied to the permeate/filtrate member from a reagent reservoir separate from the device module. additionally seen in fig. 3f are grooves 3032 to accommodate pneumatic ports (not seen), permeate/filtrate port 3026 , and retentate port through-holes 3028 . the retentate reservoirs are fluidically coupled to the retentate ports 3028 , which in turn are fluidically coupled to the portion of the tangential flow channel disposed in the retentate member (not shown). the permeate/filtrate reservoir is fluidically coupled to the permeate/filtrate port 3026 which in turn are fluidically coupled to the portion of the tangential flow channel disposed in permeate/filtrate member (not shown), where the portions of the tangential flow channels are bifurcated by membrane (not shown). in embodiments including the present embodiment, up to 120 ml of cell culture can be grown and/or filtered, or up to 100 ml, 90 ml, 80 ml, 70 ml, 60 ml, 50 ml, 40 ml, 30 ml or 20 ml of cell culture can be grown and/or concentrated. fig. 3g depicts a top-down view of the reservoir assembly 3050 shown in fig. 3f , fig. 3h depicts a cover 3044 for reservoir assembly 3050 shown in figs. 3f, and 3i depicts a gasket 3045 that in operation is disposed on cover 3044 of reservoir assembly 3050 shown in fig. 3f . fig. 3g is a top-down view of reservoir assembly 3050 , showing two retentate reservoirs 3052 , one on either side of permeate reservoir 3054 . also seen are grooves 3032 that will mate with a pneumatic port (not shown), and fluid channels 3034 that reside at the bottom of retentate reservoirs 3052 , which fluidically couple the retentate reservoirs 3052 with the retentate ports 3028 (not shown), via the through-holes for the retentate ports in permeate/filtrate member 3024 and membrane 3024 (also not shown). fig. 3h depicts a cover 3044 that is configured to be disposed upon the top of reservoir assembly 3050 . cover 3044 has round cut-outs at the top of retentate reservoirs 3052 and permeate/filtrate reservoir 3054 . again, at the bottom of retentate reservoirs 3052 fluid channels 3034 can be seen, where fluid channels 3034 fluidically couple retentate reservoirs 3052 with the retentate ports 3028 (not shown). also shown are three pneumatic ports 3030 for each retentate reservoir 3052 and permeate/filtrate reservoir 3054 . fig. 3i depicts a gasket 3045 that is configured to be disposed upon the cover 3044 of reservoir assembly 3050 . seen are three fluid transfer ports 3042 for each retentate reservoir 3052 and for permeate/filtrate reservoir 3054 . again, three pneumatic ports 3030 , for each retentate reservoir 3052 and for permeate/filtrate reservoir 3054 , are shown. fig. 3j depicts an embodiment of assembled tff module 3000 . note that in this embodiment of a tff module the retentate member 3022 is no longer “upper”, and the permeate/filtrate member 3020 is no longer “lower”, as the retentate member 3022 and permeate/filtrate member 3020 are coupled side-to-side with membrane 3024 sandwiched between retentate member 3022 and permeate/filtrate member 3020 . also, retentate member 3022 , membrane member 3024 , and permeate/filtrate member 3020 are coupled side-to-side with reservoir assembly 3050 . seen are two retentate ports 3028 (which couple the tangential flow channel 3002 in retentate member 3022 to the two retentate reservoirs (not shown), and one permeate/filtrate port 3026 , which couples the tangential flow channel 3002 in permeate/filtrate member 3020 to the permeate/filtrate reservoir (not shown). also seen is tangential flow channel 3002 , which is formed by the mating of retentate member 3022 and permeate/filtrate member 3020 , with membrane 3024 sandwiched between and bifurcating tangential flow channel 3002 . also seen is energy director 3091 , which in this fig. 3j has been used to ultrasonically weld or couple retentate member 3022 and permeate/filtrate member 3020 , surrounding membrane 3024 . cover 3044 can be seen on top of reservoir assembly 3050 , and gasket 3045 is disposed upon cover 3044 . gasket 3045 engages with and provides a fluid-tight seal and pneumatic connections with fluid transfer ports 3042 and pneumatic ports 3030 , respectively. fig. 3k depicts, on the left, an exploded view of the tff module 3000 shown in fig. 3j . seen are components reservoir assembly 3050 , a cover 3044 to be disposed on reservoir assembly 3050 , a gasket 3045 to be disposed on cover 3044 , retentate member 3022 , membrane or filter 3024 , and permeate/filtrate member 3020 . also seen is permeate/filtrate port 3026 , which mates with permeate/filtrate port 3026 on permeate/filtrate reservoir 3054 , as well as two retentate ports 3028 , which mate with retentate ports 3028 on retentate reservoirs 3052 (where only one retentate reservoir 3052 can be seen clearly in this fig. 3k ). also seen are through-holes for retentate ports 3028 in membrane 3024 and permeate/filtrate member 3020 . fig. 3k depicts on the left the assembled tff module 3000 showing length, height, and width dimensions. the assembled tff device 3000 typically is from 50 to 175 mm in height, or from 75 to 150 mm in height, or from 90 to 120 mm in height; from 50 to 175 mm in length, or from 75 to 150 mm in length, or from 90 to 120 mm in length; and is from 30 to 90 mm in depth, or from 40 to 75 mm in depth, or from about 50 to 60 mm in depth. an exemplary tff device is 110 mm in height, 120 mm in length, and 55 mm in depth. like in other embodiments described herein, the tff device or module depicted in figs. 3e-3k can constantly measure cell culture growth, and in some aspects, cell culture growth is measured via optical density (od) of the cell culture in one or both of the retentate reservoirs and/or in the flow channel of the tff device. optical density may be measured continuously (kinetic monitoring) or at specific time intervals; e.g., every 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 45, or 60 seconds, or every 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 or so on minutes. further, the tff module can adjust growth parameters (temperature, aeration) to have the cells at a desired optical density at a desired time. fig. 3l is an exemplary pneumatic block diagram suitable for the tff module depicted in figs. 3e-3k . the pump is connected to two solenoid valves (sv 5 and sv 6 ) delivering positive pressure (p) or negative pressure (v). the two solenoid valves sv 5 and sv 6 couple the pump to the manifold, and two solenoid valves, sv 1 and sv 2 , are connected to the reservoirs (rr 1 and rr 2 ). there are also two solenoid valves in reserve (sv 3 and sv 4 ). there is a proportional valve (pv 2 and pv 2 ), a flow meter (fm 1 and fm 2 ), and a pressure sensor (pressure sensors 1 and 2 ) positioned in between each of solenoid valves sv 1 and sv 2 connecting the pump to the system and the solenoid valves sv 1 and sv 2 to the reservoirs. the pressure sensors and prop valves work in concert in a feedback loop to maintain the required pressure. as an alternative to the tff module described above, a cell concentration module comprising a hollow filter may be employed. examples of filters suitable for use in the present invention include membrane filters, ceramic filters and metal filters. the filter may be used in any shape; the filter may for example be cylindrical or essentially flat. preferably, the filter used is a membrane filter, preferably a hollow fiber filter. the term “hollow fiber” is meant a tubular membrane. the internal diameter of the tube is at least 0.1 mm, more preferably at least 0.5 mm, most preferably at least 0.75 mm and preferably the internal diameter of the tube is at most 10 mm, more preferably at most 6 mm, most preferably at most 1 mm. filter modules comprising hollow fibers are commercially available from various companies, including g.e. life sciences (marlborough, mass.) and innovaprep (drexel, mo.). specific examples of hollow fiber filter systems that can be used, modified or adapted for use in the present methods and systems include, but are not limited to, u.s. pat. nos. 9,738,918; 9,593,359; 9,574,977; 9,534,989; 9,446,354; 9,295,824; 8,956,880; 8,758,623; 8,726,744; 8,677,839; 8,677,840; 8,584,536; 8,584,535; and 8,110,112. the editing machinery introduction module in addition to the modules for cell growth, and cell concentration figs. 4a-4e depict variations on one embodiment of a module for introduction of editing machinery into cells. the introduction methods can be tailored depending on the cell type and nature of the machinery to be introduced (e.g., nucleic acids or proteins). in some aspects, the module is configured to transform mammalian cells. in some aspects, an editing cassette plasmid and nuclease can be delivered to the target cell by traditional mammalian cell transfection techniques. examples include lipid-mediated transfection, calcium phosphate-mediated transfection, electroporation, cationic peptides, cationic polymers, or nucleofection. proteins such as an rna-directed nuclease can also be delivered to the cells using various mechanisms. for example, an rna-directed nuclease can be introduced to mammalian cells using shuttle vectors such as those described in u.s. pat. nos. 9,982,267 and 9,738,687, which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. in certain embodiments, some or all of the machinery necessary for editing are introduced using transformation. fig. 4a is a perspective view of six co-joined flow-through electroporation devices 450 . fig. 4a depicts six flow-through electroporation units 450 arranged on a single substrate 456 . each of the six flow-through electroporation units 450 have wells 452 that define cell sample inlets and wells 454 that define cell sample outlets. once the six flow-through electroporation units 450 are fabricated, they can be separated from one another (e.g., “snapped apart”) and used one at a time, or alternatively in embodiments two or more flow-through electroporation units 450 can be used in parallel without separation. the flow-through electroporation devices achieve high efficiency cell electroporation with low toxicity. the flow-through electroporation devices of the disclosure allow for particularly easy integration with robotic liquid handling instrumentation that is typically used in automated systems such as air displacement pipettors. such automated instrumentation includes, but is not limited to, off-the-shelf automated liquid handling systems from tecan (mannedorf, switzerland), hamilton (reno, nev.), beckman coulter (fort collins, colo.), etc. generally speaking, microfluidic electroporation—using cell suspension volumes of less than approximately 10 ml and as low as 1 μl—allows more precise control over a transfection or transformation process and permits flexible integration with other cell processing tools compared to bench-scale electroporation devices. microfluidic electroporation thus provides unique advantages for, e.g., single cell transformation, processing and analysis; multi-unit electroporation device configurations; and integrated, automatic, multi-module cell processing and analysis. in specific embodiments of the flow-through electroporation devices of the disclosure the toxicity level of the transformation results in greater than 10% viable cells after electroporation, preferably greater than 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, or even 95% viable cells following transformation, depending on the cell type and the nucleic acids being introduced into the cells. the flow-through electroporation device described in relation to figs. 4a-4d comprises a housing with an electroporation chamber, a first electrode and a second electrode configured to engage with an electric pulse generator, by which electrical contacts engage with the electrodes of the electroporation device. in certain embodiments, the electroporation devices are autoclavable and/or disposable, and may be packaged with reagents in a reagent cartridge. the electroporation device may be configured to electroporate cell sample volumes between 1 μl to 2 ml, 10 μl to 1 ml, 25 μl to 750 μl, or 50 μl to 500 μl. in one exemplary embodiment, fig. 4b depicts a top view of a flow-through electroporation device 450 having an inlet 402 for introduction of cells and an exogenous reagent to be electroporated into the cells (“cell sample”) and an outlet 404 for the cell sample following electroporation. electrodes 408 are introduced through electrode channels (not shown) in the device. fig. 4c shows a cutaway view from the top of flow-through electroporation device 450 , with the inlet 402 , outlet 404 , and electrodes 408 positioned with respect to a constriction in flow channel 406 . a side cutaway view of the bottom portion of flow-through electroporation device 450 in fig. 4d illustrates that electrodes 408 in this embodiment are positioned in electrode channels 410 and perpendicular to flow channel 406 such that the cell sample flows from the inlet channel 412 through the flow channel 406 to the outlet channel 414 , and in the process the cell sample flows into the electrode channels 410 to be in contact with electrodes 408 . in this aspect, the inlet channel, outlet channel and electrode channels all originate from the top planar side of the device; however, the flow-through electroporation architecture depicted in figs. 4b-4d is but one architecture useful with the reagent cartridges described herein. additional electrode architectures are described, e.g., in u.s. ser. no. 16/147,120, filed 24 sep. 2018; ser. no. 16/147,865, filed 30 sep. 2018; and ser. no. 16/147,871, filed 30 sep. 2018. the reagent cartridge fig. 5a depicts an exemplary combination reagent cartridge and electroporation device 500 (“cartridge”) that may be used in an automated multi-module cell processing instrument. cartridge 500 comprises a body 502 , and reagent receptacles or reservoirs 504 . additionally, cartridge 500 comprises a device for introduction of nucleic acids and/or proteins into the cells, e.g. an electroporation device 506 (an exemplary embodiment of which is described in detail in relation to figs. 4a-4d . cartridge 500 may be disposable, or may be configured to be reused. preferably, cartridge 500 is disposable. cartridge 500 may be made from any suitable material, including stainless steel, aluminum, or plastics including polyvinyl chloride, cyclic olefin copolymer (coc), polyethylene, polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene, polycarbonate, polyetheretheketone (peek), poly(methyl methylacrylate) (pmma), polysulfone, and polyurethane, and co-polymers of these and other polymers. if the cartridge is disposable, preferably it is made of plastic. preferably the material used to fabricate the cartridge is thermally-conductive, as in certain embodiments the cartridge 500 contacts a thermal device (not shown) that heats or cools reagents in the reagent receptacles or reservoirs 504 . in some embodiments, the thermal device is a peltier device or thermoelectric cooler. reagent receptacles or reservoirs 504 may be receptacles into which individual tubes of reagents are inserted as shown in fig. 5a , receptacles into which one or more multiple co-joined tubes are inserted, or the reagent receptacles may hold the reagents without inserted tubes with the reagents dispensed directly into the receptacles or reservoirs. additionally, the receptacles in a reagent cartridge may be configured for any combination of tubes, co-joined tubes, and direct-fill of reagents. in one embodiment, the reagent receptacles or reservoirs 504 of reagent cartridge 500 are configured to hold various size tubes, including, e.g., 250 ml tubes, 25 ml tubes, 10 ml tubes, 5 ml tubes, and eppendorf or microcentrifuge tubes. in yet another embodiment, all receptacles may be configured to hold the same size tube, e.g., 5 ml tubes, and reservoir inserts may be used to accommodate smaller tubes in the reagent reservoir. in yet another embodiment—particularly in an embodiment where the reagent cartridge is disposable—the reagent reservoirs hold reagents without inserted tubes. in this disposable embodiment, the reagent cartridge may be part of a kit, where the reagent cartridge is pre-filled with reagents and the receptacles or reservoirs sealed with, e.g., foil, heat seal acrylic or the like and presented to a consumer where the reagent cartridge can then be used in an automated multi-module cell processing instrument. the reagents contained in the reagent cartridge will vary depending on work flow; that is, the reagents will vary depending on the processes to which the cells are subjected in the automated multi-module cell processing instrument. fig. 5b depicts an exemplary matrix configuration 140 for the reagents contained in the reagent cartridges of fig. 5a ; where this matrix embodiment is a 4×4 reagent matrix. through a matrix configuration, a user (or programmed processor) can locate the proper reagent for a given process. that is, reagents such as cell samples, enzymes, buffers, nucleic acid vectors, expression cassettes, reaction components (such as, e.g., mgcl 2 , dntps, isothermal nucleic acid assembly reagents, gap repair reagents, and the like), wash solutions, ethanol, and magnetic beads for nucleic acid purification and isolation, etc. are positioned in the matrix 540 at a known position. for example, reagents are located at positions a 1 ( 510 ), a 2 ( 511 ), a 3 ( 512 ), a 4 ( 513 ), b 1 ( 514 ), b 2 ( 515 ) and so on through, in this embodiment, position d 4 ( 525 ). fig. 5a is labeled to show where several reservoirs 504 correspond to matrix 540 : see receptacles 510 , 513 , 521 and 525 . although the reagent cartridge 500 of fig. 5a and the matrix configuration 540 of fig. 5b shows a 4×4 matrix, matrices of the reagent cartridge and electroporation devices can be any configuration, such as, e.g., 2×2, 2×3, 2×4, 2×5, 2×6, 3×3, 3×5, 4×6, 6×7, or any other configuration, including asymmetric configurations, or two or more different matrices depending on the reagents needed for the intended workflow. note in fig. 4a the matrix configuration is a 5×3+1 matrix. in preferred embodiments of reagent cartridge 500 shown in fig. 5a , the reagent cartridge comprises a script (not shown) readable by a processor (not shown) for dispensing the reagents via a liquid handling device (not shown) and controlling the electroporation device contained within reagent cartridge 500 . also, the reagent cartridge 500 as one component in an automated multi-module cell processing instrument may comprise a script specifying two, three, four, five, ten or more processes performed by the automated multi-module cell processing instrument, or even specify all processes performed by the automated multi-module cell processing instrument. in certain embodiments, the reagent cartridge is disposable and is pre-packaged with reagents tailored to performing specific cell processing protocols, e.g., genome editing or protein production. because the reagent cartridge contents vary while components of the automated multi-module cell processing instrument may not, the script associated with a particular reagent cartridge matches the reagents used and cell processes performed. thus, e.g., reagent cartridges may be pre-packaged with reagents for genome editing and a script that specifies the process steps for performing genome editing in an automated multi-module cell processing instrument such as described in relation to figs. 1a-1d . for example, the reagent cartridge may comprise a script to pipette electrocompetent cells from reservoir a 2 ( 511 ), transfer the cells to the electroporation device 506 , pipette a nucleic acid solution comprising an editing vector from reservoir c 3 ( 520 ), transfer the nucleic acid solution to the electroporation device, initiate the electroporation process for a specified time, then move the porated cells to a reservoir d 4 ( 525 ) in the reagent cassette or to another module such as the rotating growth vial ( 118 or 120 of fig. 1a ) in the automated multi-module cell processing instrument in fig. 1a . in another example, the reagent cartridge may comprise a script to pipette transfer of a nucleic acid solution comprising a vector from reservoir c 3 ( 520 ), nucleic acid solution comprising editing oligonucleotide cassettes in reservoir c 4 ( 521 ), and isothermal nucleic acid assembly reaction mix from a 1 ( 510 ) to the isothermal nucleic acid assembly/desalting reservoir ( 414 of fig. 4a ). the script may also specify process steps performed by other modules in the automated multi-module cell processing instrument. for example, the script may specify that the isothermal nucleic acid assembly/desalting module be heated to 50° c. for 30 min to generate an assembled isothermal nucleic acid product; and desalting of the assembled isothermal nucleic acid product via magnetic bead-based nucleic acid purification involving a series of pipette transfers and mixing of magnetic beads in reservoir b 2 ( 515 ), ethanol wash in reservoir b 3 ( 516 ), and water in reservoir c 1 ( 518 ) to the isothermal nucleic acid assembly/desalting reservoir ( 114 of fig. 1a ). the enrichment module the disclosure also includes automated multi-module cell editing instruments with an enrichment module that performs enrichment methods including those described herein to increase the overall editing efficiency in a population of cells, e.g., mammalian cells. as will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure, the enrichment module can be designed to accommodate the particular enrichment method, and is preferably (but not required to be) connected to the remaining modules of the multi-module instrument, e.g. via an automated liquid handling system or other cell transfer device. in certain embodiments, the enrichment module can be a module used off-instrument, with the resulting enriched cell populations introduced back to the integrated instrument, or alternatively to a companion instrument that completes the editing and recovery cycle. in such cases, the enrichment module acts independent from the automated multi-module instrument, but is included into the overall workflow. thus, the work flow may require coordination of two or more processors responsible for different parts of the work flow. in some embodiments, the enrichment module is in fluid communication with the automated multi-module instruments and integrated with a liquid handling system and controlled by a single processor. in some modules, the enrichment is a positive enrichment module that enriches for cells that contain an introduced selection marker. in some aspects, the enrichment is a negative selection that depletes cells based on the lack of a selection marker or a characteristic that is absent due to the specific enrichment method used, e.g., antibiotic selection. in some aspects of the disclosure, the selection process can be performed computationally, and the expression of the selection marker monitored and used in future data analysis to determine the editing rate of a cell population. certain selection methods that can be used with the methods of the present disclosure provides fluorescent or bioluminescent selection as a read out for properly-edited cells. the properly-edited cells can be sorted from non-edited or improperly-edited cells via methods such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting (facs) and magnetic-activated cell sorting (macs), and modules for performing such selections can be incorporated into the automated multi-module cell processing instrument (see, e.g., 140 of fig. 1a ). using facs or macs, a heterogenous mixture of live cells can be sorted into different populations based upon expression markers that have been expressed due to the presence of editing machinery for introduction of the selection methods and intended edits of the target region. facs can isolate cells based on internal staining or intracellular protein expression, and allows for the purification of individual cells based on size, granularity and fluorescence. cells in suspension are passed as a stream in droplets with each droplet containing a single cell of interest. the droplets are passed in front of a laser. an optical detection system detects cells of interest based on predetermined optical parameters (e.g., fluorescent or bioluminescent parameters). the instrument applies a charge to a droplet containing a cell of interest and an electrostatic deflection system facilitates collection of the charged droplets into appropriate tubes or wells. sorting parameters may be adjusted depending on the requirement of purity and yield. macs™ (miltenvi biotec) is a method for separation f various cell populations depending on their surface antigens. this selection process relies on the co-introduction of cell-surface markers that are not otherwise present on the surface of cells to be edited. use of the automated multi-module mammalian cell processing instrument fig. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a multi-module cell processing instrument. this embodiment depicts an exemplary system that performs recursive gene editing on a mammalian cell population. the cell processing instrument 600 may include a housing, a reservoir for storing cells to be transformed or transfected 604 , and a cell growth and/or concentration module (comprising, e.g., a rotating growth vial) 608 . the cells to be transformed are transferred from a reservoir to the cell growth module to be cultured until the cells hit a target od. once the cells hit the target od, the growth module may cool or freeze the cells for later processing proceed to perform cell concentration where the cells are subjected to buffer exchange and rendered electrocompetent, and the volume of the cells may be reduced substantially. once the cells have been concentrated to an appropriate volume, the cells are transferred to editing machinery introduction module 610 , such as a flow-through electroporation device as described above. in addition to the reservoir for storing cells 604 , the multi-module cell processing instrument includes a reservoir for storing an editing vector pre-assembled with editing oligonucleotide cassettes 606 . the pre-assembled editing vectors are transferred to the editing machinery introduction module 610 , which already contains the cell culture grown to a target od. additionally, the instrument may comprise a reservoir 602 for storing an engine vector comprising the coding sequence for the nucleic acid-guided nuclease. the engine vectors may be transferred to the editing machinery introduction module 610 and transformed at the same time the editing vectors are transformed, or the engine vectors may be transformed into the cells before or after the editing vectors have been transformed into the cells. in the editing machinery introduction module 610 , the nucleic acids are, e.g., electroporated into the cells. following transformation, the cells are transferred into an optional recovery module (not shown), where the cells recover briefly post-transformation. after an optional recovery, the cells may be transferred to a storage module (also not shown), where the cells can be stored at, e.g., 4° c. for later processing. in addition, selection may be optionally performed in a separate module between the editing machinery introduction module and the editing module, or selection may be performed in the editing module. selection in this instance refers to selecting for cells that have been properly transformed with vectors that comprise selection markers, thus assuring that the cells are likely to have received vectors for both nucleic acid-guided nuclease editing and for reporting proper edits. after selection, the cells may optionally be diluted and transferred to an editing module 612 . conditions are then provided such that editing takes place. for example, if one or more of the editing components (e.g., one or more of the nucleic acid-guided nuclease, grna or donor dna) is under control of an inducible promoter, conditions are provided to activate the inducible promoter(s). once editing has taken place, cells are selected in an enrichment module 614 where the cells are selected, e.g., sorted using facs or macs™. cells expressing the selection marker are separated in the enrichment module from cells that do not express the expression marker, and optionally prepared for another round of editing. the multi-module cell processing instrument is controlled by a processor 616 configured to operate the instrument based on user input, as directed by one or more scripts, or as a combination of user input or a script. the processor 616 may control the timing, duration, temperature, and operations of the various modules of the instrument 600 and the dispensing of reagents from the reagent cartridge. the processor may be programmed with standard protocol parameters from which a user may select, a user may specify one or more parameters manually or one or more scripts associated with the reagent cartridge may specify one or more operations and/or reaction parameters. in addition, the processor may notify the user (e.g., via an application to a smart phone or other device) that the cells have reached a target od, been rendered competent and concentrated, and/or update the user as to the progress of the cells in the various modules in the multi-module instrument. it should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art given the present disclosure that the process described may be recursive and multiplexed; that is, cells may go through the workflow described in relation to fig. 6 , then the resulting edited culture may go through another (or several or many) rounds of additional editing (e.g., recursive editing) with different editing vectors. for example, the cells from round 1 of editing may be diluted and an aliquot of the edited cells edited by editing vector a may be combined with editing vector b, an aliquot of the edited cells edited by editing vector a may be combined with editing vector c, an aliquot of the edited cells edited by editing vector a may be combined with editing vector d, and so on for a second round of editing. after round two, an aliquot of each of the double-edited cells may be subjected to a third round of editing, where, e.g., aliquots of each of the ab-, ac-, ad-edited cells are combined with additional editing vectors, such as editing vectors x, y, and z. that is that double-edited cells ab may be combined with and edited by vectors x, y, and z to produce triple-edited edited cells abx, aby, and abz; double-edited cells ac may be combined with and edited by vectors x, y, and z to produce triple-edited cells acx, acy, and acz; and double-edited cells ad may be combined with and edited by vectors x, y, and z to produce triple-edited cells adx, ady, and adz, and so on. in this process, many permutations and combinations of edits can be executed, leading to very diverse cell populations and cell libraries. in any recursive process, it is advantageous to “cure” the previous engine and editing vectors (or single engine+editing vector in a single vector system). “curing” is a process in which one or more vectors used in the prior round of editing is eliminated from the transformed cells. curing can be accomplished by, e.g., cleaving the vector(s) using a curing plasmid thereby rendering the editing and/or engine vector (or single, combined engine/editing vector) nonfunctional; diluting the vector(s) in the cell population via cell growth (that is, the more growth cycles the cells go through, the fewer daughter cells will retain the editing or engine vector(s)), or by, e.g., utilizing a heat-sensitive origin of replication on the editing or engine vector (or combined engine+editing vector). the conditions for curing will depend on the mechanism used for curing; that is, in this example, how the curing plasmid cleaves the editing and/or engine vector. editing and selection workflows for higher editing efficiencies the combination of nucleic acid-directed nuclease editing methods with selection procedures—either computational or physical, as described further herein—results in a significant increase in editing efficiency in comparison to the editing methods without such selection methods. in a first set of workflows, shown in figs. 7 and 8 , the editing workflow consists of the use of a nuclease (e.g., an rna-directed nuclease such as cas-9, cpf-1, mad7, and the like) with one or more selection events to increase editing rates in cells, including increasing the editing rates in mammalian cells. fig. 7 shows an exemplary workflow in which editing machinery and the coding sequences for an rna-directed nuclease are delivered to cells in two separate vectors. the workflow includes design of grnas targeting the region of a genome to be edited, covalently attached to a homology arm containing one or more intended edits 702 . in specific aspects, the edits include an edit to render the target site resistant to further nuclease cleavage, e.g., a mutation in a pam site and/or spacer region. these grna-ha constructs are introduced to editing vectors 704 that includes a promoter for expression of the nucleic acids and optionally includes a barcode or other mechanism to track a specific edit. optionally, the promoter used to drive the editing machinery is inducible. the coding sequences for an rna-directed nuclease (e.g., cas-9, cpf-1, mad7) are introduced into a second set of vectors 708 to create engine vectors. the engine vectors have the coding sequences of the nuclease under a separate promoter from the editing vectors. the separate promoter of the engine vectors may be the same or different than the promoter used for the editing vector, and optionally is inducible. the engine vectors and editing vectors are introduced to cells 710 , e.g., using transformation, transfection, or other mechanisms that will be apparent to one of skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure. the cells are then provided with conditions for editing the cells 712 , and allowed to edit. following editing, the cells are selected 714 for the cells enriched for editing using techniques such as those described herein. such techniques could use computational means of selection for further analysis of the edited cell population as well as physical selection using negative selection and/or positive selection, such as selection of a selection marker e.g., a cell-surface marker that can serve as a handle for physical enrichment of the putatively edited cells. the steps 710 - 714 (or in some cases, 712 - 714 if sufficient editing and/or engine vectors are present in the cell population and do not need to be added again) can optionally be repeated 716 to increase editing efficiency of the cell population. fig. 8 shows an exemplary workflow using a single vector system to introduce both the editing nucleic acids and the coding sequences for a nuclease to a cell population to be edited. the workflow includes design of grnas targeting the region of a genome to be edited, covalently attached to a homology arm containing one or more intended edits 802 . in specific aspects, the edits include an edit to render the target site resistant to further nuclease cleavage, e.g., a mutation in a pam site and/or spacer region. these grna-ha constructs and coding sequences for a nuclease (e.g., an rna-directed nuclease) are introduced 804 to the same vectors to create a single vector that includes one or more promoters for expression of the nucleic acids and the nuclease. the single vector optionally includes a barcode or other mechanism to track a specific edit. the vector may contain a single promoter for expression of both the grna-ha constructs and coding sequences for a nuclease, or the grna-ha constructs and coding sequences for a nuclease may be under the control of different promoters in the same vector. optionally, the promoter or promoters used to drive the editing machinery and/or the coding for the nuclease are inducible. the vectors are introduced to cells 810 , e.g., using transformation, transfection, or other mechanisms that will be apparent to one of skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure. the cells are then provided with conditions for editing the cells 812 , and allowed to edit. following editing, the cells are selected 814 for the cells enriched for editing using techniques such as those described herein. such techniques could use computational means of selection for further analysis of the edited cell population as well as physical selection using negative selection and/or positive selection, such as selection of a selection marker e.g., a cell-surface marker that can serve as a handle for physical enrichment of the putatively edited cells. the steps 810 - 814 (or in some cases, 812 - 814 if sufficient editing and/or engine vectors are present in the cell population and do not need to be added again) can optionally be repeated 816 to increase editing efficiency of the cell population. fig. 9 shows an exemplary workflow in which editing machinery and the coding sequences for an rna-directed nuclease are delivered to cells in two separate vectors. the workflow includes design of grnas targeting the region of a genome to be edited, covalently attached to a homology arm containing one or more intended edits 902 . in specific aspects, the edits include an edit to render the target site resistant to further nuclease cleavage, e.g., a mutation in a pam site and/or spacer region. these grna-ha constructs are introduced to editing vectors 904 that includes a promoter for expression of the nucleic acids and optionally includes a barcode or other mechanism to track a specific edit. optionally, the promoter used to drive the editing machinery is inducible. the coding sequences for a fusion vector of an rna-directed nuclease (e.g., cas-9, cpf-1, mad7) and an enzyme region with desired functionality (e.g., reverse transcriptase activity) are introduced into a second set of vectors 908 to create engine vectors. the engine vectors have the coding sequences of the nuclease under a separate promoter from the editing vectors. the separate promoter of the engine vectors may be the same or different that the promoter used for the editing vector, and optionally is inducible. the engine vectors and editing vectors are introduced to cells 910 , e.g., using transformation, transfection, or other mechanisms that will be apparent to one of skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure. the cells are then provided with conditions for editing the cells 912 , and allowed to edit. following editing, the cells are selected 914 for the cells enriched for editing using techniques such as those described herein. such techniques could use computational means of selection for further analysis of the edited cell population as well as physical selection using negative selection and/or positive selection, such as selection of a selection marker e.g., a cell-surface marker that can serve as a handle for physical enrichment of the putatively edited cells. the steps 910 - 914 (or in some cases, 912 - 914 if sufficient editing and/or engine vectors are present in the cell population and do not need to be added again) can optionally be repeated 916 to increase editing efficiency of the cell population. fig. 10 shows an exemplary workflow using a single vector system to introduce both the editing nucleic acids and the coding sequences for a nuclease to a cell population to be edited. the workflow includes design of grnas targeting the region of a genome to be edited, covalently attached to a homology arm containing one or more intended edits 1002 . in specific aspects, the edits include an edit to render the target site resistant to further nuclease cleavage, e.g., a mutation in a pam site and/or spacer region. these grna-ha constructs and coding sequences for a fusion vector of an rna-directed nuclease (e.g., cas-9, cpf-1, mad7) and an enzyme region with desired functionality (e.g., reverse transcriptase activity) are introduced into the vectors 1008 to create a single vector that includes one or more promoters for expression of the nucleic acids and the fusion protein. the single vector optionally includes a barcode or other mechanism to track a specific edit. the vector may contain a single promoter for expression of both the grna-ha constructs and coding sequences for the fusion protein, or the grna-ha constructs and coding sequences for the fusion protein may be under the control of different promoters in the same vector. optionally, the promoter or promoters used to drive the editing machinery and/or the coding for the fusion protein are inducible. the vectors are introduced to cells 1010 , e.g., using transformation, transfection, or other mechanisms that will be apparent to one of skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure. the cells are then provided with conditions for editing the cells 812 , and allowed to edit. following editing, the cells are selected 1014 for the cells enriched for editing using techniques such as those described herein. such techniques could use computational means of selection for further analysis of the edited cell population as well as physical selection using negative selection and/or positive selection, such as selection of a selection marker e.g., a cell-surface marker that can serve as a handle for physical enrichment of the putatively edited cells. the steps 1010 - 1014 (or in some cases, 1012 - 1014 if sufficient editing and/or engine vectors are present in the cell population and do not need to be added again) can optionally be repeated 1016 to increase editing efficiency of the cell population. cell libraries created using automated editing methods, modules, instruments and systems in one aspect, the present disclosure provides editing methods, modules, instruments, and automated multi-module cell editing instruments for creating a library of cells that vary the expression, levels and/or activity of rnas and/or proteins of interest in various cell types using various nickase-based editing strategies, including create fusion, as described herein in more detail. accordingly, the disclosure is intended to cover edited cell libraries created by the automated editing methods, automated multi-module cell editing instruments of the disclosure. these cell libraries may have different targeted edits, including but not limited to gene knockouts, gene knock-ins, insertions, deletions, single nucleotide edits, short tandem repeat edits, frameshifts, triplet codon expansion, and the like in cells of various organisms. these edits can be directed to coding or non-coding regions of the genome, and are preferably rationally designed. in some aspects, the present disclosure provides automated editing methods, automated multi-module cell editing instruments for creating a library of cells that vary dna-linked processes. for example, the cell library may include individual cells having edits in dna binding sites to interfere with dna binding of regulatory elements that modulate expression of selected genes. in addition, cell libraries may include edits in genomic dna that impact on cellular processes such as heterochromatin formation, switch-class recombination and vdj recombination. in specific aspects, the cell libraries are created using multiplexed, nickase-directed editing of individual cells within a cell population, with multiple cells within a cell population are edited in a single round of editing, i.e., multiple changes within the cells of the cell library are in a single automated operation. the libraries that can be created in a single multiplexed automated operation can comprise as many as 500 cells with intended edits, which may be the same introduced edit in the cells or two or more discrete edits in different cells. the libraries can also include one or more intended edits (the same or different) in 1000 edited cells, 2000 edited cells, 5000 edited cells, 10,000 edited cells, 50,000 edited cells, 100,000 edited cells, 200,000 edited cells, 300,000 edited cells, 400,000 edited cells, 500,000 edited cells, 600,000 edited cells, 700,000 edited cells, 800,000 edited cells, 900,000 edited cells, 1,000,000 edited cells, 2,000,000 edited cells, 3,000,000 edited cells, 4,000,000 edited cells, 5,000,000 edited cells, 6,000,000 edited cells, 7,000,000 edited cells, 8,000,000 edited cells, 9,000,000 edited cells, 10,000,000 edited cells or more. in other specific aspects, the cell libraries are created using nickase-directed recursive editing of individual cells within a cell population, with edits being added to the individual cells in two or more rounds of editing. the use of recursive editing results in the amalgamation of two or more edits targeting two or more sites in the genome in individual cells of the library. the libraries that can be created in a single multiplexed automated operation can comprise as many as 500 cells with intended edits, which may be the same introduced edit in the cells or two or more discrete edits in different cells. the libraries can also include one or more intended edits (the same or different) in 1000 edited cells, 2000 edited cells, 5000 edited cells, 10,000 edited cells, 50,000 edited cells, 100,000 edited cells, 200,000 edited cells, 300,000 edited cells, 400,000 edited cells, 500,000 edited cells, 600,000 edited cells, 700,000 edited cells, 800,000 edited cells, 900,000 edited cells, 1,000,000 edited cells, 2,000,000 edited cells, 3,000,000 edited cells, 4,000,000 edited cells, 5,000,000 edited cells, 6,000,000 edited cells, 7,000,000 edited cells, 8,000,000 edited cells, 9,000,000 edited cells, 10,000,000 edited cells or more. examples of non-automated editing strategies that can be modified based on the present specification to utilize the automated systems can be found, e.g., in liu et al., supra. in specific aspects, recursive editing can be used to first create a cell phenotype, and then later rounds of editing used to reverse the phenotype and/or accelerate other cell properties. in some aspects, the cell library comprises edits for the creation of unnatural amino acids in a cell. in specific aspects, the disclosure provides edited cell libraries having edits in one or more regulatory elements created using the disclosed editing methods, automated multi-module cell editing instruments of the disclosure. the term “regulatory element” refers to nucleic acid molecules that can influence the transcription and/or translation of an operably linked coding sequence in a particular environment and/or context. this term is intended to include all elements that promote or regulate transcription, and rna stability including promoters, core elements required for basic interaction of rna polymerase and transcription factors, upstream elements, enhancers, and response elements (see, e.g., lewin, “genes v” (oxford university press, oxford) pages 847-873). exemplary regulatory elements in prokaryotes include, but are not limited to, promoters, operator sequences and a ribosome binding sites. regulatory elements that are used in eukaryotic cells may include, but are not limited to, promoters, enhancers, insulators, splicing signals and polyadenylation signals. preferably, the edited cell library includes rationally designed edits that are designed based on predictions of protein structure, expression and/or activity in a particular cell type. for example, rational design may be based on a system-wide biophysical model of genome editing with a particular nuclease and gene regulation to predict how different editing parameters including nuclease expression and/or binding, growth conditions, and other experimental conditions collectively control the dynamics of nuclease editing. see, e.g., farasat and salis, plos comput biol., 29:12(1):e1004724 (2016). in one aspect, the present disclosure provides the creation of a library of edited cells with various rationally designed regulatory sequences created using the nickase methods of the disclosure, including automated methods using the disclosed instrument. for example, the edited cell library can include prokaryotic cell populations created using set of constitutive and/or inducible promoters, enhancer sequences, operator sequences and/or ribosome binding sites. in another example, the edited cell library can include eukaryotic sequences created using a set of constitutive and/or inducible promoters, enhancer sequences, operator sequences, and/or different kozak sequences for expression of proteins of interest. in some aspects, the disclosure provides cell libraries including cells with rationally designed edits comprising one or more classes of edits in sequences of interest across the genome of an organism. in specific aspects, the disclosure provides cell libraries including cells with rationally designed edits comprising one or more classes of edits in sequences of interest across a subset of the genome. for example, the cell library may include cells with rationally designed edits comprising one or more classes of edits in sequences of interest across the exome, e.g., every or most open reading frames of the genome. for example, the cell library may include cells with rationally designed edits comprising one or more classes of edits in sequences of interest across the kinome. in yet another example, the cell library may include cells with rationally designed edits comprising one or more classes of edits in sequences of interest across the secretome. in yet other aspects, the cell library may include cells with rationally designed edits created to analyze various isoforms of proteins encoded within the exome, and the cell libraries can be designed to control expression of one or more specific isoforms, e.g., for transcriptome analysis. importantly, in certain aspects the cell libraries may comprise edits using randomized sequences, e.g., randomized promoter sequences, to reduce similarity between expression of one or more proteins in individual cells within the library. additionally, the promoters in the cell library can be constitutive, inducible or both to enable strong and/or titratable expression. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments for creating a library of cells comprising edits to identify optimum expression of a selected gene target. for example, production of biochemicals through metabolic engineering often requires the expression of pathway enzymes, and the best production yields are not always achieved by the highest amount of the target pathway enzymes in the cell, but rather by fine-tuning of the expression levels of the individual enzymes and related regulatory proteins and/or pathways. similarly, expression levels of heterologous proteins sometimes can be experimentally adjusted for optimal yields. the most obvious way that transcription impacts on gene expression levels is through the rate of pol ii initiation, which can be modulated by combinations of promoter or enhancer strength and trans-activating factors (kadonaga, et al., cell, 116(2):247-57 (2004). in eukaryotes, elongation rate may also determine gene expression patterns by influencing alternative splicing (cramer et al., pnas usa, 94(21):11456-60 (1997). failed termination on a gene can impair the expression of downstream genes by reducing the accessibility of the promoter to pol ii (greger, et al., 2000 pnas usa, 97(15):8415-20 (2000). this process, known as transcriptional interference, is particularly relevant in lower eukaryotes, as they often have closely spaced genes. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides methods for optimizing cellular gene transcription. gene transcription is the result of several distinct biological phenomena, including transcriptional initiation (rnap recruitment and transcriptional complex formation), elongation (strand synthesis/extension), and transcriptional termination (rnap detachment and termination). site directed mutagenesis cell libraries can be created using the nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing site-directed mutagenesis, i.e., when the amino acid sequence of a protein or other genomic feature may be altered by deliberately and precisely by mutating the protein or genomic feature. these cell lines can be useful for various purposes, e.g., for determining protein function within cells, the identification of enzymatic active sites within cells, and the design of novel proteins. for example, site-directed mutagenesis can be used in a multiplexed fashion to exchange a single amino acid in the sequence of a protein for another amino acid with different chemical properties. this allows one to determine the effect of a rationally designed or randomly generated mutation genes in individual cells within a cell population. see, e.g., berg, et al. biochemistry, sixth ed. (new york: w.h. freeman and company) (2007). in another example, edits can be made to individual cells within a cell library to substitute amino acids in binding sites, such as substitution of one or more amino acids in a protein binding site for interaction within a protein complex or substitution of one or more amino acids in enzymatic pockets that can accommodate a cofactor or ligand. this class of edits allows the creation of specific manipulations to a protein to measure certain properties of one or more proteins, including interaction with other cofactors, ligands, etc. within a protein complex. in yet another examples, various edit types can be made to individual cells within a cell library using site specific mutagenesis for studying expression quantitative trait loci (eqtls). an eqtl is a locus that explains a fraction of the genetic variance of a gene expression phenotype. the libraries of the invention would be useful to evaluate and link eqtls to actual diseased states. in specific aspects, the edits introduced into the cell libraries of the disclosure may be created using rational design based on known or predicted structures of proteins. see, e.g., chronopoulou e g and labrou, curr protoc protein sci.; chapter 26:unit 26.6 (2011). such site-directed mutagenesis can provide individual cells within a library with one or more site-directed edits, and preferably two or more site-directed edits (e.g., combinatorial edits) within a cell population. in other aspects, cell libraries of the disclosure are created using site-directed codon mutation “scanning” of all or substantially all of the codons in the coding region of a gene. in this fashion, individual edits of specific codons can be examined for loss-of-function or gain-of-function based on specific polymorphisms in one or more codons of the gene. these libraries can be a powerful tool for determining which genetic changes are silent or causal of a specific phenotype in a cell or cell population. the edits of the codons may be randomly generated or may be rationally designed based on known polymorphisms and/or mutations that have been identified in the gene to be analyzed. moreover, using these techniques on two or more genes in a single in a pathway in a cell, may determine potential protein:protein interactions or redundancies in cell functions or pathways. for example, alanine scanning can be used to determine the contribution of a specific residue to the stability or function of given protein. see, e.g., lefèvre, et al., nucleic acids research, volume 25(2):447-448 (1997). alanine is often used in this codon scanning technique because of its non-bulky, chemically inert, methyl functional group that can mimic the secondary structure preferences that many of the other amino acids possess. codon scanning can also be used to determine whether the side chain of a specific residue plays a significant role in cell function and/or activity. sometimes other amino acids such as valine or leucine can be used in the creation of codon scanning cell libraries if conservation of the size of mutated residues is needed. in other specific aspects, cell libraries can be created using the nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments of the disclosure to determine the active site of a protein such as an enzyme or hormone, and to elucidate the mechanism of action of one or more of these proteins in a cell library. site-directed mutagenesis associated with molecular modeling studies can be used to discover the active site structure of an enzyme and consequently its mechanism of action. analysis of these cell libraries can provide an understanding of the role exerted by specific amino acid residues at the active sites of proteins, in the contacts between subunits of protein complexes, on intracellular trafficking and protein stability/half-life in various genetic backgrounds. saturation mutagenesis in some aspects, the cell libraries created using nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments are saturation mutagenesis libraries, in which a single codon or set of codons is randomized to produce all possible amino acids at the position of a particular gene or genes of interest. these cell libraries can be particularly useful to generate variants, e.g., for directed evolution. see, e.g., chica, et al., current opinion in biotechnology 16 (4): 378-384 (2005); and shivange, current opinion in chemical biology, 13 (1): 19-25. in some aspects, edits comprising different degenerate codons can be used to encode sets of amino acids in the individual cells in the libraries. because some amino acids are encoded by more codons than others, the exact ratio of amino acids cannot be equal. in certain aspects, more restricted degenerate codons are used. ‘nnk’ and ‘nns’ have the benefit of encoding all 20 amino acids, but still encode a stop codon 3% of the time. alternative codons such as ‘ndt’, ‘dbk’ avoid stop codons entirely, and encode a minimal set of amino acids that still encompass all the main biophysical types (anionic, cationic, aliphatic hydrophobic, aromatic hydrophobic, hydrophilic, small). in specific aspects, the non-redundant saturation mutagenesis, in which the most commonly used codon for a particular organism, is used in the saturation mutagenesis editing process. promoter swaps and ladders one mechanism for analyzing and/or optimizing expression of one or more genes of interest is through the creation of a “promoter swap” cell library, in which the cells comprise genetic edits that have specific promoters linked to one or more genes of interest. accordingly, the cell libraries created nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments may be promoter swap cell libraries, which can be used, e.g., to increase or decrease expression of a gene of interest to optimize a metabolic or genetic pathway. in some aspects, the promoter swap cell library can be used to identify an increase or reduction in the expression of a gene that affects cell vitality or viability, e.g., a gene encoding a protein that impacts on the growth rate or overall health of the cells. in some aspects, the promoter swap cell library can be used to create cells having dependencies and logic between the promoters to create synthetic gene networks. in some aspects, the promoter swaps can be used to control cell to cell communication between cells of both homogeneous and heterogeneous (complex tissues) populations in nature. the cell libraries can utilize any given number of promoters that have been grouped together based upon exhibition of a range of expression strengths and any given number of target genes. the ladder of promoter sequences vary expression of at least one locus under at least one condition. this ladder is then systematically applied to a group of genes in the organism using the automated editing methods, automated multi-module cell editing instruments of the disclosure. in specific aspects, the cell library formed using nickase-based editing methods include individual cells that are representative of a given promoter operably linked to one or more target genes of interest in an otherwise identical genetic background. examples of non-automated editing strategies that can be modified to utilize the automated systems can be found, e.g., in u.s. pat. no. 9,988,624. in specific aspects, the promoter swap cell library is produced by editing a set of target genes to be operably linked to a pre-selected set of promoters that act as a “promoter ladder” for expression of the genes of interest. for example, the cells are edited so that one or more individual genes of interest are edited to be operably linked with the different promoters in the promoter ladder. when an endogenous promoter does not exist, its sequence is unknown, or it has been previously changed in some manner, the individual promoters of the promoter ladder can be inserted in front of the genes of interest. these produced cell libraries have individual cells with an individual promoter of the ladder operably linked to one or more target genes in an otherwise identical genetic context. the promoters are generally selected to result in variable expression across different loci, and may include inducible promoters, constitutive promoters, or both. the set of target genes edited using the promoter ladder can include all or most open reading frames (orfs) in a genome, or a selected subset of the genome, e.g., the orfs of the kinome or a secretome. in some aspects, the target genes can include coding regions for various isoforms of the genes, and the cell libraries can be designed to expression of one or more specific isoforms, e.g., for transcriptome analysis using various promoters. the set of target genes can also be genes known or suspected to be involved in a particular cellular pathway, e.g. a regulatory pathway or signaling pathway. the set of target genes can be orfs related to function, by relation to previously demonstrated beneficial edits (previous promoter swaps or previous snp swaps), by algorithmic selection based on epistatic interactions between previously generated edits, other selection criteria based on hypotheses regarding beneficial orf to target, or through random selection. in specific embodiments, the target genes can comprise non-protein coding genes, including non-coding rnas. editing of other functional genetic elements, including insulator elements and other genomic organization elements, can also be used to systematically vary the expression level of a set of target genes, and can be introduced using the methods, automated multi-module cell editing instruments of the disclosure. in one aspect, a population of cells is edited using a ladder of enhancer sequences, either alone or in combination with selected promoters or a promoter ladder, to create a cell library having various edits in these enhancer elements. in another aspect, a population of cells is edited using a ladder of ribosome binding sequences, either alone or in combination with selected promoters or a promoter ladder, to create a cell library having various edits in these ribosome binding sequences. in another aspect, a population of cells is edited to allow the attachment of various mrna and/or protein stabilizing or destabilizing sequences to the 5′ or 3′ end, or at any other location, of a transcript or protein. in certain aspects, a population of cells of a previously established cell line may be edited using the automated editing methods, modules, instruments, and systems of the disclosure to create a cell library to improve the function, health and/or viability of the cells. for example, many industrial strains currently used for large scale manufacturing have been developed using random mutagenesis processes iteratively over a period of many years, sometimes decades. unwanted neutral and detrimental mutations were introduced into strains along with beneficial changes, and over time this resulted in strains with deficiencies in overall robustness and key traits such as growth rates. in another example, mammalian cell lines continue to mutate through the passage of the cells over periods of time, and likewise these cell lines can become unstable and acquire traits that are undesirable. the automated editing methods, automated multi-module cell editing instruments of the disclosure can use editing strategies such as snp and/or str swapping, indel creation, or other techniques to remove or change the undesirable genome sequences and/or introducing new genome sequences to address the deficiencies while retaining the desirable properties of the cells. when recursive editing is used, the editing in the individual cells in the edited cell library can incorporate the inclusion of “landing pads” in an ectopic site in the enome (e.g., a cart locus) to optimize expression, stability and/or control. in some embodiments, each library produced having individual cells comprising one or more edits (either introducing or removing) is cultured and analyzed under one or more criteria (e.g., production of a chemical or product of interest). the cells possessing the specific criteria are then associated, or correlated, with one or more particular edits in the cell. in this manner, the effect of a given edit on any number of genetic or phenotypic traits of interest can be determined. the identification of multiple edits associated with particular criteria or enhanced functionality/robustness may lead to cells with highly desirable characteristics. knock-out or knock-in libraries in certain aspects, the cell libraries created using nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments may be “knock-out” (ko) or “knock-in” (ki) edits of various genes of interest. thus, the disclosure is intended to cover edited cell libraries created by the nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments that have one or more mutations that remove or reduce the expression of selected genes of interest to interrogate the effect of these edits on gene function in individual cells within the cell library. the cell libraries can be created using targeted gene ko (e.g., via insertion/deletion) or kos (e.g., via homologous directed repair). for example, double strand breaks are often repaired via the non-homologous end joining dna repair pathway. the repair is known to be error prone, and thus insertions and deletions may be introduced that can disrupt gene function. preferably the edits are rationally designed to specifically affect the genes of interest, and individual cells can be created having a ki or ki of one or more locus of interest. cells having a ko or ki of two or more loci of interest can be created using automated recursive editing of the disclosure. in specific aspects, the ko or ki cell libraries are created using simultaneous multiplexed editing of cells within a cell population, and multiple cells within a cell population are edited in a single round of editing, i.e., multiple changes within the cells of the cell library are in a single automated operation. in other specific aspects, the cell libraries are created using recursive editing of individual cells within a cell population, and results in the amalgamation of multiple edits of two or more sites in the genome into single cells. snp or short tandem repeat swaps in one aspect, cell libraries created using nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments may be produced for systematically introducing or substituting single nucleotide polymorphisms (“snps”) into the genomes of the individual cells to create a “snp swap” cell library. in some embodiments, the snp swapping methods of the present disclosure include both the addition of beneficial snps, and removing detrimental and/or neutral snps. the snp swaps may target coding sequences, non-coding sequences, or both. in another aspect, a cell library is created using nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments for systematically introducing or substituting short tandem repeats (“str”) into the genomes of the individual cells to create an “str swap” cell library. in some embodiments, the str swapping methods of the present disclosure include both the addition of beneficial strs, and removing detrimental and/or neutral strs. the str swaps may target coding sequences, non-coding sequences, or both. in some embodiments, the snp and/or str swapping used to create the cell library is multiplexed, and multiple cells within a cell population are edited in a single round of editing, i.e., multiple changes within the cells of the cell library are in a single automated operation. in other embodiments, the snp and/or str swapping used to create the cell library is recursive, and results in the amalgamation of multiple beneficial sequences and/or the removal of detrimental sequences into single cells. multiple changes can be either a specific set of defined changes or a partly randomized, combinatorial library of mutations. removal of detrimental mutations and consolidation of beneficial mutations can provide immediate improvements in various cellular processes. removal of genetic burden or consolidation of beneficial changes into a strain with no genetic burden also provides a new, robust starting point for additional random mutagenesis that may enable further improvements. snp swapping overcomes fundamental limitations of random mutagenesis approaches as it is not a random approach, but rather the systematic introduction or removal of individual mutations across cells. splice site editing rna splicing is the process during which introns are excised and exons are spliced together to create the mrna that is translated into a protein. the precise recognition of splicing signals by cellular machinery is critical to this process. accordingly, cell libraries of the disclosure include a cell library created using nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments for systematically introducing changes to known and/or predicted splice donor and/or acceptor sites in various loci to create a library of splice site variants of various genes. such editing can help to elucidate the biological relevance of various isoforms of genes in a cellular context. sequences for rational design of splicing sites of various coding regions, including actual or predicted mutations associated with various mammalian disorders, can be predicted using analysis techniques such as those found in nalla and rogan, hum mutat, 25:334-342 (2005); divina, et al., eur j hum genet, 17:759-765 (2009); desmet, et el., nucleic acids res, 37:e67 (2009); faber, et al., bmc bioinformatics, 12(suppl 4):s2 (2011). start/stop codon exchanges and incorporation of nucleic acid analogs in some aspects, the present disclosure provides for the creation of cell libraries created using nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments for swapping start and stop codon variants throughout the genome of an organism or for a selected subset of coding regions in the genome, e.g., the kinome or secretome. in the cell library, individual cells will have one or more start or stop codons replacing the native start or stop codon for one or more gene of interest. for example, typical start codons used by eukaryotes are atg (aug) and prokaryotes use atg (aug) the most, followed by gtg (gug) and ttg (uug). the cell library may include individual cells having substitutions for the native start codons for one or more genes of interest. in some aspects, the present disclosure provides for creation of a cell library by replacing atg start codons with ttg in front of selected genes of interest. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing atg start codons with gtg. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing gtg start codons with atg. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing gtg start codons with ttg. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing ttg start codons with atg. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing ttg start codons with gtg. in other examples, typical stop codons for s. cerevisiae and mammals are taa (uaa) and tga (uga), respectively. the typical stop codon for monocotyledonous plants is tga (uga), whereas insects and e. coli commonly use taa (uaa) as the stop codon (dalphin. et al., nucl. acids res., 24: 216-218 (1996)). the cell library may include individual cells having substitutions for the native stop codons for one or more genes of interest. in some aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing taa stop codons with tag. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing taa stop codons with tga. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing tga stop codons with taa. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing tga stop codons with tag. in other aspects, the present disclosure provides for automated creation of a cell library by replacing tag stop codons with taa. in other aspects, the present invention teaches automated creation of a cell library by replacing tag stop codons with tga. terminator swaps and ladders one mechanism for identifying optimum termination of a pre-spliced mrna of one or more genes of interest is through the creation of a “terminator swap” cell library, in which the cells comprise genetic edits that have specific terminator sequences linked to one or more genes of interest. accordingly, cell libraries of the disclosure include a terminator swap cell library created using nickase-based editing methods, modules, instruments and systems employing automated editing methods, and/or automated multi-module cell editing instruments. terminator swap cell libraries can be used, e.g., to affect mrna stability by releasing transcripts from sites of synthesis. in other embodiments, the terminator swap cell library can be used to identify an increase or reduction in the efficiency of transcriptional termination and thus accumulation of unspliced pre-mrna (e.g., west and proudfoot, mol cell.; 33(3-9); 354-364 (2009) and/or 3′ end processing (e.g., west, et al., mol cell. 29(5):600-10 (2008)). in the case where a gene is linked to multiple termination sites, the edits may edit a combination of edits to multiple terminators that are associated with a gene. additional amino acids may also be added to the ends of proteins to determine the effect on the protein length on terminators. the cell libraries can utilize any given number of edits of terminators that have been selected for the terminator ladder based upon exhibition of a range of activity and any given number of target genes. the ladder of terminator sequences vary expression of at least one locus under at least one condition. this ladder is then systematically applied to a group of genes in the organism using the automated editing methods, modules, instruments and systems of the disclosure. in some aspects, the present disclosure provides for the creation of cell libraries using the automated editing methods, modules, instruments and systems of disclosure, where the libraries are created to edit terminator signals in one or more regions in the genome in the individual cells of the library. transcriptional termination in eukaryotes operates through terminator signals that are recognized by protein factors associated with the rna polymerase ii. for example, the cell library may contain individual eukaryotic cells with edits in genes encoding polyadenylation specificity factor (cpsf) and cleavage stimulation factor (cstf) and or gene encoding proteins recruited by cpsf and cstf factors to termination sites. in prokaryotes, two principal mechanisms, termed rho-independent and rho-dependent termination, mediate transcriptional termination. for example, the cell library may contain individual prokaryotic cells with edits in genes encoding proteins that affect the binding, efficiency and/or activity of these termination pathways. in certain aspects, the present disclosure provides methods of selecting termination sequences (“terminators”) with optimal properties. for example, in some embodiments, the present disclosure teaches provides methods for introducing and/or editing one or more terminators and/or generating variants of one or more terminators within a host cell, which exhibit a range of activity. a particular combination of terminators can be grouped together as a terminator ladder, and cell libraries of the disclosure include individual cells that are representative of terminators operably linked to one or more target genes of interest in an otherwise identical genetic background. examples of non-automated editing strategies that can be modified to utilize the automated instruments can be found, e.g., in u.s. pat. no. 9,988,624 to serber et al., entitled “microbial strain improvement by a htp genomic engineering platform.” in specific aspects, the terminator swap cell library is produced by editing a set of target genes to be operably linked to a pre-selected set of terminators that act as a “terminator ladder” for expression of the genes of interest. for example, the cells are edited so that the endogenous promoter is operably linked to the individual genes of interest are edited with the different promoters in the promoter ladder. when the endogenous promoter does not exist, its sequence is unknown, or it has been previously changed in some manner, the individual promoters of the promoter ladder can be inserted in front of the genes of interest. these produced cell libraries have individual cells with an individual promoter of the ladder operably linked to one or more target genes in an otherwise identical genetic context. the terminator ladder in question is then associated with a given gene of interest. the terminator ladder can be used to more generally affect termination of all or most orfs in a genome, or a selected subset of the genome, e.g., the orfs of a kinome or a secretome. the set of target genes can also be genes known or suspected to be involved in a particular cellular pathway, e.g. a regulatory pathway or signaling pathway. the set of target genes can be orfs related to function, by relation to previously demonstrated beneficial edits (previous promoter swaps or previous snp swaps), by algorithmic selection based on epistatic interactions between previously generated edits, other selection criteria based on hypotheses regarding beneficial orf to target, or through random selection. in specific embodiments, the target genes can comprise non-protein coding genes, including non-coding rnas. examples the following examples are put forth so as to provide those of ordinary skill in the art with a complete disclosure and description of how to make and use the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of what the inventors regard as their invention, nor are they intended to represent or imply that the experiments below are all of or the only experiments performed. it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific aspects without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. the present aspects are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. example i: fully-automated singleplex rgn-directed editing run singleplex automated genomic editing using mad7 nuclease was successfully performed with an automated multi-module instrument as described in, e.g., u.s. pat. no. 9,982,279; and u.s. ser. no. 16/024,831 filed 30 jun. 2018; ser. no. 16/024,816 filed 30 jun. 2018; ser. no. 16/147,353 filed 28 sep. 2018; ser. no. 16/147,865 filed 30 sep. 2018; and ser. no. 16/147,871 filed 30 jun. 2018. an ampr plasmid backbone and a lacz_f172* editing cassette were assembled via gibson assembly® into an “editing vector” in an isothermal nucleic acid assembly module included in the automated instrument. lacz_f172 functionally knocks out the lacz gene. “lacz_f172*” indicates that the edit happens at the 172nd residue in the lacz amino acid sequence. following assembly, the product was de-salted in the isothermal nucleic acid assembly module using ampure beads, washed with 80% ethanol, and eluted in buffer. the assembled editing vector and recombineering-ready, electrocompetent cells were transferred into a editing machinery introduction module for electroporation. the cells and nucleic acids were combined and allowed to mix for 1 minute, and electroporation was performed for 30 seconds. the parameters for the poring pulse were: voltage, 2400 v; length, 5 ms; interval, 50 ms; number of pulses, 1; polarity, +. the parameters for the transfer pulses were: voltage, 150 v; length, 50 ms; interval, 50 ms; number of pulses, 20; polarity, +/−. following electroporation, the cells were transferred to a recovery module (another growth module), and allowed to recover in soc medium containing chloramphenicol. carbenicillin was added to the medium after 1 hour, and the cells were allowed to recover for another 2 hours. after recovery, the cells were held at 4° c. until recovered by the user. after the automated process and recovery, an aliquot of cells was plated on macconkey agar base supplemented with lactose (as the sugar substrate), chloramphenicol and carbenicillin and grown until colonies appeared. white colonies represented functionally edited cells, purple colonies represented un-edited cells. all liquid transfers were performed by the automated liquid handling device of the automated multi-module cell processing instrument. the result of the automated processing was that approximately 1.0e −03 total cells were transformed (comparable to conventional benchtop results), and the editing efficiency was 83.5%. the lacz_172 edit in the white colonies was confirmed by sequencing of the edited region of the genome of the cells. further, steps of the automated cell processing were observed remotely by webcam and text messages were sent to update the status of the automated processing procedure. example ii: fully-automated recursive editing run recursive editing was successfully achieved using the automated multi-module cell processing system. an ampr plasmid backbone and a lacz_v10* editing cassette were assembled via gibson assembly® into an “editing vector” in an isothermal nucleic acid assembly module included in the automated system. similar to the lacz_f172 edit, the lacz_v10 edit functionally knocks out the lacz gene. “lacz_v10” indicates that the edit happens at amino acid position 10 in the lacz amino acid sequence. following assembly, the product was de-salted in the isothermal nucleic acid assembly module using ampure beads, washed with 80% ethanol, and eluted in buffer. the first assembled editing vector and the recombineering-ready electrocompetent e. coli cells were transferred into a editing machinery introduction module for electroporation. the cells and nucleic acids were combined and allowed to mix for 1 minute, and electroporation was performed for 30 seconds. the parameters for the poring pulse were: voltage, 2400 v; length, 5 ms; interval, 50 ms; number of pulses, 1; polarity, +. the parameters for the transfer pulses were: voltage, 150 v; length, 50 ms; interval, 50 ms; number of pulses, 20; polarity, +/−. following electroporation, the cells were transferred to a recovery module (another growth module) allowed to recover in soc medium containing chloramphenicol. carbenicillin was added to the medium after 1 hour, and the cells were grown for another 2 hours. the cells were then transferred to a centrifuge module and a media exchange was then performed. cells were resuspended in tb containing chloramphenicol and carbenicillin where the cells were grown to od600 of 2.7, then concentrated and rendered electrocompetent. during cell growth, a second editing vector was prepared in an isothermal nucleic acid assembly module. the second editing vector comprised a kanamycin resistance gene, and the editing cassette comprised a galk y145* edit. if successful, the galk y145* edit confers on the cells the ability to uptake and metabolize galactose. the edit generated by the galk y154* cassette introduces a stop codon at the 154th amino acid reside, changing the tyrosine amino acid to a stop codon. this edit makes the galk gene product non-functional and inhibits the cells from being able to metabolize galactose. following assembly, the second editing vector product was de-salted in the isothermal nucleic acid assembly module using ampure beads, washed with 80% ethanol, and eluted in buffer. the assembled second editing vector and the electrocompetent cells (that were transformed with and selected for the first editing vector) were transferred into a editing machinery introduction module for electroporation, using the same parameters as detailed above. following electroporation, the cells were transferred to a recovery module (another growth module), allowed to recover in soc medium containing carbenicillin. after recovery, the cells were held at 4° c. until retrieved, after which an aliquot of cells were plated on lb agar supplemented with chloramphenicol, and kanamycin. to quantify both lacz and galk edits, replica patch plates were generated on two media types: 1) macconkey agar base supplemented with lactose (as the sugar substrate), chloramphenicol, and kanamycin, and 2) macconkey agar base supplemented with galactose (as the sugar substrate), chloramphenicol, and kanamycin. all liquid transfers were performed by the automated liquid handling device of the automated multi-module cell processing system. in this recursive editing experiment, 41% of the colonies screened had both the lacz and galk edits, the results of which were comparable to the double editing efficiencies obtained using a “benchtop” or manual approach. cells are transfected with an editing cassette plasmid that mediates expression of a gene-specific grna with or without a dna sequence to mediate precise genomic edits (hdr donor). this plasmid also expresses a handle to enable enrichment (cell surface receptor, fluorescent protein, antibiotic resistance gene) of cells that have been functionally transfected with the editing cassette plasmid. cells are also co-transfected with nuclease (plasmid, mrna, protein) that, when paired with the gene-specific grna can mediate dna sequence specific endonuclease activity at genomic targets after delivery of an enrichment-competent editing cassette, the enrichment handle must be expressed to levels that support specific positive selection of transfected cells while allowing for depletion of cells that did not receive an enrichment-competent editing cassette. in certain instances, the expression level of the enrichment reporter may enable enrichment of sub-populations that have significantly higher or lower levels of the enrichment reporter. surface reporter-expressing cells can be specifically labeled using fluorophore-conjugated antibodies and then sorted into different populations (receptor-negative, high, or low) using a fluorescence activated cell sorter (facs). by electronically gating on cells with different levels of fluorescence intensity one can specifically enrich for subpopulations that have taken up relatively more or fewer copies of the editing cassette. as observed in a gfp-to-bfp analysis performed on the enriched populations versus unenriched populations, certain subpopulations of enrichment of cells have demonstrated higher rates of editing as measured by the relative percentages, of gfp-positive, bfp-positive, and double-negative cells. enrichment via cell-surface displayed receptors or affinity ligands has also been performed using antibody-coupled magnetic beads. example iii: development of gfp expression assay an editing detection assay was developed using rna-directed nuclease-gfp expression cassettes which expedites genome editing workflows from initial nuclease screening to the final stages of single cell cloning. this vector also included a u6-grna cassette creating a single vector system for crispr/nuclease delivery and expression ( fig. 10 ). two systems were developed to assist in enriching cell populations for desired genome edits, e.g., using cell sorting. the first system used a single-vector, with the co-expression of the rna-directed nuclease (e.g., the cas9 nuclease or the mad7 nuclease) and gfp from the same mrna, and a two-plasmid system in which the rna-directed nuclease was expressed on a separate vector. the single vector system described here contained a t7 promoter for in vitro transcription of nuclease-gfp mrna ( fig. 10 ). the ability to detect and enrich via gfp expression significantly reduces labor and cost associated with single cell cloning and genotyping in genome editing applications. the following data set illustrates how our single vector system can be used for expression monitoring and facs enrichment of low and high level cutting. in particular, the single plasmid gfp format ensured that all required crispr/nuclease components (e.g. mad7 and grna coding sequences) are effectively delivered to gfp positive cells. the cell fractions were divided into low, medium, and high pools based on gfp expression, and corresponding increases in indel activity were observed. for a grna targeting the kras locus, a 4-fold increase in indel activity was observed when comparing the unsorted population vs. the top 2% of cells with the highest gfp expression (see figs. 13a and 13b ). not all targeted grna designs produce detectable indel activity when initial nuclease screens are done against gene targets, and current grna design rules fail to predict activity based on sequence content or genomic context. a grna design for ccr5 which initially failed to produce detectable indels, when sorted it into low, medium, and high gfp fractions, indel activity could be detected in the medium and high gfp fractions. the gfp reporter allowed for quick detection of transfection efficiency saving time and cost associated with downstream expression quantification assays. this assay also allowed for rapid troubleshooting of plasmid delivery and expression problems associated with particular cell types. if gfp expression and nuclease indel activity cannot be observed in a particular cell type despite repeated attempts, using the nuclease-gfp mrna can circumvent promoter/cell-type incompatibilities. example iv: gfp to bfp conversion assay a gfp to bfp reporter cell line was created using mammalian cells with a stably integrated genomic copy of the gfp gene (hek293t-gfp). these cell lines enabled phenotypic detection of genomic edits of different classes (nhej, hdr, no edit) by various different mechanisms, including flow cytometry, fluorescent cell imaging, and genotypic detection by sequencing of the genome-integrated gfp gene. lack of editing, or perfect repair of cut events in the gfp gene, result in cells that remain gfp-positive. cut events that are repaired by the non-homologous end-joining (nhej) pathway often result in nucleotide insertion or deletion events (indels), resulting in frame-shift mutations in the coding sequence that cause loss of gfp gene expression and fluorescence. cut events that are repaired by the homology-directed repair (hdr) pathway, using the gfp to bfp hdr donor as a repair template, result in conversion of the cell fluorescence profile from that of gfp to that of bfp. an example of the gfp and bfp florescence before and after gene editing, measured by facs, is shown in figs. 14a and 14b . example v: thy1.2-mediated enrichment for editing cassette uptake using facs cells with a stably integrated copy of the gfp gene (hek293t-gfp) were co-nucleofected with a plasmid expressing mad7 nuclease and a gfp-to-bfp editing cassette plasmid that also drives expression of the cell surface ligand thy1.2. thy 1.2 is a cell surface protein that is expressed on mouse thymocytes and not found on any human cells. thy1.2 is thus a unique reporter for identifying human cells that have received the editing machinery necessary to provide thy 1.2 expression. briefly, 2×10 5 cells were nucleofected with 200 ng of the mad7 expression plasmid and 200 ng of the thy1.2-expressing gfp-to-bfp editing cassette using program cm-130 on a 4d-nucleofector x-unit (lonza, morristown, n.j.) in 20 μl nucleocuvettes. 24 hours after nucleofection, cells were labeled with anti-thy1.2 antibodies conjugated to the fluorophore phycoerythrin (pe). antibody-labeled cells were then enriched using fluorescent-activated cell sorting (facs) analysis on the facs melody (becton dickenson, franklin lakes, n.j.) to separate thy1.2-negative cells from cells expressing low or high amounts of thy1.2 ( fig. 15 ). the facs-sorted subpopulations, as well as an unenriched control sample were plated in separate wells of a 24-well tissue culture dish and allowed to undergo gene-editing. the cells receiving a precise hdr-mediated two-base swap display a gfp-to-bfp conversion phenotype. 120 hours after transfection, subpopulations of cells enriched for thy1.2 expression by facs sorting were analyzed by facs for levels of gfp or bfp expression. the percentage of cell counts in the gfp-positive (wild-type or no edit), gfp-negative (nhej-mediated insertion or deletion frameshift), or bfp-positive (hdr-mediated precise conversion of gfp to bfp sequence) quadrants of the facs dot plot were quantified and compared across samples ( fig. 17 ). unenriched populations were 83% gfp-positive (wt), 17% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 1% bfp-positive (hdr). cells that were enriched for editing cassette uptake and thy1.2 expression by facs were 15-68% gfp-positive (wt), 30-74% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 2-10% bfp-positive (hdr), depending on whether the low-expressing or high-expressing population was specifically enriched. example vi: thy1.2-mediated enrichment for editing cassette uptake using macs the enrichment methods as described above in example v showed very similar efficiencies using magnetic-activated cell sorting (macs) analysis. as above, cells with a stably integrated copy of the gfp gene (hek293t-gfp) were co-nucleofected with a plasmid expressing mad7 nuclease and a gfp-to-bfp editing cassette plasmid that also drives expression of the cell surface ligand thy1.2. briefly, 2×10 5 cells were nucleofected with 200 ng of the mad7 expression plasmid and 200 ng of the thy1.2-expressing gfp-to-bfp editing cassette using program cm-130 on a 4d-nucleofector x-unit (lonza, morristown, n.j.) in 20 μl nucleocuvettes. 24 hours after nucleofection, cells were labeled with anti-thy1.2 magnetic beads and purified on a macs column according to the manufacturer's protocol (miltenyi biotec, sunnyvale, calif.). samples of cells from the macs column flow-through, column wash, and magnetic-purified elution fractions as well as a pre-enrichment control were labeled with anti-thy1.2-pe fluorescent antibodies and analyzed for thy1.2 expression levels by facs. under the conditions tested, the macs purification specifically enriched the subpopulation of cells with the highest levels of thy1.2 expression, as measured by thy1.2-pe labeling ( figs. 16a-16e ). cells from the flow-through, wash, and elution fractions from macs purification, as well as an unenriched control were plated in separate wells of a 24 well tissue culture dish and allowed to undergo gene-editing and gfp-to-bfp conversion. 120 hours after transfection, subpopulations of cells enriched for thy1.2 expression by macs beads were further analyzed by facs for levels of gfp or bfp expression. the percentage of cell counts in the gfp-positive (wild-type or no edit), gfp-negative (nhej-mediated insertion or deletion frameshift), or bfp-positive (hdr-mediated precise conversion of gfp to bfp sequence) quadrants of the facs dot plot were quantified and compared across samples ( fig. 17 ). unenriched populations were 80% gfp-positive (wt), 17% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 1% bfp-positive (hdr). cells that were enriched for editing cassette uptake and thy1.2 expression by macs were 15-35% gfp-positive (wt), 57-74% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 8-10% bfp-positive (hdr). the unique populations of cells with the highest level of thy1.2 expression, whether enriched by facs or macs have significantly higher rates of overall editing as well has higher ratios of hdr to nhej. additionally, the unedited gfp-positive population of cells has been drastically reduced. the methods described here in examples iv and v enable the user to obtain a population of cells with a much higher proportion cells with intended edits and fewer unedited cells. example vii: δtetherin-ha-mediated enrichment for editing cassette uptake using facs cells with a stably integrated copy of the gfp gene (hek293t-gfp) were co-nucleofected with a plasmid expressing mad7 nuclease and a gfp-to-bfp editing cassette plasmid that also drives expression of the cell surface ligand tetherin that has been engineered to contain an additional his-tag and a deletion rendering the protein non-functional. the δtetherin-ha used is a cell-surface surrogate handle that contains a deletion rendering the molecule non-functional. briefly, 2×10 5 cells were nucleofected with 200 ng of the mad7 expression plasmid and 200 ng of the δtetherin-ha-expressing gfp-to-bfp editing cassette using program cm-130 on a 4d-nucleofector x-unit (lonza, morristown, n.j.) in 20 μl nucleocuvettes. 24 hours after nucleofection, cells were labeled with anti-ha antibodies conjugated to the fluorophore phycoerythrin (pe). antibody-labeled cells were then enriched using facs melody (becton dickenson, franklin lakes, n.j.) to separate δtetherin-ha-negative cells from cells expressing low or high amounts of δtetherin-ha. the facs-sorted subpopulations, as well as an unenriched control sample were plated in separate wells of a 24-well tissue culture dish and allowed to undergo gene-editing. the cells receiving precise, hdr-mediated edits display a gfp-to-bfp conversion phenotype. 120 hours after transfection, subpopulations of cells enriched for δtetherin-ha expression by either facs sorting or macs beads were analyzed by facs for levels of gfp or bfp expression. the percentage of cell counts in the gfp-positive (wild-type or no edit), gfp-negative (nhej-mediated insertion or deletion frameshift), or bfp-positive (hdr-mediated precise conversion of gfp to bfp sequence) quadrants of the facs dot plot were quantified and compared across samples ( fig. 18 ). unenriched populations were 42% gfp-positive (wt), 54% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 4% bfp-positive (hdr). cells that were enriched for editing cassette uptake and δtetherin-ha expression by facs or macs were 2-23% gfp-positive (wt), 70-82% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 7-16% bfp-positive (hdr) depending on whether the low-expressing or high-expressing population was specifically enriched. the unique populations of cells with the highest level of δtetherin-ha expression have significantly higher rates of overall editing as well has higher ratios of hdr to nhej. additionally, the unedited gfp-positive population of cells has been drastically reduced. this method enables the user to obtain a population of cells with a much higher proportion cells with intended edits and fewer unedited cells. example viii: titration of receptor-specific magnetic beads to enrich for subpopulations of cells with higher reporter expression and editing rates cells with a stably integrated copy of the gfp gene (hek293t-gfp or hap1-gfp) were co-nucleofected with a plasmid expressing mad7 nuclease and a gfp-to-bfp editing cassette plasmid that also drives expression of the cell surface ligand δtetherin-ha or thy1.2 briefly, 2×10 5 cells were nucleofected with 200 ng of the mad7 expression plasmid and 200 ng of the δtetherin-ha or thy1.2-expressing gfp-to-bfp editing cassette using program cm-130 for hek293t or ds-120 for hap1-gfp on a 4d-nucleofector x-unit (lonza, morristown, n.j.) in 20 μl nucleocuvettes. 24 hours after nucleofection, cells were labeled with increasing amounts of anti-thy1.2 or anti-ha magnetic beads and purified on a magnetic-activated cell sorting (macs) column according to the manufacturer's protocol (miltenyi). as the amount of macs beads was increased 9 μl of beads per 1000 total enrichment reaction volume), the relative amounts of purified cells with high and low receptor expression shifted. this was observed for enrichment of thy1.2-expressing hek293t-gfp cells ( figs. 19a and 19b ) and δtetherin-ha-expressing hap1-gfp cells ( figs. 20a and 20b ). hek293t-gfp cells enriched for editing machinery uptake using different amounts of thy1.2-specific macs beads were re-plated into 24 well tissue culture plates and allowed to undergo gene editing and gfp to bfp conversion. as the amount of beads was increased, the proportion of cells with imprecise edits (gfp- and bfp-negative) and precise edits (bfp-positive) increased accordingly ( fig. 21 ). we also used facs to specifically enrich hap1 cells expressing high levels of δtetherin-ha. similar to the thy1.2 reporter system, cells enriched for high levels of δtetherin-ha expression had relatively higher rates of nhej (48%) and hdr-mediated edits (1%) relative to unenriched controls, which exhibited 8% indel and undetectable hdr ( fig. 22 ). example ix. enrichment for hdr-mediated knock-in edits as above, cells with a stably integrated copy of the gfp gene (hek293t-gfp) were co-nucleofected with one plasmid expressing mad7 nuclease and an editing cassette that mediates a six base pair insertion into the dnmt3b gene and a second plasmid with a gfp-to-bfp editing cassette that also drives expression of the cell surface ligand thy1.2. briefly, 2×10 5 cells were nucleofected with 200 ng of the mad7 expression plasmid and 200 ng of the thy1.2-expressing gfp-to-bfp editing cassette using program cm-130 on a 4d-nucleofector x-unit (lonza, morristown, n.j.) in 20 μl nucleocuvettes. 24 hours after nucleofection, cells were labeled with anti-thy1.2 magnetic beads and purified on a macs column according to the manufacturer's protocol (miltenyi biotec, sunnyvale, calif.). cells were also labeled with anti-thy1.2-pe fluorescent antibodies and enriched for high-level thy1.2 expression by facs. cells from the macs or facs enrichments or unenriched controls were plated in separate wells of a 24 well tissue culture dish and allowed to undergo gene-editing. 120 hours after transfection, genomic dna was purified from each subpopulation of enriched or unenriched cells using a qiagen dneasy blood and tissue kit (velmo, netherlands). first, a 613 base pair fragment of the dnmt3b gene was amplified by pcr with primers outside the region spanned by the 180 base pair homology arm regions on the editing cassette plasmid. a second pcr reaction was performed to amplify a 180 base pair region of dnmt3b gene containing the region targeted by the mad7-grna complex and the 6 base insertion targeted by the hdr donor on the editing cassette. these pcr amplicons were prepared for ngs using an illumina truseq dna sample prep kit according to the manufacturer's directions. samples were sequenced using an illumina miseq using the 2×300 reagent kit (illumina, san diego, calif.). ngs analysis was performed using a custom ngs analysis and sequencing read alignment pipeline to bin read counts according to sequence identity to dnmt3b (wt) dnmt3b with a complete or partial targeted 6 base insertion (hdr_complete or hdr_partial) or a dnmt3b sequence containing insertions or deletions (indel or nhej). cells that were enriched for editing cassette uptake by facs had 9.8% complete intended hdr-mediated knock-in edits, 1.1% partial hdr edits, and 73.9% indels ( fig. 24 ). cells enriched for cassette uptake by macs had insertions or deletions (indel). cells that were enriched for editing cassette uptake by macs had 11.2% complete intended hdr-mediated knock-in edits, 1.3% partial hdr edits, and 78.4% indels. in contrast, cells that did not undergo any enrichment exhibited 4.2% complete intended hdr-mediated knock-in edits, 0.5% partial hdr edits, and 51.8% indels. ( fig. 24 ). the unique populations of cells with the highest level of thy1.2 uptake reporter expression, whether enriched by facs or macs have significantly higher rates of overall editing as well has higher ratios of hdr-mediated knock-in to nhej at the dnmt3b locus. additionally, the unedited population of cells has been drastically reduced. ( fig. 24 ). example x: create fusion editing create fusion editing is a novel technique that uses a nucleic acid nickase fusion protein having reverse transcriptase activity with a nucleic acid encoding a grna comprising a region complementary to a target region of a nucleic acid in one or more cells covalently linked to an editing cassette comprising a region homologous to the target region in the one or more cells with a mutation of at least one nucleotide relative to the target region in the one or more cells and a protospacer adjacent motif (pam) mutation. to test the feasibility of create fusion editing in hek293t cells, two editing vectors were designed as shown in fig. 25 . in a first design, a nickase enzyme derived from a type ii crispr enzyme was fused to an engineered reverse transcriptase (rt) on the c-terminus and cloned downstream of a cmv promoter. in this instance, the rt used was derived from moloney murine leukemia virus (m-mlv). this design was termed create fusion editor 2.1 (cfe2.1) and allows for strong expression of nickase enzyme and m-mlv rt fusion protein. in cfe2.2, an enrichment handle (t2a-dsred) was also added on the c-terminus of cfe2.1. the enrichment handle allowed selection of the cells that express the nickase enzyme and rt fusion protein. rna guides were designed that were complementary to a single region proximal to the egfp-to-bfp editing site. the create fusion grna was extended on the 3′ end to include a region of 13 bp that include the ty-to-sh edit and a second region of 13 bp that is complementary to the nicked egfp dna sequence ( fig. 26 ). this allows the nicked genomic dna to anneal to the 3′ end of the grna which can then be extended by the rt to incorporate the edit in the genome. the second grna targets a region in the egfp dna sequence that is 86 bp upstream of the edit site. this grna was designed such that it enables the nickase to cut the opposite strand relative to create fusion grna. both of these grnas were cloned downstream of a u6 promoter. a poly t sequence was also included that terminates the transcription of the grna. a flow chart of the exemplary experimental process carried out is shown in fig. 27 . the plasmids were transformed into neb stable e. coli (ipswich, n.y.) and grown overnight in 25 ml lb cultures. the following day the plasmids were purified from e. coli using the qiagen midi prep kit (venlo, netherlands). the purified plasmid was then rnase a (thermofisher, waltham, mass.) treated and re-purified using the dna clean and concentrator kit (zymo, irvine, calif.). hek293t cells were cultured in dmem medium which was supplemented with 10% fbs and 1× penicillin and streptomycin. 100 ng of total dna (50 ng of grna plasmid and 50 ng of cfe plasmids) was mixed with 1 μl of polyfect (qiagen, venlo, netherlands) in 25 μl of optimem in a 96 well plate. the complex was incubated for 10 minutes and then 20,000 hek293t cells resuspended in 100 μl of dmem were added to the mixture. the resulting mixture was then incubated for 80 hours at 37 c and 5% co 2 . the cells were harvested from flat bottom 96 well plates using tryple express reagent (thermofisher, waltham, mass.) and transferred to v-bottom 96 well plate. the plate was then spun down at 500 g for 5 minutes. the tryple solution was then aspirated and the cell pellet was resuspended in facs buffer (1×pbs, 1% fbs, 1 mm edta and 0.5% bsa). the gfp+, bfp+ and rfp+cells were then analyzed on the attune nxt flow cytometer and the data was analyzed on flowjo software. the rfp+bfp+cells that were identified were indicative of the proportion of enriched cells that have undergone precise or imprecise editing process. bfp+ cells indicate cells that have undergone successful editing process and express bfp. the gfp-cells indicate cells that have been imprecisely edited, leading to disruption of the gfp open reading frame and loss of expression. the create fusion editing process utilized a grna covalently linked to a region of homology to the intended target site in the genome. in this exemplary experiment, the edit is immediately 3′ of the grna, and 3′ of the edit is a further region complementary to the nicked genome, although the intended edit could also be present further 5′ within the region homologous to the nicked genome. a nickase rt fusion enzyme created a nick in the target site and the nicked dna annealed to its complementary sequence on the 3′ end of the grna. the rt then extended the dna, thereby incorporating the intended edit directly in the genome. the effectiveness of create fusion editing in gfp+ hek293t cells was then tested. in the assay system devised, a successful precise edit resulted in a bfp+ cell whereas an imprecisely edited cells turned the cell both bfp and gfp negative. as shown in figs. 28a-28d , create fusion grna in combination with cfe2.1 or cfe2.2 gives ˜40-45% bfp+ cells indicating that almost half the cell population has undergone successful editing. the gfp-cells are ˜10% of the population. the use of a second nicking grna, as described in liu et al. (nature, 2019 december; 576(7785):149-157). did not increase the precision edit rate any further; in fact, it significantly increased the imprecisely edited, gfp-negative cell population and the editing rate was lower. previous literature has shown that double nicks on opposite strands (<90 bp away) do result in a double strand break which tend to be repaired via nhej resulting in imprecise insertions or deletions. overall, the results indicated that create fusion editing predominantly yielded precisely edited cells and the imprecisely edited cells proportion is much lower. an enrichment handle, specifically a fluorescent reporter (rfp) linked to nuclease expression, (cfe2.2) was included in this experimentation as a proxy for cells receiving the editing machinery. when only the rfp-positive cells were analyzed (computational enrichment) after 3-4 cell divisions, up to 75% of the cells were bfp+ when tested with create fusion grna. this indicated uptake or expression-linked reporters can be used to enrich for a population of cells with higher rates of create fusion-mediated gene editing. in fact, the combined use of create fusion editing and the described enrichment methods resulted in a significantly improved rate of intended edits. example xi: facs enrichment for create-fusion mediated precise edits create fusion editing was also carried out in mammalian cells in conjunction with physical selection using facs. the basic protocol is set forth in fig. 29 . cells with a stably integrated copy of the gfp gene (hek293t-gfp) were nucleofected with a plasmid expressing mad7 nuclease and a gfp-to-bfp editing cassette plasmid that also drives expression of a fluorescent reporter molecule (dsred) or a create-fusion enzyme plasmid with an rfp reporter ( fig. 25 , cpe2.2) and a create-fusion grna expressing plasmid driving nick-based editing of gfp to bfp ( fig. 26 , gfp create′). briefly, 1×10 6 cells were nucleofected with 4 ug of the mad7 gfp to bfp editing plasmid or 2 ug the create-fusion enzyme plasmid and 2 ug of the create-fusion grna plasmid using program cm-130 on a 4d-nucleofector x-unit (lonza, morristown, n.j.) in 100 μl nucleocuvettes. 24 hours after nucleofection, cells were detached and for fluorescence-based sorting using a facs melody (becton dickenson, franklin lakes, n.j.) cells based on their dsred reporter expression levels. cells nucleofected with either the mad7-based editing machinery or create fusion editing machinery were transfected with similar efficiency as reported by percent dsred-positive cells at 24 h post-transfection ( fig. 30 ). cells were sorted into three populations, dsred_all, dsred_lo, or dsred_hi using electronic gating based on dsred fluorescence intensity ( fig. 31 ). the facs-sorted subpopulations, as well as an unenriched control sample were plated in separate wells of a 24-well tissue culture dish and allowed to undergo gene-editing. the cells receiving a knock-in edit display a gfp-to-bfp conversion phenotype. 120 hours after nucleofection, subpopulations of cells enriched for dsred expression by facs sorting, which was indicative of enrichment for the presence of create fusion editing machinery, were analyzed by facs for levels of gfp or bfp expression. the percentage of cell counts in the gfp-positive (wild-type or no edit), gfp-negative (nhej-mediated insertion or deletion frameshift), or bfp-positive (hdr-mediated precise conversion of gfp to bfp sequence) quadrants of the facs dot plot were quantified and compared across samples ( fig. 32 ). for mad7-based editing, unenriched populations were 89% gfp-positive (wt), 10% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 1% bfp-positive (hdr). cells that were enriched for mad7-linked dsred expression were 14-16% gfp-positive (wt), 21-78% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 3-9% bfp-positive (hdr), depending on the dsred subpopulation selected for sorting (dsred_all, dsred-lo, or dsred_hi). for create-fusion-based editing, unenriched populations were 87% gfp-positive (wt), 3% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 9% bfp-positive (hdr). cells that were enriched for mad7-linked dsred expression were 25-55% gfp-positive (wt), 4-7% gfp and bfp-negative (nhej), and 25-68% bfp-positive (hdr), depending on the dsred subpopulation selected for sorting (dsred_all, dsred-lo, or dsred_hi). these results demonstrate that enrichment for editing machinery uptake can yield a population of cells with higher proportions of cells with precise edits for both mad7-create and create-fusion editing systems. example xii: create fusion editing with single grna create fusion editing was carried out in mammalian cells using a single guide rna covalently linked to a homology arm having an intended edit to the native sequence and an edit that disrupts nuclease cleavage at this site. the basic protocol is set forth in fig. 32 . briefly, lentiviral vectors were produced using the following protocol: 1000 ng of lentiviral transfer plasmid containing the create fusion cassettes ( figs. 23 and 24 ) along with 1500 ng of lentiviral packaging plasmids (virasafe lentivirus packaging system cell biolabs) were transfected into hek293t cells using lipofectamine ltx in 6-well plates. media containing the lentivirus was collected 72 hrs post transfection. two clones of a lentiviral create fusion grna-ha design were chosen, and an empty lentiviral backbone was included as negative control. the day before the transduction, 200,000 hek293t cells were seeded in six well plates. different volumes of create′ lentivirus (10 to 1000 μl) was added to hek293t cells in six well plates along with 10 μg/ml of polybrene. 48 hours after transduction, media with 15 μg/ml of blasticidin was added to the wells. cells were maintained in selection for one week. following selection, the well with lowest number of surviving cells was selected for future experiments (<5% cells) the constructs cfe2.1, cfe2.2 (as shown in fig. 25 ) or wild-type spcas9 were electroporated into hek293t cells using the neon transfection system (thermo fisher scientific, waltham, mass.). briefly, 400 ng of total plasmid dna was mixed with 100,000 cells in buffer r in a total of 150 volume. the 10 μl neon tip was used to electroporate cells using 2 pulses of 20 ms and 1150 v. cells were analyzed on the flow cytometer 80 hrs post electroporation. as shown in figs. 34a and 34b , unenriched editing rates of up to 15% were achieved from single copy delivery of grna when the editing was combined with computational selection of rfp+ cells, however, enriched editing rates of up to 30% were achieved from a single copy delivery grna. this enrichment via selection of cells receiving the editing machinery was shown to result in a 2-fold increase in precise, complete intended edits ( fig. 35 ) two or more enrichment/delivery steps can also be used to achieve higher editing rates of create fusion editing in an automated instrument, e.g., use of a module for cell handle enrichment and identification of cells having bfp expression. when the method enriched for cells that have higher grna expression levels, the editing rate was even further increased, and thus a growth and/or enrichment module of the instrument may include grna enrichment. example xiii: trackable create fusion editing dual cassette architecture combining the enhanced editing efficiency and decreased toxicity of the create fusion system with a tracking or recording technology provides a novel way to implement tracking of large genomic libraries using create fusion editing as carried out in massively parallel or combinatorial formats. examples of such recording technologies useful with the methods of the present disclosure include those described in u.s. pat. no. 10,017,760, 10,294,473 and 10,287,575, which are each incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. a simple example of how this can be implemented is shown in figs. 35a and 35b . a create fusion enzyme comprising the nickase and rt activities is encoded on the same plasmid or amplicon as a dual create cassette fusion system ( fig. 35a ). create cassette 1 encodes the grna-ha targeting sequences that once transcribed into rna are necessary to guide nick-translation based editing at a functional site of interest in the chromosome. create cassette 2 encodes a second grna-ha set that targets an inert secondary site, for example the 3′ utr of a pseudogene as one possible location to integrate a dna barcode that is unique for each target site variant. in this exemplary embodiment, the covalent coupling of the grna-ha elements within each editing cassette function to colocalize the rna for efficient reverse transcription at each nick site to drive the editing process at each locus. meanwhile the covalent coupling between cassettes ensures the two edits are highly correlated at the single cell level. the unique identity of the barcode sequence encoded in create cassette 2, once integrated, thus serves as a trackable genomic barcode that can report the identity of edits across the genome based on sequencing or other molecular readouts of a fixed chromosomal position. this barcoding approach reduces the complexity of downstream population sequencing to simple pcr amplicon sequencing assays. as an additional example this recording logic can be further expanded to cover combinatorial edits within a single cell by the inclusion of additional create cassettes ( fig. 35b ). here the recording site and unique barcode are maintained, but the editing sites encompass ≥2 targets within the same cell. in this case the barcode now provides a report of combinatorial editing events on a single cell level and allows fitness tracking and computational de-convolution of combinatorial edited cell populations using the trackable barcode feature. while this invention is satisfied by embodiments in many different forms, as described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments of the invention, it is understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as exemplary of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated and described herein. numerous variations may be made by persons skilled in the art without departure from the spirit of the invention. the scope of the invention will be measured by the appended claims and their equivalents. the abstract and the title are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention, as their purpose is to enable the appropriate authorities, as well as the general public, to quickly determine the general nature of the invention. in the claims that follow, unless the term “means” is used, none of the features or elements recited therein should be construed as means-plus-function limitations pursuant to 35 u.s.c. § 112, ¶6.
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054-103-188-806-621
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US
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[
"US"
] |
A61B5/22,A61B5/00,A61B5/11,A63B21/008,A63B23/20
| 2011-02-17T00:00:00 |
2011
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[
"A61",
"A63"
] |
therapeutic pelvic region analyzer and method of use thereof
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a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer and method of use thereof that includes an expandable device sized and shaped for insertion into an opening in a pelvic region of a user and a collapsible reservoir fluidly coupled to the expandable device. the collapsible reservoir is configured to temporarily retain and expel an amount of fluid. a tube defining a fluid-flow path for the amount of fluid is between the expandable device and the collapsible reservoir. the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer also includes fluid-flow control valve disposed between the expandable device and the collapsible reservoir. the fluid-flow control valve is operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount fluid passes from the expandable device to the collapsible reservoir.
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1 . a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer comprising: an expandable device sized and shaped for insertion into an opening in a pelvic region of a user; a collapsible reservoir fluidly coupled to the expandable device and configured to temporarily retain and expel an amount of fluid; a tube defining a fluid-flow path for the amount of fluid between the expandable device and the collapsible reservoir; and a fluid-flow control valve disposed between the expandable device and the collapsible reservoir and operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount of fluid passes from the expandable device to the collapsible reservoir. 2 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 1 , wherein: the expandable device is made of a non-elastic material. 3 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 1 , wherein: the expandable device is a distention bag. 4 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 1 , wherein: the collapsible reservoir is a fluid dispensing bulb having a reservoir body made of a pliable material. 5 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 1 , further comprising: a pressure reading device coupled to the fluid-flow control valve and operable to measure a pressure exerted by a user in response to the level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. 6 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 5 , wherein: the fluid-flow control valve is coupled to the pressure reading device through a pressure port disposed on the fluid-flow control valve. 7 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 1 , wherein: the amount of fluid is a quantity of water. 8 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 1 , further comprising: a stop member coupled to the expandable device, the stop member including a width larger than a width of the expandable device. 9 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 1 , wherein: the expandable device, the collapsible reservoir, and the tube form a pressure tolerant sealed system. 10 . a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer comprising: an expandable device sized and shaped for insertion into an opening in a pelvic region of a user; a reservoir fluidly coupled to the expandable device and configured to retain and expel an amount of fluid; a tube defining a fluid-flow path for the amount of fluid between the expandable device and the reservoir; a fluid-flow control valve disposed between the expandable device and the reservoir and operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount of fluid passes from the expandable device to the reservoir; and a pressure reading device coupled to the fluid-flow control valve and operable to measure a pressure exerted by a user in response to the selectively variable level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. 11 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 10 , wherein: the expandable device is a foldable distention bag. 12 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 10 , wherein: the reservoir includes a squeezable body sized and shaped to fit within a palm of a user's hand. 13 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 10 , wherein: the expandable device, the collapsible reservoir, and the tube form a pressure tolerant sealed system. 14 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 10 , wherein: the pressure reading device is coupled to the fluid-flow control valve through a pressure port disposed on the fluid-flow control valve. 15 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 10 , wherein: the pressure reading device is operably configured to: provide an indication of a muscle squeeze strength of the user in response to the selectively variable level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve.; and provide an indication of a muscle endurance in response to the selectively variable level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. 16 . the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to claim 10 , wherein: the amount of fluid is a quantity of water. 17 . a method for providing pelvic region therapy, the method comprising: providing a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer comprising: an expandable device sized and shaped for insertion into an opening in a pelvic region of a user; a reservoir fluidly coupled to the expandable device and configured to temporarily retain and expel an amount of fluid; a tube defining a fluid-flow path for the amount of fluid between the expandable device and the reservoir; and a fluid-flow control valve disposed between the expandable device and the reservoir and operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount of fluid passes from the expandable device to the reservoir; inserting the expandable device in the pelvic region of the user; expelling the amount of fluid from the reservoir to the expandable device along the fluid-flow path; and instructing the user to contract the pelvic region to expel the amount of fluid from the expandable device in a direction to the reservoir. 18 . the method for providing pelvic region therapy according to claim 17 , further comprising: adjusting the fluid-flow control valve to provide a select level of resistance as the amount of fluid passes from the expandable device to the reservoir. 19 . the method for providing pelvic region therapy according to claim 17 , further comprising: providing a pressure reading device coupled to the fluid-flow control valve, the pressure reading device operable to measure a pressure exerted by the user in response to the select level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. 20 . the method for providing pelvic region therapy according to claim 19 , further comprising: repeating the step of expelling the amount of fluid from the reservoir to the expandable device along the fluid-flow path to provide pelvic region therapy to the user.
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cross-reference to related application this application is a continuation-in-part application and claims priority to u.s. application ser. no. 13/399,906, filed on feb. 17, 2012, which claims priority to u.s. provisional application no. 61/443,759, filed on feb. 17, 2011; the entirety of these applications are incorporated by reference. statement regarding federally sponsored research or development not applicable. field of the invention the present disclosure lies in the field of pelvic floor dysfunction and, more particularly, relates to methods and devices for providing pelvic floor dysfunction therapeutics and diagnostics. background of the invention pelvic floor dysfunction, e.g., urinary or anal incontinence, constipation, and pelvic pain, may be treated by medical professionals or therapists with the use of pelvic rehabilitation. pelvic rehabilitation is the use of electrical stimulation to increase the muscle awareness, recruitment, strength, tone, and endurance of targeted muscles in the pelvic region. in one type of pelvic rehabilitation program, patients are given six weeks therapy of anal electrical stimulation and weekly education on a prescribed exercise program to be performed daily in the patients' homes. the prescribed exercise program includes contracting the targeted muscle(s) for a first predetermined amount of time and relaxing the targeted muscle(s) for a second predetermined amount of time. this exercise (or cycle) is normally performed a predetermined number of times in a row and repeated a predetermined number of times each day. fifty percent of the treatment success is due to patient participation. the patient needs to identify the correct muscle(s), squeeze the muscle, hold the muscle, and then relax the muscle. when patients are with the therapist, they are able to successfully perform the exercises through constant education and monitoring. however, when patients are in between treatments while at home, they may perform the exercise improperly and not in accordance with the proper technique learned in the therapy sessions. the patients' muscle may become weak and it will become even harder for them to identify the proper muscle, thereby making it impossible to do the exercises correctly. fig. 1 illustrates a side view of the rectum and anus, which are sections of the lower gastrointestinal tract. various muscles, muscle layers, and other layers of the rectum and anus are shown, e.g. the mucosa, the levator ani muscle, fatty tissue, the puborectalis muscle, and the dentate line. the internal sphincter and external sphincter of the anus are the muscles that targeted to treat anal incontinence, a certain type of pelvic floor dysfunction. usually, diagnoses, and treatments, of anal incontinence are performed with a medical professional using an anorectal manometry device. anorectal manometry devices are very expensive; they can cost upwards of $40,000. because it is a very expensive device for a medical professional to purchase, it is even more impractical for a patient to have the anorectal manometry device in their home. in addition, solesta® is a gel that is used to treat anal incontinence but is only prescribed by doctors after a proper diagnosis of a patient has been obtained using the expensive prior art anorectal manometry device. it would be desirable to eliminate the need to diagnose such conditions without using the expensive prior art anorectal manometry device. thus, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art systems, designs, and processes as discussed above. summary of the invention the invention provides a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer and methods of use thereof that overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and that provides personal pelvic floor dysfunction therapy. with the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer including an expandable device for insertion in a pelvic region of a user and a collapsible reservoir fluidly coupled to the expandable device. the collapsible reservoir is configured to temporarily retain and expel an amount of fluid. the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer also includes a tube defining a fluid-flow path for the amount of fluid between the expandable device and the collapsible reservoir. a fluid-flow control valve is disposed between the expandable device and the collapsible reservoir and is operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount fluid passes from the expandable device to the collapsible reservoir. in accordance with another feature of the present invention, the expandable device is made of a non-elastic material. in accordance with another feature of the present invention, the expandable device is a distention bag. in accordance with yet another feature of the present invention, the collapsible reservoir is a fluid dispensing bulb having a reservoir body made of a pliable material. in accordance with another feature of the present invention, the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer also includes a pressure reading device coupled to the fluid-flow control valve and operable to measure a pressure exerted by a user in response to the level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the fluid-flow control valve is coupled to the pressure reading device through a pressure port disposed on the fluid-flow control valve. in accordance with another feature of the present invention, the amount of fluid is a quantity of water. in accordance with another feature, the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer includes a stop member coupled to the expandable device. the stop member includes a width larger than a width of the expandable device. in accordance with another feature of the present invention, the expandable device, the collapsible reservoir, and the tube form a pressure tolerant sealed system. in accordance with another feature, an embodiment of the present invention includes a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer having an elastic expandable device for insertion in a pelvic region of a user and a reservoir fluidly coupled to the expandable device and configured to retain and expel an amount of fluid. the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer also includes a tube defining a fluid-flow path for the amount of fluid between the expandable device and the reservoir. a fluid-flow control valve is disposed between the expandable device and the reservoir and operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount of fluid passes from the expandable device to the reservoir. the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer further includes a pressure reading device coupled to the fluid-flow control valve. the pressure reading device is operable to measure a pressure exerted by a user in response to the selectively variable level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the expandable device is a foldable distention bag. in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the reservoir includes a squeezable body sized and shaped to fit within a palm of a user's hand. in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the expandable device, the collapsible reservoir, and the tube form a pressure tolerant sealed system. in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the pressure reading device is coupled to the fluid-flow control valve through a pressure port disposed on the fluid-flow control valve. in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the pressure reading device is operably configured to provide an indication of a muscle squeeze strength of the user in response to the selectively variable level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve and provide an indication of a muscle endurance in response to the selectively variable level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. in accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the amount of fluid is a quantity of water. in accordance with the present invention, a method for providing pelvic region therapy includes providing a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer including an expandable device for insertion in a pelvic region of a user, a reservoir fluidly coupled to the expandable device and configured to temporarily retain and expel an amount of fluid, and a tube defining a fluid-flow path for the amount of fluid between the expandable device and the reservoir. the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer may also include a fluid-flow control valve disposed between the expandable device and the reservoir. the fluid-flow control valve may be operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount of fluid passes from the expandable device to the reservoir. the method also includes inserting the expandable device in the pelvic region of the user, expelling the amount of fluid from the reservoir to the expandable device along the fluid-flow path, and instructing the user to contract the pelvic region to expel the amount of fluid from the expandable device in a direction to the reservoir. in accordance with the present invention, the method also includes adjusting the fluid-flow control valve to provide a select level of resistance as the amount of fluid passes from the expandable device to the reservoir. in accordance with the present invention, the method also includes providing a pressure reading device coupled to the fluid-flow control valve. the pressure reading device operable to measure a pressure exerted by the user in response to the select level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve. in accordance with the present invention, the method further includes repeating the step of expelling the amount of fluid from the reservoir to the expandable device along the fluid-flow path to provide pelvic region therapy to the user. although the invention is illustrated and described herein as a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer and methods of use thereof, it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention. additional advantages and other features characteristic of the present invention will be set forth in the detailed description that follows and may be apparent from the detailed description or may be learned by practice of exemplary embodiments of the invention. still other advantages of the invention may be realized by any of the instrumentalities, methods, or combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. other features that are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. as required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description of the invention. while the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. brief description of the drawings the accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, which are not true to scale, and which, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to illustrate further various embodiments and explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present disclosure. advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following description of the exemplary embodiments thereof, which description should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an anus, rectum, and associated internal and external sphincter muscles; fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a probe, sensor, cover, and base of an analyzer; fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the base of fig. 2 ; fig. 4 is a perspective view from the side of the analyzer of fig. 2 ; fig. 5 is a block circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a diagnostic device according to the invention; fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method for providing personal pelvic floor dysfunction therapy according to the invention; fig. 7 is a perspective view from the side of another exemplary embodiment of an analyzer according to the invention; fig. 8 is a bottom perspective and partially exploded view of a base, a main air tube, a bifurcated joint, and a valve of the analyzer of fig. 7 ; fig. 9 is a block circuit diagram of another exemplary embodiment of an analyzer according to the invention; fig. 10 is a flow chart of a method for providing rectal sensation compliance diagnostics, according to one embodiment; fig. 11 is a flow chart of a method for providing anal monometry diagnostics, according to one embodiment; fig. 12 is a flow chart of a method for providing rectal anal inhibitory reflex diagnostics, according to one embodiment; fig. 13 is a fragmentary, perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an analyzer according to the invention; fig. 14 is a fragmentary, enlarged, cross-sectional view of the analyzer of fig. 13 ; fig. 15 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the analyzer of fig. 13 when ready to perform rectal sensation threshold tone and compliance diagnostic tests; fig. 16 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the analyzer of figs. 13 , 14 , and 15 ; fig. 17 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view of the analyzer of fig. 13 ; fig. 18 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the analyzer of fig. 13 when ready to perform a rair diagnostic test; fig. 19 is a perspective view of the analyzer of figs. 13 , 17 , and 18 ; fig. 20 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional plan view of the analyzer of fig. 13 ; fig. 21 is a perspective view of another exemplary embodiment of the analyzer of fig. 13 ; fig. 22 is a user interface flow diagram for an exemplary embodiment for operating the analyzer according to the invention; fig. 23 is a block circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an electronics architecture according to the invention; fig. 24 is a diagrammatic illustration of a display shown on the analyzer according to the invention during a rair test with both normal and abnormal plots; fig. 25 is a top perspective view of a handheld device 2500 that provides biofeedback, according to one embodiment; fig. 26 is a perspective view of handheld device 2500 for use with a probe, according to one embodiment; fig. 27 is a block circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an electronics architecture according to the invention; and fig. 28 is a device 2800 for providing pelvic region diagnostic information, according to one embodiment; fig. 29 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer according to the invention; fig. 30 is a perspective view of the therapeutic pelvic region analyzer of fig. 29 having a pressure reading device coupled thereto according to the invention; and fig. 31 is a flow diagram for an exemplary embodiment for providing pelvic region therapy according to the invention. detailed description as required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which can be embodied in various forms. therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description of the disclosure. while the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the disclosure that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the disclosure will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit or the scope of the disclosure. additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure. before the present disclosure is disclosed and described, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. the terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. the term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. the term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. the terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). the term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof are intended to cover a nonexclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. an element proceeded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. as used herein, the term “about” or “approximately” applies to all numeric values, whether or not explicitly indicated. these terms generally refer to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would consider equivalent to the recited values (i.e., having the same function or result). in many instances these terms may include numbers that are rounded to the nearest significant figure. the terms “program,” “software,” “software application,” and the like as used herein, are defined as a sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. a “program,” “software,” “computer program,” or “software application” may include a subroutine, a function, a procedure, an object method, an object implementation, an executable application, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an object code, a shared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. herein various embodiments of the present disclosure are described. in many of the different embodiments, features are similar. therefore, to avoid redundancy, repetitive description of these similar features may not be made in some circumstances. it shall be understood, however, that description of a first-appearing feature applies to the later described similar feature and each respective description, therefore, is to be incorporated therein without such repetition. described now are exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to fig. 2 , there is shown a first exemplary embodiment of an analyzer 200 of the present invention with the parts separated from one another. the analyzer 200 comprises a probe 203 , a cover 215 , and a base 220 . the probe 203 has a proximal end 205 and a distal end 207 . in this exemplary embodiment, the sensor 210 is disposed at an intermediate portion of probe 203 , e.g., at a midpoint thereof, and is integrated with probe 203 . the base 220 may be attached to the proximal end 205 of the probe 203 or, if desired, it can be fixed thereto. the base 220 has a flap 225 and a grasper 230 . in an exemplary embodiment, the probe 203 is of hard plastic, such as, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and polytetrafluoroethylene (ptfe). the grasper 230 may be a ring, knob, or other handle that allows a user of the analyzer 200 to insert and remove the analyzer from a desired area of the user's pelvic floor region. in an exemplary embodiment, the desired pelvic floor region can be anal or vaginal. the base 220 can be of soft rubber or latex for comfort of a user fig. 3 shows a view from the bottom of the base 220 with its flap 225 and grasper 230 , in the form of a ring. returning to fig. 2 , the cover 215 has a proximal end 217 and a distal end 219 . the cover 215 may be placed over the probe 203 and the sensor 210 . the cover 215 may be any soft material capable of keeping bodily fluids away from the sensor 210 and the probe 203 . in one exemplary embodiment, cover 215 is soft rubber or latex or silicone, which allows for easier insertion and comfort as well. fig. 4 illustrates a side view of the exemplary embodiment of the analyzer 200 . in this view, the analyzer 200 can be said to be shaped similar to a baby's pacifier. for assembly, the cover 215 is placed over the probe 203 and the sensor 210 , and is sized to either snugly or loosely fit the probe 203 therein. then, the proximal end 205 of the probe 203 is attached to the base 220 to clamp fix the cover 215 there between until the base 220 is removed. in the exemplary embodiment, the probe 203 and the cover 215 are fixedly attached to the base 220 . analyzer 200 may be used in conjunction with an outer covering or sleeve (similar to a thin covering used by doctors to cover thermometers so that the thermometer may be reused without having to sanitize). analyzer 200 may also be used without such an outer sleeve, in which case it must be sanitized according to accepted medical practice and procedures. in use for the anus, for example, the distal end 207 of the probe 203 is inserted into the rectum. the sensor 210 receives indication of a muscle squeeze, i.e., squeezing of the internal and/or external sphincter as the rectum tightens on the distal end 207 . the analyzer 200 emits a sound that indicates strength of the muscle squeeze. in one exemplary embodiment, a volume of the sound increases in accordance with the strength, e.g., pressure, that is exerted by the muscle(s) on the sensor 210 . alternatively, or additionally, a frequency of the sound is changed (upwards or downwards) dependent upon the amount of pressure exerted upon the probe 203 . a duration of the sound, i.e., the time that the pressure is imparted corresponding to a contraction of the muscle, indicates endurance of the exercise. muscle squeezes by a user having a strength and endurance meeting a threshold are indicated by the analyzer 200 to the user to be “successful.” success may be indicated to the user audibly, visually, or via the use of a vibrator. fig. 5 is a block circuit diagram of an example device 500 for performing diagnostic tests according to the invention. specifically, the device 500 can be employed to provide personal pelvic floor rehabilitation therapy and, therefore, may be implemented in the analyzer 200 . the device 500 comprises a processor (cpu) 510 , a memory 520 (e.g., random access memory (ram) and/or read only memory (rom)), a therapy module 540 , a power source 550 , and various input/output devices 530 (for example, a sensor (e.g., sensor 210 ), a light source operating as a visual indicator, and an indicator operating using vibration). the power source 550 may be alternating current (ac) or a battery. in one embodiment, the analyzer 200 , 500 is a portable, handheld device having a rechargeable power source 550 . it should be understood that therapy module 540 can be implemented as one or more physical devices that are coupled to the cpu 510 through a communication channel. alternatively, therapy module 540 can be represented by one or more software applications (or even a combination of software and hardware, e.g., using application specific integrated circuits (asic)), where the software is loaded from a storage medium, (e.g., a magnetic or optical drive or diskette) and operated by the cpu in the memory 520 of the computer. as such, therapy module 540 (including associated data structures) of the present disclosure can be stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, e.g., ram memory, magnetic or optical drive or diskette and the like. fig. 6 illustrates a method 600 for providing personal pelvic floor dysfunction therapy according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention. method 600 may be implemented in analyzer 200 , 500 . method 600 starts at step 605 and proceeds to step 610 , where a pressure indication is received from a sensor, e.g. sensor 210 . at step 615 , an indication of muscle squeeze strength is provided. in one embodiment, the indication of muscle squeeze strength is any or both of a volume or a frequency of a sound. for example, the volume of the sound increases in accordance with the strength of the muscle squeeze. at step 620 , an indication of muscle endurance is provided. in one exemplary embodiment, the indication of muscle endurance is a length of time that the sound lasts, corresponding to a held muscle squeeze exerting a certain pressure. at step 625 , an indication is provided when a successful muscle squeeze is achieved. the successful muscle squeeze indication may be provided aurally, visually, or through a vibrator indicator. method 600 ends at step 630 . fig. 7 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of an analyzer 700 of the present invention, which comprises a probe 703 , a cover 715 , a base 720 , a balloon 735 , a pressure reading window 740 , a valve 745 ( fig. 8 ), a main air tube 756 , and a secondary air tube 750 . the probe 703 has a proximal end 705 and a distal end 707 . this embodiment can serve as a device to perform a hand-held, anal/rectal manometry/rectal sensation tone and compliance test. as is known, anal/rectal manometry measures the pressure of the anal sphincter for constipation and/or anal incontinence due to carious disorders. this device is used, for example, as a diagnostic tool for patients with such constipation and/or anal incontinence. in this exemplary embodiment, the sensor 710 is disposed at an intermediate portion of probe 203 , e.g., at a midpoint thereof, and is integrated with the probe 703 . the base 720 may be attached to the proximal end 705 of the probe 703 or, if desired, it can be fixed thereto. the base 720 has a flap 725 and a grasper 730 . in an exemplary embodiment, the probe 203 is of hard plastic, such as, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and polytetrafluoroethylene (ptfe). the grasper 730 may be a ring, knob, or other handle that allows a user of the analyzer 700 to insert and remove the analyzer from a desired area of the user's pelvic floor region. in an exemplary embodiment, the desired pelvic floor region can be anal or vaginal. the base 720 can be of soft rubber or latex or silicone for comfort of a user. the cover 715 has a proximal end 717 and a distal end 719 . the cover 715 may be placed over probe 703 and sensor 710 . the cover 715 may be any soft material capable of keeping bodily fluids away from the sensor 710 and the probe 703 . in one exemplary embodiment, the cover 715 is soft rubber or latex, which allows for easier insertion and comfort as well. the analyzer 700 can be said to be shaped similar to a baby's pacifier. for assembly, the cover 715 is places over the probe 703 and the sensor 710 , and is sized to either snugly or loosely fit the probe 703 therein. then, the proximal end 705 of the probe 703 is attached to base 720 to clamp fix the cover 715 there between until the base 720 is removed. also provided is a balloon assembly. the secondary air tube 750 of the balloon assembly has a proximal end 752 and a distal end 754 . the secondary air tube 750 is placed alongside the cover 715 and runs to a bifurcated joint 765 (see fig. 8 ) at flap 725 of base 720 . the distal end 754 of the secondary air tube 750 is attached to the balloon 735 . in one exemplary embodiment, the balloon 735 , when inflated is extended six inches above the distal end 719 of the cover 715 . in one exemplary embodiment, the probe 703 and the cover 715 are fixedly attached to base 720 . analyzer 700 may be used in conjunction with an outer covering or sleeve (similar to a thin covering used by doctors to cover thermometers so that the thermometer may be reused without having to sanitize). analyzer 700 may also be used without such an outer covering, in which case, it must be sanitized according to accepted medical practices and procedures. viewed from the bottom of the base 720 , fig. 8 shows a mam air tube 756 , a bifurcated joint 765 , and a valve 745 . the proximal end 752 (see fig. 7 ) of the secondary air tube 750 is attached to the bifurcated joint 765 . a distal end 757 of the main air tube 756 is attached to the bifurcated joint 765 at the flap 725 . a proximal end 759 of the main air tube 756 is attached to the valve 745 , which is used to prevent air from expelling out from balloon 735 until desired. in one exemplary embodiment, the valve 745 is a luer-lock, two-way valve with the main air tube 756 attached to the valve 745 . in one exemplary embodiment, the valve 745 may have a sensor 770 that measures pressure on the balloon 735 . in another exemplary embodiment, the valve 745 may also be attached to a tube 770 (which is coupled to an external device) that is used to measure pressure on balloon 735 . the base 720 includes a pressure reading window 740 , which may be integrated in the flap 725 or the grasper 730 , for example, in a case where the grasper 730 is a knob or any other solidly shaped object allowing for placement of the pressure reading window. in one exemplary embodiment, the pressure reading window 740 is a digital pressure reading window. the pressure reading window 740 is electronically coupled (coupling not shown) to sensor 710 and provides pressure information from the sensor 710 to the pressure reading window 740 . during an exemplary diagnostic test according to the invention, the analyzer 700 , including the balloon 735 , is inserted into the pelvic floor region of the patient. in one exemplary embodiment, a distal end of the analyzer 700 (e.g., distal ends 707 , 719 ) is inserted into the rectum of a patient until the flap 725 of the analyzer 700 abuts the anus of the patient. air is caused to enter the balloon 735 (e.g., using a syringe 760 ) through the valve 745 . the pressurized air fills the balloon 735 through the main 756 and secondary 750 air tubes diagnostic tests (as described below with respect to figs. 10 , 11 , and 12 ) may be performed on the patient by a medical professional using responses from the patient and readings from pressure reading window 740 . these tests may be performed when the balloon 735 is empty, as the balloon 735 fills with air, or as air is released from the balloon 735 , as set forth in accordance with the diagnostic tests. fig. 9 is a block circuit diagram of an example device 900 for performing diagnostic tests according to the invention. specifically, the device 900 can be employed to provide pelvic floor rehabilitation therapy and diagnostics and, therefore, may be implemented in the analyzer 700 . the device 900 comprises a processor (cpu) 910 , a memory 920 (e.g., a random access memory (ram) and/or read only memory (rom)), a therapy module 940 , a diagnostic module 945 , a power source 950 , and various input/output devices 930 including, for example, a sensor (e.g., sensor 710 ), a light source operating as a visual indicator, an indicator operating using vibration, storage devices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, a hard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, a universal serial bus (usb) mass storage, a network attached storage, and/or a storage device on a network cloud). a receiver 930 and a transmitter 930 (e.g., transceiver) may be used for short-range wireless protocol communication, e.g. wi-fi®, bluetooth®. the device 700 , 900 may communicate with a smart phone, a tablet, or another computing device via the short-range wireless protocol in order to provide data from the device 700 , 900 to a diagnostic application residing on the smart phone, tablet, or computing device. likewise, the device 700 , 900 may communicate with a smart phone, tablet, or other computing device using a usb connection. data may be provided from device 700 , 900 to the diagnostic application residing on the smart phone, tablet, or other computing device using the usb connection. the power source 950 may be alternating current (ac) or a battery. in one exemplary embodiment, the analyzer 700 , 900 is a portable, handheld device having a rechargeable power source 950 . it should be understood that therapy module 940 and diagnostic module 945 can be implemented as one or more physical devices that are coupled to the cpu 910 through a communication channel. alternatively, therapy module 940 and diagnostic module 945 can be represented by one or more software applications (or even a combination of software and hardware, e.g., using application specific integrated circuits (asic)), where the software is loaded from a storage medium, (e.g., a magnetic or optical drive or diskette) and operated by the cpu in the memory 920 of the computer. as such, therapy module 940 and diagnostic module 945 (including associated data structures) of the present disclosure can be stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, e.g., ram memory, magnetic or optical drive or diskette and the like. fig. 10 illustrates a diagram of a method 1000 according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention. method 1000 comprises an anal manometry diagnostic test for performance by a device, e.g., device 700 , 900 . method 1000 begins at step 1005 . a patient is placed in a left lateral position. spine alignment is not needed when using the analyzer 700 , 900 . the analyzer 700 , 900 is lubricated and inserted into the rectum to a 6 cm marking of secondary tube 750 at the anal verge. as a frame of reference, the balloon 735 is located at a 1 cm marking on the secondary tube 750 . while looking at the analyzer display screen 740 (whether on the base 220 , 720 or on a separate, device communicating with the sensor 210 , 710 , for example, in figs. 13 , 16 , 19 , and 21 ), a diagnostician using the device slowly moves the analyzer back and forth from the 6 cm mark to a 2 cm marker at the anal verge to find and record both the resting and highest pressure. typically, the highest resting pressure is found when the marker of secondary tube 750 is between 3 cm and 4 cm inferior of the anal verge. at step 1010 , a pressure reading mode of the device is entered. pressure readings may be read from display screen 740 , whether on the base 220 , 720 or on the separate device. the patient rests quietly with no squeezing or straining for 20-30 seconds while a resting pressure is recorded at step 1015 . resting pressure approximates the internal anal sphincter muscle. at step 1020 , a highest squeeze pressure is recorded. the patient is instructed to squeeze as hard as possible for 5 seconds. the maximum squeeze pressure is then recorded. maximum squeeze pressure approximates the external anal sphincter muscle. method 1000 either ends at step 1025 , or proceeds to step 1110 of fig. 11 . fig. 11 illustrates a diagram of a method 1100 according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention. method 1100 comprises a recto-anal inhibitory reflex (rair) diagnostic test performed by device 700 , 900 . method 1100 either starts at step 1105 or is initiated after a user proceeds from step 1020 to step 1110 . at step 1110 , a graphing mode of the device is entered. device 700 , 900 should be within the rectum at the high resting pressure zone of the patient, e.g., where the marker of secondary tube 750 is about 3 cm to 4 cm inferior of the anal verge. at step 1115 , a patient response to rapid introduction of air into and rapid withdrawal of air out from the balloon 735 is measured. using an inflation device, e.g., syringe 760 , 40 cc to 60 cc of air is abruptly plunged into balloon 735 and, within 2 to 4 seconds thereafter, the air is completely withdrawn from the balloon to identify whether rair is present. when balloon 735 is rapidly inflated, a normal patient will exhibit a particular reflex. absence of such a reflex is a clear indication of hirschsprung' s disease. method 1100 either ends at step 1120 , or proceeds to step 1210 of fig. 12 . fig. 12 illustrates a diagram of a further method 1200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. method 1200 comprises a rectal sensation threshold tone and compliance diagnostic test performed by device 700 , 900 . method 1200 either starts at step 1205 or is initiated after a user proceeds from step 1115 to step 1210 . at step 1210 , a pressure reading mode of the device is entered. the balloon 735 is placed in the rectal ampulla of a patient, e.g., where the marker of the secondary tube 750 is at 6 cm interior of the anal verge. the patient will be instructed to respond to at least two sensory thresholds. at step 1215 , a gradual increase of air is received in the balloon 735 until the patient indicates a first sensation—the point at which a patient starts to feel the balloon 735 filling with air. with the indication of the first sensation, at step 1220 , a first pressure reading and a first volume of air are recorded. at step 1225 , a further gradual increase of air is received in the balloon 735 until the patient indicates a second sensation—the point at which the patient feels the need to defecate. with the indication of the second sensation, at step 1230 , a second pressure reading and a second volume of air are recorded. at step 1235 , a further gradual increase of air is received in the balloon 735 until the patient indicates a third sensation—the point at which the patient is at a maximum tolerable sensation to defecate (i.e., the patient feels that they can no longer hold in their feces). at the indication of the third sensation, at step 1240 , a third pressure reading and a third volume of air are recorded. at step 1245 , a compliance value is determined based upon the pressure readings. these pressure readings are recorded on the hand-held device 700 , 900 so that the medical professional may make notes in the patient's chart. typical ranges for first, second, and third sensation recorded air volumes are 40 cc to 90 cc, 120 cc to 140 cc, and 200 cc to 300 cc, respectively. prior art devices only record up to 300 cc maximum air volume. however, the present device 700 , 900 may allow for recording of pressure values at volumes greater than 300 cc. the compliance value may be computed according to a difference of volumes divided by a difference of the two corresponding pressure readings, e.g., (v3−v2)/(p3−p2). the compliance value may also be computed by a recorded volume by its corresponding pressure reading, e.g. v2/p2. in one embodiment, the first sensation portion of the test is optional. in this embodiment, the medical professional performing the test would increase the amount of air in the balloon 735 until the patient feels the need to defecate. fig. 13 illustrates a perspective view of an analyzer 1300 according to one exemplary embodiment. in this embodiment, the analyzer is set up to perform an anal manometry diagnostic procedure, e.g., the procedure described in method 1000 . analyzer 1300 comprises a balloon 1335 , a probe 1380 , a sensor 1310 , a main air tube 1350 , an electrical connection 1375 , a pressure reading device 1340 , and a valve 1345 . the main air tube 1350 is disposed within the probe 1380 and is slideably engageable within the probe 1380 . in this embodiment, the balloon 1335 is retracted to a distal end 1307 of the probe 1380 in order to perform an anal manometry diagnostic procedure, however for anal manometry it does not matter where the balloon is placed. to begin the anal manometry diagnostic procedure, a patient is placed in a left lateral position. spine alignment is not needed when using the analyzer 1300 . the analyzer 1300 is lubricated and inserted into the rectum. the analyzer pressure reading device 1340 communicates with the sensor 1310 via the electrical connection 1375 . while looking at the analyzer pressure reading device display screen 1341 , a diagnostician using the device 1300 slowly moves the analyzer back and forth in the patient's rectum to find and record both the resting and highest pressure. a pressure reading mode of device 1340 is entered. pressure readings may be read from display screen 1341 , for example, with a number indicating psi or inches of mercury. the patient rests quietly with no squeezing or straining for 20-30 seconds while a resting pressure is recorded. the resting pressure approximates the internal anal sphincter muscle. the patient is instructed to squeeze as hard as possible for 5 seconds. the maximum squeeze pressure is then recorded by the device 1340 . maximum squeeze pressure approximates the external anal sphincter muscle. fig. 14 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a distal end of the analyzer 1300 . in this exemplary embodiment, the analyzer 1300 is set up to perform a rectal sensation threshold tone and compliance diagnostic test. the analyzer 1300 comprises the balloon 1335 , the probe 1380 , the sensor 1310 , the main air tube 1350 , and the electrical connection or coupling 1375 . in this embodiment, the balloon 1335 is extended from a distal end 1307 of probe 1380 in order to perform a rectal sensation threshold tone and compliance diagnostic procedure, e.g., the procedure described in method 1200 . the main air tube 1350 may be pushed through an opening in the proximal end 1305 of the probe 1380 in order to extend the balloon 1335 from the interior of the distal end 1307 of probe 1380 , and further into a patient's rectum in order to perform the procedure. fig. 15 illustrates a perspective view of the analyzer 1300 when the analyzer 1300 is set up to perform the rectal sensation threshold tone and compliance diagnostic test. fig. 16 illustrates a further embodiment of the elements shown in figs. 14 and 15 . in this embodiment, fig. 16 additionally shows a valve 1345 , a pressure reading device 1370 , an air tube 1385 , and a syringe 1360 . the proximal end 1352 of the air tube 1350 is attached to a distal side of the valve 1345 (with respect to the syringe 1360 ). the valve 1345 is used to prevent air from expelling out from balloon 1335 until desired. in one exemplary embodiment, the valve 1345 is a luer-lock, two-way valve. the valve 1345 is coupled to a pressure reading device 1370 that measures pressure on the balloon 1335 . when the balloon 1335 is extended as shown in figs. 14 , 15 , and 16 , analyzer 1300 may perform a rectal sensation threshold tone and compliance diagnostic test, e.g., method 1200 . a pressure reading mode of the device 1370 is entered. the balloon 1335 is extended distally from a distal end 1307 of probe 1380 such that the balloon 1335 is placed in the rectal ampulla of a patient. the patient will be instructed to respond to at least two sensory thresholds. a gradual increase of air is received in the balloon 1335 until the patient indicates a first sensation—the point at which a patient starts to feel the balloon 1335 filling with air. with the indication of the first sensation a first pressure reading and a first volume of air are recorded. a further gradual increase of air is received in the balloon 1335 until the patient indicates a second sensation—the point at which the patient feels the need to defecate. with the indication of the second sensation, a second pressure reading and a second volume of air are recorded. a further gradual increase of air is received in the balloon 1335 until the patient indicates a third sensation—the point at which the patient is at a maximum tolerable sensation to defecate (i.e., the patient feels that they can no longer hold in their feces). at the indication of the third sensation, a third pressure reading and a third volume of air are recorded. a compliance value is determined based upon the pressure readings. these pressure readings are recorded on the hand-held device 1370 so that the medical professional may make notes in the patient's chart. typical ranges for first, second, and third sensation recorded air volumes are 40 cc to 90 cc, 120 cc to 140 cc, and 200 cc to 300 cc, respectively. prior art devices only record up to 300 cc maximum air volume. however, the device of the present invention may allow for recording of pressure values at volumes greater than 300 cc. the compliance value may be computed according to a difference of volumes divided by a difference of the two corresponding pressure readings, e.g., (v3−v2)/(p3−p2). the compliance value may also be computed by a recorded volume through its corresponding pressure reading, e.g., v2/p2. in one exemplary embodiment, the first sensation portion of the test is optional. in this embodiment, the medical professional performing the test would increase the amount of air in the balloon 1335 until the patient feels the need to defecate. fig. 17 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the analyzer 1300 . in this exemplary embodiment, the analyzer is set up to perform a recto-anal inhibitory reflex (rair) diagnostic test. analyzer 1300 comprises the balloon 1335 , the probe 1380 , the sensor 1310 , the main air tube 1350 , and an electrical connection 1375 . in this embodiment, the balloon 1335 is retracted to a distal end 1307 of probe 1380 in order to perform a rair diagnostic procedure, e.g. the procedure described in method 1100 . air tube 1350 may be pulled through an opening in the proximal end 1305 of probe 1380 in order to retract balloon 1335 to the distal end 1307 of probe 1380 in order to perform the procedure. fig. 18 illustrates a perspective view of analyzer 1300 when the analyzer is set up to perform the rair diagnostic test. fig. 19 illustrates a further embodiment of the elements shown in figs. 17 and 18 . in this embodiment, fig. 19 additionally shows a valve 1345 , a pressure reading device 1340 , an air tube 1385 , and a syringe 1360 . the proximal end 1352 of the air tube 1350 is attached to the distal side of the valve 1345 . the valve 1345 is used to prevent air from expelling out from balloon 1335 until desired. in one exemplary embodiment, the valve 1345 is a luer-lock, two-way valve. the valve 1345 is coupled to a pressure reading device 1340 that measures pressure from the sensor 1310 . the analyzer 1300 may perform a recto-anal inhibitory reflex (rair) diagnostic test, e.g., in accordance with method 1100 . a graphing mode of the device 1340 is entered. the analyzer 1300 should be within the rectum at the high resting pressure zone of the patient. a patient response to rapid introduction of air into and rapid withdrawal of air out from the balloon 1335 is measured. the balloon is inserted further into the rectum and, using an inflation device, e.g., syringe 1360 , 40 cc to 60 cc of air is abruptly plunged into balloon 1335 . within 2 to 4 seconds thereafter, the air is completely withdrawn from the balloon. the pressure reading on the display 1341 can be used to identify whether rair is present. exemplary graphs 2405 , 2410 in fig. 24 showing possible visual responses for a rair diagnostic test on a graph meter, e.g., a graph mode presented on display 1341 , for both normal and abnormal conditions. recto-anal inhibitory reflex describes the relaxation of the internal anal sphincter in response to distention of the rectum. graph 2405 shows a visual representation of what a graph meter would record if rair is present, i.e., a normal condition. graph 2410 shows a visual representation of what a graph meter would record if rair is not present, i.e., an abnormal condition. when the balloon 1335 is rapidly inflated, a normal patient will exhibit a particular reflex shown, for example, in graph 2405 . absence of such a reflex (see graph 2410 ) is a clear indication of hirschsprung's disease. fig. 20 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the analyzer 1300 . in this exemplary embodiment, the analyzer 1300 is set up to perform either an anal manometry diagnostic test or a recto-anal inhibitory reflex (rair) diagnostic test. the analyzer 1300 comprises the balloon 1335 , the probe 1380 , the sensor 1310 , the main air tube 1350 , and the electrical connection 1375 . in this embodiment, the balloon 1335 is extended from a distal end 1307 of probe 1380 in order to perform, e.g., methods 1000 and 1100 . the air tube 1350 may be pulled through an opening in the proximal end 1305 of probe 1380 in order to retract balloon 1335 to the distal end 1307 of probe 1380 in order to perform any of the diagnostic procedures as desired. fig. 21 illustrates a perspective view of the analyzer 1300 , which comprises the balloon 1335 , the probe 1380 , the sensor 1310 , the main air tube 1350 , and the electrical connection 1375 . in this exemplary embodiment, the balloon 1335 is extended from a distal end 1307 of the probe 1380 in order to perform, e.g., methods 1000 and 1100 . the air tube 1350 may be pulled through an opening in the proximal end 1305 of probe 1380 in order to retract balloon 1335 to the distal end 1307 of probe 1380 and perform any of the diagnostic procedures mentioned. in this embodiment, additionally shown is a valve 1345 , a pressure reading device 1370 , an air tube 1385 , and syringe 1360 . the proximal end 1352 of air tube 1350 is attached to the distal side of the valve 1345 . the valve 1345 is used to prevent air from expelling out from balloon 1335 until desired. in one exemplary embodiment, the valve 1345 is a luer-lock, two-way valve. the valve 1345 is coupled to a pressure reading device 1370 that measures pressure on the balloon 1335 . the valve 1345 is also coupled to a pressure reading device 1340 that measures pressure from sensor 1310 . although pressure reading devices 1340 , 1370 are shown as separate devices, the functionality for each of these devices may be combined into one pressure reading device that measures pressures from sensor 1310 and pressures exerted on balloon 1335 . fig. 22 illustrates a user interface flow diagram for the analyzer 700 , 900 , 1300 according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention. the analyzer is powered on at step 2202 . at step 2204 , hardware initialization is performed. at step 2206 , a screen test is performed and, for example, a splash screen is shown. at step 2208 , the main menu is shown. in one exemplary embodiment, an ano-rectal manometry (arm) button is highlighted initially. although the present embodiments show a device having a device that uses a screen in conjunction with hardware buttons, the present disclosure also contemplates use of a touch screen and soft keys or any other equivalent user interfaces, including voice commands. a user of the device 700 , 900 , 1300 may use one hardware button to scroll down 2210 (e.g., a right button), another hardware button to scroll up 2212 (e.g., a left button), and a third hardware button 2214 (e.g., a center button) to select a diagnostic test. when the arm mode option is selected, arm mode is entered at 2216 . a current maximum pressure is shown 2218 when a max button is selected. the max may be reset to a current pressure 2220 by pressing a rst mx button. a zero offset of a pressure may be set at 2222 by pressing a zero button. a user may return to the main menu 2224 by pressing a home button. when the rair mode option is selected, rair mode is entered at 2226 . at step 2228 , min and max fields may be reset using current pressure values when a user presses the start or rst button. a pressure is shown 2230 and may be illustrated as green, for example. a max pressure is shown 2232 and may be illustrated in white in an upper left section of the device screen, for example. a min pressure is shown 2234 and may be illustrated in white in an upper right section of the device screen, for example. a difference (delta) between max 2232 and min 2234 is calculated at 2236 and shown on the device screen. delta is signified, for example, by the color red. a user may redo the diagnostic test by pressing the start or rst button. the user may return to the main menu 2238 by pressing the home button. when a compliance button is selected, the compliance mode is entered at 2240 . at least two data points are captured during a compliance test. in one embodiment, three data points may be captured. a cc+ button may be used to increase air volume in the balloon, e.g., balloon 735 , 1335 , to obtain a first data point 2242 . a cc− button is used in order to decrease air volume in the balloon for the first data point 2244 . at step 2246 , volume (cc) and pressure data are stored for the first data point. a cc+ button is used in order to increase air volume in the balloon for a second data point 2248 . a cc− button is used in order to decrease air volume in the balloon for the second data point 2250 . at step 2252 , a compliance value is computed when a user selects the set button. a user may redo the diagnostic test by pressing the redo button and may return to the main menu 2254 by pressing the home button. when a chart button is selected, a chart mode is entered at 2256 . a capture rate is decreased at step 2258 by pressing the slow button. a capture rate is increased at step 2260 by pressing a fast button. a user may return to the main menu 2262 by pressing the home button. fig. 23 illustrates an electronics architecture 2300 according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention. electronics architecture 2300 comprises a power section 2301 , a central processing unit (cpu) section 2328 , and a display 2340 . power section 2301 has a universal serial bus (usb) connector 2302 that is coupled to communicate with a cpu 2328 through an integrated usb on-the-go (otg) interface 2330 . the usb connector 2302 communicates virtual bus (vbus) detection mode information to cpu 2328 through reverse voltage protection 2304 . in addition, the usb connecter 2302 provides power to the battery charger 2308 through the reverse voltage protection 2306 . battery charger 2308 charges the battery 2310 . in one exemplary embodiment, the battery charger 2308 is a lithium polymer (lipo) battery charger and the battery 2310 is a lipo battery. the battery 2310 is coupled to buck/boost power supply 2314 and a display boost 2316 . in one exemplary embodiment, the buck/boost 2314 is a 3.3v buck/boost with an analog/digital filter. in one exemplary embodiment, the display boost 2316 is a 12v display boost. the power section 2301 also includes an on/off switch 2312 coupled to the buck/boost 2314 . the cpu section 2328 is connected to a pressure transducer 2318 through a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter 2332 . the cpu 2328 is also connected with hardware switches 2320 , 2322 , 2324 through a digital input/output 2334 . the cpu 2328 sends information to the display 2340 through an integrated parallel bus video display driver 2336 and an 8-bit bus 2338 . in one exemplary embodiment, display 2340 is an oled display. fig. 24 illustrates graphs 2405 , 2410 showing possible visual responses for a rair diagnostic test on a graph meter, e.g. graph mode presented on display 1341 , according to one embodiment. recto-anal inhibitory reflex describes the relaxation of the internal anal sphincter in response to distention of the rectum. rair has been described above with respect to figs. 11 , 17 , 18 , and 19 . graph 2405 shows a visual representation of what a graph meter would record if rair is present, i.e., a normal condition. graph 2410 shows a visual representation of what a graph meter would record if rair is not present, i.e., an abnormal condition. fig. 25 is a top perspective view of a handheld device 2500 that provides biofeedback, according to one embodiment. the biofeedback is provided via an array of lights 2505 that illuminate in sequence as the anorectal force increases. this device, similar to the devices depicted in figs. 2 , 3 , and 4 , is intended for use by the patient at home after therapy with the physician. this device is used in conjunction with standard anorectal probes commercially available. fig. 26 is a perspective view of handheld device 2500 for use with a probe, according to one embodiment. handheld device 2500 is connected to an electrical connection 2675 . electrical connection 2675 is in turn coupled to sensor 2610 of probe 2680 . as stated above with respect to fig. 25 , probe 2680 may be a standard anorectal probe that is commercially available. fig. 27 is an electronics architecture 2700 according to one embodiment. electronics architecture 2700 may comprise the internal electronics of handheld device 2500 . electronics architecture 2700 comprises a power section 2705 , and input/output section 2720 , an amplifier section 2730 , and a display section 2750 . power section has a battery 2710 and an on/off switch 2715 . battery 2710 may be a 9v battery or any other batter capable of providing power to device 2500 , 2600 , 2700 . power is provided to amplifier section 2730 via on/off switch 2715 . amplifier section 2730 receives a pressure indication from pressure transducer 2725 via input/output section 2720 . the pressure indication is received at amplifier 2730 via the strain gauge signal conditioner 2735 . amplifier 2740 also comprises analog voltage comparators 2740 and light emitting diode (led) display driver 2745 . led display driver 2745 to display section 2750 in order to provide biofeedback to a user of the device depicted in fig. 26 . in one embodiment, display 2750 is a 10 led inline array 2755 . fig. 28 illustrates a device 2800 for providing pelvic region diagnostic information, according to one embodiment. device 2800 may be used in conjunction with analyzer 1300 as for example, pressure reading device 1340 and/or pressure reading device 1370 . device 2800 has a power button 2805 , a usb port 2810 , a probe pressure port 2815 , a graphic display 2820 , and navigation and function buttons 2825 . in one embodiment, graphic display 2820 is an organic light emitting diode (oled) display. fig. 29 illustrates a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer 2900 for providing pelvic region therapy. in one embodiment, the analyzer 2900 includes an expandable device 2902 , a reservoir 2904 , and a tube 2906 defining a fluid-flow path between the expandable device 2902 and the reservoir 2904 . in use, such as when the expandable device 2902 is inserted into the pelvic region of a user, the user may be instructed to fill the expandable device 2902 by squeezing the previously filled reservoir 2904 to move an amount of fluid from the reservoir 2904 through the flow control valve 2908 to distend the expandable device 2902 . the user may then be instructed to push an amount of fluid from the expandable device 2902 in a direction toward the reservoir 2904 by contracting their pelvic muscles. a fluid flow control valve 2908 provides a selectively variable level of resistance as the fluid passes from the expandable device 2902 to the reservoir 2904 . such configuration advantageously allows the user to apply stress to the pelvic muscles in response to the level of resistance to strengthen the pelvic muscles and improve the endurance of the pelvic muscles. this presents a significant advantage over existing devices used during anorectal manometry that are limited to indicating the pressure and strength of the pelvic muscles, without providing any therapeutic advantage. as a further advantage, the analyzer 2900 allows the user to exercise and retrain the pelvic muscles building strength and stamina self-sufficiently and in a private setting, e.g., the user's home. the analyzer 2900 is not limited to use in a private setting; rather, the analyzer 2900 may be used in physician's offices, hospitals, and other medical diagnostic settings. the analyzer 2900 includes the expandable device 2902 sized and shaped for insertion into an opening in a pelvic region of the user. for example, the expandable device includes a length that is at least twice as long as a width 2914 of the expandable device 2902 . as described above with respect to the analyzer 200 , the pelvic region can be anal or vaginal. in a preferred embodiment, the expandable device 2902 is a distention bag provided in a folded and collapsed configuration prior to insertion into the pelvic region of the user. in another embodiment, the expandable device 2902 may be a balloon, with or without the features describe above with respect to the balloon 1335 of figs. 13-21 . in a preferred embodiment, the expandable device 2902 is made of a non-elastic material to prevent the fluid from being automatically pushed back into the reservoir 2904 . the use of the non-elastic material may also result in a more precise pressure measurement reading when compared to the pressure reading obtained when elastic materials are used. said another way, the use of the non-elastic material does not influence the pressure measurements obtained when using the analyzer 2900 coupled to a pressure reading device 3000 ( fig. 30 ). the expandable device 2902 , however, may be made of an elastic material, although the non-elastic material is preferred. fig. 29 depicts the expandable device 2902 having a stop member 2910 coupled to the expandable device 2902 . in one embodiment, the stop member 2910 includes a width 2912 larger than the width 2914 of the expandable device 2902 to prevent the remaining portions of the analyzer 2900 located beyond the stop member 2910 from insertion into the pelvic region of the user. the analyzer 2900 includes the reservoir 2904 configured to temporarily retain and expel an amount of fluid from the reservoir into the tube 2906 . in a preferred embodiment, the amount of fluid is a quantity of water. the use of water, as opposed to air, is advantageous because water is essentially incompressible, resulting in a more precise pressure measurement when compared to pressure measurements obtained with the use of air. in other embodiments, air or another gaseous matter may be used. in one embodiment, the reservoir 2904 is a fluid dispensing bulb having a reservoir body 2916 made of a pliable material that may be pressed to expel the fluid from the reservoir 2904 , i.e., the reservoir 2904 is collapsible. said another way, the reservoir 2904 may include a squeezable reservoir body 2916 sized and shaped to fit within a palm of a user's hand, providing the user with the option to self-sufficiently expel the fluid from the reservoir 2904 . in one exemplary embodiment, the amount of fluid is a maximum of 120 ml. in another embodiment, the amount of fluid is between 120 ml-300 ml for use in diagnostic testing involving greater complexity than diagnostic testing using up to 120 ml of fluid. in other embodiments, the amount of fluid may be outside of the aforementioned ranges. in one embodiment, the tube 2906 is a flexible tube configured to retain the fluid within the tube 2906 . in other embodiments, the tube 2906 may be non-flexible. the tube 2906 may or may not be expandable. in one embodiment, the tube includes a length between approximately 6-18 inches. in other embodiments, the length may be outside of this range. fig. 29 shows the analyzer 2900 having the fluid-flow control valve 2908 disposed between the expandable device 2902 and the reservoir 2904 . in one exemplary embodiment, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 is coupled to the tube 2906 . in other embodiments, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 may be coupled to other components of the pelvic region analyzer 2900 and is in no way limited to being coupled to tube 2906 . in use, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 allows the fluid to flow freely along the fluid-flow path from the reservoir 2904 to the expandable device 2902 . as mentioned above, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 is also operable to provide a selectively variable level of resistance as the amount fluid passes from the expandable device to the reservoir 2904 , i.e., the fluid-flow control valve 2908 is a one-way valve. the fluid-flow control valve 2908 may be a ball valve, a diaphragm valve, a needle, a butterfly valve, or the like. in one embodiment, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 is manually adjusted. in other embodiments, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 may be automatically adjusted. for example, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 may respond to signals generated by an independent device, e.g., a flow meter, the pressure reading device 1340 described above, or the pressure reading device 3000 ( fig. 30 ). in one exemplary embodiment, the fluid-flow control valve 2908 may be adjusted to provide a low level of resistance, a medium level of resistance, and/or a high level of resistance, in accordance with a user's pelvic muscle strength. advantageously, the expandable device 2902 , the collapsible reservoir 2904 , and the tube 2906 together form a pressure tolerant sealed system. the pressure tolerant sealed system is configured to retain the fluid within the system and seal pressure therein. this presents a significant advantage over devices, such as devices that utilize a syringe to expel fluid, because a syringe would only hold the fluid until the components of the syringe separate and does not contain a pressure tolerant seal. said another way, a syringe is unable to withstand significant pressure conditions and would separate from the remainder of the device if exposed to pressure, rendering the device inoperable for indicating and/or measuring pressure. fig. 30 illustrates the analyzer 2900 having the pressure reading device 3000 coupled thereto. the pressure reading device 3000 may be, without limitation, the pressure reading device 1340 and/or the pressure reading device 1370 described above. in another embodiment, the pressure reading device 3000 may be the handheld device 2500 . in other embodiments, the pressure reading device 3000 may be an alternative pressure reading device, with or without the features described above. for example, the pressure reading device 3000 may or may not include an electrical connection, the user interface described above with respect to fig. 22 , the electronics architecture 2300 described with respect to fig. 23 , and/or the electronics architecture 2700 described above with respect to fig. 27 . the pressure reading device 3000 is shown coupled to the analyzer 2900 through a fluid-flow control valve 3002 . the fluid-flow control valve 3002 may have the same features as the fluid-flow control valve 2908 , with the addition of a pressure port 3004 disposed on the fluid-flow control valve 3002 for coupling the pressure reading device 3000 thereto. in other embodiments, other coupling mechanisms may be used to couple the pressure reading device 3000 to the analyzer 2900 . the pressure reading device 3000 is operable to measure a pressure exerted by a user in response to the level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve 3002 . such feedback advantageously allows a physician to prescribe the appropriate treatment regimens. as a further advantage, the analyzer 2900 , in combination with the pressure reading device 3000 , allows the user to perform strengthening of the pelvic muscles, as well as view the level of resistance and elicit biofeedback from the pressure reading device 3000 . in one exemplary embodiment, the analyzer 2900 having the pressure reading device 3000 coupled thereto, provides an indication of a muscle squeeze strength of the user in response to the selected level of resistance. in one embodiment, the indication of the muscle squeeze strength is communicated using a sensor (not shown) on the analyzer 2900 . the sensor receives the indication of a muscle squeeze, i.e., squeezing of the internal and/or external sphincter as the rectum tightens. the analyzer 2900 and/or the pressure reading device 3000 , may include a speaker (not shown) to emit a sound that indicates the strength of the muscle squeeze. in one exemplary embodiment, a volume of the sound increases in accordance with the strength, e.g., pressure, that is exerted by the muscle(s) on the sensor. in another exemplary embodiment, the analyzer 2900 and/or the pressure reading device 3000 provides an indication of a muscle endurance in response to the selected level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve 3002 . a duration of the sound, i.e., the time that the pressure is imparted corresponding to a contraction of the muscle, indicates endurance of the exercise. the analyzer 2900 may be set up to perform diagnostic procedures, e.g., without limitation, an anal manometry diagnostic procedure such as that described in method 1000 , a rectal sensation threshold tone and compliance diagnostic test such as that described in method 1200 , and/or a recto-anal inhibitory reflex (rair) diagnostic test such as that described in method 1100 . using the rair diagnostic test as an example, the graphing mode of the pressure reading device 3000 may be entered to measure the user's response to the rapid introduction of the fluid into and rapid withdrawal of fluid out of the expandable device 2902 . such diagnostic procedures may be performed by a physician in a hospital or other clinical setting. fig. 31 , in conjunction with figs. 29-30 , illustrates an exemplary process-flow diagram depicting a method 3100 for providing pelvic region therapy. the steps delineated in the exemplary process-flow diagram of fig. 31 are merely exemplary of a method 3100 for providing pelvic region therapy and said steps may be carried out in another order, with or without additional steps included therein. in said process, the method begins at step 3105 and immediately proceeds to the step 3110 of providing, e.g., bringing into physical existence, a therapeutic pelvic region analyzer, such as the analyzer 2900 of fig. 29 . the present method however, is not limited to use with the analyzer 2900 but may also be used with other pelvic region analyzers as well. in one embodiment, the analyzer 2900 preferably, but not necessarily, includes the expandable device 2902 , the reservoir 2904 , the tube 2906 , and the fluid-flow control valve 2908 , 3002 described in detail above. the pressure reading device 3000 may be coupled to the analyzer 2900 , through, for example, the pressure port 3004 disposed on the fluid-flow control valve 3002 . in step 3115 , the expandable device 2902 is inserted into the pelvic region of a user. the pelvic region may be anal or vaginal. the expandable device 2902 may or may not include the stop member 2910 described above. in one embodiment, step 3115 is performed by the user. in other embodiments, step 3115 may be performed by a physician, a therapist, or another treatment provider. prior to insertion of the expandable device 2902 , the reservoir 2904 may be filled with an amount of fluid. in one embodiment, the amount of fluid includes a maximum of 120 ml of fluid. in other embodiments, the amount of fluid may be greater than 120 ml of fluid. in a preferred embodiment, the fluid is water, although other liquids, air, or an alternative gaseous matter be used. in step 3120 , the fluid is expelled from the reservoir 2904 to the expandable device 2902 along the fluid-flow path defined by the tube 2906 . the fluid may be expelled by manually applying pressure to the reservoir 2904 or through an automatic source. in step 3125 , the user is instructed to contract, i.e., squeeze, the pelvic region to expel the fluid from the expandable device 2902 in a direction toward the reservoir 2904 . in a preferred embodiment, the method 3100 includes adjusting the fluid-flow control valve 2908 , 3002 to provide a select level of resistance as the fluid passes from the expandable device 2902 to the reservoir 2904 . advantageously, the level of resistance may be adjusted to the comfort and strength level of the user, providing therapeutic strengthening benefits and a simple and convenient method of exercising the pelvic muscles. the pressure reading device 3000 is operable to measure a pressure exerted by the user in response to the select level of resistance provided by the fluid-flow control valve 3002 . the pressure reading device 3000 may also be used in combination with a sensor (not shown) to provide diagnostic testing, as described in detail above. in one embodiment, the method 3100 includes repeating the step of expelling the fluid from the reservoir 2904 to the expandable device 2902 along the fluid-flow path to provide pelvic region therapy to the user. the method 3100 ends at step 3130 . the present invention provides a simplification of the learning process required for the patient participation aspect of pelvic region rehabilitation and complements an electrical stimulation part of pelvic rehabilitation. biofeedback is provided to the patient in response to their anorectal muscle action. a standard pelvic region probe, e.g. an anal or vaginal probe, is used to indicate, for example, anal sphincter muscle response. a bright colored display may provide easy to read and interpreted analog indication of muscle response. the device may be composed of battery powered analog electrical circuitry for simplicity and high reliability. a standard medical male luer connection for common probes may also be used. the present invention provides a handheld anorectal manometry device. anorectal manometry measures the pressure of anal sphincters in order to diagnose constipation and/or anal incontinence due to certain disorders. the present invention also provides a handheld rectoanal inhibitory reflex (rair) and handheld rectal sensation threshold, tone diagnostic test. the rectal sensation threshold, tone diagnostic test allows measurements of patient response to graded balloon distention. in addition, the present invention provides a handheld compliance test. the present invention provides direct measurement of anal sphincter contraction pressure and provides direct measure of rectal balloon pressure. the present invention can determine and display, in digital and graphical form, a rectal compliance ratio. a direct measurement of anal probe pressure for rair, and resting and squeeze diagnosis may be obtained using the present invention. the present invention provides a unique probe that in one embodiment, combines an anal balloon with an anorectal probe. this unique probe is alignment insensitive. the unique probe of the present invention allows the anal balloon to be extended away from the anorectal probe for compliance diagnosis. in addition, the probe of the present invention allows the anal balloon to be seated next to the anorectal probe for rair diagnosis. diagnostic data can be stored digitally for retrieval to a device display. diagnostic data can be downloaded to an external computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, or other computing device via usb or wireless technologies. data analysis and report generation can be performed on external computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, or other computing devices. a rechargeable battery is recharged through a usb connector to a computer or wall power adapter. a multifunction display presents diagnostic data in graphical and numeric formats. the foregoing description and accompanying drawings illustrate the principles, exemplary embodiments, and modes of operation of the disclosure. however, the disclosure should not be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed above. additional variations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. accordingly, it should be appreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the following claims.
|
054-289-813-541-939
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
B64D43/00,B64C39/02,G06T7/00,H04N5/247
| 2009-02-20T00:00:00 |
2009
|
[
"B64",
"G06",
"H04"
] |
optical image monitoring system and method for unmanned aerial vehicles
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a system and method of acquiring information from an image of a vehicle in real time wherein at least one imaging device with advanced light metering capabilities is placed aboard a unmanned aerial vehicle, a computer processor means is provided to control the imaging device and the advanced light metering capabilities, the advanced light metering capabilities are used to capture an image of at least a portion of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and image recognition algorithms are used to identify the current state or position of the corresponding portion of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
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1 . a method of acquiring information from an image of at least a portion of a first unmanned aerial vehicle comprising the steps of: providing at least one imaging device exterior to but in proximity of said first unmanned aerial vehicle; providing a computer processor connected to and controlling said imaging device; capturing an image of said at least a portion of a first unmanned aerial vehicle with said imaging device; inputting said image to said computer processor; identifying with said computer processor a state of said image; and said computer processor providing an output corresponding to said image state. 2 . the method of claim 1 where the at least one imaging device is mounted on said first unmanned aerial vehicle. 3 . the method of claim 1 where the at least one imaging device is mounted on a second unmanned aerial vehicle flying in proximity to the first unmanned aerial vehicle at least occasionally. 4 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of a first unmanned aerial vehicle is chosen from the group consisting of control surface, flap, slats, spoiler, elevator, aileron, rudder, wing, winglet, horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer, strut, fuselage, empennage, light, landing gear, antenna, engine, propeller, rotor, tail rotor, swash plate, tail boom, tail fins, paddles, flybar, canopy, and nose cone. 5 . the method of claim 1 , wherein said state of said image is chosen from the group consisting of on, off, illuminated, not illuminated, deployed, retracted, home position, out of home position, present, not present, damaged, not damaged, moving, not moving, angle, speed of movement, and speed of change. 6 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the output corresponding to said image state represents the position of said external control surface as a numeric displacement from a starting position. 7 . the method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of: analyzing said image state with a rules engine executing on said computer processor; and determining if said image state indicates that said vehicle is in violation of a condition defined by said rules engine and, if so, initiating an appropriate response to said violation. 8 . the method of claim 5 wherein said rules engine comprises aircraft flight profile rules as used by a flight operations quality assurance (foqa) program.
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cross-reference to related applications this application is a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/686,658, filed nov. 27, 2012, which is a continuation of and claims the benefits of u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/539,835, filed aug. 12, 2009, now u.s. pat. no. 8,319,666, issued nov. 27, 2012, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/390,146, filed feb. 20, 2009, now u.s. pat. no. 8,319,665, issued nov. 27, 2012, which are all incorporated herein by reference. background of the invention 1. field of the invention this invention relates to the field of optical feature recognition, and more particularly to a system and method for automatically interpreting and analyzing gauges, readouts, the position and state of user controls, and the exterior of a vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav), including the position and state of flight control surfaces, in an environment with highly dynamic lighting conditions. 2. description of the related art the recording and automated analysis of image data is well known in the prior art. for example, optical character recognition, or ocr, is the process of analyzing an image of a document and converting the printed text found therein into machine-editable text. ocr programs are readily available and often distributed for free with computer scanners and word editing programs. ocr is a relatively simple task for modern software systems, as documents are typically presented with known lighting conditions (that is, an image of dark text on a light background, captured with the consistent, bright exposure light of a document scanning system) using predetermined character sets (that is, known and readily-available character fonts). systems attempting to recognize handwritten text have the added challenge of handling the variations in personal handwriting styles from one person to the next. still, these systems often require that the writers print the text instead of using cursive and that they follow certain guidelines when creating their printed characters. even in these systems, where the individual style variations must be accounted for, the lighting conditions used to capture the text images are well-controlled and consistent. another example of automated image analysis is facial recognition. a facial recognition system is a computer application for automatically identifying a person from a digital image of the person's face. facial recognition programs are useful in security scenarios, such as analyzing passengers boarding an aircraft in an attempt to identify known terrorists. a typical facial recognition program works by comparing selected facial features from the image, such as the distance between the person's eyes or the length of the nose, against a facial feature database. as with optical character recognition, facial recognition works best in controlled lighting conditions when the subject matter (that is, the face) is in a known orientation relative to the image. it is also common to use video cameras in the cockpit of an aircraft or cab of a land-based, marine or other vehicle as a means of gathering data. in the event of an incident, such as a crash or near-miss, the recorded video can be post-processed (that is, processed by experts and systems off-board the vehicle, after the image data has been downloaded to an external system) to determine what conditions were present in the vehicle during the incident. storing the video data on board the vehicle requires a large amount of storage space. because of this, mechanisms are often used to limit the amount of storage required on board the vehicle, such as only storing the most recent video data (for example, only storing the most recent 10 minutes of data, and overwriting anything older than this.) cameras can also be mounted to the exterior surface of a vehicle to capture images while the vehicle is in motion. image and video data of the vehicle's exterior surface, including the position and state of the vehicle's control surfaces and lights, can be relayed to a monitor near the operator of the vehicle. this image data can be recorded in the same manner that image data is recorded from the cockpit or cab of the vehicle, as previously described. the external image data thus captured is subject to the same storage and quality limitations inherent in the storage of image data from the interior of the vehicle. the ambient lighting conditions of both the interior and exterior of a vehicle are highly dynamic, and vary based on the time of day, the angle of the vehicle in relation to the sun, and on the presence of other external sources of illumination. one portion of an instrument panel or vehicle control surface may be concealed in shadow, while another portion is bathed in direct sunlight. the dividing line between dark and light constantly changes as the vehicle maneuvers and changes position in relation to the sun. commercially available camera systems for use in vehicles do not perform well in these conditions, and provide low-quality images. these limitations make the task of post-processing the image data to clearly identify details within the images difficult if not impossible. a single clear image of an aircraft cockpit, however, would contain a wealth of information about the ongoing flight. an image of a cockpit would capture a snapshot of the current state of each of the flight instruments, the position of the pilot and copilot, and the presence of any unusual conditions (such as smoke) for any given moment in time. similarly, a clear image of the exterior surfaces of an aircraft or vehicle would capture the current state of items such as control surfaces (rudder, elevator, ailerons, flaps, landing gear, etc.), vehicle lights (headlights, turn signals, etc.), and other vehicle components (doors, windows, wings, etc.). this could be especially advantageous when the aircraft in question in an unmanned aerial vehicle, or uav. in a uav, there is no pilot or other human co-located with the aircraft, since the craft is piloted remotely (or autonomously, with no pilot at all). being able to have an image of the control surfaces and exterior features of a uav would be greatly beneficial in determining the current status of a uav that was not already equipped with the ability to provide such status, or to supplement information given by the on-board sensors. if automatic image analysis of this image data could be consistently performed in real time, while the trip is in progress, this visual information could be interpreted and stored as numeric data and/or communicated to the operator and/or other onboard systems. further, if this image data could be captured by a self-contained camera module with built-in processing capabilities, the ability to process and analyze interior and exterior image data could be added to any vehicle, regardless if that vehicle had its own onboard computer or sensing systems. this stand-alone camera module could capture the image data while the trip was in progress, analyze the image data and convert it to numeric data, and then compare that numeric data to pre-existing data, such as a flight plan or terrain model, already contained in the camera module. what is needed in the art is an imaging system which can, in real time, capture high quality images of an aircraft or vehicle or portions thereof, compensate for the dynamic lighting conditions that can be present, analyze the image data and translate it into numeric data, and provide information and/or advisories to the operators and other onboard systems. this system should also incorporate other information and capabilities such that it is aware of its own position and orientation in three-dimensional space and such that it can operate as a stand-alone unit, without the need to be tied into other onboard vehicle systems. summary of the invention according to one aspect of the present invention, a method of acquiring information from an image of a vehicle in real time is provided, comprising the steps of providing at least one imaging device with advanced light metering capabilities aboard the vehicle, providing a control means to control the imaging device and advanced light metering capabilities, using the advanced light metering capabilities to capture an image of a portion of the vehicle, and using image recognition algorithms to identify the current state or position of the corresponding portion of the vehicle. according to another aspect of the present invention, a system for acquiring information from an image of a vehicle in real time is provided, comprising a software-controlled imaging device with advanced light metering capabilities, a control means for controlling the imaging device and advanced light metering capabilities, a memory module, a gnss receiver, and an inertial measurement unit. the control means uses the advanced light metering capabilities to capture an image of a portion of the vehicle and processes the image to extract information pertaining to the status of the vehicle. according to yet another aspect of the present invention, a software-based rules engine is used to analyze the status information extracted from the image of the vehicle in real time to determine if any of a set of pre-determined rules has been violated, and to initiate an appropriate response if a rule has been violated. these aspects and others are achieved by the present invention, which is described in detail in the following specification and accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a front view of a representative instrument panel. fig. 2 is a front view of a representative instrument panel as it might appear to an imaging device when different areas of the panel are exposed to different lighting conditions. fig. 3 is a front view of a single gauge showing areas of different lighting conditions and specular highlights. fig. 4a is a high-level block diagram of one embodiment of an adaptive imaging module that could be used to capture and process images of a portion of a vehicle. fig. 4b is a high-level block diagram showing additional detail on the imaging device component of the adaptive imaging module of fig. 4a . fig. 5 is a perspective view representing a cockpit or vehicle cab showing the mounting relationship between the adaptive imaging module of fig. 4 and the instrument panel of figs. 1 and 2 . fig. 6a is a perspective view of one embodiment of a system for use in calibrating the invention for first-time use in a vehicle. fig. 6b is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method of setting up and calibrating the invention for first-time use in a vehicle. fig. 6c is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method of capturing fiducial images for use in image alignment. fig. 7a shows how the arrangement of the gauges on a given instrument panel can be used as a fiducial image that can be used to determine the correct alignment of the image. fig. 7b shows how certain features on a specific gauge can be used as a fiducial image to determine the correct alignment of an image of the corresponding gauge. fig. 7c shows how certain areas of a gauge image may be masked off so that only the immediate area of interest can be focused on. fig. 8 is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method for acquiring image data from a vehicle using the imaging module of fig. 4a . fig. 9 is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method for retrieving and processing numeric data from images of a portion of a vehicle. fig. 10 is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method for using numeric data as acquired and described in fig. 9 to generate real-time information about the trip or flight in process. fig. 11 is a perspective view of an aircraft showing the various external surfaces and features of the aircraft that can be captured by an imaging module in an alternative embodiment of the present invention. fig. 12 is a perspective view of the empennage of an aircraft showing externally-mounted imaging modules comprising alternative embodiments of the present invention. fig. 13 is a perspective view of the exterior of an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) showing how an externally positioned imaging device can be used to determine the status of the uav. fig. 14 is a perspective view showing two unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) flying in proximity to each other such that the imaging device of one uav can be used to capture data from the second uav. detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference now to the drawings, and in particular to figs. 1 through 12 thereof, a new adaptive feature recognition process and device embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention will be described. fig. 1 is a front view of a representative instrument panel 10 . for the purposes of this discussion, an “instrument panel” shall be defined as a fixed arrangement of gauges, lights, digital readouts, displays, and user controls as might be seen in the cab of a vehicle, such as a car or truck, or in the cockpit of an aircraft. the depiction of the instrument panel 10 in fig. 1 is meant to be illustrative of the type and style of features as might be seen in any type of vehicle, and not meant to be limiting in any way. the features shown in fig. 1 are suggestive of those that might be seen on an aircraft such as a helicopter, but the present invention will work equally well on any type of instruments in any type of vehicle. in addition, for the purposes of this discussion, any gauge, display, operator control, or input device that is located in the vehicle cab or aircraft cockpit, and which can be detected and captured in an image, will be considered to be a part of the instrument panel, even if it is not physically attached to other features in the cab or cockpit. for example, the position of the flight yoke used by the operator of the aircraft can be captured in an image of the cockpit, and will be considered to be part of the instrument panel as defined herein. an instrument panel 10 offers a user interface to the operator of a vehicle. information may be presented to the operator in the form of gauges 100 , which provide data as to the operating status of various vehicle systems. these gauges 100 are typically mechanical in nature (for example, a mechanical fuel gauge with a needle indicating the level of fuel in the fuel tank), incapable of storing the information they present long-term, and only provide an instantaneous snapshot of the systems they are monitoring. an instrument panel 10 may also use one or more status lights 110 to indicate the presence or absence of a condition. for example, a “low fuel” light may illuminate when the amount of fuel in the fuel tank has reached a pre-set lower limit. alternative embodiments of an instrument panel may exist which offer features for presenting information to the operator other than those shown in fig. 1 . as one example, an alternative embodiment of an instrument panel may include digital readouts which provide numeric information to the operator instead of offering the information in the form of a gauge. it is obvious to one skilled in the art that any feature that provides information to an operator in the form of a visible indication that can be detected in an image or visually by the operator could be used with the present invention. in addition to providing information to the operator, an instrument panel 10 may offer one or more operator controls by which an operator can provide input or control a feature of the vehicle. for example, an instrument panel 10 may offer one or more rotary knobs 120 as a means of adjusting or calibrating one of the gauges 100 . functional switches 130 may also be offered to allow the operator to enable and disable vehicle functions. alternative embodiments of an instrument panel may exist which offer features for operator input other than those shown in fig. 1 . for example, an alternative embodiment of an instrument panel may include a lever, slide, or a multi-position switch. it is obvious to one skilled in the art that any feature through which an operator can input control information into the vehicle or instrument panel, and for which the position or status can be detected visually in an image or by the operator could be used with the present invention. fig. 2 is a front view of the representative instrument panel 10 of fig. 1 as it might appear to an operator or imaging device when different areas of the panel are exposed to different lighting conditions. as a vehicle moves, the instrument panel 10 is exposed to various lighting conditions depending on many factors, including the angle of the vehicle in relation to the sun, the time of day, and the presence of other external sources of illumination. portions of the instrument panel 10 may be bathed in bright light 200 , while other portions of the instrument panel 10 may be obscured by light shadow 210 or dark shadow 220 . the boundaries between the areas of bright light 200 , light shadow 210 , and dark shadow 220 are constantly changing. it is likely that these boundaries between lighting conditions may at some point fall across the face of one or more gauges 100 , status lights 110 , rotary knobs 120 , or functional switches 130 , or any other type of feature that may be present on the instrument panel 10 . these dynamic lighting conditions make it difficult for imaging devices to produce clear, readable images of the instrument panel 10 and its features. fig. 3 is a front view of a single gauge 100 showing areas of different lighting conditions and specular highlights. a typical gauge 100 presents information to the operator through the use of a needle 300 . the position of the needle 300 against a graduated scale of tick marks 350 or other indicia provide status information, such as the current airspeed or altitude, to the operator. just as the instrument panel 10 is subject to the presences of dynamic lighting conditions, as shown in fig. 2 , a single gauge 100 may itself be subject to these varying conditions. while one portion of the gauge 100 is in bright light 310 , other portions may be in light shadow 330 or dark shadow 320 . as a gauge 100 typically has a glass or clear plastic faceplate, the face of the gauge 100 may also be subject to the presence of one or more specular highlights 340 . a specular highlight 340 is a bright spot of light that appears on a glossy surface, the result of the reflection of an external source of light. this specular highlight 340 may obscure at least a portion of the needle 300 or the tick marks 350 , which can be a significant obstacle for image processing. the use of a gauge 100 featuring a needle 300 and tick marks 350 in fig. 3 is meant to be illustrative and should not be construed as limiting in any way. any other appropriate type of gauge, such as a compass featuring the graphic of an aircraft rotating to show the true heading of the actual aircraft instead of a needle, may be subject to these localized dynamic lighting effects and applicable to the present invention. in addition, other features presenting information to the operator (such as status lights, digital readouts, or computer displays) or operator controls receiving input from an operator (such as levers, knobs, switches, and pushbuttons) would be affected by the localized dynamic lighting as described herein. fig. 4a is a high-level block diagram of one embodiment of an adaptive imaging module 40 that could be used to capture and process images of an instrument panel 10 such as the one shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2 . in the preferred embodiment, the adaptive imaging module 40 includes an imaging device 400 , such as a ccd camera or cmos camera or any other appropriate imaging system. the imaging device 400 is used to acquire images of all or part of the instrument panel 10 , a process that is further described in figs. 6b , 8 , and 9 . additional detail on the components of the imaging device 400 itself is also provided in fig. 4b . integrated into the adaptive imaging module 40 along with the imaging device 400 are a global navigation satellite system (gnss) receiver 410 and an inertial measurement unit (imu) 440 . gnss is the generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage, an example of which is the global positioning system (gps) developed by the united states department of defense. the gnss receiver 410 receives signals from an appropriate satellite system and calculates the precise position of the adaptive imaging module 40 in three-dimensional space (latitude, longitude, and altitude). an imu is a device used for sensing the motion—including the type, rate, and direction of that motion—of an object in three-dimensional space. an imu typically includes a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes to sense the magnitude and rate of an object's movement through space. the output of the imu 440 and the gnss receiver 410 are combined in the adaptive imaging module 40 to calculate the precise location and orientation of the adaptive imaging module 40 in three-dimensional space. this location/orientation information can be paired with specific images captured by the imaging device 400 to create a record of where a vehicle was located in space when a specific image was captured. the adaptive imaging module 40 contains a processor 460 which performs all image recognition and control functions for the adaptive imaging module 40 . the processor 460 has sufficient computing power and speed, at a minimum, to perform the set-up functions described in the flowchart of fig. 6b , to perform the image acquisition functions described in the flowchart of fig. 8 , to perform the image processing functions described in the flowchart of fig. 9 , to perform the flight operations functions described in the flowchart of fig. 10 , and to perform all power management, input/output, and memory management functions required by the adaptive imaging module 40 . data acquired during a trip, including but not limited to image and video data, position and orientation data, sound and intercom system data, and other miscellaneous trip parameters, is stored inside the adaptive imaging module 40 in a memory module 430 which is optionally hardened to allow survivability in the event of a vehicle crash. such a crash-hardened memory module is disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 7,616,449 for crash-hardened memory device and method of creating the same, which is assigned to a common assignee herewith and is incorporated herein by reference. an optional removable memory device 470 provides back up for the memory module 430 as well as a means of transferring data from the adaptive imaging module 40 to an off-board system (not shown and not part of this invention). the removable memory device 470 may be any appropriate portable memory media, including but not limited to sd or mmc memory cards, portable flash memory, or pcmcia cards. the preferred embodiment of the adaptive imaging module 40 also contains a communications port 420 that can be used as an alternative means for transferring data to an off-board system or as a means of uploading firmware updates, trip profile information, configuration data or any other appropriate type of information. the communications port 420 may be implemented with any appropriate communications protocol or physical layer, including but not limited to ethernet, rs232, can (controller area network), usb (universal serial bus), or an industry standard protocol such as arinc 429 or 629, as used in aviation. the adaptive imaging module 40 has a power supply 480 which provides power to the on-board systems and functions. the power supply 480 may be connected directly to vehicle power or to an alternative energy source such as a battery. optionally, the adaptive imaging module 40 has a sound and intercom system interface 450 which is tied into an on-board cabin microphone system and/or vehicle intercom system. the sound and intercom system interface 450 allows the adaptive imaging module 40 to record ambient cabin sound and/or verbal communications made by the vehicle operators. fig. 4b is a high-level block diagram showing additional detail on the imaging device component of the adaptive imaging module of fig. 4a . the imaging device 400 contains an imaging sensor 405 , a sensor controller 415 , an image processing subsystem front end 425 , and an image processing subsystem back end 435 . the imaging sensor 405 is a device that converts an optical image to an electrical signal. the imaging sensor 405 may be a charge-coupled device (ccd), a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (cmos) active-pixel sensor, or any other appropriate imaging sensor. a ccd imaging sensor uses a lens to project an image onto a special photoactive layer of silicon attached to a capacitor array. based on the light intensity incident on a region of the photoactive layer, the corresponding capacitors in the array accumulate a proportional electrical charge, and this array of electrical charges is a representation of the image. a cmos device, on the other hand, is an active pixel sensor consisting of an array of photo sensors (active pixels) made using the cmos semiconductor process. circuitry next to each photo sensor converts the light energy to a corresponding voltage. additional circuitry on the cmos sensor chip may be included to convert the voltage to digital data. these descriptions are provided as background only and are not meant to infer than the imaging sensor is limited to being either a ccd or cmos device. as illustrated by the examples described in the previous paragraph, the imaging sensor 405 is used to capture raw pixel information, wherein each pixel captured represents a corresponding brightness level detected from an area of an object. a sensor controller 415 controls the functions of the imaging sensor 405 , including, among other things, the exposure time of the imaging sensor 405 (that is, the duration for which the imaging sensor 405 is allowed to be exposed to the light being reflected or cast from an environment). the sensor controller 415 then transfers the raw pixel data from the imaging sensor 405 to an image processing subsystem front end 425 . the image processing subsystem front end 425 contains a preview engine 425 a and a histogram 425 b. the preview engine 425 a temporarily receives the raw pixel data so that it can be analyzed and processed by the sensor controller 415 . the histogram 425 b is a buffer area that contains information related to the relative brightness of each pixel, stored as a number of counts (that is, a digital number representing the magnitude of the analog brightness value of each pixel). the sensor controller 415 analyzes the count values contained in the histogram 425 b and determines if certain areas of pixels are overexposed or underexposed, and then directs the imaging sensor 405 to change its exposure time appropriately to adjust the brightness levels obtained. the image processing subsystem front end 425 allows the imaging device 400 to perform advanced light metering techniques on a small subset of the captured pixels, as opposed to having to perform light metering on an entire image. for the purpose of this document, the phrase “advanced light metering techniques” shall be defined as any light metering techniques, such as those typically used in digital photography, which can be applied to a selected portion of an object to be imaged as opposed to the object as a whole, and which can be tightly controlled by a software program or electronic hardware. the advanced light metering techniques used in the present invention are further described in fig. 8 and in the corresponding portion of this specification. this advanced light metering capability, among other things, distinguishes the present invention over the existing art. if the dynamic lighting conditions as described in fig. 3 are present, one portion of a gauge 100 or other feature of an instrument panel 10 may be in bright light 310 while another may be in dark shadow 320 , for example. existing prior art camera systems have very limited light metering capabilities, if any, and must be preconfigured to focus on one type of light condition. if a prior art camera system is adjusted to capture images based on light conditions typical to the interior of a vehicle, the scenery that would otherwise be visible outside the vehicle (through the windscreen or windshield) will be washed out and indiscernible. conversely, if a prior art camera system is adjusted to capture images of the outside world, images from inside the vehicle, such as the instrument panel, will be too dark and unreadable. the advanced light metering capabilities of the present invention allow it to adjust for varying light conditions across a small subset of image pixels, selecting one light meter setting for one area of pixels and another setting for a different area of pixels. in this manner, specular highlights 340 and areas of different ambient light intensity ( 310 , 320 , and 330 ) can be compensated for and eliminated to create a single image of a gauge 100 or other feature of unparalleled quality. once the raw pixel data has been captured and corrected by the image processing subsystem front end 425 , the corrected pixel data is sent to an image processing subsystem back end 435 , which contains an image encoder 435 a. the image encoder 435 a is a device that is used to convert the corrected pixel data into an image file in a standard image file format. a jpeg encoder is one type of image encoder 435 a that is used to create images in the industry standard jpeg file compression format. any other appropriate image file format or encoder could be used without deviating from the scope of the invention. in the preferred embodiment, the image processing subsystem back end 435 is an optional component, as the imaging device 400 will normally work directly with the raw image data that is created as a product of the image processing subsystem front end 425 , without requiring the standard image file output by the image processing subsystem back end 435 . however, the image processing subsystem back end 435 is included in the preferred embodiment to allow the imaging device 400 to output images in standard file formats for use in external systems (not described herein and not considered part of the present invention). fig. 5 is a perspective view representing a cockpit or vehicle cab 50 showing the mounting relationship between the adaptive imaging module 40 of fig. 4 and the instrument panel 10 of figs. 1 and 2 . the adaptive imaging module is mounted in the cockpit or vehicle cab 50 such that it can capture images of the instrument panel 10 . the adaptive imaging module 40 is typically mounted above and behind a vehicle operator 500 , in order to be able to capture images from the instrument panel 10 with minimum interference from the vehicle operator 500 . however, the adaptive imaging module 40 may be mounted in any appropriate location within the cockpit or vehicle cab 50 . referring now to figs. 6a , 6 b, and 6 c a system for use in calibrating the invention for first-time use in a specific vehicle cab or cockpit will be described. a computer 605 hosting a set-up utility 615 is connected via a data connection 625 to the adaptive imaging module 40 . the computer 605 may be a laptop, tablet or desktop computer, personal digital assistant or any other appropriate computing device. the data connection 625 may be a hardwired device-to-device connection directly connecting the computer 605 to the adaptive imaging module 40 , a wireless interface, an optical connection such as a fiber optic cable or a wireless infrared transmission method, a network connection including an internet connection, or any other appropriate means of connecting the two devices together such that data can be exchanged between them. the set-up utility 615 is a software application that is executed before the adaptive imaging module 40 can be used for the first time on a new type of instrument panel 10 . the purpose of the set-up utility 615 is to allow an operator to identify the location, significance, and data priority of each feature of an instrument panel 10 . in the preferred embodiment, this process is done as described in the flowchart of fig. 6b . the adaptive imaging device 40 is used to acquire a test image 600 a of the instrument panel 10 [step 600 ]. ideally, the test image 600 a is captured in controlled lighting conditions such that a crisp, clean image of the instrument panel 10 is captured for the set-up process. the operator of the set-up utility 615 identifies the location within the test image 600 a of each object of interest, which may be a gauge 100 , status light 110 , rotary knob 120 , functional switch 130 or any other visually discernible feature on the instrument panel 10 [step 610 ]. throughout the remainder of this specification, the term “object of interest” shall be used as a general term to refer to these visually discernible features (gauges, lights, knobs, levers, etc.) seen in an image within the vehicle, and which are the target of the processing describe herein. for each object of interest on the instrument panel 10 or elsewhere, it must be determined if the object is on a list of known object types in an object library, or if a new object type must be created for the corresponding feature [step 620 ]. in one embodiment of the invention, step 620 is performed manually by the operator of the set-up utility 615 . in an alternative embodiment, step 620 is performed automatically using optical recognition techniques to attempt to match the object of interest to an object type in the object library. if the object of interest from the test image 600 a already exists in a predefined library of similar objects, the set-up utility 615 allows the operator to review the default configuration for that object type and accept it as is or make modifications to it [step 630 ]. once the object type is accepted by the operator, the set-up utility 615 stores the configuration data for that feature of the instrument panel 10 in a configuration file 600 b for that specific instrument panel for future use [step 670 ]. if, on the other hand, the object of interest is found not to exist in a library of pre-defined objects in step 620 , the operator must manually identify the object type [step 640 ]. for example, the operator may determine the object of interest is a 3-inch altimeter indicator, part number 101720-01999, manufactured by aerosonic. the operator must then identify the possible range of movement of the needles (which, for an altimeter, would be a full 360 degrees) and identify the upper and lower values for each needle, as well as the increment represented by each tick mark on the altimeter image [step 650 ]. optionally, the operator may identify graphics or features on the object of interest, such as the letters “alt” on an altimeter, which could be used as “fiducial” marks for later image alignment [step 660 ]. for the purposes of this discussion, the term “fiducial” shall be defined as a fixed standard of reference for comparison or measurement, as in “a fiducial point”, that can be used in the image alignment process. once the new object of interest type is fully defined by steps 640 through 660 , the new object type is stored in a configuration file 600 b for future use [step 670 ]. the set-up process defined in figs. 6a and 6b should only need to be performed once for each aircraft or vehicle type, assuming there is a large percentage of common features for each vehicle of that type. after that, the object type information stored in the configuration file 600 b for that aircraft type should be sufficient. this configuration file 600 b is uploaded and stored in the on-board memory module 430 of the adaptive imaging module 40 , so that it can be retrieved as needed during in-trip image processing. fig. 6c is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method of capturing fiducial images for use in image alignment. the operator of the set-up utility 615 uses the test image 600 a to create an outline-only version of the of the instrument panel 10 [step 655 ], referred to herein as a panel fiducial image 700 , and further illustrated in fig. 7a . this panel fiducial image 700 consists of outline drawings of each feature on the instrument panel 10 , including but not limited to gauge outlines 720 , status light outlines 730 , and outlines of functional switches 740 , as well as an outline of the enclosure of the instrument panel itself 710 . these outlines can be created in a manual process, where the operator uses the set-up utility 615 to manually draw outlines around the features of the instrument panel. this manual process may be aided or replaced entirely by a simple edge-detection algorithm, a standard image processing algorithm used to automatically detect the abrupt edges in an image found at the interface between one feature and the next. edge detection algorithms are well known in the art. the purpose for creating a panel fiducial image 700 is to aid in determining the proper alignment of the images captured by the adaptive imaging module 40 . because the spatial relationship between features in the panel fiducial image 700 are fixed, this relationship can be used to determine the angle of a given gauge image. for example, the adaptive imaging module 40 captures an image of the entire instrument panel 10 . because the adaptive imaging module 40 and the instrument panel 10 are independently mounted (mounted to different structures within the vehicle), and further because the instrument panel 10 is often spring-mounted in some vehicles, the angle of the adaptive imaging module 40 to the instrument panel 10 is constantly changing. one image taken of the instrument panel 10 may be at a slightly different angle than an image taken only moments later. this becomes a problem for an image analysis algorithm that is trying to determine the angle of a needle on a gauge to determine that gauge's reading. however, the relationship among the various features integral to the instrument panel 10 is constant. the panel fiducial image 700 can be used as a template against which to compare each new image taken. an image analysis algorithm can continue to estimate the angle of the new image until it is aligned with the panel fiducial image 700 . similarly, the set-up utility 615 can be used to create a fiducial image of each individual object of interest in the test image 600 a [step 665 of fig. 6c ]. an example “feature fiducial image” 705 is shown in fig. 7b . the operator uses the set-up utility 615 to identify items on the feature fiducial image 705 which can later be used for image alignment purposes. these items may include tick marks 310 , gauge graphics 715 , or any other appropriate item on the face of the object of interest, the position of which is fixed and constant in relation to the face of the object of interest. finally, the set-up utility 615 is used to identify and create a feature mask 725 for each object of interest [step 675 of fig. 6c ]. an example feature mask 725 is shown in fig. 7c . for most of the objects of interest in a given instrument panel 10 , there is only a small part of the image of that object which is actually needed to determine the exact state of the object of interest. for example, for a given mechanical gauge, such as the one shown in fig. 7c , only a small unmasked region 745 for that gauge is needed to determine the value shown on that gauge. if the gauge image has already been aligned properly (using the panel fiducial image and the feature fiducial images of figs. 7a and 7b ), the tick marks 310 on the gauge are unimportant, as they are a feature that cannot change from one properly aligned image to the next. the operator uses the set-up utility 615 to identify the unmasked region 745 for each specific object of interest. this may be done by drawing an outline around a portion of the image of each object of interest to create the unmasked region 745 , or by selecting a pre-defined mask template from an existing library. for the illustrative example in fig. 7c , a portion of the gauge needle 735 b falls within the unmasked region 745 , and another portion 735 a falls outside of the unmasked region 745 . only the 735 b needle portion is necessary to determine the angle of the entire needle in relation to the gauge itself. this feature mask 725 is used during the spot metering process described in fig. 8 . the feature mask 725 defines an “area of interest” on which the spot metering process can be applied. this spot metering process is described in more detail later in this specification. the panel fiducial image 700 , feature fiducial image 705 , and feature mask 725 are stored in the configuration file 600 b for the instrument panel, which is itself stored in the memory module 430 of the adaptive imaging module 40 . the configuration file 600 b is retrieved as needed during the image acquisition process shown in fig. 8 . it should be noted that the term “configuration file”, as used herein, shall refer to a collection of configuration data items that may actually be physically stored in more than one file, or in more than one physical location. figs. 7b and 7c are illustrative only and show a mechanical gauge as an example for creating the feature fiducial images 705 and feature masks 725 . any other appropriate object of interest, such as a status light 110 , rotary knob 120 , or functional switch 130 may also be used to create feature fiducial images 705 and feature masks 725 . for example, the feature fiducial image 705 for a functional switch 130 may use the lettering beneath the functional switch 130 as the fiducial for alignment purposes. once the calibration processes described above in figs. 6a through 7c are completed, the adaptive imaging module 40 may be used to acquire and analyze images during an actual trip. fig. 8 is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method for acquiring image data from an instrument panel 10 using the adaptive imaging module 40 . the adaptive imaging module 40 determines on which object of interest it should begin processing [step 800 ] by reviewing the configuration file 600 b stored in the memory module 430 . the configuration file 600 b contains the configuration data specific to each object of interest, including the object's location in the instrument panel 10 , the panel fiducial image 700 , and the corresponding feature fiducial image 705 and feature mask 725 for that object. using the data retrieved from the configuration file 600 b, the adaptive imaging module 40 uses software-controlled light metering capabilities to control the settings of the imaging device 400 such that a clear image of the object of interest can be captured [step 810 ]. the adaptive imaging module 40 is capable of using advanced metering techniques including but not limited to spot metering (that is, taking a meter reading from a very specific, localized area within an object of interest), average metering (that is, taking a number of meter readings from different locations within an object of interest and averaging the values to obtain a file exposure setting), and center-weighted average metering (that is, concentrating the metering toward the center 60 to 80% of the area to be captured). because each object of interest has an associated feature mask 725 which isolates the portion of the object that should be imaged, the adaptive imaging module 40 can concentrate its light metering efforts on only that area, eliminating much of the concern of dealing with large areas of dynamic lighting conditions such as those shown in fig. 2 . finally, an image is captured of the object of interest or of the area defined specifically by the object's feature mask 725 [step 820 ]. this process is repeated as necessary for each object of interest. raw image data 900 a is created for each object of interest, and this raw image data 900 a is processed as described in fig. 9 . fig. 9 is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method for retrieving and processing numeric data from images of an instrument panel. once the raw image data 900 a is acquired by the adaptive imaging module 40 , a low-pass filter is applied to remove image noise [step 900 ] to create a reduced noise image 900 b. edge detection is performed on the reduced noise image 900 b [step 910 ] to create an edge-only image 900 c. as used in this document, the term “edge detection” refers to the use of an algorithm which identifies points in a digital image at which the image brightness changes sharply or has detectable discontinuities. edge detection is a means of extracting “features” from a digital image. edge detection may be performed by applying a high pass filter to the reduced noise image 900 b, by applying an image differentiator, or by any appropriate method. an example of an edge detection algorithm is disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 4,707,647 for gray scale vision method and system utilizing same, which is incorporated herein by reference. a binary hard-limiter is applied to the edge-only image 900 c to convert it to a binary (black and white) image 900 d [step 920 ]. the binary image 900 d is then cross-correlated against fiducial images (such as the panel fiducial image 700 and feature fiducial image 705 ) to bring the image into correct alignment [step 930 ], creating an aligned binary image 900 e. optionally, a mask such as the feature mask 725 may be applied to the aligned binary image 900 e to create a masked binary image 900 f [step 940 ]. creating the masked binary image 900 f would eliminate all but the most crucial portion of the aligned binary image 900 e in order to simplify processing. the masked binary image 900 f is now processed to determine the needle position 900 g in relation to the gauge [step 950 ]. this processing may be done in a number of ways. in one embodiment, synthetic images of the gauge face (or the pertinent portion thereof, if the image is masked) are generated, each drawing the needle in a slightly different position. these synthetic images are compared to the masked binary image 900 f until a match is found. when the match is found, the angle of the needle in the synthetic image matches the actual needle angle. in an alternative embodiment, linear regression is used to find the needle, which consists of doing a least squares line fit to all the points (pixels) that come out of the masked binary image to determine the needle position 900 g. any other appropriate processing method can be used. finally, the gauge value 900 h is determined based on the needle position 900 g [step 960 ]. this is done by retrieving the upper and lower limits and range of travel information for the needle for the corresponding object type from the configuration file 600 b from the memory module 430 and comparing the current needle position 900 g to those values. the use of the term “needle” in fig. 9 is meant to be illustrative only, and should not be considered to limit the process only to images of mechanical gauges. for the purposes of fig. 9 , the term “needle” can be said to refer to any moving or changing part in an image, and may equally refer to the position of a switch or lever or the condition (illuminated or not illuminated) of a light, or the position or state change of any other appropriate feature on an instrument panel 10 . fig. 10 is a flowchart describing one embodiment of a method for using numeric data as acquired and described in fig. 9 to generate real-time information about the trip or flight in process. because the adaptive imaging module 40 contains a gnss receiver 410 and an inertial measurement unit (imu) 440 , additional functionality can be achieved which cannot be achieved with a stand-alone imaging device 400 . the gauge value 900 g determined in step 960 can be combined with location and orientation data from the gnss receiver 410 and the imu 440 to create a fused sensor value 1000 a [step 1000 ]. for the purposes of this discussion, the term “fused sensor value” shall refer to a set of data consisting of, at a minimum, a time/date stamp, the location and orientation of the vehicle in three-dimensional space corresponding to the time/date stamp, and the value of the gauge (or other object of interest) corresponding to the time/date stamp. this fused sensor value 1000 a is then processed by an on-board rules engine [step 1010 ]. the rules engine is a software application which contains a terrain model (containing information on the surrounding terrain), a set of predefined trip profiles (rules applied to certain types of vehicles to ensure safe or efficient use), or a combination of the two. this rules engine can be used to determine if a situation exists that should be communicated to the operator or a base station, or which may automatically initiate an action in response to the situation. in step 1020 , the rules engine analyzes the fused sensor value 1000 a to determine if an exceedance was generated. for the purposes of this discussion, an “exceedance” shall be defined as any condition that is detected that either violates a defined trip profile or results in an unsafe situation. for example, the rules engine may contain a flight profile for an aircraft that specifies that a rapid descent below 500 feet in altitude is dangerous. when the adaptive imaging module 40 detects that the aircraft is in violation of this flight profile (which it does by comparing the fused sensor values 1000 a obtained from the altimeter, airspeed indicator, and vertical airspeed indicator), an exceedance would be generated. in another example, an exceedance may be generated when the fused sensor value 1000 a for the altimeter indicates that the aircraft is getting too close to the ground (based on a model of the surrounding terrain embedded within the rules engine). if no exceedance is generated, the process returns to step 960 and is repeated. if, however, an exceedance was generated, an event 1000 b is triggered and recorded [step 1030 ]. for the purposes of this discussion, an “event” will be defined as the result of a specific exceedance, and may consist simply of a recorded message being stored in memory for later retrieval, or may trigger an action within the vehicle (such as the sounding of an audible alarm or the illumination of a warning icon). optionally, the generated event 1000 b and other data may be transmitted off-board via a wide area network such as a telemetry device [step 1040 ]. for the purposes of this document, a telemetry device shall be defined to be any means of wireless communication, such as transmission over a satellite or cellular telephone communications network, radio frequency, wireless network, or any other appropriate wireless transmission medium. the generated event 1000 b may optionally trigger the recording of video by the adaptive imaging module 40 for a pre-determined duration [step 1050 ] in order to capture activity in the cockpit or vehicle cab corresponding to the event. the process described in fig. 10 can be used in a flight operations quality assurance (foqa) program. an example of such a foqa program is disclosed in u.s. patent publication no. 2008/0077290 for fleet operations quality management system, which is assigned to a common assignee herewith and is incorporated herein by reference. a foqa program, also known as flight data management (fdm) or flight data analysis, is a means of capturing and analyzing data generated by an aircraft during a flight in an attempt to improve flight safety and increase overall operational efficiency. the goal of a foqa program is to improve the organization or unit's overall safety, increase maintenance effectiveness, and reduce operational costs. the present invention allows a foqa program to be easily applied to an aircraft or fleet of aircraft. the adaptive imaging module 40 does not require any logical connection to an aircraft's existing systems, and can be used on an aircraft that does not have electronic systems or computer control. all necessary data required to implement the foqa system can be acquired from the image data captured from an aircraft cockpit as described herein. the rules engine of step 1010 can encode the flight profiles for the aircraft types being tracked by a particular foqa program. preferably all processing required by the system can be completed in real time. for the purposes of this document, the phrase “real time” shall be interpreted to mean “while a vehicle is being operated” or “while the vehicle is in motion”. the system also preferably accommodates individual metering control of a small area (subset) of image pixels for processing and use in a self-contained on-board foqa system, as described herein. the present invention can be used completely in real time (during the trip of a vehicle), is fully self-contained, and does not require post-processing. fig. 11 is a perspective view of an aircraft 1100 showing the various external surfaces and features of the aircraft that can be captured by an adaptive imaging module 40 . in this alternative embodiment of the invention, the adaptive imaging module 40 is mounted such that it can capture raw image data from the exterior surfaces of the aircraft 1100 . one or more adaptive imaging modules 40 can be mounted on the interior of an aircraft cockpit 1105 such that they are facing the appropriate external surfaces of the aircraft. in this manner, image data from aircraft control surfaces such as flaps/ailerons 1120 , elevator 1130 , and rudder 1140 can be captured and analyzed according to the processes outlined in figs. 6b through 10 , where the position and state of an external control surface is used instead of a gauge or user control. the process outlined in fig. 6c can be used to create a fiducial image of a corresponding control surface, such that the fiducial image can be used in the image alignment process described in fig. 9 . the image analysis of fig. 9 is performed to determine the equivalent position of the corresponding control surface, in order to turn the image of the position of the control surface into a corresponding numeric value for use by the pilot/operator of the vehicle and by other onboard systems. other external features of the vehicle, such as the wings 1110 , propeller 1180 , landing gear 1150 , horizontal stabilizer 1195 , vertical stabilizer 1190 , and fuselage 1170 , can be captured and analyzed by the adaptive imaging module 40 , as well. for example, an image of a wing 1110 or horizontal stabilizer 1190 could be analyzed to look for ice build-up 1160 . another example would be to use the adaptive imaging module 40 to determine the state and current position of the landing gear 1150 . fig. 12 is a perspective view of the empennage of an aircraft showing potential mounting locations for an externally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 a. please note that the reference designator “ 40 a” is used in fig. 12 to distinguish an externally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 a from an internally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 . both devices contain similar internal components, with a difference being that the externally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 a may be aerodynamically packaged and environmentally sealed for external use. the block diagrams of fig. 4a and fig. 4b apply to adaptive imaging module 40 a, as well as to adaptive imaging module 40 . fig. 12 shows two alternative placements for external adaptive imaging modules 40 a. an adaptive imaging module 40 a may be mounted to the surface of the fuselage 1170 , or to the surface of the vertical stabilizer 1190 . it should be obvious to one skilled in the art that any number of adaptive imaging modules 40 a could be mounted in any location on the exterior surface of the aircraft 1100 , providing that they do not impede the movement of the control surfaces or significantly affect the aerodynamic properties of the aircraft. it would also be appropriate to use any number of internally-mounted adaptive imaging modules 40 , externally-mounted adaptive imaging modules 40 a, or any combination thereof, to capture sufficient image data of the interior and exterior of a vehicle. it should be noted that, although an aircraft 1100 is shown in figs. 11 and 12 , it would be obvious to one skilled in the art that an internally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 or externally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 a could be used in a similar manner on any type of vehicle to capture image data as described herein. without limitation, examples include terrestrial vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e., drones), marine vehicles and spacecraft. fig. 13 is a perspective view of the exterior of an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) showing how an externally positioned analog imaging module 40 b can be used to determine the status of a uav. please note that the reference designator “ 40 b” is used in fig. 13 to distinguish an adaptive imaging module mounted externally on an unmanned aerial vehicle 40 b from an internally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 . both devices ( 40 and 40 b) contain similar internal components, with a difference being that the externally-mounted adaptive imaging module 40 b may be aerodynamically packaged and environmentally sealed for external use. since 40 b is designed specifically for use on unmanned aerial vehicles, other factors, such as weight of the module, may also be tailored separately for use on uavs versus a unit used internally or externally to a full-size piloted plane. an unmanned aerial vehicle (also known as a uav) 1300 can be used in situations where it is too dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for a piloted aircraft. a uav 1300 may also be known as a drone in some applications, as well as by other terms, but the key difference between the craft in fig. 13 and the craft shown in the previous figures is the absence of a pilot or human occupant. because a uav 1300 does not require a human operator, the uav 1300 may be constructed to be much smaller than a piloted aircraft. various versions of a uav 1300 may exist, including uavs that are piloted remotely by a human being and uavs that are fully autonomous (robotic drones following a preprogrammed flight routine or making its own decisions based on the rules defined in an internal knowledge engine. for example, a robotic drone could be designed to follow a set of railroad tracks by detecting the properly-spaced, parallel lines of the tracks. an adaptive imaging module 40 b is mounted on a uav 1300 such that the adaptive imaging module 40 b has a view of some portion of the external surface of the uav 1300 . it should be noted that the “external surface” of the uav 1300 as defined herein may include items such as the “external surface” of a fuel tank or other component which is mounted within the body of the uav 1300 , and does necessarily mean something mounted to the “skin” of the aircraft. the use of an adaptive imaging module 40 b on a uav 1300 may be able to replace a number of more expensive or heavier sensing objects, or to add functionality to a uav that may not have had that functionality before. since drones and uavs are, by their nature, designed to be relatively small, it may be beneficial to eliminate components that are not absolutely necessary to fly the uav to eliminate weight, complexity, and/or cost. therefore low-end uavs (typically those used for personal use or simple commercial uses) are designed without complex features so that they remain affordable and small. the ability to add new sensing and/or control features without adding significant cost or weight would be very valuable. returning to fig. 13 , the adaptive imaging module 40 b has similar functionality to the adaptive imaging module 40 a as described in fig. 12 , but is tailored specifically for use on a uav 1300 . for example, the adaptive imaging module 40 b may capture raw image data from several surfaces or components of the uav 1300 , including the fuselage or outer “skin” 1330 , the engines or propellers 1320 , the control surfaces such as the empennage 1360 , the wings 1340 , externally mounted antennas 1370 , externally mounted lights 1380 , and externally mounted features such as an camera module 1350 . the adaptive imaging module 40 b can capture the positions of control surfaces such as ailerons, elevators, flaps, etc. (as previously discussed in fig. 12 ) or it can look for anomalies with the aircraft's components, such as ice forming on the wings 1160 , or damage to the surface of the aircraft 1310 . using the features previously discussed in this specification, the adaptive instrument module 40 b can capture raw image data and analyze it to transform the visual imagery into useful digital or status information, such as the angle of a control surface or the presence of damage on the uav 1300 . this data can be stored for later use and analysis off-board, provided to other on-board components as an input, or transmitted in real-time to a ground station or remote operator. in some cases, a group of two or more uavs may be used together, possibly flying in formation. it may be that one of the uavs is considered to be the primary or “master” aircraft and the others are delegated the role of secondary or “slave” aircrafts. in these cases, perhaps only the primary uav is equipped with the adaptive imaging module 40 b, and the primary aircraft uses its own adaptive imaging module 40 b to optically capture data from the other, secondary aircraft. fig. 14 is a perspective view showing two unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) flying in proximity to each other such that the imaging device of one uav can be used to capture data from the second uav. the aircraft shown in fig. 14 are “quadcopters”, which are helicopter-like uavs which have four separate lifting rotors 1410 , but any other type of uav may be used in the invention. in the example shown in fig. 14 , quadcopter a 1400 a is flying above quadcopter b 1400 b. each of the quadcopters 1400 a and 1400 b have imaging domes 1420 mounted on their bottom side, each imaging dome 1420 containing an adaptive imaging device 40 b (referenced but not shown in fig. 14 ). in this example, one of the lifting rotors 1410 of quadcopter b 1400 b is within the visual field 1430 of the imaging dome 1420 of quadcopter a 1400 a. this allows quadcopter a 1400 a to capture raw image data for quadcopter b 1400 b and to turn that visual data into digital information, as previously discussed in this specification. for example, visual data captured from one of the lifting rotors 1410 could be turned into a rotor speed, rotor status (on or off, damaged, etc.), or tilt angle of the rotor itself. although this example shows two quadcopters, it is important to note that any type of uav or aircraft could be used in the same manner without deviating from the inventive concept. the primary inventive concept shown in fig. 14 is the use of an adaptive imaging module from one craft to capture external information about a second craft. having described the preferred embodiments, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims. in particular, the processes defined within this document and the corresponding drawings could be altered by adding or deleting steps, or by changing the order of the existing steps, without significantly changing the intention of the processes or the end result of those processes. the examples and processes defined herein are meant to be illustrative and describe only particular embodiments of the invention.
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054-332-115-301-752
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US
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[
"WO"
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E21B47/12
| 2014-01-10T00:00:00 |
2014
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[
"E21"
] |
wireless communication platform for operation in conduits
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described herein are systems, devices, and methods for sensing, measuring, transmitting, and receiving information pertaining to a live oil or gas production environment. a measuring device may be positioned and secured within a production conduit in such a manner that sudden changes in temperature resulting in expansion of one or more components of the measuring device do not disrupt or negatively impact electrical connections established between the measuring device and the inner wall of the conduit. as a result, the measuring device described herein may reside in the conduit for longer periods of time while maintaining optimum performance. further, the measuring device may be retrofit within an existing production environment and selectively secured at a desirable location within the production conduit.
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what is claimed is: 1. a measuring apparatus for use within a live oil or gas production environment, the apparatus comprising: a first electrical contact component establishing electrical contact between the apparatus and a conduit; a second electrical contact component establishing electrical contact between the apparatus and the conduit; an electronics vessel in electrical communication with the conduit through the first and second electrical contact components, the electronics vessel comprising one or more sensors for sensing properties of interest within the conduit, wherein the apparatus withstands thermal expansion without inducing a strain at the first or second electrical contact components. 2. the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a flexible coupling interposed between the first and second electrical contact components. 3. the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the flexible coupling is an expansion joint. 4. the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a flexible electrode assembly comprising the first electrical contact component, the flexible electrode assembly configured to translate along a central axis of the apparatus. 5. the apparatus of claim 4, wherein the flexible electrode assembly further comprises: an actuator rod; and a shoe deployment ring configured to slidingly engage the actuator rod, the shoe deployment ring being coupled to the first electrical contact component. 6. the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a retractable electrode assembly comprising the first electrical contact component. 7. the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the retractable electrode assembly further comprises: a main body; a drive component positioned within the main body and comprising a drive rail protrusion, the drive rail protrusion extending along an arced path; wherein the first electrical contact component comprises a slot for slidingly engaging the drive rail protrusion such that rotation of the drive component causes a translation of the first electrical contact component along the drive rail protrusion. 8. the apparatus of claim 7, wherein when the first electrical contact component is positioned at a first end of the drive rail protrusion, the first electrical contact component is positioned within main body, and wherein when the first electrical contact component is positioned at a second end of the drive rail protrusion, at least a portion of the first electrical contact component protrudes outward from the main body. 9. the apparatus of claim 8, wherein when the first electrical contact component is positioned at the second end of the drive rail protrusion, the portion of the first electrical contact component is in contact with the conduit. 10. the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the retractable electrode assembly receives an electrical signal causing the drive component to rotate and the first electrical contact component to translate along the drive rail protrusion. 11. a method for measuring properties of interest within an oil or gas production environment, the method comprising: positioning a measuring device within a conduit, the measuring device comprising at least one retractable electrode assembly, the at least one retractable electrode assembly comprising at least one electrode; positioning the at least one electrode in a protracted position in contact with the conduit; positioning the at least one electrode in a retracted position during a thermal event; and re-positioning the at least one electrode in the protracted position after the thermal event. 12. the method of claim 11, further comprising securing the measuring device within the conduit by an anchor system. 13. the method of claim 12, wherein the anchor system comprises a second electrode for establishing an electrical connection between the measuring device and the conduit and securing the measuring device within the conduit. 14. the method of claim 12, wherein the anchor system comprises a bore receptacle for receiving and securing the measuring device. 15. the method of claim 14, further comprising securing the bore receptacle within the conduit prior to receiving and securing the measuring device. 16. the method of claim 11, wherein the measuring device comprises a second electrode assembly, the second electrode assembly comprising a second electrode, the method further comprising: positioning the second electrode in contact with the conduit; and while the at least one electrode is positioned in a retracted position during the thermal event, leaving the second electrode in contact with the conduit. 17. a measuring device for use within a production environment, the device comprising: a setting component configured to secure the measuring device within a conduit at a first interface; a first electrode configured to contact the conduit at a second interface; an electronics vessel comprising one or more sensors for sensing properties of interest; and a strain-reducing component for preventing strain at the first and the second interface when the measuring device undergoes a thermal expansion. 18. the method of claim 17, wherein the strain-reducing component is an expansion joint. 19. the method of claim 18, wherein the expansion joint comprises a first portion and a second portion, each having opposing, elongate teeth configured to mate and facilitate movement between the first and the second portion without losing contact between the two portions. 20. the method of claim 17, wherein the strain-reducing component is configured to translate along an axis substantially parallel or coincident with a central axis of the device.
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international patent application for wireless communication platform for operation in conduits by peter s. aronstam and roger fincher field of the disclosure [001] the present disclosure is related to oil and gas production environments. in particular, the present disclosure is related to communication systems and methods within a production environment. background of the disclosure [002] in oil and gas production, conduits are commonly used to transport or direct fluid and gas. examples of such conduits are well casings buried within the earth, subterranean pipelines, and aboveground pipelines. in order to effectively manage the production systems, performance of the conduits and conditions within them must be monitored on a regular basis. thus, many conduits are designed with a number of permanently installed sensors and detection devices used to measure various attributes of the fluid or gas flowing therein. [003] historically, these measurements have been made with conventional detection systems, which are installed at the initial construction of the well or pipeline or in special side pockets designed for replaceable detection equipment. in the recent past, the side pocket systems have been less utilized in favor of more complex wired detection systems. these systems are permanently assembled in to the structure of the well or pipeline and in the event of failure, in the case of a well, the entire production tubular string has to be pulled requiring a substantial work over rig, or in the case of subterranean pipelines, excavated and replaced using heavy construction equipment. [004] today, perhaps as many as 10% of all the detection systems installed downhole in oilfields eventually fail. in some cases, all the detection systems in a field fail leaving the operator blind to operating conditions. thus, there is a need for retrofit instrumentation, which can be installed in these conduits despite their sometimes being buried in the earth or located in inaccessible places. [005] the retrofit instrumentation should also include a reliable wireless communication system for communicating information to the surface and a power source capable of facilitating that communication. since the earliest work on wireless communication, practitioners have sought to use an electrical dipole to induce an electrical field in the earth or current along the metallic structure of the well casing or pipeline. for example, such instrumentation may comprise an elongate body having one or more electrodes spaced some distance apart along the body. the electrodes are placed in contact with the conduit and a signal may be passed to and from the instrumentation and the conduit. [006] in order to maximize the power delivered to the communication channel, sufficient force must be used to embed the electrodes into the wall of the metallic structure, i.e. the conduit. to ensure that the electrodes are sufficiently embedded into the well casing or pipeline, some operators use conventional oilfield anchoring devices (packers/slips) to serve both as the electrical contacts with the conduit and to secure the measuring device within the conduit. there is however a serious weakness to this design. [007] during the operation of a well or fluid conduit, it is common to interrupt the flow of fluids for various reasons including testing and maintenance. the relatively sudden reduction in flow can have a substantial temperature impact on the measuring device and its anchoring systems. in the case of an injection well, normally pumping cold seawater, a sudden interruption of fluid flow can raise the temperature by more than 50°c. [008] because the retrofit instrumentation device is secured at two fixed locations by the packers/slips, a 50°c change in temperature can produce an axial strain in the measuring device in excess of 80,000 pounds. often, this strain is sufficient to cause the release mechanism of common packers, i.e., shear pins, to fail and/or disrupt the nature of the electrical contact, allowing fluid and corrosion access to the contact electrodes. any corrosion or change in the electrical characteristics of the contact electrodes can have a debilitating effect on the ability to deliver electrical power to the conduit. in the worst case, the anchor/electrode system can fail completely allowing the tool to fall further into the well, or be blown out by production fluids. [009] accordingly, oil and gas systems and methods could benefit from improved devices and techniques for retrofitting instrumentation within a live production environment, reducing the likelihood of damage to equipment during a thermal event, and wirelessly transmitting and receiving information to the surface. summary of the disclosure [010] in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure, devices and methods for use within a live oil or gas production environment are disclosed. the device may comprise an electronics vessel comprising one or more sensors for sensing properties of interest within a conduit. the device may further comprise a power source, a setting component for setting the device within the conduit, and at least one electrical contact component. in some embodiments, the setting component may be configured to serve as a second electrical contact component. in other embodiments, a second electrical contact component independent of the setting component may be provided. the electrical contact components may be placed in contact with the conduit to create an electrical contact at the interfaces therebetween. [011] in one aspect, the device may further comprise a strain-reducing component for preventing strain at the first and second interfaces when the measuring device undergoes a thermal expansion or is exposed to a thermal event. in one embodiment, the strain-reducing component may comprise an expansion joint. in other embodiments, the strain-reducing component may comprise a flexible electrode assembly coupled to one of the electrical contact components and configured to translate along a central axis of the apparatus. in further embodiments, the device may comprise a retractable electrode assembly housing one or more of the electrical contact components. the retractable electrode assembly may be configured to selectively or automatically retract the one or more electrical contact components in certain circumstances. [012] additional objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure. the objects and advantages of the disclosure will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. [013] it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the claims. [014] the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. brief description of the drawings [015] fig. 1 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [016] fig. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a computing system as described herein. [017] fig. 3 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [018] fig. 4 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [019] fig. 5 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [020] fig. 6 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [021] fig. 7 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [022] fig. 8 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [023] fig. 9 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [024] fig. 10 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. [025] fig. 11 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a method as described herein. [026] fig. 12 depicts some aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a system as described herein. description of exemplary embodiments [027] disclosed herein are various embodiments of a retrofit measuring device for use in oil and gas production environments. generally, the device can be lowered and secured to a production conduit such as a well casing or pipeline, measure attributes of fluids or gases within the conduit, receive information from the surface, and transmit information to the surface. currently employed retrofit devices commonly use a pair of fixed anchoring devices spaced some distance apart along the elongate body of the device. the anchoring devices serve to both secure the device within the conduit and provide electrical contacts with the conduit. interruptions in the flow of fluid and/or gas within the pipeline can lead to thermal events during which the temperature inside the conduit quickly increases. the sudden change in temperature may cause a thermal expansion of the measuring device. because the measuring device is fixed at two locations along its body, this thermal expansion creates an axial strain sufficient to alter or damage one or more anchoring devices. as a result, the measuring device may not be adequately secured within the conduit and/or the anchoring systems may not be in sufficient contact with the conduit to reliably communicate information to the surface. thus, current measuring devices are not ideally suited for retrofitting within a live production environment. [028] the devices, systems, and methods disclosed herein solve these problems by introducing elements of consumer presence detection, demographic and behavior information collection, and the facilitation of real-time transactions for the display of advertisements at advertising space within view of the detected consumer. moreover, in situations where more than one consumer is within view of the advertising space, marketers can decide, in real-time, whether to display an advertisement targeting one of the consumers within a group, or display an advertisement targeted at the group as a whole or some subset of the group. [029] while the devices, systems, and methods described herein are primarily concerned with the retrofitting of a measuring device within an oil or gas production environment, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the devices, systems, and methods described below can be used in other contexts, including the original construction of the conduits for use in oil or gas production. [030] reference will now be made in detail to certain exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like items. [031] fig. 1 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a system 100. system 100 comprises a conduit 105 and a measuring device 110. generally, measuring device 110 may be configured to detect or otherwise measure a number of attributes pertaining to a fluid or gas within conduit 105, transmit information to the surface or an operator outside the conduit, and receive information from the surface or the operator outside the conduit. [032] in one embodiment, conduit 105 may comprise a well casing residing within a subterranean well bore for oil or gas production. in other embodiments, conduit 105 may be a subterranean or aboveground pipeline for transporting oil or gas. as depicted in fig. 1, conduit 105 is substantially tubular having an inner diameter and an outer diameter. in other embodiments, however, conduit 105 may be some other shape. for example, conduit 105 may exhibit a square, rectangular, or triangular cross section. in further embodiments, conduit 105 may exhibit any cross sectional shape corresponding to the well bore in which it resides and/or suitable for transporting oil or gas. [033] in another aspect, conduit 105 can exhibit sufficient structural strength to prevent the caving in of the well bore in which it resides, as well as contain any pressures exerted on it by a fluid or gas flowing therein. in one embodiment, conduit 105 may comprise an electrically conductive metallic structure. any suitable conductive material, such as steel, may be used. conduit 105 may be comprised entirely of the electrically conductive metallic material. alternatively, only a portion of conduit 105 may be comprised of the electrically conductive metallic material in order to facilitate signaling between the surface and downhole locations. [034] measuring device 110 may comprise a first anchor system 120, a second anchor system 130, an electronics vessel 140, and a flexible coupling 150. in one aspect, measuring device 110 may be a tubular structure having an inner diameter and an outer diameter. in use, measuring device 110 may be lowered into conduit 105 and fluids or gases flowing within conduit 105 may flow through measuring device 110. alternatively, measuring device may be cylindrical in shape and fluids and/or gases within conduit 105 may flow around measuring device 110. of course, measuring device 110 may be any other suitable shape configured to allow fluids or gases within conduit 105 to flow through or around it. [035] in one embodiment, first and second anchor systems 120, 130 each comprise an electrode setting component 122, 132, respectively, comprising one or more electrodes and having a conventional structure known and commonly used in the oil and gas industry for setting tools within a conduit. generally, each electrode setting component may comprise a plurality of teeth that can be forced into surrounding conduit 105 using wedges. various methods for setting the teeth into conduit 105 exist, including the use of pyrotechnic, hydraulic, and atmospheric sources of force. the particular structure of electrode setting components 122, 132 and the methods for forcing them into conduit 105 described above are only exemplary, and any suitable electrode setting structure and/or method of setting anchor systems 120 and 130 into conduit 105 may be used. [036] the electrode setting components may be electrically conductive and set into conduit 105 so as to create sufficient contact with conduit 105 not only to support the weight of measuring device 110 within conduit 105 and resist forces exerted on it by fluids or gases within conduit 105, but also to ensure a relatively low impedance electrical contact between the electrode setting components 122, 132 and conduit 105. [037] measuring device 110 may further comprise an electronics vessel 140. electronics vessel 140 may contain a number of sensors, gauges, and other measuring instrumentation helpful in gathering information regarding a downhole environment. for example, electronics vessel 140 may contain sensors for detecting the pressure, temperature, and other attributes of a fluid or gas flowing within the conduit. in addition to various measuring instrumentation, electronics vessel 140 may comprise actuating components for controlling other equipment within the conduit, as well as a processor- or controller-based computer system for interpreting, analyzing, transmitting, and receiving data. further details regarding an exemplary computer system are described below with respect to fig. 2. [038] in another aspect, measuring device 110 may comprise a flexible coupling 150 located between anchor systems 120 and 130. coupling 150 may comprise any suitable structure that facilitates electrical signaling therethrough while affording relief of any thermally induced strain, and thus, allowing electrode setting components 125, 135 to remain undisturbed by any resulting thermal expansion of measuring device 110. in one embodiment, coupling 150 may be an expansion joint comprising any suitable conductive material for facilitating transmission of an electric signal between anchor systems 120 and 130. in such an embodiment, the expansion joint may be, for example, mechanical or hydraulic in nature. further, the expansion joint may comprise upper and lower portions that mate along a plurality of opposing, elongate teeth that remain in contact with one another despite having the ability to move towards and away from one another. alternatively, the expansion joint may comprise a flexible sleeve of non- conductive material with conductive wiring or pathways embedded therein for the transmission of electrical signals therethrough. in further embodiments, the expansion joint may comprise a flexible sleeve of conductive or non-conductive material and may or may not house and/or protect wiring therein. of course, the examples of expansion joints described herein are only exemplary, and any suitable expansion joint that affords measuring device 110 a degree of freedom between anchor systems 120 and 130 in case of a thermal event while still facilitating electrical signaling between the anchor systems may be used. [039] in use, a signal may be applied to the metallic structure of conduit 105 at the surface of the production rig. the signal may be transmitted along the length of conduit 105 and flow into measuring device 110 at electrode setting component 125. presuming a sufficiently low impedance, the signal can then flow from electrode setting component 125 and anchor system 120 to anchor system 130 and electrode setting component 135, and back to the metallic structure of conduit 105. between electrode setting components 125 and 135, the signal may flow through electronics vessel 140 wherein one or more components may detect, measure, and/or analyze the signal. in this manner, measuring device is able to receive information transmitted from the surface. [040] during a thermal event that causes an expansion of one or more components of measuring device 100, any displacement may be absorbed by flexible coupling 150 and the electrical contacts at anchor systems 120, 130 may remain undisturbed. [041] in other embodiments, electronics vessel 140 may further comprise a power source for generating signals and a transmitter for transmitting information back to the surface. the signals can be processed within a processor- or controller-based system of electronics vessel 140 and communicated along a similar transmission path as that described for receiving signals from the surface. [042] fig. 2 depicts an exemplary processor-based computing system 200 representative of the type of computing system that may be present in electronics vessel 140. the computing system 200 is exemplary only and does not exclude the possibility of another processor- or controller-based system being used in electronics vessel 140. [043] in one aspect, system 200 may include one or more hardware and/or software components configured to execute software programs, such as software for storing, processing, and analyzing data. for example, system 200 may include one or more hardware components such as, for example, processor 205, a random access memory (ram) module 210, a read-only memory (rom) module 220, a storage system 230, a database 240, one or more input/output (i/o) modules 250, and an interface module 260. alternatively and/or additionally, system 200 may include one or more software components such as, for example, a computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions for performing methods consistent with certain disclosed embodiments. it is contemplated that one or more of the hardware components listed above may be implemented using software. for example, storage 230 may include a software partition associated with one or more other hardware components of system 200. system 200 may include additional, fewer, and/or different components than those listed above. it is understood that the components listed above are exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. [044] processor 205 may include one or more processors, each configured to execute instructions and process data to perform one or more functions associated with system 200. the term "processor," as generally used herein, refers to any logic processing unit, such as one or more central processing units (cpus), digital signal processors (dsps), application specific integrated circuits (asics), field programmable gate arrays (fpgas), and similar devices. as illustrated in fig. 2, processor 205 may be communicatively coupled to ram 210, rom 220, storage 230, database 240, i/o module 250, and interface module 260. processor 205 may be configured to execute sequences of computer program instructions to perform various processes, which will be described in detail below. the computer program instructions may be loaded into ram for execution by processor 205. [045] ram 210 and rom 220 may each include one or more devices for storing information associated with an operation of system 200 and/or processor 205. for example, rom 220 may include a memory device configured to access and store information associated with system 200, including information for identifying, initializing, and monitoring the operation of one or more components and subsystems of system 200. ram 210 may include a memory device for storing data associated with one or more operations of processor 205. for example, rom 220 may load instructions into ram 210 for execution by processor 205. [046] storage 230 may include any type of storage device configured to store information that processor 205 may need to perform processes consistent with the disclosed embodiments. [047] database 240 may include one or more software and/or hardware components that cooperate to store, organize, sort, filter, and/or arrange data used by system 200 and/or processor 205. for example, database 240 may include user-specific account information, predetermined menu/display options, and other user preferences. alternatively, database 240 may store additional and/or different information. [048] instrumentation module 250 may include one or more sensors, gauges, and/or instrumentation components configured to detect, record, and/or communicate information to a user associated with system 200. for example, i/o module 250 may include a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and any other suitable sensor for providing useful information associated with system 200. [049] interface 260 may include one or more components configured to transmit and receive data via a communication channel. for example, interface 260 may include one or more modulators, demodulators, multiplexers, demultiplexers, network communication devices, wireless devices, antennas, and any other type of device configured to enable data communication via a communication channel. [050] fig. 3 depicts an alternative measuring device 300. in one aspect, measuring device 300 may comprise an anchor system 310, a first flexible electrode assembly 320, a second flexible electrode assembly 330, an electronics vessel 340, and a power source 350. measuring device 300 may further optionally comprise a conductive spacer 360 comprising a material exhibiting a high degree of electrical conductivity and a flexible coupling 370 substantially similar to the flexible coupling described above with respect to fig. 1. [051] power source 350 may be any suitable power source, including a turbine or a battery system. the power generated by power source 350 can be used to power the circuitry within electronics vessel 340 which is substantially similar to electronics vessel 140 discussed above with respect to fig. 1 and may contain components substantially similar to those discussed above with respect to fig. 2. [052] like measuring device 110 described above, measuring device 300 may be configured to detect or otherwise measure a number of attributes pertaining to a fluid or gas within conduit 105, transmit information to the surface or an operator outside the conduit, and receive information from the surface or an operator outside the conduit. unlike measuring device 110, however, anchor system 310 may not necessarily comprise electrodes for establishing electrical connectivity with conduit 105. rather, anchor system 310 may comprise a setting component 312 commonly used in the industry for setting a device within a conduit. like electrode setting components 125 and 135 described above, setting component 312 may comprise a plurality of teeth that can be forced into surrounding conduit 105 using wedges. the particular structure of setting component 312 and the methods for forcing it into conduit 105 are not critical. any suitable setting structure and/or method of setting anchor system 310 into conduit 105 may be used in order to create sufficient contact with conduit 105 to support the weight of measuring device 300 within conduit 105 and resist forces exerted on it by fluids or gases within conduit 105. [053] in another aspect, measuring device 300 may comprise a pair of flexible electrode assemblies 320 and 330. in an operating environment, flexible electrode assemblies 320 and 330 can establish an electrical connection between measuring device 300 and conduit 105 that may remain undisturbed even in instances where measuring device 300 undergoes some degree of thermal expansion as a result of a thermal event. this is accomplished using structure that affords flexible electrode assemblies 320 and 330 a degree of freedom with respect to measuring device 300 rather than being fixedly coupled to measuring device 300. [054] in one embodiment, each flexible electrode assembly may comprise an actuator rod 322, 332, respectively. actuator rods 322, 332 may be solid, elongate members comprising a conductive material capable of transmitting an electrical signal. in other embodiments, actuator rods 322, 332 may be tubular structures having a hollow center through which fluids or gases may flow, and/or connective wiring may be located. [055] each actuator rod may slidingly engage a respective shoe deployment ring 324, 334. shoe deployment rings 324, 334 may be solid or hollow donut-like structures through which actuator rods 322, 332 pass. in one aspect, shoe deployment rings may comprise a conductive material capable of transmitting an electrical signal. alternatively or additionally, shoe deployment rings 324, 334 may house wiring for the transmission of electrical signals. in another aspect, while shoe deployment rings 324, 334 are slidingly engaged with actuator rods 322, 332, sufficient contact between the components exists to afford a low impedance electrical connection at an interface between the two components. [056] in a further aspect, each shoe deployment ring may comprise one or more electrode arms 326, 336. in one embodiment, electrode arms 326, 336 may comprise an elongate member extending from a proximate end adjacent shoe deployment rings 324, 334 to a distal end extending toward conduit 105. electrode arms 326, 336 may be coupled to their respective shoe deployment ring at, for example, a pivot point located at the proximate end of each electrode arm in order to allow each electrode arm to rotate relative to measuring device 300. in this manner, electrode arms 326, 336 may be energized to contact conduit 105, allowing for the transmission of electrical signals to and from the surface in a manner similar to that described above with respect to electrode setting components 125, 135 in fig. 1. in other embodiments, electrode arms 326, 336 may be coupled to their respective shoe deployment ring in another manner. for example, electrode arms 326, 336 may be coupled to shoe deployment rings 324, 334, respectively, using springs and the electrode arms may be spring urged towards conduit 105. alternatively, electrode arms 326, 336 may be set in a vertical channel within their respective shoe deployment rings, each vertical channel having a variable depth such that as each electrode arm moves up or down within the channel, the distal end of each electrode arm moves toward or away from conduit 105. other embodiments are also possible, and any suitable method or structure that facilitates selective or automated movement of the distal ends of electrode arms 326, 336 toward and away from conduit 105 may be used. in still further embodiments, electrode arms 326, 336 may be fixedly coupled to shoe deployment rings 324, 334. [057] in use, measuring device 300 may be lowered to an appropriate location within conduit 105 and secured within the conduit via one or more of anchor system 310 and flexible electrode assemblies 320, 330. as described above with respect to fig. 1, two or more of anchor system 310 and flexible electrode assemblies 320, 330 may also be in electrical communication with electronics vessel 340 and/or power source 350 in order to facilitate transmission and/or reception of electrical signals to and from the surface. in the event of a sudden temperature change during which measuring device 300 undergoes some degree of thermal expansion, shoe deployment rings 324, 334 (and electrode arms 326, 336) are free to slide along actuator rods 322, 332. as a result, no thermal strain develops at any of the electrical contacts established at one or more of setting component 312 and electrode arms 326, 336. [058] of course, alternative structure that affords flexible electrode assemblies 320, 330 a degree of freedom with respect to measuring device 300 are also possible. for example, rather than solid or hollow actuator rods 322, 332, shoe deployment rings 324, 334 of flexible electrode assemblies 320, 330 may be maintained between a pair of springs that allow the shoe deployment rings to oscillate along an axis substantially parallel to the elongate body of measuring device 300. other suitable structure may also be used and the examples provided herein are only exemplary. [059] further, it should be noted that in embodiments where anchor system 310 comprises one or more electrodes, measuring device 300 may comprise more than two sets of electrodes for establishing electrical contact with conduit 105. this can be advantageous in situations where one or more locations within conduit 105 are not ideal for electrical transmission. thus, once measuring device 300 is positioned within conduit 105, if one of anchor system 310 and flexible electrode assemblies 320, 330 cannot establish a reliable electrical connection with conduit 105, the remaining electrodes can be used. as depicted in fig. 3, measuring device 300 comprises three possible sets of one or more electrodes (anchor system 310 and flexible electrode assemblies 320, 330), however other embodiments are possible comprising two or more anchor systems 310 and/or three or more flexible electrode assemblies. [060] fig. 4 depicts another exemplary embodiment of a measuring device 400. measuring device 400 may comprise an anchor system 410, an electrode assembly 420, an electronics vessel 430, a power source 440, and optionally a conductive spacer 450. in one aspect, anchor system 410 may comprise setting component 412 and may function substantially similar to anchor system 120 described above with respect to fig. 1. likewise, electronics vessel 430, power source 440, and conductive spacer 450 may comprise substantially similar structure and exhibit substantially similar function to corresponding components described above with respect to figs. 1-3. [061] in another aspect, electrode assembly 420 may comprise one or more electrode arms 422 substantially similar to electrode arms 326, 336 described above with respect to fig. 3. additionally, electrode arms 422 may be coupled to a main body 424 of electrode assembly 420 in a manner substantially similar to that described above with respect to electrode arms 326, 336 and shoe deployment rings 324, 334. however, rather than main body 424 being mounted on an actuator bar or otherwise afforded a degree of freedom with respect to the remainder of measuring device 400, a flexible coupling 460 substantially similar to flexible coupling 150 described above with respect to fig. 1 may be interposed between anchor system 410 and electrode assembly 420. [062] during a thermal event that causes an expansion of one or more components of measuring device 400, any displacement of the components may be absorbed by flexible coupling 460 and the electrical contacts at anchor system 410 and/or electrode assembly 420 may remain undisturbed. [063] fig. 5 depicts an alternative embodiment of measuring device 500. measuring device 500 may comprise an anchor system 510, an electrode assembly 520, an electronics vessel 540, a power source 550, a flexible coupling 560 interposed between anchor system 510 and electrode assembly 520, and optionally a conductive spacer 570. measuring device 500 is substantially similar to device 400 depicted in fig. 4 with the exception that device 500 may further comprise an additional electrode assembly 530 and an additional flexible coupling 565 interposed between electrode assemblies 520, 530. [064] as discussed above with respect to other embodiments, a reliable electrical connection cannot always be established at every location along conduit 105. as a result, it may be beneficial to provide measuring device 500 with additional potential electrical contact points. nonetheless, in order to avoid thermal strain resulting from a thermal event from interrupting one or more electrical contacts established by device 500 with conduit 105, additional flexible coupling 565 may be interposed between electrode assemblies 520, 530 in order to absorb any expansion/displacement of one or more components of measuring device 500. [065] again, as discussed previously, rather than using a combination of an electrode assembly and a flexible coupling, a flexible electrode assembly substantially similar to those described above with respect to fig. 3 can be substituted for one or more of electrode assemblies 520, 530, and optionally flexible couplings 560, 565. [066] another measuring device 600 is depicted in fig. 6. device 600 may comprise a first electrode assembly 610, a second electrode assembly 620, an electronics vessel 630, a power source 640, a pair of flexible couplings 650, 655, and optionally a pair of conductive spacers 660, 665. these components are substantially similar to those described above with respect to previous embodiments. it should also be clear that one or more combinations of electrode assemblies 610, 620 and flexible couplings 650, 655 can be substituted for a flexible electrode assembly as described above with respect to fig. 3. [067] device 600 may further comprise a receptacle system 670 and a retrieval component 680. in one aspect, receptacle system 670 may serve substantially the same function as anchor systems 120, 310, and 410 described above with respect to previous embodiments, supporting some, most or all of the weight of device 600 within conduit 105. further, like the aforementioned anchor systems, receptacle system 670 may comprise a setting component 672 for securing receptacle system 670 to conduit 105. setting component 672 may or may not comprise one or more electrodes and serve as an optional point of electrical connectivity. [068] in one embodiment, receptacle system 670 may be a polished bore receptacle. in use, receptacle system 670 may be lowered into conduit 105 and secured within the conduit prior to lowering the remainder of device 600 into the casing. the remainder of device 600 may then be lowered into conduit 105, inserted into receptacle system 670, and locked into place. depending upon whether setting component 672 is relied upon to establish an electrical connection with conduit 105, receptacle system 670 may or may not comprise electrical connectivity means for electrically coupling setting component 672 to power source 640 or some other component of device 600. [069] in another aspect, retrieval component 680 may be positioned atop device 600 and provide structure for securing and/or retrieving device 600 from conduit 105. any known, suitable structure may be appropriate, including a loop, a hook, magnetic means, or some other appropriate structure. in fig. 6, retrieval component 680 is depicted atop device 600. in alternative embodiments, however, retrieval component 680 may be located at any suitable location along the elongate body of measuring device 600. [070] as is the case with the aforementioned embodiments, device 600 may withstand axial strains resulting from a thermal event due to the interposition of flexible coupling 650 between electrode assemblies 610 and 620, and the interposition of flexible coupling 655 between electrode assembly 620 and receptacle system 670 that serve to absorb displacements within the elongate body of device 600 when it undergoes thermal expansion. thus, electrical connectivity at electrode assemblies 610, 620 and/or receptacle system 670 may remain undisturbed. furthermore, and as mentioned above, flexible electrode assemblies substantially similar to those described above with respect to fig. 3 may be substituted for electrode assemblies 610, 620, and optionally flexible couplings 650, 655. [071] fig. 7 depicts another measuring device 700 for preventing thermal strain resulting from a thermal event from disrupting electrical connections with conduit 105. in one aspect, measuring device 700 may comprise an anchor system 710, an electrode assembly 720, an electrode assembly 730, an electronics vessel 740, and a power source 750. device 700 may further comprise optional conductive spacers 760 and 765. as discussed above with respect to previous embodiments, anchor system 701 may comprise a setting component 712 that may or may not comprise one or more electrodes for serving as an optional electrical connection location between device 700 and conduit 105. [072] absent from the embodiment depicted in fig. 7 are any flexible couplings and/or flexible electrode assemblies described above with respect to other embodiments. rather, in order to prevent thermal strain from disrupting electrical connections between device 700 and conduit 105, electrode assemblies 720, 730 may comprise one or more retractable electrodes that can be automatically or selectively retracted away from conduit 105 during a thermal event or prior to a thermal event. of course, the one or more electrodes may also be automatically or selectively protracted toward conduit 105 either during installation of device 700 or to reestablish electrical contact with conduit 105 following a thermal event. [073] one exemplary embodiment of a retractable electrode assembly is described in more detail with respect to fig. 9. however, it should be noted that any suitable structure and/or method for automatically or selectively retracting one or more electrodes away from conduit 105 in response to a detected condition or command can be used. additionally, though the embodiment depicted in fig. 7 comprises a pair of retractable electrode assemblies 720, 730, any of the electrode assemblies described above with respect to other embodiments can be substituted for one or both of the retractable assemblies, including a flexible electrode assembly and/or a combination of an electrode assembly and a flexible coupling. [074] fig. 8 depicts another measuring device 800. measuring device 800 may comprise an anchor system 810, retractable electrode assemblies 820, 830, an electronics vessel 850, a power source 860, and optionally a pair of conductive spacers 870, 872. measuring device 800 may be substantially similar to measuring device 700 of fig. 7, however, measuring device 800 may further comprise an additional retractable electrode assembly 840, and optionally an additional conductive spacer 874. some reasons one may desire to include additional electrode assemblies along the elongate body of measuring device 800 are discussed above. further, it should be appreciated that any number of electrode assemblies (including retractable electrode assemblies, flexible electrode assemblies, and/or a combination of an electrode assembly and a flexible coupling) can be implemented and spaced along measuring device 800, including embodiments with four or more electrode assemblies. [075] fig. 9 depicts a more detailed view of one exemplary embodiment of a retractable electrode assembly. in one aspect, retractable electrode assembly 900 may comprise a main body 910, a drive component 920, and one or more electrodes 930. in one embodiment, electrodes 930 may comprise a slot 932 for mating with a protruding drive rail 922 of drive component 920 in such a manner that each electrode 930 may be slidingly associated with a respective drive rail 922. further, protruding drive rail 922 may be arced or otherwise configured such that as electrode 930 slides along the length of the drive rail, it moves towards or away from the outer wall of main body 910. in use, a rotation imparted to drive component 920 may result in the relative movement of one or more electrodes 930 toward and/or away from the outer wall of main body 910. [076] in another aspect, main body 910 may comprise one or more electrode windows 912 corresponding to each electrode 930. in this manner, as each electrode 930 slides along its respective drive rail 922 and approaches the outer wall of main body 910, each electrode may be allowed to pass through main body 910 so as to achieve a protracted state. in particular, each electrode 930 may comprise an electrode face 934 that may protrude through its respective electrode window 912 and contact the inner surface of conduit 105, in which main body 910 has been positioned. [077] in a further aspect, each electrode 930 and its corresponding electrode face 934 can exert sufficient force against conduit 105 so as to secure electrode assembly (and the measuring device of which it may be a part) within conduit 105 and/or establish a reliable electrical contact with conduit 105. a view of retractable electrode assembly 900 during which one or more electrodes 930 are set to a protracted position is depicted in fig. 10. [078] in a further aspect, where a thermal event is either detected or predicted, drive component 920 can be rotated in an opposite direction causing one or more electrodes to slide the other direction along its respective drive rail 922 resulting in the relative movement of the electrodes 930 away from conduit 105 and/or back through electrode window 912. the detection or prediction of a thermal event can be accomplished in any number of ways. for example, one or more components within an electronics vessel of any of the aforementioned measuring devices can be used to detect, analyze, and/or conclude that a thermal event is likely to occur, is occurring, or will occur. alternatively, a determination regarding an ongoing or impending thermal event can be made by other equipment within the conduit or at the surface by operators. [079] upon detection of an impending or occurring thermal event, rotation of drive component 920 may be effected and electrodes 930 may be withdrawn from contact with conduit 105. in this manner, no component of the measuring device of which retractable electrode assembly 900 is a part risks suffering damage due to thermal strains resulting from expansion of one or more components. [080] in a further aspect, upon a determination that the thermal event has passed and/or is no longer a threat, drive component 920 may again be rotated in a direction causing one or more electrodes 930 to move back into a protracted position in which they extend through electrode windows 912 of main body 910 and/or re-establish electrical contact with conduit 105. [081] the embodiment of a retractable electrode assembly in figs. 9 and 10 is only exemplary. it should be appreciated that any suitable structure and/or method for automatically or selectively retracting one or more electrodes away from conduit 105 in response to a detected condition or command can be used. for example, in alternative embodiments, suitable retractable electrode assemblies may comprise axial slips, torsional cams, pivoting arms, mechanical bow springs, radial screw posts, inflates (swell packers), and eccentric rings, only to name some possibilities. [082] fig. 11 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a method for utilizing a measuring device comprising one or more retractable electrode assemblies within an operating environment. at step 1110, a measuring device as described previously herein may be positioned within a production conduit. the conduit may be a well casing, a subterranean pipeline, or an aboveground pipeline. in one aspect, after the measuring device has been positioned within the conduit at a desirable location, it can be secured to the inner wall of the conduit using any of the aforementioned structure and/or methods. in one embodiment, the measuring device may be secured within the conduit using one or more anchor systems. in other embodiments, a receptacle system or one or more electrode assemblies may be used to secure the measuring device. [083] at step 1120, the one or more retractable electrode assemblies may be signaled and the electrodes may move into a protracted position in which they contact the inner wall of the conduit. in one aspect, the electrodes may establish sufficient contact with the inner wall of the conduit so as to provide a reliable electrical connection therebetween. in other embodiments, the protracted electrodes may not only serve to provide a reliable electrical connection with the conduit, but may also serve to secure the measuring device within the conduit as described above with respect to step 1110. [084] before or after establishment of an electrical connection with the conduit, components within an electronics vessel of the measuring device may begin sensing, collecting, storing, and analyzing various information regarding the production environment, including temperature of fluids or gases flowing through or around the measuring device. further, upon establishment of the electrical connection with the conduit, information can be transmitted to, and received from, the surface and/or other equipment within the conduit. [085] at step 1130, a commenced, ongoing, impending, or likely thermal event may be detected. the event may be detected by the measuring device, by some other equipment within the conduit, or by equipment/operators at the surface. alternatively, the event may be detected based, at least in part, on information gathered and/or analysis performed across multiple devices or operators within and outside the conduit. [086] upon detection of the commenced, ongoing, impending, or likely thermal event, the retractable electrode assembly may be signaled and the electrodes may move into a retracted position away from the inner wall of the conduit at step 1140. in some embodiments, the electrodes may retreat only a distance necessary such that contact with the inner wall of the conduit is lost. in other embodiments, the electrodes may retreat through corresponding electrode windows and into the retractable electrode assembly. regardless, the electrodes are retracted sufficiently such that no substantial interface between the measuring device and the conduit exists at which to develop undesirable thermal strains resulting from any expansion of the components of the measuring device resulting from the thermal event. [087] it should be appreciated that in order to maintain the position of the measuring device within the conduit, some contact with the inner wall of the conduit should be maintained. for instance, where measuring device comprises a pair of retractable electrode assemblies for securing the measuring device and establishing electrical contact with the conduit (and no other securing means such as an anchor system, a receptacle system, or other type of electrode assembly is present in the measuring device), then only one of the retractable electrode assemblies need be signaled to retract. alternatively, where a pair of retractable electrode assemblies are accompanied by an anchor system, a receptacle system, or another electrode assembly, then both retractable electrode assemblies may be signaled to retract without fear of altering the position of the measuring device within the conduit. [088] at step 1150, it may be determined that the thermal event (or threat thereof) has passed or is no longer a concern. this determination may be made by the measuring device, by some other equipment within the conduit, or by equipment/operators at the surface. alternatively, the determination may be made based, at least in part, on information gathered and/or analysis performed across multiple devices or operators within and outside the conduit. [089] once it is determined that the thermal event is no longer a threat, the retractable electrode assembly or assemblies can be signaled and the electrodes can move back into a protracted position where securement and/or electrical contact may be re-established with the inner wall of the conduit. [090] fig. 12 depicts another exemplary embodiment of a measuring device described herein. in one aspect, the depicted measuring device may be configured for measuring the temperature and pressure of fluids or gases within a conduit and wirelessly transmitting that information to the surface or to a seafloor receiver. the measuring device may further be configured for receiving information from the surface, a seafloor receiver, or other equipment within the operating environment. [091] measuring device 1200 may comprise an electronics vessel 1210, a pair of electrode assemblies 1220, 1230, and a power source 1240. in the particular embodiment depicted, the power source may be a turbine alternator that can serve to power the measurement and control electronics within electronics vessel 1210. [092] in another aspect, output and input signals of the electronics vessel may be coupled to electrode assemblies 1220, 1230 and a conductive spacer 1250 by a transformer chamber 1260. an expansion joint 1270 may be interposed between the electrode assemblies, thereby protecting device 1200 from thermal strains resulting from thermal events in the production environment. measuring device 1200 may be further configured for securement within the conduit or casing by an anchor system (not shown) substantially similar to those described above by way of an adapter 1280. in a further aspect, measuring device 1200 may comprise a through-bore running the length of the device, allowing fluids or gases within the conduit to move through the device in operation. [093] all the embodiments of a measuring device described above can be used in a conduit for detecting, measuring, storing, analyzing, transmitting, or receiving information pertaining to a production environment. a method of use can comprise the provision of one or more of the devices described above, including but not limited to a measuring device comprising one or more electrode assemblies, flexible electrode assemblies, retractable electrode assemblies, and/or flexible couplings. [094] additional features can also be incorporated into the described systems and methods to improve their functionality. for example, while the aforementioned embodiments guard against thermal strain resulting from a thermal event, there are also strains and vibrations which can develop in the measuring device due to excitation of resonances in the measuring device caused by fluids or gases flowing within the conduit. it is particularly important to understand these resonances with respect to the spacing of the electrode assemblies and anchor mounting hardware (including receptacle systems) along the elongate body of a measuring device. it is often necessary to include additional mechanical contacts or damping along the body of the measuring device in order to control or mitigate these vibrations. only with a well- connected, stable electrode system can communications be successfully conducted over long time periods in a live production environment. [095] the aforementioned embodiments and accompanying description have been set forth for illustrative purposes and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but as merely providing examples of some presently preferred embodiments. other embodiments, including but not limited to various modifications and alternatives to those presented herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of this disclosure. it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.
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054-886-556-348-489
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US
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[
"US"
] |
F28F13/18,H05K7/20
| 2003-09-16T00:00:00 |
2003
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[
"F28",
"H05"
] |
nanostructure augmentation of surfaces for enhanced thermal transfer with improved contact
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nanostructures provide improved contact to augment heat-exchange surfaces of various devices or structures. in one embodiment, an article of manufacture has a body having a heat-exchanging surface and nanostructures disposed on the heat-exchanging surface. the nanostructures are arranged to enhance thermal transfer between said body and an object distinct from said body and may be arranged to form a substantially continuous film. examples of suitable nanostructures include carbon and/or boron nitride nanotubes, which may be grown on the heat-exchanging surface.
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1 . an article of manufacture, comprising: a body having a first heat-exchanging surface; and a plurality of first nanostructures disposed on said first heat-exchanging surface, wherein said first nanostructures are arranged to enhance thermal transfer between said body and an object distinct from said body. 2 . the article of claim 1 wherein said first nanostructures form a substantially continuous film. 3 . the article of claim 1 wherein said first nanostructures include a plurality of nanotubes. 4 . the article of claim 3 wherein said nanotubes form a substantially continuous film. 5 . the article of claim 3 wherein said nanotubes are grown onto said first heat-exchanging surface. 6 . the article of claim 3 wherein said nanotubes are generally aligned along a common axis. 7 . the article of claim 6 wherein said common axis is oriented to be substantially normal to the surface of the object. 8 . the article of claim 3 wherein said nanotubes are randomly oriented. 9 . the article of claim 3 wherein said nanotubes include carbon nanotubes and/or boron nitride nanotubes. 10 . the article of claim 5 wherein said nanotubes include single-walled nanotubes and/or multi-walled nanotubes. 11 . the article of claim 3 wherein at least one of said nanotubes has a kinked section. 12 . the article of claim 1 wherein said nanostructures include nanorods and/or nanowires. 13 . the article of claim 12 wherein said nanowires include a nanowire made of a metal. 14 . the article of claim 13 wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of indium, copper, nickel and aluminum. 15 . the article of claim 1 wherein said body is composed of at least one of copper, aluminum, a copper alloy or an aluminum alloy. 16 . the article of claim 1 wherein said body is composed of a nano-composite material that includes a base material and nanostructures incorporated into the base material. 17 . the article of claim 1 wherein said body is composed of a composite material that includes a base material and a second material with high thermal conductivity, said second material being dispersed in said base material. 18 . the article of claim 17 wherein said second material is selected from a group consisting of graphite, diamond crystal, diamond particles, and diamond dust. 19 . the article of claim 1 wherein said body is composed at least in part of at least one material selected from a group consisting of copper, aluminum, titanium, indium, nickel, magnesium, graphite, iron, and stainless steel. 20 . the article of claim 1 wherein said body is composed at least in part of a plastic. 21 . the article of claim 1 wherein said body is composed at least in part of a ceramic. 22 . a structure for enhancing thermal transfer between an object and a region of fluid distinct from the object, the structure comprising: a body having a first surface adapted to contact the object and a second surface adapted to contact the fluid; a plurality of nanostructures disposed on said first surface and arranged so as to enhance thermal transfer between said body and the object. 23 . the structure of claim 22 wherein said second surface includes a plurality of macroscopic fins extending outward therefrom. 24 . the structure of claim 22 wherein said nanostructures include nanotubes. 25 . the structure of claim 24 wherein said nanotubes form a substantially continuous film. 26 . the structure of claim 24 wherein said nanotubes include boron nitride nanotubes and/or carbon nanotubes. 27 . the structure of claim 24 wherein said nanotubes are generally aligned along a common axis. 28 . the structure of claim 27 wherein said common axis is substantially normal to said first surface. 29 . the structure of claim 24 wherein said nanotubes are randomly oriented. 30 . the structure of claim 22 wherein said body is composed of a nano-composite material that includes a base material and nanostructures incorporated into the base material. 31 . the structure of claim 22 wherein said body is composed at least in part of at least one material selected from a group consisting of copper, aluminum, titanium, indium, nickel, magnesium, graphite, iron, and stainless steel. 32 . the structure of claim 22 wherein said body is shaped as a heat sink. 33 . the structure of claim 22 wherein said body is shaped as a heat pipe. 34 . the structure of claim 22 wherein said body is shaped as a microfluidic cooling structure. 35 . a package for a heat generating device, the package comprising: a housing adapted to enclose the heat generating device, said housing having an inner surface and an outer surface; and a plurality of first nanostructures disposed on at least a portion of said inner surface and arranged to enhance thermal transfer between the heat generating device and said housing. 36 . the package of claim 35 wherein the heat generating device comprises an integrated circuit. 37 . the package of claim 35 wherein said housing is composed at least in part of nickel-plated copper. 38 . the package of claim 35 wherein said nanostructures include nanotubes. 39 . the package of claim 38 wherein said nanotubes include electrically insulating nanotubes. 40 . the package of claim 38 wherein said nanotubes include boron nitride nanotubes. 41 . the package of claim 38 wherein said nanotubes are generally aligned along a common axis. 42 . the package of claim 38 wherein said nanotubes are randomly oriented. 43 . a method for augmenting a heat-exchanging surface of a first object, the method comprising: applying a plurality of nanostructures to the heat-exchanging surface of the first object, wherein said nanostructures are arranged to enhance a thermal transfer process between the first object and a second object distinct from said first object. 44 . the method of claim 43 wherein said nanostructures include a plurality of nanotubes. 45 . the method of claim 44 wherein said applying step includes growing said plurality of said nanotubes on said heat-exchanging surface. 46 . the method of claim 44 wherein said nanotubes form a substantially continuous film. 47 . the method of claim 44 wherein said nanotubes are generally aligned along a common axis. 48 . the method of claim 47 wherein said common axis is oriented to be substantially normal to the surface of the object. 49 . the method of claim 44 wherein said nanotubes are randomly oriented. 50 . the method of claim 44 wherein said nanotubes include carbon nanotubes and/or boron nitride nanotubes. 51 . the method of claim 43 wherein said nanostructures include nanorods and/or nanowires. 52 . the method of claim 51 wherein said nanowires include a nanowire made of a metal. 53 . the method of claim 52 wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of indium, copper, nickel and aluminum.
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cross-references to related applications this application claims the benefit of the following six provisional u.s. patent applications: application no. 60/503,591, filed sep. 16, 2003, entitled “nano-material for system thermal management”;application no. 60/503,612, filed sep. 16, 2003, entitled “oriented nano-material for system thermal management”;application no. 60/503,613, sep. 16, 2003, entitled “nano-material thermal and electrical contact system”;application no. 60/532,244, filed dec. 23, 2003, entitled “nanotube augmentation of heat exchange structure”;application no. 60/544,709, filed feb. 13, 2004, entitled “nano-material thermal management system”; andapplication no. 60/560,180, filed apr. 6, 2004, entitled “heat transfer structure.” this application incorporates by reference for all purposes the entire disclosures of the following seven provisional u.s. patent applications: application no. 60/503,591, filed sep. 16, 2003, entitled “nano-material for system thermal management”;application no. 60/503,612, filed sep. 16, 2003, entitled “oriented nano-material for system thermal management”;application no. 60/503,638, filed sep. 16, 2003, entitled “system for developing production nano-material”;application no. 60/503,613, sep. 16, 2003, entitled “nano-material thermal and electrical contact system”;application no. 60/532,244, filed dec. 23, 2003, entitled “nanotube augmentation of heat exchange structure”;application no. 60/544,709, filed feb. 13, 2004, entitled “nano-material thermal management system”; andapplication no. 60/560,180, filed apr. 6, 2004, entitled “heat transfer structure.” the following five regular u.s. patent applications (including this one) are being filed concurrently, and the entire disclosures of the other four are incorporated by reference into this application for all purposes. application no. ______, filed sep. 16, 2004, entitled “nano-composite materials for thermal management applications” (attorney docket no. 022353-000110us);application no. ______, filed sep. 16, 2004, entitled “nanostructure augmentation of surfaces for enhanced thermal transfer with increased surface area” (attorney docket no. 022353-000210us);application no. ______, filed sep. 16, 2004, entitled “nanostructure augmentation of surfaces for enhanced thermal transfer with improved contact” (attorney docket no. 022353-000220us);application no. ______, filed sep. 16, 2004, entitled “system and method for developing production nano-material” (attorney docket no. 022353-000310us); andapplication no. ______, filed sep. 16, 2004, entitled “nano-material thermal and electrical contact system” (attorney docket no. 022353-000410us). background of the invention the present invention relates in general to thermal management, and in particular to nanostructure augmentation of surfaces for enhanced thermal transfer. electronic devices such as microprocessors or other integrated circuits devices generate heat as they operate, and excessive heat can lead to device failure. heat sinks are frequently employed to transfer heat away from a device into the surrounding environment, thereby maintaining the device temperature within its operational limits. a typical heat sink is constructed of aluminum, copper or another metal with high thermal conductivity and has one surface adapted to make thermal contact with the device (typically with the flat top surface of an integrated circuit package) and an opposing surface that includes fins or similar features with high ratios of surface area (sa) to volume (v) so as to increase the surface area exposed to the environment for a given footprint. in some cases, a thermally conductive adhesive is used to bond the heat sink to the device package for improved thermal contact. during device operation, a thermal gradient is established as heat from the device (which is hotter than the heat sink) is absorbed into the heat sink at the device-contacting surface while circulation of ambient air keeps the opposing “dissipation” surface relatively cool. thus, the heat sink passively removes heat from the device for as long as the thermal gradient is maintained. heat sinks are sometimes further supplemented with fans to increase air circulation over the dissipation surface area while the device is operating, thereby improving the convective cooling efficiency. this conventional thermal management technology, which has been effective for many years, has its limitations. as the number and density of heat generating elements (e.g., transistors) packed into devices has increased, the problem of heat dissipation has become a critical consideration in device and system design. it would therefore be desirable to provide improved thermal management technologies suitable for use with electronic devices as well as other applications. brief summary of the invention embodiments of the present invention provide nanostructure augmentation of surfaces of thermally active devices (i.e., any device that generates, dissipates, collects or otherwise transfers heat to or from any other device or fluid medium). in some embodiments, increased surface area for convective heat transfer is obtained by sparsely coating a surface with nanostructures such as nanotubes or bundles of nanotubes so that air or other cooling fluid can flow between the nanotubes or bundles. in other embodiments, improved thermal contact is obtained by densely coating a surface with nanotubes or bundles of nanotubes. according to one aspect of the present invention, an article of manufacture includes a body having a first heat-exchanging surface and first nanostructures disposed on the first heat-exchanging surface. the first nanostructures are arranged to enhance thermal transfer between said body and an object distinct from said body. in some embodiments, the first nanostructures may be nanotubes (e.g., carbon and/or boron nitride nanotubes) that may be grown onto the first heat-exchanging surface. in some embodiments, the nanostructures may form a substantially continuous film. the body may be made of any material, including but not limited to metals (e.g., copper, aluminum, or alloys thereof), composite materials, plastics, and ceramics. according to a further aspect of the present invention, a structure for enhancing thermal transfer between an object and a region of fluid distinct from the object includes a body having a first surface adapted to contact the object and a second surface adapted to contact the fluid and nanostructures disposed on said first surface and arranged so as to enhance thermal transfer between said body and the object. in some embodiments, the second surface may include a plurality of macroscopic fins extending outward therefrom. the nanostructures may be, e.g., nanotubes that may form a substantially continuous film. the body, which may be made of a variety of materials, may have various shapes; for instance, the body may be shaped as a heat sink, a heat pipe, a microfluidic cooling structure, and so on. according to a still further aspect of the present invention, a package for a heat generating device includes a housing adapted to enclose the heat generating device, the housing having an inner surface and an outer surface, and first nanostructures disposed on at least a portion of the inner surface and arranged to enhance thermal transfer between the heat generating device and the housing. in some embodiments, the nanostructures are electrically insulating nanotubes, such as boron nitride nanotubes. the heat generating device may include an integrated circuit or any other type of heat generating device. according to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for augmenting a heat-exchanging surface of a first object. nanostructures are applied to the heat-exchanging surface of the first object, where said nanostructures are arranged to enhance a thermal transfer process between the first object and a second object distinct from said first object. for example, the nanostructures may include nanotubes, and the nanotubes may be applied, e.g., by growing the nanotubes on the heat-exchanging surface. in some embodiments, the nanotubes form a substantially continuous film. a wide variety of devices may incorporate aspects of the present invention. examples include heat sinks for electronic, optical or mechanical devices, but the invention is not limited to these devices. the following detailed description together with the accompanying drawings will provide a better understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention. brief description of the drawings figs. 1a-1h illustrate convective nano-coatings using nanotubes according to embodiments of the present invention; fig. 2 illustrates a heat sink having nano-coatings according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 3 illustrates another heat sink having nano-coatings according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4 illustrates a cross section of an integrated circuit device having a heat sink integrated into its packaging according to an embodiment of the present invention; figs. 5a-5b illustrates relative form factors of a conventional heat sink compared to a heat sink according to an embodiment of the present invention; figs. 6a-6c illustrate conductive nano-coatings using nanotubes according to embodiments of the present invention; and fig. 7 illustrates a device package with enhanced heat-exchange surfaces according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description of the invention overview and terminology embodiments of the present invention provide nanostructures that can improve thermal transfer into or out of an object. the term “nanostructure,” or nanoscale structure, as used herein denotes a structure with at least one dimension that is on the order of nanometers (e.g., from about 1 to 100 nm); one or more of the other dimensions may be larger and may be microscopic (from about 10 nm to a few hundred micrometers) or macroscopic (larger than a few hundred micrometers). the nanostructures can be applied to the surface of any device into or out of which heat is to be transferred, including heat sinks, packaging materials for semiconductor devices, and a wide variety of other devices. in some embodiments, the nanostructures are arranged so as to increase the area of a heat-exchanging surface without increasing the footprint; such arrangements can promote convective heat transfer between the object and a fluid medium to which the heat-exchanging surface is exposed. in other embodiments, the nanostructures are arranged so as to increase a thermal contact area between the object and another object. for thermal management applications, nanostructures having high thermal conductivity are advantageously used to promote heat transfer into or out of the surface to which they are applied. in preferred embodiments, the nanostructures include nanotubes having very high thermal conductivity. nanotubes are best described as long, thin cylindrically shaped, discrete fibril structures whose diameters are on the order of nanometers. nanotubes can exhibit lengths up to several hundred microns; thus their aspect ratios can exceed 300. the aspect ratio can be well controlled using process conditions as is known in the art. the terms “single-wall” or “multi-wall” as used to describe nanotubes refer to nanotube structures having one or more layers of continuously ordered atoms where each layer is substantially concentric with the cylindrical axis of the structure; the nanotubes referred to herein may include single-walled and/or multi-walled nanotubes. nanotubes have theoretically and experimentally been shown to have high thermal conductivity along the axis of the nanotube. the thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes, for example, has been measured at around 3000 w/m*k (theoretical calculations indicating conductivities as high as 6000 w/m*k might be achievable), as compared to conventional thermal management materials such as aluminum (247 w/m*k) or copper (398 w/m*k). nanotubes in embodiments of the present application may be made of a variety of materials including carbon or boron nitride (bn). the electrical properties of bn nanotubes are particularly well suited to applications where electrical isolation as well as thermal conduction is required because all chiralities of bn nanotubes are semiconductors with a very large bandgap and can therefore act as electrical insulators in many applications. it will be appreciated that other materials may also be substituted. nanotubes can be synthesized in various ways including arc-discharge, laser ablation, or chemical vapor deposition (cvd) processes and the like. particular synthesis techniques are not critical to the present invention. as is known in the art, many of these techniques involve depositing a catalyst material onto a substrate and growing a cluster, or bundle, of nanotubes on the catalyst. nanotubes can be grown with their axes in a desired orientation by applying a suitable electric field during nanotube synthesis, e.g., in a plasma cvd chamber. since nanotubes generally grow in clusters, it is to be understood that where the present description refers to nanotubes, clusters (or bundles) of nanotubes may also be used to realize aspects of the invention. in other embodiments, other types of nanostructures may be used in addition to or instead of nanotubes. examples of such nanostructures include nanorods, nanowires, nanofibers, nanocrystals, fullerenes, and other nanoscale structures such as chains of nanocrystals or fullerenes. in some embodiments, a combination of different nanostructures may be used, e.g., a combination of boron nitride and carbon nanotubes or a combination of nanotubes with nanocrystals. in accordance with the present invention, nanostructures are disposed on surfaces of various objects to or from which heat is to be transferred in order to enhance heat exchange between the object and some other object or medium. as used herein, “disposed on” a surface encompasses any techniques by which a nanostructure may be placed or held in contact with a surface, including growth of the nanostructure on the surface, dusting or coating of the surface with the nanostructures, transfer application of the nanostructures onto the surface, chemical bonding, adhesive bonding, van der waals bonding, and so on. nanostructures disposed on a surface are referred to generally herein as a “nano-coating”; this term denotes only that the surface is wholly or partially covered by nanostructures and is not intended to imply continuous coverage. the type and arrangement of nanostructures in a nano-coating can be optimized for various applications. for example, in some embodiments (referred to herein as “convective” nano-coatings), the nano-coatings are optimized for increased surface area within a given footprint; in other embodiments (referred to herein as “conductive” nano-coatings), the nano-coatings are optimized for improving the continuity of a thermal contact area between two surfaces that may have small-scale irregularities. in addition, the nano-coatings may provide improved heat exchange due to other properties of the nano-structures such as color (which can enhance radiative heat transfer) and/or high thermal conductivity. examples of nanostructure coatings and objects to which such coatings will now be described. it is to be understood that these examples are illustrative and not limiting of the invention. convective nano-coatings convective heat transfer refers generally to the exchange of heat between a solid object and a fluid medium, such as air, water, or any other fluid. it is well known in the art that convective heat transfer can be made more efficient by increasing the “working” surface area exposed to the fluid relative to the total volume of the object. in accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a “convective nano-coating” can be applied to a surface so as to increase the working surface area with negligible effect on volume. the convective nano-coating advantageously includes nanostructures with high aspect ratios, such as nanotubes, nanorods, or nanowires, and the nanostructures are preferably spaced apart such that fluid can flow between adjacent nanostructures. convective nano-coatings may also provide other benefits. for example, carbon or boron nitride nanotubes have high thermal conductivity and can enhance the transfer of heat between the body of the object and the nanotube-augmented surface. in addition, the convective nano-coating may effectively darken the surface of the object, improving its thermal performance as a radiator or absorber of heat. figs. 1a-1d illustrate convective nano-coatings using nanotubes according to embodiments of the present invention. in fig. 1a , a surface 102 of an object 100 (seen in side view) has nanotubes 104 disposed thereon. object 100 may be any object to or from which heat transfer is desired and may be made of any material on which nanotubes can be disposed. examples include copper, aluminum, titanium, indium, nickel, magnesium, graphite, iron, stainless steel, other metal alloys, plastics, ceramics, and a variety of other materials; further examples are described below. surface 102 is shown herein as planar and generally flat, but may have any shape, including curved shapes and shapes with nanoscale, microscopic or macroscopic features. nanotubes 104 can be made of any suitable material with high thermal conductivity including but not limited to carbon or boron nitride. nanotubes 104 are advantageously spaced apart by some distance (e.g., up to 1 mm) so that air or another cooling fluid can circulate between the nanotubes. the density may be tuned to optimize thermal behavior of object 100 for a particular application, and the present invention is not limited to any particular density. for example, nanotubes 104 may form a substantially continuous and dense film of nanotubes, they may form spaced-apart bundles that may be distributed in a pattern or with random spacing, they may be individual spaced-apart nanotubes, where the spacing again may be patterned or random. it is to be understood that the drawings herein are not to scale (except where specifically noted); in particular, the aspect ratio of nanotubes 104 and nanotube bundles 105 is typically significantly higher than that shown (e.g., on the order of 100 or more). each nanotube 104 increases the effective area of surface 102 by 2 πrh and occupies a footprint of πr 2 , where r is the radius of the nanotube (e.g., on the order of 1 nm) and h is the height (e.g., on the order of 1-100 μm). while the surface area of one nanotube is small in relation to the surface area of macroscopic objects, in practice a very large number 104 of nanotubes can be disposed on a surface 102 so that the total increase in effective surface area for a given surface footprint can be substantial. for example, suppose that nanotubes 104 are distributed on surface 102 with a density of 10 4 per square micrometer; the increase in surface area would be about a factor of 30,000. at this density, nanotubes 104 cover less than {fraction (1/10)} 6 of surface 102 ; thus the surface area increase could go even higher, e.g., up to about 10 6 given current nanotube dimensions. at the same time, the increase in volume is negligible. the volume of a nanotube (πr 2 h) is on the order of 10 −4 μm 3 , so even at high density, nanotubes add very little to the volume of typical macroscopic objects. further, it should be noted that nanotubes 104 can increase the effective area of surface 102 with a small or even negligible increase in the overall form factor of the object. for example, the length (dimension l) of nanotubes 104 might be 10-100 μm. if object 100 is a typical macroscopic object, with a thickness (dimension t) of 1 mm or more, the increase in overall thickness is on the order of 1-10% or less. in general, for larger objects the fractional increase in form factor is even smaller. nanotubes 104 may be disposed on surface 102 using a variety of methods. in one embodiment, surface 102 may have a patterned catalyst material deposited thereon, using techniques known in the art. nanotubes 104 can then be grown using a cvd process in the presence of an electric field or plasma. as is known in the art, the electric field can be used to control the direction of nanotube growth so that nanotubes 104 will be generally aligned. it is to be understood that the alignment of nanotubes 104 along a common axis may be imperfect; such arrangements are referred to herein as being “generally aligned.” in one generally aligned configuration, a significant portion (e.g., 40% or more) of the nanotubes are aligned to each other with a mean angular deviation of 30° or less. in some embodiments, the exposed tips of nanotubes 104 may be specially treated for improved thermal conductivity. for example, after nanotubes 104 are grown (on surface 102 or elsewhere), they may be treated, e.g., by exposing one or both ends of the nanotubes to an oxygen plasma or energetic oxygen that etches away any exposed closed ends, opening the nanotubes. after this treatment, a film of thermally conductive material such as copper, aluminum or indium, can be deposited on the nanotube tips if desired, or the tips may be left open. further details related to suitable treatment of nanotube ends can be found in above-referenced application no. ______ (attorney docket no. 022353-000410us). in some embodiments, nanotubes 104 may be realized using nanotube bundles. fig. 1b illustrates, in side view, an object 101 with a surface 103 that has nanotube bundles 105 disposed thereon. like object 100 of fig. 1a , object 101 may be any object to or from which heat transfer is desired and may be made of any material on which nanotubes can be disposed; surface 103 may have any shape. each nanotube bundles 105 contains a number of closely spaced nanotubes. the perimeter of a bundle on surface 103 may be generally circular or may have any other shape, including rectangular, elongated, or irregular shapes. the number of nanotubes in a bundle 105 depends on the transverse dimension of the bundle (i.e., a dimension transverse to the length of the bundle), which may be, e.g., between about 10 nm and 1 mm or even larger, as well as on the spacing of adjacent nanotubes within the bundle, which may be, e.g., between about 1 nm and 10 nm between outer walls. the spacing of nanotubes in a bundle 105 is advantageously smaller than the spacing between adjacent bundles 105 , which may be, e.g., anywhere in the range from about 10 nm to about 1 mm. in general, wherever individual nanotubes are referred to herein, it is to be understood that bundles of nanotubes could be substituted unless otherwise stated. the nanotubes or nanotube bundles may be arranged on the surface in a variety of ways and may have any spacing. for example, figs. 1c-1e are top views of surfaces with convective nano-coatings according to embodiments of the present invention. in fig. 1c , a surface 106 has regularly spaced nanotubes (or nanotube bundles) 107 disposed thereon. in fig. 1d , a surface 108 has elongated nanotube bundles 109 disposed thereon; the bundles are spaced apart laterally. these elongated nanotube bundles 109 may have macroscopic transverse dimensions in either or both transverse directions. in fig. 1e , a surface 110 has nanotube bundles 111 (some of which may be “degenerate” bundles with only one nanotube) that vary as to size and position. such variation may be random or may have any desired pattern. in all of these configurations, an increase in the effective surface area for a given footprint can be achieved to the extent that fluid can flow between the nanotubes. the nanotubes (or nanotube bundles) are not restricted to any particular orientation relative to the surface. for example, fig. 1f illustrates a second object 112 having a surface 114 with nanotubes 116 disposed thereon. nanotubes 116 , which might also be realized as nanotube bundles, are generally aligned with their axes at an oblique angle to surface 114 . such angles can be achieved, e.g., by applying a suitably oriented electric field (or plasma) within a cvd chamber during nanotube growth. in other embodiments, the nanotubes might not be aligned at all. for example, fig. 1g illustrates, in side view, a third object 120 having a surface 122 with nanotubes 124 disposed thereon. nanotubes 124 are randomly oriented with respect to each other and with respect to surface 122 . thus, the axis of a nanotube 124 may meet surface 122 at any angle from 0° to 90°, and the orientation angle of one nanotube 124 may be independent of any other nanotube. it should be noted that even “tangential” nanotubes 124 t , 124 e , which have axes at a 0° angle to surface 122 , can provide some thermal enhancement due to their high thermal conductivity and/or color and/or small increase in the effective surface area. additionally, tangential nanotube 124 e is shown as extending beyond an edge of surface 122 , for a further increase in the surface area with negligible effect on footprint if surface 122 is macroscopic. randomly oriented nanotubes 124 can be grown onto surface 124 , or grown separately and applied to surface 124 , e.g., using dusting or transfer techniques. further, nanotubes that are not straight might also be used. fig. 1h illustrates, in side view, a fourth object 130 having a surface 132 with nanotubes 134 disposed thereon. nanotubes 134 are “kinked” along all or part of their length. for instance, nanotube 134 a has a bottom straight section 136 that is aligned approximately normal to surface 132 , a middle kinked section 138 in which the nanotube is bent in various directions (e.g., in a zigzag pattern), and a top straight section 140 that is approximately parallel to bottom straight section 136 . nanotube 134 b is kinked along substantially its entire length. kinked nanotubes 134 can be created, e.g., by varying an electric field magnitude and/or direction within a cvd chamber at various stages during nanotube growth. for a given total nanotube length, kinked nanotubes 134 will tend to provide a larger surface area than a straight nanotube. it will be appreciated that the convective nano-coatings described herein are illustrative and that variations and modifications are possible. for example, other nanostructures that provide increased surface area, such as nanorods, nanowires, or nanocrystals (which can create bumps on the surface, adding area), might be used in addition to or instead of nanotubes in a convective nano-coating. in some embodiments, nanorods and/or nanowires made of thermally conductive metals such as aluminum, copper, nickel and/or indium may be used. in general, nanotube synthesis techniques known in the art may be used to fabricate any of the above-described nano-coatings in accordance with the present invention. for example, in the case where the nano-coating is made from nanotubes, after making or procuring a device that has a target surface to which the nano-coating is to be applied, a suitable catalyst material (such as nickel, cobalt or iron) is deposited on regions of the surface where the nano-coating is desired, and the device is placed in a cvd chamber and nanotubes are grown onto the device in the region of the catalyst. an electric field may be applied in the cvd chamber during nanotube growth to align the nanotubes in a desired orientation. in other embodiments, nanotubes or other nanostructures may be synthesized separately, using techniques known in the art, then transferred to the target surface, e.g., by dusting the surface with a powder of the nanostructures. these or other techniques can be used to construct a wide variety of devices with nanotubes or other nanostructures attached to a target surface to facilitate heat transfer at that surface. all fabrication techniques referred to herein are illustrative, and any technique for disposing nanotubes or other nanostructures on a surface of an object may be used to provide nano-coatings in accordance with the present invention. applications of convective nano-coatings convective nano-coatings may be applied to any object to or from which efficient convective heat transfer is desirable. some examples will now be described. one application for convective nano-coatings is in the field of heat sinks for electronic or other heat generating devices. fig. 2 illustrates a heat sink 202 , which can be, e.g., a conventional aluminum or copper heat sink. heat sink 202 has an upper surface 204 adapted to dissipate heat into the surrounding environment via convection. surface 204 includes fins 206 with high ratios of surface area to volume; fins 206 may have, e.g., conventional plate, pin, and/or post shapes and may be arranged in a conventional manner. thus, heat sink 202 may appear to be identical to conventional heat sinks in terms of overall form factor and weight. unlike conventional heat sinks, however, heat sink 202 has a convective nano-coating of nanotubes 208 disposed on the surfaces of fins 206 as shown in inset 210 . (as with all drawings herein, inset 210 is not to any particular scale.) nanotubes 208 , which may be realized as nanotube bundles, can be made of any suitable material with high thermal conductivity including carbon or boron nitride. as described above, nanotubes 208 are advantageously spaced apart by some distance (e.g., up to 1 mm) so that air or another cooling fluid can circulate between the nanotubes. heat sink 202 has substantially higher cooling efficiency than a conventional heat sink due to the presence of nanotubes 208 . as described above, nanotubes 208 can substantially increase the area of surface 204 and thus the heat dissipation performance of heat sink 202 . for example, with nanotube spacing on the order of 100 nm, surface area can be increased by a factor of around 10,000. accordingly, heat sink 202 can dissipate considerably more heat than its conventional counterparts. in general, heat sink 202 may be made of any material, including but not limited to aluminum, copper, and any other conventional heat sink materials. other examples of suitable heat sink materials include various base materials into which a material with high thermal conductivity (such as graphite, diamond crystals, diamond particles and/or diamond dust) has been dispersed. within the scope of the present invention, existing heat sinks can be “retrofitted” with a convective nano-coating to improve their performance. in some embodiments, heat sink 202 may be made of a nano-composite material in which nanostructures having high thermal conductivity, such as carbon or bn nanotubes, are dispersed into a matrix or base material, such as a metal (e.g., aluminum or copper), metal alloy, plastic, thermoplastic or thermosetting resin, epoxy or ceramic material (e.g., aluminum nitride). a fuller description of suitable nano-composite material structures and examples of devices that can be fabricated therefrom can be found in above-referenced application no. ______ (attorney docket no. 022353-000110us). in accordance with the present invention, surfaces of heat sinks or other thermal transfer devices made of such nano-composite materials can be coated with nanotubes to further improve thermal transfer into or out of such devices. it will be appreciated that heat sink 202 is illustrative and that variations and modifications are possible. the macroscopic fins may be of any size, number and configuration, and may include any combination of plate, post, and/or pin shapes. the convective nano-coating may be varied, e.g., using any of the example coatings described above with reference to figs. 1a-1d . in some embodiments, heat sink 202 may have a fan mounted thereon to promote movement of air (or other cooling fluid) around the fins. such a fan and mounting may be of generally conventional design. as noted above, a heat sink 202 with fins of conventional size can have substantially higher cooling efficiency than conventional heat sinks. in an alternative embodiment, the fin size can be reduced to provide adequate thermal performance for a particular application while reducing the form factor of the heat sink. in some embodiments, macroscopic fins can be entirely eliminated. fig. 3 illustrates one such embodiment. a heat sink 302 has a body 304 , which may be made of conventional heat sink materials (e.g., aluminum or copper) or nano-composite materials as described in above-referenced application no. ______ (attorney docket no. 022353-000110us). bottom surface 306 is adapted for contacting a heat generating device 307 (shown in phantom), and top surface 308 is adapted to be exposed to the environment. top surface 308 , which has no fins or other macroscopic protrusions characteristic of conventional heat sinks, has a convective nano-coating of nanotubes 312 (which may be realized as nanotube bundles) as shown in inset 310 . as described above with reference to figs. 1 a-d, nanotubes 312 are advantageously spaced apart to promote convection. nanotubes 312 may be regarded as “nanofins” that increase the surface area without macroscopic protrusions. it will be appreciated that heat sink 302 may have a significantly smaller form factor than conventional heat sinks of comparable cooling efficiency. for example, while conventional macroscopic fins may extend for centimeters above a heat sink body, nanotubes 312 extend only hundreds of microns (up to about 1 mm). further, the body portion 304 of heat sink 302 can be made substantially thinner than conventional heat sink bodies; in some embodiments, the thickness of body portion 304 can be on the order of millimeters or a hundred microns or even less. this reduction in form factor can provide enhanced cooling for applications where compactness is critical (e.g., cellular phones, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, etc.). like conventional heat sinks, heat sink 302 may have a fan mounted thereon to promote movement of air or other cooling fluid around the nanofins (nanotubes 312 shown in fig. 3 ). such a fan and mounting may be of generally conventional design, or may be miniaturized as appropriate to the size of a particular embodiment of heat sink 302 . heat sink 302 is illustrative and variations and modifications are possible. for example, the dimensions of body 302 may be expanded or contracted to any scale. the convective nano-coating may also be varied, e.g., using any of the example coatings described above with reference to figs. 1a-1d . in yet another embodiment, a heat sink with nanofins can be integrated into the package of a semiconductor integrated circuit (ic) device. fig. 4 illustrates a cross section of an ic device 400 . device 400 includes one or more layers 404 of semiconductor material (e.g., silicon), with the layers having various circuit components 406 (e.g., transistors, capacitors, conductive pathways, etc.) formed therein or thereon. insulating material and appropriate conductive pathways may be placed between layers 404 . layers 404 are housed within a hermetic package 408 that protects layers 404 from environmental exposure and possible damage. package 408 may be fabricated using various materials known in the art, such as nickel-coated copper. metal pins 410 extend through the bottom surface 412 of package 408 , and device 400 may be electrically connected to other components via pins 410 , e.g., by mounting device 400 and other components on a conventional printed circuit board. in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a convective nano-coating of nanotubes 414 (which may be realized as nanotube bundles) are grown or otherwise disposed on the top surface 416 of package 408 to aid in dissipation of heat produced by device 400 during its operation. if package 408 contains significant amounts of nickel, the nickel of package 408 can provide sufficient catalyst for growth of nanotubes 414 . alternatively, a liquid or sputtered catalyst can be applied to top surface 416 , and the catalyst may be patterned as desired (e.g., using any of the patterns of figs. 1c-1e ). nanotubes 414 may be grown on surface 416 of package 408 prior to insertion of layers 404 and final sealing of package 408 , or they may be added later. as described above, nanotubes 414 may be advantageously spaced apart in a “nanofin” configuration so as to promote convective cooling of top surface 416 . accordingly, package 408 may itself act as a heat sink for device 400 and may eliminate the need for a separate heat sink, thereby reducing the weight and bulk of products that incorporate a device in package 408 . figs. 5a-5b illustrate a form factor advantage that can be gained from using package 408 . fig. 5a illustrates an assembly 501 consisting of a device 500 with a conventional heat sink 502 mounted thereon. heat sink 502 , which may be considerably taller than device 500 , adds considerably to the vertical size of assembly 501 and may in fact act as a lower bound on the vertical size. fig. 5b illustrates, on the same scale as fig. 5a , an assembly 503 consisting of the same device 500 with a convective nano-coating 504 of nanotubes grown or otherwise disposed on surface 506 in place of a conventional heat sink. convective nano-coating 504 is effectively invisible in this view and is shown clearly only under magnification, e.g., as illustrated in inset 510 (which is not to scale). thus, the vertical form factor of assembly 503 is, in effect, determined by device 500 itself, not by a heat sink. package 408 is illustrative and variations and modifications are possible. for example, the dimensions may be expanded or contracted to any scale. the convective nano-coating may also be varied, g., using any of the example coatings described above with reference to figs. 1a-1d . it is to be understood that the foregoing examples are illustrative and not limiting of the invention. convective nano-coatings as described herein may be applied to any surface of an object where enhanced convective cooling (or heating) is desired. for example, a backside surface of an lcd (liquid crystal display) screen or a ccd (charge coupled device) could have a convective nano-coating applied thereto to improve thermal stability of the device by increasing heat exchange with the environment. as another example, the outer surface of a conventional heat pipe, or selected portions of the outer surface, could be augmented with a convective nano-coating to improve thermal transfer between the heat pipe and its environment. surfaces of microfluidic cooling structures can also be augmented with convective nano-coatings. as yet another example, a convective nano-coating could be applied to appropriate surfaces of larger-scale heating or cooling devices such as an automobile radiator, a heat exchanger in a refrigerator, and so on. conductive nano-coatings conductive heat transfer refers generally to the exchange of heat between two objects that are placed in thermal contact with each other. it is well known in the art that the efficiency of conductive heat transfer depends in part on the size of the area of thermal contact. in general, microscopic irregularities in the contact surfaces of the objects can significantly affect the quality of the thermal contact between them. in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a “conductive nano-coating” can be applied to a contact surface of an object so as to improve its ability to make thermal contact with an opposing surface of another object. the conductive nano-coating can enhance the thermal transfer between surfaces in various ways. for instance, nanotubes have high thermal conductivity, which can facilitate conduction between the objects. in addition, nanotubes provide a conformal coating with some degree of resiliency; the contours of the nano-coating can deform as needed to make continuous contact with the opposing surface. further, nanotubes can move relative to each other, to relieve thermal stress that may develop at the interface. other nanostructures with similar properties may be substituted for nanotubes. in some embodiments, the nanostructures are densely packed (e.g., as a film) on the contact surface so as to maximize the total area of contact; in other embodiments, there may be spaces between some or all of the nanostructures. figs. 6a-6c illustrate conductive nano-coatings using nanotubes according to embodiments of the present invention. in fig. 6a , a contact surface 602 of an object 600 has a dense coating of nanotubes disposed thereon. object 600 may be any object to or from which conductive heat transfer is desired and may be made of any material on which nanotubes can be disposed; in addition to the examples given above, further examples are described below. surface 602 is shown herein as planar and generally flat, but may have any shape, including curved shapes and shapes with nanoscale, microscopic or macroscopic features. nanotubes 604 , which may be realized as nanotube bundles as described above, can be made of any suitable material with high thermal conductivity including carbon or boron nitride. in this embodiment, nanotubes 604 are advantageously densely packed or formed as a single large bundle or a substantially continuous film so that gaps between adjacent nanotubes are minimized. nanotubes 604 may be formed using any of the fabrication techniques referred to above (including growing the nanotubes 604 directly onto surface 602 or growing nanotubes 604 separately and then applying them to surface 602 ) or other techniques. in one embodiment, nanotubes 604 are generally aligned. the exposed tips of nanotubes 604 may be specially treated as described above to improve heat transfer between the tips of nanotubes 604 and the opposing surface of an object 605 (shown in phantom). a thermally conductive film of a material compatible with the opposing surface (e.g., the same material as the opposing surface) may be applied as described above. the nanotubes (or other nanostructures) of a conductive nano-coating may be arranged in various ways and may have any orientation. in some embodiments, nanotubes 604 may be generally aligned to be perpendicular to surface 602 ; in other embodiments, nanotubes 604 might be aligned at an oblique angle (not shown). in other embodiments, the nanotubes might not be aligned at all. for example, fig. 6b illustrates a second object 610 having a surface 612 with nanotubes 614 disposed thereon. nanotubes 614 , which in one embodiment form a dense film or mat, are randomly oriented with respect to each other and with respect to surface 612 . thus, the axis of a nanotube 614 may meet surface 612 at any angle from 0° to 90°, and the orientation angle of one nanotube 614 may be independent of any other nanotube. randomly oriented nanotubes 614 can be grown onto surface 614 , or grown separately and applied to surface 614 , e.g., using dusting or transfer techniques. further, nanotubes that are not straight might also be used. fig. 6c illustrates a third object 620 having a surface 622 with nanotubes 624 disposed thereon. nanotubes 624 are “kinked” along all or part of their length, similarly to nanotubes 134 of fig. 1d described above. kinked nanotubes are capable of spring-like behavior, and in some embodiments, the presence of kinks in some or all of the nanotubes can enhance the resilience of the nano-coating, leading to improved thermal contact between object 620 and a microscopically uneven opposing surface (not shown). it will be appreciated that the conductive nano-coatings described herein are illustrative and that variations and modifications are possible. in some embodiments, the density of nanostructures in some conductive nano-coatings may be tuned to control the thermal transfer efficiency of the device; thus, a maximum packing density is not required. in addition, other nanostructures that provide high thermal conductivity and/or resiliency, such as nanorods, nanowires, nanocrystals, or the like might be used in addition to or instead of nanotubes in a conductive nano-coating. in some embodiments, nanorods and/or nanowires made of thermally conductive metals such as aluminum, copper, nickel and/or indium may be used. applications of conductive nano-coatings conductive nano-coatings may be applied to any object into or out of which efficient conductive heat transfer is desirable. some examples will now be described. referring again to fig. 2 , heat sink 202 has a bottom surface 222 that is adapted to conduct heat away from a heat generating device 223 (shown in phantom). as illustrated in inset 220 , a conductive nano-coating of nanotubes 224 can be disposed on bottom surface 222 . nanotubes 224 , which may be realized as nanotube bundles, can be made of any suitable material with high thermal conductivity including carbon or boron nitride. as described above, nanotubes 224 are advantageously densely packed to maximize the area of thermal contact between bottom surface 222 and an opposing surface of the heat generating device. nanotubes 224 can substantially increase the thermal performance of heat sink 202 by enabling heat to be drawn away from the heat generating device more efficiently. for example, if the heat generating device is a silicon device and good thermal contact is made between the silicon device surface and the nanotubes, thermal transfer efficiency can be improved by about a factor of 3. it should be noted that the addition of nanotubes 224 to device-contacting surface 222 may eliminate the need for a separate interface material between heat sink 202 and the heat generating device. in conventional apparatus with heat generating devices, surface irregularities of the heat sink or the heat generating device can impede effective thermal contact; this has frequently been solved by placing a flexible (or viscous fluid) interface material with high thermal conductivity between the two. nanotubes 224 can fill in such surface irregularities sufficiently well that surface 224 of heat sink 202 can simply be placed against a heat generating device without use of other material, thus eliminating a component of an apparatus as well as an assembly step. similarly, as shown in fig. 3 , reduced-form-factor heat sink 302 has a bottom surface 306 that is adapted for thermal contact with an opposing surface of a heat generating device 307 (shown in phantom). inset 320 illustrates a coating of nanotubes 322 that can be applied to surface 306 to improve the quality of the thermal contact. such a conductive nano-coating can eliminate the need for a separate interface material between surface 306 and the heat generating device without substantially increasing the form factor of heat sink 302 . in some embodiments, body 304 of heat sink 302 may be reduced to a thin film of thermally conductive material with nanotubes disposed on either side of the film. on one side (surface 306 ), the nanotubes 322 are densely spaced to promote thermal contact for conductive heat transfer, and on the other side (surface 308 ) the nanotubes 312 are spaced apart to increase the surface area and promote convective heat transfer. body 304 can be made thin in relation to the length of the nanotubes (e.g., 5 to 10 nm) and may also be flexible or malleable, so that heat sink 302 can be applied to surfaces of arbitrary shape without specific molding or pre-shaping. fig. 7 illustrates an application of conductive nano-coatings to a semiconductor device. a semiconductor device package 702 has a top portion 704 with an inner surface 706 and an outer surface 708 . inside package 702 is a semiconductor circuit device 710 that generates heat as it operates. inner surface 706 has a conductive nano-coating 712 for improving thermal contact between inner surface 706 and a top surface 714 of device 710 . in some embodiments, nano-coating 712 is made of boron nitride nanotubes, which are semiconducting (with large bandgaps) in all chiralities and can provide electrical isolation in addition to high thermal conductivity. outer surface 708 has a convective nano-coating 716 , which may contain or consist of, e.g., spaced-apart nanotubes as described above. in this embodiment, a heat sink is effectively built into the semiconductor device packaging through the presence of nano-coatings 712 and 716 . depending on the thermal properties of the semiconductor device 710 (e.g., how much heat it generates), a separate heat sink might not be necessary. it will be appreciated that packages such as package 702 can advantageously be provided with convective and/or conductive nano-coatings at the time of package manufacture. in other embodiments, nano-coatings 712 and 716 may be customized for a particular semiconductor device 710 ; for example, conductive nano-coating 712 might be made more dense in areas opposite particularly hot regions of semiconductor device 710 and less dense elsewhere. it is to be understood that the foregoing examples are illustrative and not limiting of the invention. conductive nano-coatings as described herein may be applied to any surface of an object where enhanced thermal contact with, or enhanced thermal transfer to or from, another object is desired. as another example, a conductive nano-coating might be applied to the surface of an otherwise conventional printed circuit board where an integrated circuit device is to be mounted, for purposes of enhancing thermal transfer out of the device and into the board. as yet another example, the outer surface of a conventional heat pipe, or selected portions of the outer surface, could be augmented with a conductive nano-coating to improve thermal transfer between the heat pipe and an object (e.g., a heat source) to which a portion of the heat pipe is to be attached. such coatings may also be used in microfluidic cooling structures as well as other applications. conclusion while the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications are possible. for instance, convective nano-coatings and/or conductive nano-coatings in accordance with the present invention may be applied to any elements in electrical, optical or mechanical systems of any size scale. further, the terms “convective” and “conductive” are used herein to describe nano-coatings that are optimized for increasing an exposed surface area (as is often desirable for heat exchange between an object and a fluid medium) and nano-coatings that are optimized for enhancing an object-to-object contact surface (as is often desirable for heat exchange between two solid objects). in practice, heat transfer between two objects or between an object and a fluid may occur through a combination of physical processes, including convection, conduction, and/or radiation. a given nano-coating may enhance thermal transfer through any or all of these processes. for instance, nanostructures that are black in color (e.g., nanotubes) may increase radiative heat transfer in addition to any enhancement of convection and/or conduction. thus, it is to be understood that the nano-coatings described herein are not limited to any particular mechanism for enhancing thermal transfer. additionally, in embodiments shown herein, nanotubes (e.g., carbon or boron nitride nanotubes) are used to coat various surfaces. in other embodiments, other types of nanostructures may be used in addition to or instead of nanotubes, including nanorods, nanofibers, nanocrystals, fullerenes, and other nanoscale structures such as chains of nanocrystals or fullerenes. in some embodiments, a combination of different nanostructures may be used, e.g., a combination of boron nitride and carbon nanotubes or a combination of nanotubes with nanocrystals. nanostructure coatings may be applied to thermal transfer devices having a variety of sizes and shapes and intended for any application. thus, although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims.
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055-243-791-116-503
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US
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[
"US"
] |
C10M107/42,C07C67/343,C08F283/14,C08F299/00,C08G61/12,C10M145/14,C10M105/42,C07C67/283
| 2011-12-21T00:00:00 |
2011
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[
"C10",
"C07",
"C08"
] |
comb polyolefin, process for making, and blends/compositions having same
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provided is a comb polyolefin. the comb polyolefin has a copolymer of a multifunctional acrylate monomer and a α,ω-diene monomer terminated with a polyolefin substituent. there is also a process for making a comb polyolefin. there is also a polymer backbone. there is also a polyolefin blend. there is also a lubricant composition including the comb polyolefin.
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1. a process for making a comb polyolefin, comprising: a) reacting a multifunctional acrylate monomer with a α,ω-diene monomer to form an alternating acrylate/diene copolymer and b) reacting the alternating acrylate/diene copolymer with a vinyl-terminated polyolefin, wherein the α,ω-diene monomer has the general formula ch2=ch—ch2-x—ch2-ch═ch2, wherein x is a linear molecular structure with an atom number of 4 to 100, wherein the linear molecular structure is an alkyl group or ethylene oxide, wherein the multifunctional acrylate monomer is selected from the group consisting of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate, glycerol propoxylate (1po/oh) triacrylate, 1,3,5-triacryloylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine, tris[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]isocyanurate, di(trimethylolpropane) tetraacrylate, and dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate, wherein the multifunctional acrylate monomer is in slight molar excess compared to the α,ω-diene monomer, and wherein the olefins of the polyolefin of the vinyl-terminated polyolefin have from 2 to 8 carbons per monomeric unit. 2. the process of claim 1 , further comprising hydrogenating the comb polyolefin. 3. the process of claim 1 , wherein the α,ω-diene monomer is 1,9-decadiene. 4. the process of claim 1 , wherein the multifunctional acrylate monomer is pentaerythritol tetraacrylate. 5. the process of claim 1 , wherein the vinyl-terminated polyolefin is selected from the group consisting of vinyl-terminated polyethylene and vinyl-terminated polypropylene.
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field the disclosure relates to a comb polyolefin and a process for making. the disclosure further relates to a polymer backbone useful in making the comb polyolefin. there is also a polyolefin blend having the comb polyolefin. there is also a lubricant composition having the comb polyolefin. background ldpe (low density polyethylene) exhibits excellent blown film processability but relatively low stiffness and impact toughness. ldpe was made using peroxide initiated radical polymerization of ethylene and contains both short and long chain branches. the excellent processability of ldpe is believed to be due to the presence of long-chain branch structures (dense comb, tree-like, and dendritic structures), although such structures have not been characterized analytically. hdpe (high density polyethylene) has purely linear pe chains without any long and short chain branches. hdpe exhibits excellent stiffness but poor mechanical toughness and blown film processability. lldpe (linear low density polyethylene) contains only short chain branches introduced through the addition of a linear alpha-olefin co-monomer. lldpe has a heterogeneous composition distribution and exhibits good toughness and moderate stiffness but relatively low blown film processability. mlldpe (metallocene catalyst polymerized linear low density polyethylene) has a homogeneous composition distribution containing only short chain branches. mlldpe exhibits excellent impact toughness and moderate stiffness but very poor blown film processability. it would be desirable to have an additive for ethylene polymers and for propylene polymers that would enhance extensional hardness, processability, shear thinning, and melt strength. it would also be desirable to have an additive that does not significantly diminish impact toughness and mechanical stiffness of ethylene and propylene polymers. polyolefins with a comb-like topology or configuration can provide enhancement of physical properties of ethylene and propylene polymers. however, synthetic methods for comb polyolefins employed in the prior art have proven challenging to carry out, particularly when a tailored structure is desired. it would be desirable to have an effective and efficient process for making comb polyolefins, particularly those with tailored structures. polyolefins with a dense comb topology could be used as viscosity modifiers in lubricants. in addition to thickening the lubricant base stock, raising the viscosity index, delivering shear thinning, the comb-like polyolefins could potentially lower the contact friction of lubricants as comb structures are preferred in lubrication applications. it would be desirable to have a comb-like polyolefin that lowered the contact friction of lubricants. conventional polypropylenes exhibit only limited melt strength, which has resulted in processing difficulties in blow-molding of bottles and other articles. it would be desirable to have a polyolefin additive that would enhance the melt strength of conventional polypropylenes. summary according to the present disclosure, there is provided a comb polyolefin. the comb polyolefin has a copolymer of a multifunctional acrylate monomer and a α,ω-diene monomer terminated with a polyolefin substituent. further according to the present disclosure, there is provided a process for making a comb polyolefin. the process has the steps of a) reacting a multifunctional acrylate monomer with a α,ω-diene monomer to form an alternating acrylate/diene copolymer and b) reacting the alternating acrylate/diene copolymer with a vinyl-terminated polyolefin to form a comb polyolefin. further according to the present disclosure, there is provided a polymer backbone. the polymer backbone has a copolymer of a multifunctional acrylate monomer and a α,ω-diene monomer. further according to the present disclosure, there is provided an ethylene polymer blend. the blend has a matrix ethylene polymer and 0.1 wt % to 20 wt % of a comb polyolefin based on the weight of the blend. the comb polyolefin includes a copolymer of a α,ω-diene monomer and a multifunctional acrylate monomer terminated with a polyolefin substituent. further according to the present disclosure, there is provided a lubricant composition. the composition has 50 wt % or more of a base stock of one or more base oils and 0.1 wt % to 20 wt % of a comb polyolefin based on the weight of the composition. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a plot of a 1 h nmr spectrum of an embodiment of a comb polyolefin of the present disclosure. fig. 2 shows a plot of a 1 h nmr spectrum of another embodiment of a comb polyolefin of the present disclosure. fig. 3 shows a plot of a 1 h nmr spectrum overlay of another embodiment of a comb polyolefin of the present disclosure. fig. 4 shows a plot of a 1 h nmr spectrum overlay of another embodiment of a comb polyolefin of the present disclosure. detailed description all numerical values within the detailed description and the claims herein are modified by “about” or “approximately” the indicated value, and take into account experimental error and variations that would be expected by a person having ordinary skill in the art. comb polyolefins of the present disclosure are obtained from novel reactive backbones derived from alternate copolymers of multi-functional acrylates and α,ω-dienes. the number of reactive sites per chain and the length of polymer backbone can be controlled by the feeding ratio of the multi-functional acrylate monomer to the α,ω-diene monomer. the spacing between two branching points can be controlled by selection of the species of α,ω-diene employed. the crystallinity of the comb polyolefin can be controlled by the crystallizability of the vinyl-terminated polyolefin utilized. the process of the present disclosure affords a high level controllability in comb formation that cannot be attained using conventional synthetic methods. an embodiment for making the comb polyolefin is illustrated in scheme 1. it first utilizes cross-metathesis copolymerization of a multi-functional acrylate and a α,ω-diene to synthesize an alternate copolymer with controlled length. multi-functional acrylates cannot homocouple as a result of the metathesis reaction mechanism. coupling between the acrylic alkene and the vinyl of diene is thermodynamically favored. even if the diene homopolymerizes through acyclic diene metathesis polymerization (admet) pathway, the acrylate can still be inserted into the double bond in the polymer backbone. this mechanism ensures an alternating copolymer as the major product. the degree of polymerization can be controlled by the monomer feed ratio of the multi-functional acrylate to the α,ω-diene. the multi-functional acrylate is preferably fed with a slight excess to prevent crosslinking. the degree of excess of multi-functional acrylate to the α,ω-diene determines the molecular weight of the reactive backbone (alternating of multifunctional acrylate and diene). a “slight molar excess of multi-functional acrylate to the α,ω-diene” means a ratio of acrylate:diene of from 2:1 to 1:1, more preferably from 1.5:1 to 1.01:1, and even preferably from 1.4:1 to 1.04:1. the unreacted acrylic alkenes in the resulting alternate copolymers can then be available for the second cross metathesis reaction with vinyl-terminated polyolefins yielding a comb structure. useful multi-functional acrylates have 3 or more functionalities, i.e., vinyl terminations, per molecule. the multifunctional acrylate monomer is selected from the group consisting of trimethylolpropane triacrylate (tmpta), trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate, glycerol propoxylate (1po/oh) triacrylate, 1,3,5-triacryloylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine, tris[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]isocyanurate, pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (peta), di(trimethylol propane) tetraacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate (dpeha), and the like. peta is a preferred multi-functional acrylate. it is preferred to us a slight molar excess of the acrylates relative to the α,ω-dienes. a “slight molar excess” means a ratio of acrylate:diene of from 2:1 to 1:1, more preferably from 1.5:1 to 1.01:1, and even preferably from 1.4:1 to 1.04:1. useful α,ω-dienes have a general formula of ch2=ch—ch2-x—ch2-ch═ch2, wherein x can be any linear molecular structure with an atom number of 0 to 1,000, preferably an atom number 2 to 500, and more preferably an atom number of 4 to 100. useful linear molecular structures include alkyl groups and ethylene oxide. the reaction between the multi-functional acrylates and the α,ω-dienes is carried out at a temperature of −40° c. to 120° c., preferably 15° c. to 100° c., and most preferably 20° c. to 80° c. the reaction between the multi-functional acrylates and the α,ω-dienes is preferably carried out at ambient pressure. the reaction between the multi-functional acrylates and the α,ω-dienes is carried out for a time of 1 minute to 170 hours, preferably 10 minutes to 72 hours, and most preferably 30 minutes to 6 hours. vinyl-terminated polyolefins can be then grafted onto the remaining pendant acrylate alkenes of the reactive backbone through a cross-metathesis reaction. the vinyl-terminated polyolefin preferably has from 2 to 8 carbons per monomeric unit. preferred vinyl-terminated polyolefin include polyethylene and polypropylene. the reaction between the acrylate/diene reactive backbone and the vinyl-terminated polyolefins is carried out at a temperature of −40° c. to 120° c., preferably 15° c. to 100° c., and most preferably 20° c. to 80° c. the reaction between the acrylate/diene reactive backbone and the vinyl-terminated polyolefins is preferably carried out at ambient pressure. the reaction between the acrylate/diene reactive backbone and the vinyl-terminated polyolefins is carried out for a time of 1 minute to 170 hours, preferably 10 minutes to 72 hours, and most preferably 30 minutes to 6 hours. the comb polyolefin preferably bears 4 or more teeth (the terminated polyolefin chain ends), more preferably 5 to 500 teeth, and most preferably 10 to 100 teeth per polymer chain. the comb polyolefin preferably has an overall molecular weight greater than 5.000, more preferably greater than 15,000, and most preferably greater than 50,000 number average molecular weight. the overall molecular weight can be determined by determining the remaining pendant acrylate alkenes per reactive backbone synthesized and the molecular weight of the vinyl-terminated polyolefin used for grafting. if necessary, any residual unsaturation in the comb polyolefin can be removed by hydrogenation by any method known in the art. hydrogenation can be carried out in the process by any known catalysis system, including heterogeneous systems and soluble systems. soluble systems are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 4,284,835 at column 1, line 65 through column 9, line 16 as well as u.s. pat. no. 4,980,331 at column 3 line 40 through column 6, line 28, all of which is incorporated herein by reference. additional teachings to hydrogenation are seen in rachapudy et al. journal of polymer science: polymer physics edition, vol. 17, 1211-1222 (1979), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. table 1 of the article discloses several systems including palladium on various supports (calcium carbonate, but also barium sulfide). the rachapudy et al. article discloses preparation of homogeneous catalysts and heterogeneous catalysts. the rachapudy et al. article discloses a method of preparation of a homogeneous hydrogenation catalyst. the catalyst can be formed by reaction between a metal alkyl and the organic salt of a transition metal. the metal alkyls were n-butyl lithium (in cyclohexane) and triethyl aluminum (in hexane). the metal salts were cobalt and nickel 2-ethyl hexanoates (in hydrocarbon solvents) and platinum and palladium acetyl-acetonates (solids). hydrogenation was conducted in a 1-liter heavy-wall glass reactor, fitted with a stainless steel flange top and magnetically stirred. a solution of 5 grams of polybutadiene in 500 ml of dry cyclohexane was added, and the reactor was closed and purged with nitrogen. the catalyst complex was prepared separately by adding the transition metal salt to the metal alkyl in cyclohexane under nitrogen. the molar ratio of component metals (alkyl to salt) was generally 3.5/1, the optimum in terms of rate and completeness of hydrogenation. the reactor was heated to 70° c., purged with hydrogen, and the catalyst mixture (usually 0.03 moles of transition metal per mole of double bonds) injected through a rubber septum. hydrogen pressure was increased to 20 psi (gauge) and the reaction allowed to proceed for approximately 4 hours. after hydrogenation, the catalyst was decomposed with dilute hcl. the polymer was precipitated with methanol, washed with dilute acid, re-dissolved, re-precipitated and dried under vacuum. blank experiments with polyethylene in place of polybutadiene confirmed that the washing procedure was sufficient to remove any uncombined catalyst decomposition products. the rachapudy et al. article also discloses a method of preparation of a heterogeneous hydrogenation catalyst. a 1-liter high-pressure reactor (parr instrument co.) was used. the catalysts were nickel on kieselguhr (girdler co.) and palladium on calcium carbonate (strem chemical co.). approximately 5 grams of polybutadiene were dissolved in 500 ml of dry cyclohexane, the catalyst was added (approximately 0.01 moles metal/mole of double bonds), and the reactor was purged with hydrogen. the reactor was then pressurized with hydrogen and the temperature raised to the reaction temperature for 3 to 4 hours. for the nickel catalyst, the reaction conditions were 700 psi h 2 and 160° c. for palladium, the conditions were 500 psi h 2 and 70° c. after reaction the hydrogen was removed and the solution filtered at 70° c. the polymer was precipitated with methanol and dried under vacuum. the catalysts described herein can be used to hydrogenate hydrocarbons containing saturated carbon bonds. the saturated carbon bonds which may be hydrogenated include olefinic and acetylenic saturated bonds. the process is particularly suitable for the hydrogenation under mild conditions of hydrogenatable organic materials having carbon-to-carbon unsaturation, such as acyclic monoolefins and polyolefins, cyclic monoolefins and polyolefins and mixtures thereof. these materials may be unsubstituted or substituted with additional non-reactive functional groups such as halogens, ether linkages or cyano groups. exemplary of the types of carbon-to-carbon compounds useful herein are hydrocarbons of 2 to 30 carbon atoms, e.g., olefinic compounds selected from acyclic and cyclic mono-, di- and triolefins. the catalysts of this invention are also suitable for hydrogenating carbon-to-carbon unsaturation in polymeric materials, for example, in removing unsaturation from butadiene polymers and co-polymers such as styrene-butadiene-styrene. the hydrogenation reaction herein is normally accomplished at a temperature from 40° c. to 160° c. and preferably from 60° c. to 150° c. different substrates being hydrogenated will require different optimum temperatures, which can be determined by experimentation. the initial hydrogenation pressures may range up to 3,000 psi partial pressure, at least part of which is present due to the hydrogen. pressures from 1 to 7500 psig are suitable. preferred pressures are up to 2000 psig, and most preferred pressures are from 100 to 1000 psig are employed. the reactive conditions are determined by the particular choices of reactants and catalysts. the process may be either batch or continuous. in a batch process, reaction times may vary widely, such as between 0.01 second to 10 hours. in a continuous process, reaction times may vary from 0.1 seconds to 120 minutes and preferably from 0.1 second to 10 minutes. the ratio of catalyst to material being hydrogenated is generally not critical and may vary widely within the scope of the invention. molar ratios of catalyst to material being hydrogenated between 1:1000 and 10:1 are found to be satisfactory; higher and lower ratios, however, are possible. if desired, the hydrogenation process may be carried out in the presence of an inert diluent, for example a paraffinic or cycloparaffinic hydrocarbon. additional teachings to hydrogenation processes and catalysts are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 4,980,331, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. in general, any of the group viii metal compounds known to be useful in the preparation of catalysts for the hydrogenation of ethylenic unsaturation can be used separately or in combination to prepare the catalysts. suitable compounds, then, include group viii metal carboxylates having the formula (rcoo) n m, wherein m is a group viii metal, r is a hydrocarbyl radical having from 1 to 50 carbon atoms, preferably from 5 to 30 carbon atoms, and n is a number equal to the valence of the metal m; alkoxides having the formula (rco) n m, wherein m is again a group viii metal, r is a hydrocarbon radical having from 1 to 50 carbon atoms, preferably from 5 to 30 carbon atoms, and n is a number equal to the valence of the metal m; chelates of the metal prepared with beta-ketones, alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids beta-hydroxycarboxylic acids, beta-hydroxycarbonyl compounds and the like; salts of sulfur-containing acids having the general formula m(so x ) n and partial esters thereof; and salts of aliphatic and aromatic sulfonic acids having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms. preferably, the group viii metal will be selected from the group consisting of nickel and cobalt. most preferably, the group viii metal will be nickel. the metal carboxylates useful in preparing the catalyst include group viii metal salts of hydrocarbon aliphatic acids, hydrocarbon cycloaliphatic acids and hydrocarbon aromatic acids. examples of hydrocarbon aliphatic acids include hexanoic acid, ethylhexanoic acid, heptanoic acid, octanoic acid, nonanoic acid, decanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and rhodinic acid. examples of hydrocarbon aromatic acids include benzoic acid and alkyl-substituted aromatic acids in which the alkyl substitution has from 1 to 20 carbon atoms. examples of cycloaliphatic acids include naphthenic acid, cyclohexylcarboxylic acid, and abietic-type resin acids. suitable chelating agents which may be combined with various group viii metal compounds thereby yielding a group viii metal chelate compound useful in the preparation of the catalyst include beta-ketones, alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids, beta-hydroxy carboxylic acids, and beta-hydroxycarbonyl compounds. examples of beta-ketones that may be used include acetylacetone, 1,3-hexanedione, 3,5-nonadione, methylacetoacetate, and ethylacetoacetate. examples of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids that may be used include lactic acid, glycolic acid, alpha-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, alpha-hydroxy-alpha-phenylacetic acid, and alpha-hydroxycyclohexylacetic acid. examples of beta-hydroxycarboxylic acids include salicylic acid, and alkyl-substituted salicyclic acids. examples of beta-hydroxylcarbonyl compounds that may be used include salicylaldehyde, and θ-hydroxyacetophenone. the metal alkoxides useful in preparing the catalysts include group viii metal alkoxides of hydrocarbon aliphatic alcohols, hydrocarbon cycloaliphatic alcohols and hydrocarbon aromatic alcohols. examples of hydrocarbon aliphatic alcohols include hexanol, ethylhexanol, heptanol, octanol, nonanol, decanol, and dodecanol. the group viii metal salts of sulfur-containing acids and partial esters thereof include group viii metal salts of sulfonic acid, sulfuric acid, sulphurous acid, and partial esters thereof. of the sulfonic acids, aromatic sulfonic acids such as benzene sulfonic acid, p-toluene sulfonic acid, are particularly useful. in general, any of the alkylalumoxane compounds known to be useful in the preparation of olefin polymerization catalysts may be used in the preparation of the hydrogenation catalyst. alkylalumoxane compounds useful in preparing the catalyst may, then, be cyclic or linear. cyclic alkylalumoxanes may be represented by the general formula (r—al—o) m while linear alkylalumoxanes may be represented by the general formula r(r—al—o) n alr 2 . in both of the general formulae r will be an alkyl group having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, and pentyl, m is an integer from 3 to 40, and n is an integer from 1 to 40. in a preferred embodiment, r will be methyl, m will be a number from 5 to 20 and n will be a number from 10 to 20. as is well known, alkylalumoxanes may be prepared by reacting an aluminum alkyl with water. usually the resulting product will be a mixture of both linear and cyclic compounds. contacting of the aluminum alkyl and water may be accomplished in several ways. for example, the aluminum alkyl may first be dissolved in a suitable solvent such as toluene or an aliphatic hydrocarbon and the solution then contacted with a similar solvent containing relatively minor amounts of moisture. alternatively, an aluminum alkyl may be contacted with a hydrated salt, such as hydrated copper sulfate or ferrous sulfate. when this method is used, a hydrated ferrous sulfate is frequently used. according to this method, a dilute solution of aluminum alkyl in a suitable solvent such as toluene is contacted with hydrated ferrous sulfate. in general, 1 mole of hydrated ferrous sulfate will be contacted with from 6 to 7 moles of the aluminum trialkyl. when aluminum trimethyl is the aluminum alkyl actually used, methane will be evolved as conversion of the aluminum alkyl to an alkylalumoxane occurs. in general, any of the group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyls or hydrides known to be useful in preparing hydrogenation catalysts in the prior art may be used to prepare the hydrogenation catalyst. in general, the group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyls will be peralkyls with each alkyl group being the same or different containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms and the hydrides will be perhydrides although alkylhydrides should be equally useful. aluminum, magnesium and lithium alkyls and hydrides are particularly useful and these compounds are preferred for use in preparing the catalyst. aluminum trialkyls are most preferred. the one or more alkylalumoxanes and the one or more group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyls or hydrides may be combined and then contacted with the one or more group viii metal compounds or the one or more alkylalumoxanes and the one or more group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyls or hydrides may be sequentially contacted with the one or more group viii metal compounds with the proviso that when sequential contacting is used, the one or more alkylalumoxanes will be first contacted with the one or more group viii metal compounds. sequential contacting is preferred. with respect to the contacting step the two different reducing agents; i.e., the alkylalumoxanes and the alkyls or hydrides, might react with the group viii metal compound in such a way as to yield different reaction products. the group ia, iia and iiia metal alkyls and hydrides are a stronger reducing agent than the alkylalumoxanes, and, as a result, if the group viii metal is allowed to be completely reduced with a group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyl or hydride, the alkylalumoxanes might make little or no contribution. if the group viii metal is first reduced with one or more alkylalumoxanes however, the reaction product obtained with the alumoxane might be further reduced or otherwise altered by reaction with a group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyl or hydride. whether contacting is accomplished concurrently or sequentially, the one or more alkylalumoxanes will be combined with the one or more group viii metal compounds at a concentration sufficient to provide an aluminum to group viii metal atomic ratio within the range from 1.5:1 to 20:1 and the one or more group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyls or hydrides will be combined with one or more group viii metal compounds at a concentration sufficient to provide a group ia, iia or iiia metal to group vii metal atomic ratio within the range from 0.1:1 to 20:1. contact between the one or more group viii compounds and the one or more alkylalumoxanes and the one or more alkyls or hydrides will be accomplished at a temperature within the range from 20° c. and 100° c. contact will typically be continued for a period of time within the range from 1 to 120 minutes. when sequential contacting is used, each of the two contacting steps will be continued for a period of time within this same range. in general, the hydrogenation catalyst will be prepared by combining the one or more group viii metal compounds with the one or more alkylalumoxanes and the one or more group ia, iia or iiia metal alkyls or hydrides in a suitable solvent. in general, the solvent used for preparing the catalyst may be anyone of those solvents known in the prior art to be useful as solvents for saturated hydrocarbon polymers. suitable solvents include aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as hexane, heptane, and octane, cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons such as cyclopentane, and cyclohexane, alkyl-substituted cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons such as methylcyclopentane, methylcyclohexane, and methylcyclooctane, aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, hydroaromatic hydrocarbons such as decalin and tetralin, alkyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene and xylene, halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons such as chlorobenzene, and linear and cyclic ethers such as the various dialkyl ethers, polyethers, particularly diethers, and tetrahydrofuran. suitable hydrogenation catalysts will usually be prepared by combining the catalyst components in a separate vessel prior to feeding the same to the hydrogenation reactor. additional teachings to hydrogenation processes and catalysts are disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 4,284,835 and 4,980,331, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. the comb polymer is preferably substantially saturated. a polymer is deemed saturated if the incidence of unsaturation is less than 10% and preferably less than 5% and most preferably less than 1% according to solution proton nmr. the comb polyolefins can be used as an additive to increase thickening and viscosity index, deliver shear thinning, and lower contact friction in conventional lubricant base oils and base stocks. the comb polyolefins will typically be present at 0.1 wt % to 20 wt %, more typically from 0.25 wt % to wt %, and most typically 0.5 wt % to 5 wt %. useful lubricating base stocks include natural oils and synthetic oils. groups i, ii, iii, iv and v are broad categories of base stocks developed and defined by the american petroleum institute (api publication 1509) to create guidelines for lubricant base stocks. group i base stocks have a viscosity index of 80 to 120 and contain greater than 0.03% sulfur and less than 90% saturates. group ii base stocks have a viscosity index of 80 to 120, and contain less than or equal to 0.03% sulfur and greater than or equal to 90% saturates. group iii stocks have a viscosity index greater than 120 and contain less than or equal to 0.03% sulfur and greater than 90% saturates. group iv includes polyalphaolefins (pao). group v base stock includes base stocks not included in groups i-iv. the comb polyolefins can be used as a blend additive to improve processability and/or mechanical properties of conventional polyolefins (compared to polyolefins without the comb polyolefins). properties that can be improved or enhanced include extensional hardness, shear thinning, and melt strength. blends of comb polyolefins and conventional polyolefins typically have from 0.1 wt % to 20 wt %, more typically from 0.25 wt % to 10 wt %, and most typically from 0.5 wt % to 5 wt % comb polyolefin based on the total weight of the blend. conventional polyolefins useful as matrix polymers in the blend include ldpe, lldpe, mlldpe, hdpe, vldpe (very low density polyethylene), ipp (isotactic polypropylene), rcp (random copolymer of polypropylene), icp (impact copolymer of polypropylene), propylene elastomers (such as vistamaxx® from exxonmobil chemical, versify® from the dow chemical company), and polypropylene compound resins (such as exxtral® from exxonmobil chemical). for instance, the comb polyolefins can be used to increase the extensional hardness and processability in blown polyolefin films, which typically employ lldpe or mlldpe. the blown film can be formed by any known process, such as melt extrusion through a mandrel followed by expansion and orientation/hardening with a gas bubble. improved extensional hardening enhances blown film bubble stability and affords higher production rates and line speeds for blown film. the extensional hardness and processability of blown polyolefin films is preferably increased without substantially diminishing or compromising mechanical performance, optical clarity, and shear viscosity. for instance, the comb polyolefins can be used to increase the melt strength of polypropylene. such melt-strengthened polypropylenes are useful in blow-molding operations for the manufacture of bottles and other articles. the following are examples of the present disclosure and are not to be construed as limiting. examples comb polyolefins of the present disclosure were prepared. the comb polyolefins were then characterized by mass spectroscopy (ms), proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 h nmr), and gel permeation chromatography (gpc). example 1 a flask was charged with 6 mmol tetraacrylate peta, 3 mmol 1,9-decadiene and 15 ml dichloromethane (dcm) and stirred to form a solution. a 1 ml dcm solution containing 25 mg (0.03 mmol) of grubbs 2 nd generation catalyst was then injected into the stirred monomer solution to form a mixture. the mixture was stirred at 40° c. overnight followed by quenching with several drops of ethyl vinyl ether. silica gel was added and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for several hours. the silica gel was filtered off and the organic solution was dried. the crude product was confirmed by 1 h nmr ( fig. 1 ) as a majority of peta-diene-peta “trimer”. mass spectrometry also confirmed the presence of theoretical molecular ions as major peaks (table 1). this “trimer” (n=1 in scheme 1) theoretically has 6 unreacted acrylic double bonds in one molecule and can provide 6 branching points per oligomer backbone if all the 6 unreacted acrylic double bonds successfully react with vinyl-terminated polyolefins. table 1(the most abundant molecular ion peaks observed in the massspectrometry in fig. 1)molecular ioncalculatedobserved[c 40 h 50 o 16 + h] +787.3786.9[c 40 h 50 o 16 + nh 4 ] +804.3803.9 example 2 a flask was charged with 1 mmol tetraacrylate peta, 0.9 mmol 1,9-decadiene and 9.5 ml dcm and stirred to form a solution. a 1 ml dcm solution containing 8.5 mg (0.01 mmol) of grubbs 2 nd generation catalyst was then injected into the stirred monomer solution to form a mixture. the mixture was stirred at 40° c. overnight followed by quenching with several drops of ethyl vinyl ether. the mixture was passed through a short silica gel column. the organic solution was dried. the crude product was confirmed by 1 h nmr ( fig. 2 ) as a majority of “19mer” (n=9 in scheme 1). this “19mer” theoretically has 22 unreacted acrylic double bonds in one molecule and can provide 22 branching points per polymer backbone if all the unreacted acrylic double bonds successfully react with vinyl-terminated polyolefins. example 3 a flask was charged with 1 mmol tetraacrylate peta, 0.9 mmol 1,9-decadiene and 9.5 ml dcm and stirred to form a solution. a 1 ml dcm solution containing 8.5 mg (0.01 mmol) grubbs 2 nd generation catalyst was then injected into the stirred monomer solution to form a reaction mixture. the reaction mixture was stirred at 40° c. overnight. a small aliquot of the reaction mixture was taken out to analyze the structure of the reactive backbone. to the rest of the reaction mixture, a 4.72 g vinyl-terminated atactic polypropylene (vt-app, mn 2590, 1.82 mmol vinyl) in 20 ml toluene solution was added. a 1 ml toluene solution containing 8.5 mg (0.01 mmol) of grubbs 2 nd generation catalyst was then injected. the reaction was stirred at 60° c. under slow nitrogen flow for 60 hours. the reaction was quenched by adding ˜0.1 ml ethyl vinyl ether. the quenched reaction mixture was passed through a short silica gel column and the column was washed with a dcm/ethyl acetate (4/1) solvent mixture. the combined organic solution was dried to yield a light brown viscous oil. fig. 3 shows overlaid partial 1 h nmr spectra of the reactive backbone (top, green spectrum) and comb app (bottom, blue spectrum). it is clearly demonstrated that after the second metathesis reaction, all the terminal double bonds (dbs) disappeared, indicating a complete grafting of the vt-app onto the reactive backbone. the new peak around 5.4 ppm in the bottom spectrum indicated the formation of vt-app dimer, which may be reduced by using vt-app with high vinyl ratio and narrow molecular weight distribution and carefully controlling stoichiometry. the comb app showed a bimodal gpc trace with a 91k high molecular weight peak and a 9k low molecular weight peak. the theoretical molecular weight of the comb app is 57k and the theoretical molecular weight of the app dimer is 5k. considering the system error in deconvoluting the bimodal gpc trace, the observed and calculated molecular weights roughly matched confirming the formation of the desired comb polyolefin. example 4 a flask was charged with 1 mmol tetraacrylate peta, 0.9 mmol 1,9-decadiene and 50 ml toluene and stirred to form a monomer solution. a 1 ml toluene solution containing 8.5 mg (0.01 mmol) of grubbs 2 nd generation catalyst was then injected into the stirred monomer solution to form a reaction mixture. the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. then to the reaction mixture, a 22.884 g vinyl-terminated atactic polypropylene (vt-app, mn 12k, ˜2 mmol vinyl) in 80 ml toluene solution was added. the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature under slow nitrogen flow for 3 days. a small aliquot of the reaction mixture was taken out to analyze the structure of the comb app before hydrogenation. the reaction was quenched by adding ˜0.5 ml ethyl vinyl ether. then 3.725 g p-toluenesulfonhydrazide (tsh, mmol) and 3.8 ml tri-n-propylamine (tpa, 20 mmol) were added into the reaction flask. the mixture was heated to reflux for 4 hours followed by precipitation to copious methanol. a hydrogenated comb app product was received as a colorless viscous oil. the comb app products before and after hydrogenation were checked by 1 h nmr and their partial nmr spectra were stacked in fig. 4 for comparison. fig. 4 shows overlaid partial 1 h nmr spectra of the comb app before hydrogenation (top, red spectrum) and comb app after hydrogenation (bottom, blue spectrum). it is clearly demonstrated that after the second metathesis reaction, only a small amount of terminal double bonds (dbs) were left indicating that the grafting of the high molecular weight vt-app onto the reactive backbone was at high conversion. the comb app product still contained a fair amount of unreacted vt-app due to its high molecular weight, broad molecular weight distribution, and low vinyl ratio. after hydrogenation, all the alkene protons disappeared while the ch 2 protons next to the ester oxygen still showed up around 4.2 ppm indicating a complete hydrogenation without losing branches. the comb app with high molecular weight branches also showed a bimodal gpc trace confirming the formation of the desired comb polyolefin with high molecular weight. pct/ep clauses: 1. a comb polyolefin, comprising a copolymer of a α,ω-diene monomer and a multifunctional acrylate monomer terminated with a polyolefin substituent. 2. the comb polyolefin of clause 1, wherein the comb polyolefin is substantially saturated. 3. the comb polyolefin of either of clauses 1 and 2, wherein the α,ω-diene monomer has the general formula ch2=ch—ch2-x—ch2-ch═ch2, wherein x is a linear molecular structure with an atom number of 0 to 1,000. 4. the comb polyolefin of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the multifunctional acrylate monomer is selected from the group consisting of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate, glycerol propoxylate (1 po/oh) triacrylate, 1,3,5-triacryloylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine, tris[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]isocyanurate, di(trimethylolpropane) tetraacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate. 5. the comb polyolefin of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the multifunctional acrylate monomer is in slight molar excess compared to the α,ω-diene monomer. 6. the comb polyolefin of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the olefins of the polyolefin of the vinyl-terminated polyolefin have from 2 to 8 carbons per monomeric unit. 7. a process for making a comb polyolefin, comprising: a) reacting a multifunctional acrylate monomer with a α,ω-diene monomer to form an alternating acrylate/diene copolymer andb) reacting the alternating acrylate/diene copolymer with a vinyl-terminated polyolefin. 8. the process of clause 7, further comprising hydrogenating the comb polyolefin. 9. the process of either of clauses 7 and 8, wherein the α,ω-diene monomer has the general formula ch2=ch—ch2-x—ch2-ch═ch2, wherein x is a linear molecular structure with an atom number of 0 to 1,000. 10. the process of any of clauses 7 to 9, wherein the multifunctional acrylate monomer is selected from the group consisting of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate, glycerol propoxylate (1po/oh) triacrylate, 1,3,5-triacryloylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine, tris[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]isocyanurate, di(trimethylolpropane) tetraacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate. 11. the process of any of clauses 7 to 10, wherein the multifunctional acrylate monomer is in slight molar excess compared to the α,ω-diene monomer. 12. the process of any of clauses 7 to 11, wherein the olefins of the polyolefin of the vinyl-terminated polyolefin have from 2 to 8 carbons per monomeric unit. 13. a polymer backbone, comprising a copolymer of a multifunctional acrylate monomer and a α,ω-diene monomer. 14. a polyolefin blend, comprising a matrix polyolefin and 0.1 wt % to 20 wt % of a comb polyolefin of clause 1 based on the weight of the blend. 15. a lubricant composition, comprising 50 wt % or more of a base stock of one or more base oils and 0.1 wt % to 20 wt % of the comb polyolefin of claim 1 based on the weight of the composition. all documents described herein are incorporated by reference herein, including any priority documents and/or testing procedures to the extent they are not inconsistent with this text, provided however that any priority document not named in the initially filed application or filing documents is not incorporated by reference herein. as is apparent from the foregoing general description and the specific embodiments, while forms of the disclosure have been illustrated and described, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. accordingly, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited thereby. likewise, the term “comprising” is considered synonymous with the term “including” for purposes of australian law. all patents and patent applications, test procedures (such as astm methods, ul methods, and the like), and other documents cited herein are fully incorporated by reference to the extent such disclosure is not inconsistent with this disclosure and for all jurisdictions in which such incorporation is permitted. when numerical lower limits and numerical upper limits are listed herein, ranges from any lower limit to any upper limit are contemplated. while the illustrative embodiments of the disclosure have been described with particularity, it will be understood that various other modifications will be apparent to and can be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the claims appended hereto be limited to the examples and descriptions set forth herein but rather that the claims be construed as encompassing all the features of patentable novelty which reside in the present disclosure, including all features which would be treated as equivalents thereof by those skilled in the art to which the disclosure pertains. the disclosure has been described above with reference to numerous embodiments and specific examples. many variations will suggest themselves to those skilled in this art in light of the above detailed description. all such obvious variations are within the full intended scope of the appended claims.
|
055-655-497-478-491
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US
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[
"US"
] |
G06F15/16,H04L29/08,H04L29/12,H04W4/06
| 2010-11-03T00:00:00 |
2010
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[
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"H04"
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method and apparatus for delivery of content to a mobile device
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an approach is provided for facilitating the delivery of content to a device through activation of an indicator executable on the device. one or more user devices are determined to receive the content from a content delivery platform using an electronic directory service. an application to provide an indicator representing the content is pushed to the device for initiating a request for the content from the device. in response to the request, a determination is made as to whether to grant the request for delivery of the content to the device.
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1. a method comprising: retrieving media content; determining one or more user devices that are to receive the media content using a directory system configured to provide an electronic directory service, wherein the electronic directory service is a network service that identifies all resources configured to a given network and an administrator of the electronic directory service determines the one or more user devices that can access each of the resources, and wherein determining one or more user devices that are to receive the media content includes: generating a query to obtain identifiers of the one or more user devices from the directory system, and receiving the identifiers of the one or more user devices from the directory system in response to the query; pushing an application to provide an indicator representing the media content to one of the user devices; receiving a request for the media content from the one of the user devices, the request including an id associated with the one of the user devices; and determining whether to grant the request for delivery of the media content to the one of the user devices based on whether the id included in the received request matches any of the identifiers of the one or more user devices in the directory system, wherein the indicator indicates a first indication for a first time that the media content has been published when the media content has not been previously published, and indicates a second indication, different from the first indication, for an update to the media content when the media content has been previously published, wherein the pushed application includes information describing at the one of the user devices what the media content that is to be delivered is about and the information is displayed at the one of the user devices prior to triggering the request for the media content, and wherein the request for the media content from the one of the user devices is triggered by activating the indicator representing the media content. 2. a method according to claim 1 , further comprising: initiating transmission of the media content to the one of the user devices over a wireless network as a podcast. 3. a method according to claim 1 , wherein the directory system is configured to provide the directory service according to a lightweight directory access protocol (ldap). 4. a method according to claim 1 , wherein the delivery of the media content, includes: streaming the media content over a data network, or transferring the media content as a file over the data network. 5. a method according to claim 1 , wherein the application is pushed according to a predetermined schedule relating to off-peak hours of operations for the one of the user devices. 6. an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, and the at least one processor, when executing the computer program code, causes the apparatus at least to: retrieve media content; determine one or more user devices that are to receive the media content using a directory system configured to provide an electronic directory service, wherein the electronic directory service is a network service that identifies all resources configured to a given network and an administrator of the electronic directory service determines the one or more user devices that can access each of the resources, and wherein determine one or more user devices that are to receive the media content includes: generate a query to obtain identifiers of the one or more user devices from the directory system, and receive the identifiers of the one or more user devices from the directory system in response to the query; push an application to provide an indicator representing the media content to one of the user devices; receive a request for the media content from the one of the user devices, the request including an id associated with the one of the user devices; and determine whether to grant the request for delivery of the media content to the one of the user devices based on whether the id included in the received request matches any of the identifiers of the one or more user devices in the directory system, wherein the indicator indicates a first indication for a first time that the media content has been published when the media content has not been previously published, and indicates a second indication, different from the first indication, for an update to the media content when the media content has been previously published, wherein the pushed application includes information describing at the one of the user devices what the media content that is to be delivered is about and the information is displayed at the one of the user devices prior to triggering the request for the media content, and wherein the request for the media content from the one of the user devices is triggered by activating the indicator representing the media content. 7. an apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to: initiate transmission of the media content to the one of the user devices over a wireless network as a podcast. 8. an apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the directory system is configured to provide the directory service according to a lightweight directory access protocol (ldap). 9. an apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the delivery of the media content includes: streaming the media content over a data network, or transferring the media content as a file over the data network. 10. an apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the application is pushed according to a predetermined schedule relating to off-peak hours of operations for the one of the user devices. 11. a method comprising: automatically receiving and executing, at a user device, an application to present an indicator representing media content that is available for delivery to the user device from a content delivery platform, wherein the user device is determined to be a recipient of the application based on a directory system configured to provide an electronic directory service, wherein the electronic directory service is a network service that identifies all resources configured to a given network and an administrator of the electronic directory service determines user devices that can access each of the resources based on identifiers of the user devices, wherein the content delivery platform is configured (i) to determine the user devices to receive the application based on a query to the directory system to obtain the identifiers of the user devices that are to receive the media content, (ii) to receive from the directory system the identifiers of the user devices that are to receive the media content in response to the query, and (iii) to push the application to present the indicator representing the media content to the user device based on the received identifiers; activating the indicator to generate a request for the media content, the request including an id associated with the user device; initiating transfer of the request, over a wireless network to the content delivery platform, to obtain the media content; and receiving the media content based on the content delivery platform determining that the id included in the request for the media content matches one of the identifiers of the user devices in the directory system, wherein the indicator indicates a first indication for a first time that the media content has been published when the media content has not been previously published, and indicates a second indication, different from the first indication, for an update to the media content when the media content has been previously published, and wherein the received application includes information describing at the user device what the media content that is to be delivered is about and the information is displayed at the user device prior to initiating triggering of the request for the media content. 12. a method according to claim 11 , further comprising: receiving the media content over a wireless network as a podcast. 13. a method according to claim 11 , wherein the directory system is configured to provide the directory service according to a lightweight directory access protocol (ldap) to the content delivery platform. 14. a method according to claim 11 , further comprising: receiving the media content over a data network as a stream, or receiving the media content as a file over the data network. 15. a method according to claim 11 , wherein the application is received according to a predetermined schedule relating to off-peak hours of operations for the user device, the predetermined schedule being managed by the content delivery platform. 16. an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, and the at least one processor, when executing the computer program code, causes the apparatus at least to: automatically receive and execute, at a user device, an application to present an indicator representing media content that is available for delivery to the user device from a content delivery platform, wherein the user device is determined to be a recipient of the application based on a directory system configured to provide an electronic directory service, wherein the electronic directory service is a network service that identifies all resources configured to a given network and an administrator of the electronic directory service determines user devices that can access each of the resources based on identifiers of the user devices, wherein the content delivery platform is configured (i) to determine the user devices to receive the application based on a query to the directory system to obtain the identifiers of the user devices that are to receive the media content, (ii) to receive from the directory system identifiers of the user devices that are to receive the media content in response to the query, and (iii) to push the application to present the indicator representing the media content to the user device based on the received identifiers; activate the indicator to generate a request for the media content, the request including an id associated with the user device; initiate transfer of the request, over a wireless network to the content delivery platform, to obtain the media content; and receive the media content based on whether the content delivery platform determining that the id included in the request for the media content matches one of the identifiers of the user devices in the directory system, wherein the indicator indicates a first indication for a first time that the media content has been published when the media content has not been previously published, and indicates a second indication, different from the first indication, for an update to the media content when the media content has been previously published, and wherein the received application includes information describing at the user device what the media content that is to be delivered is about and the information is displayed at the user device prior to initiating triggering of the request for the media content. 17. an apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receive the media content over a wireless network as a podcast. 18. an apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the directory system is configured to provide the directory service according to a lightweight directory access protocol (ldap) to the content delivery platform. 19. an apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receive the media content over a data network as a stream, or receive the media content as a file over the data network. 20. an apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the application is received according to a predetermined schedule relating to off-peak hours of operations for the user device, the predetermined schedule being managed by the content delivery platform.
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background information in today's fast-paced, information-driven culture, the publishing and sharing of content with device users in mass is facilitated through various information dissemination and communication techniques, including podcasting, really simple syndication (rss) feeding, streaming media and the like. typically, a device user will subscribe to a content delivery service offered by a content services provider to receive the most relevant and up-to-date content corresponding to their preferences. while content preferences vary depending on the context or environment in which the device user is engaged, it is common for organizations, groups and businesses wishing to convey pertinent or sensitive content to employ a directory service for dissemination of content to specific user devices maintained by the directory. unfortunately, while helpful for facilitating delivery of content, use of a directory service typically is not sufficient to ensure proper and timely execution of content by the user. for example, a device user may regularly receive podcasts from a content delivery platform to the user device, but never actually play the podcasts. still further, valuable data and network resources are consumed to fulfill a content request that could have been better allocated for a user intent on executing the content (e.g., listening to the podcast). therefore, a way of facilitating the automatic execution of content by a user device is needed. brief description of the drawings various exemplary embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which: fig. 1 is a diagram of a system capable of facilitating the delivery of content to a user device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; figs. 2a and 2b are, respectively, a diagram of a content delivery platform configured to push content to a user device, and a diagram of a user device configured to facilitate the delivery of select content to a user device, in accordance with various exemplary embodiments; fig. 3 is a diagram of a graphical user interface (gui) of a user device configured to facilitate the download of content to the device through activation of an indicator executable on the device, according to an exemplary embodiment; figs. 4 and 5 are flowcharts of a process for facilitating the delivery of select content to a user device through activation of an indicator executable on the device, according to various embodiments; fig. 6 is a flowchart of a process for enabling the transfer of content by a delivery platform in response to activation of an indicator executable on a user device, according to various embodiments; fig. 7 is a diagram of a graphical user interface (gui) of a user device for executing content as transferred to the device from a content delivery platform, according to an exemplary embodiment; and fig. 8 is a diagram of a computer system that can be used to implement various exemplary embodiments; and fig. 9 is a diagram of a chip set that can be used to implement various exemplary embodiments. description of the preferred embodiment a preferred apparatus, method and software for facilitating the delivery of content to a device through activation of an indicator executable on the device is described. in the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the preferred embodiments of the invention. it is apparent, however, that the preferred embodiments may be practiced without these specific details or with an equivalent arrangement. in other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the preferred embodiments of the invention. fig. 1 is a diagram of a system for facilitating the delivery of select content to a device through activation of an indicator executable on the device, according to an exemplary embodiment. in various embodiments, content can be directed to one or more user devices 101 a - 101 n in accordance with an established syndication model, automated download or update period, content transmission arrangement or the like. users of user devices 101 a - n are able to subscribe with a content services provider for the periodic receipt of such content from a content delivery platform 103 —i.e., a content management system that facilitates the transmission of select content to subscribers over a communication network 105 in accordance with an arranged syndication, content publishing or other like distribution agreement means. once received, content is then stored by the devices 101 a - 101 n in data storage 109 a - n accordingly or played back as streaming data. regular and timely delivery and execution of content, particularly in group settings, are key factors for ensuring the effective dissemination of relevant news, intelligence and other communications of critical importance. one technique for communicating and sharing content with members of a group at large is through podcasting, non-streamed webcast, screencasting and other content execution techniques. podcasting, for example, is a content execution technique where a video or audio message is made available for direct transmission to the devices of group members on a periodic basis. in particular, podcasting involves the creation, syndication and subsequent pushing of content as a web feed to user devices from a central server to a podcatcher active on the device. the podcatcher, operable on the device for detecting web feeds, accesses the pushed content through a subscription process, checks for content updates and downloads any new content automatically or on a manual basis. by pushing content to the user devices through syndication, it can be subsequently executed by the user device offline, making it suitable for execution at anytime. as presented herein, content capable of being pushed to a device as a podcast, screencast, data stream, etc. is any data capable of being rendered, played, presented and/or manipulated by the device. such content may include, but is not limited to, video and audio data, streaming data, data files, object code, image data, contextual and semantic data, textual data, media data, etc. generally, the content once accessed and received by a podcatcher active on a receiving device, is executed with a media player, audio player, video player, web-based content aggregator or the like. any means of enabling the delivery and execution of streamed and/or non-streamed content is relevant to the exemplary embodiments presented herein. while podcasting and other content execution techniques are useful modes of communication, the fact that a message is retrieved by a podcatcher or other means by a user device does not ensure that the message is actively executed (e.g., listened to or viewed). moreover, transmission of audio, video and/or textual content to a group at the same time can consume tremendous network resources, especially when large messages and/or large groups are involved. as a result, content providers expend these resources on messages that are never effectively listened to or viewed (or otherwise experienced) by the recipient. likewise, for the receiving user device, internal storage is expended on the downloading of content that does not actually get played or viewed by the user. though automated transmission and downloading of executable content/messages on a periodic communication basis to one or more user devices is useful, a means of triggering the execution of content in a manner that does not tax network resources is needed. while implementations can vary, the content delivery platform 103 may feature various web management software utilities, servers or a group or suite of applications and tools that enable a content services provider to seamlessly create, edit, review and publish electronic text, audio data, video data or a combination thereof. moreover, the content delivery platform 103 allows the content to be published in syndication—i.e., disseminating the content via one or more web feeds (for example, the latest news or forum posts). in addition, the content delivery platform 103 executes various protocols and network communication schemes that enable proper formatting and packaging of content for transmission over a communication network 105 , and ultimately to enable its execution by one or more user devices 101 a - n. generally, content delivery platforms 103 are maintained by one or more service providers that ensure the consistent updating and/or generation of content. in one embodiment, the services of content delivery platform 103 can be provided as managed services by a service provider that also a telecommunications service provider of a portion or all of communication network 105 . alternatively, the service provider can be a business entity that provides a particular service. as an example, a service provider, named acmelegalcontent.com, maintains a content delivery platform 103 dedicated to the provision of legal content. in this case, the content is catered to various factions of the law and/or areas of specialization/discipline within the legal community in general, i.e., case law, legal news, family law, jurisprudence topics, etc. users interested in receiving content from this provider register with the content delivery platform 103 through a web-based subscription/account activation process presented by the acmelegalcontent.com web server. the subscription/account activation and registration process may include, but is not limited to, performance of the following user activities: establishing a user profile (user name, contact info), indicating a device type for receipt of the content, selecting a preferred data format for delivery of the content (e.g., audio, video), indicating the frequency of content delivery to the user device, selecting a subscription level or pricing tier, selecting specific categories and/or subcategories of legal content (e.g., intellectual property news, pharmaceuticals, appellate law, legal careers, ecommerce). ultimately, the user preferences are defined by the user directly and/or by an overriding administrator on said user's behalf (e.g., an administrator for the organization or group to which the user belongs). once the subscription is established, the content delivery platform 103 can provide different types of content 115 a - n to different users accordingly based on the aforementioned preferences, requirements and needs. for example, a user of a first user device 101 a may receive content 115 a per the user's subscription agreement while a second user of user device 101 n receives content 115 n . in other instances, such as when the users share a common subscription agreement, mutual context such as a like organization, group or business association or other affiliations, user devices 101 a - n receive the same content. by way of example, a law firm may arrange for the transmission of regular legal content to be provided by acmelegalcontent.com to all employees who were issued firm provided user devices, i.e., user devices 101 a - n. while the example presented above depicts the content delivery platform 103 as an external or third party resource, the exemplary embodiments presented herein also apply to internally coordinated content delivery platforms 103 . internally coordinated content delivery platforms may be facilitated within a private network, such as that maintained by a business, organization or other group having a computing presence over the communication network 105 . the content 115 a - n may be generated internally, such as by a group member, the communication department or an affiliated source, and subsequently transmitted via a content delivery platform implemented within the enterprise network infrastructure (e.g., a mobile device enterprise server system). in this example, the means by which users arrange for the transmission of content to their respective user devices be it internally or externally sourced content, is managed by or in conjunction with a network administrator. fig. 2a is a diagram of a content delivery platform configured to push content to a user device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. as suggested with respect to the example above, content delivery platforms 103 can be maintained over the communication network 105 by a service provider (or enterprise), and implemented as one or more application server devices and/or as one or more software applications. various modules may be employed for providing the necessary functions and features of the content delivery platform 103 . by way of example, a subscription management module 201 manages the user account registration and/or activation process that allows users to access content. in addition to maintaining user profile information, account preferences data, and the like, the subscription management module 201 also enforces one or more subscriber level policies. subscription policies may be established and enforced by the content services provider on a paid subscription basis or permission basis, wherein varying subscription levels or tiers determine the type of content a given user may access, the frequency of syndication of the content, the amount of information made available for transmission at a time, the regularity of updates, etc. in one embodiment, web-based interaction with the content delivery platform 103 for enabling the user or network administrator to specify their settings and features is performed by way of a user interface module 211 . platform 103 also includes a content retrieval module 203 that allows a requesting user device 101 to retrieve select content from data storage 215 in accordance with their established subscription and/or preferences. in addition, the content retrieval module 203 also provides intelligence for determining whether or not content requests, as received from various devices, are to be granted. the content retrieval module 203 additionally operates in connection with a content syndication module 205 that publishes and/or feeds select content according to a syndication arrangement. in particular, the content syndication module 205 manages the various channels, sites and web feeds through which content is to be disseminated. in addition, the content syndication module 205 manages the release of content or content updates in accordance with a syndication schedule. for example, the content syndication module 205 can restrict the pushing out of content for a lower tier subscriber based on a more limited syndication schedule, while unrestricting the pushing out of content for higher tier subscribers. operable in connection with the content syndication module 205 is push module 207 , which pushes content from the content delivery platform 103 via a communication interface 213 to one or more subscribing user devices 101 configured over the network 105 . the content is pushed out in response to the determined syndication schedule of the content syndication module 205 . the push module 207 also facilitates proper packaging and arranging of content for delivery to receiving user devices in accordance with the defined device preferences (e.g., codec settings, preferred data formats). moreover, the push module 207 can transmit an application to the user devices in response to the availability of content per the content syndication module 205 . for example, when a content update is made available for syndication, the push module 207 selects an application that is capable of execution by the user device 101 for providing an indicator (e.g., an icon) representative of the content to be pushed to the user device 101 . of particular note, the application features instructions for rendering an indicator to the interface of the user device 101 , in which the execution is a precursor to the pushing of content to the device 101 . one or more applications for providing indicators representative of content are maintained in data storage 215 for representing varying types of content—i.e., an indicator for indicating the first time content has been published versus an update to prior downloaded content. operating in connection with the content delivery platform 103 of system 100 , in accordance with various embodiments, is a directory service 113 . the directory service 113 is employed by the content delivery platform 103 to properly direct content to the one or more user devices 101 a - n . to facilitate interaction with the directory service 113 , the content delivery platform 103 executes a directory service access module 209 . the directory service access module 209 provides communication between the directory service 113 and the push module 207 for controlling content delivery. the directory service access module 209 also ensures that content is directed by way of the directory service 113 to subscribing users on the predetermined schedule maintained by the content syndication module 205 , i.e., such as during off-peak hours of operation. the directory service 113 is a network service that identifies all resources configured to a given network and makes them accessible to users and applications i.e., accessible to the content delivery platform 103 . for example, user devices 101 a - n are considered resources within the directory service 113 of an organization, each of the user devices 101 a - n being identified by the directory service 113 in accord with a naming convention corresponding to the topology of the directory service 113 (e.g., database topology thereof). while user devices 101 a - n represent a specific type of resource, others maintained by the directory service 113 may include, but are not limited to, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, employee or group identifiers, specific documents and data files, computers and peripheral devices such as printers. generally, the directory service 113 provides for the use of protocols that readily enable access to select information by users associated with the directory service 113 or third party entities, such as the content delivery platform 103 (as permitted by an organization). exemplary directory service 113 topologies and/or protocols may include, but is not limited to, lightweight directory access protocol (ldap), which can be used for e-mail addresses, domain name system (dns) as used frequently for organizing and naming computers, services and other resources connected to the communication network 105 or a private network or netware directory service (nds). as an application protocol, ldap can support directory services over tcp/ip (transmission control protocol/internet protocol), and is more detailed in internet engineering task force (ietf) request for comment (rfc) 4510, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. the exemplary directory service 113 as presented herein is not limited to any one particular approach. in one embodiment, the directory service 113 is made available to the content delivery platform 103 at the discretion of an administrator of directory service 113 to enable the coordinated direction of content transmissions to select users and/or user devices. for example, a network administrator of a corporation that maintains one or more servers for housing the directory service 113 may enable the appropriate security settings and access configurations required for the content delivery platform 103 to transmit a podcast to select computers or user devices configured to the internal network. of particular note, the directory service 113 and content delivery platform 103 may operate in tandem to maintain a record of which content has been transmitted to and/or downloaded by which user device, when such transmission and/or downloading occurred and other pertinent details. in this way, the content delivery platform 103 avoids the transmission/pushing of repeat content while staying up-to-date on the current content needs of the user. the above described elements of the system 100 are communicable with one another over communication network 105 . in system 100 , according to certain embodiments, communication network 105 may be one or more of a combination of a data network, service provider network, telephony network, and/or wireless network, configured to handle various communication sessions, voice communications as well as non-voice communications. communication network 105 may be any suitable wireline and/or wireless network. in the example of a telephony network, communication network 105 may include a circuit-switched network, such as the public switched telephone network (pstn), an integrated services digital network (isdn), a private branch exchange (pbx), or other like network. when configured for wireless communication, communication network 105 may employ various technologies including, for example, code division multiple access (cdma), enhanced data rates for global evolution (edge), general packet radio service (gprs), mobile ad hoc network (manet), global system for mobile communications (gsm), internet protocol multimedia subsystem (ims), universal mobile telecommunications system (umts), etc., as well as any other suitable wireless medium, e.g., microwave access (wimax), wireless fidelity (wifi), long term evolution (lte), satellite, and the like. meanwhile, when configured as a data network, communication network 105 may be any local area network (lan), metropolitan area network (man), wide area network (wan), the internet, or any other suitable packet-switched network, such as a commercially owned, proprietary packet-switched network, such as a proprietary cable or fiber-optic network. additionally, the communication network 105 may embody circuit-switched and/or packet-switched networks that include facilities to provide for transport of circuit-switched and/or packet-based communications. it is further contemplated that the communication network 105 includes components and facilities to provide for signaling and/or bearer communications between the various components or facilities of system 100 . in this manner, the network 105 may embody or include portions of a signaling system 7 (ss7) network, or other suitable infrastructure to support control and signaling functions. as such, network 105 may be adapted to facilitate the content transmission and execution services of system 100 . while the various embodiments discussed herein pertain to the transmission of content to user devices through a directory service 113 , the principles apply to any type of user device through which data may be received or relayed. user devices 101 a - n may include, but is not limited to, mobile devices (e.g., cellular phones, bluetooth-enabled devices, wifi-enable devices, etc.), a set-top box (stb), a computer (e.g., desktop computer, laptop, web appliance, netbook, ipad, etc.) and voice station. regardless of type, generally, user devices are configured to communicate over the wireless communication network 105 using voice sessions as well as other non-voice sessions, e.g., short messaging service (sms), enhanced messaging service (ems), multimedia messaging service (mms), instant messaging (im), etc. also, the devices may convey geographical or spatial information with a constellation of global positioning system (gps) satellites 117 , such as to enable location detection, by way of example. user devices may be any cellular phone, radiophone, satellite phone, smart phone, wireless phone or any other suitable mobile device, such as a personal digital assistant (pda, blackberry), pocket personal computer, tablet, customized hardware, etc. the specific configuration of a user device for enabling content execution is more fully detailed in fig. 2a . fig. 2a is a diagram of a user device configured to enable the execution of content as transmitted by a content delivery platform through the activation of an indicator, according to an exemplary embodiment. specifically, the indicator is passed on to the user device 101 by the content delivery platform 103 in connection with the directory service 113 and then rendered to the graphical user interface of the user device 101 for enabling user activation. fig. 3 presents an exemplary diagram of a graphical user interface (gui) of a user device 101 as configured to enable the execution of content through activation of said indicator, according to an exemplary embodiment. with respect to fig. 2b , the user device 101 , which may be a mobile phone (as depicted in figs. 3 and 6 ), mobile computer or other wireless communication device includes a notification presentation module 217 that is configured to support text based communication—i.e., present and create text-based notification messages. in addition, the device 101 includes a voice module 219 configured to establish a voice-based call. such voice-based calls can be traditional plain-old-telephone service (pots) calls or packetized voice calls (e.g., voip). these communication sessions can occur concurrently during a call. it is noted that these communication sessions can be established over a circuit-switched network, a packet-switch network or a combination thereof. thus, communication interface 229 can be appropriately configured depending on the transport systems and/or communication network 105 elements involved. still further, a user interface module 221 enables presentment of data to a graphical user interface of the user device 101 . various software applications operable by the user device may feature application programming interfaces (apis) or other function calls corresponding to the user interface module 221 for enabling graphical elements to be displayed by the device. this includes, but is not limited to, the application pushed to the device 101 by the push module 207 of the content delivery platform 103 for presenting to the interface indicators representative of content available for download. it is noted that in some instances multiple communication interfaces may be utilized depending on the type of user device involved. moreover, the user device 101 employs the user interface module 221 to enable control by the user of the device 101 of various communication features during a session. additionally, a controller module 223 is configured to coordinate the concurrent communication sessions provided by the notification presentation module 217 and voice module 219 . for example, the controller module 223 generates the appropriate signals to control the communication interface 229 for transmission over the voice channel and the messaging channel. also operable in connection with the user device 101 are the content execution module 225 and indicator application module 227 . the content execution module 225 enables the viewing, playing and/or rendering of digital content maintained in data storage 109 as provided by the content delivery platform 103 . likewise, the content execution module 225 executes the appropriate instructions for decoding the received content properly, including the processing of video/audio codecs, the performance of various compression or decompression techniques, etc. exemplary applications useful for execution as, or in connection with the content execution module 225 may include, but are not limited to, a digital media player, an mp3 player or other audio player, a video player, a podcast feedback mechanism or any other application or software suited for the execution of content of various formats. exemplary formats for video content may include, but is not limited to, mpeg, avi, real video and quicktime, while exemplary audio formats aside from mp3 may include, but is not limited to aac, wma, wav and aiff. in the case of video and/or audio content, the user interface module 229 operates in connection with the content execution module 225 and controller module 223 ; for example, to render video content to the graphical user interface and audio content to the internal speakers of the user device. the indicator application module 227 enables the receipt and execution of an application for rendering of an indicator to the graphical user interface of the user device 101 in response to the determined availability of content for the user device 101 . as mentioned previously, the application enables presentment of an indicator to the device interface as a graphical element, icon, hyperlink, button, symbol, message queue or other visual indicator, which upon activation (e.g., clicking, selecting, etc.) by the user, triggers the content delivery platform 103 to push/transmit the scheduled content to the requesting user. in some instances, the visual indicator may be accompanied by a sound or physical indicator, such as an alarm or vibration for alerting the user of the rendering of the indicator to the device interface. fig. 3 shows an exemplary user device 300 that features a graphical user interface 401 with various indicators as graphical elements, in the form of icons, presented thereon. in this example, a desktop feature of the mobile device 300 is presented to the display 301 from which the user can select one or more applications to launch (labeled as app #1 through app #5) via a soft touch screen or hard keypad, invoke various device or user options 305 , view a digital clock 307 , etc. while not shown expressly, the one or more applications may be represented by one or more icons that depict the particular application, which upon user selection, results in the execution of the application. likewise, in accordance with the one embodiment, an indicator 303 in the form of an icon is also presented to the interface 301 for representing the availability of new content for download from the content delivery platform 103 . depending on device capabilities or user preferences, the indicator application module 227 can be made to enable the icon 303 to blink or appear/disappear depending on availability of content, vary between different images as an animation or avatar, cause an associated sound or any other means of user alert or notification. also, the icon 303 may also have associated therewith, i.e., as metadata, useful profile information 309 for providing a description of the content in question that is to be downloaded in connection with activation of the icon. for example, the user can one-click, press and hold, mouseover or perform any other triggering action with respect to the icon 303 based indicator, thereby causing a caption 309 containing the profile information to be displayed. alternatively, the profile information can be invoked in connection with the indicator without user invocation, such as in the form of a scrolling message prompt. these and various other approaches are feasible for the exemplary embodiments herein. in the event of full selection of the icon 303 form of indicator (e.g., a double-click activation) from the desktop by the user, a procedure is followed to render execution of the content, as depicted with respect to figs. 4-6 . figs. 4 and 5 are flowcharts of a process for facilitating the delivery of select content to a user device through activation of an indicator executable on the device, according to various embodiments. in step 401 of process 400 , media content is retrieved by the content delivery platform 103 . in step 403 , a determination is made as to which of the devices 101 a - n are to receive the retrieved content. in one embodiment, this determination is made by the content delivery platform 103 based, at least in part, on the use of a directory system configured to provide an electronic directory service 113 . the configuration of the directory service 113 may include maintenance of a content delivery schedule, a listing of specific resources to receive the content, a current version of content, last download data, etc. while implementation approaches may vary, the directory service 113 may also coordinate the determination process based, at least in part, on known subscription and user preferences as maintained by the content delivery platform 103 . in step 405 , an application is pushed by the content delivery platform to a determined recipient user device. the pushed application provides an indicator representing the content for which the user device is to receive from the content delivery platform 103 —the indicator being pushed prior to pushing of the actual content. also, as mentioned previously, the application for providing said indicator may also have associated therewith profile information, such as in the form of a certain schema syntax or metadata that is descriptive of the intended content to ultimately be downloaded/pushed to the device. in step 407 , the content delivery platform 103 operating in connection with the directory service receives a request for the content from the user device to which the application was pushed. the request for delivery of the content to the user device is triggered or signaled to the content delivery platform 103 by way of activation of the indicator pushed to the user device 101 , i.e., as described with respect to fig. 3 . once the request is received, in accordance with a further step 409 , a determination is then made as to whether or not to grant the request of delivery of the content to the user device 101 . in step 501 of process 500 , an application to present an indicator representing media content that is available for delivery to the user device is automatically received and executed by the user device 101 . in step 503 , the user activates the indicator as it is rendered to the device user interface to generate a request for the content. in yet another step 505 , the user device 101 initiates transfer of the request over a wireless network to the content delivery platform 103 to obtain the content. with respect now to fig. 6 , a flowchart of a process for enabling the transfer of content by a content delivery platform in response to activation of an indicator executable on a user device is shown, in accordance with one embodiment. as earlier described, the content delivery platform 103 interacts with the directory service 113 to identify and/or select user devices to transmit content to over the network 105 . as seen in process 600 , per step 601 , the directory system (for providing a directory service 113 ) is queried by the content delivery platform 103 in order to obtain identifiers of one or more user devices 101 that are scheduled to receive content 115 . the identifiers may be specified as a domain name entry, internet protocol (ip) address, device identifier, or other attribute, object or value corresponding to the topology of the directory service. in response to the query, the content delivery platform 103 receives the identifiers of the one or more user devices 101 for which content 115 is to be directed, corresponding to step 603 . having identified the appropriate recipients, the content delivery platform 103 is able to identify a specific device (e.g., devices 101 a - n ) to direct content to in response to a request as initiated by way of step 503 of fig. 5 . the initiated request is received by the content delivery platform 103 ; the request indicating at least an identifier associated with the user device as in step 605 . in step 607 , a determination is made by the content delivery platform 103 as to whether the identifier indicated in the request matches any identifiers specified by the delivery service 113 . when a match is identified, the content intended specifically for the user device associated with said identifier is streamed or transferred over the data network to the requesting device, as specified in step 611 . the transfer process may be completed by way of a server side transformation as performed by the content delivery platform 103 followed by, for instance, an internal database lookup for accessing the specific content associated with the device. conversely, when the identifier indicated with the request does not match the known list of identifiers indicated by the directory service, the request for content is denied. this corresponds to optional step 609 . once the content is streamed or transferred to the user device, as depicted in step 611 , the content is executed by the user device accordingly. fig. 7 is a diagram of a graphical user interface (gui) of a user device 700 for executing content in response to the transfer of content to the device from the content delivery platform, according to an exemplary embodiment. in this exemplary depiction, the device 700 executes playback of video content 703 via the graphical user interface 701 . the content as transferred results in execution of a media player, i.e., the media player compatible for playback of the content via the device 700 according to the received data format. the video content may also be accompanied by a message 705 indicating details regarding the video content—i.e., profile data, metadata, etc. as the content is automatically executed/played upon completion of or during download, the user may pause, forward, rewind or stop execution at their own discretion using control buttons 707 . it is noted that automated invocation of the media player as depicted in fig. 7 is preceded by activation of the application for rendering the indicator 303 as depicted in fig. 3 . it is noted that the above described processes, in certain exemplary embodiments, provide for effective delivery and execution of content to a user device, i.e., as a podcast message. moreover, actual execution of the message is performed on demand, the execution being triggered automatically by user activation of an indicator that is rendered to the display of a user device resulting from an application being pushed to the device by the content delivery platform. unlike traditional approaches to content enablement, particularly for podcasts, screencasts, streaming media and the like, the approach as presented herein provides a higher level of assurance that the content is actually played, listened to or enjoyed by the user. moreover, content delivery is performed in a manner that more effectively utilizes network resources respective to those messages that are actually executed by the user. the processes described herein for providing content to devices may be implemented via software, hardware (e.g., general processor, digital signal processing (dsp) chip, an application specific integrated circuit (asic), field programmable gate arrays (fpgas), etc.), firmware or a combination thereof. such exemplary hardware for performing the described functions is detailed below. fig. 8 illustrates computing hardware (e.g., a computer system) upon which these embodiments can be implemented. the computer system 800 includes a bus 801 or other communication mechanism for communicating information and a processor 803 coupled to the bus 801 for processing information. the computer system 800 also includes main memory 805 , such as random access memory (ram) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to the bus 801 for storing information and instructions (computer program code) to be executed by the processor 803 . main memory 805 also can be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by the processor 803 . the computer system 800 may further include a read only memory (rom) 807 or other static storage device coupled to the bus 801 for storing static information and instructions for the processor 803 . a storage device 809 , such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is coupled to the bus 801 for persistently storing information and instructions. the computer system 800 may be coupled via the bus 801 to a display 811 , such as a cathode ray tube (crt), liquid crystal display, active matrix display, or plasma display, for displaying information to a computer user. an input device 813 , such as a keyboard including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to the bus 801 for communicating information and command selections to the processor 803 . another type of user input device is a cursor control 815 , such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys, for communicating direction information and command selections to the processor 803 and for controlling cursor movement on the display 811 . according to certain embodiments, the processes described herein are performed by the computer system 800 , in response to the processor 803 executing an arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 805 . such instructions can be read into main memory 805 from another computer-readable medium, such as the storage device 809 . execution of the arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 805 causes the processor 803 to perform the process steps described herein. one or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the instructions contained in main memory 805 . in alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the embodiment of the invention. thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software. the computer system 800 also includes a communication interface 817 coupled to bus 801 . the communication interface 817 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 819 connected to a local network 821 . for example, the communication interface 817 may be a digital subscriber line (dsl) card or modem, an integrated services digital network (isdn) card, a cable modem, a telephone modem, or any other communication interface to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of communication line. as another example, communication interface 817 may be a local area network (lan) card (e.g. for ethernet™ or an asynchronous transfer model (atm) network) to provide a data communication connection to a compatible lan. wireless links can also be implemented. in any such implementation, communication interface 817 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information. further, the communication interface 817 can include peripheral interface devices, such as a universal serial bus (usb) interface, a pcmcia (personal computer memory card international association) interface, etc. although a single communication interface 817 is depicted in figs. 3 and 7 , multiple communication interfaces can also be employed. the network link 819 typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. for example, the network link 819 may provide a connection through local network 821 to a host computer 823 , which has connectivity to a network 825 (e.g. a wide area network (wan) or the global packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the “internet”) or to data equipment operated by a service provider. the local network 821 and the network 825 both use electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals to convey information and instructions. the signals through the various networks and the signals on the network link 819 and through the communication interface 817 , which communicate digital data with the computer system 800 , are exemplary forms of carrier waves bearing the information and instructions. the computer system 800 can send messages and receive data, including program code, through the network(s), the network link 819 , and the communication interface 817 . in the internet example, a server (not shown) might transmit requested code belonging to an application program for implementing an embodiment of the invention through the network 825 , the local network 821 and the communication interface 817 . the processor 803 may execute the transmitted code while being received and/or store the code in the storage device 809 , or other non-volatile storage for later execution. in this manner, the computer system 800 may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave. the term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to the processor 803 for execution. such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to computer-readable storage medium (e.g., non-volatile media, volatile media), and transmission media. non-transitory media, such as non-volatile media, include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 809 . volatile media include dynamic memory, such as main memory 805 . transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise the bus 801 . transmission media can also take the form of acoustic, optical, or electromagnetic waves, such as those generated during radio frequency (rf) and infrared (ir) data communications. common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a cd-rom, cdrw, dvd, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, optical mark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or other optically recognizable indicia, a ram, a prom, and eprom, a flash-eprom, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer can read. various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in providing instructions to a processor for execution. for example, the instructions for carrying out at least part of the embodiments of the invention may initially be borne on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. in such a scenario, the remote computer loads the instructions into main memory and sends the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. a modem of a local computer system receives the data on the telephone line and uses an infrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal and transmit the infrared signal to a portable computing device, such as a personal digital assistant (pda) or a laptop. an infrared detector on the portable computing device receives the information and instructions borne by the infrared signal and places the data on a bus. the bus conveys the data to main memory, from which a processor retrieves and executes the instructions. the instructions received by main memory can optionally be stored on storage device either before or after execution by processor. fig. 9 illustrates a chip set 900 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. chip set 900 is programmed to present a slideshow as described herein and includes, for instance, the processor and memory components described with respect to fig. 8 incorporated in one or more physical packages (e.g., chips). by way of example, a physical package includes an arrangement of one or more materials, components, and/or wires on a structural assembly (e.g., a baseboard) to provide one or more characteristics such as physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction. it is contemplated that in certain embodiments the chip set can be implemented in a single chip. chip set 900 , or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performing one or more steps of figs. 4-6 . in one embodiment, the chip set 900 includes a communication mechanism such as a bus 901 for passing information among the components of the chip set 900 . a processor 903 has connectivity to the bus 901 to execute instructions and process information stored in, for example, a memory 905 . the processor 903 may include one or more processing cores with each core configured to perform independently. a multi-core processor enables multiprocessing within a single physical package. examples of a multi-core processor include two, four, eight, or greater numbers of processing cores. alternatively or in addition, the processor 903 may include one or more microprocessors configured in tandem via the bus 901 to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, and multithreading. the processor 903 may also be accompanied with one or more specialized components to perform certain processing functions and tasks such as one or more digital signal processors (dsp) 907 , or one or more application-specific integrated circuits (asic) 909 . a dsp 907 typically is configured to process real-world signals (e.g., sound) in real time independently of the processor 903 . similarly, an asic 909 can be configured to performed specialized functions not easily performed by a general purposed processor. other specialized components to aid in performing the inventive functions described herein include one or more field programmable gate arrays (fpga) (not shown), one or more controllers (not shown), or one or more other special-purpose computer chips. the processor 903 and accompanying components have connectivity to the memory 905 via the bus 901 . the memory 905 includes both dynamic memory (e.g., ram, magnetic disk, writable optical disk, etc.) and static memory (e.g., rom, cd-rom, etc.) for storing executable instructions that when executed perform the inventive steps described herein to controlling a set-top box based on device events. the memory 905 also stores the data associated with or generated by the execution of the inventive steps. while certain exemplary embodiments and implementations have been described herein, other embodiments and modifications will be apparent from this description. accordingly, the invention is not limited to such embodiments, but rather to the broader scope of the presented claims and various obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements.
|
055-870-412-060-355
|
JP
|
[
"CN",
"US",
"WO",
"GB",
"JP",
"AU"
] |
F03H99/00,B64G1/40
| 2014-10-17T00:00:00 |
2014
|
[
"F03",
"B64"
] |
system for space propulsion and space loitering (above-stratosphere air loitering)
|
[problem] to achieve a special spacecraft (flying aircraft) having propulsion efficiency that is several times (several orders of magnitude) greater than that of a solar sailcraft and the like, and requires practically no disposable (in space) and expensive rocket fuel or the like, and also to achieve a stratospheric flying aircraft capable of loitering. [solution] the present invention applies the difference in pressure (internal pressure) acting on wall surfaces (inner walls) or the like at both ends of a propulsion module body (aerial body) in space where there is no atmosphere or the like. specifically, the present invention adopts a propulsion method as set forth in the claims.
|
1 - 17 (canceled) 18 : a spacecraft propulsion system and its related equipment (incl. the following iron balls return devices etc with a slower tempo in the operation) that could generate some power repeatedly from internal pressure difference (by uniquely relevant apparatus of a non-air pressure type), by varying each impact angle between an iron ball(s) shooting with the same ball launchers (incl. electromagnetic launchers which are able to shoot just synchronously, quickly, continuously) etc and (around) each inner wall of either side of a hollow body (as a space propulsion module), especially in case of completely (perfectly) inelastic collision by electromagnet apparatuses (see fig. 1 & 3 ) and the like or by unique device with a kind of automatic opening & shutting multi-cap type (see fig. 4 ) etc as to the one side, just after inserting a flowable substance(s) such as the above iron balls (with large mass) and so forth (not particles in the air in particular) inside the unique hollow body in the closed <fluid> system. 19 : a spacecraft propulsion system and its associated equipment (incl. the following related devices etc) that could produce some force sustainably from internal pressure difference by mainly relevant apparatus of an air pressure type, by reducing wind pressure as to the one side of the hollow body with specific air-barrier devices (see fig. 7, 8, 9 ) just after inserting a flowable substance(s) such as the particles in the air in particular for continuously air circulation inside the above hollow body (as a space propulsion module) in the closed <fluid> system. 20 : a space endurance flight system (staying in air above the stratosphere, in advance, utilizing chiefly the related apparatus of the above air pressure type in the claim 19 ) and the attached equipment including this space propulsion module'direction changing devices applied variation on the collision angle value and so on in addition to the shooting machine adopting a special technique of a magnetic projectile(s) called “coil gun” and/or “rail gun” and/or a sort of mass driver: “slingatron” etc as to each driving method by the shooting devices indicated with the main claim 18 and supplementary wind power rotor units (see fig. 10 ) for neutrally power distribution devices. 21 : a construction (and preservation) method and its relevant apparatus for unique (aero)space structure, applying propulsive forces of the space propulsion system indicated with the claim 18 & 19 , etc to a counterweight (and the like) for a space elevator (for mainly the low earth orbit) and so on.
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technical field this invention is mainly connected with propulsion technology for (aero)space vehicles etc. background first of all, it is said that a (spaceship) body of the closed system has never moved in accordance with the conservation law of momentum until now, unless something (propellant) is released outside the system . . . however, in consideration of the closed [ . . . ] system, it could not apply the momentum conservation law, including even a flowable substance inside the same system. because it would be able to be easily judged when rightly understood pascal's principle is defined as: when there is an increase in pressure at any point in a confined fluid, there is an equal increase at every other point in the container. (and/or) in a fluid at rest in a closed container, a pressure change in one part is transmitted without loss to every portion of the fluid and to the walls of the container. in brief, just the thing that the pascal's law (which may well apply the momentum conservation law only in the above container) could be applied is limited to a state of “rest” in fluid statics (not fluid dynamics). so, it must move necessarily (not remain at rest) for an object (with a hollow body) of the closed [fluid] system in case of being able to cause aptly some pressure difference according to mainly bernoulli's principle, using a fluid moving body (flowable substance) in the same container. note: please pay attention to that bernoulli's principle is not always based on the law of momentum conservation, even though it corresponds to the law of the conservation of energy. [the supplement] as for the definition of the closed system related to the conservation law of momentum, it is basically classified as follows. the momentum conservation law can be applied in the closed non-fluid system.the above important law can not be applied in the closed fluid system at all. in a closed system (one that does not exchange any matter with its surroundings and is not acted on by external forces and does not allow certain types of transfers in or out of the system), the total momentum is constant. (the momentum conservation law) however, just inside a closed fluid system that does allow certain types of transfers (such as transfer of mass and/or matter) in the closed system of a hollow type, the total momentum is “variable”. (the momentum non-conservation law) so, pascal's (first) law is defined as a change in pressure at any point in an enclosed fluid at rest is transmitted undiminished to all points in the fluid. and pascal's second law (or king o's principle) may be defined as a change in pressure at a point in an enclosed fluid not at rest is transmitted increasing (and/or) decreasing to any other point(s) in the fluid. therefore, the hollow body (as a spaceship body) in the closed fluid system must always move forward (or backward) in case of being able to cause pressure difference by the fluid at both ends (etc) of its body, just considering bernoulli's principle that is not necessarily based on the law of momentum conservation and that corresponds to the law of the conservation of energy yet. [basic points of attention of newton's laws of motion] the established first law is . . . newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. the revision of the above law should be . . . newton's first law states that every object (except one with a hollow body included flowable substances in it) will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. [basic points of attention of thermodynamics] the fixed first law of thermodynamics may be principally stated as follows: the increase in internal energy of a closed system is equal to total of the energy added to the system . . . but, it should be revised (added) more precisely thus, the increase in internal energy of a closed (non-fluid) system is equal to total of the energy added (from its surroundings) to the system . . . {non-equilibrium thermodynamics}. as for the following space propulsion devices (not a perpetual-motion machine) of the closed fluid system, no matter how much frictional heat (frictional force) has been gathered during the engine operation of the apparatus(es), they could not have affected so much the moving force (motility) produced by the pressure difference . . . [the consequence] f =( p 1− p 2) ae f: thrust force by (internal) pressure difference p1: (internal) pressure pertaining to one direction (a forward direction) p2: (internal) pressure pertaining to the opposite direction (a backward direction) ae: the area of the (inner) surface on the contact its formula is similar to “(pe−po)ae” of “f=me ve+(pe−po)ae”as the existing rocket thrust'formula. an object of hollow structure (that does allow certain types of transfers in its body) can be moved itself by an inner force (not an internal force in the action-reaction law) resulting from internal pressure difference without external forces (from the outside of the body). kind o's law of internal motion (by kindo ueuchi) summary technical problem to achieve space propulsion unique technology more smartly (with no exhaust gas at all) without mainly spacecraft propulsion conventional methods by the existing rocket thrust (applied some reaction force) . . . solution to problem it could be applied with propulsive force produced by (internal) pressure difference of an air pressure type (with uniquely air barrier devices) and/or a non-air pressure type (with an actual physical phenomenon called “completely inelastic collision” etc) involving either side (end) of a hollow body as a space propulsion module and the like. advantageous effect of invention indeed, humankind would be able to really reach the [ . . . ] in interplanetary space flight with a manned spacecraft (with the lowest cost) of this (revolutionary) invention, moreover, even in interstellar travel . . . brief description of drawings fig. 1 shows mainly names of parts for a space propulsion system device of a non-air pressure type. fig. 2 (omitting) fig. 3 indicated sequences (ordering operation) for the space propulsion system (of fig. 1 ) fig. 4 shows each unique device with an automatic opening & shutting multi-cap type for the completely inelastic collision. fig. 5 gives application examples practically for the spacecraft propulsion system fig. 6 (omitting) fig. 7 shows mainly names of parts for a (aero)space propulsion system apparatus of an air pressure type. fig. 8 authenticates effectiveness of (aero)space propulsion by the air pressure difference with the above apparatus (of fig. 7 ) fig. 9 shows uniquely a certain condition of the air barrier system devices. fig. 10 indicates supplementary wind power rotor units for neutrally power distribution devices.
|
056-254-351-391-771
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
H04N5/76,H04N5/765,H04N5/775,H04N5/781,H04N5/92,H04N9/804,G06F3/00,G06F3/048,G06F13/00,G06T9/00,G11B5/78,H04N5/44,H04N5/60,H04N5/917,H04N7/12,H04N9/74
| 1998-04-17T00:00:00 |
1998
|
[
"H04",
"G06",
"G11"
] |
systems and methods for storing a plurality of video streams on re-writable random-access media and time- and channel-based retrieval thereof
|
a digital video recorder (dvr) and a method of operating the same. in one embodiment, the dvr includes: (1) a mass data storage unit that concurrently and continuously receives and digitally stores a plurality of channels and (2) a channel viewer, coupled to the mass data storage unit, that retrieves a portion of one of the plurality of channels from the mass data storage unit based on a received command and presents the portion on a video display device.
|
1 . a method for the simultaneous storage and play back of multimedia data, the method comprising: receiving television signals; tuning the television signals to a specific channel; converting the specific channel to a compressed digital data stream; storing the compressed digital data stream on a random access storage device; storing program information relating to the compressed digital data stream on the random access storage device; extracting the compressed digital data stream from the random access storage device; converting the compressed digital data stream into output signals; delivering the output signals to a display; accepting control commands from a user, wherein the control commands request that the delivered output signals change from a program that was originally received on a first channel at a first time to a program that was originally received on a second channel at a second time, the second channel and time being different than the first channel and time; and accepting additional control commands from the user, wherein the additional control commands request that the delivered output signals change from the program that was originally received on the second channel at the second time to a program that was originally received on the second channel at a third time, the third time being different than the second time. 2 . the method of claim 1 wherein receiving television signals comprises receiving television signals via a satellite dish. 3 . the method of claim 1 wherein receiving television signals comprises receiving cable television signals. 4 . the method of claim 1 wherein receiving television signals comprises receiving analog television signals. 5 . the method of claim 1 wherein storing the compressed digital data stream on a random access storage device comprises storing the compressed digital data stream on a hard disk drive. 6 . the method of claim 5 wherein storing the compressed digital data stream on a random access storage device comprises storing the compressed digital data stream on a raid. 7 . the method of claim 1 wherein the compressed digital data stream comprises a moving pictures experts group (mpeg) formatted stream. 8 . the method of claim 1 wherein tuning the television signals to a specific channel comprises simultaneously tuning the television signals to a plurality of specific channels. 9 . the method of claim 8 wherein storing the compressed digital data stream on a random access storage device comprises storing a compressed digital data stream for each of the specific channels. 10 . the method of claim 9 and further comprising automatically generating a table of contents of the specific channels stored on the random access storage device. 11 . the method of claim 10 and further comprising providing information related to the table of contents for display to a user, wherein information includes, for each program stored on the random access storage device, a title of the program, a date the program was recorded, and a channel upon which the program was originally broadcast. 12 . the method of claim 11 wherein at least one of the programs is marked so that the marked program will not be automatically overwritten. 13 . the method of claim 12 and further comprising providing a television guide for display to the user, wherein tuning the television signals to a specific channel comprises tuning the television signals to a specific channel that is selected by the user based upon the television guide. 14 . the method of claim 13 wherein providing a television guide comprises receiving program information from the same medium as the television signals. 15 . the method of claim 14 wherein the television signals and the program information are both received via a satellite dish. 16 . the method of claim 13 wherein the specific channel is selected by the user using a keyword. 17 . a method of operating a digital video recorder, the method comprising: providing a television guide to a user, the television guide containing program information; receiving an indication of programming that is of interest to a user, the indication indicating programming on at least a first channel and a second channel; tuning to the first channel during a first time period when the programming that is of interest to the user is being broadcast; storing video data representing a first program carried on the first channel during the first time, the video data representing the first program being stored on a random access mass storage unit; storing program information related to the first program, the program information being stored on the random access mass storage unit; tuning to the second channel during the first time period; storing video data representing a second program carried on the second channel during the first time, the video data representing the second program being stored on the random access mass storage unit; storing program information related to the second program, the program information being stored on the random access mass storage unit; generating a list of programs that have been stored on the random access mass storage unit; providing the list of programs for display to the user, wherein for each program in the list of programs the display includes at least a title of the program, a date the program was stored, and a channel on which the program was originally broadcast; marking the second program so that the video data representing the second program will not be automatically overwritten; receiving a second indication from the user to provide the video data representing the first program, the second indication being received at a second time which occurs after the first time period; providing the first program to a display device in response to the second indication; receiving a third indication from the user to skip forward an amount of time; and in response to the third indication, skipping over an amount of the first program that is determined by the amount of time. 18 . the method of claim 17 wherein storing program information related to the first program comprises storing time, date and channel information related to the first program and wherein storing program information related to the second program comprises storing time, date and channel information related to the second program. 19 . the method of claim 17 and further comprising tuning to eight to thirteen additional channels during the first time period. 20 . the method of claim 17 and further comprising receiving the first channel and the second channel via a satellite dish. 21 . the method of claim 17 and further comprising receiving the first channel and the second channel via a cable television system. 22 . the method of claim 17 and further comprising receiving a channel selection indication from the user, the channel selection indication indicating a particular channel source. 23 . the method of claim 17 wherein storing video data and storing program information comprise storing to a hard disk drive. 24 . the method of claim 23 wherein storing video data and storing program information comprise storing to a raid. 25 . the method of claim 23 wherein storing video data representing a first program comprises storing video data to a first hard disk drive and wherein storing video data representing a second program comprises storing video data to a second hard disk drive. 26 . the method of claim 17 wherein the amount of time comprises an integer multiple of fifteen seconds. 27 . the method of claim 17 wherein the amount of time comprises one second. 28 . the method of claim 17 wherein the plurality of channels are received over a medium, the method further comprising downloading the television guide over the medium. 29 . the method of claim 17 and further comprising downloading the television guide from the internet. 30 . the method of claim 17 wherein storing program information related to the first program comprises maintaining a content file for every time unit recorded. 31 . the method of claim 17 wherein marking the second program comprises marking the second channel for archiving once the second channel is being recorded. 32 . the method of claim 31 and further comprising creating a virtual channel to replay a plurality of archived programs, the plurality of archived programs including the second program. 33 . the method of claim 17 and further comprising automatically cataloging audio content of the first program and the second program. 34 . the method of claim 32 wherein automatically cataloging comprises: feeding an audio portion of the first and second programs into a speech recognition capability; and indexing resulting text into a full-text database. 35 . the method of claim 33 wherein automatically cataloging comprises using a text translated close-caption signal. 36 . the method of claim 17 wherein the video data representing the first program is stored in a first file and wherein the video data representing the second program is stored in a second file, the first file being a separate file from the second file. 37 . the method of claim 17 wherein storing program information comprises storing a directory structure that includes time information and channel information. 38 . the method of claim 37 wherein the time information comprises a “second number” and wherein the channel information comprises a “channel number.” 39 . the method of claim 17 wherein the video data representing the first program is stored in a first file and wherein the video data representing the second program is stored in the first file. 40 . the method of claim 39 wherein the video data representing the first program and the video data representing the second program are stored using disk file time division multiplexing. 41 . the method of claim 17 wherein generating a list of programs comprises automatically constructing a table of contents based upon information broadcast with the plurality ‘of channels along with program information stored on the random access mass storage unit. 42 . the method of claim 41 wherein the program information comprises time and channel information. 43 . the method of claim 17 wherein receiving an indication of programming that is of interest to a user comprises receiving an indication of a plurality of channels that are of interest to a user.
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this application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/062,022, filed on apr. 17, 1998, now u.s. pat. no. 6,788,882, issued sep. 7, 2004, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. technical field the present invention is directed, in general, to video storage and playback and, more specifically, to systems and methods for storing a plurality of video streams on re-writable random-access media and time- and channel-based retrieval thereof. background ever since the advent of television, the popular and useful programs and their air times have molded people's schedules. examples such as the six o'clock news (during or after the family dinner) and prime-time shows are abundant. as viewer habits change and the choice of programming (channels) grows, people want to adapt television programming to their schedule, rather than the other way around. video cassette recorders (vcrs) have enabled people to tape certain programs at the time they are aired and view them later. the recording medium used in these devices is magnetic tape and is therefore inherently sequential and slow in access. the vcr, although extremely successful as a consumer device, has limited flexibility when the number of television channels increases. also, the consumer has to remember to program the vcr to record the event. commercially-available vcr+® technology has somewhat facilitated the process, but still requires tape management, scheduling and remembering when and what to program. one frequently employed method of viewing television involves rapidly browsing (“surfing”) television channels to search for a program of interest, to watch several programs at once, or to skip ubiquitous commercials. surfing has become even more popular given the advent of cable and satellite television, wherein many dozens of channels are available for viewing at any given time. on currently available single-screen systems, surfing must be done in real time and as time progresses. in other words, a user can watch one channel and record another channel on a vcr, but the user cannot watch a recorded program and simultaneously record another (unless the user is endowed with multiple vcrs). one of the principle restrictions is that the user cannot go back in time on an arbitrary channel without making a conscious effort to record the channel in advance. ideally, a user should be able to walk up to his television set and be able to view, on demand and without delay, everything that he missed during some previous period of time (for instance one day), regardless of channel. therefore, what is needed in the art is a fundamental increase in the flexibility afforded a user in viewing programs aired over multiple channels. moreover, what is needed in the art is a way of harnessing the power of digital computers to give the user more power in determining what he wants to watch. summary of the invention to address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a digital video recorder (dvr) and a method of operating the same. in one embodiment, the dvr includes: (1) a mass data storage unit that concurrently and continuously receives and digitally stores a plurality of channels and (2) a channel viewer, coupled to the mass data storage unit, that retrieves a portion of one of the plurality of channels from the mass data storage unit based on a received command and presents the portion on a video display device. the present invention therefore introduces the broad concept of capturing multiple channels concurrently to allow a user to choose what to view both temporally and spatially (if a channel is thought of as a spatial dimension). the digital video recorder of the present invention remedies the shortcomings of traditional video recording methods. the dvr does this by combining an essentially limitless (only limited by the cost of the equipment) capability concurrently to record a number of channels on a random-access medium while being able concurrently to play back any of these channels for viewing. “continuously” is defined, for purposes of the present invention, as without interruption over at least a finite period of time. with respect to recording of commercial television, “continuously” may connote indiscriminate inclusion of commercials, station identifications and the like. however, it should be understood that “continuously” does not preclude interruption. certainly, a user may turn the dvr on or off or pause one or more channels. in some embodiments of the present invention, dead air time, commercials, credits or the like may not be recorded. in a more specific embodiment, the decision of what, or what not, to record is the user's. a “channel” is defined, for purposes of the present invention, as a stream of video data (and any accompanying audio data). channels typically correspond one-for-one with satellite, cable television or digital broadcast television channels. in one embodiment of the present invention, the digital video recorder records the plurality of channels as a matter of course, and without being specifically prompted. this may be thought of as “automatic” recording. at any point in time, the dvr contains video data that covers a window of times (the length of which depends upon memory capacity) for each of the plurality of channels. the user therefore is relieved of the responsibility of starting and stopping recording, allowing the user to view any video recorded during the window of time. in a related embodiment, the mass data storage unit stores the plurality of channels on a first-in-first-out basis. as the window of time moves forward, the newest video data can overwrite the oldest. of course, other criteria may govern overwriting. further, the window of time may vary depending upon the channel being recorded. the user may identify more important channels for which the window is shortened. in one embodiment of the present invention, the mass data storage unit stores the plurality of channels in separate files based on channel and timeslot identification. in an alternative embodiment, the data storage unit stores the plurality of channels in a combined channel file. in an embodiment to be illustrated and described, specific formats for separate and combined channel files are presented. those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the broad scope of the present invention is in no way limited to a particular file-naming or data-structuring scheme for channel files. in one embodiment of the present invention, the mass data storage unit stores the plurality of channels together with time information to allow the plurality of channels to be synchronized with respect to one another. the time information can synchronize corresponding portions of the plurality of channels that the dvr recorded concurrently. this allows a user to surf synchronized, prerecorded channels in a way that imitates the real-time channel surfing that the prior art constrains the user to do. in one embodiment of the present invention, the channel viewer comprises a channel guide database containing pointers to locations in the mass data storage unit. the locations may correspond to starting points for individual programs. the channel guide database allows individual programs to be selected efficiently. however, the present invention does not require a channel guide database. in one embodiment of the present invention, the channel viewer displays a channel guide on the video display device. the channel guide may provide information regarding a content of the plurality of channels. in a more specific embodiment, the channel guide contains links to locations in the mass data storage unit. the links may be hypertext links, wherein a user can initiate retrieval and presentation of a particular portion of a selected channel simply by clicking on a particular location in the channel guide. of course, those skilled in the art will readily perceive other ways of employing an electronic channel guide to advantage. in one embodiment of the present invention, the dvr further includes a pointing device, cooperable with the channel viewer that allows a user to issue the command. the pointing device, which may be a conventional mouse, allows a user to “navigate” the video display device in an intuitive manner. however, those skilled in the an will understand that the present invention is in no way limited to a particular type of input device. in one embodiment of the present invention, the channel viewer presents the portion nonlinearly. sections of the portion may therefore be skipped, repeated, reversed, randomized or presented at a rate that differs from real-time. in an embodiment to be illustrated and described, commercials or other tedious content may be skipped to advantage. this gives rise to viewing concepts, such as “catch-up viewing” as described hereinafter. in one embodiment of the present invention, the mass data storage unit receives, digitally compresses and digitally stores the plurality of channels. of course, the present invention does not require compression and is not limited to a particular type of compression. in one embodiment of the present invention, the mass data storage unit is a redundant array of independent disks (raid). those skilled in the art are familiar with the structure and function of raids and their ability to cause otherwise independent disks to cooperate to provide greater speed, reliability, storage capacity or a combination thereof. in one embodiment of the present invention, the dvr further includes an archive storage unit, coupled to the channel viewer that stores the portion selected for archiving. the archive storage unit may be a conventional, analog video tape recorder, digital video tape recorder, video disk recorder or other disk (such as commercially available syquest® and jazz® disks). in a manner to be set forth below in greater detail, archiving allows the portion to escape overwriting. in one embodiment of the present invention, the dvr further includes a channel selector, coupled to the mass data storage unit that allows a user to identify the plurality of channels. alternatively, the dvr may record all available channels indiscriminately. selection of channels may be time-based (including, for example, more sports channels over the weekend). the present invention is not limited to a particular manner in which channels are selected for recording. in one embodiment of the present invention, the mass data storage unit comprises a separate disk volume for each of the plurality of channels. in an alternative embodiment, the mass storage unit comprises a separate physical disk for each of the plurality of channels. those skilled in the art will understand that the logical or physical structure of the underlying disk storage does not limit the scope of the present invention. however, the underlying structure may be optimized to increase recording or retrieval speed. in one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of channels are formatted in a selected one of: (1) ntsc analog tv; (2) pal/secam analog tv; (3) digital tv; (4) analog hdtv; and (5) digital hdtv. those skilled in the art will perceive that the principles of the present invention are applicable to any video (or audio) format. in one embodiment of the present invention, the dvr selectively moves by one commercial time unit (ctu) within the one of the plurality of channels in response to the received command. the dvr can move forward or backward. in a more specific embodiment, the received command is employable to achieve catch-up viewing. in a manner to be illustrated and described, a user can command the dvr to skip commercials until the time of the portion being viewed merges with real time, at which point the user has “caught up” with the program being viewed. the foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. brief description of the drawings for a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary digital video recorder (dvr) constructed according to the principles of the present invention in which set-top box cards provide an interface between channel sources and a computer system; fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of another exemplary dvr constructed according to the principles of the present invention wherein set-top boxes provide an interface to an ieee 1394 firewire bus; fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary circular fifo buffers in memory for each recorded channel; fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a portion of an exemplary circular fifo buffer illustrated in fig. 3 ; fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary data and directory structure for a single channel file; fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary data and directory structure for a combined channel file; fig. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary data structure for an address translation file (atf); fig. 8 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary data structures for table of contents retrievals; fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method for time block program selection in real time; fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method for time block program selection and time surfing; fig. 11 illustrates a highly schematic diagram showing the related concepts of commercial time units and commercial breaks; fig. 12 illustrates a highly schematic diagram showing the concept of catch-up viewing; fig. 13 illustrates a plan view of exemplary “skip commercials” control button cluster; and fig. 14 illustrates a plan view of an exemplary channel and time surf button cluster. detailed description of illustrative embodiments the following detailed description is directed to very specific embodiments of the present invention. the systems, methods, (data, file and physical) structures and other details are provided solely as examples and in no way limit the scope of the present invention. general support for time and channel surfing the support of both channel and time surfing requires (at least) the temporal storage of more than one video channel (e.g., television or cable channels). if all channels available to the user in question are recorded for an unlimited amount of time, then it is, in principle, possible to support channel surfing at any moment later than the start of the recording process. in practice, a limited number of channels (e.g., the user's favorites) recorded over a limited amount of time (e.g., 24 hours) should support most users' channel and time surfing needs. as will be described in greater detail below, the requirements for such a system also enable “catch-up viewing” (joining a certain program in mid-broadcast and then, through skipping of commercials, catching-up with the real-time broadcast). in other words, time and channel surfing and catch-up viewing now become possible. channel surfing can be described as follows: a user, using the currently available technology in televisions and cable converters (“boxes”) can, in rapid succession (but only in real-time, as time progresses) switch from one channel to another by either entering a channel number or hitting a channel “up” (or “down”) button. in this context, the user has no access to the time variable. the only way for him to watch something that was broadcast prior to the current time is to use a vcr and view the recorded program. time surfing is similar to channel surfing, except that the user hops from one time (e.g., 6 p.m. yesterday) to another (e.g., 5 p.m. today) using a devise similar to the channel changer. the previous (lower) times are equivalent to the higher channel numbers. the user can freely time surf in either time direction. the only time-boundaries are that one cannot surf past now into the future (on higher time side), and the current time minus the total recorded time (on the lower time side). both of these boundaries move with time, as will be described in greater detail below. the system requirements to support the above functionality cannot be met using traditional recording techniques such as used in vcrs, because of the inherently sequential nature of the recording medium, which inhibits the capability of recording (writing) in one place and playing back (reading) in another concurrently. the present invention provides for all channels, or some subset thereof, to be concurrently recorded, at all times, onto a random-access medium. in one of the illustrated embodiments, the recording is done on a computer disk connected to the traditional bus of a personal computer (pc). other implementations can look at propriety bus, central processing unit and input card technologies to implement the functionality. as the recording medium reaches its capacity, the oldest recorded video is overwritten on a first-in-first-out (fifo) basis. obviously the size of the medium, determines how many channels can be recorded for how long. with current and projected (within 2 to 3 years) technology recording 10 to 15 channels for 24-hour periods is feasible. for the remainder of this detailed description, the term “all channels” is defined as the number of video sources available and of interest to a given user. to support the above functionality, one of the illustrated embodiments uses a digital recording technique of the compressed digital video signals. converting the classic video (or television) signals to compressed digital data streams can be accomplished in a variety of ways. a growing number of cable and satellite television companies are providing their television signals in compressed digital format, usually mpeg ii. proprietary schemes based on technologies such as wavelets or other compression techniques can be envisioned. in the near future, broadcast television stations are expected to begin broadcasting digital signals and compressed digital signals. direct broadcast satellite television uses a dish that receives the satellite transmission, the output of the dish is fed into a device called a set-top box. the set-top box translates the satellite signal to a signal usable by a television. the embodiment illustrated and described herein accordingly contains a sub-function called a “set-top box.” the set-top box function can process a signal as follows: (1) radio frequency (rf) tuning (to select a channel or group of channels); (2) down conversion and phase splitter; (3) analog to digital (a/d) conversion; and (4) quadratic phase shift keying (qpsk) with forward error correction (fec), to produce the compressed digital signal. in a typical set-top box, the output can be an analog ntsc rf signal for one selected channel or a compressed digital signal for one selected channel. analog television channels, such as the one carried on cable television, use a subset of the set-top box functionality to filter the one channel being watched from the total signal. to support the recording of multiple channels, multiple video streams must be recorded. one way to record multiple channels concurrently is to duplicate the set-top box functionality a number of times equal to the number of channels to be recorded. turning now to fig. 1 , illustrated is a block diagram of an exemplary dvr, generally designated 100 , constructed according to the principles of the present invention in which set-top box cards provide an interface between channel sources and a computer system (not separately referenced). a central processing unit (cpu) 110 is coupled to dynamic random access memory (dram) 120 a (memory other than dram is within the scope of the present invention) and, via a bus 140 , to video signal generation circuitry 130 , typically provided in the form of a card, and to a mass storage unit 120 b, which may be embodied in the from of a single drive or a raid. a plurality of set-top box cards 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n are coupled to the bus 140 , allowing data communication to take place between the set-top box cards 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n and the cpu 110 or directly between the set-top box cards 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n and the dram 120 a or the mass storage unit 120 b. channel sources 160 a, 160 b, 160 c (corresponding, in the illustrated embodiment, to cable television, broadcast television and satellite sources, respectively) are coupled to inputs (not separately referenced) of the set-top box cards 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n via a channel source selector 170 . the channel selector 170 allows a user to select a particular channel source 160 a, 160 b, 160 c. finally, an output (not separately referenced) of the video signal generation circuitry 130 is coupled to a video display device 180 , such as a video monitor or television set 180 . the plurality of set-top box cards 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n allow selection (tuning) of proper channels, perform any a/d conversion needed (such as performed in the current generation of set-top boxes) and provide the signal(s) in compressed digital format for storing on the dvr's recording media. for uncompressed channels, the card also performs compression. alternatively, one set-top box per channel can be used. so-called generation iii set-top boxes provide compressed digital video feed, as well as uncompressed ntsc (analog) output. the compressed digital video signal could be connected to the pc, via some type of standard input device, such as firewire (ieee 1394). turning now to fig. 2 , this embodiment is illustrated. instead of the plurality of set-top box cards 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n of fig. 1 being coupled directly to the bus 140 , a firewire interface card 210 is coupled to the bus 140 . a firewire bus 220 couples the firewire interface card 210 to the plurality of set-top boxes 250 a, 250 b, 250 c . . . 250 n. like each of the plurality of set-top box 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n, each of the plurality of set-top boxes 250 a, 250 b, 250 c . . . 250 n acts as a selector/tuner for a desired channel. however, unlike each of the plurality of set-top box cards 150 a, 150 b, 150 c . . . 150 n, each of the plurality of set-top boxes 250 a, 250 b, 250 c . . . 250 n is illustrated as being located external to the computer system (not separately referenced). current technology recording media the current generation of computer hard disks, such as the seagate elite 47, scheduled for first quarter 1998 commercial availability, provides 47 gb of storage in one 5¼ inch form factor disk drive. disk storage density has been increasing by 60% per year for the last several years and is, according to a report published by ibm in december 1997, expected to continue to increase by 60% per year for at least the next ten years. this increase in disk capacity would mean a drive holding 47 gb today would hold (47*109) or 5,123 gb in ten years. at the current compression rate of mpeg video, 1 gb per hour of video, 5,123 gb would store approximately 5,123 hours of compressed video on one drive. this is equivalent to recording 213 channels for 24 hours on one drive. compression techniques with mpeg compression, which can give compression yields in the 30-100 to 1 ratio, it takes about 1 billion bytes (1 gigabyte or gb) to store 1 hour of video. other compression techniques, such as wavelets, can compress at rates up to 300 to 1, but are generally not as effective as mpeg because the mpeg compression technology was specifically designed for television video signals. work is ongoing on mpeg iv standards further to improve image quality and compression ratios. this invention does not depend on a specific compression technology (or compression whatsoever) as long as it produces a digital data stream that can be reconverted somehow back into a suitable video picture. the user interface in the following, it is assumed that the dvr has the basic video recorder interface found on traditional vcrs well known to the users and people skilled in the art. among others, these buttons are “play,” “stop,” “fast forward,” and “rewind.” one skilled in the art will appreciate that, within the context of the disclosed technology, some of these functions take on an enhanced capability, because the dvr can “rewind” several hours of video instantly. the functionality described below needs to be interpreted as working in conjunction and/or partially or totally replacing these controls. assuming selected channels (or all channels) are automatically recorded, what is needed is a way to access the recorded material for viewing. for regular, real-time viewing, a number of commercially-available television guides that are sent over the same medium as the channels or that can be downloaded from the internet or from diskette already exist. the guides broadcast by satellite television suppliers usually present a time-channel matrix where the time is blocked in broadcast units e.g., ½ hour. this is illustrated in fig. 9 . with additional reference to the plan view of an exemplary channel and time surf button cluster 1400 of fig. 14 , the user can browse through the programs by hitting “̂” (up) or “ ” (down) buttons 1420 , 1440 to change the channel and “>” (forward) or “<” (backward) buttons 1430 , 1450 to move in time units. ( fig. 14 also illustrates an “enter” or “go” button 1410 for concluding commands or answering queries.) when used in regular satellite television viewing, the time unit containing the current time is displayed as the leftmost matrix column (this is not essential, just logical). whenever the user selects the menu option, the program cursor is positioned into the leftmost column. pressing the “go” or “enter” button switches the user to the channel on which the cursor is positioned, provided the current time is within the selected block. turning now to fig. 9 , illustrated is a block diagram of an exemplary method for time block program selection in real time. separate channels 910 , 920 , 930 , 940 are each comprised of program blocks. for illustrative purposes, channel 8 (the channel 910 ) is divided into program blocks 910 a, 910 b, 910 c, 910 d, 910 e. in fig. 9 the first program block 910 a, marked “ellen (abc),” is the first block the cursor can be positioned on for channel 8, given the current time of 7:14:32 p.m. “>” or “<” buttons 1430 , 1450 of the representative button cluster of fig. 14 can be used to see what is going to be broadcast in the near future (usually 24 hours ahead of time) on every channel. the preferred embodiments of current invention extends the use of this paradigm significantly by allowing, among other things: (1) surfing back in time (on recorded channels); (2) catch-up viewing (including intelligent commercial skipping); (3) auto-generation of a table of contents of the recorded subset of the broadcast past; (4) using the block and channel browsing paradigm described above for recording instructions; (5) a new method for program selection based on computer recognized content of broadcast programs; and (6) a way to mark programs of interest for semi-permanent storage. surging back in time and catch-up viewing whenever a channel has been marked for recording, the guide information is used by the system to allow backward scrolling through the program blocks introduced above. if channel 8 were marked for recording prior to 7:30:00 p.m., then the system would allow the cursor to be moved to the block marked ellen (abc), even when the current time is later than 7:30:00 p.m. this is illustrated in fig. 10 . like fig. 9 , fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method for time block program selection in real time. separate channels 910 , 920 , 930 , 940 are each comprised of program blocks. for illustrative purposes, channel 8 (the channel 910 ) is divided into program blocks 910 a, 910 b, 910 c, 910 d, 910 e. by broadening the concept of the channel/time block concept, the user can use the same search paradigm for recorded as well as regular real time programming. turning now to fig. 12 , illustrated is a highly schematic diagram showing the concept of catch-up viewing. this feature of the invention can be used when the user approaches the television at a point in time when the broadcasting of the program has already started, but not necessarily finished. assume that the broadcasting of the program the user decides to watch has started at some time t 1 . the dvr is recording this channel. the user wants to start watching the program at time t 2 . the user time-surfs back using the method described below and indicates to the dvr that he wants to start watching the program. the dvr starts playback of program section 1 (ps 1 ), after completion of this, the user hits the “skip commercial” button which moves the dvr to the beginning of program section 2 (ps 2 ) and so on. depending on the amount of time between t 1 and t 2 the user's viewing “catches-up” with the real-time recording of the program being broadcast. the only way the user would be able to tell that he was no longer watching the recorded copy is that the “skip commercial” or “fast-forward” buttons no longer have their usual effect. this “catching-up” feature of the present invention can be used when the user approaches the television at a point in time when the broadcasting of the program has already started, but not necessarily finished. the dvr ( 100 of fig. 1 ) is recoding the channel on which the program is broadcast. the user wants to start watching the program from the beginning. therefore, the user time-surfs back using the method described above, and indicates to the dvr that he wants to start watching the program. the dvr starts playback of program section 1 (ps 1 ), after completion of this, the user hits the “skip commercial” button which moves the dvr to the beginning of program section 2 (ps 2 ) and so on. since the dvr has no real way of determining when commercials start and stop, the present invention includes a method to efficiently use the information stored to give the user a rapid commercial skip function. commercial skipping commercials aired during most television broadcasts last for a time that is usually (although not always predictably) a multiple of the base television commercial time unit (ctu), e.g., 15 seconds. during regular shows the multiplication factor is usually 8, giving a total of 2 minutes for one commercial break. with about 4 breaks in a half-hour prime time broadcast block, this computes to about 20 to 22 minutes of actual programming, consistent with observation. some commercial spots last for one ctu, most for 2 ctus, and some longer. turning now to fig. 11 , illustrated are commercial spots 1110 of lengths varying between 15 seconds (1 ctu) and one minute (4 ctus). fig. 11 also illustrates how a given commercial break 1120 lasting, for example, two minutes, may be broken up into commercial spots lasting varying numbers of ctus. when viewing recorded video, either where the actual broadcast has already completed or the program is still in progress, the user may wish to skip individual commercials, or the entire commercial break altogether. to support this feature, the present invention includes a method to take advantage of the recording techniques described later. turning now to fig. 13 , illustrated is a plan view of exemplary “skip commercials” control button cluster 1300 . the button cluster 1300 comprises a “skip commercial” button 1310 , a “ctu <” (ctu back) button 1320 and a “ctu >” (ctu forward) button 1330 . suppose the user notices the start of a commercial break. to skip the entire break, he hits the “skip commercial” button 1310 . the dvr then computes the new offset for viewing by multiplying the number of ctus in a break (default is 8) and multiply that by the number of seconds in a ctu (default is 15), giving 120 seconds, and restart the viewing process. if the user notices (and cares) that the video he is viewing is either still inside the break or already too far into the actual programming, a few options are available. assuming the dvr skipped too far (into the program), the user can now hit the “ctu <” button 1320 to move the dvr back one ctu. if this results in the right spot, the user can continue watching the programming. if not, the user can (1) hit the dvr's “>” button ( 1430 of fig. 14 ) to move forward one time unit (second) until the desired spot is reached or (2) hit the “cm <” button 1320 again. this moves the dvr back the number of ctus in a break minus one, putting the dvr at the initial time the user decided to skip, plus one ctu. hitting the “ctu >” button 1330 again moves the dvr one ctu forward. assuming the dvr did not skip far enough (still in commercial), the user can hit the “ctu >” button 1330 , moving the dvr one ctu forward. fine-tuning can be done using the dvr's “>” (forward) and “<” (back) buttons for one-second movement back and forward. the ctu length and the default number of ctus per commercial break are configurable by the user. when viewing a program in real time (as it is being broadcast) even while it is being recorded, the skip commercial, the “ctu >” and “ctu <” buttons 1330 , 1320 become inoperable when time of viewing is equal to time of broadcasting. the above features, combined with the recording technology described below, allow for the commercial free viewing of recorded material and catch-up viewing as explained earlier. table of contents there are already of number of television guides that are sent over the same medium as the channels, or that can be downloaded from the internet or from storage media. these guides contain program information for a given period for all channels. this information can be browsed to find the programs of choice, or for keywords to find, e.g., programs with clark gable as an actor or programs in which the subject matter is the creation of the universe. using this information, the illustrated embodiment maintains a content file for every time unit for every channel recorded, thereby creating a subset of the original guide. this table can then be browsed to find the program of interest in the recorded video data. recording instructions recording instructions are communicated to the dvr using the same interface as for channel and time surfing. the default is that whenever a channel is selected for recording (by positioning the cursor on the channel line in fig. 9 and hitting the record button) the dvr starts recording the channel for 24 hours. after that the dvr reuses the space for that channel, in other words, 24 hours of this channel are available for time surfing. a load indicator informs the user of the space used by this operation versus the total available (not used yet) space. the user has the option to release space by deselecting a channel for recording. this has the effect that the new channel starts overwriting the old (released) channel information when this operation is executed, and, after 24 hours the information for the new channel has completely replaced the old channel. archive once channels are being recorded certain parts (of programs) can be marked for archiving, using the archive button. this causes the dvr to create a single channel file on an optional removable recording medium so that the information does not get overwritten when the next 24 hours of information is stored. the dvr supports a virtual channel in addition to the broadcast channels available to replay these kind of archived programs. the same channel can be used to replay devices such as dvds, mimicking the traditional vcr rent cassette paradigm. computerized content search the dvr as disclosed here also provides the capability to do content search by automatically cataloging the audio content digitally. this process can proceed as follows: (1) using the audio portion of the broadcast signal and feeding it into an optional speech recognition capability (well known to those familiar with computing devices), or using the already text translated closed-caption signal if available; and (2) the resulting text of the audio is then indexed into a full-text database. this database provides an index linking each (or a subset of) word to the channel file and time recorded. when the user then wants to search for certain content, the user is presented with a text search engine (similar to the now well established world wide web search engines). after entering the sought after words or phrase, the dvr then presents the user with a prioritized list of programming blocks (channel and time unit) from which the user can then pick what he or she wants to view. recording techniques for the dvr single channel file approach one approach to concurrently storing, on a computer disk, a plurality of channels is to store each channel in a separate file. this technique limits the number of channels that can be recorded concurrently, because the disk arm must be moved from the position of one file to the position of the next file to write the data for each channel. this round robin movement happens as follows: first seek the end of the first channel's file and write the rust channel's digital data, then seek the end of the next channel's file, write the next channel's digital data, and so on, until all channels are written. depending on the speed with which this can be accomplished, and the amount of buffering that can economically be done, this may not be an acceptable implementation. the following analysis is directed to the feasibility of this approach: assume that recording on mpeg ii compressed video channel requires megabytes (mb) per second. recording 20 channels concurrently therefore requires 10 mb per second. today's hard disks' worst case sustained throughput is about 10 mb per second. the average seek time of today's disks is about 12 milliseconds and the average rotational latency about 6 milliseconds, for a total average seek time of roughly 18 milliseconds. buffering the channels in main memory and writing each channel to disk in a round-robin fashion requires 10 mb per second. using no more than 40 mb of main memory to store the buffers, one would need to write all buffers to disk at least once every four seconds. to write 20 buffers to 20 different files every four seconds requires 20 disk seeks, or (20/4) 5 disk seeks per second. for retrieval purposes, an index needs to be written. this could double the number of files and the disk seeks to 10 times a second. modern operating systems, such as microsoft® windows™ 95 keep file allocation tables (fats) to access files. with this number of files open concurrently, the operating system gains access to its fats to accomplish the file updates, possibly doubling the disk seeks again to 20 per second. at an average case total seek time of 18 milliseconds, 20 seeks per second would require an average of 360 milliseconds out of every second of video recorded, consuming over one-third of the disk's throughput. even if one assumes the directories and fats are cached in main memory and that the index information is cached in main memory, lots of disk seeks limits the number of channels that can be concurrently stored. one way to reduce the effect of disk seeks is to use multiple disks, such as provided by redundant arrays of independent disks (raid) storage, and write each channel to a separate disk. to record for example, 20 channels with a minimum of disk seeks; one would need 20 disks, which would be expensive. if indeed raid systems become inexpensive and fast enough, then a system to record a plurality of channels using a one file per channel approach becomes feasible. turning now to fig. 3 , illustrated is a block diagram of exemplary circular fifo buffers in memory (the dram 120 a of fig. 1 ) for each recorded channel. the buffers, designated 310 a, 310 b . . . 310 n contain portions of streams of video data corresponding to separate channels. the buffers 310 a, 310 b . . . 310 n may be divided into seconds, as shown. as shown in fig. 3 , the compressed video data from each channel, produced by the set-top box card for that channel, is first written (buffered) in main memory (dram 120 a ) buffers. then, the data is read from the dram 120 a and written to the mass storage unit 120 b. one method to cache the data is to write one main memory circular fifo buffer for each channel, using a linked list directory concept. turning now to fig. 4 , illustrated is a block diagram of the exemplary buffers 310 a, 310 b . . . 310 n illustrated in fig. 3 . the buffers 310 a, 310 b . . . 310 n are shown as containing ending byte fields 410 a, 410 b . . . 410 n and corresponding compressed portions of a digital video data stream 411 a, 411 b . . . 411 n. using a circular fifo buffer means that some maximum size for each buffer has to be set, e.g., two megabytes. as data are written to the buffers, when the end of the buffer is reached, the beginning of the buffer is overwritten. “fifo” means that the data in the buffers is read in the sequence it is generated, i.e., the older data are read from the buffer and written to disk before newer data are read from the buffer and written to disk. each channel has its own circular fifo buffer. this is a technique well known to persons skilled in the art. the next step is to write the bytes for that time unit to a disk file. each channel has its own disk file, which, for purposes of the present discussion, can be termed a “single channel file.” to write channel 9's data to disk, one would rust read channel 9's fifo buffer, reading the first 8 bytes for the time unit one wishes to write. the first 8 bytes contain the ending offset, the last byte for channel 9 for that time unit. subtracting the number read from the current offset produces n, the number of bytes used to store this time unit's data one then reads the next n bytes and writes those bytes to disk in the channel 9 single channel file. writing the remaining channels, one continues (usually in a round-robin fashion) by reading the same second from the next channel's fifo buffer, and writing it to the next channel single channel file, until all channels are processed. after that, one reads the next 8 bytes in the first channel's buffer, which is the ending offset for the next time unit. to have a consistent and unique file name for all of the single channel files, and to provide for a way to store these recording off-line, the following exemplary file naming convention is proposed. assume the operating system used provides the classic xxxxxxxx.eee (8.3) naming convention, where xxxxxxxx is the 8 byte name of a file, and eee is the 3 byte file extension. the method proposed here encodes (in base 36) the julian date (four bytes) concatenated with a sequence number (four bytes) indicating the number of files recorded during a given day (in base 36), and a file extension equal to the channel sequence number in base 36. julian dates are defined as the number of days since january 1 of the year 0 ad. using this method, the name of the first file written for channel 9 for jan. 1, 1998, would be: jan. 1, 1998, translated to julian date would be 1998*365 or 729,270 plus a day for each leap year, giving a total of 729,770. this 6 digit number is stored in the first 4 bytes of the file name by using a base 36 notation, using only 36 characters out of the standard 256 character ascii set, specifically the uppercase letters “a” through “z” and the numerals “0” to “9”. this method avoids conflicts with operating systems having restrictions in certain computer operating systems over the allowable characters in a file name (such as the period and lower case letters). using the base 36 notation up to 1,679,615 days (36 to the 4 th power−1) can be stored in the first four bytes of the file name instead of 9,999 days (10 to the 4 th power−1) using just the digits 0-9. jan. 1, 1998, encodes to fn3e (15 23 3 14). the rust file means the four bytes for the file sequence are 0001. the file extension is 009 for channel 9, yielding the file name <fn3e0001.009> turning now to fig. 5 , illustrated is a block diagram of an exemplary data and directory structure, generally designated 500 , for a single channel file. the directory structure 500 includes directory entries 510 a, 510 b . . . 510 n and corresponding compressed portions of a digital video data stream 511 a, 511 b . . . 511 n. one directory entry 510 a is expanded to show “next directory offset,” “second number,” “channel number,” “starting byte offset” and “ending byte offset” fields 520 , 521 , 522 , 523 , 524 . as shown in fig. 5 , for the block of bytes written for each time unit, a directory entry (for example, the directory entry 510 a ) is written at the beginning of the block for that time unit. the directory contains the time unit sequence number (illustrated as having a maximum value of 86,400), the byte offset of the directory entry for the next time unit, and the offset for the first and last byte for the data written for that channel for that unit. the directory entry is used to allow rapid access to data for that channel. when replaying the channel, one first reads the directory entry for the time unit of interest. this yields the first and last byte for that unit, then the data (video) bytes, then the directory for the next second, etc. the time unit sequence number is maintained in the directory so that, while viewing a particular channel and later surfing, one can know the current time unit to which to switch the new channel data. since this method is not specifically designed to minimize the number of disk seeks to support the desired functionality, and to increase the number of channels that can be concurrently recorded; the present invention introduces a new concept: time division multiplexing of data in a disk file. therefore, in addition to disclosing a method of storing each channel to a separate file, the present invention discloses a method which overcomes these limitations by writing all channels to one disk file, an approach that may be termed “disk file time division multiplexing.” disk file time division multiplexing (dftdm) retrieving the data from a recorded digital data stream where the number of bits/seconds of video is constant, such as for non-compressed data streams, non-compressed video, can be done using the well known technique of hashing (address translation). this technique is used to seek to the proper byte offset in a disk file to retrieve the bytes recorded at a given time. for example, to find one second of video recorded 5 minutes (300 seconds) after the start of the recording, one would seek a byte offset equal to the time elapsed (300 seconds) multiplied by the video rate (e.g., 10 mb/sec). reading the next 10 mb would give the next second of video recorded. compressed digital data streams, such as mpeg ii however, do not use a fixed number of bytes to represent each second of viewing. one-half mb may be required to represent a second of fast moving video, such as a car chase, while only one tenth of that may be required to represent one second of a slow moving scene, such as the night sky. therefore, direct hashing (key to address) cannot be used. the approach described below provides for the rapid retrieval of variable data rate digital data, such as mpeg ii compressed video. it also provides synchronization of the data streams, to allow rapid switching from one channel at a given time to another channel at a different time. this feature is advantageous in supporting channel surfing in the past (recorded video). in dftdm, instead of writing each channel to a separate file, all channels are written to the same file, called a “combined channel file.” as shown symbolically in fig. 3 , the data stream for each channel is buffered in a fifo buffer in main memory. in fig. 3 , the depth of the buffer is 4 seconds worth of recording. as can be readily determined from the above discussion, the fifo buffers are not of fixed length. this fact is illustrated in fig. 5 detailing the structure of the buffers. turning now to fig. 6 , illustrated is a block diagram of an exemplary data and directory structure for a combined channel file. the directory structure contains directory entries 510 a, 510 b and corresponding compressed portions of a digital video data stream 610 a, 611 a, 610 b, 611 b. one directory entry 510 a is expanded to show “next directory offset,” “second number,” “first channel number,” “starting byte offset,” “ending byte offset,” “nth channel number,” “starting byte offset” and “ending byte offset,” fields 620 a, 620 b, 630 a, 630 b, 630 c, 640 a, 640 b, 640 c, 640 n, 640 o, 640 p. as shown in fig. 6 , one continuously writes to the combined channel file and in a round-robin fashion, the buffer for the first channel, then the buffer for the second channel then the buffer for the next channel, etc., until the buffer for the first channel is reached. when the combined channel disk file reaches a pre-determined size, e.g., 4 gb, one starts writing to the next disk file. for example, assuming 1.0 gb per channel per hour for mpeg ii compressed video, and assuming 10 channels are stored concurrently, then a 4 gb file would store 4/10 hour (24 minutes) of the 10 channels. as shown in fig. 6 , for the total block of bytes written for each time unit (e.g., a second), a directory entry of channel offsets is written at the beginning of the block of bytes for every recorded time unit. the directory contains the sequence number of the time unit, the byte offset for the directory entry for the next time unit, and, for each channel, the offset for the first and last byte for the compressed data written for each channel for that time unit. the directory entry is used to allow rapid access to the bytes written for any particular channel. when viewing (reading from the disk and presenting the video to the user) a channel, the dvr reads the directory entry for a particular time unit. the entry produces the first byte and last bytes (within that block of bytes), for that channel. the dvr then reads but discards the bytes read (skipping the first and last bytes for the time units for the channels not being displayed) until the first byte for that channel is reached. the dvt then reads the data (video) bytes, displaying the content to the user, at the end of the time unit's data, it reads the directory entry for the next time unit, etc. channel surfing, as it is known today happens in real time. the user views each channel in real time, in other words as the signal is broadcast. when viewing channel 9 at 16:43:16 till 16:43:45, and then switching (surfing) to the next channel, e.g., channel 15, the user would pick the programming on the new channel a second (or a fraction of a second) later, i.e., 16:43:46 on channel 15. to simulate this real-time viewing during time surfing on the dvr, the dvr reads from the combined channel file in a sequential manner. while the user is watching the programming from channel 9 during this period being viewed, the following happens: (1) the dvr seeks to the proper channel-time offset in the combined channel file, and reads the directory entry to find the beginning and ending byte offset for channel 9 for that second, as well as the offset of the directory entry for the next second, (2) the dvr then reads the block of bytes for channel 9 for that second and provides these bytes to the television for viewing (for compressed video, the output is first sent to the decompression device or software, e.g., the mpeg ii decoder) and (3) then, without seeking, the dvr reads the directory entry for the next second, and provides the channel data for the next second. the naming convention for the combined channel file(s) is comprised of the 4-byte julian date encoded in base 36, followed by a 4-byte sequence number also in base 36, with .com as an extension. the sequence number as part of the file name is used because of file size limitations imposed by different computer operating systems, and to allow for more than one disk to be used if so desired. using the same base 36 notation described above allows up to 1,679,615 combined channel files on a given date, using just the 8-byte file name. turning now to fig. 7 , illustrated is a block diagram of an exemplary data structure for an address translation file (atf). the atf is illustrated as including byte offsets and sequence and inactive codes corresponding to first, second and nth channels ( 710 a, 710 b, 710 n ). atfs are used to facilitate maintaining information about which channels were recorded when. as shown in fig. 7 , the atf contains a 13-byte entry for each time unit (second) in the day, 3600 seconds/hour multiplied by 24 hours or 86,400 13-byte entries, or 1,123,200 bytes. when a channel is being recorded for a given time unit during the day, an entry is made into the atf. the first eight bytes of the entry are the byte offset for the directory entry for that unit in the single channel file or combined channel file. the next 4 bytes of the entry are the sequence number of the single channel file or combined channel file. the last byte is an inactive code. this code indicates whether the record is inactive due to either (1) data was not written for that time unit (no channels have been recorded for that unit) or (2) the data for that unit (the channel file) has been deleted as part of the fifo methodology to free disk space for current recording. if each channel is written to a single channel file, there is one atf per channel per day. if all channels are written to the same file (combined channel file) there is only one atf for each day (as opposed to one atf per channel per day). the atf name is 7 bytes, in which the first 3 bytes are “atf” and the last 4 bytes is the julian date, in the base 36 notation described above. the extension part of the atf is the channel number, if single channel files are being used, or “com” if combined channel files are being used. for example, for jan. 1, 1998, using a combined channel file, the atf name for that day would be atffn3e.com. if each channel is being written to a separate file, one atc exists for each channel for the day, e.g., atffn3e.009 and atffn3e.202 for channels 9 and 202, respectively. thus, to view channel 9 at 6:10:43, the dvr goes through the following steps: (1) calculate the number of seconds in the day, starting at midnight, giving (3600 seconds/hour*6 hours+(60 seconds/minutes*10 minutes)+43 seconds)=22,243 seconds, (2) multiply the number of seconds multiplied by 13 to get the byte offset of the entry for that second, since each entry in the atf is 13 bytes and (3) seek to that byte offset and read the 13-byte value. this tells one whether the record is active or inactive, the sequence number of the file (for more than one single channel file or combined file on a given day), and the offset of the directory for that second in the single channel file or combined channel file. to minimize the number of disk seeks during recording, the aft(s) can be maintained or cached in main memory. also, the atf(s) can be placed on a separate physical disk than the channel file, to minimize disk seeks. another limitation of the one file per channel (single channel) approach becomes apparent when viewing recorded video. if one views what was recorded from channel 2 at 6:10:43 and then surfs to channel 9, the dvr needs to instantly move to what was recoded from channel 9 at 6:10:43. if channel 9 data were in a separate file, the dvr would have to seek (move the disk drive head) to the correct position before reading the video data. this invention is also designed to support channel surfing, in real time as well as from recorded video, as realistically as possible. when one channel suds in real time, channels are viewed as they are broadcast, when viewing channel 9 from 16:43:16 to 16:43:45, then surfing to channel 15, the time would be 16:43:46. to simulate this real-time surfing from recorded video, the dvr reads from the combined channel file in a sequential manner. to play back what was on channel 9 during the initial period, the dvr does the following: (1) hashes to 16:43:16 in the atf and reads the 13-byte value; (2) seeks to that offset in the combined channel file and reads the directory entry to find the beginning and ending byte offset of channel 9 for that second; and (3) reads the block of bytes for channel 9 for that second and provides these bytes to the television for viewing (for compressed video, the output is first to the decompression device or software, e.g., the mpeg decoder). then, when the user surfs (switches) to channel 15, the dvr: (1) uses the (stored) next directory offset, skip to the next time unit directory entry; (2) fords the channel number (15) and the starting byte offset; and (3) reads the block of bytes for channel 15 for the next second and provides these bytes to the television for viewing. the user is now presented with what was broadcast on channel 15 immediately after what was broadcast on channel 9 just prior to the switching. from the user's perspective, the behavior of the system is identical to real-time surfing. table of contents generation turning now to fig. 8 , illustrated is a block diagram of exemplary data structures for table of contents retrievals. three tables of content 810 , 820 , 830 are shown. each table of contents 810 , 820 , 830 contains the same content data arranged into columns 810 a, 810 b, 810 c, 810 d, but the columns 810 a, 810 b, 810 c, 810 d are reordered and sorted according to the user's wishes to enhance usability. from the information broadcast on some of the satellite services combined with the recorded channel versus time information, one can automatically construct a table of contents, illustrated in fig. 8 . therefore, in addition to the channel and time surfing method discussed above to find programs to view, one can peruse an on-screen table of contents. the date is given by the name of extant atfs. the time is given by the atf, which has one entry for each second of a day. the channels are given by the directory entries in the single channel file or combined channel file. the default value for the title is blank. however, if a downloaded channel guide is available, the title from the channel guide is used for the title, and the description from the channel guide is also made part of the table-of-contents record. the table of contents can be viewed sorted in channel order, title order, or date/time order. for each program recorded, the title is shown, followed by the date and time, followed by the channel number. from the above, it is apparent that the present invention provides a dvr and a method of operating the same. in one embodiment, the dvr includes: (1) a mass data storage unit that concurrently and continuously receives and digitally stores a plurality of channels; and (2) a channel viewer, coupled to the mass data storage unit, that retrieves a portion of one of the plurality of channels from the mass data storage unit based on a received command and presents the portion on a video display device. although the present invention has been described in detail, those skilled in the art should understand that they can make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.
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056-356-928-566-992
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US
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[
"US"
] |
A23L1/164,A23L29/256
| 1986-06-19T00:00:00 |
1986
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[
"A23"
] |
cohesive vegetable products and process for manufacture
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powdered grain and/or legume material is mixed with a liquid binder containing algin to form a dough that is molded, or extruded and the extruded material severed, to form synthesized kernels or bits. such kernels or bits are deposited in an edible boiling liquid, preferably containing calcium chloride and/or calcium lactate, for setting the binder, and cooked in such setting liquid for a few minutes after which they are removed from the setting or gelling liquid, rinsed, retrograded, or set and stabilized in their cooked and expanded state as by freezing or the like, and dried; or they may be canned or frozen. as a consequence, the kernels or bits can be rehydrated and rendered instantly edible merely by the addition of an edible hot or cold liquid without requiring further cooking. the bits may contain other food ingredients and/or fortifying agents such, merely by way of example, as vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, fats, oils, medicaments and/or flavorings or coloring materials.
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1. a process for producing a food product which is adapted to be rendered edible merely by the addition of an edible liquid, said method consisting essentially of the steps of: a. crushing or comminuting an edible seed, stalk, leaf, or root into a powder; b. mixing the powder with algin and an edible liquid to produce a formable dough; c. forming discrete synthesized bits or kernels from the dough; d. applying a setting agent to the formed discrete synthesized bits or kernels; e. heating the formed discrete synthesized bits or kernels; f. physically stabilizing the heated formed discrete synthesized bits or kernels; and g. so drying the stabilized, formed, discrete, synthesized bits or kernels as to reduce the moisture content thereof to 9-12 percent by weight. 2. the process defined by claim 1 in which the moisture content of the stabilized bits on kernels is reduced to 9.5 to 10.5 percent by weight. 3. the process defined by claim 1 further including the step of so rinsing the heated discrete synthesized bits or kernels prior to stabilization as to remove any excess setting agent and to cool the bits or kernels. 4. the process defined by claims 1, 2, or 3 wherein the formed discrete synthesized bits or kernels are gelatinized by depositing the same in boiling water for a period on the order of approximately 8 to 10 minutes. 5. the process defined by claims 1 or 2 wherein the formed discrete synthesized bits or kernels are gelatinized and set by depositing the same in boiling water containing a metallic salt for a period on the order of 8 to 10 minutes. 6. the process defined by claim 5 wherein the metallic salt comprises a calcium chloride. 7. the process defined in claim 5 wherein the metallic salt comprises a mixture of calcium chloride and calcium lactate. 8. the process defined by claim 1 wherein the setting agent comprises a metallic salt. 9. the process defined by claims 1 or 2 wherein the formed discrete synthesized bits or kernels are physically stabilized by freezing the bits or kernels. 10. the process defined by claim 9 wherein at least some of the rice kernels are broken. 11. the process defined by claims 1 or 2 wherein the edible seed is rice. 12. the process defined by claims 1 or 2 where the food product is fortified by uniformly distributing throughout the formable dough at least one agent selected from the group consisting of: a. vitamins; b. minerals; c. proteins; d. amino acids; e. fats; f. oils; g. medicaments; and h. flavorings.
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technical field of the invention the present invention relates to a cohesive powder kernel or bit product composed of kernels or bits that have been formed from meal or flour of vegetables including seeds of cereals and/or seeds of pulses and/or leaves of leafy vegetables and/or stalk vegetables and/or root vegetables, which kernels or bits can be composed of a single variety of vegetable product or can incorporate products of more than one variety of vegetable and can include other types of food and/or edible material, yet which can be rehydrated and rendered instantly edible, without further cooking, merely by the addition of an edible liquid, either hot or cold. background of the invention the prior art is replete with patents relating to the formation of a wide range of food products from seed grains and/or other vegetable materials. two of such prior art patents expressly disclose processes for preparing what are said to be quick-cooking rice products from broken grains of rice--viz., gorozpe u.s. pat. nos. 2,914,005 and 3,071,471. the disclosures in the gorozpe patents are more fully described in the aforesaid related applications and need not be further described herein. suffice it to say that other than the concept of attempting to form a quick-cooking rice product from broken rice grains, the process steps employed by gorozpe and the resulting food product bear no similarities to those of the present invention. another known prior art patent more fully described in the aforesaid related applications is harrow et al. u.s. pat. no. 4,325,971--a patent which discloses a process for making a reformed rice product from flour which can include wheat flour, potato flour, corn flour, tapioca flour, waxy maize flour, and rice flour; but, it is preferred that at least a major portion of the flour be rice flour. however, none of the foregoing prior art patents disclose a process in which alginate or other binder material in conjunction with a setting or gelling agent is combined with vegetable meal or flour to impart to such meal or flour a cohesive quality in the production of a powder kernel vegetable product; but, willock u.s. pat. no. 3,365,299 does propose the use of a seaweed gum or alginate mucilage coating for rice grains in producing a rice pudding. kamada et al. u.s. pat. no. 4,101,683 discloses the use of alginate among other polysaccharides in connection with puffed rice. the process of this patent gelatinizes the rice starch by first puffing rice grains to a high degree. such puffing and gelatinizing is accomplished by heating the rice grains in a closed container at an elevated temperature under increased pressure and releasing the rice grains into the atmosphere to allow them to puff, or heating the rice grains by means of heated air or by high frequency waves. thereafter, a thickener is added to the puffed rice grains, which thickener may be polysaccharide, including agar and alginate, or gums including guar gum, or artificially produced thickeners, or microorganically produced thickeners. the thickener is applied to the puffed rice by immersing the puffed rice in an aqueous solution containing the thickener, or by spraying or sprinkling the aqueous solution on the puffed rice. finally, the puffed rice, with which the thickener has been incorporated, is dried either under normal atmospheric pressure or under vacuum, either in the presence or in the absence of heating. in consequence of the gradual vaporization of water, the puffed rice diminishes in volume, eventually approaching the volume of raw rice. it is said that the resulting rice will be fast cooking in one to two minutes in hot water heated in advance to about 80.degree. c. the rice can even be rehydrated at room temperature by being soaked in water for about 30 minutes. while the process described in kamada et al. u.s. pat. no. 4,101,683 does not utilize any setting agent, the use of such an agent is disclosed in kamada et al. u.s. pat. no. 4,085,234. this patent discloses a rice product made by puffing rice to a high degree by first treating the rice grains in a closed container kept at an elevated temperature and releasing the rice grains into the atmosphere, thereby allowing them to puff to a degree from 6 to 16 times, and preferably 10 to 12 times, as large as the raw rice grains. the puffed rice grains are then immersed in, or sprayed or sprinkled with, an aqueous solution containing at least one polysaccharide thickener which is gelled metallic ions. examples of such polysaccharides are alginic acid, its salt, carrageen, pectin, etc. as in kamada et al. u.s. pat. no. 4,101,683, the puffing step of this patent, kamada et al. u.s. pat. no. 4,085,234, gelatinizes the rice starch. the puffing may expand the rice grains to a volume from six times as large as normal rice grains to as much as 15 times as large as ordinary rice grains. also, a thickener such as sodium alginate can be applied externally on the puffed rice grains by immersing the puffed rice grains in a thickener solution, or by spraying the thickener onto the rice grains. after the thickener has been incorporated in the puffed rice grains, the treated puffed rice is immersed in an aqueous solution containing metallic ions capable of inducing gelation of the thickener; or, alternatively, such a solution is sprayed or sprinkled on the puffed rice. the expression "aqueous solution containing metallic ions" includes aqueous solutions prepared by addition of metallic salts, solutions prepared by an ion exchange treatment, naturally occurring mineral waters containing metallic ions, and natural aqueous solutions which originate in animals and plants. various metallic salts are described in the kamada et al. patents, including calcium salts, potassium salts, magnesium salts, and other similar metallic salts of carbonic acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid, glycerophosphoric acid, and other similar acids. the metallic ions are stated to be capable of acting upon the thickener to be gelled and consequently inducing gelation. a specific example is the combination of sodium alginate and calcium lactate. another example is a low methyl ester pectin and calcium chloride. a further example uses the combination of sodium alginate and calcium lactate. another example proposes the combination of calcium and potassium-sensitive carrageenin and calcium lactate. after the rice has been treated with the thickener and the metallic salt, the puffed rice into which the thickener or the gelled thickener has been incorporated is dried under normal atmospheric pressure or under vacuum either in the absence or in the presence of heating to produce a fast-cooking rice. during the drying step, the puffed rice diminishes in volume to approach the volume of raw rice, while the incorporated gelled thickener is retained throughout from the surface to the inside center of the individual grains. summary of the invention improved synthesized cohesive vegetable products which can be rehydrated and rendered instantly edible, without further cooking, merely by the addition of a hot or cold edible liquid, are formed in accordance with the present invention by: i) grinding, crushing or otherwise pulverizing or comminuting vegetable material including grain seeds which may be defective, such as being broken, cracked, or misshapen; ii) mixing the meal or powder with water and a settable binder to impart to it a cohesive paste-like doughy quality; iii) forming the cohesive paste-like powder mixture into reconstituted or synthesized powder kernel shapes or bits, such as by compression die molding of the cohesive paste-like powder or by extruding the cohesive paste-like powder in dough form into strings and cutting these strings into reconstituted or synthesized kernels or bits; iv) heating, and preferably gelatinizing, the reconstituted or synthesized kernels or bits by, for example, depositing such kernels or bits in boiling water containing a suitable metallic salt setting agent and cooking such kernels or bits until expanded; v) rinsing the expanded kernels or bits so as to remove excess setting agent and cool the kernels o bits; vi) retrograding the expanded kernels or bits by, for example, freezing to set the product in its expanded state; and vii) drying the retrograded kernels or bits to reduce their moisture content to on the order of approximately 9-12 percent moisture content by weight with a moisture content in the range of 9.5 to 10.5 percent being preferred. higher moisture contents than those just identified are avoided because the product would, at best, have only a very short, unacceptable shelf life. drying the product to a level lower than those indicated robs the product of water of hydration. this is unacceptable as the product loses strength, becomes friable and chalky, and is apt to check when it is extruded. because the vegetable matter is ground, crushed, or otherwise pulverized or comminuted in the initial step of the process, it becomes possible to add any selected fortifying agent to the ingredients which form the batter. thus, for example, it is entirely possible to fortify the product by adding any one or more of fortifying agents selected from the group consisting of: a) vitamins; b) minerals; c) proteins; d) amino acids; e) fats; f) oils; g) medicaments; and h) flavorings. thus, the finished product, if fortified, is not only capable of being rehydrated and rendered instantly edible merely by the addition of a hot or cold edible liquid; but, additionally, it can provide all or any selected portion of the daily dietary requirements for human beings. brief description of the drawing fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of portions of an apparatus suitable for performing certain steps of a process according to the present invention to produce products according to the present invention. detailed description of the invention in this description, the term powder kernel or bit is used to designated kernels or bits synthesized from powder including a binder. reconstituted kernels may simulate whole natural cereal seeds such as of rice, wheat, oats, millet, corn, rye, and barley, or pulse seeds such as of peanuts, peas, and beans including kidney beans, lima beans, lentils, and soy beans. synthesized bits can be produced from legumes or leafy plants such as of vetch, alfalfa, clover, spinach, and pea pods, or stalk vegetables such as corn, tomatoes and green peppers, or root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, beets, onions, and potatoes. special combination synthesized kernels, which may or may not simulate whole natural seeds or bits, can be composed of a blend or mixture of powders from different vegetables, other foods, flavorings, and other edible materials. such other foods include cheese, pasta, milk, sugar, oil or fat, such as lard, butter, coconut fat, or olive oil, honey and nuts, for example, filberts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, coconut, and brazil nuts. flavorings include curry, chili powder, soya sauce or other soya derivatives, salt, vanilla, ginger, pepper, thyme, saffron, sage, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, onion, and origanum salt should be used sparingly because any appreciable amount of salt will detract from the cohesion promotion of algin when used as a binder. it is preferred that the kernels or bits be synthesized from powder having particles small enough to pass through a no. 10 u.s. standard mesh screen but which would be retained on a no. 300 u.s. standard mesh screen, preferably being predominantly about 100 mesh. in this description, "reconstituted" is used to designate kernels composed essentially, if not entirely, of powder from one specific type of grain seed or pulse seed of a shape very similar to, if not identical to, the shape of the corresponding whole natural seeds, whereas the term "synthesized" is used as generic to reconstituted kernels and also to bits of other foods or special combinations resulting from a mixture of powders of different seeds and/or other vegetable and/or food components and may or may not be of a shape similar to the shape of some natural seed. the term "bits" is used generically to cover kernels, cubic or cylindrical pellets, flakes and morsels of other shapes synthesized from powder. moreover, "synthesized" is applied to powder bits having a substantial amount of spices, flavoring, medicaments, or pharmacological food mixed in with one or more varieties of vegetable components. the proportions of components in such special combination synthesized bits may be such as to provide in a single powder food product proper proportions of vegetable ingredients to sustain life such as may be used for a complete obesity control diet or a diabetic diet. the process of producing powder bits includes crushing, including grinding, or comminuting selected cereal seeds, legume or pulse seeds, or other vegetable material to a powder such as meal or flour, making a liquid binder such as a batter or a paste, fixing such liquid binder with the vegetable powder to form a doughy material of consistency suitable for extruding, extruding such doughy material through dies to form strings, severing such strings into kernels or other bits, and treating such kernels or other bits with a binder-setting agent such as a calcium salt adequate to set the binder incorporated in the kernels or other bits and drying the bits. preferably the doughy material is extruded twice to increase the density and homogeneity of the strings. the powder bits thus produced can be reconstituted kernels of the type having a shape resembling the shape of the seeds of a particular grain or pulse from which the vegetable powder for making the kernels came, such as kernels shaped like rice grains made from rice powder, or kernels shaped like beans made from bean powder, for example. instead of being extruded, the kernels or bits can be synthesized in the form of rice kernels or other shapes by being formed in a die. the bits can be treated with a liquid binder incorporating low viscosity algin and fat, such as by being sprayed with such a binder while bits are moving across a vibrating table or moving as a fluid bed. subsequently, the bits can be similarly sprayed with a solution of binder-setting agent and air dried. the liquid binder mixed with the powder from which the bits are made provides a cohesive powder mixture forming bits that will retain their shape well despite wide variations in moisture content and temperature. the binding material for the cohesive powder preferably is an algin such as sodium alginate. the algin can be of any viscosity including the low viscosity type from 1/10th to 1 poise and the high viscosity type from 8 to 20 poises. if the algin is of the low viscosity type, the liquid binder may be principally water, containing 0.1 percent to 20 percent by weight of algin, preferably 5 percent to 11 percent. if high viscosity algin is used in the binder, the water may contain from 0.01 percent to 12 percent of algin by weight, preferably 0.5 percent to 6 percent. alternatively, the binder material may be chitin material such as chitosan, chitosamine, chitose, or other chitin derivative form fungi and/or crustacean shells. whatever type or types of binding material are utilized in the liquid binder, the total amount of binding material should be within the range of 0.01 to 20 percent of the water by weight. in producing synthesized bits, whether reconstituted kernels of a single type of grain or pulse or other bits of a special composite type, the liquid binder can be mixed with the powdered material of the seed, whether grain, pulse, or other food, to make a cohesive powder dough of soft consistency suitable for extruding in proportions of 2 to 4 times as much bit-forming powder as liquid binder by volume, preferably about 3 times as much. for making rice kernels, rice powder and liquid binder may be extruded by a press type of extruder such as that disclosed, for example, in gorozpe u.s. pat. nos. 2,914,005 and 3,071,471, or in harrow et al. u.s. pat. no. 4,325,976. in carrying out the present invention, the extruded synthesized kernels fall from the extruder into a body of boiling water containing binder-setting or binder-gelling material which preferably is a water-soluble calcium salt, such as calcium chloride cacl.sub.2 or calcium lactate (ch.sub.3 chohcoo).sub.2 ca.5h.sub.2 o, and preferably a combination of these two chemicals; but, other water-soluble calcium salts could be used instead such as those more fully identified in the aforesaid related applications. the preferred setting agent is composed of calcium lactate, 62.5 percent, and calcium chloride, 37.5 percent, by weight. the amount of calcium salt may be within the range of 0.01 to 20 percent of the ground vegetable material by weight, preferably about 12 percent. such solution, when sprayed onto the kernels or bits, sets or gels the binder so as to form a cohesive powder for producing firm, coherent, stabilized bits. if the kernels or bits are deposited in a setting bath of hot, preferably boiling, aqueous solution, such solution should be somewhat acidic, such as having a ph of 4 to 6, to keep the calcium in solution. acids such as lactic acid or adipic acid can be used to produce such acidity. if it should be desired to retard or prolong the effect of the setting or gelling agent, sodium carbonate na.sub.2 co.sub.3, sodium citrate na.sub.3 c.sub.6 h.sub.5 o.sub.7, disodium phosphate na.sub.2 hpo.sub.4, trisodium phosphate na.sub.3 po.sub.4, sodium hexametaphosphate (napo.sub.3).sub.6, tetrasodium pyrophosphate na.sub.4 p.sub.2 o.sub.7, sodium polyphosphate na.sub.a+2 p.sub.a o.sub.ea+1, or sodium tripolyphosphate na.sub.5 p.sub.3 o.sub.10 in an amount of 0.01 percent to 20 percent by weight can be included in the liquid binder. another procedure for deferring or extending the setting or gelling action of calcium is to utilize calcium carbonate or calcium sulfate as the source of calcium and restrict the access of acid such as acetic acid, adipic acid, citric acid, fumaric acid, gluconic acid, glutaric acid, lactic acid, malic acid, succinic acid, or tartaric acid or d gluconolactone c.sub.6 h.sub.10 o.sub.6 to react with the substantially insoluble calcium salt for producing soluble calcium salt slowly. if chitin material is used for the liquid binder, sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid or calcium ions or magnesium ions will set or gel the binder. in carrying out the present invention in accordance with the preferred embodiment thereof, kernels discharged from the extruder are preferably deposited into boiling water and cooked for a period of on the order of from 3 to 20 minutes so as to heat--and, preferably, fully gelatinize--the starch contained in the product and to expand the kernels. such boiling water can contain the binder-setting agent. the kernels are then removed from the boiling water, rinsed, drained, and conditioned for storage. such conditioning preferably takes the form of retrograding the expanded kernels so as to stabilize and solidify the kernels in their expanded state. this can be accomplished by freezing the kernels, rapid monetary surface heating at a temperature ranging from about 155.degree. f. to about 185.degree. f. or, alternatively, by the use of chemical additives such, for example, as alcohol; or mechanically by permitting the product to sit in chilled water for extended periods of time and/or by canning the product without excess moisture. following retrograding, and in those instances other than a canning process, the product is dried to reduce its moisture content, preferably to the 9.5 to 10.5 percent level identified above as products with a moisture content in that range have an optimum combination shelf life and structural range. however, as was also pointed out above, and is shown hereinafter, products with moisture levels as high as 12 percent and as low as 9 percent may also prove to be acceptable. a representative process for making a quick-cooking, reconstituted rice grain product capable of rehydrating in one minute is described in the following example. example i formable dough 7,500 grams of rice flour milled from whole and broken grains of rice were mixed with 127.5 grams of low viscosity sodium alginate dry powder kelco gel lv, 1 25 grams of peanut oil used as a lubricant, 25 grams of lecithin used as an antioxidant, and 65.6 grams of dry albumin. the foregoing ingredients were thoroughly blended in a vertical dough mixer for 10 minutes. 2,250 grams of water was then added to the floor mixture and remixed in the vertical dough mixer for 5 minutes, thus forming a doughy material suitable for extrusion. extrusion the doughy material was then extruded through a pressure extruding press with a standard risso or rice-shaped die and cut at intervals so as to form rice-like kernels. gelatinization following extrusion, the reconstituted rice kernels were dropped into a body of boiling water containing 0.6 grams of calcium chloride and 1.0 grams of calcium lactate per 400 grams of water. the reconstituted rice kernels were then cooked for approximately 9 minutes, or until completely gelatinized--complete gelatinization has generally been found to occur within about 8 to 10 minutes. the calcium salts served as a gelling agent for the alginate. rinsing/cooling the gelatinized, reconstituted rice kernels were then drained and thoroughly rinsed in cool water until all excess setting agent had been removed and the kernels had been cooled to approximately room temperature. retrograding the cooled, reconstituted rice kernels were then retrograded, or stabilized, and solidified in their expanded state by depositing in a freezer and permitting the kernels to be thoroughly frozen. drying the frozen, reconstituted rice kernels were then dried on a heated forced-air dryer at 120.degree. f. for approximately 7 hours, or until the reconstituted rice kernels reached a 12 percent by weight moisture content--6 to 8 hours drying appears to be desirable. utilizing this representative process the resulting rice kernels were found to be completely rehydratable and edible within one minute of the addition of an edible liquid such, for example, as hot or cold water or milk. the foregoing experiment was repeated using both glutinous and long grain rice without observing any appreciable difference in the rehydration characteristics of the final product. it has been found that full gelatinization can be attained in other ways such, for example, as by steaming and/or microwaving. the setting agent can be applied to the product either before, during, or after gelatinization, for example, by spraying. moreover, it has been found that the gelatinized, reconstituted rice kernels can be retrograded in other completely conventional manners such as by the use of chemical additives such, for example, as alcohol. alternatively, the product can be retrograded by rapid momentary surface heating at a temperature ranging from about 155.degree. f. to about 185.degree. f., or by sitting in chilled water for extended periods of time, or by canning the product without excess moisture. in each instance, the product is retrograded by permitting the starch to precipitate and assume a solid form. other methods of drying may be employed to expedite or slow the drying process such as by utilizing a microwave oven or a cool air drying process. flavoring, nutrients, fortifying substances and/or color can be added to the vegetable meal or flour and binder liquid mix dough before being extruded; and, such additions will permeate the dough thoroughly and uniformly. such uniform permeation will persist in the synthesized bits instead of being applied to the powder bits as a coating. for example, 20 percent to 35 percent of the dough mix by volume could be cheese, or to 5 percent, preferably 2 percent, of the dough by volume could be oil or fat. other types of additives can be included in proportions from 5 percent to 30 percent of the dough by volume, depending on the ingredients used and the color or flavor desired. flavors can be added in an amount from 0.01 percent to 20 percent. other food products which can be added in an amount up to 50 percent by volume include coconut, albumin such as egg, milk, and sugar. also, 3 percent to 10 percent of monosodium glutamate by volume, preferably 6 percent, can be included to enhance the flavor of food ingredients other than rice. if the powder kernel product being produced is rice or predominantly rice, it is desirable for at least some albumin to be used because albumin restores a strong natural flavor to the rice. the albumin may be in the form of fresh or dried whole egg albumin. the amount of albumin used should be equal to percent to 20 percent, preferably 121/2 percent of the amount of water in the fluid binder by weight, which albumin can be supplied at any stage during the kernel-forming process. vitamins, minerals, proteins, and/or amino acids can be added to various grain seeds and/or pulse seeds and/or other vegetable material in producing the synthesized powder bits, especially for deprived people. the powder bits are substantially homogeneous and can constitute a complete food complex incorporating properly balanced proportions of carbohydrate provided by the grain or pulses, protein, fat and/or oil. in some instances, discretion must be used in selecting materials to be used by the body for producing proteins for incorporation in the synthesized bits of the present invention. proteins are peptides made up of two or more amino acids covalently bound in an amide linkage. thus, a peptide is a chain of amino acid residues. all amino acids contain nitrogen, and sometimes the body has and oversupply of nitrogen. in such cases, instead of using amino acids as such, amino acid analogues from which nitrogen has been completely or principally removed can be utilized. suitable keto- and hydroxy-analogues which are free of nitrogen corresponding to essential and beneficial amino acids can be used in place of the corresponding amino acids themselves. in such instances, the analogue will combine with the excess nitrogen of the body to serve the dual function of enabling the body to produce proteins and of removing some of the nitrogen from undesirable forms in the body. such amino acids and their corresponding ketoanalogues and hydroxy-analogues are listed below. ______________________________________ amino acid keto-analogue hydroxy-analogue ______________________________________ essential amino acids and analogues l-leucine a-ketoisocaproic acid l-valine a-ketoisovaleric acid l-isoleucine (r,s)-a-keto-b- methylvaleric acid l-lysine l-phenylalanine phenylpyruvic acid l-phenyllactic acid l-threonine l-methionine a-keto-g-methiol- (d,l)-a-hydroxy- butyric acid g-methiol- butyric acid l-tryptophan indolepyruvic acid indolelactic acid beneficial amino acids and analogues l-histidine imidazolepyruvic imidazolelactic acid acid l-tyrosine p-hydroxyphenyl- l-p-hydroxyphenyl- pyruvic acid lactic acid l-cystine bb'-dithiopyruvic l-bb'-dithiodi- acid lactic acid l-cysteine b-mercaptopyruvic l-b-mercaptolactic acid acid l-arginine l-ornithine ______________________________________ any of these amino acid and analogue structures in any combination and in appropriate quantities can be mixed into the powder material from which the bits are synthesized in accordance with the present invention. for people with excessive nitrogen or ammonia in the body, such as those suffering from hyperammonemia and portal systemic encephalopathy, the amino acids ornithine and arginine may be incorporated in the bits. by incorporating a proper type and proportion of amino acids or their analogues in the powder material from which the powder bits of the present invention are synthesized, a properly balanced diet is assured simply from consumption of the bits of the present invention. to make a complete food complex, an appropriate amount of oil and/or fat can be incorporated in the material used for the preparation of the bits. rice, corn, millet, wheat, and potatoes, for example, are excellent sources of carbohydrate, particularly for reducing diet or diabetic diet purposes or for patients with hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. digestion of rice requires considerable time so that the carbohydrate is converted into sugar usable by the body over a period of several hours instead of being available to the bloodstream quickly, such as in a period of less than an hour, as is the case with sugar or compounds readily converted into sugar by the body. digestion of carbohydrate from corn or potatoes can be retarded by providing such food ingredients in the form of synthesized kernels. by associating protein, amino acid or amino acid analogue and, if desired, oil and/or fat intimately with carbohydrate, all of the components become available for body building over an extended period of time instead of quickly. such result can be achieved by incorporating the amino acid or analogue with powdered rice and, if desired, with an appropriate amount of oil or fat in the dough from which the synthesized rice grains are extruded. a representative extrudible dough could contain the following ingredients by weight in addition to the binder and flavoring, if any: ______________________________________ carbohydrate 25% to 99% protein 1% to 75% oil or fat up to 50% ______________________________________ a preferred formula would have the following proportions of ingredients by weight: ______________________________________ carbohydrate 75% protein 20% fat 5% total 100% ______________________________________ because each powder bit provides a complete balanced food in itself, a diet supplying any desired number of calories can be specified by simply prescribing the proper quantity of synthesized rice. for an adult of average size, van nostrand's scientific encyclopedia, sixth edition. states on page 2339, at column 1, under the definition of protein that the daily requirement is 70-80 grams of protein. actually, the bodily requirement depends on the size of the person, and it is perhaps more accurate to state that the daily bodily requirement for protein is 0.7-0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. thus, for example, if a low fat diet containing 2,400 calories per day were desired, the amount of synthesized rice to be eaten during the day could be 590 grams, containing 560 grams of carbohydrate, 25 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fat. a higher fat diet providing 2,400 calories could be 520 grams of synthesized rice, containing 400 grams of carbohydrate, 70 grams of protein, and 50 grams of fat. amino acids and their analogues have very unpleasant tastes; and, consequently, it may be desirable to add pleasant flavoring materials to the powder kernels such as curry, coconut, or chili powder, as suggested above, where amino acids or their analogues are incorporated in the kernels. the powder kernel grain or pulse product would, however, be available in a form which was familiar and to which deprived people are accustomed. moreover, such powder kernel product would be particularly beneficial because it can be prepared for consumption quickly and with minimal, if any, energy requirements. apparatus referring to fig. 1, there has been shown an exemplary apparatus suitable for performing certain of the foregoing steps. thus, as here shown, the apparatus includes a mixer 1 which may, for example, be of the helical screw type, to which mixer can be supplied powdered grain seed, such as rice flour, from a storage hopper 2 and binder, such as aqueous algin batter, from a storage hopper 3. such algin batter is produced by mixing algin such as sodium alginate with water in a container 4. the mixing can be accomplished by a motor-driven impeller 5. the algin batter is pumped from the mixing container 4 to the storage hopper 3 by a suitable pump 6 which can be a diaphragm pump or an impeller pump. as described above, one or more types of vegetable powder in addition to the principal grain flour supplied from the storage hopper 2 can be supplied to the mixer 1. such additional vegetable powder could, for example, be pulse powder, such as bean powder, or other vegetable powder, such as corn meal. such an additional vegetable powder ingredient can be supplied to the mixer 1 from the storage hopper 7. the mixer may contain a helical screw rotated by the motor 8 to serve the dual purpose of mixing the ingredients in the mixer and conveying the resultant mixture to one end of the mixer for discharge through a discharge spout 9 into the inlet conduit 10 of a further helical screw mixer 11, the screw of which is driven by a motor 12. this mixer serves the dual purpose of further mixing the ingredients supplied to the mixer and of feeding the mixture to an extruder 13 at the end of the mixer opposite the motor 12. such extruder is rotated by a motor 14 and effects both shaping of kernels or bits and cutting them to length so as to resemble a natural kernel of some particular grain or pulse or a bit of predetermined shape. the extruder 13 may be a risso die extruder. as shown in fig. 1, the kernels or bits extruded from the extruder 13 fall on the tray 15 of a harmonic conveyor 16 such as disclosed in cox u.s. pat. no. 3,817,370. the kernels or bits on this conveyor can be sprayed with setting agent for setting the binder. such setting agent may be stored in a storage tank 17 from which the setting agent can be dispensed through a conduit 18 and a spray nozzle 19 that will spray the setting liquid solution or suspension onto the kernels or other bits received on the tray 15. alternatively, in the practice of the present invention the kernels or bits extruded from the extruder 13 may be deposited into a tank, or other container, of boiling water (not shown) which preferably contains the setting agent. in such a system, after the kernels or bits are fully gelatinized--a process which generally takes from 8 to 10 minutes residence time in the boiling water, but which can, in some instances, vary from 3 to 20 minutes--the kernels or bits are removed from the boiling water, drained and rinsed so as to cool the kernels or bits and remove any excess setting agent therefrom. the thus drained, rinsed, and cooled kernels or bits are then retrograded in their expanded state by, for example, freezing in a conventional freezer, rapid momentary surface heating at a temperature ranging from about 155.degree. f. to about 185.degree. f. or, alternatively, by completely conventional chemical or mechanical means as previously described. finally, the product is dried in any suitable or conventional fashion so as to reduce its moisture content to on the order of from 10% to 13% moisture by weight. however, where an apparatus such as shown in fig. 1 is employed, the kernels or bits exiting from the extruder and deposited on the tray 15 may be moved along the tray 15 by oscillating the latter until the material thereon spills off its right end as viewed in the drawing onto the tray 20 of the next harmonic conveyor section 21. additional setting agent supplied through a conduit 22 from the setting agent storage tank 17 may be sprayed onto the kernels or other bits on the tray 20 by the nozzle 23. oscillation of the tray 20 will convey the material on it to the right as viewed in the drawing until it spills off the right end of such tray into the receiving hopper 24 of the helical screw conveyor 25 driven by motor 26. as the kernel or other bit material is conveyed along the conveyor 25, it can be subjected to jets of superheated steam supplied by pipe 27 and discharged into the conveyor by nozzles 28 for the purpose of cooking or gelatinizing the product. the amount of steam thus supplied can be controlled by adjusting valve 29; while the time during which the bits in conveyor 26 are subjected to the steam is determined by the speed of the motor 26 and the pitch and length of the conveyor helix. the steam-treated bits are, as shown in fig. 1, discharged from the discharge end of conveyor 25 onto a reticulated belt conveyor 30. as the material is being transported by that belt, it can be subjected to a stream of air supplied through the duct 31 to the plenum chamber 32 beneath the belt, which air may be heated or unheated depending upon the speed and length of the belt 30 and the amount of drying action which it is desirable to accomplish by the air. of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that where it is desired to retrograde the steam heated kernels or bits discharged from conveyor 25, such bits can, prior to deposit on conveyor 30, be frozen or chemically or mechanically retrograded in the manner previously described. finally, from the conveyor 30 the bits are either transported to suitable storage facilities or they may be packaged immediately by being deposited into a hopper 33 located above packaging containers 34 on a belt 35. a measuring valve 36 can dispense from the hopper 33 a quantity of material just sufficient to fill a container or carton 34 as it passes beneath or pauses beneath the hopper 33. conventional automatic equipment can be provided for closing and sealing the cartons 34 after they have been filled with the bit product of the present invention. the invention may be embodied in still other forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description; and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
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A61K8/11,A61K8/34,A61K8/73,A61K8/81,A61K8/86,A61K8/87,A61K8/92,A61Q9/02,B26B21/44,A61K9/50,A61K31/045,A61K31/047,A61K31/075,A61K31/12,A61K31/125,A61K31/513,A61K31/618,A61K36/534,A61K36/61,B29C47/00,B29C47/78,B82Y5/00,A61K8/97,A61Q19/00,A61Q9/00,A61K31/765
| 2010-10-11T00:00:00 |
2010
|
[
"A61",
"B26",
"B29",
"B82"
] |
a skin engaging member comprising encapsulated actives
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a skin engaging member suitable for use in a hair removal device, said skin engaging member comprising an encapsulated active contained in a matrix material, an encapsulated active comprising at least one nano-particle encapsulated in a micro-particle, wherein said nano-particle comprises a shell comprising a hydrophobic material, and wherein said micro-particle comprises a shell comprising a water sensitive material; and wherein at least one of said nano-particle and said micro-particle comprises a skin care active.
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a skin engaging member (22) attached to a razor cartridge for use on a hair removal device (14), said skin engaging member comprising: a. a matrix comprises at least one of: a water soluble polymer, an emollient, and a mixture thereof; b. an encapsulated active at a level of from 0.01 % to 50% by weight of the skin engaging member, said encapsulate active comprising at least one nano-particle encapsulated in a micro-particle, wherein said nano-particle comprises a shell comprising a hydrophobic material, and wherein said micro-particle comprises a shell comprising a water sensitive material; wherein at least one of said nano-particle and said micro-particle comprises a skin care active, wherein said microsphere has a size of from 2.0 microns to 100 microns, and wherein said at least one nano-sphere has a size of from 0.01 microns to 5 microns. the skin engaging member of claim 1 or any claim dependant therefrom, wherein said at least one skin care active comprises a cooling agent selected from the group consisting of: l-menthol; p-methane-3,8-diol; isopulegol; menthoxypropane-1,2,-diol; curcumin; menthyl lactate; gingerol; icilin; tea tree oil; methyl salicylate; camphor; peppermint oil; n-ethyl-p-menthane-3-carboxamide; ethyl 3-(p-menthane-3-carboxamido)acetate; 2-isopropyl-n,2,3-trimethylbutyramide; menthone glycerol ketal, menthone glyerine acetal; and mixtures thereof. the skin engaging member of claim 2 or any claim dependant therefrom, wherein said cooling agent is a mixture of menthol and menthyl lactate in a ratio of weight in the range of 1:4 to 4:1 the skin engaging member of any preceding claim, wherein said hydrophobic material is selected from the group consisting of alkylated polyvinyl pyrolidine, hydrogenated castor oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, hard paraffin, hard fat, triglyceride, and mixtures thereof. the skin engaging member of any preceding claim, wherein said water sensitive material comprises one or more of: a water soluble and water dispersible synthetic polymers and copolymer, a starch derivative, a polysaccharide, a hydrocolloid, a natural gum, a protein, and a mixture thereof. the skin engaging member of claim 1 or any claim dependant therefrom, wherein the water sensitive material comprises polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of hydrolysis of from 75% to 100%. the skin engaging member of any preceding claim, wherein said hydrophobic material is selected from the group consisting of alkylated polyvinyl pyrolidine, hydrogenated castor oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, hard paraffin, hard fat, triglyceride, and mixtures thereof; wherein said water sensitive material comprises one or more of: a water soluble and water dispersible synthetic polymers and copolymer, a starch derivative, a polysaccharide, a hydrocolloid, a natural gum, a protein, and a mixture thereof the skin engaging member of any preceding claim, wherein said water soluble polymer of the matrix comprises at least one of a polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, polyhydroxymethacrylate, polyvinyl imidazoline, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, polyhydroxyethymethacrylate, silicone polymers, and a mixtures thereof. the skin engaging member of claim 8 or any claim dependant therefrom, wherein said level of water soluble polymer is at a level of from about 50% to about 99% by weight of said solid polymeric matrix. the skin engaging member of any preceding claim wherein said matrix further comprises a water insoluble polymer comprises at least one of: polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, high impact polystyrene, butadiene styrene copolymer, polyacetal, acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, and mixtures thereof. the skin engaging member of claim 10, wherein said water insoluble polymer is present at a level of at least 35% by weight of said solid polymeric matrix. the skin engaging member of any preceding claim, wherein said matrix material comprises an emollient. the skin engaging member of claim 12, wherein said matrix further comprises a block polymer selected from the group consisting of: a di-block copolymer, a tri-block copolymer, a multi-block copolymer, a radial block copolymer, a random block copolymer, and mixtures thereof.
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background of the invention the use of shaving aids on razor blades to provide lubrication benefits during the shave is known. see e.g ., u.s. patents 7,121,754 ; 6,298,558 ; 5,711,076 ; 5,134,775 ; and u.s. patent publ. nos. 2009/0223057 , 2006/0225285 . the addition of various actives into shaving aids has also been attempted. for example, it has been described that cooling agents and/or essential oils can be included in the shaving aid to deliver a fresh and cool feel after contact. it has been reported, however, that a substantial amount of the essential oil can be lost due to volatilization prior to use. see u.s. patent no. 5,095,619 . u.s. patent no. 5,713,131 attempts to fix this potential problem by introducing non-volatile cooling agents into the shave aid, such as non-volatile menthol analogs. examples of other shave aids containing menthol and other actives are disclosed in u.s. patents 5,095,619 , 6,298,558 , 6,944,952 , and 6,295,733 . the addition of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes and displacing agents have also been described in u.s. patent nos. 5,653,971 , and, 5,713,131 . the processing temperatures to make a shaving aid via extrusion are typically in the range of 160°c. many of the known encapsulation technologies cannot survive processing temperatures around 160°c and high shear forces during the extrusion process. some technologies may partially survive the process, but fail to deliver the desired amount and / or effectiveness of the cooling agent during wet shaving. many other encapsulation technologies, however, may be more resilient to temperature and processing conditions but may not be safe for use in consumer goods (i.e., melamine formaldehyde and/or certain gelatin capsules). as such, despite the numerous attempts to incorporate cooling agents into shaving aids, there remains a need for new shaving aid formulations which are less susceptible to damage to the cooling agents during the making process yet are still suitable for use in a topological skin care treatment. summary of the invention this invention relates to a skin engaging member, attached to a razor cartridge for use with a hair removal device, such as a razor or depilatory and scraping tool, said skin engaging member comprising a matrix comprises at least one of: a water soluble polymer, an emollient, and a mixture thereof; an encapsulated active comprising an encapsulated active comprising at least one nano-particle encapsulated in a micro-particle, wherein said nano-particle comprises a shell comprising a hydrophobic material, and wherein said micro-particle comprises a shell comprising a water sensitive material; and wherein at least one of said nano-particle and said micro-particle comprises a skin care active, wherein said encapsulated actives is in said matrix material. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a perspective view of a razor cartridge which includes a skin engaging member of the present invention. fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of fig. 1. fig. 3 is a side elevation view of second type of skin engaging member of the present invention. fig. 4 is a side view of another razor in accordance with the present invention. fig. 5 is a chart showing the thermogravimetric analysis of an encapsulated active of the present invention compared to another encapsulated active and a non-encapsulated active. detailed description of the invention the skin engaging member of the present invention comprises at least one encapsulated active, and optional other skin engaging members. the encapsulated active can be a coating on the exterior of the skin engaging member, can be provided as a discrete layer or layers in the skin engaging member, or can be mixed into the composite of the skin engaging member. the skin engaging member can be used on a hair removal device, including but not limited to blades and razors and provides a cooling benefit on skin during and/or after contact with skin. prior to addition into the skin engaging member, the encapsulated actives of the present invention can be a free-flowing powder formed of solid hydrophobic nano-particles comprising at least one cooling agent, which is encapsulated in a moisture sensitive micro-particles that can also contain at least one cooling agent. the active ingredients encapsulated in the nano-particles can be the same or different from those encapsulated in the micro-particle. those of skill in the art will understand that the nano-particles and micro-particles referred to herein include capsules but can also include non fully encapsulated particles. i. encapsulated actives the skin engaging member of the present invention comprises at least one encapsulated active. in one embodiment, the level of said at least one encapsulated active is from about 0.01 % to about 50 % by weight of said skin engaging member, alternatively from about 10 % to about 45 %, alternatively from about 15 % to about 35 %. in one embodiment, the skin engaging member comprises more than one encapsulated active, meaning that either the cooling agent(s) contained with the encapsulated actives and/ or the materials used to make the nano-particle and/or micro-particles are different. a. nano-particles and micro-particles in one embodiment, the nano-particles and micro-particles are the nano-spheres and/or micro-spheres generally described in u.s. patent no. 7,115,282 . the term "particles" is intended to describe solid, substantially spherical particulates. it will be appreciated that other shapes can be formed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. the nano-particles of the present invention are hydrophobic in nature. the nano-particles have an average diameter in the range from about 0.01 micron to about 10 microns, or from about 0.05 microns to about 5 microns, or from about 0.1 microns to about 2 microns. this linear dimension for any individual particle represents the length of the longest straight line joining two points on the surface of the particle. in one embodiment, a portion of the nano-particles are encapsulated into one or more water-sensitive micro-particles. in one embodiment, the majority of the nano-particles present in the skin engaging member are encapsulated into said water-sensitive micro-particles. the micro-particles have an average particle size of from about 2.0 microns to about 100 microns, or from 20 microns to about 100 microns or from 20 microns to about 100 microns. i. capsule materials for forming the nano-particles suitable capsule materials for forming the nano-particles of the present invention are inert nontoxic hydrophobic materials with a melting point range between about 30 °c and about 90 °c. examples of hydrophobic materials include natural, regenerated, or synthetic waxes including animal waxes such as beeswax, lanolin and shellac wax, vegetable waxes such as carnauba, candelilla, sugar cane, rice bran, and bayberry wax, mineral waxes such as petroleum waxes including paraffin and microcrystalline wax, and mixtures thereof. other hydrophobic materials which can be used in the present invention include wax and silicon copolymers, such as candelilla wax and silicone copolymer, ozokrite wax and silicon copolymers, beeswax and silicon copolymers. other hydrophobic compounds which can be used in the present invention include: fatty acid esters such as ethyl stearate, isopropyl myristate, and isopropyl palmitate; high mol.wt. fatty alcohols such as cetostearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and oleyl alcohol, solid hydrogenated castor and vegetable oils, hard paraffins, hard fats, and mixtures thereof. other hydrophobic compounds which can be used, include triglycerides, preferably of at least food grade purity, which can be produced by synthesis or by isolation from natural sources. natural sources can include animal fat or vegetable oil, such as soy oil, as a source of long chain triglycerides (lct). other triglycerides suitable for use in the present invention are composed of a majority of medium length fatty acids (c10-18), denoted medium chain triglycerides (mct). the fatty acid moieties of such triglycerides can be unsaturated or polyunsaturated and mixtures of triglycerides having various fatty acid material. the nano-particle capsule material can comprise a single hydrophobic material or a mixture of a plurality of materials. other suitable hydrophobic materials that are known to those skilled in the art are described in " industrial waxes," vol. i and ii, by bennett f.a.i.c., published by chemical publishing company inc., 1975 and martindale, "the extra pharmacopoeia", the pharmaceutical press, 28th edition pp.1063-1072, 1982 . other hydrophobic compounds which can be used in the present invention include synthetic polymers, such as alkylated polyvinylpyrrolidines, the ganex® copolymer series, and prolipid® 151, commercially available from the isp company. examples of other suitable hydrophobic polymers and copolymer for use as the capsule material include polyethylene homopolymers a-c® 1702; a-c® 617, a-c® 617a, and a-c® 15, commercially available from allied signal inc.; performalene™ pl commercially available from new phase technologies; ethylene-acrylic acid copolymers a-c® 540, a-c® 540a, and a-c® 580 commercially available from allied signal inc.; polyamides having a mol.wt. in the range of from about 6,000 up to about 12,000, for example, macromelt™ 6030 manufactured by the henkel ag. of dusseldorf, germany; versalon™ 1135 polyamide polymer available from general mills, inc the nano-particles of the present invention can have a melting point in the range from about 30 °c to about 90 °c, preferably from about 40 °c to about 90 °c the melting point of the particles is usually a function of the carrier matrix employed. accordingly, preferred matrix materials have a melting point in the range of about 50 °c to about 80 °c, preferably from about 60 °c to about 70 °c. considerations in the selection of the matrix material include good barrier properties to the active agents and the fragrance ingredients, low toxicity and irritancy, stability, and high loading capacity for the active agents of interest. ii. capsule materials for forming the micro-particles water-sensitive materials for forming the micro-particles of the present invention comprise water soluble and water dispersible synthetic polymers and copolymers, starch derivatives, polysaccharides, hydrocolloids, natural gums, proteins, and mixtures thereof. examples of synthetic water sensitive polymers which are useful for the invention include polyvinyl pyrrolidone, water soluble celluloses, polyvinyl alcohol, ethylene maleic anhydride copolymer, methylvinyl ether maleic anhydride copolymer, acrylic acid copolymers, anionic polymers of methacrylic acid and methacrylate, cationic polymers with dimethyl-aminoethyl ammonium functional groups, polyethylene oxides, water soluble polyamide or polyester. examples of water soluble hydroxyalkyl and carboxyalkyl celluloses include hydroxyethyl and carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl and carboxyethyl cellulose, hydroxymethyl and carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl carboxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl carboxypropyl cellulose, hydroxybutyl carboxymethyl cellulose, and the like. also useful are alkali metal salts of these carboxyalkyl celluloses, particularly and preferably the sodium and potassium derivatives. polyvinyl alcohol useful in the practice of the invention is partially and fully hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate, termed "polyvinyl alcohol" with polyvinyl acetate as hydrolyzed to an extent, also termed degree of hydrolysis, of from about 75% up to about 99%. such materials are prepared by means of any of examples i-xiv of u.s. pat. no. 5,051,222 issued on sep. 24, 1991 . a polyvinyl alcohol useful for practice of the present invention is mowiol® 3-83, having a mol.wt. of about 14,000 da and degree of hydrolysis of about 83%, mowiol® 3-98 and a fully hydrolyzed (98%) polyvinyl alcohol having a mol.wt. of 16,000 da commercially available from gehring-montgomery, inc. of warminister pa. other suitable polyvinyl alcohols are: airvol® 205, having a mol.wt. of about 15,000-27,000 da and degree of hydrolysis of about 88%, and vinex® 1025, having mol.wt. of 15,000-27,000 da degree of hydrolysis of about 99% and commercially available from air products & chemicals, inc. of allentown, pa.; elvanol® 51-05, having a mol.wt. of about 22,000-26,000 da and degree of hydrolysis of about 89% and commercially available from the du pont company, polymer products department, wilmington, del.; alcotex® 78 having a degree of hydrolysis of about 76% to about 79%, alcotex® f88/4 having a degree of hydrolysis of about 86% to about 88% and commercially available from the harlow chemical co. ltd. of templefields, harlow, essex, england cm20 2bh; and gohsenol® gl-03 and gohsenol® ka-20 commercially available from nippon gohsei k.k., the nippon synthetic chemical industry co., ltd., of no. 9-6, nozaki cho, kita-ku, osaka, 530 japan. suitable polysaccharides are polysaccharides of the non-sweet, coloidally-soluble types, such as natural gums, for example, gum arabic, starch derivates, dextrinized and hydrolyzed starches, and the like. a suitable polysaccharide is a water dispersible, modified starch commercially available as capule®, n-lok®, hi-cap™ 100 or hi-cap™ 200 commercially available from the national starch and chemical company of bridgewater, n.j.; pure-cote™, commercially available from the grain processing corporation of muscatine, iowa. in the preferred embodiment the natural gum is a gum arabic, commercially available from tic gums inc. belcamp, midland. suitable hydrocolloids are xanthan, maltodextrin, galactomanan or tragacanth, preferably maltodextrins such as maltrin™ m100, and maltrin™ m150, commercially available from the grain processing corporation of muscatine, iowa. b. method of making the nano and micro-particles i. nano-particles the encapsulated actives in the nano-particles of the present invention can be prepared by the steps of (1) heating hydrophobic materials to a temperature above the melting point to form a melt, (2) dissolving or dispersing the said active ingredients in the melt, (4) emulsifying the melt in the aqueous phase; and (5) cooling the dispersion to ambient temper to form a fine suspension. the active ingredients can be incorporated into the hydrophobic solid nano-particles. preferably, about 1% to about 80% of and more preferably about 1% to about 60% by weight of the active ingredients are used in forming the nano-particles. ii. micro-particles the encapsulated actives of the present invention can be prepared by the steps of (a) incorporating a first active into the hydrophobic interior of the nano-particles, (b) forming an aqueous mixture comprising a second active, the nano-particles, and a water sensitive material, and (c) spray drying the mixture of the present invention to form a dry powder composition. accordingly, the nano-particles can be encapsulated into the micro-particle structure. the first and second actives can be the same or different, or there could just be actives in the nano particles, or the micro particles. a process for producing the multi component controlled release system can include the following steps: (i) heating hydrophobic materials to a temperature above the melting point of the materials to form a melt; (ii) dissolving or dispersing the first said fragrance or flavor into the melt; (iii) dissolving or dispersing the first said active ingredients into the melt; (iv) dissolving or dispersing a second active ingredients, and moisture sensitive materials, such as, starch derivatives, natural gums, polyvinyl alcohol, proteins, hydrocolloids, or mixture of thereof, in the aqueous phase; (v) heating the composition to above the melting temperature of the hydrophobic materials; (vi) mixing the hot melt with the aqueous phase to form a dispersion; (vii) high shear homogenization of the dispersion at a temperature above the melting temperature until a homogeneous fine dispersion is obtained having a particle size of from about 1 micron to about 2 microns; (viii) cooling the dispersion to ambient temperature; and (ix) spray drying the emulsified mixed suspension to form a dry powder composition. this dry powder composition can then be used in the method of making the skin engaging member of the present invention. additional details on the method of making the nano-particles and micro-particles are disclosed in u.s. patent no. 7,115,282 (in reference to nano-spheres and micro-spheres). c. skin care active ingredients in the encapsulated actives various skin care actives ("actives") which are commonly used for topical application can be present in the nano-particles and/or micro-particles. in one embodiment, the encapsulated active contains one or more active ingredient, including but not limited to a cooling agent. non-limiting examples of suitable cooling agents include: l-menthol; p-methane-3,8-diol; isopulegol; menthoxypropane-1,2,-diol; curcumin; menthyl lactate (such as frescolat ml by symrise); gingerol; icilin; tea tree oil; methyl salicylate; camphor; peppermint oil; n-ethyl-p-menthane-3-carboxanide; ethyl 3-(p-menthane-3-carboxamido)acetate; 2-isopropyl-n,2,3-trimethylbutyramide; menthone glycerol ketal, menthone glyerine acetal; coolact 10; and mixtures thereof. these and other cooling agents are known and described in various publications, such as u.s. patent no. 2008/0300314a1 , u.s. patent no. 5,451,404 and 7,482,373 . in yet another embodiment, the cooling agent comprises one or more of the cooling agents previously described for use in various shave aids. see e.g ., u.s. patent nos. 5,095,619 ; 5,713,131 ; 5,095,619 ; 5,653,971 ; 6,298,558 ; 6,944,952 ; and 6,295,733 . other actives suitable for cosmetic and dermatological use can be used herein. non-limiting examples of suitable actives include one or more of: bis-abolol and ginger extract, a surfactant derived from olive oil such as olivem 450® and olivem 460®, lauryl p-cresol ketoxime, 4-(1-phenylethyl)1,3-benzenediol, lupin (lupinus albus) oil & wheat (triticum vulgare) germ oil unsaponifiables, hydrolyzed lupin protein, extract of l-lysine and l-arginine peptides, oil soluble vitamin c, evodia rutaecarpa fruit extract, zinc pidolate and zinc pca, alpha-linoleic acid, p-thymol, and combinations thereof; at least one additional skin and/or hair care active selected from the group consisting of sugar amines, vitamin b 3 , retinoids, hydroquinone, peptides, farnesol, phytosterol, dialkanoyl hydroxyproline, hexamidine, salicylic acid, n-acyl amino acid compounds, sunscreen actives, water soluble vitamins, oil soluble vitamins, hesperedin, mustard seed extract, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, carnosine, butylated hydroxytoluene (bht) and butylated hydroxyanisole (bha), menthyl anthranilate, cetyl pyridinium chloride, tetrahydrocurmin, vanillin or its derivatives, ergothioneine, melanostatine, sterol esters, idebenone, dehydroacetic acid, licohalcone a, creatine, creatinine, feverfew extract, yeast extract (e.g., pitera®), beta glucans, alpha glucans, diethylhexyl syringylidene malonate, erythritol, p-cymen-7-ol, benzyl phenylacetate, 4-(4-methoxyphenyl)butan-2-one, ethoxyquin, tannic acid, gallic acid, octadecenedioic acid, p-cymen-5-ol, methyl sulfonyl methane, an avenathramide compound, fatty acids (especially polyunsaturated fatty acids), anti-fungal agents, thiol compounds (e.g., n-acetyl cysteine, glutathione, thioglycolate), other vitamins (vitamin b 12), beta-carotene, ubiquinone, amino acids, their salts, their derivatives, their precursors, and/or combinations thereof; and a dermatologically acceptable carrier. these and other potentially suitable actives are described in greater detail in u.s. patent publication no. 2008/0069784 . additional actives that can be used include those commercially available under the following tradenames: signaline s, jojoba oil, ceramidone, net dg, pal-ghk (paltenex), rhodysterol, vital et, and combinations thereof. in another embodiment, the active can be a methyl naphthalenyl ketone. the methyl naphthalenyl ketone can be a 1-(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydro-2,3,8,8-tetramethyl-2naphthalenyl)-ethan-1-one molecule or an isomer or derivative thereof. commercially available as iso-e-super from iff of new york. other sensates can also be used, including those which have ability to up-regulate the trpm8 receptor, which has been described as the cool menthol receptor. non-limiting examples of suiltable trpm8 regulators include: p-methane-3,8-diol; isopulegol; menthoxypropane-1,2,-diol; curcumin; menthyl lactate; gingerol; icilin; menthol; tea tree oil; methyl salicylate; camphor; peppermint oil; n-ethyl-p-menthane-3-carboxamide; ethyl 3-(p-menthane-3-carboxamido)acetate; 2-isopropyl-n,2,3-trimethylbutyramide; menthone glycerol ketal, and mixtures thereof. in one embodiment the level of active or actives in the encapsulated active ranges from about 20 to about 90%, preferably from about 30 % to about 75% by weight of the nano-particles. in one embodiment the level of the active or actives in the encapsulated active ranges from about 10% to about 60%, or from about 30% to about 50% by weight of the micro-particles. in one embodiment, encapsulated active comprises more than one cooling agent, for example l-menthol + menthyl lactate (frescolat ml); l-menthol + menthone glycerine acetal (frescolat mga); or l-menthol + coolact 10. in yet another embodiment, the encapsulated active comprises at least one cooling agent and a fragrance, a mineral oil, or a combination thereof. in another embodiment, the cooling agent comprises a mixture of menthol and menthyl lactate, such as described in wo 2007115593 (commercially available as fresocolat plus), or the eutectic mixture of menthol and menthyl lactate in a ratio of weight in the range of 1:4 to 4:1, as described in u.s. 6,897,195 . without intending to be bound by theory, it is believed that the skin engaging member comprising the encapsulated actives of the present invention are preferred over other known shaving aids comprising neat cooling agents or encapsulated cooling agents because the specific type of encapsulation involved allows more of the cooling agent to survive the manufacturing process. as defined herein, "neat" refers to actives which are not encapsulated in either the nano-particle or the micro-particle, but are dispersed within the skin engaging member. in one embodiment, the nano-capsule is made of a hydrophobic low melting material providing a lower shear strength material which can rupture upon elevated temperature or/and wearing against rough surface. as defined herein, low melting means a melting point below 30 °c, one example of a low melting material is shea butter. as explained above, the micro-encapsulating material is a water soluble and/or water dispersible material. the ingredient within such micro-particles can be triggered to release by moisture, warm or cold water or aqueous liquid. a list of compositions is given in table 1, below in the examples section. in one embodiment, only one active is in the capsule. in another embodiment, there are two or more types of active ingredients are encapsulated. these two ingredients may function similarly or differently in terms of providing skin or shaving benefits. in one embodiment the two or more actives are selected to be chemically or biologically compatible, and may thus be combined together for encapsulation process (meaning the mixture can exist in the same nano- or micro-capsule. if the two or more actives are not compatible, they may be encapsulated in separate nano- and/or micro-particles, or the first active can be in the nano-particles and the second active can be external to the nano-particle but within the micro-particles. in anther embodiment, the encapsulated active includes a plurality of nano-capsules with the first active, the second active, or a combination thereof. external to the nano-capsule can exist the first active, second active, or a mixture thereof. it is believed that such specific encapsulated actives can deliver the desired amount of one or more incompatible actives during the shaving or hair removal process. it is believed that many factors will affect the release of active ingredient under specific application. those factors may include wall thickness, distribution of active ingredient between the two different type particles, and the integration of nano-particles with micro-particles capsule materials, as well as use conditions. the active ingredient can also be one or more skin care actives suitable for topical use. the ctfa cosmetic ingredient handbook, second edition (1992 ) describes a wide variety of nonlimiting cosmetic and pharmaceutical ingredients commonly used in the skin care industry, which are suitable for use in the compositions of the present invention. examples of these ingredient classes include: abrasives, absorbents, aesthetic components such as fragrances, pigments, colorings/colorants, essential oils, skin sensates, astringents, etc. (e.g., clove oil, camphor, eucalyptus oil, eugenol, witch hazel distillate), anti-acne agents, anti-caking agents, antifoaming agents, antimicrobial agents (e.g., iodopropyl butylcarbamate), antioxidants, binders, biological additives, buffering agents, bulking agents, chelating agents, chemical additives, colorants, cosmetic astringents, cosmetic biocides, denaturants, drug astringents, external analgesics, fatty alcohols and fatty acids, film formers or materials, e.g., polymers, for aiding the film-forming properties and substantivity of the composition (e.g., copolymer of eicosene and vinyl pyrrolidone), opacifying agents, ph adjusters, propellants, reducing agents, sequestrants, skin bleaching and lightening agents, skin-conditioning agents, skin soothing and/or healing agents and derivatives, skin treating agents, thickeners, and vitamins and derivatives thereof. additional non-limiting examples of additional suitable skin treatment actives are included in u.s. 2003/0082219 in section i (i.e. hexamidine, zinc oxide, and niacinamide); u.s. 5,665,339 at section d (i.e. coolants, skin conditioning agents, sunscreens and pigments, and medicaments); and us 2005/0019356 (i.e. desquamation actives, anti-acne actives, chelators, flavonoids, and antimicrobial and antifungal actives). it should be noted, however, that many materials may provide more than one benefit, or operate via more than one mode of action. therefore, classifications herein are made for the sake of convenience and are not intended to limit the active to that particular application or applications listed. ii. matrix material the skin engaging comprises the encapsulated active in or on a matrix material. the matrix material can be in the form of a solid polymeric matrix or an emollient. a. solid polymeric matrix in one embodiment, the matrix comprises a water soluble polymer comprising at least one of a polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, polyhydroxymethacrylate, polyvinyl imidazoline, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, polyhydroxyethymethacrylate, silicone polymers, and a mixtures thereof. in one embodiment, said water soluble polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, and a mixture thereof. in one embodiment, the skin engaging member comprises any other ingredients commonly found in commercially available shaving aids, such as those used on razor cartridges by gillette, schick or bic. non-limiting examples of such shaving aids include those disclosed in u.s. 6301785 , 6442839 , 6298558 , 6302785 , 2008/060201 , and 2009/0223057 . in one embodiment, the skin engaging member further comprises a shaving aid ingredient selected from the group consisting of polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, hydroxypropyl cellulose, polyvinyl imidazoline, polyethylene glycol, poly vinyl alcohol, polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate, silicone copolymers, sucrose stearate, vitamin e, soaps, surfactants, panthenol, aloe, plasticizers, such as polyethylene glycol; beard softeners; additional lubricants, such as silicone oil, teflon® polytetrafluoroethylene powders (manufactured by dupont), and waxes; essential oils such as menthol, camphor, eugenol, eucalyptol, safrol and methyl salicylate; tackifiers such as hercules regalrez 1094 and 1126; non-volatile cooling agents, inclusion complexes of skin-soothing agents with cyclodextrins; fragrances; antipruritic/counterirritant materials; antimicrobial/keratolytic materials such as resorcinol; antiinflammatory agents such as candilla wax and glycyrrhetinic acid; astringents such as zinc sulfate; surfactants such as pluronic and iconol materials; compatibilizers such as styrene-b-eo copolymers; mineral oil, polycaprolactone (pcl), and combinations thereof. the water-soluble polymer will preferably comprise at least 50%, more preferably at least 60%, by weight of the skin engaging member, up to about 99%, or up to about 90% of the matrix. the more preferred water soluble polymers are the polyethylene oxides generally known as polyox (available from union carbide corporation) or alkox (available from meisei chemical works, kyoto, japan). these polyethylene oxides will preferably have mol.wt.s of about 100,000 to 6 million, most preferably about 300,000 to 5 million. the most preferred polyethylene oxide comprises a blend of about 40 to 80% of polyethylene oxide having an average mol.wt. of about 5 million (e.g. polyox coagulant) and about 60 to 20% of polyethylene oxide having an average mol.wt. of about 300,000 (e.g. polyox wsr-n-750). the polyethylene oxide blend may also advantageously contain up to about 10% by weight of a low mol.wt. (i.e. mw<10,000) polyethylene glycol such as peg-100. in one embodiment, the matrix further comprises from about 0.5% to about 50%, preferably from about 1% to about 20%, polycaprolactone (preferably mol.wt. of 30,000 to 60,000 daltons). see us 6,302,785 . in another embodiment, the skin engaging member may contain other conventional shaving aid ingredients, such as low mol.wt. water-soluble release enhancing agents such as polyethylene glycol (mw<10,000, e.g., 1-10% by weight peg-100), water-swellable release enhancing agents such as cross-linked polyacrylics (e.g., 2-7% by weight), colorants, antioxidants, preservatives, vitamin e, aloe, cooling agents, essential oils, beard softeners, astringents, medicinal agents, etc. portions that contain a colorant can be designed to release the colorant (e.g., by leaching or abrasion), and thereby cause the strip to change color during shaving, preferably in response to wear of the colored portion, so as to provide an indication to the user that the skin engaging member and/or the razor cartridge has reached the end of its effective life or the end of its optimum performance. a portion may contain, for example, between about 0.1% and about 5.0% (preferably between about 0.5% and 3%) colorant by weight. the matrix can further comprise a water-insoluble polymer in which the water-soluble polymer is dispersed. preferably, at a level of from about 0% to about 50%, more preferably about 5% to about 40%, and most preferably about 15% to about 35% by weight of the skin engaging member of a water-insoluble polymer. suitable water-insoluble polymers which can be used include polyethylene (pe), polypropylene, polystyrene (ps), butadiene-styrene copolymer (e.g. medium and high impact polystyrene), polyacetal, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyurethane, and blends thereof such as polypropylene/polystyrene blend or polystyrene/impact polystyrene blend. one preferred water-insoluble polymer is polystyrene, preferably a general purpose polystyrene, such as nova c2345a, or a high impact polystyrene (i.e. polystyrene-butadiene), such as basf 495f kg21. the strip or any portion should contain a sufficient quantity of water-insoluble polymer to provide adequate mechanical strength, both during production and use. b. emollients in another embodiment, the matrix material comprises at least one emollient. in one embodiment the emollient is hydrophobic. in certain embodiments, the composition can consist essentially of one or more emollients which could form a fluid at 25 °c. where the emollient is fluid form, the fluid is preferably contained within a skin engaging reservoir as disclosed below. in such embodiments, depending on the viscosity of the composition, varying orifice sizes can be used to control the dispensing of emollient during use. the emollient is liquid, semi-solid and/or solid at room temp. the emollient may comprise one or more hydrocarbon emollients, a lipid, lipophilic skin care actives, or a mixture thereof. suitable lipids include fatty acyls such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, esters, triglycerides, fats, butters, and waxes; glycerolipids; glycerophospholipids; sphingolipids; sterol lipids; prenol lipids; saccharolipids; polyketides; lipophilic skin active agent emollients, and mixtures thereof. hydrocarbon emollients include straight chain, branched chain, saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons and mixtures thereof and they may comprise natural or synthetic hydrocarbon emollients and mixtures thereof. preferred natural hydrocarbon emollients include petrolatum, mineral oil and mixtures thereof. preferred synthetic hydrocarbon emollients include branched chain hydrocarbons, such as isohexadecane (such as arlamol hd™ from croda) and polydecene (such as puresyn 2™ from exxon mobil). fatty alcohol or fatty acid emollients include saturated and unsaturated higher alcohols, especially c 12 - c 30 fatty alcohols and fatty acids, especially lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, arachidic or behenic. ester emollients include esters of a c 12 - c 30 alcohol and mixtures thereof, especially isopropyl myristate, isopropyl isostearate and mixtures thereof. triglyceride emollients include synthetic or natural triglycerides, especially natural triglycerides derived from sunflower, avocado, olive, castor, coconut, cocoa and mixtures thereof. more preferred are coconut-derived triglycerides, such as the commercially available materials myritol™ 312 and 318 (cognis), estasan™ (croda) and miglyol™ (sasol). fat and butter emollients include coconut butter, shea butter and mixtures thereof. wax emollients include paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, candellila , ozokerite and mixtures thereof. preferably the emollient comprises paraffin wax. advantageously, hydrophobic phase comprises some wax because waxes may bestow further improved hardness and erodability to the solid moisturising composition. preferably, the erodible, sold moisturizing composition comprises from 2% to 20% and more preferably from 3% to 15% wax by weight of the erodible, sold moisturizing composition. another class of suitable lipids include lipophilic skin active agent emollients which include oil soluble vitamins, such as vitamin e derivatives, including vitamin e acetate and tocopherol nicotinate; oil-soluble vitamin a derivatives, such as retinyl palmitate, lanolin, ceramides, sterols and sterol esters, salicylic acid, camphor, eucalyptol and essential oils. in one embodiment, the matrix material comprises at least one emollient and a water insoluble structuring polymer. examples of such compositions have been described as an erodable, solid moisturizing composition described in copending u.s. patent application serial nos. 61/305682 titled "hair removal device comprising erodable moisturizer" and 61/305687 titled "hair removal device comprising an erodable moisturizer", both to stephens et al, filed feb. 18, 2010. as used herein, the term "solid" when used in relation to the erodable, solid moisturizing composition refers to compositions which are solid at 25°c. as used herein, the term "water-insoluble" when used in relation to the structuring polymer, means "very slightly soluble", according to the united states' pharmacopeia (usp) definition in 31/nf 26 vol. 2 general notices, page xvii., or less than "very slightly soluble", which, using the usp definition, means that more than 1000 parts of solvent (water, in this case) are needed to dissolve 1 part of solute (the structuring polymer, in this case) at standard temperature and pressure. as used herein, the term "soluble in" when describing the ability of the water-insoluble structuring polymer to dissolve in the hydrophobic phase means "soluble", according to the united states' pharmacopeia definition in 31/nf 26 vol. 2 general notices, page xvii., or less than "soluble", which, using the usp definition, means that less than 30 parts of solvent (the hydrophobic phase, in this case) are needed to dissolve 1 part of solute (the structuring polymer, in this case) at the melting point of the water-insoluble structuring polymer. in one embodiment, the matrix with the emollient is an erodable, solid moisturizing composition comprised has a chatillon hardness at 25°c of about 0.50kg to about 3.25kg, preferably about 0.75 kg to about 3.00kg, more preferably about 1.00kg to about 2.50kg, measured according to the protocol provided hereinbelow. it is believed that a skin conditioning composition having such chatillon hardness provides beneficial rates of wear. the chatillon hardness test is disclosed in u.s. patent application serial no. 61/305682 . any water-insoluble structuring polymer comprised within the erodable, solid moisturizing composition may be any water-insoluble structuring polymer which bestows appropriate wear properties to the erodable, solid moisturizing composition and is preferably a water-insoluble structuring polymer which may bestow a chatillon hardness in the above-defined ranges to the erodable, solid moisturizing composition. the structuring polymer is water-insoluble to assist miscibility with or solubility in the hydrophobic phase (at the melting point of the water-insoluble structuring polymer), which in turn may ensure a homogenous distribution of hydrophobic phase throughout the polymer and thus more even wear properties. in addition, the water soluble nature of the polymer may improve the durability of the polymer (and therefore also the erodible, solid moisturizing composition) versus more hydrophilic polymers which may solubilise and wash away during hair removal processes that employ water, such as wet shaving. in one embodiment, the erodable, solid moisturizing composition comprises from 2% to 50%, preferably from 3% to 40%, more preferably 4% to 12% of water-insoluble structuring polymer by weight of the erodable, solid moisturizing composition. in one embodiment, the water-insoluble structuring polymer comprises a block copolymer. more advantageously, the block copolymer comprises a di-block copolymer, a tri-block copolymer, a multi-block copolymer, a radial block copolymer, a random block copolymer, or a mixture of these polymers. more advantageously still, the block copolymer comprises a tri-block copolymer. in one embodiment, where the matrix material comprise the solid polymeric matrix, one or more emollients can also be included in the solid polymeric matrix. c. carrier in one embodiment, the skin engaging member further comprises a carrier wherein the matrix material and encapsulated active can be contained within the carrier and/or present on the carrier. as explained above, the matrix material can be a solid polymeric matrix or an emollient in solid or non-solid form. the carrier can be in the form of a tray upon which the matrix material and encapsulated active are applied, or the carrier can form a retaining structure at least partially containing the matrix and encapsulated material. in one embodiment, the carrier forms a reservoir, such as the sheaths disclosed in u.s. patent no. 6,298,558 and 7,581,318 . where the matrix material comprises an emollient in fluid form, the carrier is preferably a sheath having one or more dispensing orifices to control the dispensing of the emollient. when referring to the compositional make up of the skin engaging member, the weight percentages defined herein are determined based on the components of the skin engaging member disclosed and not the carrier, unless otherwise specified. d. additional actives in the matrix i. optional cooling agents the matrix material may also comprise a neat non-volatile cooling agent or an inclusion complex of a skin-soothing agent with a cyclodextrin, preferably in amounts up to about 25%, most preferably 10 to 20%, by weight of the skin engaging member. "neat" as used herein means that the additional actives are present outside the encapsulates and are dispersed within the remainder of the matrix material. by non-volatile cooling agent is meant an agent which has a physiological cooling effect on the skin and which is appreciably less volatile than menthol. preferably, the nonvolatile cooling agent will be one which when subjected to thermogravimetric analysis (e.g. using a 951 thermogravimetric analyzer from dupont with a 20°c. temperature rise -^ per minute) will retain at least 50% of its initial weight at a temperature of 160°c., more preferably at least 80% of its initial weight at a temperature of 160°c., and most preferably at least 50% of its initial weight at a temperature of 175°c. suitable cooling agents which can be utilized include non-volatile menthol analogs such as menthyl lactate, menthyl ethoxyacetate, menthone glycerinacetal, 3-1menthoxypropane-1,2-diol, ethyl 1-menthyl carbonate, (is, 3s,4r)-p-menth-8-en-3-ol, menthyl pyrrolidone 25 carboxylate, n-substituted-p-menthane-3-carboxamides (as described in u.s. pat. no. 4,136, 163 ) including, for example, n-ethyl-pmenthane-3-carboxamide, acyclic carboxamides suitable skin-soothing agents which can be utilized in the cyclodextrin inclusion complex include menthol, camphor, eugenol, eucalyptol, safrol, methyl salicylate, and the aforedescribed menthol analogs. any suitable cyclodextrin may be utilized to form the inclusion complex including alphacyclodextrin, beta-cyclodextrin, gamma-cyclodextrin and modified cyclodextrins such as hydroxypropyl-beta- cyclodextrin, methyl-beta-cyclodextrin., and acetyl-betacyclodextrin. the preferred cyclodextrins are betacyclodextrin and gamma-cyclodextrin. when the matrix material comprises a cyclodextrin inclusion complex, the matrix material may also advantageously comprise up to 65 about 10%, preferably about 2 to 7%, by weight of a displacing agent which displaces the skin-soothing agent from the inclusion complex upon contact with water, thereby enhancing the release of the skin-soothing agent from the skin engaging member material during use. the displacing agent is a material which is capable of forming a more stable complex with the cyclodextrin than the complex formed with the skinsoothing agent and, thus, displaces the skin-soothing agent from the complex when the skin engaging member is contacted with water. suitable displacing agents include surfactants, benzoic acids, and certain amines (e.g. urea). further details with respect to the aforementioned cooling agents, cyclodextrin inclusion complexes and displacing agents may be found in u.s. patent nos. 5,653,971 , and, 5,713,131 . those of skill in the art will understand that one or more of the cooling agents listed in this section as optional cooling agents can also be used as the cooling agent encapsulated within either the nano-particle and/or the micro-particle. the matrix material can further comprise one or more other skin care actives in a neat form. non-limiting examples of suitable other skin care actives include those disclosed herein in the last paragraph of section ic. iii. hair removal head the hair removal device generally comprises a hair removal head and a handle or grip portion, upon which the hair removal head is mounted. the hair removal device can be a manual or power driven and can be used for wet and/or dry application. the hair removal head can include a wide scraping surface such as where the hair removal device is used with a depilatory, or a razor cartridge where the device is a shaving razor. the hair removal head may be replaceable or pivotally connected to a cartridge connecting structure. in an aspect, the cartridge connecting structure includes at least one arm to releasably engage the hair removal head. the hair removal head comprises one or more elongated edges positioned between said first and said second end, said one or more elongated edges comprising a tip extending towards said first end. where the hair removal head is a razor cartridge the one or more elongated edges can include blades. for example, u.s. patent 7,168,173 generally describes a fusion® razor that is commercially available from the gillette company which includes a razor cartridge with multiple blades. additionally, the razor cartridge may include a guard as well as a shaving aid. a variety of razor cartridges can be used in accordance with the present invention. nonlimiting examples of suitable razor cartridges, with and without fins, guards, and/or shave aids, include those marketed by the gillette company under the fusion®, venus® product lines as well as those disclosed in u.s. patent nos. 7,197,825 , 6,449,849 , 6,442,839 , 6,301,785 , 6,298,558 ; 6,161,288 , and u.s. patent publ. 2008/060201 . those of skill in the art will understand that the present skin engaging member can be used with any currently marketed system or disposable razor, including those having 2, 3, 4 or 5 blades. another example of a hair removal device is a scraping edge for use with a hair removal composition, i.e. a depilatory. in one embodiment, said at least one skin engaging member is located on the portion of the cartridge that contacts skin during the hair removal process, forward and/or aft of the blades. a feature "forward" of the one or more elongated edges, for example, is positioned so that the surface to be treated with by the hair removal device encounters the feature before it encounters the elongated edges. a feature "aft" of the elongated edge is positioned so that the surface to be treated by the hair removal device encounters the feature after it encounters the elongated edges. where more than one skin engaging members is provided on the hair removal device, they can be the same or different. by different, meaning having a different carrier, a different skin engaging member, or wherein both sheath and composition are different. in one embodiment, the cartridge comprises a guard comprising at least one elongated flexible protrusions to engage a user's skin. in one embodiment, at least one flexible protrusions comprises flexible fins generally parallel to said one or more elongated edges. in anther embodiment, said at least one flexible protrusions comprises flexible fins comprises at least one portion which is not generally parallel to said one or more elongated edges. non-limiting examples of suitable guards include those used in current razor blades and include those disclosed in u.s. patent nos. 7,607,230 and 7,024,776 ; (disclosing elastomeric / flexible fin bars); 2008/0034590 (disclosing curved guard fins); 2009/0049695a1 (disclosing an elastomeric guard having guard forming at least one passage extending between an upper surface and a lower surface). in one embodiment, said skin engaging member is positioned on the cartridge aft of the guard and forward of said elongated edge. in another embodiment, the skin engaging member is positioned on the cartridge forward of the guard. this embodiment can be particularly useful to deliver the skin engaging member prior to contact with the guard. iv. method of making skin engaging member of the present invention may be fabricated by any appropriate method, including injection molding, pressing, impregnation, spray-coating, calendaring and extrusion, the latter being preferred. all of the components of the strip are blended prior to molding or extrusion. for best results, it is preferred that the components are dry. the blended components may be extruded through a haake system 90, ¾ inch diameter extruder with a barrel pressure of about 6.894 x 10 6 to 13.789 x 10 6 pa (1000-2000 psi), a rotor speed of about 10 to 50 rpm, and a temperature of about 150°-185°c and a die temperature of about 170°-185°c. alternatively, a 1¼ inch single screw extruder may be employed with a processing temperature of 175°-200°c, preferably 185°-190°c, a screw speed of 20 to 50 rpm, preferably 25 to 35 rpm, and an extrusion pressure of 12.410 x 10 6 to 34.479 x 10 6 pa (1800 to 5000 psi), preferably 13.789 x 10 6 to 24.132 x 10 6 pa (2000 to 3500 psi). the extruded strip is air cooled to about 25°c. to injection mold the strips it is preferred to first extrude the powder blend into pellets. this can be done on a 1¼ or 1½ inch single screw extruder at a temperature of 120°-180°c, preferably 140°-150°c, with a screw speed of 20 to 100 rpm, preferably 45 to 70 rpm. the pellets are then molded in either a single material molding or multi-material molding machine, which may be single cavity or multi-cavity, optionally equipped with a hot-runner system. the process temperature can be from 165° to 250°c, preferably from 180° to 225°c. the injection pressure should be sufficient to fill the part completely without flashing. depending on the cavity size, configuration and quantity, the injection pressure can range from 20.068 x 10 5 to 17.237 x 10 6 pa (300 to 2500 psi). the cycle time is dependent on the same parameters and can range from 3 to 30 seconds, with the optimum generally being about 6 to 15 seconds. v. details on figures referring to figs. 1 and 2 , the razor cartridge 14 includes housing 16, which carries three blades 18, a finned elastomeric guard 20, and a skin engaging member 22 located on a skin-engaging portion (in this case the cap) of the cartridge. skin engaging member 22 is shown having two layers, the first layer can be the matrix and encapsulated active of the present invention, and the second layer can be a conventional shave aid, or vice versa. the skin engaging member is preferably locked in (via adhesive, a fitment, or melt bonding) an opening in the rear of the uniform, slightly curved to flat upper surface. this type of skin engaging member may also be fabricated in a wedge-shaped cross-section (as shown in fig 4 ,. element 42) or any other desired shape. skin engaging member may also be constructed in two or more layers, such as a sandwich or a sheath/core construction such as shown in element 52 in fig.4 . 5 fig. 5 is a thermogravimetric analysis (tga) of three samples under applied heat at a rate of 10°c/min to 600°c in a nitrogen atmosphere. sample 1 is an encapsulated active in accordance with the present invention encapsulating l-menthol at a level of 29 % by weight of the encapsulated active. the encapsulated active is sodium starch octenylsuccinate encapsulated l-menthol, available from salvona. sample 2 is a dl-menthol contained in a polyurethane capsulate at a level of 30.2 % by total weight. this sample is available from appleton. the control is pure l-menthol available from alfa aesar. without intending to be bound by theory, it is believed that the high retention rate of menthol in sample a is achieved due in part to the specific micro / nano encapsulation. conventional shave aids are extruded at a temperature range of extrusion process (from about 150 to about180°c). sample a demonstrates a higher rate of retained material compared to samples b and the control. this thermal analysis shows that sample a can be used in a skin engaging member of the present invention such as a conventional extruded or molded shaving aid. vi. examples table 1 provides several exemplary skin engaging members in the form of extruded shaving aids in accordance with the present invention. each of samples a - g comprises: from 0.2 to 2 wt % of a nanocapsule wall material comprising wax and/or shea butter; 15 to 30 wt% of a microcapsule wall material comprises starch; 15 to 30 wt% of a shave aid matrix comprising polystyrene (ps), polycaprolactone (pcl), polyvinyl acetate (pva) or/and ethylene vinyl acetate (elvax); from 30 to 60 wt % of the shaving aids comprising a polyethylene oxide (peo) of varying mol.wt. and optionally other shaving aid ingredients such as those disclosed above, the remainder comprising the first active and second active as shown below. the first active and the second actives may be mixed together and present in the nanocapsule, the microcapsule, or both. the first and second actives can also be separated such that one is in the nanocapsule, and the other in the microcapsule. the l-menthol in sample a can be in solid particle form. the l-menthol in sample b is in dissolved in a diluent such as mineral oil and is in liquid form at room temperature. without intending to be bound by theory, it is believed that the liquid form of cooling agent may be more effective than the solid particle forms when triggered by water or shear and released onto human face during wet shave as compared with solid form. in sample c weight ratio of l-menthol:frescolat ml is 1:1, the dual coolants could also form a liquid form which provides long lasting cooling sensation. table-tabl0001 table 1. sample first active second active a 5 - 15 wt% l-menthol* na b 5 - 15 wt% l-menthol and mineral oil mixture na c 5 - 10 wt% l-menthol 0 - 5 wt% frescolate ml d 5 - 10 wt% l-menthol 0 - 5 wt% frescolate mga e 5 - 10 wt% l-menthol 0-5wt% coolact 10 f 5 - 10 wt% l-menthol 0-5wt% aloe vera g 5 - 10 wt% l-menthol 0-5wt% perfume * l-menthol used in these examples comprise 15-45wt% cooling raw material table-tabl0002 table 2. additional exemplary skin engaging elements in the form of extruded shaving aids containing encapsulated l-menthol as cooling agent are described in samples h to n. all ingredients are provided in wt % of extruded shaving aid. parameters, such as process temperature, and active retention levels are recorded. the content of l-menthol in the skin engaging element was analyzed via the gas chromatographic method (agilent 6890n gc) using an internal standard after l-menthol was extracted completely in methanol. h i j k l m ingredients salvona multisal menthol 160 a 33.33 45.79 32.26 16.67 32.26 32.26 ps b 13.30 16.56 19.95 16.63 - - peo c 49.97 36.87 42.84 62.21 42.74 44.74 pcl d 3.30 - 4.95 4.17 25.00 23.00 adjunct ingredients 0.10 0.78 0.00 0.32 0.00 0.00 parameters extrusion temp (°c) 160 160 160 160 120 140 wt% l-menthol before extrusion 9.50 13.30 9.36 5.00 9.35 9.35 wt% l-menthol after extrusion 7.6 10.6 7.6 4.0 7.5 7.3 % l-menthol retained e 80.0 79.7 81.2 80.0 80.2 78.1 a) from salvona, 29-30% load of l-menthol b) polystyrene 731g hips (nova chemicals) c) polyox coag, n750 and carbowax 4600g (dow chemical) d) polycaprolactone capa 6505 (solvay) e) value is determined by (l-menthol after extrusion) x 100/(l-menthol before extrusion). when samples h - m were created and tested for % l-menthol retention, each sample gave a retention of greater than 70%. in one embodiment, the skin engaging member of the present invention provides an active in the encapsulated active retention rate of at least about 70%, or at least about 75%, or at least about 80%. without intending to be bound by theory, it is believed that having a retention rate as described in the previous sentence provides a high enough amount of retained menthol, following the making process, to allow for a user to still feel the benefit of the active. comparison samples n and o are made similar to sample h but with the encapsulated actives of the present invention replaced with other actives. sample n: encapsulated salvona multisal menthol 160 is replaced by pur encapsulated dl-menthol (30.2wt% load) which corresponds to sample 2 in fig 5 , , the menthol retention has been reduced to 66%. it is believed that a retention rate in this range is insufficiently high to provide the cooling benefit desired. sample o: salvona multisal menthol 160 is replaced by an acrylate encapsulated l-menthol. the l-menthol retention of sample o is about 80%. the capsule of the present invention is believed to perform better than the acrylate capsule because acrylate is a non-water soluble material and may act as a waterproofing of the capsule such that the menthol, though retained at a relatively high level is not easily released during the shaving process. the capsules of the present invention, however, are believed to provide more robust release of the actives because the materials used to form the capsules can be disrupted by water and/or shear or pressure. all parts, ratios, and percentages herein, in the specification, examples, and claims, are by weight and all numerical limits are used with the normal degree of accuracy afforded by the art, unless otherwise specified. the dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. for example, a dimension disclosed as "40 mm" is intended to mean "about 40 mm". except as otherwise noted, the articles "a," "an," and "the" mean "one or more." it is intended to cover in the appended claims all changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
|
057-623-278-628-687
|
DK
|
[
"CN",
"WO",
"US",
"EP"
] |
F03D7/02,F03D7/04,G01C17/34,G01C17/38
| 2019-06-21T00:00:00 |
2019
|
[
"F03",
"G01"
] |
turbine alignment by using light polarization compass
|
a method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine is provided. the method includes determining a solar polarization value using a polarized light compass of the wind turbine, and determining a yaw angle of the wind turbine associated with the solar polarization value. determining a sun direction vector based on the sun polarization value and the associated yaw angle; and estimating an orientation of the wind turbine relative to a fixed direction using the sun direction vector.
|
claims 1) a method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine (10), the method comprising: determining (12), using a polarising light compass (7) of the wind turbine (1), a sun polarisation value; determining (14) a yaw angle of the wind turbine associated with the sun polarisation value; determining (16) a sun direction vector based on the sun polarisation value and the associated yaw angle; and estimating (18) an orientation of the wind turbine relative to a fixed direction using the sun direction vector. 2) the method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a plurality of sun direction vectors based on determining a plurality of sun polarisation values; and wherein the orientation is estimated using the plurality of sun direction vectors. 3) the method of any preceding claim, wherein determining the sun direction vector comprises comparing the sun polarisation value to a solar polarisation model. 4) the method of any preceding, wherein estimating an orientation of the wind turbine comprises comparing the sun direction vector to an expected trajectory of the sun. 5) the method of any preceding claim, wherein estimating the orientation of the wind turbine comprises comparing the sun direction vector to previous sun direction vectors. 6) the method of any preceding claim, wherein estimating the orientation of the wind turbine is further based on a measurement time associated with the sun polarisation value and/or a location of the wind turbine. 7) the method of any preceding claim, further comprising: receiving (12b) a light intensity measurement associated with the sun polarisation value; comparing (13b) the light intensity measurement to a predetermined threshold; and if the light intensity measurement is less than the predetermined threshold, disregarding the sun polarisation value. 8) the method of any preceding claim, wherein the estimated orientation of the wind turbine is further based on previously estimated orientations of the wind turbine. 9) the method of any preceding claim, further comprising controlling the wind turbine based on the estimated orientation. 10) the method of claim 9, wherein controlling the wind turbine based on the estimated orientation comprises: aligning the wind turbine with a wind direction; and/or aligning the wind turbine with other wind turbines of a wind park. 1 1) the method of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein controlling the wind turbine based on the estimated orientation comprises: predicting (19) an area of shadow cast by the wind turbine based on wind turbine location, and the location of the sun; and suspending operation of the wind turbine if the predicted wind turbine shadow falls within a restricted area. 12) the method of any preceding claim, wherein determining the sun polarisation value comprises: detecting sunlight through a first polarisation filter and a second polarisation filter, wherein the first polarisation filter and the second polarisation filter have a fixed angle between them; and comparing the sunlight detected through the first polarisation filter to the sunlight detected through the second polarisation filter. 13) a method of controlling a wind park (40), the wind park comprising a plurality of wind turbines (1), each wind turbine having a polarising light compass (7), the method comprising: estimating (18) an orientation relative to a fixed direction of each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines using the method of any preceding claim; and aligning (42) the plurality of wind turbines based on the estimated relative orientation of each wind turbine. 14) a method of calibrating a yaw angle of a wind turbine (10), the method comprising: determining (12), using a polarising light compass (7) of the wind turbine (1), a sun polarisation value at a measurement time; determining an expected polarisation value based on an expected position of the sun at the measurement time; comparing the measured sun polarisation value to the expected polarisation value; determining a yaw angle of the wind turbine based on the comparison of the measured sun polarisation vector and expected polarisation value; and comparing the determined yaw angle to a yaw angle generated by a yaw encoder of the wind turbine. 15) a wind turbine control system (30), the system comprising: a yaw sensor encoder (32) configured to output a current yaw angle; a polarising light compass (7) configured to generate a sun polarisation value; and a wind turbine controller (36) communicatively connected to the polarising light compass and the yaw sensor encoder, wherein the wind turbine controller is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 14. 16) a wind turbine (1) comprising the wind turbine control system (30) of claim 15, the wind turbine comprising: a nacelle (3), wherein the polarising light compass (7) is fixed to the external surface of the nacelle. 17) a computer program product comprising software code adapted to control a wind turbine when executed on a data processing system, the computer program product being adapted to perform the method of claims 1 to 14.
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turbine alignment by use of light polarising compass field of the invention the present invention relates to wind turbine control, and in particular it relates to estimating an orientation of a wind turbine. background of the invention wind turbines typically seek alignment with average wind direction over a certain period of time. to align a wind turbine to a given direction, it is necessary to know the orientation of the wind turbine. however, installation and inherent instrument errors lead to a scatter of turbine alignments within a wind park, which may negatively affect the park's energy output. moreover, a new wind park control technique may benefit from knowing each wind turbine's orientation with respect to other turbines, with some precision and in a robust yet cheap way. conventional methods for turbine alignment vary from rough alignment using a hand compass to gps triangulation/direction inference. these methods require manually operating the wind turbine to input correction factors to the control system; this is prone to human errors and results in extended downtime for the wind turbines. in addition, measurements of wind turbine alignments are generally subject to drift as the wind turbine operates unless the same correction procedure is applied periodically. summary of the invention in a first aspect, there is provided a method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine, the method comprising: determining, using a polarising light compass of the wind turbine, a sun polarisation value; determining a yaw angle of the wind turbine associated with the sun polarisation value; determining a sun direction vector based on the sun polarisation value and the associated yaw angle; and estimating an orientation of the wind turbine relative to a fixed direction using the sun direction vector. generating a plurality of sun direction vectors can be based on determining a plurality of sun polarisation values; and wherein the orientation can be estimated using the plurality of sun direction vectors. determining the sun direction vector can comprise comparing the sun polarisation value to a solar polarisation model. estimating an orientation of the wind turbine can comprise comparing the sun direction vector to an expected trajectory of the sun. estimating the orientation of the wind turbine can comprise comparing the sun direction vector to previous sun direction vectors. estimating the orientation of the wind turbine can be further based on a measurement time associated with the sun polarisation value and/or a location of the wind turbine. the method of the first aspect can further comprise: receiving a light intensity measurement associated with the sun polarisation value; comparing the light intensity measurement to a predetermined threshold; and, if the light intensity measurement is less than the predetermined threshold, disregarding the sun polarisation value. the estimated orientation of the wind turbine can be further based on previously estimated orientations of the wind turbine. the method of the first aspect can further comprise controlling the wind turbine based on the estimated orientation, wherein controlling the wind turbine based on the estimated orientation can comprise: aligning the wind turbine with a wind direction; and/or aligning the wind turbine with other wind turbines of a wind park, wherein controlling the wind turbine based on the estimated orientation can comprise: predicting an area of shadow cast by the wind turbine based on wind turbine location, and the location of the sun; and suspending operation of the wind turbine if the predicted wind turbine shadow falls within a restricted area. determining the sun polarisation value can comprise: detecting sunlight through a first polarisation filter and a second polarisation filter, wherein the first polarisation filter and the second polarisation filter can have a fixed angle between them; and can compare the sunlight detected through the first polarisation filter to the sunlight detected through the second polarisation filter. in a second aspect, there is provided a method of controlling a wind park, the wind park comprising a plurality of wind turbines, each wind turbine having a polarising light compass, the method comprising: estimating an orientation relative to a fixed direction of each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines using the method of any preceding claim; and aligning the plurality of wind turbines based on the estimated relative orientation of each wind turbine. the second aspect may comprise all alternatives of the first aspect. in a third aspect, there is provided a method of calibrating a yaw angle of a wind turbine, the method comprising: determining, using a polarising light compass of the wind turbine, a sun polarisation value at a measurement time; determining an expected polarisation value based on an expected position of the sun at the measurement time; comparing the measured sun polarisation value to the expected polarisation value; determining a yaw angle of the wind turbine based on the comparison of the measured sun polarisation vector and expected polarisation value; and comparing the determined yaw angle to a yaw angle generated by a yaw encoder of the wind turbine. the third aspect can comprise all alternatives of the first and second aspects. in a fourth aspect, there is provided a wind turbine control system, the system comprising: a yaw sensor encoder configured to output a current yaw angle; a polarising light compass configured to generate a sun polarisation value; and a wind turbine controller communicatively connected to the polarising light compass and the yaw sensor encoder, wherein the wind turbine controller is configured to perform the method of any previous aspect and its alternatives. in a fifth aspect, there is provided a wind turbine comprising the wind turbine control system of the fourth aspect, the wind turbine comprising: a nacelle, wherein the polarising light compass is fixed to the external surface of the nacelle. in a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising software code adapted to control a wind turbine when executed on a data processing system, the computer program product being adapted to perform the method of any of aspects one to three and their alternatives. the computer program product may be provided on a computer readable storage medium or may be downloadable from a communication network. the computer program product may comprise instructions which, when executed cause a data processing system, e.g. in the form of a controller, to perform the method of any embodiment of the first, second, or third aspects. in general, a controller may be a unit or collection of functional units which comprises one or more processors, input/output interface(s) and a memory capable of storing instructions can be executed by a processor. in general the various aspects of the invention may be combined and coupled in any way possible within the scope of the invention. these and other aspects, features and/or advantages of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. brief description of the drawings embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: figure 1 illustrates, in a schematic perspective view, an example of a wind turbine. figure 2 figure 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a control system together with elements of a wind turbine. figure 3 illustrates a polarising light compass. figure 4 illustrates the output from the log ratio amplifier as it is rotated 360 degrees around the zenith. figure 5 illustrates a 3d representation of the pattern of polarisation in the sky as experienced by an observer in point o. figure 6 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine 10. figure 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an alternative method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine. figure 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of controlling a wind park. figure 9 illustrates a system diagram of a wind turbine control system on or in the vicinity of the wind turbine. figure 10 illustrates a flow diagram of the method of calibrating a yaw angle of the wind turbine. detailed description of embodiment(s) figure 1 illustrates, in a schematic perspective view, an example of a wind turbine 1. the wind turbine 1 includes a tower 2, a nacelle 3 at the apex of the tower, and a rotor 4 operatively coupled to a generator housed inside the nacelle 3. in addition to the generator, the nacelle houses miscellaneous components required for converting wind energy into electrical energy and various components needed to operate, control, and optimize the performance of the wind turbine 1. positioned on top of the nacelle is a polarising light compass 7. the rotor 4 of the wind turbine includes a central hub 5 and a plurality of blades 6 that project outwardly from the central hub 5. in the illustrated embodiment, the rotor 4 includes three blades 6, but the number may vary. moreover, the wind turbine comprises a control system. the control system may be placed inside the nacelle or distributed at a number of locations inside the turbine and communicatively connected. the wind turbine 1 may be included among a collection of other wind turbines belonging to a wind power plant, also referred to as a wind farm or wind park, that serve as a power generating plant connected by transmission lines with a power grid. the power grid generally consists of a network of power stations, transmission circuits, and substations coupled by a network of transmission lines that transmit the power to loads in the form of end users and other customers of electrical utilities. figure 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a control system 100 together with elements of a wind turbine. the wind turbine comprises rotor blades 6 which are mechanically connected to an electrical generator 120 via gearbox 130. in direct drive systems, and other systems, the gearbox 130 may not be present. the electrical power generated by the generator 120 is injected into a power grid 140 via an electrical converter 150. the electrical generator 120 and the converter 150 may be based on a full scale converter (fsc) architecture or a doubly fed induction generator (dfig) architecture, but other types may be used. the control system 100 comprises a number of elements, including at least one main controller 200 with a processor and a memory, so that the processor is capable of executing computing tasks based on instructions stored in the memory. in general, the wind turbine controller ensures that in operation the wind turbine generates a requested power output level. this is obtained by adjusting the pitch angle of the blades 6 and/or the power extraction of the converter 150. to this end, the control system comprises a pitch system including a pitch controller 170 using a pitch reference 180, and a power system including a power controller 190 using a power reference 160. the wind turbine rotor comprises rotor blades that can be pitched by a pitch mechanism. the rotor comprises an individual pitch system which is capable of individual pitching of the rotor blades, and may comprise a common pitch system which adjusts all pitch angles on all rotor blades at the same time. the control system, or elements of the control system, may be placed in a power plant controller (not shown) so that the turbine may be operated based on externally provided instructions. the control system 100 further comprises a yaw system 110 including a yaw controller and a yaw sensor encoder. the yaw encoder measures the yaw angle of the nacelle 5 of the wind turbine, which can be used by the yaw controller to actuate a motor to turn the nacelle 5 of the wind turbine to face the wind turbine in a particular direction. the control system 100 further comprises a polarising light compass 7. the polarising light compass 7 measures the polarisation of the light in the sky. in particular, the polarising light compass 7 may indicate the direction of the sun which can be used to calculate true north. operation of the light polarising compass 7 is described in more detail below. when the turbine 1 is initially constructed, the yaw of each blade 6 may be manually aligned. this may result in a difference between the yaw angle that control system 20 reports for the nacelle 3, and the actual direction of the nacelle 5. the control system 20 uses yaw to optimise performance of the turbine 1 for current wind conditions. any mismatch between actual yaw and the reported yaw of the nacelle 3 may result in the turbine 1 performing sub-optimally, reducing the amount of energy than can be extracted from the wind. figure 3 illustrates a polarising light compass 7. unlike a regular compass, the polarising light compass 7 doesn't necessarily point north. the output from the polarising light compass 7 is a sun polarisation value which indicates the sun direction with respect to the orientation of the polarising light compass 7. polarisation in the sky occurs because the sunlight is scattered by atmospheric molecules. the degree of polarisation is greatest for light scattered at an angle of 90 degrees to the sunlight rays. unlike conventional magnetic compasses, polarising light compass 7 is not dependent on the earth's magnetic field, which may be disturbed by local sources (e.g. the turbine itself). a polarising light compass 7 is also relatively inexpensive in comparison to other techniques such as gps triangulation/direction inference. moreover, a polarising light compass 7 is not adversely affected by shadow flicker (caused by the moving blades 6) or cloud cover. the polarising light compass 7 comprises a first polarisation filter 24a and a second polarisation filter 24b. the first polarisation filter 24a and the second polarisation filter 24b have a known fixed angle between them; that is to say when sunlight is incident on the two polarisation filters 24a, 24b from the same direction, the intensity of light passing through may be different for each polarisation filter 24a, 24b. additional filters or detectors may be used to get a more accurate indication of sun direction, and/or further polarising light compasses may be used at differing angles to also improve the accuracy of the system. the intensity of light which passes through the first polarisation filter 24a can be detected by photodiode 25a. the intensity of light passing through the second polarisation filter 24b can be detected by photodiode 25b. the output signal from each photodiode 25a, 25b is a magnitude which depends on the orientation of the sun to the light polarising compass 7, and the intensity of the incident light. in the illustrated embodiment, the output from each photodiode 25a, 25b is received by a log ratio amplifier 26. the output from the log ratio amplifier 26 may be a signal proportional to the log (logarithmic function) of the input from the second photodiode 25b minus the log of the first photodiode 25a. as an example of how the polarisation of the sun varies across the sky, figure 4 illustrates the output from the log ratio amplifier 26 as it is rotated 360 degrees around the zenith (i.e. if the polarising light compass rotates, whilst the sun stays in a fixed position). each sample from the polarising light compass is shown as an x on figure 4, assuming that the sun is stationary in the sky. figure 4 assumes that the polarizer's 24a, 24b surface is pointing towards the horizon and are rotated around the zenith, and sample is taken every 22.5 degrees of rotation. the period of this variation is 180 degrees, since sunlight is polarised in the same direction whether the compass 7 is aimed directly in the direction of the sun or directly away from the sun's direction. in an embodiment, the polarising light compass 7 is fixed on a nacelle 3, and thus will not typically be operated in such a way to produce the graph of figure 4. the output from the polarising light compass 7 is not dependent on the intensity of the sun, only on the sun's orientation with respect to the polarising light compass 7. this is because the first and second polarisation filters 24a, 24b are incident with the same (or substantially the same, or known difference in) intensity of sunlight. thus, the subtraction performed by the log ratio amplifier 26 cancels out the part of the signal responsible for sunlight intensity. this has the advantage of being used in low light, or cloudy conditions, or when the sun is not visible. the sun, however, moves through the sky throughout the day and throughout the year, rather than being stationary as in figure 4. thus, the azimuth angle of the sun with respect to a fixed polarisation light compass 7 will constantly vary. moreover, the altitude angle of the sun also affects the relative strength of the polarisation (which is weakest when the sun's light is perpendicular the surface of the polarising filters, and strongest when the sun's light is parallel the surface of the polarising filters). thus, the altitude angle of the sun with respect to a fixed polarisation light compass 7 will constantly vary also. figure 5 illustrates a 3d representation of the pattern of polarisation in the sky as experienced by an observer at point o. the polarisation of the sky is dependent on the celestial position of the sun. in particular, it shows how the strength of the polarisation varies in the azimuth angle and the altitude angle of the sun in the sky. orientation and width of the bars depict the direction and degree of polarisation respectively. a prominent property of the pattern is a symmetric line running through the solar s and zenith z called solar meridian on the side of the sun and anti-solar meridian on the opposite side. this results in the 180 period of graph shown in figure 4. a resource for further reading on polarising light compasses is 'a mobile robot employing insect strategies for navigation' by lambrinos et al. (doi: 10.1.1.107.916) although the method of use does vary in comparison to the present application. in summary, the output of the polarising light compass 7 varies with the orientation of the polarising light compass 7, and with the position of the sun in the sky throughout the day and year. by placing a polarising light compass 7 on the nacelle of a wind turbine 1 , a further variable, the yaw angle of the wind turbine needs to be accounted for in order to get an accurate estimation of the orientation of the wind turbine 1. the present invention provides a method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine which incorporates the yaw angle, and so overcomes this complication. the present invention has the benefit of being a cheap and robust way to estimate orientation of the wind turbine accurately, allowing for more accurate control of the wind turbine. this in turn allows for efficiency gains to be made if used in the context of a wind park or a longer operating time if 'shadow restriction zones' are present within the vicinity of a single wind turbine. an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in figure 6. figure 6 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine 10. the method starts at step 12, at which a sun polarisation value is determined using a light polarising compass of the wind turbine. as discussed above, the sun polarisation value may be the angle of polarisation of sunlight received at the light polarising compass 7 of the wind turbine 1. this value will depend on the position of the sun (and hence time of day, time of year, and geographical location of the wind turbine); on the relative orientation of the wind turbine with respect to a fixed position (e.g. true north), and on the current yaw position of the wind turbine (e.g. with respect to a defined zero-yaw position). in some embodiments, the sun polarisation value may be the output from log ratio amplifier 26 discussed above, which may be a normalised response value such as a value between one and minus one, representing the polarisation angle. the method then proceeds to step 14, at which the yaw angle of the wind turbine associated with the sun polarisation value is determined. the yaw angle is the current yaw position of the wind turbine (e.g. with respect to a defined zero-yaw position), measured at the same or a similar time to the sun polarisation value. the method then proceeds to step 16, at which a sun direction vector based on the sun polarisation value and the associated yaw angle is determined. the sun direction vector is a vector which indicates the possible direction of the sun in relation to the polarisation light compass 7. in order to do this the yaw angle and sun polarisation value must be known as described above - as the direction the light polarising compass faces changes depending on the yaw angle of the turbine. in some embodiments, step 16 of determining the sun direction vector may comprise comparing the sun polarisation value to a solar polarisation model, such as the raleigh sky model. the solar polarisation model may be used to predict the sun polarisation value for particular solar positions/time of day, such as raleigh sky model. determining the sun direction vector may be achieved by applying an algorithm relating yaw angle, sun polarisation value, and optionally time of day to determine direction of sun relative to the turbine (i.e. a fixed angle of the turbine, such as zero yaw angle). for example, algorithm may determine a direction of the sun relative to the polarisation light compass from the polarisation value, and then correct the direction by accounting for yaw angle. alternatively, determining the sun direction vector may comprise comparing the sun polarisation value to values in a look-up table or any known method known in the art. having determined the sun direction vector, the method then proceeds to step 18, at which an orientation of the wind turbine relative to a fixed direction is estimated using the sun direction vector. for example, the sun direction vector can be compared to a known position of the sun to determine the orientation of the turbine. the orientation of the turbine may be defined for example based on the zero-yaw position of the nacelle, or based on any other fixed aspect of the turbine. the fixed direction may be a cardinal or inter cardinal direction such as true north or true south. alternatively, the fixed direction may be in relation to a fixed direction signifier. the fixed direction can act as a standardised direction in which the yaw orwind turbine functionality can be controlled relative to. this allows for more accurate wind turbine control. the determined orientation may then be used to control the turbine. for example, knowing an accurate orientation of the turbine may allow more accurate alignment with a prevailing wind. in some embodiments the step of estimating 18 the orientation of the wind turbine may comprise comparing the sun direction vector to an estimated or expected trajectory of the sun. this may include curve fitting multiple values to an expected trajectory. alternatively, estimating the orientation of the wind turbine may comprise comparing the sun direction vector to values in a look-up table or any known method known in the art. the step of estimating 18 the orientation of the wind turbine may be performed by an estimation algorithm. further still, the estimation 18 of the orientation of a wind turbine may be further based on a measurement time associated with the sun polarisation value and/or a location of the wind turbine. the method 10 may further comprise generating a plurality of sun direction vectors based on the determination of a plurality of sun polarisation values. in an embodiment, one sun polarisation value corresponds to one sun direction vector. in an alternative embodiment, a plurality of sun polarisation values are generated to determine each sun direction vectors. the plurality of sun polarisation values may be measured in a substantially small space of time such that the sun and yaw of the wind turbine remain substantially constant (i.e. many sun polarisation values may be taken within: 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 30 seconds, 10 seconds, and/or 1 second). the plurality of sun polarisation values may be averaged or processed to generate the sun direction vector, this may reduce the measurement noise and make the sun direction vector more accurate. the orientation of the wind turbine may be estimated using the plurality of the sun direction vectors. the step of estimating using a plurality of the sun direction vectors may be performed by an iterative algorithm or process. this allows previous sun direction vectors to aid and/or improve in the estimation of orientation of the wind turbine by comparing the current sun direction vector to previous sun direction vectors. in an embodiment, the previous sun direction vectors may be all, or substantially all, of the previous sun direction vectors measured for that wind turbine. the analysis of all of the previous sun direction vectors may be performed by a big data or machine learning algorithm. such an algorithm may be able to generate a more accurate estimate of the orientation of the wind turbine relative to the fixed direction. in an alternative embodiment, the previous sun direction vectors may be a subset of all of the previous sun direction vectors. the subset of previous sun direction vectors may be: previous sun direction vectors from the corresponding time of day; previous sun direction vectors from the most recent previous few days or weeks; and/or any subset derived from all previous sun direction vectors using a big data or machine learning algorithm. advantageously, this generates a more accurate estimate of the orientation of the wind turbine relative to the fixed direction. figure 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an alternative method 10b of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine. the method 10b incorporates the steps 12, 14, 16, and 18 of the method 10 discussed above, with optional additional steps 12b, 13b, 19, 20a, and 20b. the optional additional steps are independent of one another, so although the illustrated embodiment uses all of the optional additional steps, other embodiments may use only one or any sub-set of the optional additional steps. an advantage of the method of estimating an orientation of a wind turbine 10, 10b is its ability to accurately operate during times that the sun is not visible in the sky (e.g. due to cloud cover, or due to the rotation of blades 6 momentarily blocking out the sun) from the polarising light compass 7 - the compass 7 can still detect polarisation at a different point in the sky, or of the light that does pass through the clouds.. however, a reduced sunlight intensity incident of the polarisation light compass 7 may result in a reduced signal to noise ratio at the output of the polarisation light compass 7. to ensure that an accurate estimation of orientation of the wind turbine is still achieved, method 10b includes step 12b of receiving a light intensity measurement associated with the sun polarisation value determined at step 12. the light intensity measurement may be compared at step 13b to a predetermined intensity threshold and if the light intensity measurement is less than the predetermined threshold then the sun polarisation value may be disregarded. method step 12 may then be repeated, to attempt to measure the polarisation when there is sunlight. for example, method step 12 may be repeated after a predetermined delay, or after receipt of a signal indicating that the light intensity measurement exceeds the threshold. when a polarisation measurement is taken with sufficient light intensity, the method 10b proceeds to steps 14-18, similar to those discussed above. the predetermined intensity threshold may be that of an overcast day such as 2000 lux. alternatively, the predetermined intensity threshold may be: 1500 lux; 1000 lux; 500 lux; 250 lux; 175 lux; 100 lux; or 50 lux. a typical value may for example be 400 lux. alternatively, there may be multiple predetermined intensity thresholds, and below each threshold the sun polarisation value may be weighted less in the estimation of the orientation of the wind turbine relative to the fixed direction. after the wind turbine orientation is estimated at step 18, the wind turbine 1 may be controlled at step 20 based on the estimated orientation. this may comprise: aligning, at step 20a, the wind turbine with a known direction, such as the wind direction; and/or aligning the wind turbine to a known directions such that it is substantially aligned with other wind turbines of a wind park. although wind direction within a wind park is not necessarily consistent throughout the wind park, aligning wind turbines in a wind park to each other allows for wind park efficiency gains to be made. the alignment may be calculated using an algorithm capable of substantially maximising the output of the wind park based on the prevailing wind direction and assuming all wind turbines in a wind park are orientated in the same direction. alternatively or additionally, at step 19, an area of the shadow cast by the wind turbine may be predicted based on the wind turbine location, and the location of the sun. the step 20 of controlling the wind turbine 1 may then comprise the step 20b of suspending operation of the wind turbine if the predicted wind turbine shadow falls within a restricted area (i.e. a 'shadow restriction zone'). this may prevent problematic shadow flicker: the effect produced from the blades 6 momentarily blocking out the sun from the perspective of an observer in the shadow of the wind turbine 1. the accuracy of the estimated orientation afforded by the disclosed method allows for a more accurate prediction of the area of the shadow cast by the wind turbine, which allows for reduced wind turbine downtime and thus an increase in power output. figure 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 40 of controlling a wind park. the wind park may comprise a plurality of wind turbines 1 , each wind turbine 1 having a polarising light compass 7. step 18 shows estimation of an orientation relative to a fixed direction of each wind turbine. the steps which provide the estimation of the orientation relative to a fixed direction are those described above in relation to figures 6 and 7. the method proceeds to step 42, at which the plurality of wind turbines are aligned based on the estimated relative orientation of each wind turbine. the alignment may be calculated using an algorithm capable of substantially maximising the output of the wind park based on the prevailing wind direction and assuming all wind turbines in a wind park are orientated in the same direction. the plurality of wind turbines does not necessarily represent all the wind turbines in the wind park. the plurality of wind turbines may for example comprise substantially half of the wind turbines in a wind park or any number necessary to align the majority of the wind turbines, or enough wind turbines to gain an appreciative efficiency boost in comparison a wind park not implementing the method of the application. the plurality of wind turbines running the method of the application may be on the edges of the wind park, or most likely affected by orientation inaccuracies. figure 9 illustrates a system diagram of a wind turbine control system 30 on or in the vicinity of the wind turbine 1. the wind turbine control system 30 illustrates specific components of the control system 100 of figure 2. the system 30 comprises: a yaw sensor encoder 32 configured to output a current yaw angle; a polarising light compass 7 configured to generate a sun polarisation value; a wind turbine controller communicatively connected to the polarising light compass 7 and the yaw sensor encoder 32. the wind turbine controller is configured to execute the method of the application as described above in relation to figures 6 and 7. the yaw sensor encoder 32 may be any type of encoder such as a mechanical absolute encoder; an optical absolute encoder; a magnetic absolute encoder; motor commutation; capacitive absolute encoder: absolute muti-turn encoder; rotary incremental encoder; a strain gauge; or any other method apparent to the person skilled in the art. the control system 30 may also comprise a measurement unit 34 such as a clock. this may enable the measurements (e.g. sun polarisation value, light intensity, and/or yaw angle) to be associated with one another, and further for selection of appropriate sun orientation with relation to the fixed position from the solar polarisation model, look up table, and/or any known method known in the art. the measurement unit 34 may be used in conjunction with the solar polarisation model in order to give an estimation of the sun direction at the time of measurement, this allows for a more accurate determination of the fixed direction and further still the difference between the angle of the polarising light compass 7 and the fixed direction. previously determined sun direction vectors may be stored on memory 22 (the memory 22 may be volatile or non-volatile) and the memory 22 may on/in the wind turbine, be remote from the wind turbine, and further still remote from the wind turbine geographical area. the memory 22 may store the associated data of the sun direction vectors (e.g. sun polarisation value, yaw angle, light intensity, etc.). the memory 22 may comprise a look-up table architecture or an alternative way of accessing the information on memory 22. figure 10 illustrates a flow diagram of the method of calibrating a yaw angle of the wind turbine 50. at step 52 a sun polarisation value at a measurement time is determined, using a polarising light compass of the wind turbine. at step 54 an expected polarisation value is determined based on an expected position of the sun at the measurement time. at step 56 the measured sun polarisation value is compared to the expected polarisation value. at step 58 a yaw angle of the wind turbine is determined based on the comparison of the measured sun polarisation vector and expected polarisation value. at step 60 the determined yaw angle is compared to a yaw angle generated by a yaw encoder of the wind turbine, in order to calibrate the yaw angle. the present invention can also be implemented as a computer program product comprising software code adapted to control the wind turbine when executed on a data processing system, which is adapted to perform the method of the application as described above in relation to figures 6 and 7. although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. the invention can be implemented by any suitable means; and the scope of the present invention is to be interpreted in the light of the accompanying claim set. any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope. example embodiments of the invention have been described for the purposes of illustration only, and not to limit the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.
|
058-594-975-016-770
|
JP
|
[
"KR",
"CA",
"JP",
"AU",
"CN",
"EP",
"WO"
] |
C07K14/00,C07K1/107,C07K16/00,C07K19/00,A61K39/395,A61K47/64,A61P35/00,A61P43/00
| 2021-01-18T00:00:00 |
2021
|
[
"C07",
"A61"
] |
compound or salt thereof, and antibody obtained by using the same
|
the present invention provides: a compound which makes it possible to modify an antibody with a functional substance in a regioselective manner and also makes it possible to easily adjust the binding ratio between the antibody and the functional substance to a value falling within a desired range, or a salt of the compound; and an antibody produced using the compound or the salt thereof. more specifically, the present invention provides: a compound represented by formula (i): [wherein x represents a leaving group; y represents an affinity peptide that has a binding region in a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains; o represents an oxygen atom; s represents a sulfur atom; w represents an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom; and la represents a first linker, and lb represents a second linker, in which the total of the number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and the number of atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker is 5 to 7] or a salt thereof; and an antibody produced using the compound or the salt thereof.
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a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (i): wherein x indicates a leaving group, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. the compound or salt thereof of claim 1, wherein the leaving group is selected from the following: (a) r-s wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and s indicates a sulfur atom; (b) r-o wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and o indicates an oxygen atom; (c) r a -(r b -)n wherein r a and r b each independently indicate a hydrogen atoms, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and n indicates a nitrogen atom; or (d) a halogen atom. the compound or salt thereof of claim 1 or 2, wherein the immunoglobulin unit is a human immunoglobulin unit. the compound or salt thereof of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the immunoglobulin unit is human igg. the compound or salt thereof of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the affinity peptide contains a lysine residue and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group (c=o) adjacent to y via an amino group in a side chain of the lysine residue. the compound or salt thereof of claims 1 to 5, wherein the affinity peptide is the following: (a) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of cqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 1); (b) an affinity peptide comprising an amino acid sequence comprising a mutation of 1 to 5 amino acid residues which is selected from the group consisting of substitution, insertion, deletion and addition of amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of cqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 1), wherein the lysine residue at the position 27 and the two cysteine residues at the positions 1 and 30 are maintained. the compound or salt thereof of claim 6, wherein the affinity peptide (b) is selected from the group consisting of the following: (a) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 2); (b) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikedc (seq id no: 3); (c) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 4); (d) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of nmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 5); (e) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of mqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 6); and (f) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of qcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 7). the compound or salt thereof of claim 6 or 7, wherein the n-terminal and c-terminal amino acid residues in the affinity peptide may be protected, and the two thiol groups in side chains of the two cysteine residues (c) in the affinity peptide may be linked by a disulfide bond, or via a linker. the compound or salt thereof of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (i) is represented by the following formula (i'): wherein x, y, o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (i), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the compound or salt thereof of claim 9, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (i') is represented by the following formula (i''): wherein x, y, o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (i), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (i'). a reagent for derivatizing an antibody, which comprises a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (i): wherein x indicates a leaving group, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. the reagent of claim 11, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (i) is represented by the following formula (i'): wherein x, y, o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (i), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the reagent according to claim 12, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (i') is represented by the following formula (i"): wherein x, y, o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (i), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (i'). an antibody intermediate or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by the following formula (ii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, and the average ratio r of the amide bond per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5. the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of claim 14, wherein the antibody intermediate is a human antibody intermediate. the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of claim 14 or 15, wherein the antibody intermediate is a human igg intermediate. the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the structural unit represented by the above formula (ii) is represented by the following formula (ii'): wherein ig, y, o, s, w and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of claim 17, wherein the structural unit represented by the above formula (ii') is represented by the following formula (ii") : wherein ig, y, o, s, w and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (ii'). a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, o indicates an oxygen atom, sh indicates a thiol group, la indicates a first linker, the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker is 2 to 4, and the average ratio r of the amide bonds per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5. the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of claim 19, wherein a specific amino acid residue other than the lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains is further modified. the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of claim 20, wherein the specific amino acid residue is a lysine residue present at the position 246/248 in the two heavy chains. the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the structural unit represented by the above formula (iii) is the following formula (iii'): wherein ig, o, sh and r are the same as those in the above formula (iii), and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of claim 22, wherein the structural unit represented by the above formula (iii') is the following formula (iii"): wherein ig, o, sh and r are the same as those in the above formula (iii). a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iv): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, z indicates a functional substance, la indicates a first linker, the number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker is 2 to 4, and the average ratio r of the amide bonds per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5. the conjugate or salt thereof of claim 24, wherein a specific amino acid residue other than the lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains is further modified. the conjugate or salt thereof of claim 25, wherein the specific amino acid residue is a lysine residue present at position 246/248 in two heavy chains. the conjugate or salt thereof of any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the structural unit represented by the above formula (iv) is represented by the following formula (iv'): wherein ig, o, s, z and r are the same as those of the above formula (iv), and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the conjugate or salt thereof of claim 27, wherein the structural unit represented by the above formula (iv') is represented by the following formula (iv"): wherein ig, o, s, z and r are the same as those of the above formula (iv). a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (v): wherein x indicates a leaving group, o indicates an oxygen atom, oh indicates a hydroxy group, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. the compound or salt thereof of claim 29, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (v) is represented by the following formula (v'): wherein x, o, oh, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (v), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the compound or salt thereof of claim 30, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (v') is represented by the following formula (v''): wherein x, o, oh, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (v), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (v'). the compound represented by the above formula (v") is the following formula (v"-1) or (v"-2): wherein o, oh, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (v). a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (vi): wherein x indicates a leaving group, x' indicates a leaving group having a leaving ability which is higher than that of the leaving group x. o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and the number of atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. the compound or salt thereof of claim 33, wherein the leaving group having a leaving ability which is higher than that of the leaving group x is a pentafluorophenyloxy group, a tetrafluorophenyloxy group, a paranitrophenyloxy group, or an n-succinimidyloxy group. the compound or salt thereof of claim 33 or 34, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (vi) is represented by the following formula (vi'): wherein x, x', o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (vi), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the compound or salt thereof of claim 35, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (vi') is represented by the following formula (vi''): wherein x, x', o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (vi), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (vi'). the compound or salt thereof of claim 36, wherein the compound represented by the above formula (vi'') is represented by the following formula (vi''-1) or (vi''-2): or wherein o, s and w are the same as those of the above formula (vi), and f is a fluorine atom. a method for producing an antibody intermediate or salt thereof, which comprises reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (i): wherein x indicates a leaving group, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, with an antibody comprising the immunoglobulin unit to give an antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by the following formula (ii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, y, o, s, w, la and lb are the same as those of the above formula (i), and the average ratio r of the amide bond per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5. a method for producing a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises (1) reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (i): wherein x indicates a leaving group, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, with an antibody comprising the immunoglobulin unit to give an antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by the following formula (ii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, y, o, s, w, la and lb are the same as those of the above formula (i), and the average ratio r of the amide bond per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5; and (2) subjecting the antibody intermediate or salt thereof to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by the following formula (iii): wherein sh indicates a thiol group, and ig, la and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii). a method for producing a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises (1) reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (i): wherein x indicates a leaving group, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, with an antibody comprising the immunoglobulin unit to give an antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by the following formula (ii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, y, o, s, w, la and lb are the same as those of the above formula (i), and the average ratio r of the amide bond per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5; (2) subjecting the antibody intermediate or salt thereof to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by the following formula (iii): wherein sh indicates a thiol group, and ig, la and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii); and (3) reacting the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof with a functional substance to give a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iv): wherein s indicates a sulfur atom, z indicates a functional substance, ig, o, la and r are the same as those in the above formula (iii). the method of any one of claims 38 to 40, further comprising reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (vi): wherein x indicates a leaving group, x' indicates a leaving group having a leaving ability which is higher than that of the leaving group x. o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and the number of atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, with the affinity peptide having a binding region to the ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains to give the compound or salt thereof represented by the formula (i). the method of any one of claims 38 to 40, further comprising (1') reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (v): wherein x indicates a leaving group, o indicates an oxygen atom, oh indicates a hydroxy group, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, with a carboxyl group modifying reagent to give a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (vi): wherein x, o, s, w, la and lb are the same as those in the above formula (v), and x' indicates a leaving group having a leaving ability which is higher than that of the leaving group x; and (2') reacting the compound or salt thereof represented by the formula (vi) with an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains to give a compound or salt thereof represented by the above formula (i). a method for producing a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi), which comprises reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (v): wherein x indicates a leaving group, o indicates an oxygen atom, oh indicates a hydroxy group, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, with a carboxyl group modifying reagent to give the compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (vi): wherein x, o, s, w, la and lb are the same as those in the above formula (v), and x' indicates a leaving group having a leaving ability which is higher than that of the leaving group x. a method for producing a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises subjecting an antibody intermediate or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by the following formula (ii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, and the average ratio r of the amide bond per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5, to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iii): wherein sh indicates a thiol group, and ig, o, la and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii). a method for producing a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises (1) subjecting an antibody intermediate or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by the following formula (ii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, and the average ratio r of the amide bond per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5, to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iii): wherein sh indicates a thiol group, and ig, o, la and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii); and (2) reacting the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof with a functional substance to give the conjugate of the antibody and the functional substance or a salt thereof which is represented by the following formula (iv) : wherein s indicates a sulfur atom, z indicates a functional substance, and ig, o, la and r are the same as those in the above formula (iii). a method for producing a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises reacting a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, o indicates an oxygen atom, sh indicates a thiol group, la indicates a first linker, the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker is 2 to 4, and the average ratio r of the amide bonds per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5, with a functional substance to give a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iv): wherein s indicates a sulfur atom, z indicates a functional substance, and ig, o, la and r are the same as those in the above formula (iii).
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technical field the present invention relates to a compound or salt thereof, and antibody obtained by using the same, and the like. background art in recent years, research and development of an antibody-drug conjugate (adc) have been actively conducted. an adc, as implied by the name, is a medicine in which a drug (e.g., an anti-cancer agent) is conjugated with an antibody and has a direct cytotoxic activity on cancer cells and the like. a typical adc is t-dm1 (trade name: kadcyla (registered trademark)) which is jointly developed by immunogen and roche. adcs including t-dm1 have had the problem of their nonuniformity from the beginning of their development. that is, a small compound drug is randomly reacted with about 70 to 80 lysine residues in an antibody, and thus a drug antibody ratio (dar) and a conjugation position are not constant. it is known that such a random conjugation method normally provides a dar within a range of 0 to 8, producing a plurality of antibody medicines having different numbers of bonds of a drug. in recent years, it has been reported that when the number of bonds and the bond positions of a drug of an adc are changed, pharmacokinetics, and a releasing rate and effects of the drug change. given these circumstances, next-generation adcs are required to control the number and positions of a drug to be conjugated. it is believed that when the number and positions are fixed, the problems of expected efficacy, variations in conjugation medicines, and lot difference, or what is called regulation, will be solved. although methods for regioselectively modifying antibodies are being investigated worldwide, most of them are methods of modification using genetic engineering techniques or enzymes. for the genetic engineering methods of modification, problems have been pointed out such as reductions in the expression efficiency of antibodies themselves (reductions in total yield when adcs are prepared), although regioselectivity and number selectivity can be controlled. in addition, there is a problem in that it takes long years to construct an antibody expression system and the like. in recent years, a chemical conjugation by affinity peptide (ccap) method which can regioselectively modify an antibody by chemical synthetic technique has recently been developed (patent literature 1). this method has succeeded in regioselective modification of antibodies by a method that reacts a peptide reagent in which an nhs-activated ester and a drug are coupled with an affinity peptide with an antibody. however, in the adc produced by this method, the antibody and the drug are bonded via a linker containing a peptide moiety. the peptide moiety has potential immunogenicity and is susceptible to hydrolysis in the blood. therefore, the adc produced by this method has room for improvement in that it contains a peptide moiety in the linker. as an improved method of the above c-cap method, techniques which can prepare an antibody which does not contain a peptide moiety as a linker and has a functional substance (e.g., a drug) regioselectively by a chemical synthesis method using a certain compound containing an affinity peptide have been reported (patent literature 2 to 6). avoiding the use of linkers containing peptide moieties is desirable in clinical applications. in these techniques, plural positions corresponding to various amino acid residues in ch2 and ch3 domains (e.g., lysine residues, tyrosine residues, serine residues, and threonine residue) have been proposed as the positions of amino acid residues in antibodies that can be regioselectively modified with drugs. however, it is not necessarily easy to regioselectively modify an antibody with a functional substance and control the bonding ratio of the antibody to the functional substance within a desired range. prior art references patent literature patent literature 1: wo2016/186206 patent literature 2: wo2018/199337 patent literature 3: wo2019/240287 patent literature 4: wo2019/240288 patent literature 5: wo2020/009165 patent literature 6: wo2020/090979 disclosure of invention problem to be solved by the invention an object of the present invention is to provide tehniques for regioselectively modifying an antibody with a functional substance and control the bonding ratio of the antibody to the functional substance within a desired range. means for solving problem as a result of diligent studies, the present inventors have found that by selecting the lysine residue at the position 288/290 of a heavy chain in an immunoglobulin unit as a modification position of an antibody, and by using a specific compound as a compound which can regioselectively modify the lysine residue, the antibody can be regioselectively modified with the functional substance and the bonding ratio between the antibody and the functional substance (number of functional substances/immunoglobulin unit) can be highly controled within a desired range (1.5 to 2.5). such a specific compound corresponds to a comound in which the total number of atoms constituting a main chain connecting the reactive portion with the lysine residue at the 288/290 position of the heavy chain in the immunoglobulin unit [x (leaving group)-c=o] and the binding portion with the affinity peptide [o=c-y (affinity peptide)] is 7 to 9 (that is, in the compound represented by formula (i), the compound in which the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in a first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in a second linker are 5 to 7). based on such findings, the present inventors have succeeded in developing a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i), and a reagent for derivatizing the antibody, which comprising the same. the present inventors also found tht by using a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i), a specific antibody, that is, an antibody in which the lysine residue at the position 288/290 in the antibody are regioselectively modified with a modifying group, and the bonding ratio between the antibody and the modifying group (number of modifying group/immunoglobulin unit) is highly controled within a desired range (1.5 to 2.5) (an antibody intermediate, a thiol group-introduced antibody, and a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance) can be prepared and have completed the present invention. that is, the present invention is the following. [1] a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i). [2] the compound or salt thereof of [1], wherein the leaving group is selected from the following: (a) r-s wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and s indicates a sulfur atom; (b) r-o wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and o indicates an oxygen atom; (c) r a -(r b -)n wherein r a and r b each independently indicate a hydrogen atoms, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and n indicates a nitrogen atom; or (d) a halogen atom. [3] the compound or salt thereof of [1] or [2], wherein the immunoglobulin unit is a human immunoglobulin unit. [4] the compound or salt thereof of any of [1] to [3], wherein the immunoglobulin unit is human igg. [5] the compound or salt thereof of any of [1] to [4], wherein the affinity peptide contains a lysine residue and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group (c=o) adjacent to y via an amino group in a side chain of the lysine residue. [6] the compound or salt thereof of [1] to [5], wherein the affinity peptide is the following: (a) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of cqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 1); (b) an affinity peptide comprising an amino acid sequence comprising a mutation of 1 to 5 amino acid residues which is selected from the group consisting of substitution, insertion, deletion and addition of amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of cqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 1), wherein the lysine residue at the position 27 and the two cysteine residues at the positions 1 and 30 are maintained. [7] the compound or salt thereof of [6], wherein the affinity peptide (b) is selected from the group consisting of the following: (a) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 2); (b) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikedc (seq id no: 3); (c) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 4); (d) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of nmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 5); (e) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of mqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 6); and (f) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of qcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 7). [8] the compound or salt thereof of [6] or [7], wherein the n-terminal and c-terminal amino acid residues in the affinity peptide may be protected, and the two thiol groups in side chains of the two cysteine residues (c) in the affinity peptide may be linked by a disulfide bond, or via a linker. [9] the compound or salt thereof of any of [1] to [8], wherein the compound represented by formula (i) is represented by formula (i'). [10] the compound or salt thereof of [9], wherein the compound represented by formula (i') is represented by formula (i' '). [11] a reagent for derivatizing an antibody, which comprises a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i) . [12] the reagent of [11], wherein the compound represented by formula (i) is represented by formula (i'). [13] the reagent according to [12], wherein the compound represented by formula (i') is represented by formula (i"). [14] an antibody intermediate or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by formula (ii). [15] the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of [14], wherein the antibody intermediate is a human antibody intermediate. [16] the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of [14] or [15], wherein the antibody intermediate is a human igg intermediate. [17] the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of any of [14] to [16], wherein the structural unit represented by formula (ii) is represented by formula (ii'). [18] the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of [17], wherein the structural unit represented by formula (ii') is represented by formula (ii''). [19] a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by formula (iii). [20] the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of [19], wherein a specific amino acid residue other than the lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains is further modified. [21] the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of [20], wherein the specific amino acid residue is a lysine residue present at the position 246/248 in the two heavy chains. [22] the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of any of [19] to [21], wherein the structural unit represented by formula (iii) is formula (iii'). [23] the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of [22], wherein the structural unit represented by formula (iii') is formula (iii''). [24] a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by formula (iv). [25] the conjugate or salt thereof of [24], wherein a specific amino acid residue other than the lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains is further modified. [26] the conjugate or salt thereof of [25], wherein the specific amino acid residue is a lysine residue present at position 246/248 in two heavy chains. [27] the conjugate or salt thereof of any of [24] to [26], wherein the structural unit represented by formula (iv) is represented by formula (iv'). [28] the conjugate or salt thereof of [27], wherein the structural unit represented by formula (iv') is represented by formula (iv"). [29] a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (v). [30] the compound or salt thereof of [29], wherein the compound represented by formula (v) is represented by formula (v'). [31] the compound or salt thereof of [30], wherein the compound represented by formula (v') is represented by formula (v''). [32] the compound represented by formula (v'') is formula (v''-1) or (v''-2). [33] a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi) . [34] the compound or salt thereof of [33], wherein the leaving group having a leaving ability which is higher than that of the leaving group x is a pentafluorophenyloxy group, a tetrafluorophenyloxy group, a paranitrophenyloxy group, or an n-succinimidyloxy group. [35] the compound or salt thereof of [33] or [34], wherein the compound represented by formula (vi) is represented by formula (vi'). [36] the compound or salt thereof of [35], wherein the compound represented by formula (vi') is represented by formula (vi''). [37] the compound or salt thereof of [36], wherein the compound represented by formula (vi'') is represented by formula (vi''-1) or (vi''-2). [38] a method for producing an antibody intermediate or salt thereof, which comprises reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i) with an antibody comprising the immunoglobulin unit to give an antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by formula (ii). [39] a method for producing a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises (1) reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i) with an antibody comprising the immunoglobulin unit to give an antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by formula (ii); and (2) subjecting the antibody intermediate or salt thereof to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by formula (iii). [40] a method for producing a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises (1) reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i) with an antibody comprising the immunoglobulin unit to give an antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by formula (ii); (2) subjecting the antibody intermediate or salt thereof to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by formula (iii); and (3) reacting the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof with a functional substance to give a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by formula (iv). [41] the method of any of [38] to [40], further comprising reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi) with the affinity peptide having a binding region to the ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains to give the compound or salt thereof represented by the formula (i). [42] the method of any of [38] to [40], further comprising (1') reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (v) with a carboxyl group modifying reagent to give a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi); and (2') reacting the compound or salt thereof represented by the formula (vi) with an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains to give a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i). [43] a method for producing a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi), which comprises reacting a compound or salt thereof represented by formula (v) with a carboxyl group modifying reagent to give the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi). [44] a method for producing a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises subjecting an antibody intermediate or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by formula (ii) to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by formula (iii). [45] a method for producing a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises (1) subjecting an antibody intermediate or salt thereof comprising a structural unit represented by formula (ii) to a thioester cleavage reaction to give a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by formula (iii); and (2) reacting the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof with a functional substance to give the conjugate of the antibody and the functional substance or a salt thereof which is represented by formula (iv). [46] a method for producing a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises reacting a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by formula (iii) with a functional substance to give a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by formula (iv). effect of invention the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i) can specifically and highly modify the lysine residue at the position 288/290 of a heavy chain in an immunoglobulin unit so as to be the average ratio of the bonds between the immunoglobulin unit and the affinity peptide-containing group (the number of affinity peptide-containing groups/immunoglobulin unit) in a desired range (1.5 to 2). therefore, the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i) is useful as a reagent for derivatizing an antibody. in addition, the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i) can provide an antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by formula (ii) in which the lysine residue at the position 288/290 of the heavy chain in the immunoglobulin unit is specifically modified with an affinity peptide-containing group, and the average ratio of the bonds between the immunoglobulin unit and the affinity peptide-containing group (number of affinity peptide-containing group/immunoglobulin unit) is highly controlled within a desired range. furthermore, an antibody prepared by using the antibody intermediate or salt thereof represented by formula (ii) as a raw material can inherit the regioselectivity and the average bonding ratio of the antibody intermediate or salt thereof. therefore, a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof represented by formula (iii) and a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance represented by the formula (iv) or a salt thereof, which has the above regioselectivity and the average bonding ratio can be provided. also provided are compounds or salts thereof represented by formulae (v) and (vi) which are synthetic intermediates that enable efficient production of the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (i). brief description of drawings fig. 1 is a schematic diagram (1) showing the concept of modification of an immunoglobulin unit with the compound of the present invention or salt thereof represented by the formula (i). first, the compound of the present invention or salt thereof represented by the formula (i) associates with the ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit via an affinity peptide (y). next, the compound of the present invention or salt thereof represented by the formula (i) reacts with a side chain of a specific amino acid residue in the ch2 domain (in the figure, an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue) via an activated carbonyl group having a leaving group (x). fig. 2 is a schematic diagram (2) showing the concept of modification of an immunoglobulin unit with the compound of the present invention or salt thereof represented by the formula (i). cleavage of the thioester group produces a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or a salt thereof. fig. 3 is a schematic diagram (3) showing the concept of modification of an immunoglobulin unit with the compound of the present invention or salt thereof represented by the formula (i). the reaction of a thiol group with a functional substance (z) in a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or a salt thereof produces a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof. fig. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. fig. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of a more preferable embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (number of introduced binding peptides) of trastuzumab (anti-her2 igg antibody) (example 1) . fig. 8 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 1). fig. 9 is a diagram showing (1) the amino acid sequence of the heavy chain of trastuzumab (seq id no: 8) and (2) the amino acid sequence of the light chain of trastuzumab (seq id no: 9). fig. 10 shows ms spectrum (measured value: m/z 577.03606, theoretical value: 577.03557, tetravalent) of the peptide fragment for a peptide consisting of 18 amino acid residues fnwyvdgvevhnakttkpr (seq id no: 10) containing a site of modification of trussumab to a lysine residue by trypsin digestion (a thiol-introduced product (+145.09 da) which has been carbamidomethylated with iodoacetamide) (example 1-9-4). fig. 11 shows cid spectrum of a product ion of m/z 682.13 (theoretical value: 682.01) corresponding to trivalent y16, which indicates the modification of the lysine residue at position 288/290 of the human igg heavy chain in eu numbering (example 1-9-4). fig. 12 shows the results of searching for a peptide fragment containing a modification to a lysine residue (thiol-introduced product which has been carbamidemethylated with iodoacetamide (+145.09da)) in a trypsin digested product of trastuzumab using biopharma finder (example 1-9-4). the horizontal axis shows the identified lysine residue, and the vertical axis shows the integrity. fig. 13 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 2). fig. 14 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 2). fig. 15 shows ms spectrum (measured value: m/z 577.03571, theoretical value: 577.03557, tetravalent) of the peptide fragment for a peptide consisting of 18 amino acid residues fnwyvdgvevhnakttkpr (seq id no: 10) containing a site of modification of trussumab to a lysine residue by trypsin digestion (a thiol-introduced product (+145.09 da) which has been carbamidomethylated with iodoacetamide) (example 2-7-4). fig. 16 shows cid spectrum of a product ion of m/z 682.41 (theoretical value: 682.01) corresponding to trivalent y16, which indicates the modification of the lysine residue at position 288/290 of the human igg heavy chain in eu numbering (example 2-7-4). fig. 17 shows the results of searching for a peptide fragment containing a modification to a lysine residue (thiol-introduced product which has been carbamidemethylated with iodoacetamide (+145.09da)) in a trypsin digested product of trastuzumab using biopharma finder (example 2-7-4). the horizontal axis shows the identified lysine residue, and the vertical axis shows the integrity. fig. 18 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 3). fig. 19 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 3). fig. 20 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 4). fig. 21 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 4). fig. 22 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 5). fig. 23 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 5). fig. 24 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 6). fig. 25 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 6). fig. 26 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 7). fig. 27 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 7). fig. 28 shows ms spectrum (measured value: m/z 769.04506, theoretical value: 769.04482, trivalent) of the peptide fragment for a peptide consisting of 18 amino acid residues fnwyvdgvevhnakttkpr (seq id no: 10) containing a site of modification of trussumab to a lysine residue by trypsin digestion (a thiol-introduced product (+145.09 da) which has been carbamidomethylated with iodoacetamide) (example 7-6-4). fig. 29 shows cid spectrum of a product ion of m/z 1022.71 (theoretical value: 1022.51) corresponding to divalent y16, which indicates the modification of the lysine residue at position 288/290 of the human igg heavy chain in eu numbering (example 7-6-4). fig. 30 shows the results of searching for a peptide fragment containing a modification to a lysine residue (thiol-introduced product which has been carbamidemethylated with iodoacetamide (+145.09da)) in a trypsin digested product of trastuzumab using biopharma finder (example 7-6-4). the horizontal axis shows the identified lysine residue, and the vertical axis shows the integrity. fig. 31 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 8). fig. 32 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 8). fig. 33 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification of trastuzumab (number of introduced binding peptides) (example 9). fig. 34 is a diagram showing esi-tofms analysis of specific modification (heavy chain selectivity) of trastuzumab (example 9). embodiments for carrying out the invention 1.definitions of general terms in the present invention, the term "antibody" is as follows. the term "immunoglobulin unit" corresponds to a divalent monomer unit that is a basic constituent element of such an antibody, and is a unit comprising two heavy chains and two light chains. therefore, definitions, examples, and preferred examples of the origin, type (polyclonal or monoclonal, isotype, and full-length antibody or antibody fragment), antigen, position of a lysine residue, and regioselectivity of the immunoglobulin unit are similar to those of the antibody described below. the origin of the antibody is not particularly limited, and for example, the antibody may be derived from an animal such as a mammal or a bird (e.g., a domestic fowl). the immunoglobulin unit is preferably derived from a mammal. examples of such a mammal include primates (e.g., humans, monkeys, and chimpanzees), rodents (e.g., mice, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits), pets (e.g., dogs and cats), domestic animals (e.g., cows, pigs, and goats), and work animals (e.g., horses and sheep). primates and rodents are preferred, and humans are more preferred. the type of antibody may be a polyclonal antibody or a monoclonal antibody. the antibody may be a divalent antibody (e.g., igg, igd, or ige) or a tetravalent or higher antibody (e.g., iga antibody or igm antibody). the antibody is preferably a monoclonal antibody. examples of the monoclonal antibody include chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, human antibodies, antibodies with a certain sugar chain added (e.g., an antibody modified so as to have a sugar chain-binding consensus sequence such as an n-type sugar chain-binding consensus sequence), bi-specific antibodies, fc region proteins, and fc-fusion proteins. examples of the isotype of the monoclonal antibody include igg (e.g., igg1, igg2, igg3, and igg4), igm, iga, igd, ige, and igy. in the present invention, as the monoclonal antibody, a full-length antibody or a variable region, and an antibody fragment comprising a ch1 domain and a ch2 domain can be used, but a full-length antibody is preferred. the antibody is preferably a human igg monoclonal antibody, and more preferably a human igg full-length monoclonal antibody. as an antigen of the antibody, any antigen can be used. examples of such an antigen include a protein [which comprises an oligopeptide and a polypeptide, and may be a protein modified with a biomolecule such as a sugar (e.g., a glycoprotein)], a sugar chain, a nucleic acid, and a small compound. the antibody may be preferably an antibody with a protein as an antigen. examples of the protein include cell membrane receptors, cell membrane proteins other than cell membrane receptors (e.g., extracellular matrix proteins), ligands, and soluble receptors. more specifically, the protein as the antigen of the antibody may be a disease target protein. examples of the disease target protein include the following. (1) cancerous region pd-l1, gd2, pdgfrα (a platelet-derived growth factor receptor), cd22, her2, phosphatidyl serine (ps), epcam, fibronectin, pd-1, vegfr-2, cd33, hgf, gpnmb, cd27, dec-205, folic acid receptors, cd37, cd19, trop2, ceacam5, s1p, her3, igf-1r, dll4, tnt-1/b, cpaas, psma, cd20, cd105 (endoglin), icam-1, cd30, cd16a, cd38, muc1, egfr, kir2dl1, kir2dl2, nkg2a, tenascin-c, igf (insulin-like growth factor), ctla-4, mesothelin, cd138, c-met, ang2, vegf-a, cd79b, enpd3, folic acid receptor α, tem-1, gm2, glypican 3, macrophage inhibitory factor, cd74, notch1, notch2, notch3, cd37, tlr-2, cd3, csf-1r, fgfr2b, hla-dr, gm-csf, epha3, b7-h3, cd123, gpa33, frizzled7 receptor, dll4, vegf, rspo, liv-1, slitrk6, nectin-4, cd70, cd40, cd19, sema4d (cd100), cd25, met, tissue factor, il-8, egfr, cmet, kir3dl2, bst1 (cd157), p-cadherin, cea, gitr, tam (tumor associated macrophage), cea, dll4, ang2, cd73, fgfr2, cxcr4, lag-3, gitr, fucosyl gm1, igf-1, angiopoietin 2, csf-1r, fgfr3, ox40, bcma, erbb3, cd137 (4-1bb), ptk7, efna4, fap, dr5, cea, ly6e, ca6, ceacam5, lamp1, tissue factor, epha2, dr5, b7-h3, fgfr4, fgfr2, α2-pi, a33, gdf15, caix, cd166, ror1, gitr, bcma, tba, lag-3, epha2, tim-3, cd-200, egfrviii, cd16a, cd32b, pigf, axl, mica/b, thomsen-friedenreich, cd39, cd37, cd73, clec12a, lgr3, transferrin receptors, tgfβ, il-17, 5t4, rtk, immune suppressor protein, napi2b, lewis blood group b antigen, a34, lysil-oxidase, dlk-1, trop-2, α9 integrin, tag-72 (ca72-4), and cd70. (2) autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases il-17, il-6r, il-17r, inf-α, il-5r, il-13, il-23, il-6, actriib, β7-integrin, il-4αr, has, eotaxin-1, cd3, cd19, tnf-α, il-15, cd3ε, fibronectin, il-1β, il-1α, il-17, tslp (thymic stromal lymphopoietin), lamp (alpha4 beta 7 integrin), il-23, gm-csfr, tslp, cd28, cd40, tlr-3, baff-r, madcam, il-31r, il-33, cd74, cd32b, cd79b, ige (immunoglobulin e), il-17a, il-17f, c5, fcrn, cd28, tlr4, mcam, b7rp1, cxcr1/2 ligands, il-21, cadherin-11, cx3cl1, ccl20, il-36r, il-10r, cd86, tnf-α, il-7r, kv1.3, α9 integrin, and lifht. (3) brain or nerve diseases cgrp, cd20, β amyloid, β amyloid protofibril, calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, lingo (ig domain containing 1), α synuclein, extracellular tau, cd52, insulin receptors, tau protein, tdp-43, sod1, tauc3, and jc virus. (4) infectious diseases clostridium difficile toxin b, cytomegalovirus, rs viruses, lps, s. aureus alpha-toxin, m2e protein, psl, pcrv, s. aureus toxin, influenza a, alginate, staphylococcus aureus, pd-l1, influenza b, acinetobacter, f-protein, env, cd3, enteropathogenic escherichia coli, klebsiella, and streptococcus pneumoniae. (5) hereditary rare diseases amyloid al, sema4d (cd100), insulin receptors, angptl3, il4, il13, fgf23, adrenocorticotropic hormone, transthyretin, and huntingtin. (6) eye diseases factor d, igf-1r, pgdfr, ang2, vegf-a, cd-105 (endoglin), igf-1r, and β amyloid. (7) bone and orthopedic region sclerostin, myostatin, dickkopf-1, gdf8, rnakl, has, and siglec-15 (8) blood diseases vwf, factor ixa, factor x, ifnγ, c5, bmp-6, ferroportin, and tfpi (9) other diseases baff (b cell activating factor), il-1β, pcsk9, ngf, cd45, tlr-2, glp-1, tnfr1, c5, cd40, lpa, prolactin receptors, vegfr-1, cb1, endoglin, pth1r, cxcl1, cxcl8, il-1β, at2-r, and iapp. specific examples of the monoclonal antibody include specific chimeric antibodies (e.g., rituximab, basiliximab, infliximab, cetuximab, siltuximab, dinutuximab, and altertoxaximab), specific humanized antibodies (e.g., daclizumab, palivizumab, trastuzumab, alemtuzumab, omalizumab, efalizumab, bevacizumab, natalizumab (igg4), tocilizumab, eculizumab (igg2), mogamulizumab, pertuzumab, obinutuzumab, vedolizumab, pembrolizumab (igg4), mepolizumab, elotuzumab, daratumumab, ixekizumab (igg4), reslizumab (igg4), and atezolizumab), and specific human antibodies (e.g., adalimumab (igg1), panitumumab, golimumab, ustekinumab, canakinumab, ofatumumab, denosumab (igg2), ipilimumab, belimumab, raxibacumab, ramucirumab, nivolumab, dupilumab (igg4), secukinumab, evolocumab (igg2), alirocumab, necitumumab, brodalumab (igg2), and olaratumab) (cases not referring to the igg subtype indicate that they are igg1). the positions of a lysine residue in the antibody and the position of a constant region of a heavy chain (e.g., ch2 domain) are in accordance with eu numbering (see, http://www.imgt.org/imgtscientificchart/numbering/hu_ighgnb er. html). therefore, when human igg is a target, a lysine residue at position 288 corresponds to an amino acid residue at position 58 of a human igg ch2 region, and a lysine residue at position 290 corresponds to an amino acid residue at position 60 of a human igg ch2 region. the notation at position 288/290 indicates that a lysine residue at position 288 or position 290 is a target. according to the present invention, a lysine residue at position 288/290 in an antibody can be regioselectively modified. in the present specification, "regioselective" or "regioselectivity" refers to a state in which even though a specific amino acid residue is not present locally in a specific region in the antibody, a certain structural unit capable of binding to the specific amino acid residue in the antibody is present locally in a specific region in the antibody. consequently, expressions related to regioselectivity such as "regioselectively having," "regioselective binding," and "binding with regioselectivity" mean that the possession rate or the binding rate of a certain structural unit in the target region comprising one or more specific amino acid residues is higher at a significant level than the possession rate or the binding rate of the structural unit in the non-target region comprising a plurality of amino acid residues of the same type as the specific amino acid residues in the target region. such regioselectivity may be 50% or more, preferably 60% or more, more preferably 70% or more, even more preferably 80% or more, and particularly preferably 90% or more, 95% or more, 96% or more, 97% or more, 98% or more, 99% or more, 99.5% or more, or 100%. according to the present invention, the lysine residue at position 288/290 can be regioselectively modified without utilizing a linker containing a peptide. the peptide moiety has potential immunogenicity and is susceptible to hydrolysis in a blood. therefore, avoiding the use of a linker containing a peptide moiety is desirable in clinical applications. in the present invention, as long as a lysine residue at position 288/290 in an antibody is regioselectively modified, a specific lysine residue at another position may be further regioselectively modified. for example, a method for regioselectively modifying a specific amino acid residue at a predetermined position in an antibody is described in wo 2018/199337 a , wo 2019/240288 a , wo 2019/240287 a , and wo 2020/090979 a . as such a specific amino acid residue, an amino acid residue (e.g., a lysine residue, an aspartic acid residue, a glutamic acid residue, an asparagine residue, a glutamine residue, a threonine residue, a serine residue, a tyrosine residue, or a cysteine residue) having a side chain that is easily modified (e.g., an amino group, a carboxy group, an amide group, a hydroxy group, or a thiol group) can be used. however, a lysine residue having a side chain comprising an amino group, a tyrosine residue having a side chain comprising a hydroxy group, a serine residue, a threonine residue, or a cysteine residue having a side chain comprising a thiol group may be preferred, a lysine residue may be more preferred, a lysine residue at position 246/248, and a lysine residue at position 317 may be even more preferred, and a lysine residue at position 246/248 are particulary preferred. the notation at position 246/248 indicates that the lysine residue at position 246 or 248 is target. in the present invention, examples of the term "salt" include salts with inorganic acids, salts with organic acids, salts with inorganic bases, salts with organic bases, and salts with amino acids. examples of salts with inorganic acids include salts with hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid. examples of salts with organic acids include salts with formic acid, acetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, fumaric acid, oxalic acid, maleic acid, citric acid, succinic acid, malic acid, benzenesulfonic acid, and p-toluenesulfonic acid. examples of salts with inorganic bases include salts with alkali metals (e.g., sodium and potassium), alkaline-earth metals (e.g., calcium and magnesium), other metals such as zinc and aluminum, and ammonium. examples of salts with organic bases include salts with trimethylamine, triethylamine, propylenediamine, ethylenediamine, pyridine, ethanolamine, monoalkyl ethanolamine, dialkyl ethanolamine, diethanolamine, and triethanolamine. examples of salts with amino acids include salts with basic amino acids (e.g., arginine, histidine, lysine, and ornithine) and acidic amino acids (e.g., aspartic acid and glutamic acid). the salt is preferably a salt with an inorganic acid (e.g., hydrogen chloride) or a salt with an organic acid (e.g., trifluoroacetic acid). 1. compound or salt the present invention provide a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (i): wherein x indicates a leaving group, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. in formula (i) and other formulae presented in relation to the present invention, -(hyphen) indicates that two units (e.g., atoms or groups) present on both sides thereof are covalently bonded to each other. therefore, in the formula (i), x is covalently bonded to the carbon atom constituting the carbonyl group, la is covalently bonded to the carbon atom constituting the carbonyl group and s, and s is covalently bonded to la and the carbon atom constituting the carbonyl group, lb is covalently bonded to the two carbon atoms constituting the two carbonyl groups present on both sides, and y is covalently bonded to a carbon atom constitutes the carbonyl group. the leaving group represented by x is a group that can be eliminated by a reaction between a carbon atom of a carbonyl group adjacent to x and an amino group. a person skilled in the art can appropriately design such a leaving group. examples of such leaving groups include: (a) r-s wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and s indicates a sulfur atom; (b) r-o wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and o indicates an oxygen atom; (c) r a -(r b -)n wherein r a and r b each independently indicate a hydrogen atoms, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and n indicates a nitrogen atom; or (d) a halogen atom. preferably, the leaving group represented by x may be: (a) r-s wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and s indicates a sulfur atom; (b) r-o wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and o indicates an oxygen atom; or (c) r a -(r b -)n wherein r a and r b each independently indicate a hydrogen atoms, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and n indicates a nitrogen atom. more preferably, the leaving group represented by x may be: (a) r-s wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and s indicates a sulfur atom; or (b) r-o wherein r indicates a hydrogen atom, a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and o indicates an oxygen atom. even more preferably, the leaving group represented by x may be: (a) r-s wherein r indicates a monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, or a monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent, and s indicates a sulfur atom. particularly preferably, the leaving group represented by x may be: (a) r-s wherein r indicates a monovalent hydrocarbon group (e.g., phenyl) which may have a substituent, and s indicates a sulfur atom. examples of the halogen atom include a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom, and an iodine atom. examples of the monovalent hydrocarbon group include a monovalent chain hydrocarbon group, a monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon group, and a monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group. the monovalent chain hydrocarbon group means a hydrocarbon group comprising only a chain structure and does not comprise any cyclic structure in a main chain thereof. note that the chain structure may be linear or branched. examples of the monovalent chain hydrocarbon group include alkyl, alkenyl, and alkynyl. the alkyl, alkenyl, and alkynyl may be linear or branched. the alkyl is preferably c 1-12 alkyl, more preferably c 1-6 alkyl, and even more preferably c 1-4 alkyl. when the alkyl has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the c 1-12 alkyl include methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, n-butyl, s-butyl, isobutyl, t-butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, nonyl, decyl, and dodecyl. the alkenyl is preferably c 2-12 alkenyl, more preferably c 2-6 alkenyl, and even more preferably c 2-4 alkenyl. when the alkenyl has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the c 2-12 alkenyl include vinyl, propenyl, and n-butenyl. the alkynyl is preferably c 2-12 alkynyl, more preferably c 2-6 alkynyl, and even more preferably c 2-4 alkynyl. when the alkynyl has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the c 2-12 alkynyl include ethynyl, propynyl, and n-butynyl. the monovalent chain hydrocarbon group is preferably alkyl. the monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon group means a hydrocarbon group comprising only an alicyclic hydrocarbon as a cyclic structure and not comprising any aromatic ring, in which the alicyclic hydrocarbon may be monocyclic or polycyclic. note that the monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon group is not necessarily required to comprise only an alicyclic hydrocarbon but may comprise a chain structure in part thereof. examples of the monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon group include cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, and cycloalkynyl, which may be monocyclic or polycyclic. the cycloalkyl is preferably c 3-12 cycloalkyl, more preferably c 3-6 cycloalkyl, and even more preferably c 5-6 cycloalkyl. when the cycloalkyl has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the c 3-12 cycloalkyl include cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, and cyclohexyl. the cycloalkenyl is preferably c 3-12 cycloalkenyl, more preferably c 3-6 cycloalkenyl, and even more preferably c 5-6 cycloalkenyl. when the cycloalkenyl has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the c 3-12 cycloalkenyl include cyclopropenyl, cyclobutenyl, cyclopentenyl, and cyclohexenyl. the cycloalkynyl is preferably c 3-12 cycloalkynyl, more preferably c 3-6 cycloalkynyl, and even more preferably c 5-6 cycloalkynyl. when the cycloalkynyl has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the c 3-12 cycloalkynyl include cyclopropynyl, cyclobutynyl, cyclopentynyl, and cyclohexynyl. the monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon group is preferably cycloalkyl. the monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group means a hydrocarbon group comprising an aromatic cyclic structure. note that the monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group is not necessarily required to comprise only an aromatic ring and may comprise a chain structure or alicyclic hydrocarbon in part thereof, in which the aromatic ring may be monocyclic or polycyclic. the monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group is preferably c 6-12 aryl, more preferably c 6-10 aryl, and even more preferably c 6 aryl. when the monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the c 6-12 aryl include phenyl and naphthyl. the monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon group is preferably phenyl. among these groups, the monovalent hydrocarbon group is preferably alkyl, cycloalkyl, or aryl. the monovalent heterocyclic group refers to a group obtained by removing one hydrogen atom from a heterocycle of a heterocyclic compound. the monovalent heterocyclic group is a monovalent aromatic heterocyclic group or a monovalent nonaromatic heterocyclic group. the monovalent heterocyclic group preferably comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, a nitrogen atom, a phosphorus atom, a boron atom, and a silicon atom and more preferably comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, and a nitrogen atom as a hetero atom comprised in the heterocyclic group. the monovalent aromatic heterocyclic group is preferably a c 1-15 aromatic heterocyclic group, more preferably a c 1-9 aromatic heterocyclic group, and even more preferably a c 1-6 aromatic heterocyclic group. when the monovalent aromatic heterocyclic group has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the monovalent aromatic heterocyclic group include pyrrolyl, furanyl, thiophenyl, pyridinyl, pyridazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrazinyl, triazinyl, pyrazolyl, imidazolyl, thiazolyl, isothiazolyl, oxazolyl, isoxazolyl, triazolyl, tetrazolyl, indolyl, purinyl, anthraquinolyl, carbazonyl, fluorenyl, quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl, quinazolinyl, and phthalazinyl. the monovalent nonaromatic heterocyclic group is preferably a c 2-15 nonaromatic heterocyclic group, more preferably a c 2-9 nonaromatic heterocyclic group, and even more preferably a c 2-6 nonaromatic heterocyclic group. when the monovalent nonaromatic heterocyclic group has a substituent, the number of carbon atoms does not comprise the number of carbon atoms of the substituent. examples of the monovalent nonaromatic heterocyclic group include oxiranyl, aziridinyl, azetidinyl, oxetanyl, thietanyl, pyrrolidinyl, dihydrofuranyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, dioxolanyl, tetrahydrothiophenyl, pyrolinyl, imidazolidinyl, oxazolidinyl, piperidinyl, dihydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydrothiopyranyl, morpholinyl, thiomorpholinyl, piperazinyl, dihydrooxazinyl, tetrahydrooxazinyl, dihydropyrimidinyl, and tetrahydropyrimidinyl. among these groups, the monovalent heterocyclic group is preferably a five-membered or six-membered heterocyclic group. the number of "substituents" in "monovalent hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent" and "monovalent heterocyclic group which may have a substituent" represented by r, r a , and r b may be, for example, 1 to 5, preferably 1 to 3, and more preferably 1 or 2. examples of the substituent include: (i) a halogen atom; (ii) a monovalent hydrocarbon group; (iii) a monovalent heterocyclic group; (iv) an aralkyl; (v) r a -o-, r a -c(=o)-, r a -o-c(=o)-, or r a -c(=o)-o-, (where r a represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group); (vi) nr b r c -, nr b r c -c(=o)-, nr b r c -c(=o)-o-, or r b -c(=o)-nr c -, (where r b and r c are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group); and (vii) a nitro group, a sulfate group, a sulfonate group, a cyano group, and a carboxyl group. definitions, examples, and preferred examples of the halogen atom, the monovalent hydrocarbon group, and the monovalent heterocyclic group in the substituent are similar to those explained for the above r, r a , and r b . the aralkyl refers to arylalkyl. definitions, examples, and preferred examples of the aryl and the alkyl in the arylalkyl are as described above. the aralkyl is preferably c 3-15 aralkyl. examples of such an aralkyl include benzoyl, phenethyl, naphthylmethyl, and naphthylethyl. preferably, the substituent may be: (i) a halogen atom; (ii) a c 1-12 alkyl, a c 1-12 phenyl, or a c 1-12 naphthyl; (iii) a c 3-15 aralkyl; (iv) a 5- or 6-membered heterocycle; (v) r a -o-, r a -c(=o)-, r a -o-c(=o)-, or r a -c(=o)-o-, (where r a represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); (vi) nr b r c -, nr b r c -c(=o)-, nr b r c -c(=o)-o-, or r b -c(=o)-nr c -, (where r b and r c are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); or (vii) the same groups as listed in the above (vii). more preferably, the substituent may be: (i) a halogen atom; (ii) a c 1-12 alkyl; (iii) r a -o-, r a -c(=o)-, r a -o-c(=o)-, or r a -c(=o)-o-, (where r a represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); (iv) nr b r c -, nr b r c -c(=o)-, nr b r c -c(=o)-o-, or r b -c(=o)-nr c -, (where r b and r c are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); or (v) the same groups as listed in the above (vii). even more preferably, the substituent may be: (i) a halogen atom; (ii) a c 1-6 alkyl; (iii) r a -o-, r a -c(=o)-, r a -o-c(=o)-, or r a -c(=o)-o-, (where r a represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-6 alkyl); (iv) nr b r c -, nr b r c -c(=o)-, nr b r c -c(=o)-o-, or r b -c(=o)-nr c -, (where r b and r c are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-6 alkyl); or (v) the same groups as listed in the above (vii). particularly preferably, the substituent may be: (i) a halogen atom; (ii) a c 1-4 alkyl; (iii) r a -o-, r a -c(=o)-, r a -o-c(=o)-, or r a -c(=o)-o-, (where r a represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-4 alkyl); (iv) nr b r c -, nr b r c -c(=o)-, nr b r c -c(=o)-o-, or r b -c(=o)-nr c -, (where r b and r c are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-4 alkyl); or (v) the same groups as listed in the above (vii). the affinity peptide indicated by y has a binding region in a ch2 domain in an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains. as the affinity peptide, any peptide having a binding region in the ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit can be used. the affinity peptide may contain an amino acid residue containing a side chain containing a moiety capable of bonding with a carbonyl group (c=o) adjacent to y (e.g., amino group, hydroxy group) and form an amide bond with a carbonyl group (c=o) adjacent to y via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue. preferably, the affinity peptide may contain a lysine residue and form an amide bond with a carbonyl group (c=o) adjacent to y via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue. for such affinity peptides, various affinity peptides disclosed in wo2016/186206 , wo2018/199337 , wo2019/240288 , wo2019/240287 and wo2020/090979 and literature cited in these international publications can be used. preferably, the affinity peptide may be: (a) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of cqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 1); (b) an affinity peptide comprising an amino acid sequence comprising a mutation of 1 to 5 amino acid residues which is selected from the group consisting of substitution, insertion, deletion and addition of amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of cqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 1), wherein the lysine residue at the position 27 and the two cysteine residues at the positions 1 and 30 are maintained. since the affinity peptide containing the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 1 is a suitable peptide having a binding region in the ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit, it is preferable to use such an affinity peptide in the present invention. the n-terminal and c-terminal amino acid residues of the affinity peptide may be protected. further, the thiol groups of the side chains of the two cysteine residues (c) in the affinity peptide may be linked by a disulfide bond or via a linker. preferably, the affinity peptide (b) may be selected from the group consisting of: (a) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc (seq id no: 2); (b) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikedc (seq id no: 3); (c) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 4); (d) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of nmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 5); (e) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of mqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 6); and (f) affinity peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of qcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec (seq id no: 7). the n-terminal and c-terminal amino acid residues of the affinity peptide may be protected. further, the thiol groups of the side chains of the two cysteine residues (c) in the affinity peptide may be linked by a disulfide bond or via a linker. at least two separated cysteine residues in each amino acid sequence of the affinity peptide can form a cyclic peptide by a disulfide bond. alternatively, in the above peptide, the thiol groups in the two cysteine residues may be linked by a carbonyl group-containing linker represented by the following. the broken line portion of the carbonyl group-containing linker represented above means the bonding portion with the thiol group. the linker is more stable to reduction reactions and the like than ordinary disulfide bonds. such peptides can be prepared, for example, by the methods described in wo2016/186206 . the amino acids constituting the affinity peptide may be either l-form or d-form, and l-form is preferable (in the examples, all the amino acid residues constituting the peptide are l-form). the affinity peptide may be linked to the compound of formula (i) or a salt thereof by modifying a specific amino acid residue with a cross-linking agent. examples of such a specific amino acid residue include a lysine residue, an aspartic acid residue, and a glutamic acid residue; preferred is a lysine residue. examples of the cross-linking agent include cross-linking agents comprising preferably two or more succinimidyl groups such as disuccinimidyl glutarate (dsg) and disuccinimidyl suberate (dss); cross-linking agents comprising preferably two or more imide acid portions such as dimethyl adipimidate·2hcl (dma), dimethyl pimelimidate·2hcl (dmp), and dimethyl suberimidate·2hcl (dms); and cross-linking agents having an ss bond such as dimethyl 3,3'-dithiobispropionimidate·2hcl (dtbp) and dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) (dsp) (e.g., wo 2016/186206 ). in the affinity peptide, a terminal amino group and a terminal carboxy group of the peptide may be protected. examples of a protecting group for the n-terminal amino group include an alkylcarbonyl group (an acyl group) (e.g., an acetyl group, a propoxy group, and a butoxycarbonyl group such as a tert-butoxycarbonyl group), an alkyloxycarbonyl group (e.g., a fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl group), an aryloxycarbonyl group, and an arylalkyl(aralkyl)oxycarbonyl group (e.g., a benzyloxycarbonyl group). the protecting group for the n-terminal amino group is preferably an acetyl group. examples of a protecting group for the c-terminal carboxy group include a group capable of forming an ester or an amide. examples of the group capable of forming an ester or an amide include an alkyloxy group (e.g., methyloxy, ethyloxy, propyloxy, butyloxy, pentyloxy, and hexyloxy), an aryloxy group (e.g., phenyloxy and naphthyloxy), an aralkyloxy group (e.g., benzyloxy), and an amino group. the protecting group for the c-terminal carboxy group is preferably an amino group. the first and second linkers represented by la and lb, respectively, are divalent groups, as can be seen from the chemical structure of formula (i). the total number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker and the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. by using the first linker and the second linker having such an atomic number, the lysine residue at the 288/290 position of the heavy chain in the immunoglobulin unit can be regioselectively modified with an affinity peptide-containing group, and the average ratio of the binding between the antibody and the affinity peptide-containing group can be easy to be highly controled in a desired range (1.5 to 2.5). in the present invention, the average ratio of the binding between the antibody and a predetermined group (e.g., affinity peptide-containing group) can be confirmed by analyzing the ms analysis data with da calculator (agilent's software). in light of the fact that the total number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker is 1 to 6, and the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker is 1 to 6. more specifically, the relationship between the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker and the second linker is as follows. table-tabl0001 table 1. number of atoms constituting main chain la lb 1 4 - 6 2 3 - 5 3 2 - 4 4 1 - 3 5 1, or 2 6 1 the main chains in the first linker and the second linker are composed of a chain structure, a cyclic structure, or a structure containing a combination thereof. when the main chain portion has a chain structure comprising no cyclic structure, the number of carbon atoms of the main chain portion can be determined by counting the number of carbon atoms in the chain structure. on the other hand, when the main chain portion has a structure comprising a cyclic structure, the number of predetermined carbon atoms constituting the cyclic structure can be determined by counting the number of carbon atoms in the main chain portion. specifically, the number of carbon atoms of the main chain portion in the cyclic structure can be determined by counting the number of carbon atoms of the shortest route linking two bonds in the cyclic structure (see, e.g., the following thick routes (a) to (d)). when the main chain has a structure comprising a combination of a chain structure and a cyclic structure, the number of atoms of the main chain can be determined by adding the number of atoms in the chain structure not comprising the cyclic structure to the number of atoms of the shortest route linking two bonds in the cyclic structure. • is a bond. in the case of (a), the shortest route is the thick route, and thus the number of atoms in the divalent cyclic structure counted as the number of carbon atoms of the main chain portion is two. in the case of (b), the shortest route is the thick route, and thus the number of atoms in the divalent cyclic structure counted as the number of carbon atoms of the main chain portion is three. in the case of (c), both routes are the shortest routes (equidistant), and thus the number of carbon atoms in the divalent cyclic structure counted as the number of carbon atoms in the main chain portion is four. in the case of (d), a route of a condensation site is the shortest routes, and thus the number of carbon atoms in the divalent cyclic structure counted as the number of atoms in the main chain is four. the main chains in the first linker and the second linker are set so that the number of atoms constituting the main chain as described above is 1 to 6. therefore, the main chains in the first linker and the second linker are a divalent linear hydrocarbon group, a divalent cyclic hydrocarbon group, a divalent heterocyclic group, -c(=o)-, and -c(=s)-, -nr d - (r d indicates a hydrogen atom or a substituent), -o-, -s-, or a group consisting of a combination of two or more of these (e.g., 2 or 3). the divalent linear hydrocarbon group is a linear alkylene, a linear alkenylene, or a linear alkynylene. the linear alkylene is a c 1-6 linear alkylene, and is preferably a c 1-4 linear alkylene. examples of the linear alkylene include methylene, ethylene, n-propylene, n-butylene, n-pentylene, and n-hexylene. the linear alkenylene is a c 2-6 linear alkenylene, and is preferably a c 2-4 linear alkenylene. examples of the linear alkenylene include ethylenylene, n-propynylene, n-butenylene, n-pentenylene, and n-hexenylene. the linear alkynylene is a c 2-6 linear alkynylene, and is preferably a c 2-4 linear alkynylene. examples of the linear alkynylene include ethynylene, n-propynylene, n-butynylene, n-pentynylene, and n-hexynylene. the divalent linear hydrocarbon group is preferably a linear alkylene. the divalent cyclic hydrocarbon group is an arylene or a divalent nonaromatic cyclic hydrocarbon group. the arylene is preferably a c 6-14 arylene, more preferably a c 6-10 arylene, and particularly preferably a c 6 arylene. examples of the arylene include phenylene, naphthylene, and anthracenylene. the divalent nonaromatic cyclic hydrocarbon group is preferably a c 3-12 monocyclic or polycyclic divalent nonaromatic cyclic hydrocarbon group, more preferably a c 4-10 monocyclic or polycyclic divalent nonaromatic cyclic hydrocarbon group, and particularly preferably a c 5-8 monocyclic divalent nonaromatic cyclic hydrocarbon group. examples of the divalent nonaromatic cyclic hydrocarbon group include cyclopropylene, cyclobutylene, cyclopentylene, cyclohexylene, cycloheptylene, and cyclooctylene. the divalent cyclic hydrocarbon group is preferably an arylene. the divalent heterocyclic group is a divalent aromatic heterocyclic group or a divalent nonaromatic heterocyclic group. the divalent heterocyclic group preferably comprises, as a hetero atom forming a heterocycle, one or more selected from the group consisting of an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, a nitrogen atom, a phosphorous atom, a boron atom, and a silicon atom and more preferably comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, and a nitrogen atom. the divalent aromatic heterocyclic group is preferably a c 3-15 divalent aromatic heterocyclic group, more preferably a c 3-9 divalent aromatic heterocyclic group, and particularly preferably a c 3-6 divalent aromatic heterocyclic group. examples of the divalent aromatic heterocyclic group include pyrrolediyl, furandiyl, thiophenediyl, pyridinediyl, pyridazinediyl, pyrimidinediyl, pyrazinediyl, triazinediyl, pyrazolediyl, imidazolediyl, thiazolediyl, isothiazolediyl, oxazolediyl, isoxazolediyl, triazolediyl, tetrazolediyl, indolediyl, purinediyl, anthraquinonediyl, carbazolediyl, fluorenediyl, quinolinediyl, isoquinolinediyl, quinazolinediyl, and phthalazinediyl. the divalent nonaromatic heterocyclic group is preferably a c 3-15 nonaromatic heterocyclic group, more preferably a c 3-9 nonaromatic heterocyclic group, and particularly preferably a c 3-6 nonaromatic heterocyclic group. examples of the divalent nonaromatic heterocyclic group include pyrroldionediyl, pyrrolinedionediyl, oxiranediyl, aziridinediyl, azetidinediyl, oxetanediyl, thietanediyl, pyrrolidinediyl, dihydrofurandiyl, tetrahydrofurandiyl, dioxolanediyl, tetrahydrothiophenediyl, pyrrolinediyl, imidazolidinediyl, oxazolidinediyl, piperidinediyl, dihydropyrandiyl, tetrahydropyrandiyl, tetrahydrothiopyrandiyl, morpholinediyl, thiomorpholinediyl, piperazinediyl, dihydrooxazinediyl, tetrahydrooxazinediyl, dihydropyrimidinediyl, and tetrahydropyrimidinediyl. the divalent heterocyclic group is preferably a divalent aromatic heterocyclic group. w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, preferably an oxygen atom. la and lb indicate a first linker and a second linker, respectively. the main chain in the first linker and the second linker may be composed of only carbon atoms, or may be composed of a combination of carbon atoms and heteroatoms (e.g., oxygen atom, nitrogen atom, sulfur atom). from the viewpoint of easiness of organic synthesis and improvement of stability, they may be composed of only carbon atoms. in certain cases, the main chains in the first and second linkers are divalent linear hydrocarbon groups, divalent cyclic hydrocarbon groups, divalent heterocyclic groups, -c(=o)-, -c(=s)- or a combination of two or more of these (e.g., 2 to 4, preferably 2 or 3). in a specific embodiment, the main chain in the first linker represented by la is preferably set so that the number of atoms constituting the main chain as described above is 2 to 4. in this case, the main chain in the second linker represented by lb is preferably set so that the number of atoms constituting the main chain as described above is 1 to 5. in another specific embodiment, the main chain in the first linker represented by la is preferably set so that the number of atoms constituting the main chain as described above is two. in this case, the main chain in the second linker represented by lb is preferably set so that the number of atoms constituting the main chain as described above is 3 to 5. the main chain in the first linker represented by la is preferably composed of a divalent linear hydrocarbon group, a divalent cyclic hydrocarbon group, or a divalent heterocyclic group. since la is a part contained in the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative and the conjugate of the antibody and the functional substance, it is preferable that the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative and the conjugate do not contain -c(=o)- and - c(=s)- which are relatively less stable (that is, more reactive) than the divalent linear hydrocarbon group, divalent cyclic hydrocarbon and divalent heterocyclic group. la is a portion contained in the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative and it is preferable that la has a low steric hindrance so as not to interfere with the reaction between the thiol group of the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative and the functional substance. in light of the above issue and the ease of organic synthesis, it is more preferable that the main chain in the first linker represented by la is composed of a divalent linear hydrocarbon group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms. the main chain in the first linker represented by la is even more preferably an ethylene group, a propylene group, or a butylene group, and particularly preferably an ethylene group. on the other hand, since the main chain in the second linker indicated by lb is contained in the antibody intermediate and since it is not contained in the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative produced from the antibody intermediate and the conjugate of the antibody and the functional substance, the stability of the main chain is unlikely to be a problem. further, when a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative is produced from an antibody intermediate, the thiol group generated by cleaving between the thio group and the carbonyl group in the thiocarbonyl group (s-c=o) remains in the antibody but the second linker-containing structural unit represented by c(=w)-lb-c(=o)-y does not remain in the antibody. therefore, this second linker can be decomposed in the production without any problem. that is, for the main chain in the second linker unlike the main chain in the first linker, its stability is less likely to be a problem. therefore, the main chain in the second linker can be preferably composed of a divalent linear hydrocarbon group, a divalent cyclic hydrocarbon group, a divalent heterocyclic group, -c(=o)-, -c(=s)-, -nr d - (r d indicates a hydrogen atom or a substituent), -o-, -s-, or a combination of two or more of these (e.g., 2 or 3). the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker is preferably 1 to 5, and more preferably 3 to 5. preferably, the main chain in the second linker may be composed of a divalent linear hydrocarbon group, a divalent cyclic hydrocarbon group, -c(=o)-, -c(=s)-, -nr d -(r d indicates a hydrogen atom or a substituent), -o-, -s-, or a combination of two or more of these (e.g., 2 or 3) in light of the ease of synthesis and the like. the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker is preferably 1 to 5, and more preferably 3 to 5. more preferably, the main chain in the second linker may be composed of a divalent linear hydrocarbon group, a divalent cyclic hydrocarbon group, -c(=o)-, - c(=s)-, -o-, -s-, or a combination of two or more of these (e.g., 2 or 3). the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker is preferably 1 to 5, and more preferably 3 to 5. eaven more preferably, the main chain in the second linker may be composed of a linear alkylene, arylene, -c(=o)-, -c(=s)-, -o-, -s-, or a combination of two or more of these (e.g., 2 or 3). the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker is preferably 1 to 5, and more preferably 3 to 5. particularly preferably, the main chain in the second linker may be composed of propylene or m-phenylene. the groups constituting the main chain in the first linker and the second linker may have, for example, 1 to 5, preferably 1 to 3, and more preferably 1 or 2 substituents. further, r d , which is one of the groups constituting the main chain in the first linker and the second linker, may indicate a substituent as described above. examples of such substituents include: (i') a halogen atom; (ii') a monovalent hydrocarbon group; (iii') an aralkyl; (iv') a monovalent heterocycle; (v') r e -o-, r e -c(=o)-, r e -o-c(=o)-, or r e -c(=o)-o-, (where r e represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group); (vi') nr f r g -, nr f r g -c(=o)-, nr f r g -c(=o)-o-, or r f -c(=o)-nr g -, (where r f and r g are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group); or (vii') nitro group, sulfate group, sulfonic acid group, cyano group, and carboxyl group. definitions, examples, and preferred examples of the halogen atoms, monovalent hydrocarbon groups, aralkyl, and monovalent heterocyclic groups in the substituents are similar to that of the halogen atom, monovalent hydrocarbon group, aralkyl, and monovalent heterocyclic group described for r, r a , and r b and (i) to (iv), respectively. preferably, the substituents may be: (i') a halogen atom; (ii') a c 1-12 alkyl, a phenyl, or a naphthyl; (iii') a c 3-15 aralkyl; (iv') a 5- or 6-membered heterocycle; (v') r e -o-, r e -c(=o)-, r e -o-c(=o)-, or r e -c(=o)-o-, (where r e represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); (vi') nr f r g -, nr f r g -c(=o)-, nr f r g -c(=o)-o-, or r f -c(=o)-nr g - (where r f and r g are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); or (vii') the same groups as listed in the above (vii'). more preferably, the substituent may be: (i') a halogen atom; (ii') a c 1-12 alkyl; (iii') r e -o-, r a -c(=o)-, r a -o-c(=o)-, or r a -c(=o)-o-, (where r a represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); (iv') nr f r g -, nr f r g -c(=o)-, nr f r g -c(=o)-o-, or r f -c(=o)-nr g - (where r f and r g are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-12 alkyl); or (v') the same groups as listed in the above (vii'). even more preferably, the substituent may be: (i') a halogen atom; (ii') a c 1-6 alkyl; (iii') r e -o-, r e -c(=o)-, r e -o-c(=o)-, or r e -c(=o)-o-, (where r e represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-6 alkyl); (iv') nr f r g -, nr f r g -c(=o)-, nr f r g -c(=o)-o-, or r f -c(=o)-nr g -, (where r f and r g are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-6 alkyl); or (v') the same groups as listed in the above (vii'). particularly preferably, the substituent may be: (i') a halogen atom; (ii') a c 1-4 alkyl; (iii') r e -o-, r e -c(=o)-, r e -o-c(=o)-, or r e -c(=o)-o-, (where r e represents a hydrogen atom or a c 1-4 alkyl); (iv') nr f r g -, nr f r g -c(=o)-, nr f r g -c(=o)-o-, or r f -c(=o)-nr g -, (where r f and r g are the same as or different from each other, and each represent a hydrogen atom or a c 1-4 alkyl); or (v') the same groups as listed in the above (vii'). preferably, the compound represented by the above formula (i) may be represented by the following formula (i'): wherein x, y, o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (i), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. definitions, examples and preferred examples of substituents represented by r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 in formula (i') are similar to that of the above-mentioned substituent which may be possessed by the groups constituting the main chain in the first linker. more preferably, the compound represented by the above formula (i') may be represented by the following formula (i''): wherein x, y, o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (i), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (i'). the compound or salt thereof of the present invention represented by the formulae (i) to (i") can be obtained by, for example, synthesizing a compound or salt thereof in which the portion y is substituted with a leaving group (a leaving group having a higher leaving ability than x) in the compound or salt thereof represented by formulas (i) to (i"), and then reacting the synthesized compound or salt thereof with an affinity peptide. for example, such a reaction can be carried out in a suitable reaction system (e.g., an organic solvent or aqueous solution or a mixed solvent thereof) at a suitable temperature (e.g., about 15 to 200°c). the reaction system may include a suitable catalyst. the reaction time is, for example, 1 minute to 20 hours, preferably 10 minutes to 15 hours, more preferably 20 minutes to 10 hours, and even more preferably 30 minutes to 8 hours. preferably, the compound or salt thereof in which the portion y is substituted with a leaving group (a leaving group having a higher leaving ability than x) may be a compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (vi): wherein x indicates a leaving group, x' indicates a leaving group having a leaving ability which is higher than that of the leaving group x. o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, and the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and the number of atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. the leaving group represented by x', which has a higher leaving ability than the leaving group x, is not particularly limited as long as it is a leaving group having a higher leaving ability than the leaving group x, and examples of the leaving group include a pentafluorophenyloxy group, a tetrafluorophenyloxy group, a paranitrophenyloxy group, and an n-succinimidyloxy group. the definitions, examples, and preferred examples of symbols, terms and expressions such as x (leaving group), w (oxygen atom or sulfur atom), la (first linker), lb (second linker) in formula (vi) are the same as those of the above formula. the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi) is useful as, for example, a synthetic intermediate for efficiently producing the compound ofr salt thereof represented by the formula (i). more preferably, the compound represented by formula (vi) may be a compound represented by the following formula (vi'): wherein x, x', o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (vi), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the definitions, examples and preferred examples of substituents represented by r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 in formula (vi') may be the same as those of the above-mentioned substituent which may be possessed by the group constituting the main chain in the first linker. even more preferably, the compound represented by the formula (vi') may be a compound represented by the following formula (vi"): wherein x, x', o, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (vi), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (vi'). particularly preferably, the compound represented by the formula (vi") may be a compound represented by the following formula (vi"-1) or (vi"-2): or wherein o, s and w are the same as those of the above formula (vi), and f is a fluorine atom. the compound or a salt thereof represented by the formula (vi) can be produced from the compound or salt thereof represented by the following formula (v) : wherein x indicates a leaving group, o indicates an oxygen atom, oh indicates a hydroxy group, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7. the definitions, examples, and preferred examples of symbols, terms and expressions such as x (leaving group), w (oxygen atom or sulfur atom), la (first linker), lb (second linker) in formula (v) are the same as those of the above formula. the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (vi) can be obtained by reacting the compound or salt thereof represented by the formula (v) with a carboxyl group modifying reagent. examples of the carboxyl group modifying reagent include a pentafluorophenylation reagent (e.g., pentafluorophenyl trifluoroacetate), a tetrafluorophenylation reagent (e.g., trifluoroacetate tetrafluorophenyl), and a paranitrophenylation reagent (e.g., trifluoroacetate paranitrophenyl), n-succinimidylation reagent (e.g., trifluoroacetate n-succinimidyl). for example, such a reaction may be carried out at a suitable temperature (e.g., about -10 to 30°c) in a suitable organic solvent system (e.g., an organic solvent containing an alkyl halide (e.g., methyl halide) such as ch 2 cl 2 and an amine such as triethylamine). the reaction time is, for example, 1 minute to 20 hours, preferably 10 minutes to 15 hours, more preferably 20 minutes to 10 hours, and even more preferably 30 minutes to 8 hours. the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (v) is useful as, for example, a synthetic intermediate for efficiently producing the compound or salt thereof represented by the formula (vi). more preferably, the compound or salt thereof represented by formula (v) may be a compound represented by the following formula (v') : wherein x, o, oh, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (v), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. in formula (v'), the definitions, examples and preferred examples of substituents represented by r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 is the same as those of the above-mentioned substituent which may be possessed by the group constituting the main chain in the first linker. more preferably, the compound represented by the formula (v') may be a compound represented by the following formula (v"): wherein x, o, oh, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (v), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (v'). particularly preferably, the compound represented by formula (v") may be a compound represented by the following formula (v"-1) or (v"-2) : or wherein o, oh, s and w are the same as those in the above formula (v). the compound represented by formula (v) can be obtained by reacting a compound represented by x-c(=o)-lash with a dicarboxylic acid compound represented by ho-c(=w)-lb-c(=o)-oh or a cyclic compound produced by an intramolecular condensation reaction of the dicarboxylic acid compound (see examples (1-3) and (2-1)). for example, such a reaction can be carried out in a suitable organic solvent system at a suitable temperature (eg, about 4-60°c). the reaction time is, for example, 1 minute to 20 hours, preferably 10 minutes to 15 hours, more preferably 20 minutes to 10 hours, and even more preferably 30 minutes to 8 hours. the determination of the formation of the above compounds or salts thereof, which depends on its specific raw materials and the molecular weight of a product, can be performed by electrophoresis, chromatography (e.g., gel permutation chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, reversed phase column chromatography, and hplc), or mass spectrometry. the above compounds or salts thereof can be purified as appropriate by any method such as chromatography (e.g., the pieces of chromatography described above and affinity chromatography). 3. antibody intermediate or salt thereof the present invention provides an antibody intermediate or salt thereof containing a structural unit represented by the following formula (ii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, y indicates an affinity peptide having a binding region to a ch2 domain in the immunoglobulin unit, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, w indicates an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom, la indicates a first linker, lb indicates a second linker, the total number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting a main chain in the second linker are 5 to 7, and the average ratio r of the amide bond per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5. the immunoglobulin unit indicated by ig is as described above. the definitions, examples, and preferred examples of symbols, terms and expressions such as y (affinity peptide), w (oxygen atom or sulfur atom), la (first linker) and lb (second linker) in formula (ii) are the same as those of the above formula. in the formula (ii), the average ratio (r) of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is the average ratio of the bonds between the immunoglobulin unit and the affinity peptide-containing group (number of affinity peptide-containing group/immunoglobulin unit). such an average ratio is 1.5 to 2.5. such an average ratio may be preferably 1.6 or more, more preferably 1.7 or more, even more preferably 1.8 or more, and particularly preferably 1.9 or more. such an average ratio may also be preferably 2.4 or less, more preferably 2.3 or less, even more preferably 2.2 or less, and particularly preferably 2.1 or less. more specifically, such an average ratio is preferably 1.6 to 2.4, more preferably 1.7 to 2.3, even more preferably 1.8 to 2.2, and particularly preferably 1.9 to 2.1. preferably, the structural unit represented by the formula (ii) may be the structural unit represented by the following formula (ii') : wherein ig, y, o, s, w and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii), lb indicates a second linker having 3 to 5 atoms constituting a main chain, and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the definitions, examples and preferred examples of substituents represented by r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 in formula (ii') is the same as those of the above-mentioned substituent which may be possessed by the group consituting the main chain in the first linker. more preferably, the structural unit represented by formula (ii') may be a structural unit represented by the following formula (ii"): wherein ig, y, o, s, w and r are the same as those of the above formula (ii), and lb is the same as that of the above formula (ii'). the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of the present invention can be obtained by reacting the compound or salt thereof of the present invention with an antibody containing the above-mentioned immunoglobulin unit. in the reaction, first, the compound or salt thereof of the present invention is mixed with the antibody. this allows the compounds or salt thereof of the present invention to associate with the antibody via an affinity peptide that has an affinity for the antibody. next, after antibody association, a carbonyl group (x-c=o) with a leaving group (x) can be regioselectively reacted with the amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at the position 288/290 of the antibody. by such a reaction, the amino group and the carbon atom of the carbonyl group are bonded, and the leaving group (x) is eliminated from the carbonyl group to obtain the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of the present invention. the molar ratio of the compound or salt thereof of the present invention to the antibody (the compound of the present invention or salt thereof/antibody) to the antibody in the reaction is not particularly limited, since it varies depending on factors such as the type of the compound of the present invention or salt thereof and antibody. it is, for example, 1 to 100, preferably 2 to 80, more preferably 4 to 60, even more preferably 5 to 50, and particularly preferably 6 to 30. such a reaction can be appropriately carried out under a condition that cannot cause protein denaturation/degradation (e.g., cleavage of amide bond) (mild conditions). for example, such a reaction can be carried out at room temperature (e.g., about 15-30°c) in a suitable reaction system such as buffer. the ph of the buffer is, for example, 5 to 9, preferably 5.5 to 8.5, and more preferably 6.0 to 8.0. the buffer may contain a suitable catalyst. the reaction time is, for example, 1 minute to 20 hours, preferably 10 minutes to 15 hours, more preferably 20 minutes to 10 hours, and even more preferably 30 minutes to 8 hours. for details of such a reaction, see, e.g., g.i.j.l. bernardes et al., chem. rev., 115, 2174(2015 ); j.l. bernardes et al., chem. asian. j., 4, 630 (2009 ); b. g. devices et al., nat. commun., 5, 4740(2014 ); wagner et al., bioconjugate. chem., 25, 825(2014 ). the determination of the formation of the antibody intermediate or salt thereof, which depends on its specific raw materials and the molecular weight of a product, can be performed by electrophoresis, chromatography (e.g., gel permutation chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, reversed phase column chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography (hplc)), or mass spectrometry, for example, and preferably mass spectrometry. determination of regioselectivity can be performed by peptide mapping, for example. peptide mapping can be performed by protease (e.g., trypsin and chymotrypsin) treatment and mass spectrometry, for example. for the protease, an endoprotease is preferred. examples of such an endoprotease include trypsin, chymotrypsin, glu-c, lys-n, lys-c, and asp-n. determination of the number of the introduced affinity peptide can be performed by electrophoresis, chromatography, or mass spectrometry, for example, and preferably mass spectrometry. the antibody intermediate or salt thereof can be purified as appropriate by any method such as chromatography (e.g., chromatography described above and affinity chromatography). 4. a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or a salt thereof the present invention provides a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iii): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, o indicates an oxygen atom, sh indicates a thiol group, la indicates a first linker, the number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker is 2 to 4, and the average ratio r of the amide bonds per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5. the immunoglobulin unit indicated by ig is as described above. the definitions, examples, and preferred examples of symbols, terms and expressions such as la (first linker) in formula (iii) are the same as those in the above formula. in the formula (iii), the average ratio (r) of the amide bond per two heavy chains indicates the average ratio of the bonds between the immunoglobulin unit and the thiol-containing group (number of thiol-containing groups/immunoglobulin unit). such an average ratio is 1.5 to 2.5. such an average ratio may be preferably 1.6 or more, more preferably 1.7 or more, even more preferably 1.8 or more, and particularly preferably 1.9 or more. such an average ratio may also be preferably 2.4 or less, more preferably 2.3 or less, even more preferably 2.2 or less, and particularly preferably 2.1 or less. more specifically, such an average ratio is preferably 1.6 to 2.4, more preferably 1.7 to 2.3, even more preferably 1.8 to 2.2, and particularly preferably 1.9 to 2.1. preferably, the structural unit represented by formula (iii) may be the structural unit represented by the following formula (iii'): wherein ig, o, sh and r are the same as those in the above formula (iii), and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the definitions, examples and preferred examples of substituents represented by r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 in formula (iii') is the same as those of the above-mentioned substituent which may be possessed by the group constituting the main chain in the first linker. more preferably, the structural unit represented by formula (iii') may be the structural unit represented by the following formula (iii"): wherein ig, o, sh and r are the same as those in the above formula (iii). the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of the present invention can be obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate or salt thereof of the present invention to a thioester cleavage reaction. the thioester cleavage reaction can be carried out under conditions that cannot cause denaturation/degradation of proteins (immunoglobulin/antibody) (e.g., cleavage of amide bonds) (mild conditions as described above). more specifically, it can be cleaved by stirring for 1 hour in a hydroxylamine hydrochloride solution in the range of ph 4.0 to ph 8.0, 10 mm to 10 m (e.g., vance, net al., bioconjugate chem. 2019, 30, 148-160 .). the determination of the formation of the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof, which depends on its specific raw materials and the molecular weight of a product, can be performed by electrophoresis, chromatography (e.g., gel permutation chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, reversed phase column chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography (hplc)), or mass spectrometry, for example, and preferably mass spectrometry. determination of regioselectivity can be performed by peptide mapping, for example. peptide mapping can be performed by protease (e.g., trypsin and chymotrypsin) treatment and mass spectrometry, for example. for the protease, an endoprotease is preferred. examples of such an endoprotease include trypsin, chymotrypsin, glu-c, lys-n, lys-c, and asp-n. determination of the number of the introduced thiol group can be performed by electrophoresis, chromatography, or mass spectrometry, for example, and preferably mass spectrometry. the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof can be purified as appropriate by any method such as chromatography (e.g., chromatography described above and affinity chromatography). 5. conjugates of antibody and functional substances or salt thereof the present invention provides a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substances or a salt thereof, which comprises a structural unit represented by the following formula (iv): wherein ig indicates an immunoglobulin unit containing two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in a side chain of a lysine residue present at the position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, o indicates an oxygen atom, s indicates a sulfur atom, z indicates a functional substance, la indicates a first linker, the number of atoms constituting a main chain in the first linker is 2 to 4, and the average ratio r of the amide bonds per the two heavy chains is 1.5 to 2.5. the immunoglobulin unit indicated by ig is as described above. the definitions, examples, and preferred examples of symbols, terms and expressions such as la (first linker) in formula (iv) are similar to those in formula above. the functional substance is not limited to a particular substance as long as it is a substance imparting any function to the antibody; examples thereof include drugs, labelling substances, and stabilizers; preferred are drugs and labelling substances. the functional substance may be a single functional substance or a substance in which two or more functional substances are linked with each other. the drug may be a drug to any disease. examples of such a disease include cancer (e.g., lung cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, renal cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer, prostatic cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, bone cancer, skin cancer, a brain tumor, and melanoma), autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases (e.g., allergic diseases, articular rheumatism, and systemic lupus erythematosus), brain or nerve diseases (e.g., cerebral infarction, alzheimer's disease, parkinson disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), infectious diseases (e.g., microbial infectious diseases and viral infectious diseases), hereditary rare diseases (e.g., hereditary spherocytosis and nondystrophic myotonia), eye diseases (e.g., age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa), diseases in the bone and orthopedic field (e.g., osteoarthritis), blood diseases (e.g., leukosis and purpura), and other diseases (e.g., diabetes, metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, liver diseases, renal diseases, lung diseases, circulatory system diseases, and digestive system diseases). the drug may be a prophylactic or therapeutic agent for a disease, or a relief agent for side effects. more specifically, the drug may be an anti-cancer agent. examples of the anti-cancer agent include chemotherapeutic agents, toxins, and radioisotopes or substances comprising them. examples of chemotherapeutic agents include dna injuring agents, antimetabolites, enzyme inhibitors, dna intercalating agents, dna cleaving agents, topoisomerase inhibitors, dna binding inhibitors, tubulin binding inhibitors, cytotoxic nucleosides, and platinum compounds. examples of toxins include bacteriotoxins (e.g., diphtheria toxin) and phytotoxins (e.g., ricin). examples of radioisotopes include radioisotopes of a hydrogen atom (e.g., 3 h), radioisotopes of a carbon atom (e.g., 14 c), radioisotopes of a phosphorous atom (e.g., 32 p), radioisotopes of a sulfur atom (e.g., 35 s ), radioisotopes of yttrium (e.g., 90 y), radioisotopes of technetium (e.g., 99m tc), radioisotopes of indium (e.g., 111 in), radioisotopes of an iodide atom (e.g., 123 i, 125 i, 129 i, and 131 i), radioisotopes of samarium (e.g., 153 sm), radioisotopes of rhenium (e.g., 186 re), radioisotopes of astatine (e.g., 211 at), and radioisotopes of bismuth (e.g., 212 bi). more specific examples of the drug include auristatin (mmae, mmaf), maytansine (dm1, dm4), pbd (pyrrolobenzodiazepine), ign, camptothecin analogs, calicheamicin, duocarmycin, eribulin, anthracycline, dmdna31, and tubricin. the labelling substance is a substance that makes detection of a target (e.g., a tissue, a cell, or a substance) possible. examples of the labelling substance include enzymes (e.g., peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, luciferase, and β-galactosidase), affinity substances (e.g., streptavidin, biotin, digoxigenin, and aptamer), fluorescent substances (e.g., fluorescein, fluorescein isothiocyanate, rhodamine, green-fluorescent protein, and red-fluorescent protein), luminescent substances (e.g., luciferin, aequorin, acridinium ester, tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) duthenium, and luminol), and radioisotopes (e.g., those described above) or substances comprising them. the stabilizer is a substance that makes stabilization of an antibody possible. examples of the stabilizer include diols, glycerin, nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, natural surfactants, saccharides, and polyols. the functional substance may also be a peptide, a protein, a nucleic acid, a low molecular weight organic compound, a sugar chain, a lipid, a high molecular polymer, a metal (e.g., gold), or a chelator. examples of the peptide include a cell membrane permeable peptide, a bloodbrain barrier permeable peptide, and a peptide medicament. examples of the protein include enzymes, cytokines, fragment antibodies, lectins, interferons, serum albumin, and antibodies. examples of the nucleic acid include dna, rna, and artificial nucleic acid. examples of the nucleic acid also include rna interference inducible nucleic acids (e.g., sirna), aptamers, and antisense. examples of the low molecular weight organic compound include proteolysis targeting chimeras, dyes, and photodegradable compounds. when the functional sutstance does not have a functional group that is likely to react with a thiol group, the functional sutstance may be derivatized to have such a functional group. the derivatization is common technical knowledge in the art (e.g., wo2004/010957 , us2006/0074008 , us2005/02386649 ). for example, the derivatization may be carried out using any cross-linking agent. alternatively, the derivatization may be carried out using a specific linker having a desired functional group. for example, such a linker may be capable of separating a functional substance and an antibody in a suitable environment (e.g., intracellular or extracellular) by cleavage of the linker. such linkers include, for example, peptidyl linkers that are degraded by specific proteases [e.g., intracellular proteases (e.g., proteases present in lysosomes, or endosomes), extracellular proteases (e.g., secretory proteases)] (e.g., usp6,214,345 ; dubowchik et al., pharma. therapeutics 83: 67-123 (1999 )), a linker that can be cleaved at a locally acidic site present in the living body (e.g., usp5,622,929 , 5,122,368 ; 5,824,805 ). the linker may be self-immolative (e.g., wo02/083180 , wo04/043493 , wo05/1192919 ). in the present invention, the derivatized functional substance is also simply referred to as "functional substance". in the formula (iv), the average ratio (r) of the amide bond per two heavy chains is the average ratio of the bonds between the immunoglobulin unit and the functional substance-containing group (number of functional substance-containing groups/immunoglobulin unit). such an average ratio is 1.5 to 2.5. such an average ratio may be preferably 1.6 or more, more preferably 1.7 or more, even more preferably 1.8 or more, and particularly preferably 1.9 or more. such an average ratio may also be preferably 2.4 or less, more preferably 2.3 or less, even more preferably 2.2 or less, and particularly preferably 2.1 or less. more specifically, such an average ratio is preferably 1.6 to 2.4, more preferably 1.7 to 2.3, even more preferably 1.8 to 2.2, and particularly preferably 1.9 to 2.1. preferably, the structural unit represented by formula (iv) may be the structural unit represented by the following formula (iv'): wherein ig, o, s, z and r are the same as those of the above formula (iv), and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 each independently indicate a hydrogen atom or a substituent. the definitions, examples and preferred examples of substituents represented by r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 in formula (iv') is the same as those of the above-mentioned substituent which may be possessed by the group constituting the main chain in the first linker. preferably, the structural unit represented by formula (iv') may be the structural unit represented by the following formula (iv"): wherein ig, o, s, z and r are the same as those of the above formula (iv). the conjugate or salt thereof of the present invention can be obtained by reacting the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of the present invention with a functional substance. such a reaction can be carried out under a condition that cannot cause denaturation/degradation of a protein (immunoglobulin/antibody) (e.g., cleavage of an amide bond) (mild conditions as described above). as the functional substance, a substance having an arbitrary functional group capable of reacting with a thiol group under mild conditions can be used, but it is preferable to use a functional group that easily reacts with the thiol group. examples of such a functional group include a maleimide group, a disulfide group, an α-haloketone, an α-haloamide, a benzyl bromide, and an iodoalkyl group. alternatively, when the functional substance does not have a functional group that easily reacts with the bioorthogonal functional group, the functional substance derivatized as described above can be used. in the reaction, the molar ratio of the functional substance to the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof (functional substance/ thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof) is not particularly limited, since it varies depending on factors such as the type of the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof and the functional substance and reaction time. it is, for example, 2 or more, preferably 3 or more, and more preferably 5 or more. in order to sufficiently react a functional substance with the thiol group of the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative in a short reaction time, a sufficient amount (eg, excess amount) of the functional substance with respect to the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof can be used. the determination of the formation of the conjugate or salt thereof, which depends on its specific raw materials and the molecular weight of a product, can be performed by electrophoresis, chromatography (e.g., gel permutation chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, reversed phase column chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography (hplc)), or mass spectrometry, for example, and preferably mass spectrometry. determination of regioselectivity can be performed by peptide mapping, for example. peptide mapping can be performed by protease (e.g., trypsin and chymotrypsin) treatment and mass spectrometry, for example. for the protease, an endoprotease is preferred. examples of such an endoprotease include trypsin, chymotrypsin, glu-c, lys-n, lys-c, and asp-n. determination of the number of the introduced functional substance can be performed by electrophoresis, chromatography, or mass spectrometry, for example, and preferably mass spectrometry. the conjugate or salt thereof can be purified as appropriate by any method such as chromatography (e.g., chromatography described above and affinity chromatography). 6. uses the compound or salt thereof of the present invention can regioselectively modify an antibody at the position288/290, for example. consequently, the present invention provides a reagent of derivatizing an antibody, comprising the compound or salt thereof of the present invention. the reagent of the present invention may be provided in a form of a composition further comprising other components. examples of such other compounds include solutions and stabilizers (e.g., antioxidants and preservatives). among solutions, aqueous solutions are preferred. examples of aqueous solutions include water (e.g., distilled water, sterilized distilled water, purified water, and a physiological saline solution) and buffers (e.g., an aqueous phosphoric acid solution, a trishydrochloric acid buffer, a carbonic acid-bicarbonic acid buffer, an aqueous boric acid solution, a glycine-sodium hydroxide buffer, and a citric acid buffer); buffers are preferred. the ph of solutions is e.g., 5.0 to 9.0 and preferably 5.5 to 8.5. the reagent of the present invention can be provided in a liquid form or a powder form (e.g., freeze-dried powder). the intermediate antibody or salt thereof of the present invention and the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative or salt thereof of the present invention are useful as intermediates for preparing a conjugate of an antibody and a functional substance or a salt thereof, for example. the conjugate or salt thereof of the present invention is useful as pharmaceuticals or reagents (e.g., diagnostic reagents and reagents for research), for example. in particular, the conjugate or salt thereof of the present invention regioselectively modified with a functional substance and having an average bonding ratio of an antibody and a functional substance which is in a desired rage (1.5 to 2.5) is useful as pharmaceuticals. it is reported that when the number of bonds and the bond positions of a drug of an antibody drug conjugate (adc) are changed, pharmacokinetics, a releasing rate of the drug, and effects change. given these circumstances, nextgeneration adcs are required to control the number and positions of a drug to be conjugated. it is believed that when the number and positions are constant, the problems of expected efficacy, variations in conjugate medicines, and lot difference, or what is called regulation, will be solved. therefore, the conjugate or salt thereof of the present invention can solve such a problem of regulation. the conjugate or salt thereof of the present invention having a functional substance may be provided in the form of a pharmaceutical composition. the pharmaceutical composition may comprise a pharmaceutically allowable carrier in addition to the conjugate or salt thereof of the present invention. examples of the pharmaceutically allowable carrier include, but are not limited to, excipients such as sucrose, starch, mannitol, sorbitol, lactose, glucose, cellulose, talc, calcium phosphate, and calcium carbonate; binders such as cellulose, methylcellulose, hydroxypropylcellulose, polypropylpyrrolidone, gelatin, gum arabic, polyethylene glycol, sucrose, and starch; disintegrators such as starch, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxypropyl starch, sodium hydrogencarbonate, calcium phosphate, and calcium citrate; lubricants such as magnesium stearate, aerosil, talc, sodium lauryl sulfate; aromatics such as citric acid, menthol, glycyl lysine ammonium salts, glycine, and orange powder; preservatives such as sodium benzoate, sodium hydrogen sulfite, methylparaben, and propylparaben; stabilizers such as citric acid, sodium citrate, and acetic acid, suspensions such as methylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and aluminum stearate; dispersants such as surfactants; diluents such as water, a physiological saline solution, and orange juice; and base waxes such as cacao butter, polyethylene glycol, and refined kerosene. the conjugate or salt thereof of the present invention may also have any modification (e.g., pegylation) achieving stability. examples of preparations suitable for oral administration include liquid medicines dissolving an effective amount of a ligand in a diluted solution such as water, a physiological saline solution, or orange juice; capsules, sachets, and tablets comprising an effective amount of a ligand as a solid or granules; suspension medicines suspending an effective amount of an active ingredient in an appropriate dispersion medium; and emulsions dispersing a solution dissolving an effective amount of an active ingredient in an appropriate dispersion medium to be emulsified. the pharmaceutical composition is suitable for nonoral administration (e.g., intravenous injection, hypodermic injection, intramuscular injection, local injection, and intraperitoneal administration). examples of the pharmaceutical composition suitable for such nonoral administration include aqueous or nonaqueous, isotonic, aseptic injection medicines, which may comprise an antioxidant, a buffer, a bacteriostat, a tonicity agent, or the like. examples thereof also include aqueous or nonaqueous, aseptic suspension medicines, which may comprise a suspension, a solubilizing agent, a thickener, a stabilizer, an antiseptic, or the like. the dose of the pharmaceutical composition, which varies by the type and activity of an active ingredient, the severity of diseases, an animal type as a subject to be dosed, the drug receptivity, body weight, and age of a subject to be dosed, or the like, can be set as appropriate. examples the present invention is explained by the following examples in more detail, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. [example 1: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-her2 antibody using the compound and analysis thereof] (1-1) synthesis of igg1 fc binding peptide the peptide of ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc-nh 2 (seq id no: 2), which are affinity substance for soluble proteins, were synthesized by fmoc solid-phase synthetic methods. a liberty blue manufactured by cem was used as a peptide synthesizer. all reagents from watanabe chemical industries were used. resin were double-coupled with fmoc-nh-sal-peg resin, hl, arginine (r), cysteine (c), and histidine (h). the excision from resin was carried out under stirring for 3 hours in trifluoroacetic acid:water:triisopropylsilane:ethanedithiol=94:2.5:1.0:2.5. after excision, resin was removed by filtration and trifluoroacetic acid was removed. diethyl ether was added to the resulting crystals, followed by ether precipitation, and the resulting white crystals were collected by filtration. this was dissolved in 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid aqueous solution and subjected to reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography using octadodecyl group chemically bonded silica gel as a filler, and eluted with a mixed solution of water and acetonitrile containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid, and the fractions were confirmed by lc-ms. fractions containing the product were collected, and only acetonitrile was removed by concentration under reduced pressure, followed by lyophilization. (1-2) forming an intramolecular disulfide bond at cys of positions 5 and 34 of ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc-nh 2 (seq id no: 2) the peptide synthesized in (1-1) was dissolved in dmso and 0.1 m tris-hcl ph 8.0 was added. to this solution was added the glutathione oxidized form and stirred at room temperature for 20 hours. the reaction was stopped by adding an aqueous 2 m trifluoroacetic acid solution to the reaction solution, which was dissolved in a 0.05% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid solution, and subjected to reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography using octadodecyl group chemically bonded silica gel as a filler, and eluted with a mixed solution of water and acetonitrile containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid, and the fractions were confirmed by lc-ms. the fraction containing the product was collected, and the acetonitrile was removed by concentration under reduced pressure, followed by lyophilization to obtain the target substance (20.0 mg, 4.70 µmol). ms(esi) m/z:z=4 1063.65[m+4h] 4+ , z=5 851.15[m+5h] 5+ (1-3) synthesis of the thioester linker (1-3-1) 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid (1 g, 5.0 mmol) was solved in thf(10 ml) and dmf (100 µl) and oxalylchloride(1.5 ml, 15.0 mmol) was added at 0°c and stirred at 0°c for 15 minutes and at room temperature for 1 hour. then, benzenethiol (1.53 ml, 15.0 mmol), pyridine (4 ml, 50 mmol) and ch 2 cl 2 (10 ml) were added at 0°c, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 3 hours. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1), the crystals were removed, extracted with ethyl acetate and 1 m hydrochloric acid aqueous solution, and the organic layers were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvent, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (1.2 g, 3.04 mmol). (1-3-2) the compound (1.2 g, 3.04 mmol) synthesized in (1-3-1) was dissolved in a mixed solvent of dmf/h 2 o=5/1, tcep•hcl (1.74 g, 6.08 mmol) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1), the reaction was extracted with ethyl acetate and water, and then the organic layer was concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (1.18 g, 6.5 mmol). (1-3-3) the compound (200 mg, 1.10 mmol) synthesized in (1-3-2) was dissolved in acetonitrile (2.0 ml), and glutaric anhydride(125.5 mg, 1.10 mmol), dmap(6.72 mg, 0.06 mmol), and pyridine(0.22 ml) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 hours. after confirming the reaction with tlc (dichloromethane/methanol=10/1), the reaction was extracted with ethylacetate and 0.5 m hcl, and the organic layers were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of dichloromethane and methanol, and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (dichloromethane/methanol=10/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (135 mg, 0.45 mmol). (1-3-4) to the compound (134 mg, 0.45 mmol) synthesized in (1-3-3), ch 2 cl 2 (2.25 ml) and triethylamine (157 µl, 1.13 mmol) were added and dissolved. pentafluorophenyl trifluoroacetic acid (154 µl, 0.90 mmol) was added at 0°c and stirred for 1 h. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=3/1), the reaction solutions were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=3/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (96 mg, 0.20 mmol) . 1 h nmr (400 mhz, chloroform-d) δ = 7.44 (s, 5h), 3.23 (t, j=6.9, 2h), 3.01 (t, j=6.9, 2h), 2.77 (dt, j=14.5, 7.3, 4h), 2.16 (t, j=7.3, 2h). (1-4) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2. ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc-nh 2 (seq id no: 2) synthesized in (1-2) (30.0 mg, 7.06 µmol, where two cysteine at positions 5 and 34 each forms a disulfide bond in the molecule) was dissolved in n,n-dimethylformamide (1.00 ml), a thioester linker (96.0 mg, 201 µmol) synthesized in (1-3) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. this was dissolved in a 0.05% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid solution and subjected to reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography using octadodecyl group chemically bonded silica gel as a filler, and eluted with a mixed solution of water and acetonitrile containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid, and the fractions were confirmed by lc-ms. the fraction containing the product was collected, and the acetonitrile was removed by concentration under reduced pressure, followed by lyophilization to obtain the above linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator (15.8 mg, 3.48 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1136.80[m+4h] 4+ (1-5) specific modification of the anti her2 igg antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (1-4) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reactant was replaced with ammonium 20 mm acetate buffer and the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, trastuzumab as a raw material was observed to show a peak at 148223. the product identified a peak 152660 with one binding peptide introduced, a peak 157093 with two binding peptides introduced, and a peak 161528 with three introduced ( fig. 7 ) . (1-6) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (1-5), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, it is observed that the raw material trastuzumab had a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439, and the product shows peak at 55033 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and the light chain had a peak at 23439 which was the same as the raw material ( fig. 8 ). (1-7) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (1-5), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software), and the results are shown in table 2. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-2 was 2.0. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 2.0) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] table-tabl0002 table 2 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152660 6.23e+003 4.56 2 157093 1.22e+005 89.26 3 161528 8.44e+003 6.18 (1-8) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group hydroxylamine solutions were added to the antibodyintermediates obtained in (1-7) in accordance with the previous report ( wo2019/240287a1 ) and allowed to stand at room temperature for 1 hour. after 2 hours, the compound was replaced with 20 mm pbs buffer, 10 mm edta (ph 7.4) to obtain a thiol group-introduced antibody derivative. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the peak was confirmed at 148409 at which the cleavage proceeded. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] (1-9) peptide mapping by trypsinization the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in (1-8) was subjected to peptide mapping in the following steps. (1-9-1) trypsinization of the thiol-introduced trastuzumab to 1.5 ml low-adsorption microtest tube, 10 µl of the sample solution, 50 mm ammonium hydrogencarbonate buffer solution, and 10 µl of 20 mm dithiothreitol aqueous solution dissolved in 40% trifluoroethanol were added, and after heating at 65°c for 1 hour, 10µl of an 50 mm iodoacetamide aqueous solution was added, and the mixture was allowed to react for 30 minutes at room temperature under light shielding. after the reaction, 40µl of 50 mm ammonium bicarbonate buffer was added and stirred, and 10 µl of 20 ng/µl of trypsin aqueous solution was added and enzymatically digested at 37°c for 16 hours. after digestion, 2 µl of 20% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid solution was added to stop the reaction, and lc-ms/ms was measured. (1-9-2) lc-ms/ms determination of trastuzumab (analyzer) nano hplc:easy-nlc 1000 (thermo fisher scientific) mass spectrometer: tribrid mass spectrometer orbitrap fusion (thermo fisher scientific) (hplc assay) trap column : acclaim pepmap ® 100,75 µ m × 2 cm (thermo fisher scientific) analytical columns: esi-column(ntcc-360/75-3-125, 75 µm × 12.5 cm, 3 µm (nikkyo technos co., ltd.) mobile phase a: 0.1% formic acid in water mobile phase b: 0.1% formic acid, acetonitrile solution loading solution: 0.1% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid solution flow rate: 300 nl/min sample injection volume: 1 µl gradient conditions (b%): 2% (0.0-0.5 min), 2% → 30% (0.5-23.5 min), 30% → 75% (23.5-25.5 min), 75% (25.5-35.0 min) (mass spectrometer analysis conditions) ionization method: esi, positive scan type: data dependent aquisition activation type:collision induced dissociation(cid) data were acquired using the attached software xcalibur 3.0 (thermo fisher scientific) and thermo orbitrap fusion tune application 2.0 (thermo fisher scientific). (1-9-3) analysis of trastuzumab modification sites modification site analysis on the lc-ms/ms measurement result was performed using biopharma finder 3.0 (thermo fisher scientific). analysis with biopharma finder was performed with s/n threshold set to 1 and ms noise level set to 0.01% of the peak-top strength. the digestive enzyme was set to trypsin and specificity to high. static modification was set as a modification of cysteine residue by iodoacetamide, carbamidomethyl (+57.021da). for dynamic modifications, oxidations of methionine residues (+15.995da) and modifications to lysine residues (thiol-introduced product that is carbamidomethylated with iodoacetamide (+145.019da)) were established. in addition, filters were set so that confidence score was 80 or more, mass accuracy at the time of identification was 5ppm or less, and only those for which ms/ms was observable. regarding the residue number of the lysine residue, the heavy chain vh domain and the light chain are indicated by the number in the sequence (i.e., the first amino acid at the n-terminal end; the same shall apply hereinafter), and the heavy chain ch1, ch2, ch3 domain is indicated by eu numbering. in addition, (1) and (2) shown in fig. 9 were used as the data of the amino acid sequence to be searched for the modification site. (1-9-4) analysis of trastuzumab modification sites by lc-ms/ms analysis using lc-ms/ms revealed that ms spectra (found: m/z 577.03606, theoretical value: 577.03557, 4 values) of the peptide fragment fnwyvdgvevhnaktkpr (seq id no: 10) which is a peptide consisting of 18 amino acids including a modification site of trastuzumab to lysine residue by tryptic digestion of trastuzumab (thiol introduced product (+145.019da) which is carbamidomethylated by iodoacetamide) were observed ( fig. 10 ), and m/z 682.13 (theoretical value: 682.01) corresponding to a trivalent y16 showing modification of the lysine residue at position 288 or 290 of the heavy chain according to eu numbering was confirmed from cid spectrum ( fig. 11 ). analysis with biopharma finder also showed that the modification to the lysine residue at position 288 or 290 occurred highly selectively ( fig. 12 ). the results showed that the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in (1-8) above were conjugating at lys288 and lys290 of the heavy chain of the antibody according to eu numbering. [example 2: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification and analysis of an anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab using the compound] (2-1) synthesis of thioester linker (2-1-1) the compound (295 mg, 1.62 mmol) synthesized in (1-3-2) was dissolved in ch 2 cl 2 (13.5 ml) and 3-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)benzoic acid (300 mg, 1.35 mmol), dipea (700 µl, 2.03 mmol), and pybop (843 mg, 1.62 mmol) were added and stirred at normal temperature for 1 h. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1), the reaction solutions were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (259 mg, 0.64 mmol). (2-1-2) the compound (259 mg, 0.64 mmol) synthesized in (2-1-1) was dissolved in a mixed solution of ch 2 cl 2 and tfa=1/1, and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. after confirming that the reaction solution had fallen to the starting point with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1), the reaction solution was concentrated and then dried under reduced pressure to obtain the above compound (227 mg, 0.66 mmol). (2-1-3) to the compound (227 mg, 0.66 mmol) synthesized in (2-1-2), ch 2 cl 2 (3.3 ml) and triethylamine (230 µl, 1.65 mmol) were added and dissolved. pentafluorophenyl trifluoroacetic acid (225 µl, 1.32 mmol) was added at 0°c and stirred for 1 h. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=3/1), the reaction solutions were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=3/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (175.3 mg, 0.34 mmol) . 1 h nmr (400 mhz, chloroform-d) δ = 8.79 (t, j=1.8, 1h), 8.43 (dt, j=7.8, 1.5, 1h), 8.30 (dt, j=7.9, 1.5, 1h), 7.70 (t, j=7.8, 1h), 7.45 (s, 4h), 3.45 (t, j=6.9, 2h), 3.14 (t, j=6.9, 2h). (2-2) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2. ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc-nh 2 (seq id no: 2) synthesized in (1-2) (seq id no: 2) (30.0 mg,7. 06 µmol, where two cysteine at positions 5 and 34 each forms a disulfide bond in the molecule) was dissolved in n,n-dimethylformamide (1.00 ml), a linker (72.0 mg, 141 µmol) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. this was dissolved in a 0.05% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid solution and subjected to reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography using octadodecyl group chemically bonded silica gel as a filler, and eluted with a mixed solution of water and acetonitrile containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid, and the fractions were confirmed by lc-ms. the fraction containing the product was collected, and the acetonitrile was removed by concentration under reduced pressure, followed by lyophilization to obtain the aforementioned linked product of peptide thioester-thiophenol activator (10.0 mg, 2.19 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1145.6[m+4h] 4+ (2-3) specific modification of anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (2-2) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. mass is measured by esi-tofms. as a result, it was observed that the raw material trastuzumab showed a peak at 148223 and a peak at 152691 with one bonding peptide introduced, a peak 157163 with two bonding peptides introduced, and a peak at 161634 with three introduced were confirmed ( fig. 13 ). (2-4) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab under reducing conditions by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (2-3), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 55067 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and a peak at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 14 ). (2-5) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (2-3), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in table 3. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-3 was 2.0. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 2.0) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] table-tabl0003 table 3 dar peak observed mass(da) peak area %area 1 152691 5.74e+003 4.25 2 157163 1.26e+005 93.33 3 161634 3.27e+003 2.42 (2-6) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (2-5) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). (2-7) peptide mapping by trypsinization the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in (2-6) was subjected to peptide mapping in the following step. (2-7-1) trypsinization of the thiol-introduced trastuzumab trypsinization of the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in (2-6) was performed in the same manner as in (1-9-1). (2-7-2) lc-ms/ms determination of trastuzumab lc-ms/ms was measured in the same manner as in (1-9-2) . (2-7-3) analysis of trastuzumab modification sites analysis was performed in the same manner as in (1-9-3) . (2-7-4) analysis of trastuzumab modification sites by lc-ms/ms analysis using lc-ms/ms revealed that ms spectra (found: m/z 577.03571, theoretical value: 577.03557, tetravalent) of the peptide fragment fnwyvdgvevhnaktkpr (seq id no: 10) which is a peptide consisting of 18 amino acids including a modification site of trastuzumab to lysine residue by tryptic digestion of trastuzumab (thiol introduced product (+145.019da) which is carbamidomethylated by iodoacetamide) were observed ( fig. 15 ), and m/z 682.41 (theoretical value: 682.01) corresponding to a trivalent y16 showing modification of the lysine residue at position 288 or 290 of the heavy chain according to eu numbering was confirmed from cid spectrum ( fig. 16 ). analysis with biopharma finder also showed that the modification to the lysine residue at position 288 or 290 occurred highly selectively ( fig. 17 ). from the above, it was found that the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in the above (2-6) were conjugated to lys288 and lys290 of the heavy chain according to eu numbering in a regioselective manner. [example 3: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-her2 antibody using the compound and analysis thereof] (3-1) synthesis of thioester linker (3-1-1) the compound (220 mg, 1.21 mmol) synthesized in (1-3-2) was dissolved in ch 2 cl 2 (12.0 ml) and adipic acid (530 mg, 3.63 mmol), dipea (314 µl, 1.82 mmol), and pybop (755 mg, 1.45 mmol) were added and stirred for 1 h at normal temperature. after confirming the reaction with tlc (dichloromethane/methanol=10/1), the reaction solutions were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of dichloromethane and methanol, and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (dichloromethane/methanol=10/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (205 mg, 0.63 mmol). (3-1-2) to the compound (205 mg, 0.63 mmol) synthesized in (3-1-1), ch 2 cl 2 (3.15 ml) and triethylamine (220 µl, 1.58 mmol) were added and dissolved. pentafluorophenyl trifluoroacetic acid (215µl, 1.26mmol) was added at 0°c and stirred for 1 h. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=3/1), the reaction solutions were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=3/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (200 mg, 0.41 mmol). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, chloroform-d) δ = 7.44 (s, 5h), 3.20 (t, j=7.0, 2h), 3.00 (t, j=6.9, 2h), 2.66 (dt, j=28.3, 7.4, 5h), 1.79 (ddt, j=20.4, 15.2, 7.5, 5h), 1.57 - 1.38 (m, 3h) . (3-2) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2. ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc-nh 2 (seq id no: 2) (seq id no: 2) synthesized in (1-2) (30.0 mg, 7. 06 µmol, where two cysteines at positions 5 and 34 each forms a disulfide bond in the molecule) was dissolved in n,n-dimethylformamide (1.00 ml), a linker (69.0 mg, 141 µmol) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. this was dissolved in a 0.05% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid solution and subjected to reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography using octadodecyl group chemically bonded silica gel as a filler, and eluted with a mixed solution of water and acetonitrile containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid, and the fractions were confirmed by lc-ms. the fraction containing the product was collected, and the acetonitrile was removed by concentration under reduced pressure, followed by lyophilization to obtain the aforementioned linked product of peptide thioester-thiophenol activator (7.5 mg, 1.65 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1140.50[m+4h] 4+ (3-3) specific modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (3-2) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. mass is measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab had a peak at 148223. a peak 152676 with one binding peptide introduced, a peak 157126 with two binding peptides introduced, and a peak 161572 with three introduced were confirmed ( fig. 18 ). (3-4) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (3-3), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 55048 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and a peak at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 19 ). (3-5) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (3-3), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in table 4. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-4 was 1.9. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 1.9) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 1.9.] table-tabl0004 table 4 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152676 1.71e+004 13.70 2 157126 1.01e+005 81.15 3 161572 6.43e+003 5.15 (3-6) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (3-5) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). [example 4: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-her2 antibody using the compound and analysis thereof] (4-1) synthesis of the thioester linker (4-1-1) tbu-3-sulfanylpropanoate(500 mg, 3.08 mmol) was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (7 ml), triethylamine (0.64 ml, 4.62 mmol) was added, and then malonyl chloride (0.15 mg, 1.54 mmol) was added at 0°c and stirred for 3 hours. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1), the reaction solutions were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (104 mg, 0.26 mmol). (4-1-2) the compound (104 mg, 0.26 mmol) synthesized in (4-1-1) was dissolved in a mixed solution of ch 2 cl 2 and tfa=1/1, and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. after confirming that the reaction solution had fallen to the starting point with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=5/1), the reaction solution was concentrated and then dried under reduced pressure to obtain the above compound (104 mg, 0.37 mmol). (4-1-3) to the compound (104 mg, 0.37 mmol) synthesized in (4-1-2), ch 2 cl 2 (1.85 ml) and triethylamine (130 µl, 0.93 mmol) were added and dissolved. n-succinimidyltrifluoroacetate (156 mg, 0.74 mmol) was added at 0°c and stirred for 1 h. after confirming the reaction with tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=1/1), the reaction solutions were concentrated. it was eluted with a mixed solution of hexane and ethyl acetate, and the fractions were confirmed by tlc (hexane/ethyl acetate=1/1). fractions containing the product were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the organic solvents, followed by vacuum-drying to obtain the above compound (66.8 mg, 0.14 mmol). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, chloroform-d) δ = 3.84 (s, 2h), 3.28 (t, j=6.9, 2h), 3.19 (t, j=6.8, 2h), 3.00 (t, j=6.8, 2h), 2.74 (t, j=6.8, 2h). (4-2) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2. ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikddc-nh 2 (seq id no: 2) synthesized in (1-2) (seq id no: 2) (29.7 mg, 7.00 µmol, where two cysteines at positions 5 and 34 each forms a disulfide bond in the molecule) was dissolved in n,n-dimethylformamide (1.00 ml), a linker (66.8 mg, 0.14 mmol) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 hours. this was dissolved in a 0.05% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid solution and subjected to reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography using octadodecyl group chemically bonded silica gel as a filler, and eluted with a mixed solution of water and acetonitrile containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid, and the fractions were confirmed by lc-ms. the fraction containing the product was collected, and the acetonitrile was removed by concentration under reduced pressure, followed by lyophilization to obtain the linked product of thioester linker-nhs activator (13 mg, 2.82 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1153.10[m+4h] 4+ (4-3) specific modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (4-2) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. mass was measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab had a peak at 148223. a peak 152722 with one binding peptide introduced, a peak 157215 with two binding peptides introduced, and a peak 161708 with three introduced were confirmed ( fig. 20 ). (4-4) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (4-3), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50594 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 55091 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and a peak at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 21 ). (4-5) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (4-3), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in table 5. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-5 was 1.8. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 1.8) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 2, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 1.8.] table-tabl0005 table 5 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152722 4.47e+005 24.92 2 157215 1.21e+006 67.20 3 161708 1.22e+005 6.78 (4-6) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (4-5) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). [example 5: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-her2 antibody using the compound and analysis thereof] (5-1) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 3. the linker was attached to ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikedc-nh 2 (seq id no: 3) synthesized by the method described in (1-1) (30.0 mg, 7. 06 µmol, where two cysteines at positions 5 and 34 each formed an intramolecular disulfide bond) in the same manner as in example 2 (2-2) to obtain the linked product of peptide thioester-thiophenol activator (10.0 mg, 2.19 µmol). ms(esi)m/z:z=4 1145.6[m+4h] 4+ (5-2) specific modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (5-1) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. mass was measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab had a peak at 148223. a peak 152707 with one binding peptide introduced, a peak 157188 with two binding peptides introduced, and a peak 161676 with three introduced were confirmed ( fig. 22 ). (5-3) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (5-2), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 55077 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 23 ). (5-4) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (5-2), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in table 6. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-6 was 2.0. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 2.0) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 3, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] table-tabl0006 table 6 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152707 6.90e+003 2.22 2 157188 2.96e+005 95.07 3 161676 8.47e+003 2.72 (5-5) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (5-4) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). [example 6: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-her2 antibody using the compound and analysis thereof] (6-1) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 4. the linker was attached to ac-fnmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec-nh 2 (seq id no: 4) synthesized by the method described in (1-1) (30.0 mg, 7.06 µmol, where two cysteines at positions 5 and 34 each formed an intramolecular disulfide bond) in the same manner as in example 2 (2-2) to obtain the linked product of thioester linker-thiophenol activator (22.2 mg, 4.82 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1152.4[m+4h] 4+ (6-2) specific modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (6-1) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. mass was measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab had a peak at 148223. a peak 152720 with one binding peptide introduced, a peak 157216 with two binding peptides introduced, and a peak 161716 with three introduced were confirmed ( fig. 24 ). (6-3) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab under by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (6-2), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 55091 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and a peak at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 25 ). (6-4) confirmation of the peptide/antibody bonding ratio of the specific modified form of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (6-2), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in tables 7. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-7 was 2.0. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 2.0) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 4, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] table-tabl0007 table 7 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152720 5.84e+003 2.31 2 157216 2.41e+005 95.07 3 161716 6.65e+003 2.63 (6-5) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (6-4) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). [example 7: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety, and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-antibody her2 trastuzumab using the compound and analysis thereof] (7-1) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 5. the linker was attached to ac-nmqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec-nh 2 (seq id no: 5) synthesized by the method described in (1-1) (30.0 mg, 7.06 µmol, where two cysteines at positions 5 and 34 each form a disulfide bond in the molecule) in the same manner as in example 2 (2-2) to obtain the linked product of peptide thioester-thiophenol activator (12.0 mg, 2.69 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1115.8[m+4h] 4+ (7-2) specific modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (7-1) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. mass was measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab peaked at 148223. a peak 152573 in which one binding peptide was introduced and a peak 156927 in which two binding peptides were introduced were confirmed ( fig. 26 ). (7-3) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab under reducing conditions by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (7-2), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 54942 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and a peak at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 27 ). (7-4) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (7-2), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in table 8. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-8 was 2.0. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 2.0) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 5, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] table-tabl0008 table 8 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152573 9.84e+004 9.08 2 156927 1.11e+006 90.92 (7-5) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (7-4) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). (7-6) peptide mapping by trypsinization the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in (7-5) was subjected to peptide mapping in the following step. (7-6-1) trypsinization of the thiol-introduced trastuzumab trypsinization of the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in (7-5) was performed in the same manner as in (1-9-1). (7-6-2) lc-ms/ms determination of trastuzumab lc-ms/ms was measured in the same manner as in (1-9-2) . (7-6-3) analysis of trastuzumab modification sites analysis was performed in the same manner as in (1-9-3) . (7-6-4) analysis of trastuzumab modification sites by lc-ms/ms analysis using lc-ms/ms revealed that ms spectrum (found: m/z 769.04506, theoretical value: 769.04482, trivalent) of the peptide fragment of fnwyvdgvevhnaktkpr (seq id no: 10) which is a peptide consisting of 18 amino acids including a modification site of trastuzumab to lysine residue by tryptic digestion of trastuzumab (thiol introduced product (+145.019 da) which is carbamidomethylated by iodoacetamide) were observed ( fig. 28 ), and a product ion of m/z 1022.71 (theoretical value: 1022.51) corresponding to a divalent y16 showing modification of the lysine residue at position 288 or 290 of the heavy chain according to eu numbering was confirmed from cid spectrum ( fig. 29 ). analysis with biopharma finder also showed that the modification to the lysine residue at position 288 or 290 occurred highly selectively ( fig. 30 ). the results showed that the thiol-introduced trastuzumab obtained in the above (7-5) were regioselectively conjugating to lys288 and lys290 of the heavy chain according to eu numbering. [example 8: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-her2 antibody using the compound and analysis thereof] (8-1) linkage between peptide and linker both of the two aforementioned amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 6. the linker was attached to ac-mqcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec-nh 2 (seq id no: 6) synthesized by the method described in (1-1) (30.0 mg, 7.06 µmol, where two cysteines at positions 5 and 34 each formed a disulfide bond in the molecule) in the same manner as in example 2 (2-2) to obtain the linked product of peptide thioester-thiophenol activator (16.8 mg, 3.87 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1087.3[m+4h] 4+ (8-2) specific modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (8-1) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab had a peak at 148223. a peak 152457 with one binding peptide introduced, a peak 156692 with two binding peptides introduced, and a peak 160929 with three introduced were confirmed ( fig. 31 ). (8-3) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (8-2), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. as a result, the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 54829 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and a peak at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 32 ). (8-4) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (8-2), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in table 9. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in fig. 9 was 2.0. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 2.0) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 of the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 6, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] table-tabl0009 table 9 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152457 1.74e+004 3.08 2 156692 5.22e+005 93.53 3 160929 1.89e+004 3.39 (8-5) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (8-4) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). [example 9: synthesis of an affinity substance to a soluble protein, a cleavable moiety and a reactive group (linked product of peptide thioester linker-thiophenol activator), and modification of an anti-her2 antibody using the compound and analysis thereof] (9-1) linkage between peptide and linker both of the above two amino acid sequences are the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 7. the linker was attached to ac-qcqrrfyealhdpnlneeqrnarirsikeec-nh 2 (seq id no: 7) synthesized by the method described in (9-1) (30.0 mg, 7.06 µmol, where two cysteines at positions 5 and 34 each formed an intramolecular disulfide bond) in the same manner as in example 2 (2-2) to obtain the linked product of thioester linker-thiophenol activator (14.1 mg, 3.35 µmol). ms(esi) m/z: z=4 1054.4[m+4h] 4+ (9-2) specific modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and analysis by esi-tofms the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (9-1) was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. the raw material trastuzumab peaked at 148223 as measured by esi-tofms. a peak of 152236 in which one binding peptide was introduced, 156430 in which two binding peptides were introduced, and 160541 in which three binding peptides were introduced were confirmed ( fig. 33 ). (9-3) confirmation of heavy chain selectivity of specific modified trastuzumab by esi-tofms analysis under reducing conditions to the antibody-peptide complex produced in (9-2), 2 µl of 100 mm tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (equivalent to the antibody) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. the raw material trastuzumab was observed to have a heavy chain peak at 50596 and a light chain peak at 23439. the reactants had a peak at 54698 in which one linker was introduced into the heavy chain and a peak at 23439 in which the light chain was the same as the starting material ( fig. 34 ). (9-4) confirmation of peptide/antibody bonding ratio of specific modifications of trastuzumab by dar calculator for ms data analyzed in (9-2), the peptide/antibody bonding ratio was confirmed by dar calculator (agilent software). the results are shown in table 10. the average peptide/antibody bonding ratio calculated from dar peak and % area in table-10 was 2.0. therefore, the production of an antibody intermediate represented by the following structural formula (average peptide/antibody bonding ratio: 2.0) was confirmed. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains and forms an amide bond with a carbonyl group adjacent to ig via an amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering; y represents an affinity peptide represented by the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 7, the average ratio r of the amide bonds per two heavy chains is 2.0.] table-tabl0010 table 10 dar peak observed mass (da) peak area %area 1 152236 1.24e+004 7.09 2 156430 1.57e+005 89.82 3 160541 5.41e+003 3.09 (9-5) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative was obtained by subjecting the antibody intermediate obtained in (9-4) to the cleavage reaction of the thioester group described in (1-8) to obtain the thiol group-introduced antibody derivative described in (1-8). (summary of examples 1 to 9) the relationship between the linker length and the peptide/antibody bonding ratio (par) in the compounds of the examples was examined. compounds of formula (i) in which the number of atoms constituting the main chain linking the reactive moiety with the lysine residue at position 288/290 of the heavy chain in the immunoglobulin unit [x (leaving group)-c=o] and the binding moiety with the affinity peptide [o=c-y (affinity peptide)] is 7 to 9 (in the compound of formula (i), the total number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker correspond to the number of atoms of 5 to 7) showed the average par in the desired range (1.5 to 2.0). table-tabl0011 table 11. relationship between linker length and bonding ratio in example compounds (1) example chemical structure linker length 1) bonding ratio 2) 1 7 2.0 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 2 7 2.0 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 3 8 1.9 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 4 9 1. 8 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 5 7 2.0 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 3 1) linker length: the number of atoms constituting the main chain connecting the reactive moiety with the lysine residue at position 288/290 of the heavy chain in the immunoglobulin unit [x (leaving group)-c=o] and the binding moiety with the affinity peptide [o=c-y (affinity peptide)] 2) bonding ratio: bonding ratio of peptide to antibody (peptide/antibody) (the same shall apply hereinafter) table-tabl0012 table 12. relationship between linker length and bonding ratio in example compounds (2) example chemical structure linker length 1) bonding ratio 2) 6 7 2.0 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 4 7 7 2.0 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 5 8 7 2.0 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 6 9 7 2.0 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 7 [reference examples 1 to 5] the following linked product of peptide thioester-nhs activator or linked product of peptide thioester-thiophenol activator was synthesized with reference to the above embodiment, and the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab was analyzed by specific modification and esi-tofms. in addition, as in the examples, the peptide/antibody bonding ratio (par) of a specific modification of trastuzumab was confirmed by dar calculator. as a result, a compound having a linker length of 6 or less or 11 or more atoms (in the compound represented by the formula (i), the total number of atoms constituting the main chain in the first linker and atoms constituting the main chain in the second linker correspond to the number of atoms of less than 4, or 9 or more atoms) exhibited average par of 0.5 or less. table-tabl0013 table 13. relationship between linker length and bonding ratio in reference example compounds ref. example chemical structure linker length 1) bonding ratio 2) 1 6 0.5 or less the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 2 6 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 3 11 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 4 11 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 5 12 the above amino acid sequence: seq id no: 2 [example 10: regioselective modification of different multiple target regions with igg1 fc affinity peptide reagents and synthesis of antibody-drug conjugates] (10-1) preparation of thiol-group-introduced antibody derivatives by regioselective modification of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab and subsequent cleavage of the thioester group the peptide reagent described in the previous report ( wo2019/240287a1 ) was dissolved in dimethylformamide so as to be 10 mm. 500 µg of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab (chugai pharmaceutical co., ltd.) was dissolved in 200 µl (20 µm) of 20 mm sodium acetate buffer (ph 5.5), and 3.38 µl of 10 mm peptide reagent (10 equivalents to the antibody) was added and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. subsequently, hydroxylamine solutions were added according to the previous report ( wo2019/240287a1 ) and allowed to stand at room temperature for 1 hour. the resulting thiol-introduced antibody was measured by esi-tofms. a peak at 148760 at which cleavage by hydroxylamine proceeds was confirmed. given that the peptide reagents described below are reagents that allow modification of the lysine residue at positions 246/248 of igg heavy chain, it is believed that the lysine residue at positions 246/248 of igg heavy chain was modified with the peptide reagents described below. the aforementioned amino acid sequence is the amino acid sequence of seq id no: 11. (10-2) regioselective modification of different multiple target regions of the anti-her2 antibody trastuzumab thiol-transfected antibody solutions synthesized in (10-1) were replaced with 50 mm hepes buffer (ph 8.2). to this solution, 10 equivalents of a dimethylformamide solution of the linked product of peptide linker synthesized in (3-2) was added to the antibody, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. the reaction solution was replaced with 20 mm ammonium acetate buffer. mass of the obtained antibody was measured by esi-tofms. as a result, a peak 157531 in which two binding peptides were introduced to the thiol-introduced antibody synthesized in (3-2) was confirmed. (10-3) preparation of thiol group-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of thioester group hydroxylamine solutions were added to the antibody-intermediates obtained in (10-2) in accordance with the previous report ( wo2019/240287a1 ) and allowed to stand at room temperature for 1 hour. after 2 hours, the compound was replaced with 20 mm pbs buffer, 10 mm edta (ph 7.4) to obtain a thiol-group-introduced antibody derivative. the masses were measured by esi-tofms. the peak was confirmed at 148760 at which the cleavage proceeded. therefore, it was confirmed that the obtained thiol group-introduced antibody derivative had the following structure. [where ig represents an immunoglobulin unit (igg) comprising two heavy chains and two light chains, and forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via the amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 288/290 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering, and also forms an amide bond with the carbonyl group adjacent to ig via the amino group in the side chain of the lysine residue present at position 246/248 in the two heavy chains according to eu numbering. the average ratios r (288/290) and n (246/248) of the amide bonds per two heavy chains as assessed were 1.9 and 2.0, respectively.] (10-4) preparation of thiol-introduced antibody derivatives by cleavage of drug mimic thioester group to a solution (20 µm) of the thiol-group-introduced antibody obtained in (10-3) in buffer (ph 7.4, pbs buffer) was added 10 equivalents of a dmf solution (1.25 mm) of a mc-vc-pab-mmae of ( org. process res. dev. 2019, 23 ,12, 2647-2654 ), and the mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature for 2 hours, followed by purification using nap-5 columns (ge healthcare co., ltd.) to obtain a adc. the masses were measured by esi-tofms and peaked at 154029 where four mc-vc-pab-mmae were introduced. [sequence listing]
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059-740-722-477-260
|
US
|
[
"WO"
] |
C12M3/00,G01N25/54
| 2007-11-06T00:00:00 |
2007
|
[
"C12",
"G01"
] |
hand-held explosive detection system
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the present invention is a hand-held device for determining the presence of a chemical on a subject. the device has a housing with a handle having a proximal end and a distal end, a battery pack removably connected to the distal end of said handle, and a sampling interface, integrally connected to the proximal end of the handle on said housing. the sampling interface has raised surface areas that allow for agitation of the subject surface to ensure that a maximum sample portion is obtained. the device also includes a disposable cartridge removably connected to the housing at the proximal end, a sampling sub-system operably connected to the sampling interface, a suction inlet for collecting samples into the detection system, a dispensing sub- system operably connected to the sampling sub-system, and a color detection sub-system operably connected to the sampling sub-system.
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claims we claim: 1. a hand-held device for determination of the presence of a chemical on a subject, comprising: a housing, further comprising a handle for using the device, having a proximal end and a distal end, a battery pack removably connected to said distal end of said handle on said housing, and a sampling interface, integrally connected to said proximal end of said handle on said housing, wherein said sampling interface comprises raised surface areas that allow for agitation of the subject surface to ensure that a maximum sample portion is obtained; a disposable cartridge, removably connected to said housing at the proximal end; a sampling sub-system, operably connected to said sampling interface, further comprising a suction inlet for collecting samples into the detection system; a dispensing sub-system, operably connected to said sampling sub-system; and a color detection sub-system, operably connected to said sampling sub-system. 2. the hand-held device of claim 1 , wherein the color detection sub-system comprises a colorimeter. 3. the hand-held device of claim 1 , wherein the battery pack is replaceable or rechargeable. 4. the hand-held device of claim 1 , wherein the battery pack further comprises at least one battery pack removal button. 5. the hand-held device of claim 1 , wherein the disposable cartridge further comprises a top cartridge cover, at least one reagent container, a main cartridge enclosure, a substrate reel, and a bottom cartridge cover. 6. the disposable cartridge of claim 5, further comprising a pressure release interface, for removing the disposable cartridge from the system. 7. the disposable cartridge of claim 5, wherein said substrate reel further comprises at least one sampling area of interest and at least one analysis area of interest. 8. the substrate reel of claim 7, wherein the substrate reel comprises a chemically coated paper and is pre-treated with at least one chemical reagent. 9. the disposable cartridge of claim 5 wherein said a chemical reagents container contains at least one reagent container column. 10. the disposable cartridge of claim 9, wherein each reagent container contains a maximum of 2000 μl of test fluid. 11. the disposable cartridge of claim 10, further comprising at least one reagent container orifice for reagent dispensing. 12. the disposable cartridge of claim 11, wherein the reagent container orifice is used to deposit at least one chemical reagent onto the area of interest. 13. the hand-held device of claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a gear mechanism. 14. the hand-held device of claim 13 wherein the gear mechanism is a stepper motor gear assembly having a drive pinion mounted on a stepper motor for advancing the substrate reel on the disposable cartridge using rotational movement, wherein the disposable cartridge comprises a drive pulley bobbin and a paper bobbin. 15. a method for obtaining and analyzing a sample using a hand-held explosive detection system, comprising: activating a power switch to power on the system; positioning a subject in a designated location; initiating a scan by activating a start test button; moving the system along the surface of the subject to be scanned; collecting a trace sample; analyzing the collected sample to determine whether the collected sample contains explosives; and indicating whether a color presence is detected on a display.
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hand-held explosive detection system field of invention the present invention generally relates to the field of explosive detection systems, and more specifically to the detection of trace materials. more specifically, the present invention relates to hand-held systems and techniques for detecting the presence of trace chemicals, and in particular, explosives on the clothing or skin of a person. still more specifically, the present invention relates to a trace explosives detection system that can be used as a first pass screening solution. background of the invention trace detection machines are being used with increasing frequency for securing public locations. trace detectors are used to detect and identify trace quantities of contraband, such as explosives and narcotics, on the surfaces of objects such as luggage, parcels, and clothing. trace detection systems are based, in principle, on the idea that trace amounts of explosive materials, chemicals and/or contraband will be transferred to the body of a person who handled the material. trace materials may also be transferred from the body to any article that the person may wear or carry. currently, various detection systems and devices are employed to detect the presence of contraband on the body or luggage of individuals entering the secure area. contraband is not limited to weapons and arms, but, rather, it includes explosives (fireworks, ammunition, sparklers, matches, gunpowder, signal flares); weapons (guns, swords, pepper sprays, martial arts weapons, knives); pressurized containers (hair sprays, insect repellant, oxygen/propane tanks); poisons (insecticides, pesticides, arsenic, cyanide); household items (flammable liquids, solvents, bleach); and corrosives (acids, lye, mercury). conventional trace detection sampling techniques include chemical sniffers, swab-based systems, and vapor detection systems. conventional swab-based trace detection systems operate by swabbing an appropriate material across a purse, suitcase or other article that has been handled by a person under inspection. the swab is then inserted into a trace detection apparatus which subsequently tests for and detects the presence of a chemical contained in typical contraband. - i - chemical sniffers are commonly used for the detection of certain types of explosives; however, they are currently not effective in detecting all types of existing explosives. manual searching of subjects is slow, is inconvenient, and is usually not sufficient for detecting trace chemical materials on a subject on the order of 1 gram or less. chemical reagents color technology (crct) is a reliable, conventional technique used to detect explosive micro-particles of different types. however, conventional crct techniques employ a manual sampling procedure and manual analysis. typically, a sample is obtained by manually wiping the suspect surface with a test paper. the subsequent analysis is made by dropping a series of chemical reagents onto the test paper. a chemical interaction between the reagents and the collected explosive microscopic particles is generally indicated by the presence or appearance of a color on a white test paper. a color appearance generally reliably indicates the presence of an explosive chemical. conventional vapor detection systems attempt to provide trace material contraband testing without physically contacting the person under inspection or articles of interest that the person under inspection may be transporting. certain prior art devices comprise walk-through portals for screening a person. such prior art devices create a flow of air in the area of the portal in an effort to entrap the vapors (and thus, the particles contained in the vapors) of interest in a continuously flowing air stream. the air stream, containing vapors (or particles) of interest, is then transported to a detector for identification of vapors (or particles) of interest. in addition, some prior art systems further comprise a filter to absorb target particles. the above-mentioned prior art devices are disadvantageous in that they draw a significant volume of air from outside the area of the portal, substantially diluting the concentration of vapors (or particles) of interest in the air stream that is transported towards the detector. for example, united states patent number 6,073,499 (the '"499 patent"), assigned to penn state research foundation, describes "a portal for collecting substances of interest from a human subject passing therethrough, said portal comprising a plurality of sidewalls spaced from one another sufficiently to define a passage extending therebetween, said sidewalls defining an entry to said passage and an exit therefrom, said entry, said exit and said passage being dimensioned for accommodating passage of the human subject through said portal, a ceiling extending across and connecting top portions of said sidewalls and covering said passage, portions of said ceiling adjacent said passage defining a collector, said collector comprising fan means for collecting air heated by body heat of the human subject and rising upwardly adjacent the human subject as a human thermal plume of heated air at a flow rate on the order of approximately 30-50 liter/sec, said fan means being operative for accommodating the air in the human thermal plume without substantial dilution of air in the human thermal plume by extraneous air". certain prior art trace detection systems, such as the system described in the '499 patent, describe the use of air jets to dislodge particles of interest from clothing. air jets, however, can create turbulence that may disrupt the efficient upward flow of air in the natural thermal plume surrounding the human under inspection. additionally, air jets have the potential of creating air flow patterns that will draw significant volumes of air from the ambient surroundings, thereby reducing the concentration of the particles of interest in the flow of air directed to the detector. further, air sampling portal machines tend to be less reliable as they are not designed or intended for high clutter areas and may pick up stray environmental particles that yield a false positive. although the detection portal of the '499 patent may be effective for detecting trace amounts of contraband that may have been deposited on the skin of a suspect, microscopic particles of contraband may very likely be trapped in the clothing of a suspect. further, the system described in the '499 patent is a portal system, and thus, cumbersome and requires a special allocated screening area. conventional trace detection systems often suffer from low throughput. prior art systems focus on material identification and discrimination, a process which can take minutes to hours, depending upon the technology employed. in order to help alleviate some of the sampling, throughput, and space requirement issues, systems have become more portable, and require less time to complete an analysis. but while next generation conventional trace explosive detection systems are more compact and achieve material identification, they still suffer from disadvantages. for example, one of the obstacles of using conventional trace detection systems is that the larger a given sample size, the longer the analysis time. thus, in using ion detection techniques or mass spectrometry, an operator must obtain a microgram or less of material to minimize analysis time. further, prior art trace detection systems often require extensive operator skill and training for material discrimination and analysis. for example, figure 1 shows several "portable" prior art trace explosive detection systems. as shown in figure 1, smiths ionscan® products 101 are legacy systems that are difficult to transport and require a time consuming process to perform material identification. more specifically, the ionscan® 101 detects and quantifies trace analytes using ion mobility spectrometry (ims), where the characteristic speed at which an ion moves is under the influence of an electric field, i.e., its ion mobility, is a distinct thumbprint that identifies the original substance. a solid or liquid sample is introduced to the analyzer by thermal desorption or direct injection. the resultant vapors are swept in through the inlet by the carrier gas and ionized. the product ions are gated into the drift tube and accelerated by an electric field toward the detector. air flows through the drift tube in a direction counter to the electric field. drift times depend on the size, shape, and mass of the ionized analyte and range from about 3 to 50 milliseconds. thus, operator skill in analyzing the resultant spectra may be necessary. more compact systems, such as the non-contact trace explosive detectors also suffer from operational and mechanical disadvantages. the sabre® 4000, by smiths, is a hand-held explosive detection system that also uses ion mobility spectrometry and is designed for specially trained emergency responders, not trained security personnel. further, the sampling tip of the smiths system suffers serious disadvantages due to its small size and thus, lower reliability in obtaining a trace sample. in addition, united states patent number 5,648,047 (the '"047 patent"), assigned to israel levy, describes "[a] hand-held device for colorimetric detection of a chemical obtained by sampling a surface of an object for enabling a large number of tests to be successively performed, the hand-held device comprising: (a) a housing having means for handling and using the handheld device, said housing including a sampling area and a testing area, said sampling area being formed as a tip, said tip being dimensioned and positioned for permitting the sampling of the surface of an object by wiping the surface of the object; (b) a roll of substrate for sampling materials suspected as including the chemical from the surface of the object; (c) a feeding reel being rotatably connected to said housing, said feeding reel accommodating said roll of substrate, said substrate extending at least from said feeding reel to said tip and said testing area; (d) at least one container for accommodating at least one detecting reagent, wherein said at least one detecting reagent is for the colorimetric detection of the chemical; and (e) at least one dispensing mechanism for dispensing a predetermined volume of said at least one reagent onto said substrate at said testing area." the '047 patent is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. the '047 patent suffers from several disadvantages, however. firstly, the system of the '047 patent focuses on colorimetric material identification, wherein the user has to determine the presence and identification of a chemical based upon a visual color change. secondly, some reagents, as also mentioned in united states patent number 5,296,380, which is herein incorporated by reference, quickly deteriorate when exposed to air and thus must be stored in a sealed ampoule prior to use. thirdly, the pointed tip that is employed for sample collection in the '047 patent has a reduced sampling size and thus may not effectively collect trace particles. further, the conventional systems described above suffer from low throughput, and thus, cannot be effectively used as a first pass screening solution. thus, what is needed is a hand-held trace material detection system that is capable of high throughput. accordingly, there is a need for a system that can quickly determine the presence of an explosive/chemical substance in a first pass screening. what is also needed is a hand-held trace material detection system that has a high probability of reliable detection and a low false alarm rate. what is also needed is a cost effective hand-held trace material detection system. what is also needed is a hand-held explosive detection system that can be used at a variety of locations without requiring an allocated screening area. what is also needed is a trace detection system that is capable of effectively dislodging particles of interest embedded in the clothing and skin of persons under inspection. what is also needed is a trace detection system with an improved air sampling mechanism. what is also needed is a trace detection system having an analysis sub-system and testing method in which at least one reagent has an extended shelf life. accordingly, what is needed is a sampling material that is treated with at least one reagent in a dry form for subsequent use in analysis. what is also needed is a trace detection system having an automatic analysis module to analyze sampled particles. what is also needed is a trace detection system that is capable of providing a fast "pass/no pass" (or "go/no go") indication to an operator of the system. summary of the invention it is an object of the present invention to provide for the detection of trace materials. more specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hand-held system and method for detecting the presence of trace chemicals, and in particular, explosives on the clothing or skin of a person. it is another object of the present invention to provide a trace explosives detection system that can be used as a rapid first pass screening solution. in one embodiment, the present invention is a hand-held device for determining the presence of a chemical on a subject, comprising: a housing, further comprising a handle for using the device, having a proximal end and a distal end, a battery pack removably connected to said distal end of said handle on said housing, and a sampling interface, integrally connected to said proximal end of said handle on said housing, wherein said sampling interface comprises raised surface areas (including bumps, protusions, extensions, or any other elevations from a planar surface) that allow for agitation of the subject surface to ensure that a maximum sample portion is obtained; a disposable cartridge, removably connected to said housing at the proximal end; a sampling sub-system, operably connected to said sampling interface, further comprising a suction inlet for collecting samples into the detection system; a dispensing sub -system, operably connected to said sampling sub-system; and a color detection sub-system, operably connected to said sampling sub-system. in one embodiment, the color detection sub-system comprises a colorimeter. in one embodiment, the battery pack is replaceable or rechargeable and further comprises at least one battery pack removal button. in one embodiment, the disposable cartridge further comprises a top cartridge cover, at least one reagent container, a main cartridge enclosure, a substrate reel, and a bottom cartridge cover. in another embodiment, the disposable cartridge further comprises a pressure release interface for removing the disposable cartridge from the system. in one embodiment, the substrate reel further comprises at least one sampling area of interest and at least one analysis area of interest. further, the substrate reel comprises a chemically coated paper and is pre-treated with at least one chemical reagent. in one embodiment, the chemical reagents container contains at least one reagent container column and a maximum of 2000 μl of test fluid and further has an orifice for reagent dispensing. in one embodiment, the reagent container orifice is used to deposit at least one chemical reagent onto the area of interest. in one embodiment, the hand-held device further comprises a gear mechanism, such as a stepper motor gear assembly having a drive pinion mounted on a stepper motor for advancing the substrate reel on the disposable cartridge using rotational movement, wherein the disposable cartridge comprises a drive pulley bobbin and a paper bobbin. in another embodiment, the present invention is a method for obtaining and analyzing a sample using a hand-held explosive detection system, comprising: activating a power switch to power on the system; positioning a subject in a designated location; initiating a scan by activating a start test button; moving the system along the surface of the subject to be scanned; collecting a trace sample; analyzing the collected sample to determine whether the collected sample contains explosives; and indicating whether a color presence is detected on a display. brief description of the drawings these and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated, as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 shows several prior art trace explosive detection systems; figures 2a and 2b illustrate top and side views, respectively, of a one embodiment of the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figures 3 a and 3b are top views of one embodiment of the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figure 4 illustrates a bottom side view of one embodiment of the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figure 5 a depicts one embodiment of the location of a sampling interface, as used in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figure 5b is a schematic diagram of the sampling interface shown in figure 5 a; figures 6a-6f show several views of a replaceable battery pack in its compartment, the replaceable battery pack while it is being removed from its compartment, and the replaceable battery pack alone, as used in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figure 7a shows one view of one embodiment of a disposable cartridge area for placing a disposable cartridge in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figures 7b-7d show several dimensional views of a disposable cartridge area for placing a disposable cartridge in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figure 8 is an expanded view of one embodiment of a disposable cartridge and its housing as employed in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; figure 9a is a depiction of the front side of one embodiment of a disposable cartridge, showing a pressure release interface, a sampling area of interest position, and an analysis area of interest position; figures 9b, 9c, and 9d are dimensional views of the pressure release interface assembly shown in figure 9a; figure 1oa is a depiction of the back side of one embodiment of a disposable cartridge, showing a reagents container and a pressure release interface; figures 1ob and 1oc are schematic diagrams of the reagents container shown in figure 1oa, shown both intact and taken apart, respectively; figure 1od is a schematic diagram of the stepper motor gear assembly used in the disposable cassette used in the system of the present invention; figures 1oe, 1of, and 1og are dimensional diagrams shown in several views of one embodiment of a disposable cassette used in the system of the present invention; figure 11 is a flow chart describing the operational steps of one embodiment of the handheld explosive detection system of the present invention; figure 12 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a sampling sub-system as used in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention; and figure 13 is an illustration of one embodiment of a display, an led indicator, and a start button that may be used in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention. detailed description of the invention the present invention is directed towards systems and methods for screening subjects at security locations while preserving the privacy of subjects and retaining the efficiency and thus, throughput, of the screening process. in particular, the present invention is directed towards a hand-held explosive detection system. still more particularly, the present invention is directed towards a stand-alone explosive detection system that is operator-friendly. in one embodiment, the present invention is directed towards a hand-held explosive detection system comprising a housing, a battery pack, a disposable cartridge, a sampling sub- system, a dispensing sub-system, and a color detection sub-system. in one embodiment, the housing further comprises a power on/off switch, a display, a disposable cartridge cover, a start test push button, at least one led, and an audible alarm, such as, but not limited to a buzzer. in one embodiment, the present invention is directed toward a hand-held trace material detection system that is capable of high throughput. further, the system of the present invention determines the presence of an explosive/chemical substance in a first pass screening. in one embodiment, the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention provides for a "go/no go" or "pass/no pass" approach to screening that is particularly effective in a first pass screening stage. in one embodiment, the present invention is directed towards a hand-held trace material detection system that has a high probability of reliable detection and a low positive false alarm rate. in one embodiment, the present invention is capable of providing sufficient flow-through rates to screen substantially all subjects, their belongings, and vehicles at crowded entry points such as, but not limited to train stations, metro stations, government buildings, shopping malls, military bases/infrastructures, medical centers, museums, libraries, and sports venues. in another embodiment, the present invention is capable of screening the interiors of cars and/or other vehicles that approach underground, indoor, and/or public parking structures. in another embodiment, the present invention is capable of screening the interior compartments of baggage and/or luggage. in another embodiment, the present invention is directed towards a cost effective hand- held trace material detection system. in yet another embodiment, the present invention is directed towards a hand-held explosive detection system that can be used at a variety of locations without requiring an allocated screening area. in still another embodiment, the present invention is directed towards a trace detection system that is capable of effectively dislodging particles of interest embedded in the clothing and skin of persons under inspection. in particular, the present invention is directed towards a trace detection system having an improved air sampling mechanism. in one embodiment, the system of the present invention has a detection sensitivity of 1 microgram of trace material. in another embodiment, the present invention is directed towards a trace detection system having an analysis sub-system and testing method in which at least one reagent has an extended shelf life. accordingly, the present invention is also directed towards a sampling material that is treated with at least one reagent in a dry form for subsequent use in analysis. in yet another embodiment, the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of several varieties of explosives, including, but not limited to military, commercial, and improvised explosives. in one embodiment, the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of polynitro aromatics, such as but not limited to tnt, tetryl, tnb, and picric acid and its salts. in another embodiment, the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of nitrate esters and nitramines, such as but not limited to rdx, petn, semtex, c4, smokeless powder, dynamite, and nitrocellulose. in another embodiment, the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of nitrate salts, such as but not limited to ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and urea nitrate. the present invention is directed toward multiple embodiments. language used in this specification should not be interpreted as a general disavowal of any one specific embodiment or used to limit the claims beyond the meaning of the terms used therein. figures 2a and 2b illustrate elevated side views of one embodiment of the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention, showing components and dimensions, respectively. in one embodiment, the hand-held explosive detection system 200 comprises an outer housing 210, a replaceable battery pack 220, a disposable cartridge area and housing cover (collectively referred to as the "scan head") 230, and a display 240. the explosive detection system of the present invention further comprises power on/off switch 250, start scan button 260, and removable or detachable belt strap 270. the explosive detection system of the present invention further comprises an air sampling sub-system (not shown), a dispensing sub-system (not shown), and a color detection sub-system (not shown). in one embodiment, the color detection sub-system comprises a colorimeter (not shown) that is low cost and provides a color appearance indication only. the operational characteristics of the air sampling sub-system, dispensing sub-system, and color detection sub-system are described in greater detail below with respect to figure 11. - i o - as shown in figure 2b, the relative dimensions of the hand-held explosive detection system, in one embodiment, are as follows: the length of scan head 230 is preferably 192mm. further, the thickness of scan head 230 is preferably 45 mm. still further, the overall height, or the thickest point of the explosive detection system of the present invention is, in one embodiment, no greater than 126 mm. it should be noted herein that in one embodiment, the housing components and enclosures are fabricated from plastic or antistatic plastic materials. further, the connectivity between the enclosure components is established by using snap and screw fittings, where necessary. common plastic materials and snap and screw fittings, as are known to those of ordinary skill in the art, may be employed in this invention. figures 3 a and 3b are top views of one embodiment of the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention further showing features of the housing and relative dimensions of the housing, respectively. referring now to figure 3a, in one embodiment, housing 300 comprises a battery pack portion 301, a handle portion 302, and a scan head portion 303. in one embodiment, battery pack portion 301 comprises a power on/off switch 305 and replaceable battery pack 325. in one embodiment, scan head portion 303 further comprises a display 310, a disposable cartridge cover 315, a start test push button 320, and leds 330. as shown in figure 3b the overall length 331 of the explosive detection system of the present invention is preferably 398 mm. in addition, the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention preferably comprises the following dimensions: scan head portion 303 has a width 335 of approximately 105 mm; battery pack portion 301 has a width 340 of approximately 109 mm and a battery pack portion length 301 of approximately 53 mm; handle portion 302 has a length 350 of approximately 113 mm and a linear width 355 of approximately 53 mm. it should be noted that the hand-held detection system described with respect to figures 2b and 3b has been fabricated with consideration towards human engineering and use. handle portion 302 is thus designed considering that it will be held by a human hand of varying sizes. thus, while the dimensions arrived at are not restrictive, the present invention has been configured for this specific dimensional configuration. it should be noted by one of ordinary skill in the art that as the sizes of the internal components change, the overall size of the system housing may be retrofitted to fit this requirement. - i i - figure 4 illustrates a bottom perspective view of one embodiment of the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention. as shown in figure 4, housing 400 further comprises sampling interface 405, which is located at the bottom surface of the scan head described above with respect to figures 2 and 3, and a cover 410 through which a rechargeable or replaceable battery pack can be inserted. figure 5a depicts one embodiment of a sampling interface, as used in the hand-held explosive detection system 500 of the present invention. in one embodiment, the sampling interface 505 comprises raised surface bumps 510 and a suction inlet 515. the raised surface bumps 510 of the scanning interface allows for agitation of the surface to ensure that a maximum sample portion is obtained. the sampling interface is connected to a sampling sub-system via suction inlet 515. the sampling sub-system and its operational characteristics are described in greater detail below with respect to figure 11. now referring to figure 5b, relative dimensions of the sampling interface described with reference to figure 5 a is shown. in one embodiment, sampling interface 505 has an elliptical area of about approximately 55 mm x 35 mm. in one embodiment, suction inlet 515 has an internal diameter of approximately 6.5 mm and a length of approximately 53 mm along the neutral axis from the point of trace particle entry to the deposit of the particles on the substrate. figures 6a-6f show different views of a replaceable battery pack compartment and replaceable battery pack, as used in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 6a, the replaceable battery pack is integrated into the distal end 610 of handle 615 of the hand-held explosive detection system 600 of the present invention. replaceable battery pack 605 further comprises at least one battery removal button 620, which in one embodiment, can be slid to remove the replaceable battery pack 605 from the explosive detection system for replacement or recharging. in one embodiment, two battery pack removal buttons 620 are employed, one on each side of the battery pack. as shown in figure 6b, the battery pack 605 is inserted into the distal end 610 of handle 615 of the handheld explosive detection system 600 of the present invention, in the direction of the arrow. as shown in figure 6c, battery pack 605 is removable and replaceable. in one embodiment, battery pack 605 is rechargeable. in one embodiment, battery pack 605 comprises at least one lithium- ion battery. in one embodiment, battery pack 605 comprises a plurality of individual lithium-ion batteries that are packaged with the necessary protection circuitry located on the inside of the outer plastic covering. in another embodiment, battery pack 605 is integrated with an enclosure for use in the hand-held explosive detection system 600 of the present invention. now referring to figures 6d-6f, the relative dimensions of the replaceable battery pack 605 are shown. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 6d, the replaceable battery pack 605 has an overall length 650 of approximately 143 mm and a length 655 of approximately 53 mm at the distal end portion 660 of replaceable battery pack 605. as shown in figure 6e, replaceable battery pack 605 has a width 670 of approximately 114 mm and a height 675 of approximately 80 mm. replaceable battery pack 605 is attached to the handle (not shown) of the system of the present invention at its proximal end 665, which has a diameter 680 of approximately 45 mm. figure 7a is a depiction of one embodiment of a disposable cartridge area for placing a disposable cartridge in the hand-held explosive detection system 700 of the present invention. as shown in figure 7a, disposable cartridge seating area 705 is located on the proximal end 709 of handle 710 of system 700. as will be described in greater detail below, disposable cartridges preferably comprise a shape that is identical to the disposable cartridge area 705, so that it fits into the hand-held explosive detection system with minimal mobility and maximum stability. in addition, referring to figure 7a, disposable cartridge area 705 optionally comprises a gear or turning mechanism 720 for advancing to a new testing area, the operation of which is described in greater detail below with respect to figures 9 a and 9b. figures 7b, 7c, and 7d are schematic diagrams showing dimensional details of the proximal end of handle 710, including cartridge seating area 705, described with respect to figure 7a. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 7b, the proximal end 709, including cartridge seating area 705, has overall maximum height 750 of approximately 86.2 mm. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 7c, proximal end 709 has an overall maximum length 755 of approximately 237.7 mm. and, as shown in figure 7d, in one embodiment, proximal end 709 has an overall maximum width 760 of approximately 108.6 mm. as shown in the figures, the cartridge seating area comprises a cavity having at least one gear mechanism, wherein the cavity is designed to mate with, and physically compliment, a disposable testing cartridge. figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the individual components of one embodiment of the disposable cartridge as used in the hand-held explosives detection system of the present invention. now referring to figure 8, disposable cartridge 800 comprises, in one embodiment, top cartridge cover 805, reagent containers 810, main cartridge enclosure 815, substrate reel 820, and bottom cartridge cover 825. the individual components of the disposable cartridge 800 will be described in greater detail below with respect to figures 9a-9d and 10a- 1og. in one embodiment, as shown in figures 9a and 1oa, the disposable cartridge is readily available as a complete unit that can be disposed of by the operator. it should be noted herein that the individual components are secured to each other, or integrally fitted by means known to those of ordinary skill in the art such that the components form a complete cartridge. in order to ensure that the disposable cartridge and its components are chemically inert, the components that are exposed to chemicals are made of polypropylene and glass filled. the glass filling increases the structural strength of the components. figure 9a is a depiction of the front side of one embodiment of a disposable cartridge, further showing a pressure release interface, a sampling area of interest, and an analysis area of interest. now referring to figure 9a, compact disposable cartridge 900 comprises a substrate reel or cassette (not shown) having individual "areas of interest" on the substrate, including sampling area of interest 905 and analysis area of interest 910. it should be noted that any number of areas of interest may be comprised in one substrate reel, depending on the requirements of the user. in one embodiment, each area of interest is on the order of 7mm x 10mm. a new collection area of interest is used for each test. in addition, a space of approximately 1 mm is left between each area of interest to prevent cross-contamination. further, as described in greater detail below, a new area of interest is only advanced after rotation of the turning mechanism referred to above. the used/tested areas of interest are wound on the gear pulley, which collects used areas of interest. in one embodiment, the system displays the number of tests remaining while the system is in use and also warns the operator by a message indication to change the cartridge when the intended number of uses is exhausted. in a first embodiment, the substrate reel comprises gauze pasted on a polypropylene based cellophane tape. preferably, the gauze is substantially pure cotton and has a network of sub-yarns that facilitate the capture of an available trace particle. in addition, since the loose yarn network stretches, the color appearance is amplified upon reaction with a chemical reagent. it should be noted that polypropylene -based cellophane tape is used because it is chemically inert to the chemical reagents that will be dispensed on the area of interest just after the sampling process in completed. it should thus be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that any chemically inert material that achieves the same purpose may be used. in another embodiment, the substrate reel is further coated with a layer of acrylic based adhesive material on the order of 25 to 50 microns thick. the acrylic-based adhesive material is employed since it does not dry out even when exposed to air for long periods of time. this ensures that any picked up trace particles attach to the area of interest upon impact. further, an advantage of the acrylic-based glue layer on the cellophane tape material is that it is naturally charged with electrostatic potential. thus, any particles of interest that are picked up will impact the area of interest with both velocity from the air flow and some electrostatic potential as well. in another embodiment, the substrate reel, and thus, the areas of interest are pre -treated with at least one chemical reagent. in one embodiment, the reagent is in powder form after being deposited onto the substrate reel. in one embodiment, the last reagent in a sequence of reagents is deposited onto the substrate reel in powder form. as will be described in further detail below, the use of one of the chemical reagents in powder form enables the use of a micro-dispensing technique. in addition, as described above, the micro-reagents have a long shelf life and can be stored for up to one year, unlike conventional chemical reagent configurations. the substrate reel described above is detailed pending israeli patent application no 187203 entitled "matrix for detection/ analysis of residue", filed on november 6, 2007, and assigned to aphelion ltd, which is incorporated herein by reference. in a second embodiment, the substrate reel comprises a chemically coated, black-line printed benck kot® paper. benck kot® paper (hereinafter, "bktpp") is a commercially available paper, which is a chemical paper sheet laminated with a polyethylene film (or other optically transparent film) on one side. in one embodiment, the black lines are printed on the bktpp poly film side. preferably, the bktpp is comprises a poly film having both a front side and a back side, further comprising an absorption paper layer on the back side, that facilitates the capture of available trace particles. in addition, since the absorption paper stretches, the color appearance is amplified upon reaction with a chemical reagent. it should be noted that the poly film of the bktpp is chemically inert to the chemical reagents that will be dispensed on the area of interest just after the sampling process is completed (described in further detail with respect to operational steps below). it should thus be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that any chemically inert material that achieves the same purpose may be used. in another optional embodiment, the bktpp reel, and thus, each individual area of interest, is pre -treated with at least one chemical reagent. in one embodiment, the reagent is in powder form after being deposited onto the bktpp reel. in one embodiment, the last reagent of a sequence of reagents is deposited onto the bktpp reel in powder form. as will be described in further detail below, the use of one of the chemical reagents in powder form enables the use of a micro-dispensing technique. in addition, the micro-reagents have a longer shelf life and can be stored for up to one year, unlike conventional chemical reagent configurations. referring back to figure 9a, disposable cassette 900 also comprises pressure release interface 915. preferably, the cartridge is placed in the hand-held detection system of the present invention. once the cartridge is exhausted, which is determined by the lack of fresh areas of interest as described above, the cartridge is removed from the system and a new cartridge is loaded into the system. the pressure release interface, shown in figure 9a as 915, is employed to remove the cartridge from the system. figures 9b, 9c and 9d are diagrams showing the relative dimensions of the pressure release module that is removably connected to pressure release interface 915. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 9b, pressure release module 916 has an overall height 950 of approximately 27 mm. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 9c, pressure release module has an overall length 955 of approximately 81.5 mm. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 9d, pressure release module has an overall width 960 of approximately 66.5 mm. in one embodiment, the pressure release module is designed to facilitate safe removal of the used disposable cartridge, since at the end of the testing life of the cartridge there is some residual liquid in the reagents container. the residual liquid in the containers will have some internal pressure. if the cartridge is abruptly removed from the system, the residual pressure in the reagents container will cause the liquids to spill out and may result in damage to the internal system components. the pressure release module is thus placed into the disposable cartridge at pressure release interface 915 to release the residual pressure and serve as a handle to remove the used cartridge from the main system. the pressure release module can be removed with the cartridge and disposed of with the cartridge. figure 1oa is a depiction of the back side of one embodiment of a disposable cartridge 1000 as shown in figure 8, showing a chemical reagents container 1005 having at least one container opening 1010 for reagent dispensing. the dispensing orifices 1010 are used for depositing chemical reagents onto the area of interest. in one embodiment, the orifices 1010 are punctured by a dispensing system interface (not shown) such that the reagent from the reagents containers (described below) are driven by their inherent pressure to the dispensing valves (not shown). figures 1ob and 1oc are expanded views of an individual reagents container 1005 and the internal components of the individual reagents containers 1005, respectively. in one embodiment, each individual reagent container is a hollow polypropylene cylinder having a length of approximately 72 mm and a diameter of approximately 9 mm. as shown in figure 1ob individual reagent container 1005 further comprises dispensing orifice 1010. it should be noted that the chemical reagents container 1005 may contain any number of separate columns for housing separate reagents and thus any number of corresponding container openings 1010 for reagent dispensing. in one embodiment, each reagent container 1005 contains a maximum of 2000 μl of test fluid. in another embodiment, each reagent container 1005 is filled to its maximum to account for built-in test capability and minor evaporation of the test fluid. the test fluids in the container are preferably sealed to prevent leakage and are stored under pressure to facilitate micro-dispensing. in one embodiment, the pressure within the reagents container is achieved using a spring. now referring back to figure 1oa, disposable cartridge further comprises a drive pulley bobbin and paper bobbin 1016. figure 1od illustrates one embodiment of a gear or turning mechanism that is located on the hand-held explosive detection system. in one embodiment, the turning mechanism is stepper motor gear assembly that is enabled via a drive pinion 1025 that is mounted on a stepper motor 1030. the substrate is spooled around paper bobbin 1016 and linked to the internal gear via its path. as the stepper motor is rotated, the rotational movement is transferred to the self-aligned driven pulley. the substrate is then pulled from the paper bobbin 1016 along its path. the paper bobbin 1016 has teeth that protrude outside the disposable cartridge. these teeth will be engaged with the drive gear of the stepper motor, when the cartridge is inserted into the system. this enables the substrate reel to change the area of interest for each movement of the stepper motor 1030. as mentioned above, each area of interest used in the previous test is wound on the gear pulley, which collects and spools the used areas of interest. figures 1oe, 1of, and 1og are schematic diagrams showing dimensional details of the disposable cartridge described with respect to figure 8. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 1oe, disposable cartridge 1000 has overall maximum height 1050 of approximately 43.5 mm. in one embodiment, as shown in figure 1of, disposable cartridge 1000 has an overall maximum length 1055 of approximately 81.5 mm. and, as shown in figure 1og, in one embodiment, disposable cartridge has an overall maximum width 1060 of approximately 85 mm. figure 11 is a flow chart describing the operational steps of one embodiment of the handheld explosive detection system of the present invention. to set-up the explosive detection system, the replaceable battery pack is gently slid into the battery pack area. to begin a screening operation, in step 1101, the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention is powered on. once the power button is on, power is supplied to the entire system. in step 1103, the system performs a built-in-test (bit) for confirmation of the internal module's functionality. if the bit is successful, then the system displays a "scan ready" message on the display. if the bit is unsuccessful, then the system displays a "system fail" message on the display. in one embodiment, the bit identifies the system failure and displays this on the hfred display. it should be noted herein that the area of interest of the substrate is already positioned in the sample collection area for collecting trace particles, since the reel is advanced at the end of each previous test. if a "scan ready" message is displayed, the operator proceeds to step 1105, where a subject is positioned in a designated location, such as at a security checkpoint in an airport. the operator then initiates the scan in step 1107 by depressing the start test push button. in step 1109, the operator then moves the hand-held explosive detection system along and on the scanned surface, such as the subject's clothing, skin, and/or belongings for sample collection. while the operator is scanning the subject, a sampling sub-system initiates the "sniffing" process, which allows the system to collect existing microscopic traces. as structurally described above with respect to figures 5a and 5b, and described in greater detail below, the microscopic trace particles are collected up by the scanning interface, which, in one embodiment, is a suction inlet. further, the raised surface bumps on the scanning interface allow for agitation of the surface in addition to scanning as much area as possible on the scanned subject to ensure that a maximum sample portion is obtained. the air flow moves in a direction opposite the screened subject and towards the lower side of the handle of the system. referring now to figure 12, a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a sampling subsystem as used in the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention is shown. in one embodiment, sampling sub-system 1200 comprises at least one air inlet or suction inlet 1210, at least one air outlet 1220, tube 1230, and area of interest or collection substrate 1240. as shown in figure 12, in one embodiment, sampling sub-system 1200 comprises two air outlets 1220a and 1220b. a miniature dc motor (not shown), a vacuum propeller (not shown), and tubing (not shown) are removably connected the outlet (not shown) of suction inlet 1210. the vacuum system is employed to create an air flow of tens of liters/minute at suction inlet 1210. in one embodiment, the volume of air drawn into the system is 60 liters/minute. in an optional embodiment, the sampling sub-system further comprises means for noise reduction and a shock absorber to minimize the noise and vibrations to both the subject and operator during the sampling process. in order to effectuate noise reduction, in one embodiment, the outer body is comprised of abs plastic. optionally, the vacuum pump, which aids in the suction process, may be framed and mounted with a silicon rubber support in a groove in the main enclosure to reduce space. this will effectively reduce noise and minimize shock effects. in one embodiment, and as described above, a disposable cartridge (not shown), comprises a substrate reel (not shown) and area of interest 1240 and reagent containers (not shown). the disposable cartridge is located proximate to the sampling sub-system for subsequent particle collection and analysis. a new area of interest 1240 is used for each test. in one embodiment, the disposable cartridge is located such that the area of interest 1240 is located at the center end of the sampling sub-system 1200. as the vacuum system begins the air flow, air from suction inlet 1210 is drawn on the collection substrate's active area of interest 1241. area of interest 1241 then attaches to the end 1242 of the sampling sub-system and seals end 1242 to ensure proper flow distribution. in one embodiment, the flow of air is divided symmetrically between air outlets 1220a and 1220b, thus enabling a possible trace particle to be deposited and attached symmetrically around and at approximately the center of area of interest 1241. in one embodiment, tube 1230 is a copper tube. as is well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, if the copper tube is electrically grounded, a near-"faraday cage" is formed. in using a "faraday cage", the present invention is advantageous in that it prevents electrostatic obstacles in the copper tube from capturing any picked up trace particles. in addition, in one embodiment, the internal surface of copper tube 1130 has a surface that is finished to a scale on the order of a few micrometers. copper surface finishing techniques are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, including but not limited to electro-polishing or electroplating, and will not be described in detail herein. since a 1 microgram explosive trace sample has a diameter on the order of 100 micrometers, the internal surface finish of the copper tube 1130 prevents mechanical obstacles in the copper tube from capturing any available trace particles. stated differently, both the "faraday cage" and finished internal surface of copper tube 1230 helps propagate the air flow towards area of interest 1241. trace explosives, in the form of microscopic particles, are trapped on the collection substrate during the sniffing process via the suction inlet. in step 1111, the substrate reel is advanced so that the area of interest is positioned proximate to the back of the disposable cartridge for chemical reagent analysis and color detection. thus, once the suction process is completed, the substrate reel, and thus the area of interest potentially containing microscopic particles, is advanced from the sampling area to the analysis area. as described above, the substrate is spooled around the paper bobbing and linked to the internal gear via its path such that when the internal gear is rotated the substrate is pulled from the paper bobbin along its path. in step 1113, a background color (rgb) measurement is made for a reference point. a subsequent analysis of the sample that may be present on the chemical substrate is performed, and involves micro-dropping a sequence of chemical reagents on the collection substrate. conventional spectroscopy techniques, such as ims, suffer from saturation issues. for example, if a sample size or sampled quantity is too large, the detection system becomes saturated. since the system becomes active after saturation, and requires increased analysis time, the next measurement would only be possible after the system is finished with that particular cycle. in one embodiment, the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention advantageously uses the chemical reagents for color detection and determination of a color appearance. as the size of the analyzed particle or sample portion increases, the color appearance strengthens and becomes easier to detect. thus, the size of the particle does not affect detection time and there are no saturation limitations. analysis is begun by dropping at least one chemical reagent on the area of interest. in one embodiment, the reagents are micro-dropped onto the area of interest. in one embodiment, the actual volume of chemical reagent that is dispensed is 1 μl to 2 μl. in one embodiment, the dropping approach is to drop one drop directly on top of the other in a sequence of chemical reactions. the small dispensed volume creates a color indication on the area of interest on the order of 5mm in diameter. as stated above, the system is capable of detecting the presence of several varieties of explosives, including, but not limited to military, commercial, and improvised explosives. in one embodiment, the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of polynitro aromatics, such as but not limited to tnt, tetryl, tnb, and picric acid and its salts. in another embodiment, the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of nitrate esters and nitramines, such as but not limited to rdx, petn, semtex, c4, smokeless powder, dynamite, and nitrocellulose. in another embodiment, the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of nitrate salts, such as but not limited to ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and urea nitrate. it should be noted herein that the present invention can be used to detect the presence of other chemical groups and thus, it should be understood to one of ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the present invention may be made to allow for increased detection capability. in principal, and in conventional systems, three chemical reagents are employed to enable detection of all above-mentioned groups of explosives. for example, reagent 1 is employed to detect the presence of polynitroaromatics, reagents 1 and 2 are employed to detect the presence of nitrate esters and nitramines, and reagents 1, 2, and 3 are employed to detect nitrate salts. in one embodiment of the present invention, several chemical reagents are employed. in one embodiment, reagent ia is 90% dmso plus 10% methanol. in one embodiment, reagent ib is tetra-butyl ammonium hydroxide. in one embodiment, reagent 2a is aqueous 4% sulfanilamide with 10% phosphoric acid. in one embodiment, reagent 2b is 0.4% neda with methanol. in one embodiment, reagent 3.00 is a 2% zinc solution with hexane. in one embodiment, reagents ia, ib, and 2a are in liquid or aqueous form, while reagents 2b and 3 are used in powdered form that is coated on the substrate. in one embodiment, the combination of reagents ia and ib are employed for the detection of tnt and like compounds. in one embodiment, the combination of reagents ia, ib, 2a, and 2b are employed for the detection of rdx and like compounds. in another embodiment, the combination of reagents 2a, 2b, and 3 are used for the detection of nitrates and like compounds. almog kraus, and glattstein, "etk-an operational explosive testing kit", journal of energetic materials, vol. 4, 159-167 (1986) is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. referring back to figure 11, in one embodiment, in step 1115, reagents are micro- dispensed in sequence onto the area of interest to detect the explosive groups as specified above. in step 1117, the explosive detection system then detects whether a color appears as a result of a chemical reaction between the chemical reagents and the trapped explosive traces on the collection substrate, via the color detection sub-system. the color appearance may be immediate or may take up to fifteen seconds. this is generally dependent upon temperature; for example, at higher temperatures, the color reaction is usually faster than at lower temperatures. in one embodiment, the color appearance at the area of interest is analyzed by a low cost colorimeter that provides a color appearance indication only. thus, the colorimeter provides an electro-optical front end detection system. in one embodiment, the detector is placed just behind the opposite side of the substrate and on the other side of the chemical dispensing side of the cellophane tape on the substrate reel. in one embodiment, the colorimeter combines three photodiodes having red, green and blue dye-based filters. based on the theory of trichromacy, three values, in this case r, g, and b, are necessary and sufficient to describe any color. in a color measurement application, a white light source, such as an incandescent lamp or white led is used to illuminate the sample. reflected light from the sample is directed to detector, either through a lens or via close proximity to the sample. in the case of a colored source, light from the source is directly incident on the detector. the three outputs from the detector are then processed to determine color, or rather, the presence of color. a temperature fluctuation may cause light fluctuations while illuminating the area of interest. further, the appearance of color is time dependent due to the chemical reaction of the reagents with the trace particles. still further, non-uniformity of the substrate's light reflection properties, since the substrate is made of chemical yarns may also affect the outcome of the system. in order to overcome these natural uncertainties, the present invention detects color by a relative change approach that insures detection to be almost independent of light intensity. it should be noted herein that a substantial advantage of the present invention is that it does not identify the explosive substance, but rather detects the presence or absence of color, where the presence of color is an indicator of the presence of a chemical of interest. this advantageously allows for higher throughput of the system, because the complex chemical identification analyses are not performed, as with conventional systems. referring back to figure 11, in step 1119, the results of the presence of color are then translated to the operator in the form of an audio and/or visual "pass/no pass" or "go/no go" indicator. as shown in figure 13, in one embodiment, the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention further comprises a display 1305 and two led indicators 1310. in one embodiment, one led indicator 1310 is red to indicate a "no go" or "no pass" and the other led indicator 1310 is green to indicate a "go" or "pass". if an explosive trace is detected, the audible alarm (not shown) will sound. if no explosive trace is detected, the audible alarm will not sound. in one embodiment, the display 1305 is capable of displaying at least one message. in one embodiment, the message is selected from, but is not limited to, the following list: "tests done/tests left", "bit fail", "replace battery", "insert cartridge", "ready", "go", "no go", "change cartridge", "temperature out of range", and "switch off system". if the system displays a "go", then steps 1115, 1117, and 1119 are repeated to ensure that no other threat is present. specifically, but not limited to such embodiment, reagent 2a is micro- dispensed onto the area of interest, which already contains a powdered form of reagent 2b. thus, the reaction of reagents 1 , 2a, and 2b and any trace particle of interest is employed to detect nitrate esters and nitroamines, such as but not limited to rdx. and finally, reagents 2b and 3, which are both contained in powdered form on the area of interest are activated by the two initial reactions and can thus be used to detect the presence of inorganic nitrates such as but not limited to potassium nitrate. in one embodiment, reagent 3 is in powdered form because it has a tendency to block the micro-dispenser, leaving an incomplete analysis. thus, the chemical reactions, in one embodiment, are not mutually exclusive, but rather additive. referring back to figure 11, if a subject is issued a "pass" or "go", in step 1119, then the subject is cleared and allowed to pass through the security checkpoint. if a subject is issued a "no pass" or "no go", then the subject is directed, in step 1119, to a second stage screening process. the second stage screening process may comprise any other security screening process as are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art for verifying whether a threat is present and/or identifying the nature of the potential threat material. in one embodiment, the hand-held explosive detection system of the present invention further comprises a metal detection capability. it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the electronic functions of the hand-held metal detector, in one embodiment, are controlled via an internal printed circuit board. the above examples are merely illustrative of the many applications of the system of present invention. although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, it should be understood that the present invention might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. therefore, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.
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061-757-298-466-476
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US
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[
"US"
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G06F17/30,G06Q30/02
| 2000-07-11T00:00:00 |
2000
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[
"G06"
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parsing navigation information to identify occurrences of events of interest
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a method, system and computer-readable medium for analyzing interaction or usage data, such as for customers, is described. the interaction or usage data may be stored in log files and supplemented with data from other sources. various data parsing information may be defined and used as part of the analysis, such as by using customer-specific information to identify various occurrences of interest. for example, when analyzing a customer's web site interaction data, the parser component can use data defining customer-specific types of web site events of interest. such high-level types of occurrences can be specified in a variety of ways, such as by using a combination of a logical web site, one or more uris corresponding to web pages, and/or one or more query strings. the data parsing information may also specify a mapping of actual web sites to one or more logical sites.
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1. a computer-implemented method for analyzing interaction data to identify occurrences of defined types of events, the method comprising: receiving an indication of interaction data that is associated with a content set and that has at least one entry, each entry related to an interaction with the content set by a human user; receiving an indication of at least one communication definition that specifies a manner of communicating content set interactions; receiving an indication of multiple event type definitions each specifying a type of interaction with the content set and each associated with one of the communication definitions; and for each entry of the interaction data, determining whether the entry matches one of the event type definitions in such a manner that the related interaction for the entry is of the type specified by that event type definition and was communicated in the manner specified by the communication definition associated with that event type definition; and when it is determined that the entry matches one of the event type definitions, storing an indication of an occurrence of that event type. 2. the method of claim 1 wherein the content set is a web site with multiple web pages. 3. the method of claim 1 wherein the content set is a group of multiple related web pages that are a subset of web pages of a web site. 4. the method of claim 1 wherein the content set is multiple related web sites each having multiple web pages. 5. the method of claim 1 wherein the content set is a group of related items. 6. the method of claim 1 wherein the content set is a service providing multiple features. 7. the method of claim 1 wherein the content set is an executing program providing various functionalities. 8. the method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions related to the interaction data entries includes specifying a uniform resource indicator. 9. the method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions related to the interaction data entries includes requesting that functionality be provided. 10. the method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions related to the interaction data entries includes supplying information. 11. the method of claim 1 wherein the manner of communicating content set interactions specified by each of the communication definitions includes using a specified ip address and port number to communicate information related to an interaction. 12. the method of claim 1 wherein the manner of communicating content set interactions specified by each of the communication definitions includes using a specified domain name to communicate information related to an interaction. 13. the method of claim 1 wherein the manner of communicating content set interactions specified by each of the communication definitions includes using a specified group of communication parameters to communicate information related to an interaction. 14. the method of claim 1 wherein the manner of communicating content set interactions specified by each of the communication definitions includes identifying a specified portion of the content set to which an interaction is to be communicated. 15. the method of claim 1 wherein the manner of communicating content set interactions specified by each of the communication definitions includes identifying a specified computing device or computer program provider to which an interaction is to be communicated. 16. the method of claim 1 wherein each of the interactions related to the interaction data entries includes specifying a uniform resource indicator, and wherein the type of interaction specified by each of the event type definitions includes a pattern capable of matching at least one uniform resource indicator. 17. the method of claim 1 wherein each of the communication definitions can be specified to match any manner of communicating content set interactions. 18. the method of claim 1 wherein each of the event type definitions can be specified to match any type of interaction with the content set. 19. the method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the entries are determined to match multiple of the event type definitions. 20. the method of claim 1 wherein each of the entries contain information related to the interaction for the entry, and wherein the determining that an entry matches an event type definition includes analyzing the information contained in the entry. 21. the method of claim 1 including receiving an indication of at least one exclusion definition that specifies a type of interaction, and wherein the determining of whether an entry matches one of the event type definitions is not performed if the related interaction for the entry is of a type that matches one of the exclusion definitions. 22. the method of claim 1 including receiving a request to provide information about occurrences of specified event types, and providing in response the stored indications of occurrences related to the specified event types. 23. the method of claim 1 wherein the determining of whether the interaction data entries match event type definitions is performed as a service for a customer. 24. a computer-implemented method for analyzing interaction data for a web site to identify occurrences of defined types of events, the method comprising: receiving an indication of multiple interaction data entries each containing information about an interaction with a web site by a human user that includes a specified url, each of the specified urls optionally including a url path portion and optionally including a query string portion, the contained information for each entry including any url path portion that is included in the specified url for the entry and including any query string portion that is included in the specified url for the entry; receiving an indication of multiple event type definitions that each specify a type of interaction, each event type definition having a url path pattern capable of matching at least one url path related to the interaction type and having a query string pattern capable of matching at least one query string related to the interaction type; and for each entry, analyzing the entry to determine whether the entry matches one of the event type definitions by containing information about an interaction of the type specified by that one event type definition, the matching such that the information contained in the entry includes a url path portion that matches the url path pattern specified in that one event type definition and includes a query string portion that matches the query string pattern specified in that one event type definition; and when it is determined that the entry matches one of the event type definitions, storing an indication of an occurrence of that event type for the web site. 25. a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed cause a computer system to analyze data for a web site to identify occurrences of defined types of interactions related to the web site, by performing a method comprising: receiving an indication of multiple data entries each containing information about an interaction related to a web site by a human user that includes a specified uri, each of the specified uris optionally including a path portion and optionally including a query string portion, the contained information for each entry including any path portion that is included in the specified uri for the entry and including any query string portion that is included in the specified uri for the entry; receiving an indication of multiple definitions that each specify a type of interaction, each definition having a path pattern capable of matching at least one uri path related to the interaction type and having a query string pattern capable of matching at least one query string related to the interaction type; and for each entry, analyzing the entry to determine whether the entry matches one of the definitions by containing information about an interaction of the type specified by that one definition, the matching such that the information contained in the entry includes a uri path portion that matches the path pattern specified in that one definition and includes a query string portion that matches the query string pattern specified in that one definition; and when it is determined that the entry matches one of the definitions, indicating an occurrence of an interaction of the type specified by that one definition. 26. a computer-implemented method for analyzing interaction data for a web site to identify occurrences of defined types of events, the method comprising: receiving an indication of multiple interaction data entries each containing information about a request by a human user that specifies a url corresponding to a web site, each of the specified urls optionally including a url path portion and optionally including a query string portion, the contained information about each request including any url path portion that is included in the specified url for the request and including any query string portion that is included in the specified url for the request; receiving an indication of multiple event type definitions that each specify a type of interaction, each event type definition including multiple event patterns that each specify a distinct combination of a url path pattern capable of matching at least one url path and a query string pattern capable of matching at least one query string; and for each entry, analyzing the entry to determine whether the entry matches one of the event type definitions by containing information about an interaction of the type specified by that one event type definition, the matching such that, for at least one of the event patterns included in that one event type definition, the information contained in the entry includes a url path portion and a query string portion that match the url path pattern and the query string pattern specified in that event pattern; and when it is determined that the entry matches one of the event type definitions, storing an indication of an occurrence of that event type for the web site. 27. the method of claim 26 wherein the contained information about each request further includes information related to a manner of identifying a web site server to which the request was sent, wherein each of the event type definitions is associated with a logical site definition that specifies a manner of identifying a web site server related to the web site, and wherein the determining that an entry matches an event type definition further includes determining that the information included in the entry that is related to the manner of identifying the web site server matches the manner of identifying a web site server specified by the logical site definition associated with that event type definition. 28. a computer-implemented method for analyzing usage data to identify occurrences of defined types of uses, the method comprising: receiving an indication of usage data associated with a provided service or an executing computer program, the usage data having multiple entries each related to a distinct use of the provided service or executing computer program by a human user that includes information being communicated; receiving an indication of multiple definitions each specifying a type of use and each associated with a manner of communicating information to the provided service or to the executing computer program; for each entry of the usage data, determining whether the entry matches one of the definitions such that the related use for the entry is of the type specified by that definition and such that the information communicated for the related use is communicated in the manner associated with that definition; and when it is determined that the entry matches one of the definitions, storing an indication of an occurrence of the type of use specified by that one definition. 29. a computer-readable storage medium containing a data structure that stores multiple definitions for event types so that occurrences of those event types in interaction data for a web site can be identified, the data structure having multiple entries each corresponding to an event type definition that specifies a type of interaction, each entry storing a url path pattern capable of matching at least one url path related to that type of interaction and a query string pattern capable of matching at least one query string related to that type of interaction, such that when analyzing information about an interaction with a web page of the web site by a human user having a specified url that optionally includes a url path portion and optionally includes a query string portion, if the web page is determined to be of the type specified by an event type definition then an occurrence of that event type is indicated, the web page determined to be of the type for an event type definition if the specified url includes a url path portion that matches the url path pattern specified for that event type definition and includes a query string portion that matches the query string pattern specified for that event type definition. 30. the computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein each of the entries further includes an indication of a logical site definition that specifies a manner of identifying a web site server related to the web site, such that, when the information about the interaction further includes information related to a manner of identifying a web site server with which the interaction occurred, the web page is determined to be of the type specified by an event type definition only if the information related to the manner of identifying the web site server matches the manner of identifying a web site server specified by the logical site definition indicated by that event type definition. 31. the computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the event type definitions corresponding to at least some of the entries each have multiple distinct combinations of a url path pattern and a query string pattern, the entry for each of those event type definitions further storing the multiple combinations of url path patterns and query string patterns of the event patterns for that event type definition, such that the web page is determined to be of the type specified by an event type definition having multiple combinations if, for any of those combinations, the information includes a url path portion that matches the url path pattern specified in that combination and includes a query string portion that matches the query string pattern specified in that combination. 32. the computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the stored query string patterns each indicate one or more query parameter names whose presence in a query string is required, allowed, or disallowed if that query string is to match the query string pattern, such that a query string portion of the information is determined to match the query string pattern specified for one of the event type definitions if the query string portion includes each of the query parameter names whose presence is indicated in that query string pattern to be required and does not include any of the query parameter names whose presence is indicated in that query string pattern to be disallowed. 33. the computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the stored url path patterns each include a static portion capable of matching a single corresponding portion of a url path and include a variable portion capable of matching multiple corresponding portions of url paths. 34. the computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 further containing a data structure having multiple entries that each store an exclusion definition that specifies a type of interaction, such that if the information being analyzed is of a type matching one of the exclusion definitions, the information will not be determined to match any of the event type definitions. 35. a computer-readable storage medium containing a data structure storing multiple definitions for event types so that occurrences of those event types can be identified in interaction data or usage data, the data structure having multiple entries each corresponding to an event type definition, each entry specifying a type of interaction and including an indication of a communication definition that specifies a manner of communicating information related to interactions or uses, so that when analyzing data about an interaction or use by a human user that indicates a manner in which related information was communicated, if the data matches one of the event type definitions in such a manner that the interaction or use is of the type specified by that event type definition and had related information that was communicated in the manner specified by the communication definition indicated by that event type definition, an occurrence of that event type can be identified. 36. a method for analyzing customer data to identify occurrences of defined types of events, the method comprising: receiving a request from a customer to analyze interaction or usage data for that customer; receiving an indication of analysis definitions for the customer that include at least one communication definition specifying a manner of communicating information and include multiple event type definitions each specifying a type of interaction or use and each associated with one of the communication definitions; receiving a first set of data for the customer that includes information about at least one interaction or uses; analyzing the received set of data to determine whether the received data includes information about any interactions or uses that match one of the event type definitions in such a manner that the interaction or use is of the type specified by that event type definition and had related information communicated in the manner specified by the communication definition associated with that event type definition; and when it is determined that the received data matches one of the event type definitions, providing information to the customer about an occurrence of that event type.
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cross reference to related applications this application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 10/005,224, filed dec. 5, 2001, now u.s. pat. no. 7,117,193, which is a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/613,847, filed jul. 11, 2000, now u.s. pat. no. 6,785,666, issued aug. 31, 2004, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. technical field the described technology relates to analyzing computer interaction or usage data, such as web site navigation information, to identify occurrences of events of interest. background today's computer networking environments, such as the internet, offer mechanisms for delivering documents and other information between heterogeneous computer systems. however, in order for a computer to communicate with another computer, the computer must be able to identify and contact that other computer. computers that are part of the internet each have a unique numeric identifier, called an “internet protocol address,” that other computers can use for communication. thus, when a communication is sent from a client computer to a destination computer over the internet, the client computer typically specifies the internet protocol (“ip”) address of the destination computer in order to facilitate the routing of the communication to the destination computer. for example, when a request for a world wide web page document (“web page”) is sent from a client computer to a web server computer (“web server” or “web site server”) from which that web page can be obtained, the client computer typically includes the ip address of the web server. in order to make the identification of destination computers more mnemonic, a domain name system (dns) is used to translate a unique alphanumeric name for a destination computer, called a “domain name,” into the ip address for that computer. for example, the domain name for a hypothetical computer operated by digimine corporation (“digimine”) may be “comp23.digimine.com”. using domain names, a user attempting to communicate with this computer could specify a destination of “comp23.digimine.com” rather than the ip address of the computer (e.g., 198.81.209.25). the subset of internet sites that comprise the world wide web network also supports a standard protocol for requesting and receiving web page documents. this protocol, known as the hypertext transfer protocol (or “http”), defines a message passing protocol for sending and receiving packets of information between diverse applications. details of http can be found in various documents, including t. berners-lee et al., hypertext transfer protocol—http 1.0, request for comments (rfc) 1945, mit/lcs, may 1996. each http message follows a specific layout, which includes among other information, a header which contains information specific to the request or response. further, each http request message contains a universal resource identifier (or “uri”), which specifies to which network resource the request is to be applied. thus, a user can request a particular resource (e.g., a web page or a file) that is available from a web server by specifying a unique uri for that resource. a uri can be a uniform resource locator (“url”), uniform resource name (“urn”), or any other formatted string that identifies a network resource. urls include a protocol to be used in accessing the resource (e.g., “http:” for http), the domain name or ip address of the server providing the resource (e.g., “comp23.digimine.com”), and optionally a server-specific path to the resource (e.g., “/help/helppage.html”), thus resulting in the url “http://comp23.digimine.com/help/helppage.html” in this example. in response to a user specifying such a url, the comp23.digimine.com server would typically return a copy of the “helppage.html” file to the user. in addition, in situations where the identified resource corresponds to an executable program on the web server (e.g., a cgi script, active server page (asp) file, or java server page (jsp) file), the url can be followed by a query string that will be provided as input to the executable program. each such query string includes one or more query string parameter names accompanied by a corresponding value (e.g., the parameter names “name1” and “name2” and corresponding values “3” and “ab” in “http://www.digimine.com/search.asp?name1=3&name2=ab”). urls are discussed in detail in t. berners-lee, et al., uniform resource locators (url), rfc 1738, cern, xerox parc, univ. of minn., december 1994. fig. 1 illustrates how a browser application enables users to navigate among nodes on the web network by requesting and receiving web pages. for the purposes of this discussion, a web page is any type of document that abides by the html format. that is, the document includes an “<html>” statement. thus, a web page is also referred to as an html document. the html format is a document mark-up language, defined by the hypertext markup language (“html”) specification. html defines tags for specifying how to interpret the text and images stored in an html document. for example, there are html tags for defining paragraph formats and for emboldening and underlining text. in addition, the html format defines tags for adding images to documents and for formatting and aligning text with respect to images. html tags appear between angle brackets, for example, <html>. further details of html are discussed in t. berners-lee and d. connolly, hypertext markup language-2.0, rfc 1866, mit/w3c, november 1995. in fig. 1 , a web browser application 101 is shown executing on a client computer 102 , which communicates with a server computer 103 by sending and receiving http packets (messages). http messages may also be generated by other types of computer programs, such as spiders and crawlers. the web browser “navigates” to new locations on the network to browse (display) what is available at these locations. in particular, when the web browser “navigates” to a new location, it requests a new document from the new location (e.g., the server computer) by sending an http-request message 104 using any well-known underlying communications wire protocol. the http-request message follows the specific layout discussed above, which includes a header 105 and a uri field 106 , which specifies the network location to which to apply the request. when the server computer specified by uri receives the http-request message, it interprets the message packet and sends a return message packet to the source location that originated the message in the form of an http-response message 107 . it also stores a copy of the request and basic information about the requesting computer in a log file. in addition to the standard features of an http message, such as the header 108 , the http-response message contains the requested html document 109 . when the http-response message reaches the client computer, the web browser application extracts the html document from the message, and parses and interprets (executes) the html code in the document and displays the document on a display screen of the client computer as specified by the html tags. http can also be used to transfer other media types, such as the extensible markup language (“xml”) and graphics interchange format (“gif”) formats. the world wide web is especially conducive to conducting electronic commerce (“e-commerce”). e-commerce generally refers to commercial transactions that are at least partially conducted using the world wide web. for example, numerous web sites are available through which a user using a web browser can purchase items, such as books, groceries, and software. a user of these web sites can browse through an electronic catalog of available items to select the items to be purchased. to purchase the items, a user typically adds the items to an electronic shopping cart and then electronically pays for the items that are in the shopping cart. the purchased items can then be delivered to the user via conventional distribution channels (e.g., an overnight courier) or via electronic delivery when, for example, software is being purchased. many web sites are also informational in nature, rather than commercial in nature. for example, many standards organizations and governmental organizations have web sites with a primary purpose of distributing information. also, some web sites (e.g., a search engine) provide information and derive revenue from advertisements that are displayed. the success of any web-based business depends in large part on the number of users who visit the business's web site and that number depends in large part on the usefulness and ease-of-use of the web site. web sites typically collect extensive information on how its users use the site's web pages. this information may include a complete history of each http request received by and each http response sent by the web site. the web site may store this information in a navigation file, also referred to as a log file or click stream file. by analyzing this navigation information, a web site operator may be able to identify trends in the access of the web pages and modify the web site to make it easier to use and more useful. because the information is presented as a series of events that are not sorted in a useful way, many software tools are available to assist in this analysis. a web site operator would typically purchase such a tool and install it on one of the computers of the web site. there are several drawbacks with the use of such an approach of analyzing navigation information. first, the analysis often is given a low priority because the programmers are typically busy with the high priority task of maintaining the web site. second, the tools that are available provide little more than standard reports relating to low-level navigation through a web site. such reports are not very useful in helping a web site operator to visualize and discover high-level access trends. recognition of these high-level access trends can help a web site operator to design the web site. third, web sites are typically resource intensive, that is they use a lot of computing resources and may not have available resources to effectively analyze the navigation information. it would also be useful to analyze the execution of computer programs other than web server programs. in particular, many types of computer programs generate events that are logged by the computer programs themselves or by other programs that receive the events. if a computer program does not generate explicit events, another program may be able to monitor the execution and generate events on behalf of that computer program. regardless of how event data is collected, it may be important to analyze that data. for example, the developer of an operating system may want to track and analyze how the operating system is used so that the developer can focus resources on problems that are detected, optimize services that are frequently accessed, and so on. the operating system may generate a log file that contains entries for various types of events (e.g., invocation of a certain system call). thus, as noted above, interaction or usage data (e.g., web site navigation information or computer program event information) can contain important low-level information about interactions and usage that have occurred, but current techniques for extracting high-level summaries or analyzing such interactions or usage are limited. for example, it would be useful in many situations to know the number of occurrences of interactions or uses of a specified category or type during a specified time period, or to know how such occurrences relate to other occurrences of interest. similarly, when a sequence of interactions or uses is of interest, it would be useful to know the number of occurrences of each interaction or usage in the sequence. in addition, analysis of interaction or usage data is further complicated when the format or content types of such data changes over time, such as to reflect changes in a corresponding web site or computer program. it would therefore be useful to have techniques for effectively identifying and extracting useful high-level information from interaction or usage data, and for tracking changes in the format or content type of the interaction or usage data. accordingly, techniques for analyzing interaction and usage data to obtain such information would have significant utility. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 illustrates how a browser application enables users to navigate among nodes on the web network by requesting and receiving web pages. fig. 2a is a block diagram illustrating components of the data warehouse system in one embodiment. fig. 2b is a block diagram illustrating details of the components of the data warehouse system in one embodiment. fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the sub-components of the data processor component in one embodiment. fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating some of the tables of the local data warehouse and the main data warehouse in one embodiment. fig. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the parse log data routine that implements the parser in one embodiment. fig. 6 is a flow diagram of the filter log entry routine in one embodiment. fig. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the normalize log entry routine. fig. 8 is a flow diagram of the generate dimensions routine in one embodiment. fig. 9 is a flow diagram of the identify logical site routine in one embodiment. fig. 10 is a flow diagram of the identify user routine in one embodiment. fig. 11 is a flow diagram of the identify page type routine in one embodiment. fig. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating the identify events routine in one embodiment. fig. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating the identify sessions routine in one embodiment. fig. 14 is a flow diagram of the generate aggregate statistics routine in one embodiment. fig. 15 is a flow diagram of the import log data routine implementing the importer in one embodiment. fig. 16 is a flow diagram of the load dimension table routine and one embodiment. fig. 17 is a flow diagram of the load fact table routine in one embodiment. fig. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating the identify user aliases routine in one embodiment. figs. 19 a- 19 ae illustrate example customer web pages for which parser configuration data can be specified. fig. 20 illustrates an example updated version of a customer web page. fig. 21 is a block diagram illustrating details of the components of the data warehouse server in one embodiment. figs. 22a and 22b illustrate example hierarchical category information for customer web pages. fig. 23 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the identify page type routine. fig. 24 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the identify events routine. fig. 25 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the generate interaction data report routine. fig. 26 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the generate data parsing information for customer content set routine. figs. 27a and 27b illustrate an example of data structures used to store parser configuration data. detailed description a method and system for providing customers with access to and analysis of interaction or usage data (e.g., navigation data collected at customer web sites or computer program event information) is provided. the interaction or usage data, hereinafter “interaction data” or “event data,” may be stored in log files and supplemented with data from other sources, such as product databases and customer invoices. in one embodiment, a data warehouse system collects customer data from the customer web sites and stores the data at a data warehouse server. the customer data may include application event data (e.g., click stream log files), user attribute data of users of the customer web site (e.g., name, age, and gender), product data (e.g., catalog of products offered for sale by the customer), shopping cart data (i.e., identification of the products currently in a user's shopping cart), and so on. the data warehouse server interacts with the customer servers to collect the customer data on a periodic basis. the data warehouse server may provide instructions to the customer servers identifying the customer data that is to be uploaded to the data warehouse server. these instructions may include the names of the files that contains the customer data and the name of the web servers on which the files reside. these instructions may also indicate the time of the day when the customer data is to be uploaded to the data warehouse server. when the data warehouse server receives customer data, it converts the customer data into a format that is more conducive to processing by decision support system applications used to analyze customer data. for example, the data warehouse server may analyze low-level navigation events (e.g., each http request that is received by the customer web site) to identify high-level events (e.g., a user session). the data warehouse server then stores the converted data into a data warehouse. the data warehouse server functions as an application service provider that provides various decision support system applications for the customers. for example, the data warehouse server provides decision support system applications to analyze and graphically display the results of the analysis for a customer. the decision support system applications may be accessed through a web browser. in one embodiment, the customer servers are connected to the data warehouse server via the internet and the data warehouse server provides data warehousing services to multiple customers. the data warehouse system may provide a data processor component that converts the log files into a format that is more conducive to processing by the decision support system applications. in one embodiment, the converted data is stored in a data warehouse that includes fact and dimension tables. each fact table contains entries corresponding to a type of fact derived from the log files. for example, a web page access fact table may contain an entry for each web page access identified in the log files. each entry may reference attributes of the web page access, such as the identity of the web page and identity of the accessing user. the values for each attribute are stored in a dimension table for that attribute. for example, a user dimension table may include an entry for each user and the entries of the web access fact table may include a user field that contains an index (or some other reference) to the entry of the user dimension table for the accessing user. the user dimension table may contain the names of the users and other user-specific information. alternatively, the user dimension table may itself also be a fact table that includes references to dimension tables for the attributes of users. the data warehouse may also include fact tables and dimension tables that represent high-level facts and attributes derived from the low-level facts and attributes of the log files. for example, high-level facts and attributes may not be derivable from only the data in a single log entry. for example, the higher level category (e.g., shoes or shirts) of a web page may be identified using a mapping of web page uris to categories. these categories may be stored in a category dimension table. also, certain facts, such as the collection of log entries that comprise a single user web access session or visit, may only be derivable by analyzing a series of log entries. the data processor component may have a parser component and a loader component. the parser of the data processor parses and analyzes a log file and stores the resulting data in a local data warehouse that contains information for only that log file. the local data warehouse may be similar in structure (e.g., similar fact and dimension tables) to the main data warehouse used by decision support system applications. the local data warehouse may be adapted to allow efficient processing by the parser. for example, the local data warehouse may be stored in primary storage (e.g., main memory) for speed of access, rather than in secondary storage (e.g., disks). the parser may use parser configuration data that defines, on a customer-by-customer basis, the high-level data to be derived from the log entries. for example, the parser configuration data may specify the mapping of uris to web page categories. the loader of the data processor transfers the data from the local data warehouse to the main data warehouse. the loader may create separate partitions for the main data warehouse. these separate partitions may hold the customer data for a certain time period (e.g., a month's worth of data). the loader adds entries to the main fact tables (i.e., fact tables of the main data warehouse) for each fact in a local fact table (i.e., fact table of the local data warehouse). the loader also adds new entries to the main dimension tables to represent attribute values of the local dimension tables that are not already in the main dimension tables. the loader also maps the local indices (or other references) of the local dimension tables to the main indices used by the main dimension tables. fig. 2a is a block diagram illustrating components of the data warehouse system in one embodiment. the data warehouse system includes customer components that execute on the customer servers and data warehouse components that execute on the data warehouse server. the customer servers 210 and the data warehouse server 260 are interconnected via the internet 250 . customer components executing on a customer server includes a data collection component 220 and a data viewer 230 . the data viewer may reside on a client computer of the customer, rather than a server. the data collection component collects the customer data from the storage devices 240 of the customer servers. the data viewer provides access for viewing of data generated by the decision support system applications of the data warehouse server. in one embodiment, the data viewer may be a web browser. the data warehouse server includes a data receiver component 270 , the data processor component 280 , the data warehouse 290 , and decision support system applications 291 . the data receiver component receives customer data sent by the data collection components executing at the various customer web sites. the data processor component processes the customer data and stores it in the data warehouse. the decision support system application provides the customer with tools for analyzing and reviewing the customer data that is stored in the main data warehouse. analysis performed on and reports generated from customer data are described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/638,836, entitled “identifying and reporting on combinations of events in usage data” and filed aug. 14, 2000; u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/742,685, entitled “report depicting extent of completion of a process” and filed dec. 20, 2000; and u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/613,846, entitled “web-based extraction and display of information for graphical structures” and filed jul. 11, 2000, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. in one embodiment, each customer has its own dimension and fact tables so that multiple customers' information is not intermingled. fig. 2b is a block diagram illustrating details of the components of the data warehouse system in one embodiment. the data collection component 220 includes a monitor sub-component 221 and a pitcher sub-component 222 . the data collection component is described in more detail in u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/613,845, entitled “method and system for monitoring a resource via the web” and filed jul. 11, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference. the pitcher is responsible for retrieving instructions from the data warehouse server, collecting the customer data in accordance with the retrieved instructions, and uploading the customer data to the data warehouse server. the monitor is responsible for monitoring the operation of the pitcher and detecting when the pitcher may have problems in collecting and uploading the customer data. when the monitor detects that a problem may occur, it notifies the data warehouse server so that corrective action may be taken in advance of the collecting and uploading of the customer data. for example, the pitcher may use certain log on information (e.g., user id and password) to access a customer web server that contains customer data to be uploaded. the monitor may use that log on information to verify that the log on information will permit access to the customer data. access may be denied if, for example, a customer administrator inadvertently deleted from the customer web server the user id used by the pitcher. when the monitor provides advance notification of a problem, the problem might be corrected before the pitcher attempts to access the customer data. the monitor also periodically checks the pitcher to ensure that the pitcher is executing and, if executing, executing correctly. the data receiver component of the data warehouse server includes a status receiver sub-component 271 , a catcher sub-component 272 , an ftp server 273 , a status database 274 , and a collected data database 275 . the status receiver receives status reports from the customer servers and stores the status information in the status database. the catcher receives and processes the customer data that is uploaded from the customer web sites and stores the data in the collected data database. the data processor component includes a parser sub-component 281 and a loader sub-component 282 . the parser analyzes the low-level events of the customer data and identifies high-level events and converts the customer data into a format that facilitates processing by the decision support system applications. the loader is responsible for storing the identified high-level events in the data warehouse 290 . in one embodiment, a customer may decide not to have the data collection component executing on its computer systems. in such a case, the customer server may include an ftp client 245 that is responsible for periodically transferring the customer data to the ftp server 273 of the data warehouse server. the data receiver may process this customer data at the data warehouse server in the same way as the pitcher processes the data at the customer servers. the processed data is then stored in the collected data database. fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the sub-components of the data processor component in one embodiment. the data processor component 300 includes a parser 310 , data storage area 320 , and a loader 330 . the data processor component inputs parser configuration data 340 and a log file 350 and updates the main data warehouse 360 . the parser configuration data may include a mapping of actual web sites to logical sites and a mapping of a combination of uniform resource identifiers (“uris”) and query strings of the log entries to page definitions (e.g., categories) and event definitions. the parser processes the entries of the log file to generate facts and dimensions to eventually be stored in the main data warehouse. the parser identifies events in accordance with the parser configuration data. the parser includes a filter log entry component 311 , a normalize log entry component 312 , a generate dimensions component 313 , an identify sessions component 314 , and a generate aggregate statistics component 315 . the filter log entry component identifies which log entries should not be included in the main data warehouse. for example, a log entry that has an invalid format should not be included. the normalize log entry component normalizes the data in a log entry. for example, the component may convert all times to greenwich mean time (“gmt”). the generate dimensions component identifies the various dimensions related to a log entry. for example, a dimension may be the uniform resource identifier of the entry or the logical site identifier. the identify sessions component processes the parsed log file data stored in the local data warehouse to identify user sessions. a user session generally refers to the concept of a series of web page accesses that may be related in some way, such as by temporal proximity. the generate aggregate statistics component aggregates data for the log file being processed as each log entry is processed or after the log file is parsed. the data storage area 320 includes a local data warehouse 321 . in one embodiment, the local data warehouse is stored non-persistently (or temporarily) in main memory of the computer system. the local data warehouse may contain fact tables and dimension tables that correspond generally to the tables of the main data warehouse 360 . the loader retrieves the information from the local data warehouse and stores the information in the main data warehouse. the loader includes a create partitions component 331 , a load dimension table component 332 , and a load fact table component 333 . the create partitions components creates new partitions for the main data warehouse. a partition may correspond to a collection of information within a certain time range. for example, the main data warehouse may have a partition for each month, which contains all the data for that month. the load dimension table component and the load fact table component are responsible for loading the main data warehouse with the dimensions and facts that are stored in the local data warehouse. in one embodiment, the log file is a web server log file of a customer. the log file may be in the “extended log file format” as described in the document “http://www.w3.org/tr/wd-logfile-960323” provided by the world wide web consortium, which is hereby incorporated by reference. according to that description, the log file contains lines that are either directives or entries. an entry corresponds to a single http transaction (e.g., http request and an http response) and consists of a sequence of fields (e.g., integer, fixed, uri, date, time, and string). the meaning of the fields in an entry is specified by a field directive specified in the log file. for example, a field directive may specify that a log entry contains the fields date, time, client ip address, server ip address, and success code. each entry in the log file would contain these five fields. the parser configuration data defines logical sites, page definitions, and event definitions. a logical site is a collection of one or more ip addresses and ports that should be treated as a single web site. for example, a web site may actually have five web servers with different ip addresses that handle http requests for the same domain. these five ip addresses may be mapped to the same logical site to be treated as a single web site. the page definitions define the format of the uris of log entries that are certain page types. for example, a uri with a query string of “category=shoes” may indicate a page type of “shoes.” each event definition defines an event type and a value for that event type. for example, a log entry with a query string that includes “search=shoes” represents an event type of “search” with an event value of “shoes.” another log entry with a query string of “add=99abc” may represent an event type of “add” an item to the shopping cart with an event value of item number “99abc.” fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating some of the tables of the local data warehouse and the main data warehouse in one embodiment. these data warehouses are databases that include fact tables and dimension tables. a fact table contains an entry for each instance of fact (e.g., web page access). a dimension table contains an entry for each possible attribute value of an attribute (e.g., user). the entries of a fact table contain dimension fields that refer to the entries into the dimension tables for their attribute values. a table may be both a fact table and a dimension table. for example, a user dimension table with an entry for each unique user may also be a fact table that refers to attributes of the users that are stored in other dimension tables. the data warehouses contain a log entry table 401 , a user table 402 , a logical site table 403 , a uri table 404 , a referrer uri table 405 , a page type table 406 , event type tables 407 , a query string table 408 , and a referrer query string table 409 . the log entry table is a fact table that contains an entry for each log entry that is not filtered out by the parser. the other tables are dimension tables for the log entry table. the user table contains an entry for each unique user identified by the parser. the logical site table contains an entry for each logical site as defined in the parser configuration data. the uri table contains an entry for each unique uri of an entry in the log entry table. the referrer uri table contains an entry for each referrer uri of the log entry table. the page type table contains an entry for each page type identified by the parser as defined in the parser configuration data. the data warehouse contains an event table for each type of event defined in the parser configuration data. each event table contains an entry for each event value of that event type specified in an entry of the log entry table. the query string table contains an entry for each unique query string identified in an entry of the log entry table. the referrer query string contains an entry for each unique referrer query string identified in an entry of the log entry table. table 1 is an example portion of a log file. the “#fields” directive specifies the meaning of the fields in the log entries. each field in a log entry is separated by a space and an empty field is represented by a hyphen. the #fields directive in this example indicates that each entry includes the date and time when the transaction was completed (i.e., “date” and “time”), the client ip address (i.e., “c-ip”), and so on. for example, the first log entry has a data and time of “2000-06-01 07:00:04” and a client ip address of “165.21.83.161.” table 1#software: microsoft internet information server 4.0#version: 1.0#date: 2000-06-01 07:00:04#fields: date time c-ip cs-usernarne s-sitename s-computemame s-ip cs-method cs-uri-stem cs-uri-query sc-statussc-win32-status sc-bytes cs-bytes time-taken s-port cs-version cs(user-agent) cs(cookie) cs(referrer)2000-06-01 07:00:04 165.21.83.161 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /directory/28.asp - 200 0148428 369 9714 80 http/1.0 mozilla/3.04+(win95;+i)aspsessionidqqggqgpg=jbccfipbbhhdanbaffiglgph http://ecommerce.com/default.asp2000-06-01 07:00:20 4.20.197.70 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /default.asp -302 0 408 259 3080 http/1.0 mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+keynote-perspective+4.0) - -2000-06-01 07:00:20 4.20.197.70 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /default.asp -200 0 41245 266200 80 http/1.0 mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+keynote-perspective+4.0) - -2000-06-01 07:00:27 204.182.65.192 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 head /default.asp - 302 0 25466 40 80 http/1.0 ipswitch_whatsup/3.0 - -2000-06-01 07:00:32 24.10.69.137 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /directory/541.asp - 200 022427 459 421 80 http/1.0 mozilla/4.7+[en]+(win98;+u)aspsessionidqqggqgpg=bhbcfipbejpnomdpkcglkngc;+arsiteuser=1%2dc2b25364%2d3775%2d11d4%2dbac1%2d0050049bd2e4;+arsites=alr=1http://ecommerce.com/directory/34.asp2000-06-01 07:00:34 192.102.216.101 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /encyc/terms/l/7276.asp -200 0 20385 471 290 80 http/1.0 mozilla/4.7+[en]+(x11;+i;+sunos+5.5.1+sun4u)aspsessionidqqggqgpg=pkbcfipbikonbpdhkdmmehcehttp://search.ecommerce.com/gsearchresults.asp?site=ecommence&ecommence=ecommcrce& allsites=1&q1=loin2000-06-01 07:00:34 216.88.216.227 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /default.asp - 200 0 41253258 180 80 http/1.1 mozilla14.0+(compatible;+msie+4.01;+msn+2.5;+msn+2.5;+windows+98) - -2000-06-01 07:00:36 199.203.4.10 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /default.asp - 302 0 408 48530 80 http/1.0 mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+msie+5.01;+windows+98;+tucows)siteserver=id=22f1171b3708b2278f3c 426796a78e2a -2000-06-01 07:00:37 199.203.4.10 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /default.asp -200 0 41277 492421 80 http/1.0 mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+msie+5.01;+windows+98;+tucows)siteserver=id=22f117fb3708b2278f3c 426796a78e2a -2000-06-01 07:00:43 24.10.69.137 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /directory/34.asp -200 0 17835458 320 80 http/1.0mozilla/4.7+[en]+(win98;+u)aspsessionidqqgoqgpg=bhbcfipbejpnomdpkcglkngc;+arsiteuser=1%2dc2b25364%2d3775%2d11d4%2dbac1%2d0050049bd2e4;+arsites=alr=1http://ecommerce.com/directory/25.asp2000-06-01 07:00:47 199.203.4.10 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /jumpsite.aspjumpsite=5&go.x=16&go.y=14 302 0 341 611 40 80 http/1.0mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+msie+5.01;+windows+98;+tucows)siteserver=id=22f117fb3708b2278f3c426796a78e2a;+aspsessionidqqggqgpg=fcccfipbkjmbdjjhbncoedgh http://ecommerce.com/default.asp2000-06-01 07:00:47 24.10.69.137 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /directory/538.asp - 200 027471 459 881 80 http/1.0 mozilla/4.7+[en]+(win98;+u)aspsessionidqqggqgpg=bhbcfipbejpnomdpkcglkngc;+arsiteuser=1%2dc2b25364%2d3775%2d11d4%2dbac1%2d0050049bd2e4;+arsites=alr=1http://ecommerce.com/directory/34.asp2000-06-01 07:00:47 207.136.48.117 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /directory/511.asp - 200 077593 369 12538 80 http/1.0 mozilla/3.01gold+(win95;+i) aspsessionidqqggqgpg=mfacfipbdbnpbfpboenjkhjn,+arsiteuser=1%2dc2b251e5%2d3775%2d11d4%2dbac1%2d0050049bd2e4;+arsites=alr=1http://ecommerce.com/directory/506.asp2000-06-01 07:00:49 192.102.216.101 - w3svc2 cook_002 206.191.163.41 get /encyc/a1.asp arrefsite=15&arrefcookie=1-c2b253b8-3775-11d4-bac1-0050049bd2e4 200 0 47193 457 260 80 http/1.0mozilla/4.7+[en]+(x11;+i;+sunos+5.5.1+sun4u)aspsessionidqqggqgpg=pkbcfipbikonbpdhkdmmehce http://ecommerce.com/hints/tips.asp table 2 is an example portion of parser configuration data. the logical site definitions map a server ip address, port, and root uri to a logical site. for example, the entry “logicalsiteuridefinition=209.114.94.26,80,/,1” maps all the accesses to port 80 of ip address 209.114.94.26 at uris with a prefix “/” to logical site 1. the page type definitions map a logical site identifier, uri pattern, and query string pattern to a page type. for example, the entry “pagekeydefinition=news item, news item, 1, {prefix}=homepage_include/industrynews_detail.asp, <newsitemid>#{uri}” indicates that a page type of “news item” is specified for logical site 1 by a uri pattern of “/homepage_include/industrynews_detail.asp.” the definition also indicates that the event value is “<newsitemid>#{uri},” where the uri of the log entry is substituted for “{uri} and the value of newsitemid in the query string is substituted for “<newsitemid>.” the event type definitions map a site identifier, uri pattern, and query string pattern to an event type and value. the definitions also specify the name of the event type and the name of the dimension table for that event type. for example, the entry “eventdefinition=view news article, view news article, 1, {prefix}=/homepage_include/industrynews_detail.asp, <newsitemid>=*, <newsitemid>” indicates that view news article event types are stored in the view news article dimension table. that event type is indicated by a uri with “/homepage_include/industrynews_detail.asp,” and the event value is the string that follows “<newsitemid>=” in the query string. table 2logicalsiteuridefinition= 209.114.94.26, 80,/, 1pagekeydefinition= news item, news item, 1, {prefix}=/homepage_include/industrynews_detail.asp,,<news item id>#{uri}pagekeydefinition= page, page, 1,,,{uri}eventdefinition= login, login, 1, {prefix}=/registration/login.asp,,eventdefinition= logout, logout, 1, {prefix}=/registration/logout.asp,,eventdefinition= register page 1, register page 1, 1, {prefix}=/registration/register.asp,,eventdefinition= register page 2, register page 2, 1, {prefix}=/registration/register2.asp, <userid>=*,eventdefinition= registration confirmation, registration confirmation, 1,{prefix}=/registration/register3.asp,,eventdefinition= abort registration, abort registration, 1, {prefix}=/registration/registrationabort.asp,,eventdefinition= member services, member services, 1, {prefix}=/registration/memberservices.asp,,eventdefinition= change password, change password, 1, {prefix}=/registration/changepassword.asp,,eventdefinition= profile edit, profile edit, 1, {prefix}=/registration/profile.asp,,eventdefinition= change affiliation, change affiliation, 1, {prefix}=/registration/changeaffiliation.asp,<userid>=*,eventdefinition= change secret question, change secret question, 1,{prefix}=/registration/changesecretquestion.asp,,eventdefinition= forgot information, forgot information, 1, {prefix}=/registration/forgotinfo.asp,,eventdefinition= forgot password, forgot password, 1, {prefix}=/registration/forgotpassword.asp,,eventdefinition= forgot signin, forgot signin, 1, {prefix}=/registration/forgotsignin.asp,,eventdefinition= view news article, view news article, 1,{prefix}=/homepage_include/industrynews_detail.asp, <newsitemid>=*, <newsitemid> figs. 5-14 are flow diagrams of components of the parser in one embodiment. fig. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the parse log data routine that implements the main routine of parser in one embodiment. the routine processes each entry in the log file based on the parser configuration data. the routine filters out certain log entries, normalizes the attribute values of the log entries, and generates entries in the dimension tables for the attributes of the log entries. after processing all the log entries, the parser identifies user sessions and generates various statistics. in blocks 501 - 508 , the routine loops selecting and processing each log entry. in block 501 , the routine selects the next log entry of the log file starting with the first log entry. the routine may also pre-process the header information of the log file to identify the fields of the log entries. in decision block 1502 , if all the log entries have already been selected, then the routine continues at block 509 , else the routine continues at block 503 . in block 503 , the routine extracts the values for the fields of the selected log entry. in block 504 , the routine invokes the filter log entry routine, which returns an indication as to whether the selected log entry should be filtered out. in decision block 505 , if the filter log entry routine indicates that the selected log entry should be filtered out, then the routine skips to block 508 , else the routine continues at block 506 . in block 506 , the routine invokes the normalize log entry routine to normalize the values of the fields of the selected log entry. in block 507 , the routine invokes the generate dimensions routine to update the dimension tables based on the selected log entry and to add an entry into the log entry fact table. in block 508 , the routine updates the statistics for the log file. for example, the routine may track the number of log entries that have been filtered out. the routine then loops to block 501 to select the next log entry. in block 509 , the routine outputs the log file statistics. in block 510 , the routine invokes the identify sessions routine that scans the log entry table to identify the user sessions and updates a session dimension table. in block 511 , the routine invokes the generate aggregate statistics routine to generate various statistics and then completes. fig. 6 is a flow diagram of the filter log entry routine in one embodiment. the filter log entry routine is passed a log entry and determines whether the log entry should be filtered out. in blocks 601 - 607 , the routine determines whether the filter out conditions have been satisfied. in decision block 601 , the routine determines whether the log entry has a field count problem. a field count problem arises when the number of fields in the log entry does not correspond to the number of expected fields for that log entry. the number and types of fields may be defined in a “fields” directive line of the log file. in decision block 602 , the routine determines whether the log entry is outside of a specified time range. the routine compares the time field of the log entry to the time range. the time range may be specified so that only those log entries within that time range are processed. in decision block 603 , the routine determines whether the ip address of the log entry should be ignored. for example, a log entry may be ignored if the entry originated from a server whose function is to ping the customer's web server at periodic intervals. in decision block 604 , the routine determines whether the log entry corresponds to a comment (e.g., a “#remarks” directive). in decision block 605 , the routine determines whether the success code associated with the log entry indicates that log entry should be ignored. for example, if the success code indicates a failure, then the log entry may be ignored. in decision block 606 , the routine determines whether the log entry is requesting a resource whose extension indicates that the log entry should be ignored. for example, the routine may ignore log entries requesting graphic files, such as those in the “.gif” format. in decision block 607 , the routine determines whether the values within the fields of the log entry are corrupt. for example, a value in the date field that indicates a date of february 30th is corrupt. one skilled in the art would appreciate that the various filtering conditions may be specified in a configuration file. for example, the time range, ip addresses, and so on may be specified in the configuration file. these configuration files may be specified on a customer-by-customer basis. fig. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the normalize log entry routine. the routine normalizes the values of the fields in the passed log entry. in block 701 , the routine converts the time of the log entry into a standard time such as greenwich mean time. in block 702 , the routine corrects the time based on the variation between the times of the customer web servers. for example, the time of one web server may be five minutes ahead of the time of another web server. this correction may be based on current time information collected from computer systems that generated the events and then correlated to base current time information. in block 703 , the routine normalizes the values of the fields of the log entry. this normalization may include processing search strings to place them in a canonical form. for example, a search string of “back pack” may have a canonical form of “backpack.” other normalization of search strings may include stemming of words (e.g., changing “clothes” and “clothing” to “cloth”), synonym matching, and first and last word grouping. the first word grouping for the search strings of “winter clothing” and “winter shoes” results in the string of “winter.” fig. 8 is a flow diagram of the generate dimensions routine in one embodiment. this routine identifies a value for each dimension associated with the passed log entry and ensures that the dimension tables contains entries corresponding to those values. in one embodiment, each entry in a dimension table includes the attribute value (e.g., user identifier) and a hash value. the hash value may be used by the loader when transferring information to the main data warehouse. also, each entry has a local identifier, which may be an index into the local dimension table. the loader maps these local identifiers to their corresponding main identifiers that are used in the main data warehouse. in block 801 , the routine invokes a routine that identifies the logical site associated with the log entry and ensures that an entry for the logical site is in the logical site dimension table. in block 802 , the routine invokes a routine that identifies the user associated with the log entry and ensures that an entry for the user is in the user dimension table. in block 803 , the routine invokes a routine that identifies the uri associated with log entry and ensures that an entry for that uri is in the uri dimension table. in block 804 , the routine invokes a routine that identifies the page type based on the parser configuration data and ensures that an entry for that page type is in the page type dimension table. in block 805 , the routine invokes a routine that identifies the various events associated with the log entry based on the parser configuration data and ensures that an entry for each event type is in the corresponding event table. in block 806 , the routine identifies other dimensions (e.g., referrer uri) as appropriate. in block 807 , the routine adds an entry to the log entry table that is linked to each of the identified dimensions using the local identifiers. in block 808 , the routine updates the statistics information based on the log entry and then returns. fig. 9 is a flow diagram of the identify logical site routine in one embodiment. this routine compares the site information of the passed log entry with the logical site definitions in the parser configuration data. in block 901 , the routine selects the next logical site definition from the parser configuration data. in decision block 902 , if all the logical site definitions have already been selected, then the routine continues the block 905 , else the routine continues at block 903 . in decision block 903 , if the uri of the log entry matches the selected logical site definition, then the routine continues at block 904 , else the routine loops to block 901 to select the next logical site definition. in block 904 , the routine updates the logical site dimension table to ensure that it contains an entry for the logical site defined by the selected logical site definition. the routine then returns. in block 905 , the routine updates the logical site dimension table to ensure that it contains a default logical site definition and then returns. the log entries that do not map to a logical site definition are mapped to a default logical site. fig. 10 is a flow diagram of the identify user routine in one embodiment. this routine may use various techniques to identify the user associated with the passed log entry. in one embodiment, the selection of the technique is configured based on the customer web site. for example, one customer may specify to use a cookie to identify users. in absence of a user identifier in the cookie, the industry norm is to identify users based on their ip addresses. this routine illustrates a technique in which a combination of cookies and ip addresses are used to identify a user. in block 1001 , the routine extracts the user identifier from the cookie associated with the log entry. the format of a cookie may be specified on a customer-by-customer basis. in decision block 1002 , if the extraction from the cookie was successful, then the routine continues at block 1006 , else the routine continues at block 1003 . the extraction may not be successful if, for example, the log entry did not include a cookie. in block 1003 , the routine extracts the ip address from the log entry. in decision block 1004 , if the ip address is determined to be unique, then routine continues at block 1006 , else the routine continues at block 1005 . certain ip addresses may not be unique. for example, an internet service provider may use one ip address for many of its users. the internet service provider performs the mapping of the one ip address to the various users. in block 1005 , the routine extracts the browser identifier from the log entry. the combination of ip address and browser identifier may uniquely identify a user. in block 1006 , the routine updates the user dimension table to ensure that it has an entry for this user and then returns. fig. 11 is a flow diagram of the identify page type routine in one embodiment. this routine uses the page type definitions of the parser configuration data to identify the page type associated with the log entry. in block 1101 , the routine selects the next page type definition from the parser configuration data. in decision block 1102 , if all the page type definitions have already been selected, then no matching page type has been found and the routine returns, else the routine continues at block 1103 . in decision block 1103 , if the log entry matches the selected page type definition, then the routine continues at block 1104 , else the routine loops to block 1101 to select the next page type definition. in block 1104 , the routine updates the page type dimension table to ensure that it contains an entry for the page type represented by the selected page type definition. the routine then returns. fig. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating the identify events routine in one embodiment. this routine determines whether the log entry corresponds to any of the events specified in the parser configuration data. in block 1201 , the routine selects the next type of event from the parser configuration data. in decision block 1202 , if all the event types have already been selected, then the routine returns, else the routine continues at block 1203 . in block 1203 , the routine selects the next event definition of the selected event type. in decision block 1204 , if all the event definitions of the selected event type have already been selected, then the log entry does not correspond to this type of event and the routine loops to block 1201 to select the next type of event, else the routine continues at block 1205 . in block 1205 , if the log entry matches the selected event definition, then the routine continues at block 1206 , else the routine loops to block 1203 to select the next event definition of the selected event type. in block 1206 , the routine updates the dimension table for the selected type of the event to ensure that it contains an entry for the selected event definition. the routine then loops to block 1201 to select the next type of event. in this way, the routine matches no more than one event definition for a given event type. for example, if there are two event definitions for the event type “keyword search,” then if the first one processed matches, then the second one is ignored. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments each event definition could be checked for a match. similarly, in other embodiments only a single event may be matched for each log entry, or multiple page type definitions may be matched for each log entry. fig. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating the identify sessions routine in one embodiment. this routine scans the log entry table of the local data warehouse to identify user sessions. in one embodiment, a user session may be delimited by a certain period of inactivity (e.g., thirty minutes). the criteria for identifying a session may be configurable on a customer-by-customer basis. in block 1301 , the routine selects the next user from the user dimension table. in decision block 1302 , if all the users have already been selected, then the routine returns, else the routine continues at block 1303 . in block 1303 , the routine selects the next log entry for the selected user in time order. in decision block 1304 , if all log entries for the selected user have already been selected, then the routine loops to block 1301 to select the next user, else the routine continues at block 1305 . in decision block 1305 , if the selected log entry indicates that a new session is starting (e.g., its time is more than 30 minutes greater than that of the last log entry processed), then the routine continues at block 1306 , else the routine loops to block 1303 to select the next log entry for the selected user. in block 1306 , the routine updates a session fact table to add an indication of the new session. the routine then loops to block 1303 to select the next log entry for the selected user. the routine may also update the log entries to reference their sessions. fig. 14 is a flow diagram of the generate aggregate statistics routine in one embodiment. this routine generate statistics based on analysis of the fact and dimension tables used by the parser. in block 1401 , the routine selects the next fact table of intent. in decision block 1402 , if all the fact tables have already been selected, then the routine returns, else the routine continues at block 1403 . in block 1403 , the routine selects the next entry of the selected fact table. in decision block 1404 , if all the entries of the selected fact table have already been selected, then the routine loops to block 1401 to select the next fact table, else the routine continues at block 1405 . in block 1405 , the routine aggregates various statistics about the selected fact table. the routine then loops to block 1404 to select the next entry of the fact table. figs. 15-17 are flow diagrams illustrating components of the loader in one embodiment. fig. 15 is a flow diagram of the load log data routine implementing the main routine of the loader in one embodiment. this routine controls the moving of the data from the local data warehouse (created and used by the parser) into the main data warehouse. in block 1501 , the routine invokes the create partitions routine to create partitions for the main data warehouse as appropriate. in blocks 1502 - 1504 , the routine loops loading the dimension tables into the main data warehouse. in block 1502 , the routine selects the next dimension table. in decision block 1503 , if all the dimension tables have already been selected, then the routine continues at block 1505 , else the routine continues at block 1504 . in block 1504 , the routine invokes the load dimension table routine for the selected dimension table. the routine then loops to block 1502 to select the next dimension table. in blocks 1505 - 1507 , the routine loops adding the entries to the fact tables of the main data warehouse. in block 1505 , the routine selects the next fact table in order. the order in which the fact tables are to be loaded may be specified by configuration information. the fact tables may be loaded in order based on their various dependencies. for example, a log entry fact table may be dependent on a user dimension table that is itself a fact table. in decision block 1506 , if all the fact tables have already been loaded, then the routine returns, else the routine continues at block 1507 . in block 1507 , the routine invokes the load fact table routine for the selected fact table. the routine then loops to block 1505 to select the next fact table. fig. 16 is a flow diagram of the load dimension table routine in one embodiment. this routine maps the local identifiers used in the local data warehouse to the main identifiers used in the main data warehouse. in block 1601 , the routine selects the next entry from the dimension table. in decision block 1602 , if all the entries of the dimension table have already been selected, then the routine returns, else the routine continues at block 1603 . in block 1603 , the routine retrieves an entry from the dimension table of the main data warehouse corresponding to the selected entry. in decision block 1604 , if the entry is retrieved, then the routine continues at block 1606 , else the dimension table does not contain an entry and the routine continues at block 1605 . in block 1605 , the routine adds an entry to the dimension table of the main data warehouse corresponding to the selected entry from the dimension table of the local data warehouse. in block 1606 , the routine creates a mapping of the local identifier (e.g., index into the local dimension table) of the selected entry to the main identifier (e.g., index into the main dimension table) for that selected entry. the routine then loops to block 1601 to select the next entry of the dimension table. fig. 17 is a flow diagram of the load fact table routine in one embodiment. this routine adds the facts of the local data warehouse to the main data warehouse. the routine maps the local identifiers for the dimensions used in the local warehouse to the main identifiers of dimensions used in the main data warehouse. in block 1701 , the routine selects the next entry in the fact table. in decision block 1702 , if all the entries of the fact table have already been selected, then the routine returns, else the routine continues at block 1703 . in block 1703 , the routine selects the next dimension for the selected entry. in decision block 1704 , if all the dimensions for the selected entry have already been selected, then the routine continues at block 1706 , else the routine continues at block 1705 . in block 1705 , the routine retrieves the main identifier for the selected dimension and then loops to block 1703 to select the next dimension. in block 1706 , the routine stores an entry in the fact table of the main data warehouse. the routine then loops to block 1701 to select the next entry in the fact table. fig. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating the identify user aliases routine in one embodiment. this routine tracks the different user identifiers as a user switches from one web site to another. in particular, the routine maps the user identifiers used by a referrer web site to the user identifiers used by the referred-to web site. in this way, the same user can be tracked even though different web sites use different identifiers for that user. this routine may be invoked as part of the parsing of the log files. in decision block 1801 , if the log entry indicates a referrer web site, then the routine continues at block 1802 , else the routine returns. in block 1802 , the routine identifies the user identifier for the referrer web site. in block 1803 , the routine creates a mapping between the referrer user identifier and the referred-to user identifier. the routine then returns. as noted above, interaction data (e.g., navigation data from interactions by users with a customer's web site) can be analyzed by the parser component to identify various occurrences of interest. in particular, the parser component uses parser configuration data (also referred to as “data parsing information”) that defines various types of occurrences so that any such occurrences in the interaction data can be identified. for example, when analyzing a customer's web site interaction data, the parser component can use data defining customer-specific categories of web pages (e.g., web pages with shoe product information) and customer-specific web site events of interest (e.g., when users of the customer's web site search for product information or add an item to their shopping cart). such high-level types of occurrences can be specified in a variety of ways, such as by using a combination of a logical web site, one or more uris corresponding to web pages, and/or one or more query strings. the parser configuration data may also specify a mapping of actual web sites to one or more logical sites, as well as event-specific information to be extracted from the interaction data and stored in the data warehouse. figs. 19 a- 19 ae illustrate various example user interactions with an example web site www.digimine.com for digimine that has various web pages, and tables 3-6 illustrate various examples of data parsing information that corresponds to the web site. those skilled in the art will appreciate that these web pages and types of interactions are merely examples, and that in other embodiments various types of interaction or usage data related to a wide variety of types of content sets (e.g., interactions with or use of a web-based or telecommunications-based service, interactions with or use of an executing computer program or a device, etc.) can instead have data parsing information that is used for analysis of the data. in particular, fig. 19a illustrates an example web page 1900 that is displayed at a client computer after a user specifies the uri www.digimine.com for the digimine web site to an executing web browser program on the client. the web page includes various informational content 1910 , and various user-selectable controls including controls 1901 - 1909 . as is discussed in greater detail below, the web site has several sections that each contain distinct related types of information, and controls 1903 , 1905 , 1907 , and 1909 can be used to obtain an overview web page for each of four different sections. control 1904 is an alternate method by which the user can obtain the overview web page for the “services” section of the web site (also accessible via control 1903 ), and control 1901 causes the currently displayed web page 1900 to be displayed. those skilled in the art will appreciate that this web page is sent to the client computer by a web server for the digimine web site, and that an entry corresponding to this interaction (i.e., a request for the web page corresponding to the specified uri) will typically be added to a log file for that web server. if the user interacts with the web site to select control 1903 (or control 1904 ), the web page illustrated in fig. 19b will be sent to the client computer and displayed to the user. as previously noted, this web page is an overview for the services section of the web site, and it includes various informational content 1915 related to services provided by digimine to its customers. the web page also includes the same controls 1901 , 1903 , 1905 , 1907 , and 1909 as did web page 1900 . in addition, the currently displayed web page also includes other controls 1912 , 1914 , and 1916 - 1928 . control 1922 causes the currently displayed web page to be displayed, and the other newly displayed controls cause other web pages to be displayed that contain additional detailed information within the services section of the web site. if the user interacts with the web site to select control 1912 (labeled “digimine warehousing services”), the web page illustrated in fig. 19c will be displayed to the user. as with the previously displayed web pages, this web page includes various informational content as well as many of the same controls as the web page illustrated in fig. 19b . as is shown by indication 1920 , this web page has a corresponding url of “www.digimine.com/services/warehousing.htm.” as would be expected based on the label for control 1912 and the text portions of the url path for the page, this web page includes informational content related to data warehousing services that digimine provides to customers. in a similar manner, if the user interacts with the web site to select control 1914 displayed on the web page illustrated in fig. 19c (or on the web page illustrated in fig. 19b ), the web page illustrated in fig. 19d will be displayed to the user. as would be expected, the displayed web page includes informational content related to data analysis services provided by digimine, and also includes various controls. when the control 1916 is selected, the web page illustrated in fig. 19e is displayed, and selection of the control 1918 causes the web page illustrated in fig. 19f to be displayed. rather than corresponding to web pages containing detailed information about specific types of provided services, controls 1924 , 1926 and 1928 instead correspond to web pages containing other higher-level information about provided services. in particular, selection of control 1924 causes the web page illustrated in fig. 19g to be displayed, with the web page discussing various benefits to a customer from the various provided services. similarly, selection of control 1926 causes the web page illustrated in fig. 19j to be displayed, and selection of control 1928 causes the web page illustrated in fig. 19k to be displayed. several of the web pages from the services section of the web site also include a control 1930 that corresponds to a detailed data sheet related to the digimine services. while the previously displayed web pages have been specified in html format, the data sheet is a pdf document that is illustrated in figs. 19h and 19i . the web pages and pdf document illustrated in figs. 19b-19k are the web pages that are part of the services section of the digimine web site in this example embodiment. if the “company” section control 1905 is instead selected from any of the previously displayed web pages, an overview of the company will be presented to the user in the web page illustrated in fig. 19l . figs. 19l-19q illustrate some of the web pages that are part of the company section of the digimine web site in this illustrated embodiment. in addition to the top-level controls 1901 , 1903 , 1905 , 1907 , and 1909 , the illustrated web page also includes company section-specific controls 1931 - 1939 . for example, if control 1933 is selected, the web page illustrated in fig. 19m will be displayed containing information about the management team for the company. this web page includes controls 1941 - 1949 corresponding to different members of the management team, and selection of control 1949 , for example, displays the web page illustrated in fig. 19n related to the vice president of legal affairs, bob bolan. the various sections of the web site can include various subsections in a hierarchical manner, and any such subsection can similarly contain its own hierarchical subsections. for example, the “careers” subsection of the company section of the web site can be accessed by selecting control 1937 . in response, the web page illustrated in fig. 19 o will be displayed in which various overview information about working at digimine is presented. various controls are available to obtain additional web pages from the careers subsection of the company section, such as controls 1950 and 1953 . selection of the control 1950 causes the web page illustrated in fig. 19p to be displayed, in which the careers subsection is separated into additional subsections based on the types of available jobs as is shown by controls 1951 . selection of the “legal” control 1952 causes the web page illustrated in fig. 19q to be displayed. in the illustrated embodiment, the url indications 1920 for the various displayed web pages contain information that reflects the hierarchical nature of the sections and subsections of the web site. for example, the url 1920 illustrated in fig. 19 o shows that the file structure for the web page includes a “careers” hierarchy member that is one hierarchy level below a “company” hierarchy member, which is at a first hierarchy level for the digimine web site. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments each hierarchy member may reflect a hierarchical manner of storing the associated web pages or other information, such as by having a “careers” directory that is a subdirectory of a “company” subdirectory, which is itself a subdirectory of the digimine web site. if the control 1907 is selected on any of the previously displayed web pages, an overview web page for the “media center” section of the web site will be displayed, as is illustrated in fig. 19r . as is shown, subsections of the web site corresponding to press releases or to news articles can be accessed by selecting the displayed controls 1959 and 1957 respectively. after the “press releases” control 1959 is selected, the web page illustrated in fig. 19s is displayed, with controls 1956 indicating various press releases that are available from this subsection of the web site. if the control 1909 is selected on one of the previously displayed web pages, the “customer log in” web page illustrated in fig. 19t is displayed in response. as is shown, this web page includes a user-editable portion 1960 in which customers can interact with the web site in a manner other than merely selecting controls, such as by specify appropriate customer-specific access information in the appropriate form fields in order to obtain access to data for their own web site. in addition, as is shown by url 1920 , the customer-specific section of the digimine web site is provided by a server using a different third-level domain name (i.e., insight.digimine.com) than the previously discussed sections of the web site (that use the third-level domain name www.digimine.com). those skilled in the art will appreciate that this distinct third-level domain name may correspond to one or more web server machines that are distinct from the one or more web servers that support the www.digimine.com domain name, or that there may instead be partial or complete overlap in the respective web server machines. in addition, in the illustrated embodiment the web pages for the customer log in section of the web site are transmitted in a secure manner to protect confidential customer data (e.g., by using secure http (“https”) and a different port number than the standard port number 80 for unsecure http). in the illustrated embodiment, a user digimineqa from the quality assurance department of digimine provides the appropriate access information on the web page illustrated in fig. 19t and, after interacting with the web site by selecting the “submit” button, receives the web page 1972 illustrated in fig. 19 u. this web page is shown displayed within a web browser display window 1970 . the displayed web page includes multiple frames that are each able to display different content, including a control frame 1979 with various user-selectable controls 1977 and display frames 1975 in which customer-specific information is displayed. in the illustrated embodiment, the url indication 1920 corresponds to the information displayed in the display frames. the path portion of the indicated url specifies an executable active server page (“asp”) program on the server that will supply the content displayed in the display frames, and the indicated url also includes a query string portion that will be supplied as input to the executable program. in addition, note that in the illustrated embodiment, each customer receives a unique customer id, and each customer's data is treated as a separate hierarchical section of the web site. for example, the id for the current user is “10033,” which is shown in the hierarchy structure of the path portion of the url. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments different customer data could instead be accessed in a variety of other ways, such as by using the same url path for each customer for a given type of data but using differing query strings to identify the current customer (e.g., “customerid=10033”). as is shown in fig. 19u , a variety of types of information is available to each user, including administrative information related to the customer's account and information related to analysis of interaction or usage information from the customer. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments the analysis will have previously been performed and the analysis reports will use the information from the previous analysis (e.g., stored information), and in other embodiments the analysis can be dynamically performed when a report is requested by a customer. in the web page illustrated in fig. 19u , the user has interacted with the web site to select the “users” control 1980 in the “management desk” section of the customer-selectable controls, with the display frames correspondingly containing administrative information about the users defined for the current customer. in the illustrated embodiment, there is a single “administrators” user group defined, and a single user “digimineqa” (whose information was used in the customer login screen illustrated in fig. 19t ) that is a member of that user group. those skilled in the art will appreciate that other customers may have multiple user groups defined, as well as having multiple users in one or more of their user groups. note also that the “x” in the box next to the users control 1980 indicates that it is the currently selected customer control. fig. 19v illustrates a web page corresponding to an alternate user selection from the management desk section of the customer controls, that being the “post message” control 1981 . the display frame 1975 indicates that the current user can post a message that will be shown to other users. the url indication 1920 for the display frame in this web page shows that a different asp is specified to supply the displayed message form, and that the same query string as was used for the users display is specified. in addition to the administrative controls in the management desk section, there are a variety of data reports of differing types available to the user. the display frame illustrated in fig. 19w contains an “executive summary” display for the user, as shown by selection of the “executive summary” control 1982 . the content of the display frame includes various groups of information such as a date range filter 1997 , a data chart 1995 , a data table 1993 (not shown in the currently scrolled position of the display frame), and a message window 1999 (also not shown in the currently scrolled position of the display frame). in addition, the display frame includes display controls 1992 , 1994 , 1996 , and 1998 with which the user can select whether to show or hide the various corresponding groups of information. the user can also modify the displayed information in various ways, such as by interacting with the web site to modify the specified date information in the date filter using the user-selectable controls and by interacting with the web site to alter the visual appearance of the chart or the data displayed in the chart via the various user-selectable display controls available within the display chart group of information. in addition to the executive summary report, the “reports” section of the customer controls includes groups of “site traffic” sub-section controls, “site usage” sub-section controls, “customer” sub-section controls, “data mining” sub-section controls, and “products and transactions” sub-section controls. fig. 19x illustrates a web page whose display frame includes a report corresponding to the “hourly activity” site traffic control 1983 . as with the executive summary report, the hourly activity report includes a date range filter, chart, table, and message window. as shown, other site traffic reports include a daily activity report, a page views per visit report, a frequently viewed pages report, and an entry path summary report. the site usage reports include a visit duration per user report, a referring url report, a keywords searched report, a category analysis report, an event analysis report, and a funnel report. fig. 19y illustrates a web page whose display frame shows a referring url report, as indicated by the selection of the referring url control 1984 . conversely, fig. 19z illustrates a web page whose display frame includes a category analysis report. in the illustrated display frame, the data table 1993 and message window 1999 are visible, and the data chart is currently hidden. the category analysis report provides various information for each of one or more categories, such as the number of page views for web pages of the category and the number of unique users who have viewed web pages of that category. in the illustrated embodiment, only the top-level categories are currently shown (as illustrated by the user-selectable control 1963 ), with only a single top-level category currently defined for the digimineqa customer. those skilled in the art will appreciate that other users may have multiple top-level categories, and that the categories whose information is to be displayed can be selected in various ways. for example, all of the categories at all of the hierarchy levels could be displayed, and the user could then pick and choose any categories in which they have an interest. alternately, a user could select a level of categories, such as top-level or second-level categories, and have information displayed for each category at that selected level. in other situations, it may be useful to display category information for a specified category and all sub-categories or super-categories in a hierarchical arrangement. those skilled in the art will appreciate that categories to be displayed can be selected in other similar ways. fig. 19 aa illustrates one example embodiment of displaying multiple categories for selection. as is shown, in the illustrated embodiment the categories are arranged in a hierarchical manner, thus allowing various groupings of categories to be chosen such as individual categories, all categories in a hierarchical structure, all categories at a specified level of the hierarchy, etc. fig. 19 ab illustrates a web page whose display frame includes an event analysis report, as indicated by the selection of the event analysis control 1986 . in the illustrated embodiment, only a single event type has been selected to have information displayed, that being the “contact form” event type 1964 (e.g., corresponding to each person that has interacted with the web site to request the web page corresponding to digimine's contact form or to submit a completed contact form). as is shown, a variety of types of information can be illustrated for each event type, such as “total occurrences,” “unique users,” and “occurrences per visit,” and information can be simultaneously displayed for multiple related or unrelated event types. those skilled in the art will appreciate that event types whose information is to be displayed can be selected in a variety of ways, such as in a manner analogous to those discussed above with respect to multiple categories. fig. 19 ac illustrates a funnel report that provides one example of displaying information for multiple related event types, those being a sequence of related event types. in addition to providing information about each of multiple categories individually, various types of information about the interactions of multiple categories can also be displayed. for example, the display frame of the web page illustrated in fig. 19 ad shows a category affinity report in which information is provided about users that access web pages in each of the displayed categories in a single user session. those skilled in the art will appreciate that categories to be included in such a report can be chosen in a variety of ways, such as was discussed previously for the category analysis report. those skilled in the art will also appreciate that a variety of other types of similar information can be shown rather than merely combinations of categories, such as sequences of categories in which the order of the viewing is relevant. similarly, in other embodiments affinity reports could be presented for other types of information, such as specified event types or combinations of categories and event types. fig. 19 ae illustrates that, in addition to displaying various reports, information that is not customer-specific can also be provided, such as a glossary of terms. those skilled in the art will appreciate that various other types of information can similarly be provided. as previously noted, tables 3-6 contain example data parsing information that can be used by the parser component to identify various high-level types of occurrences for the example digimine web site illustrated in figs. 19 a- 19 ae. in some embodiments, occurrence types can be specified by using a web site or web server identifier, an identifier for one or more uris, and/or one or more query string identifiers. correspondingly, tables 3-6 contain example data parsing information corresponding to identifying those types of information. in particular, table 3 contains example data parsing information used to identify the digimine web site and its web servers. as previously illustrated in table 1, each log entry to be parsed will typically include an ip address and a port number that are used to communicate with (e.g., send requests to) a web server computer. the identification of whether a particular log entry corresponds to a particular web site is complicated by several factors. for example, it is common for web sites to use a primary domain name (e.g., www.digimine.com) whose corresponding ip address is a load balancing device that can direct client requests to multiple physical web server machines that each have their own distinct ip addresses. thus, there will typically be multiple ip addresses for multiple web servers that can provide the same web pages for a web site. in some situations, all of the web servers for a web site will maintain a single log file for the entire web site, while in other situations each of the web servers will maintain a separate log. however, even if each web server maintains a separate log, in some situations the various log files will be combined together before they are processed by the parser component. thus, each entry in the log file can correspond to different physical machines that are acting as web servers for the web site. in addition to having multiple alternate web servers that can each provide any of the web site content, in other situations a web site may have certain subsections or types of processing (e.g., server-executed code) that are provided by one or more web servers that are distinct from the other web servers providing the rest of the content for the web site. in these situations, communications shown in the log file that are directed to those web servers will typically be restricted to those portions of the web site or types of processing handled by the web servers. in addition to having multiple web servers that each provide some or all of the content for a web site, in other situations a single machine will act as a web server for multiple web sites. in such situations, each web site can have a distinct domain name that may be mapped to a distinct ip address, but all of the ip addresses refer to that single physical machine. in such a situation, if the machine maintains a single log file for any requests that it receives, then the log file will contain entries for each of the web sites that it hosts. thus, in such a situation it is useful to be able to determine the log entries that correspond to a particular web site of interest. in the example site data parsing information illustrated in table 3 below, it can be seen that the digimine web site is separated into two groups of content having distinct domain names. while the data parsing information in this illustrated embodiment is illustrated using xml format, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such information can be specified in other manners. lines 3-6 in table 3 illustrate a first siteurl with an id of 1 that corresponds to a portion of the web site whose web pages are provided using the third-level domain name “insight.digimine.com.” as is shown, two different virtualserver logical site definitions each specify virtual web servers that can provide this group of content, with the virtual web servers using ip addresses 209.67.55.102 and 192.168.73.66 and both using port 0. as noted above, in some situations these ip addresses may correspond to two distinct physical machines. alternately, a single machine can act as multiple virtual servers in various ways, such as having multiple ip addresses or by having different virtual servers that correspond to different port numbers for the machine (i.e., since each virtual server in the illustrated embodiment is based on a combination of an ip address and a tcp port number, a single machine can act as a first virtual server for secure http communications on port number 0 and a second virtual server for normal http communications can use port number 80). the portion of the web site having the content corresponding to this first siteurl is reached by a user selecting control 1909 on a web site web page (such as that illustrated in fig. 19s ), and some of the web pages corresponding to this content are illustrated in figs. 19 t- 19 ae. table 3<sites><site id=“1” cookieidentifiers=“siteserver=,=”visittimeout=“” timezonename=“gmt”><siteurl siteurlid=“1” name=“https://insight.digimine.com” url=“/”><virtualserver id=“1” ipaddress=“209.67.55.102” tcpport=“0”/><virtualserver id=“2” ipaddress=“192.168.73.66” tcpport=“0”/></siteurl><siteurl siteurlid=“2” name=“http://www.digimine.com” url=“/”/></site></sites> the second siteurl is defined in line 7 of table 3 and corresponds to the rest of the web site content using the third-level domain name “www.digimine.com.” in the illustrated embodiment, the last siteurl is a default that is used for any log entry that does not match an earlier siteurl definition, and thus this second siteurl does not require one or more associated combinations of ip address and port number in the illustrated embodiment. figs. 19a-19s illustrate some of the web pages in this group of content. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other situations there could be a single domain name that corresponds to all of the content for the web site, or that the web site could be divided into more than two groups or could be divided into multiple groups of content without using distinct domain names. in the illustrated embodiment, in addition to having a specified domain name, each of the two siteurls have a path designation for that domain name that limits the group of content corresponding to the siteurl to the urls that match the path designation. the path designation in the illustrated embodiment matches a prefix of the url path, and since both siteurls include a prefix path designation of “/”, the siteurls will match all urls using that domain name (since all url paths begin with a “/”). in other situations, different siteurls may be defined using a single domain name and different urls. for example, a web site devoted to providing state law information might separate the web sites into 50 content sets corresponding to the 50 states, with the urls for the content related to each state preceded by an initial url such as “/washington/” or “/kansas/.” table 4 illustrates various example data parsing information that defines types of interaction events with the example digimine web site that are of interest. those skilled in the art will appreciate that each web site owner may be interested in tracking information about different types of events. conversely, web sites of similar types may often have interest in similar types of events. for example, merchant web sites that sell items will typically be interested in events related to such sales, such as adding items to a shopping cart or completing a purchase. for an informational web site such as the digimine web site, it may be of interest when users view certain web pages or take actions such as submitting a contact form. in the example xml event type data parsing information illustrated in table 4, each event type of interest is specified using an eventdefinition event type definition. as is shown, each eventdefinition can have one or more defined eventdefinitionpatterns event type patterns that each includes a combination of a urlpattern url path pattern that can match one or more url paths, a querystringpattern query string pattern that can match one or more query strings, and an indication of a previously defined siteurl. the values that are specified for each of these types of information are used to determine whether a log entry matches the eventdefinitionpattern by including corresponding information. as an example, the eventdefinitionpattern specified in lines 3 and 4 of table 4 will match log entries for the group of content corresponding to the previously defined siteurl with an id of 2 (i.e., the siteurl defined in line 7 of table 3) and any url path that begins with the url fragment “/company/contact_form.htm”. this event type corresponds to a user requesting a contact form web page with which the user can supply their contact information to the web site. no value is supplied for the query string pattern portion of this event definition. in some embodiments, any of the three types of information specified for an eventdefinitionpattern can optionally not have a specified value, and if so will match any information of the corresponding type. alternately, in other embodiments such a missing value could indicate that no information was allowed to be specified for that type of information (e.g., a log entry would not match this event type definition if it included any url query string information), or different indications could be used to represent matching any information and matching no information. table 4<events><eventdefinition id=“1” name=“contact form”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid=“2” urlpattern=“{prefix}=/company/contact_form.htm”querystringpattern=“”/> </eventdefinition><eventdefinition id=“2” name=“submit contact form”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid“2” urlpattern=“{prefix}=/company/infoformsubmit.asp”querystringpattern=“”/> </eventdefinition><eventdefinition id=“3” name=“search”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid=“2” urlpattern=“{prefix}=/search.asp”querystringpattern=“<keyword>=*”/> </eventdefinition><eventdefinition id=“4” name=“use jsp”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid=“2” urlpattern=“{suffix}=.jsp”querystringpattern=“<keyword>=+&<debug>=!”/> </eventdefinition><eventdefinition id=“5” name=“view general counsel bio”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlld=“2” urlpattern=“{fn}=/company/bobbolan.htm”querystringpattern=“”/><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlld=“” urlpattern=“{prefix}=/search.asp”querystringpattern=“<employeetype>=counsel”/></eventdefinition>...<eventdefinition id=“400” name=“digimine login attempt”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid=“1” urlpattern=“{prefix}=/i0033/login.asp”querystringpattern=“”/> </eventdefinition><eventdefinition id=“401” name=“companyxyz login attempt”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid=“1” urlpattern=“{prefix}=/e004/login.asp”querystringpattern=“”/> </eventdefinition>...</events> those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various portions of the event type definitions, such as the url path patterns and query string patterns, can be defined in various ways and to match many different sets of data. for example, in the illustrated embodiment url path patterns include a specifier of what portion of a url path is to be matched and of a value for that portion of the url. the url path portion indicators include the indicators “prefix,” “suffix,” and “fn,” which match respectively the beginning, ending, or all of the url. for example, for the previously illustrated digimine web site, an event type that is intended to match any request for information from the company section of the web site could include a url path pattern with a “prefix” indicator and a value of “/company/.” thus, any url paths that begin with the static portion of “/company/” and include any following variable portion will match the pattern. alternately, the url path portion illustrated in lines 12-13 will match any url path that ends with the suffix “.jsp”, which corresponds to any java server page (“jsp”) web pages (although the specified query string pattern for the event type definition will limit the urls that will match the overall event type definition). those skilled in the art will appreciate that url path patterns could be specified in a variety of other ways, such as using wild cards (e.g., “*”) or regular expressions. in a similar manner to the url path patterns, the query string patterns in the illustrated embodiment can also be defined to match various different sets of data. for example, the eventdefinitionpattern illustrated in lines 17 and 18 of table 4 corresponds to a search functionality of the web site being invoked using a url whose path begins with “/search.asp.” while any number of query strings may be able to be supplied to the search.asp executable, this event pattern will match only query strings in which the query parameter name of “employeetype” is included and has a corresponding value of “counsel” (e.g., search.asp?employeetype=counsel). rather than specifying an explicitly required value such as “counsel,” the presence or absence of a query string name can also be specified. for example, with respect to the eventdefinitionpattern illustrated in lines 9 and 10 of the table, the included query string pattern specifies that a query parameter name of “keyword” can optionally be present in the query string (with the optional presence indicated in the illustrated embodiment by using the “*” character). in addition, as previously noted, log entry information corresponding to specified query parameter names can be extracted and analyzed. for example, if this event pattern matches a log entry to indicate an occurrence of this event type, and the “keyword” query parameter name and corresponding value is included in query string information in that log entry, that value will be extracted and stored. in addition to query parameter names whose presence is specified as being optional, the illustrated embodiment also allows query parameter names to be required for a match to occur (i.e., by using the “+” character) or to instead be disallowed for a match to occur (i.e., by using the “!” character). for example, the event pattern illustrated in lines 12 and 13 of table 4 includes a required query parameter name of “keyword” and a disallowed query parameter name of “debug.” those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments query string patterns can be specified in other manners, such as by using prefixes or suffixes, or by using regular expression specifications. in some situations, a query string may include multiple query string names that are identical, such as an example url “search.asp?keyword=abc& keyword=def&specifier=ghi.” in the illustrated embodiment, this group of query parameter names can be matched with a query string pattern such as “<keyword>=+&<keyword>=*&<other-name>=!”, which requires or allows the first two (but not the third) query parameter names in the query string and disallows a query parameter name that is not present. in other embodiments, a query string pattern would only match a query string if the query string pattern explicitly allowed or required the presence of each query parameter name that is present in the query string. as it can be useful to separately track the values specified for each of the different query parameters even if they share a common name, such as when the order of the query parameter names is relevant in assigning different meanings to the corresponding values, the parser component can in some embodiments rename or map all (or all but one) of such query parameter names to have distinct names (e.g., to “keyword1” and “keyword2”) for the purpose of storing the corresponding values. thus, in this example, the parser component would store the corresponding value “abc” from the example url in a manner associated with the “keyword1” query parameter name so that it is distinct from the value “def” stored for the “keyword2” query parameter name. in some situations, event type data parsing information can also specify sequences or series of related event types (also referred to as “funnels”). such event type sequence definitions (not illustrated in table 4) could be used in various ways, such as to store related event type information together, or to allow pre-calculation of various inter-event type information. another type of data parsing information that can be used to identify occurrences of interest relates to categories of related content that are available from a web site or other content set. categories of related content can be identified and specified in many ways. one common type of category relates to information stored or presented in a hierarchical manner, as with the web pages of many web sites. in such situations, different hierarchy members can serve as one basis for identifying categories of related content, such as the hierarchy members lowest-level leaf node hierarchy members or the hierarchy members at all hierarchy levels of the hierarchy structure. table 5 provides an example of category type data parsing information that corresponds to the digimine web pages illustrated in figs. 19 a- 19 ae. as previously noted, the digimine web site is structured in a hierarchical manner with multiple sections, and the category data parsing information for the web site reflects that hierarchy. in particular, as is illustrated in fig. 19a , there are sections of the web site that can be accessed using controls 1903 , 1905 , 1907 and 1909 , with the corresponding groups of content related to services provided by digimine, company-specific information, media information, and digimine customer-specific information. in a corresponding manner, the category data parsing information for the web site has four top-level hierarchymember category type definitions that begin at lines 3, 22, 45, and 59 of table 5. in the illustrated embodiment, each hierarchymember has a membername that is used to visually represent the hierarchymember (such as in reports), a unique id, and a unique pagekey name that indicates the hierarchical position of the hierarchymember. table 5<hierarchy id=“1” membernameseparator=“&gt;”><hierarchymember id=“1” membername=“services” pagekey=“−1”><hierarchymember id=“2” membername=“service benefits” pagekey=“−1−1”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98”baseurl=“{prefix}=/services/servicebenefits.htm” querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“3” membername=“take the quiz” pagekey=“−1−2”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98” baseurl=“{prefix}=/services/quiz.htm”querystringpattern=“”/> </hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“4” membername=“how digimine works” pagekey=“−1−3”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98” baseurl=“{prefix}=/services/howworks.htm”querystringpattern=“”/> </hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“5” membername=“digimine data enhancement services” pagekey=“−1−4”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98”baseurl=“{prefix}=/services/enhancement.htm” querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember>...<pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“99” baseurl=“{prefix}=/services/”querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“9” membername=“company” pagekey=“−2”><hierarchymember id=“10” membername=“management” pagekey=“−2−1”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98”baseurl=“{prefix}=/company/management.htm” querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“11” membername=“careers” pagekey=“−2−2”><hierarchymember id=“12” membername=“r &amp; d” pagekey=“−2−2−1”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“97”baseurl=“{prefix}=/company/careers/rd.htm” querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember>...<hierarchymember id=“16” membername=“legal” pagekey=“−2−2−5”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“97”baseurl=“{prefix}=/company/careers/legal.htm” querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98” baseurl=“{prefix}=/company/careers/”querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“17” membername=“contact” pagekey=“−2−3“><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98” baseurl=“{prefix}=/company/contact.htm”querystringpattern=“”/> </hierarchymember><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“99” baseurl=“{prefix}=/company/”querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“18” membername=“media center” pagekey=“−3”><hierarchymember id=“19” membername=“news” pagekey=“−3−1”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98” baseurl=“{prefix}=/mediacenter/news.htm”querystringpattern=“”/> </hierarchymember>...<hierarchymember id=“24” membername=“press releases” pagekey=“−3−4“><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98”baseurl=“{prefix}=/mediacenter/pressreleases.htm” querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“99” baseurl=“{prefix}=/mediacenter/”querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“233” membername=“insight” pagekey=“−4”><hierarchymember id=“234” membername=“digimine” pagekey=“−4−01”><hierarchymember id=“235” membername=“reports” pagekey=“−4−01−1”><hierarchymember id=“236” membername=“executive summary” pagekey=“−4−01−1−1”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“1” baseurl=“{prefix}=/i0033/reports/executive.asp”querystringpattern=“” priority=“”/> </hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“237” membername=“site traffic” pagekey=“−4−01−1−2”><hierarchymember id=“238” membername=“hourly activity” pagekey=“−4−01−1−2−1”><pagekeytemplatesiteurlid=“1”baseurl=“{prefix}=/i0033/reports/hourlyactivity.asp”querystringpattern=“” priority=“95”/> </hierarchymember>...</hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“243” membername=“site usage” pagekey=“−4−01−1−3”>...<hierarchymember id=“247” membername=“category analysis” pagekey=“−4−01−1−3−4”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“1”baseurl=“{prefix}=/i0033/reports/storeanalysis.asp” querystringpattern=“”/priority=“95” > </hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“248” membername=“event analysis” pagekey=“−4−01−1−3−5”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“1”baseurl=“{prefix}=/i0033/reports/eventanalysis.asp” querystringpattern=“”priority=“95” /> </hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“249” membername=“funnel” pagekey=“−4−01−1−3−6”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“1” baseurl={prefix}=/i0033/reports/funnel.asp”querystringpattern=“” priority=“95” /> </hierarchymember></hierarchymember>...<pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“0” priority=“” baseurl=“{prefix}=/i0033/reports/”querystringpattern=“”/></hierarchymember><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“1” priority=“98” baseurl=“{prefix}=/i10033/”querystringpattern=“”></hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“260” membername=“companyxyz” pagekey=“−4−02”><hierarchymember id=“261” membername=“reports” pagekey=“−4−02−1”><hierarchymember id=“262” membername=“executive summary” pagekey=“−4−02−1−1”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“1” baseurl=“{prefix}=/e004/reportsfexecutive.asp”querystringpattern=“” priority=“96”/> </hierarchymember>...</hierarchymember></hierarchymember>...</hierarchymember></hierarchy> each category type definition can optionally include one or more pagekeytemplate page type definitions that specify which log entries will match the category type definition and be considered to be part of the corresponding category. in the illustrated embodiment, the page type definitions include information similar to that previously discussed with respect to event patterns of event type definitions. for example, as shown in line 19 of the table, the page type definition for the “services” section category of web pages includes an indication of a previously defined siteurl logical site definition, a baseurl path pattern that can match one or more url paths, and a querystringpattern query string pattern that can match one or more query strings. values for each of these types of page type definition information can optionally have values specified as with event type definitions, and if so will be used to determine whether a log entry matches the page type definition. as is shown in line 19, the “services” category page type definition includes a url path pattern with a “prefix” indicator and a value of “/services/”, with no value supplied for the querystringpattern. thus, each of the web pages illustrated in figs. 19b-19k would match this page type definition, and are therefore part of the corresponding “services” category of the web site. in some embodiments, such as the illustrated embodiment, category types can be structured in a hierarchical manner (e.g., to reflect content set items that are structured in a hierarchical manner). each illustrated hierarchymember category type definition can optionally be associated with one or more “children” hierarchymembers that specify items at a next lower-level of the hierarchy. in the illustrated embodiment, the hierarchical relationship of the hierarchymembers is illustrated both with indentation and with the pagekey values (e.g., a hierarchymember with a pagekey of “-1-3-1” or “-1-3-5” is one hierarchy level below the hierarchymember with a pagekey of “-1-3”). as mentioned above, the hierarchy members directly below another hierarchy member in a hierarchical structure can be referred to as “children”, and the hierarchy member directly above can be referred to as a “parent” (e.g., the hierarchymember with a pagekey of “-1-3-1” is a child of the hierarchymember with a pagekey of “-1-3”). for example, in addition to the page type definition in line 19, the services category type definition also includes definitions in lines 4-18 for multiple next lower-level category type definitions. each of these next lower-level category type definitions define children categories (or “sub-categories”) of the services category, and have a format similar to that of the services category type definition. for example, the “service benefits” category type definition defined in lines 4-6 of table 5 corresponds to the web page illustrated in fig. 19g , and includes a page key value that illustrates the hierarchical relationship of itself to the services category. in the illustrated embodiment, the url path patterns and query string patterns for the category type definitions use the same pattern matching formats as those discussed previously with respect to the event type definitions, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments event type definitions can be specified in a different manner than category type definitions. in the illustrated embodiment, the page type definition in line 19 of table 5 includes a priority value whose use reflects that, in the illustrated embodiment, a log entry is identified as belonging to only one category type definition. in such an embodiment, however, the log entry may match the page type definitions specified for multiple category type definitions (e.g., the web page illustrated in fig. 19f that has a url path of “/services/enhancement.htm” will match not only the specific category type definition specified in lines 13-15 of table 5 but also the more general parent category type definition whose page type definition is shown in line 19 of table 5). thus, if only one category type definition match is allowed, it is preferable that the “best” match be the one that is recorded for a log entry. in some embodiments the best match will be the most-specific category type definition (e.g., the matching category type definition at the lowest level of the hierarchical structure), while in other embodiments the best match may be the most-general matching category type definition. in the illustrated embodiment, the associated priority values are used to differentiate category type definitions at different levels of the hierarchy (e.g., the top-level category type definitions have a priority of 99 while the second-level category type definitions have a priority of 98). using such information, the category type definitions can be organized before attempts at matching begin (putting either the highest priority values or the lowest priority values first), and the first category type definition whose page type definition matches the log entry can then be used as the single match. while a log entry is allowed to match only a single category type definition in the illustrated embodiment, a log entry can be identified as being a member of each event type whose definition matches the log entry. since a log entry will be checked against each available event type for a match in such an embodiment, it may not be necessary to provide priority information with which to order the event types for checking. conversely, in embodiments in which only one event type is allowed to match a log entry, or if the order in which the event types were to be matched was relevant for another reason, the eventdefinitionpatterns event patterns could similarly include priority information or other mechanisms for ordering the event type definitions in an appropriate manner. similarly, if a log entry is allowed to match multiple category type definitions in other embodiments, and there is no other reason to order the category type definitions in a specific manner, such category type definitions may not include priority value information. when the parser component matches a log entry to a category type definition, it can increment various types of stored information about that category type, such as the number of page views, requests, visits, unique users, orders, revenue, etc. similarly, the parser component can store similar types of information for event type occurrences that are noted. in addition, as previously illustrated in fig. 19 ad, in some situations it is useful to provide information about the relationships between multiple defined categories. in some embodiments, such combinations or sequences of categories can be pre-defined, and the category data parsing information can include definitions for those category combinations or sequences to allow various information about those categories to be preprocessed. alternately, in other situations a user can select any two or more defined categories, and the system calculates the specified category relationships dynamically. similarly, while sequences or combinations of event types of interest can be predefined in the event data parsing information, in other situations a user can dynamically specify two or more sequences or combinations of events, and the information related to that combination or sequence of events can be dynamically generated. fig. 19 ac provides an example of one report related to a sequence of event types. in addition to the site, event, and category data parsing information, in some embodiments exclusion data parsing information can be specified to indicate types of log entries that are not to be further processed. table 6 includes various examples of types of exclusion data parsing information. for example, in lines 2 and 3, it is shown that ip addresses (or ranges of such addresses) can be specified such that requests from clients at those ip addresses are not included in the processing (e.g., the ip addresses for the machines used by internal users). lines 3-11 indicate that log entries requesting files of specified types can also be excluded, such as those with file extensions of “.dll” (i.e., dynamic libraries) or “.gif” (i.e., image files using the gif format). lines 12-30 indicate that other types of uri patterns can be specified with which to exclude log entries that match the patterns, such as for specific files or for files with specified suffixes or prefixes. while not illustrated, similar exclusion patterns could be specified for query strings. in addition to the exclusion information, other parser component configuration information can also be specified (e.g., on a customer-specific basis) that modifies or sets internal parameters that affect the behavior of the parser component, as is illustrated in lines 31-40. those skilled in the art will appreciate that a wide variety of parser component behaviors can be dynamically specified through the use of such configuration information. the appendix section of this document provides additional details on types of information that can be specified for the parser component in one embodiment. table 6<config><configconstants name=“excludedclientiprange” value=“209.67.55.54,209.67.55.62”/><configconstants name=“excludedclientiprange” value=“209.67.55.98,209.67.55.126”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.cdf”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.css”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“ {fileext}=.dll”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.gif”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.ico”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.jpeg”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.jpg”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.js”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fn}=getvroot.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fn}=logo.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fn}=nav.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fn}=nav_frames.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{prefix}=/license/”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{prefix}=/pitcher”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/chart.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/chartobject.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/messageboard.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/report_check.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/reportfilter.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/reportfunctions.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/reportqueries.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/reportqueries.inc”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/sql.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/vbclientfunctions.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/include/vbfunctions.asp”><configconstants name=“exctudeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/reports/execchart.asp”/><configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{suffix}=/reports/execchartobject.asp”/><configconstants name=“hitsptrsbuffersize” value=“20”/><configconstants name=“maxlengthoutputfield” value=“240”/><configconstants name=“querystringskeyhashbuckets” value=“600”/><configconstants name=“querystringskeyhashbuckets” value=“99”/><configconstants name=“rawhitsbuffersize” value=“100”/><configconstants name=“successcodes” value=“200,304”/><configconstants name=“uripairhashbuckets” value=“200”/><configconstants name=“useragentkeyhashbuckets” value=“99”/><configconstants name=“userkeybuffersize” value=“90”/><configconstants name=“userkeyhashbuckets” value=“499”/></config> while the data parsing information in tables 3-6 has been illustrated using xml format, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such data can be specified in a variety of other formats. table 7 provides an example of specifying data parsing information for an example digimine customer companyxyz.com using sql statements to add similar types of data parsing information to various database tables. figs. 27a-27b illustrate an example database scheme that could be used to hold such data parsing information. those skilled in the art will appreciate that data specified in other formats, such as the xml data illustrated in tables 3-6, could similarly be processed and stored in such database tables. as is shown by the event data parsing information in lines 51-137 of table 7, companyxyz is a merchant web site that allows purchase of items from the web site. as such, companyxyz has interest in event types related to purchasing items, and lines 121-137 of the table provide one example of defining a sequence of event types related to item purchase. while specific examples of database tables and their inter-relationships are illustrated in this example embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that data parsing information could be stored in different database table data structure formats in other embodiments. table 7---- parser configuration data for companyxyz.com--delete from pagehierarchydelete from pagedelete from partitioncriteriadelete from hierarchymemberdelete from eventdefinitionpatternsdelete from eventdefinitioncolumnsdelete from eventdefinitiondelete from membertemplatedelete from hierarchydelete from pagekeytemplatedelete from sitequerystringsdelete from referralquerystringsdelete from siteurldelete from serverdelete from serverbindingdelete from sitedelete from siteurlvirtualserverxrefdelete from virtualserverinsert into site(siteid, cookieidentifiers, sitename) values (1, ‘siteserver=,=;webtrends_id=,’,‘companyxyz’)insert into server(serverid, servername) values (1, ‘test1’)insert virtualserver (serverid, virtualserverid, serverbindingid, logfileprefix) values (1, 1, 1, ‘e002aa’)insert virtualserver (serverid, virtualserverid, serverbindingid, logfileprefix) values (2, 2, 2, ‘e002ab’)insert virtualserver (serverid, virtualserverid, serverbindingid, logfileprefix) values (3, 3, 3, ‘e002ac’)insert virtualserver (serverid, virtualserverid, serverbindingid, logfileprefix) values (4, 4, 4, ‘e002ad’)insert virtualserver (serverid, virtualserverid, serverbindingid, logfileprefix) values (5, 5, 5, ‘e002ae’)insert virtualserver (serverid, virtualserverid, serverbindingid, logfileprefix) values (6, 6, 6, ‘e002af’)insert into serverbinding(serverbindingid, hostheadername, ipaddress, ipport) values (1, ‘unknown’, ‘0.0.0.0’, ‘0’)insert into hierarchy(hierarchyid, hierarchyname, hierarchydepth, membernameseparator)values(1, ‘companyxyz tabs’, 3, ‘>’)insert into siteurl(siteurlid, sitename, url) values (1, ‘companyxyz.com’, ‘/’)insert into siteurlvirtualserverxref(siteurliid, siteurlid, virtualserverid) values (1, 1, 1)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘visit’,‘daily’,1)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘request’,‘daily’,1)declare @siteurlid intset @siteurlid = (select siteurlid from siteurl where sitename=‘companyxyz.com’ and url=‘/’)insert into eventdefinition(eventdetinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(1,‘keyword search’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(1, @siteurlid,‘{prefix}=/keywordsearch.asp’, ‘<keyword>=*’)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘keyword search’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(2, ‘power search’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(2, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/powersearchresults.asp’, null)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘power search’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(3, ‘view product’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(3, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/product.asp’, ‘<p>=+’)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘view product’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(4, ‘add to basket’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(4, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/checkoutlbasket.asp’, null)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘add to basket’,‘monthly’, 1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(5, ‘order shipping and billing’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(5, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/checkout/purchase2shippingbilling.asp’, null)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘order shipping and billing’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(6, “order review’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(6, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/checkout/purchase3review.asp’, null)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘order review’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(7, ‘order confirmation’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(7, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/checkout/purchase4confirmation.asp’, null)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘order confirmation’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(8, ‘order status check’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(8, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/checkout/yourorders.asp’, null)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘order status check’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinition(eventdefinitionid, eventname, addrequestid, addvisitid, addpageid, addreferrerid)values(9, ‘login or registration’, 1, 1, 1, 1)insert into eventdefinitionpatterns(eventdefinitionid, siteurlid, baseurlpattern, basequerystringpattern)values(9, @siteurlid, ‘{prefix}=/checkout/frmlogin.asp’, null)insert into partitioncriteria(facttable,partitioncriteria,facttablecurrentid)values(‘login or registration’,‘monthly’,1)insert into eventdefinitioncolumns(eventdefinitionid, eventdefinedcolumnname, eventdefinitioncolumntype,eventdefinitioncolumnsize, mappingquerystringcolumns)values( 1, ‘keyword’, ‘varchar’, 400, ‘<keyword>’)insert into eventdefinitioncolumns(eventdefinitionid, eventdefinedcolumnname, eventdefinitioncolumntype,eventdefinitioncolumnsize, mappingquerystringcolumns)values(3, ‘productid’, ‘int’, 4, ‘<p>’)exec meta_createfunnel@funnelname = “funnel”exec meta_funnelelement_addevent@funnelname=“funnel”,@eventname = ‘view product’exec meta_funnelelement_addevent@funnelname=“funnel”,@eventname = ‘add to basket’exec meta_funnelelement_addevent@funnelname=“funnel”,@eventname=‘order shipping and billing’exec meta_funnelelement_addevent@funnelname=“funnel”,@eventname=‘order review’exec meta_funnelelement_addevent@funnelname=“funnel”,@eventname = ‘order confirmation’insert into pagekeytemplate(pagekeytemplateid, baseurl, siteurlid, querystringpattern, pagetype,pagekeydefinition,priority)values(1, null, @siteurlid, ‘<s>=+&<a>=+&<d>=+’, ‘department’, ‘−<s>−<a>−<d>#’,1)insert into pagekeytemplate(pagekeytemplateid, baseurl, siteurlid, querystringpattern, pagetype,pagekeydefinition,priority)values(2, null, @siteurlid, ‘<s>=+&<a>=+’, ‘department’, ‘−<s>−<a>#’,2)insert into pagekeytemplate(pagekeytemplateid, baseurl, siteurlid, querystringpattern, pagetype,pagekeydefinition,priority)values(3, null, @siteurlid, ‘<s>=+’, ‘department’, ‘−<s>#’,3)insert into pagekeytemplate(pagekeytemplateid, baseurl, siteurlid, querystringpattern, pagetype,pagekeydefinition,priority)values(4, null, @siteurlid, null, ‘department’, ‘−0#’,4)insert into hierarchymember(hierarchyid, categorydepth, memberkey, siteurlid, membername, memberfullname,categoryname) values (1, 1, ‘−50’, @siteurlid, ‘outdoor shop’, ‘outdoor shop’, ‘store’)insert into membertemplate(memberkey, pagekeypattern) values (‘−50’, ‘{prefix}=−50#’)insert into hierarchymemberchierarchyid, categorydepth, memberkey, siteurlid, membername, memberfullname,categoryname) values (1, 1, ‘−79’, @siteurlid, ‘team sports’, ‘team sports’, ‘store’)insert into membertemp late(memberkey, pagekeypattern) values (‘−79’, ‘{prefix}=−79#’)...insert into hierarchymember(hierarchyid, categorydepth, memberkey, siteurlid, membername, memberfullname,categoryname) values (1, 2, ‘−50−51’, @siteurlid, ‘backpacking & hiking’, ‘outdoor shop>backpacking & hiking’,‘activity’)insert into membertemplate(memberkey, pagekeypattern) values (‘−50−51’, ‘{prefix}=−50−51#’)...exec hierarchymember_initilizeupdate hierarchymember set categoryname=‘department’update hierarchymember set pagekey=memberkey +‘#’update hierarchymember set pagetype=‘department’insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘s’, ‘s’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘p’, ‘p’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘d’, ‘d’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘c’, ‘c’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘a’, ‘a’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘brand’, ‘brand’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘doc’, ‘doc’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘catid’, ‘catid’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘productid’, ‘productid’)insert into sitequerystrings(siteid, querystringname, querystringcolumnname) values (1, ‘daysold’, ‘daysold’)insert into referralquerystrings(querystringname, querystringcolumnname)select querystringname, querystringcolumnname from sitequerystringsinsert into configconstants values (‘excludedclientip’, ‘192.168.1.9’)insert into configconstants values (‘excludedclientip’, ‘192.168.1.8’)insert into configconstants values (‘excludedclientip’, ‘127.0.0.1’)insert into configconstants values(‘maxlengthoutputfield’, ‘240’)insert into configconstants values(‘userkeyhashbuckets’, ‘899’)insert into configconstants values(‘useragentkeyhashbuckets’, ‘99’)insert into configconstants values(‘querystringskeyhashbuckets’, ‘99’)insert into configconstants values(‘uripairhashbuckets’, ‘200’)insert into configconstants values(‘querystringskeyhashbuckets’, ‘600’)exec meta_combotableaddentry ‘categorycombos’, ‘spdataoutputcategory’, ‘level 2 category combos’, ‘a’,‘spfriendlycategory’exec meta_entitytableaddcategorydepth ‘categorycombos’, 1, 2insert into meta_dimproperty (dimname,propertyname ,propertydisplayname, input_propetyname,input_sqldatatype_def ,input columnnumber, sqltype, sqltype_def, sqltype_length, sqltype_precision sqltype_scale,sqltype_allownulls ,sqltype_defaultvalue, transformationstring, isaddedtoschema, islookup, isderived,isstatic, isdaily, isweekly, ismonthly, ismultivalued, isaggregated ,ishash, isidentifiable)values(‘reguser’,‘userkey’,‘userkey’,‘userkey’,‘varchar(255) null’, 1,‘varchar’,‘varchar(255) null’,255,0,null,1,‘0’,null, 0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1)goupdate siteset timezonename=‘gmt’goexec tablecreationfrommetadatagoexec meta_createagrtables_reguser_activity_by_propertyexec_meta_createrepviews_reguser_activity_by_property it is often the case that web sites and other content sets change in structure and content from time to time. for such changing web sites, data parsing information may have been defined for the original version of the web site and log entry information may have already been gathered for that web site. in fact, a single log file may contain entries that correspond to two or more different versions of the same web site. unfortunately, it is often the case that the data parsing information that corresponds to one version of a web site must change in order to accurately reflect a new version of the web site. for example, the definitions for a previously existing event type or category type may change in the new version of a web site. alternately, a previously existing event type or category type may no longer exist in the new version of the web site, and new event types of interest and category types may be present in the new web site version. thus, it is important to be able to accurately identify the appropriate data parsing information to be used when parsing a log file and/or each log file entry. fig. 20 provides an example of a revised web page for the digimine web page previously illustrated in fig. 19b . in particular, with respect to that web page, control 1918 has been removed in the revised web page and control 2005 has been added. this may reflect, for example, a change in the types of services offered by digimine such that data enhancement services are no longer available but data generation (e.g., for testing purposes) services are now available. in order to associate the appropriate data parsing information with log files or log file entries being processed, in some embodiments the data parsing information includes version information. table 8 includes some of the data parsing information previously illustrated in tables 3-6, but with the data parsing information modified to include version information. in particular, in the illustrated embodiment, many of the data parsing information entries include values for beginning and ending dates that define an effective date range for which the data parsing information is valid. for example, in lines 35-37 the category definition type corresponding to the digimine data enhancement services web page illustrated in fig. 19f has been modified so that its effective end date ends at the day before the web site is modified. in addition, lines 38-41 illustrate a new category type definition that corresponds to the new data generation services web page that has been added to the modified web site (and is accessible via control 2005 illustrated in fig. 20 ). the beginning date of effectiveness for the new category type definition is the day on which the updated web page is put into use. table 8<sites><site id=“1” cookieidentifiers=“siteserver=,=” visittimeout=“” timezonename=“gmt”><siteurl siteurlid=“1” name=“https://insight.digimine.com” url=“/” begmdate=“02/15/00”enddate=“”><virtualserver id=“1” ipaddress=“209.67.55.102” tcpport=“0” begindate=“05/01/00”enddate=“12/31/00”/><virtualserver id=“2” ipaddress=“192.168.73.66” tcpport=“0” begindate=“11/01/00”enddate=“”/>...</sites><events><eventdefinition id=“20” name=“view data enhancement service info” begindate=“”enddate=“01/31/01”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid=“2” urlpattern=“{fn}=/services/enhancement.htm”querystringpattern=“” begindate=“” enddate=“01/31/01”/> </eventdefinition><eventdefinition id=“1001” name=“view data generation service info” begindate=“02/01/01”enddate=“”><eventdefinitionpatterns siteurlid=“2” urlpattern=“{fn}=/services/generation.htm”querystringpattern=“” begindate=“02/01/01” enddate=“”/></eventdefinition>...</events><hierarchy id=“1” membernameseparator=“&gt;”><hierarchymember id=“1” membername=“services” pagekey=“−1” begindate=“” enddate=“”>...<hierarchymember id=“5” membername=“digimine enhancement services” pagekey=“−1−4”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98”baseurl=“{prefix}=/services/enhancement.htm” querystringpattern=“” begindate=“”enddate=“01/31/01”/> </hierarchymember><hierarchymember id=“501” membername=“digimine generation services” pagekey=−1−9”><pagekeytemplate siteurlid=“2” priority=“98” baseurl=“{prefix}=/services/generation.htm”querystringpattern=“” begindate=“02/0 1/01” enddate=“”/> </hierarchymember>...</hierarchy><config><configconstants name=“excludedclientiprange” value=“209.67.55.54,209.67.55.62” begindate=“”enddate=“”/>...<configconstants name=“excludeduripattern” value=“{fileext}=.dll” begindate=“” enddate=“”/>...<configconstants name=“userkeyhashbuckets” value=“499” begindate=“” enddate=“01/31/01”/><configconstants name=“userkeyhashbuckets” value=“500” begindate=“02/01/01” enddate=“”/></config> using the version information illustrated in table 8, if a log file whose entries all have effective dates before “jan. 31, 2001” is being processed by the parser component, then the parser component can use the category type definition in lines 35-37 but will not attempt to use the category type definition found in lines 3840 (or if used, the category type definition would not match the entry due to the date discrepancy). alternately, if all of the entries of the log file contain effective dates that are on or after “feb. 1, 2001,” then the use of these two category type definitions will be reversed. in other situations, a determination will be made for each log entry as to what data parsing information entries will be used to process that log entry. those skilled in the art will appreciate that version information can be specified in other manners, such as with more time detail (e.g., using minutes or seconds) or less time detail. alternately, version information could be specified in other embodiments in manners other than with time information, such as by assigning unique version ids to different groups of data parsing information. as long as information associated with a log file or log file entries can be used to identify the appropriate data parsing information version (e.g., if the appropriate version id was added to the log file or to each log file entry, or was determinable in some other manner), then the parser component can identify the appropriate data parsing information entries to use. in other situations, data parsing information of different versions may be stored separately, such as by creating an entire new set of data parsing information for each new version of the web site that is created. if so, then the parser component need merely select the appropriate group of data parsing information to be used for a log entry file or a log entry. even if data parsing information of different versions is stored together, as in illustrative table 8, in some embodiments the parser component may separate the data parsing information entries into separate version groups before processing of the log entries (e.g., for efficiency purposes). in addition, new versions of data parsing information can be used for reasons other than changes to a web site or other content set, such as a change in event types or category types of interest to a customer. those skilled in the art will also appreciate that results of parsing can be stored in various manners. in some embodiments the results from the parsing by the parser component may be stored in a manner independent of the data parsing information version, while in other embodiments version information will be made available for later analysis of the results of the parser component processing. for example, if a customer requests a report showing information that includes a category type definition such as that defined in lines 35-37 of table 8, and the customer specifies a date range for the report that begins before jan. 31, 2001 and ends after that date, it would be useful to indicate that the reason the data for the event after the date jan. 31, 2001 drops to zero (presumably) is due to the new version of the web site rather than to a lack of customer interest in the digimine data enhancement services. alternately, reports that include such a category type definition could be limited by the user interface of the report requesting functionality to the effective dates of the category hierarchymember. fig. 21 is a block diagram illustrating details of a warehouse server 260 suitable for executing an embodiment of the parser component 310 . the server includes a cpu 2105 , various i/o devices 2120 , storage 2110 , and memory 2130 . the i/o devices include a display 2121 , a network connection 2122 , a computer-readable media drive 2123 , and other i/o devices 2124 . an embodiment of the parser component 310 is executing in memory, and it includes a dimension generator component 313 as well as various other components that are not illustrated. the storage includes various information to be used by the dimension generator component of the parser, including various data parsing information 340 and a log file 350 to be processed. the data parsing information includes various site definitions 2112 , event type definitions 2114 , category page type definitions 2116 , various log entry exclusion data 2117 , and optional definition version information 2119 . in the illustrated embodiment, the definition version information 2119 contains version information for the site definitions, event type definitions, and/or category page type definitions. as previously illustrated, in other embodiments, the version information may be specified and stored with the definition information to which it pertains rather than separately. when the dimension generator component of the parser component executes, it obtains the various data parsing information from the storage, and uses it when processing the log file. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments some or all of the data parsing information and/or the log file may be stored on another computer system and accessed remotely. in particular, the dimension generator component includes a logical site identifier component 2151 that uses the stored site definition information to identify the defined site that corresponds to a log entry, a user identifier component 2152 that identifies a user corresponding to a log entry, and a uri identifier component 2153 that identifies the uri specified for each log entry. the dimension generator component also includes a category page type identifier component 2154 that uses the category page type definition information, as well as site and uri information, to determine one or more categories to which a log entry corresponds. similarly, the dimension generator component includes an event type identifier component 2155 that uses the event type definitions, as well as site and uri information, to determine one or more events that correspond to a log entry. in the illustrated embodiment, the dimension generator component includes an optional version identifier component 2157 that can identify the version corresponding to a log file or a log entry, and can supply that information to other dimension generator components for use in identifying the appropriate definition information to be used. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments one or more of the other dimension generator components could instead include their own version identifier processing to be used to determine version information specific to that component. when the various dimension generator components identify information of relevance in a log entry, they can store the identified information in various parser-generated information files 2111 on the storage. those skilled in the art will appreciate that these parser-generated information files could be stored remotely, or could be stored in another manner such as in a data base. those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the warehouse server 260 is merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. computer system 260 may be connected to other devices that are not illustrated, including through one or more networks such as the internet or via the world wide web (www). in addition, the functionality provided by the illustrated dimension generator components may in some embodiments be combined in fewer components or distributed in additional components. similarly, in some embodiments the functionality of some of the illustrated components may not be provided and/or other additional functionality may be available. for example, some embodiments may not include identification of users, or may not use version information. alternately, in other embodiments some or all of the components may execute on another device and communicate with the warehouse server via inter-computer communication. those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various data parsing information and other information is illustrated as being stored before being used, these items or portions of them can be transferred between memory and other storage devices for purposes of memory management and data integrity. some or all of the illustrated components, data and data structures may also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on a computer-readable medium, such as a hard disk, a memory, a network, or a portable article to be read by an appropriate drive. the components, data and data structures can also be transmitted as generated data signals (e.g., as part of a carrier wave) on a variety of computer-readable transmission mediums, including wireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums. accordingly, the present invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations. in the illustrated embodiment, systems interact over the internet by sending http messages and exchanging web pages. those skilled in the art will appreciate that the described techniques can also be used in various environments other than the internet. as such, a “client” or “server” may comprise any combination of hardware or software that can interact, including computers, network devices, internet appliances, pdas, wireless phones, pagers, electronic organizers, television-based systems and various other consumer products that include inter-communication capabilities. communication protocols other than http can also be used, such as wap, tcp/ip, or ftp. as previously discussed, the content of a web site or other content set can often be separated into various categories, and one manner of identifying such categories involves various manners in which the content is stored. figs. 22a and 22b illustrate various example embodiments in which category and hierarchy information can be associated with web site content. in particular, with respect to fig. 22a , one example is provided of a way in which the digimine web site content could be stored in a hierarchical manner that reflects the previously discussed categories. fig. 22a provides a hierarchical illustration of how some of the web site information is stored, and illustrates a customer server 210 which includes a first storage 240 that includes the web site content to be served to users and a second storage 240 on which various other customer data is stored. the served content storage 240 includes various top-level directories that each correspond to different content sets, with a first content set a 2200 corresponding to the digimine web site and a second content set b 2240 corresponding to a different web site hosted by the customer server computer. the content set a digimine web site includes an overviewa.htm file 2205 and various directories including a services directory 2210 and a company directory 2220 . in the illustrated embodiment, the overviewa.htm file corresponds to the home web page illustrated in fig. 19a . similarly, the services directory will include the various information that is part of the services section of the web site, and the company directory will similarly contain the information that is part of the company section of the web site. in particular, the services directory includes various files 2211 - 2219 that correspond to the web pages illustrated in figs. 19b-19k . similarly, the contents of the company directory includes various files and subdirectories whose files correspond to the web pages illustrated in figs. 19l-19q . as previously noted, such a hierarchical data storage structure provides one means of selecting category and hierarchy information for the web site content. fig. 22b provides an alternate embodiment for storing web site content and determining category and hierarchy information for the content. in particular, in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 22b , the various content is stored in a database table 2260 that holds all of the contents of the digimine web site. each entry in the database table data structure represents a separate web page, as shown in column 2261 . in addition, each web page can be associated with a category id in column 2262 . these category ids correspond to various categories defined in a category hierarchy table 2250 defined for the digimine web site. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments multiple categories could be assigned to each piece of content in table 2260 . each entry of the category hierarchy table represents a type of category of information for the digimine web site, with a print-friendly identifier for the category shown in column 2251 . each category includes a unique id listed in column 2252 that corresponds to the ids listed in column 2262 of table 2260 . in addition, in the illustrated embodiment, hierarchy information for the categories is provided via column 2253 of table 2250 , in which each category can optionally have the id of another category listed as its parent category. thus, for example, the top-level services category does not have a parent category listed, but the careers sub-category indicates that the company category is its parent. those skilled in the art will appreciate that any number of hierarchical levels can be specified in this manner. similarly, in other embodiments the category parent column 2253 with hierarchy information could be removed from the table 2250 , thus providing category information without hierarchy information. those skilled in the art will appreciate that the web site content could be stored in other manners, and that category and/or hierarchy information could similarly be determined in other ways. for example, all of the web pages could be stored as individual files in a single directory, thus having no storage-based hierarchy information. nonetheless, hierarchy information could be assigned to the web pages based on the contents of the web pages themselves, such as the inter-linking of the web pages. for example, since the overviewa.htm file contains links to overview files related to services and company information, the overviewa.htm file could be selected to be higher in the hierarchy than the overview files for the service and company sections of the web site. fig. 23 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the identify page type routine 2300 . in the illustrated embodiment, the routine identifies a log file to be parsed, retrieves various category data parsing information related to the log file including version information if available, and then processes each log entry in the log file using the appropriate data parsing information. fig. 11 previously illustrated an alternate technique for identifying page type information for a single log entry at a time. the routine begins at step 2305 where an indication is received of a customer whose log file is to be parsed. the routine continues to step 2310 to retrieve category type definition information for the customer including version information if available. in the illustrated embodiment each category type definition has at most one page type definition, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments multiple page type definitions can be associated with each category type definition. the routine then continues to step 2315 to optionally separate the retrieved definitions into version groups based on the version information if it is available. in the illustrated embodiment, this separation is performed once (e.g., as an efficiency measure) such that for any date and time of a log entry in the log file, the routine can easily identify the appropriate category type definitions that are applicable to that date and time. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in alternate embodiments the appropriate definitions could be identified dynamically for each log entry. alternately, in some embodiments the retrieved category type definition information may already be separated into separate version groups. if it is possible to determine from the information received in step 2305 that a subset of the version groups will apply to all of the log entries in the log file, the routine could discard (or not initially retrieve) the definitions that are not in those version groups. after step 2315 , the routine continues to step 2320 to optionally organize the definitions in each version group if appropriate, such as based on priority if priority information is available for the different category type definitions (or their page type definitions). alternately, other criteria could be used to order the definitions. this ordering can be important for various reasons, such as if processing for a log entry stops after the first matching category type definition is identified. the routine then continues to step 2325 to receive an indication of the next log entry from the customer's log file, beginning with the first. in some embodiments, the indication that is received in step 2305 is actually the first log entry from the log, and if so, step 2325 will be skipped during this first pass so that the first entry will be processed. the routine then continues to step 2330 to select the appropriate definition version group to process the log entry. in step 2335 , the next definition in the version group is selected, beginning with the first. the routine continues to step 2337 to retrieve the site definition specified by the selected version group definition. in step 2340 it is determined if the log entry matches the retrieved site definition (if any is specified), url path pattern for the selected definition (if any is specified), and query string pattern for the selected definition (if any is specified). if so, the routine continues to step 2345 to store one or more indications of the occurrence of the selected category type in the appropriate manner, including storing any relevant information from the log entry. after step 2345 , the routine continues to step 2350 to determine if multiple category page type definitions can be matched to each log entry. in some embodiments, this could be specifiable as part of the data parsing information. if multiple definitions are allowed in step 2350 , or if the selected definition does not match the log entry in step 2340 , the routine continues to step 2355 to determine if there are more category type definitions in the selected version group. if so, the routine returns to step 2335 to select the next definition in the version group for processing. if multiple definitions are not allowed per log entry in step 2350 , or if there are not more definitions in the selected version group in step 2355 , the routine instead continues to step 2360 to determine if there are more log entries to be processed. if so, the routine returns to step 2325 to select the next log entry for processing, and if not the routine continues to step 2365 to determine if there are more log files to process. if there are more log files, the routine continues to step 2305 , and if not then the routine continues to step 2395 and ends. fig. 24 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the identify events routine 2400 . in the illustrated embodiment, the routine receives an indication of a customer whose log file is to be parsed, retrieves event type definitions related to the log file including version information if available, and uses the retrieved information to process the log file. fig. 12 previously illustrated an alternate technique for identifying event type information for a single log entry at a time. the routine begins at step 2405 where an indication is received of a customer whose log file is to be parsed. the routine continues to step 2410 to retrieve event type definition information for the customer, and in step 2415 retrieves information for each event pattern defined for the event type definitions including any version information if available. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments the event type definition information and event pattern information would be stored together. the routine next continues to step 2420 to optionally separate the retrieved definitions into version groups based on the version information if it is available. in the illustrated embodiment, this separation is performed once (e.g., as an efficiency measure) such that for any date and time of a log entry in the log file, the routine can easily identify the appropriate event type definitions that are applicable to that date and time. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in alternate embodiments the appropriate definitions could be identified dynamically for each log entry. alternately, in some embodiments the retrieved event type definition information may already be separated into separate version groups. if it is possible to determine from the information received in step 2405 that a subset of the version groups will apply to all of the log entries in the log file, the routine could discard (or not initially retrieve) the definitions that are not in those version groups. after step 2420 , the routine continues to step 2425 to optionally organize the definitions in each version group if appropriate, such as based on priority if priority information is available for the different event type definitions (or their event patterns). alternately, other criteria could be used to order the definitions. this ordering can be important for various reasons, such as if processing for a log entry stops after the first matching event type definition is identified. the routine then continues to step 2430 to receive an indication of the next log entry from the customer's log file, beginning with the first. in some embodiments, the indication that is received in step 2405 is actually the first log entry from the log, and if so, step 2430 will be skipped during this first pass so that the first entry will be processed. the routine then continues to step 2435 to select the appropriate definition version group to process the log entry. in step 2440 , the next event type definition in the version group is selected, beginning with the first. the routine then selects in step 2445 the next event pattern for the selected event type definition, beginning with the first. the routine continues to step 2450 to retrieve the site definition specified by the selected event pattern. in step 2455 it is determined if the log entry matches the retrieved site definition (if any is specified), url path pattern for the selected definition (if any is specified), and query string pattern for the selected definition (if any is specified). if the log entry does not match, the routine continues to step 2460 to determine if there are more event patterns for the selected event type, and if so returns to step 2445 to select the next event pattern. if the log entry does match, however, the routine continues to step 2465 to store one or more indications of the occurrence of the selected event type in the appropriate manner, including storing any relevant information from the log entry. after step 2465 , the routine continues to step 2470 to determine if multiple event page type definitions can be matched to each log entry. in some embodiments, this could be specifiable as part of the data parsing information. in the illustrated embodiment, however, while a log entry may match multiple event types, each log entry is only allowed to match one event pattern per event type. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments multiple event patterns could be matched per event type. if multiple definitions are allowed in step 2470 , or if the selected event pattern does not match the log entry in step 2460 , the routine continues to step 2475 to determine if there are more event type definitions in the selected version group. if so, the routine returns to step 2440 to select the next event type definition in the version group for processing. if multiple definitions are not allowed to match each log entry in step 2470 , or if there are not more definitions in the selected version group in step 2475 , the routine instead continues to step 2480 to determine if there are more log entries to be processed. if so, the routine returns to step 2430 to select the next log entry for processing, and if not the routine continues to step 2485 to determine if there are more log files to process. if there are more log files, the routine continues to step 2405 , and if not then the routine continues to step 2495 and ends. fig. 25 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the generate interaction data report routine 2500 . the routine receives an indication to generate a report or otherwise provide information about previously processed interaction data and provides the appropriate report or information. those skilled in the art will appreciate that in alternate embodiments, rather than retrieving stored information from prior processing, the interaction data could be dynamically processed after the information request is received. the routine begins at step 2505 where an indication is received to generate a report that includes information about specified types of interaction data over a specified date range. the routine continues to step 2510 to determine if event type data is requested to be included in the report, and if so continues to step 2515 to retrieve stored information on occurrences of those event types that occurred during the specified date range. after step 2515 or if no event type data was specified, the routine continues to step 2520 to determine if category type data was specified to be included in the report. if so, the routine continues to step 2525 to retrieve stored information on occurrences of the category types that occurred during the date range. after step 2525 , or if no category type data was requested, the routine continues to step 2530 to retrieve any other types of indicated data for the requested report (e.g., administrative information or information stored about the use of exclusion definitions). the routine then continues to step 2535 to generate the requested report using the retrieved information, and provides the report to the requester (e.g., by sending a web page containing the report to the requester). the routine then continues to step 2540 to determine if more reports are to be generated. if so, the routine returns to step 2505 , and if not, the routine continues to step 2595 and ends. in some embodiments, the routine is provided by a web server for a company acting as an application service provider for one or more customers, in which the services provided include processing of interaction data for the customer and/or providing reports using process interaction data. in particular, remote customers (e.g., over the internet) can access the web server in some embodiments and obtain reports related to their own interaction data that have previously been provided to the asp company for processing. while not illustrated in this embodiment, in other embodiments security measures can be employed to ensure that a requester is authorized to receive the requested data and that the requested data is not inadvertently made available to others. fig. 26 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the generate data parsing information for customer content set routine 2600 . the routine receives a content set for which interaction data will be processed (e.g., a web site whose navigation data is to be processed) or other information related to the content set, and analyzes the content set in order to generate data parsing information related to the content set. the routine begins at step 2605 where an indication of the customer content set is received. the routine continues to step 2610 where the content set is processed in such a manner as to track the relationships between different members of the content set. for example, if the content set is a web site, processing begins at the home web page for the web site, and the various links on the web pages of the web site are variously followed (or “crawled”) to identify all of the available web pages and the relationships indicating what web pages have links to what other web pages. the routine then continues to step 2615 to identify content set items that correspond to event types of interest if possible. it may be possible to classify the content set as being a member of one or more types of known content sets that have event types known to be of interest. for example, if the content set is a merchant web site that includes shopping cart web pages or other mechanisms for ordering and purchasing items, events can be defined for any such ordering-related web pages of the content set. alternately, event types can be defined in other ways, such as defining an event type for every content set item (and optionally allowing a user to interactively remove event types that are not of interest), having meta-event type definitions that can be matched against the content set items in an attempt to determine if a content set item corresponds to a particular event type, defining events for sequences of content set items that are related in a specified manner (e.g., in a funnel-type relationship such that a first item must be accessed before a second item can be accessed), etc. in step 2620 , the unique indicators for the content set item (e.g., urls for web pages) are analyzed in order to identify groups of items that appear to be related (e.g., by sharing a common hierarchical data structure or by sharing similar query string names and values). the routine then continues to step 2625 to determine the server information for the one or more servers that provide the content set items, such as the domain names and ip addresses for web servers providing web site web pages. in step 2630 , the routine then generates data parsing information reflecting identified servers and their corresponding indicators, content set items corresponding to events of interest, hierarchical relationships of content set items, and/or grouping information for related items. the routine next continues to step 2635 to store the generated data parsing information in a manner that is associated with the customer and the content set. in step 2640 , it is determined whether there are more content sets for which to generate data parsing information, and if so the routine returns to step 2605 . if not, the routine continues to 2695 and ends. while in the illustrated embodiment the routine generates data parsing information in a fully automated manner, those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments the routine could be executed in a semi-automated manner as part of a user interface by which a user is generating data parsing information for a content set. for example, the routine could perform automated processing to generate suggestions or possibilities for different types of data parsing information, and then allow the user to select or edit the generated data parsing information. alternately, the user could perform initial preprocessing to assist the routine in generating the data parsing information, such as identifying one or more types of information about the content set (e.g., a merchant web site to assist in identifying merchant-related events of interest, or that the content set items are stored in a hierarchical manner that should be used to generate category information). in addition, the routine could generate the data parsing information in various formats, such as xml, sql statements, etc. moreover, the routine could generate the data parsing information to be stored and used by the parser component in a machine-readable form, but could present the same information to the user in a more human-friendly format. in some situations, such a ui could be used by a customer to themselves define and/or maintain the data parsing information for their own web site, while in other embodiments the ui is used by a trained operator of a company acting as an asp for customers. in addition, in some embodiments the routine can automatically generate version data for the generated data parsing information, such as by initially specifying that all of the generated data parsing information has an effective date range beginning as of the date of generation (or some other user-specified date) and having no specified end date. if the routine is later used to modify already existing data parsing information (whether user-generated or previously generated by the routine), such as in response to changes in the content set, the user could use the modification date as the beginning date for any newly generated data parsing information and use the date as the ending effective date for any data parsing information that no longer applies to the revised content set. those skilled in the art will also appreciate that in some embodiments the functionality provided by the routines discussed above may be provided in alternate ways, such as being split among more routines or consolidated into less routines. similarly, in some embodiments illustrated routines may provide more or less functionality than is described, such as when other illustrated routines instead lack or include such functionality respectively, or when the amount of functionality that is provided is altered. those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the data structures discussed above may be structured in different manners, such as by having a single data structure split into multiple data structures or by having multiple data structures consolidated into a single data structure. similarly, in some embodiments illustrated data structures may store more or less information than is described, such as when other illustrated data structures instead lack or include such information respectively, or when the amount or types of information that is stored is altered. from the above description it will be appreciated that although specific embodiments of the technology have been described for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. for example, the processing of the parser may be performed by the data collection component before sending the data to the data warehouse server. accordingly, the invention is not limited except by the appended claims. in addition, while certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of the invention in any available claim form. for example, while only some aspects of the invention may currently be recited as being embodied in a computer-readable medium, other aspects may likewise be so embodied. accordingly, the inventors reserve the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the invention.
|
062-739-292-622-148
|
US
|
[
"US",
"KR",
"WO",
"CN",
"EP"
] |
A43B13/20,A43B9/02,A43B13/04,A43B13/12,A43B13/28,A43B13/39,A43B13/40,B29D35/14,A43B23/02,A43D11/00
| 2018-05-31T00:00:00 |
2018
|
[
"A43",
"B29"
] |
footwear strobel with bladder having grooved flange and method of manufacturing
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a strobel for an article of footwear comprises a polymeric bladder that defines an interior cavity. the polymeric bladder is configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity. the polymeric bladder has a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity. the peripheral flange defines a groove extending along the peripheral flange. the polymeric bladder may include a first polymeric sheet bonded to a second polymeric sheet at the peripheral flange and joined to the second polymeric sheet at a plurality of interior welds. methods of manufacturing a strobel and manufacturing footwear are included.
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1 . a method of manufacturing footwear comprising: securing a strobel to an upper along a groove in a peripheral flange of the strobel; wherein the strobel includes a polymeric bladder defining an interior cavity and configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, the peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity. 2 . the method of claim 1 , wherein securing the strobel to the upper is by stitching the strobel to the upper so that a series of stitches extends through the peripheral flange at the groove. 3 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising: forming the strobel by welding a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet to one another to define the peripheral flange having the groove, and to define a plurality of interior welds. 4 . the method of claim 3 , wherein: the interior welds are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel; the interior welds of any two consecutive rows are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate rows are aligned with one another; the interior welds of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate columns are aligned with one another; and wherein any two adjacent interior welds in one of the rows and an interior weld in a consecutive one of the rows and in a column between the two adjacent interior welds are positioned to define corners of an equilateral triangle. 5 . the method of claim 4 , wherein the strobel is a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size, and the method further comprising: manufacturing a second strobel corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size by welding the same or different sheets to one another to define a polymeric bladder having: an interior cavity, the polymeric bladder configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity; and a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity, the peripheral flange defining a groove extending along the peripheral flange; wherein welding the same or different sheets to one another includes welding interior welds in the pattern of rows and columns as on the first strobel with at least one additional row or column. 6 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising: placing the upper with the strobel secured thereto on a last; wherein placing the upper with the strobel secured thereto on the last includes aligning a locating feature on the strobel with the last; and wherein the locating feature on the strobel is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, a protrusion at the outer edge of the peripheral flange; an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. 7 . the method of claim 6 , further comprising: securing a midsole to at least one of the upper or the strobel while the upper and the strobel are on the last. 8 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric bladder is in an uninflated state when the strobel is secured to the upper, and the method further comprising: inflating the polymeric bladder after the strobel is secured to the upper; and sealing the interior cavity after inflating the interior cavity. 9 . the method of claim 8 , further comprising: placing the upper with the strobel secured thereto on a last. 10 . the method of claim 9 , wherein placing the upper with the strobel secured thereto on the last is after inflating the polymeric bladder and sealing the interior cavity. 11 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising: disposing a lasting component at the flange prior to securing the strobel to the upper.
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cross-reference to related applications this application is a divisional of u.s. application ser. no. 16/428,002 filed may 31, 2019, which claims the benefit of priority to u.s. provisional application no. 62/678,722 filed may 31, 2018, and both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. technical field the present teachings generally include a strobel for an article of footwear and a method of manufacturing footwear. background articles of footwear generally include two primary elements: an upper and a sole structure. the sole structure is configured to be located under a wearer's foot to space the foot away from the ground. one method of manufacturing an article of footwear involves the use of a lasting process. the upper is tightened around the last, thereby imparting the general shape of the foot to the void within the upper. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel for a first embodiment of an article of footwear. fig. 2 is a schematic illustration in partial fragmentary bottom view of the strobel of fig. 1 showing an orientation of interior welds. fig. 3 is a schematic illustration in top view of the strobel of fig. 1 . fig. 4 is a schematic illustration in cross-sectional view of the strobel of fig. 1 taken at lines 4 - 4 in fig. 3 . fig. 5 is a schematic illustration in fragmentary cross-sectional view of a flange of the strobel of fig. 1 and an upper stitched to the flange in a first arrangement. fig. 6 is a schematic illustration in fragmentary cross-sectional view of the flange of the strobel of fig. 1 and an upper stitched to the flange in a second arrangement. fig. 7 is a schematic illustration in fragmentary cross-sectional view of the flange of the strobel of fig. 1 and an upper stitched to the flange in a third arrangement. fig. 8 is a schematic illustration in fragmentary cross-sectional view of the flange of the strobel of fig. 1 , a lasting component overlaying the strobel, and an upper stitched to the flange and to the lasting component. fig. 9 is a schematic illustration in fragmentary cross-sectional view of the flange of the strobel of fig. 1 , a lasting component overlaying the flange, and an upper stitched to the flange and to the lasting component. fig. 10 is a schematic illustration in fragmentary cross-sectional view of the flange of the strobel of fig. 1 , a lasting component underlying the strobel, and an upper stitched to the flange and to the lasting component. fig. 11 is a schematic illustration in fragmentary cross-sectional view of the flange of the strobel of fig. 1 , a first lasting component overlaying the strobel, a second lasting component underlying the strobel, and an upper stitched to the flange and to the first and second lasting components. fig. 12 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including the polymeric bladder of fig. 1 and a lasting component stitched to a peripheral flange of the polymeric bladder. fig. 13 is schematic illustration in bottom view of the polymeric bladder of fig. 12 . fig. 14 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the lasting component of fig. 12 fig. 15 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 16 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the polymeric bladder of fig. 15 . fig. 17 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the lasting component of fig. 15 . fig. 18 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 19 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the polymeric bladder of fig. 18 . fig. 20 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the lasting component of fig. 18 . fig. 21 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 22 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the polymeric bladder of fig. 21 . fig. 23 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the lasting component of fig. 21 . fig. 24 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 25 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 26 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 27 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 28 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 29 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a strobel including a polymeric bladder and a lasting component stitched to the polymeric bladder. fig. 30 is a schematic illustration in close-up cross-sectional view of a flange of the strobel of fig. 3 taken at lines 30 - 30 in fig. 3 . fig. 31 is a schematic illustration in close-up cross-sectional view of a portion of an alternative embodiment of a strobel for an alternative embodiment of an article of footwear. fig. 32 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of an alternative embodiment of a strobel for an alternative embodiment of an article of footwear. fig. 33 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the upper and strobel of fig. 5 . fig. 34 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an article of footwear including the upper and strobel of fig. 33 taken at lines 34 - 34 in fig. 33 , inverted relative to fig. 33 , and with a midsole secured thereto. fig. 35 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the upper and strobel of fig. 34 under dynamic compressive loading. fig. 36 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the article of footwear of fig. 34 including an added layer overlying the strobel. fig. 37 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a polymeric bladder. fig. 38 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of a polymeric bladder. fig. 39 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the strobel of fig. 1 and a last with alignable locating features. fig. 40 is a schematic illustration in bottom view of the strobel of fig. 1 and a last with alternative alignable locating features. fig. 41 is a schematic illustration in exploded view of polymeric sheets of the strobel of fig. 1 and a tooling assembly. fig. 42 is a schematic perspective illustration of a portion of the tooling assembly of fig. 41 . fig. 43 is a schematic perspective illustration of another portion of the tooling assembly of fig. 41 . fig. 44 is a schematic illustration in exploded view of an alternative tooling assembly. fig. 45 is a schematic illustration in a perspective view of the tooling assembly of fig. 44 with the tooling assembly in an open position. fig. 46 is a schematic perspective illustration in exploded view of the strobel and upper of fig. 5 before the strobel is stitched to the upper, and the strobel in an uninflated state. fig. 47 is a schematic perspective illustration of the strobel and upper of fig. 5 with the strobel stitched to the upper, and the strobel in an uninflated state. fig. 48 is a schematic illustration of the strobel and upper of fig. 47 during inflation of the strobel. fig. 49 is a schematic illustration of the strobel and upper of fig. 48 being moved toward a footwear last. fig. 50 is a schematic illustration of the strobel and upper of fig. 49 on the footwear last and with the midsole of fig. 34 being moved toward the strobel for securement to the strobel and the upper. fig. 51 is a flow diagram of a method of manufacturing footwear. description some footwear includes a strobel secured to a lower perimeter of the upper. traditionally, a strobel is a relatively inelastic textile material. a strobel disclosed herein includes a bladder with a sealed, fluid-filled chamber, and may provide greater comfort, resiliency, and energy return than a strobel of a traditional material and configuration. a strobel configured as a bladder may be a polymeric material that may feel somewhat slippery and/or may be less flexible than traditional strobel material, making it more difficult to grip during manufacturing processes. accordingly, it may be difficult to accurately stitch the strobel to the upper in a sufficiently short period of time that may be desired during mass production. moreover, the desired overall height of a sole assembly is often targeted to a predetermined height, and inflated fluid-filled bladders may tend to expand relative to their initial height when stored prior to assembly or when heated during assembly, making control of the sole assembly height more difficult. the strobel, the article of footwear, and a method of manufacturing footwear as disclosed and as configured herein solves these problems while providing the benefits of a strobel with a fluid-filled bladder. more particularly, an article of footwear comprises a strobel that includes a polymeric bladder defining an interior cavity and configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity. the polymeric bladder may have a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity. the peripheral flange may define a groove extending along the peripheral flange. the groove may serve as a guide path for an operator or for a machine, including a robotic machine, to follow when stitching or otherwise securing the strobel to the upper. in one or more embodiments, the polymeric bladder may include a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet. the first polymeric sheet may be bonded to the second polymeric sheet at the peripheral flange. the first polymeric sheet may be joined to the second polymeric sheet at a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. for example, the interior welds may be formed by a welding process such as radio frequency or ultrasonic welding using tooling that results in welds by thermal bonding of the sheets to one another. alternatively, the interior welds may be formed by applying anti-weld material to the contacting surfaces of the first and second polymeric sheets (e.g., the inner surfaces) in a pattern that results in the interior welds. for example, the anti-weld material may be screen printed on the sheets. in one or more embodiments, the interior welds may be arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel. interior welds of any two consecutive rows may be offset from one another and interior welds of alternate rows may be aligned with one another. additionally, interior welds of any two consecutive columns may be offset from one another and interior welds of alternate columns may be aligned with one another. the interior welds may be arranged to define equilateral triangles. more specifically, any two adjacent interior welds in one of the rows (therefore in alternate columns) and an interior weld in a consecutive one of the rows and in a column between the two adjacent interior welds may be positioned to define corners of an equilateral triangle. moreover, at least a majority of the interior welds may be circular and may have an equal diameter. by placing the interior welds in offset rows and offset columns to define equilateral triangles as described, and by providing interior welds of equal size (e.g., equal diameter), the polymeric bladder may more closely achieve a desirable geometry when in an inflated state. for example, this layout of interior welds may enable the lowest height of the inflated polymeric bladder for a given diameter of the interior welds. additionally, the polymeric bladder may be less likely to twist about a longitudinal axis or transverse axis when inflated, as internal forces of the fluid in the interior cavity against the inner surfaces of the polymeric bladder may be more evenly distributed. in general, a greater number of smaller interior welds may provide better control of the height of the inflated strobel than would a smaller number of larger interior welds. in one or more embodiments, the peripheral flange has a first weld and a second weld spaced apart from the first weld. the first weld and the second weld extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange. the groove may extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange between the first weld and the second weld. the first weld may be inward of the groove. the second weld may be outward of the groove. in some embodiments, the groove is on a foot-facing side (proximal side) of the polymeric bladder, in other embodiments the groove is on a ground-facing side (distal side) of the polymeric bladder, and in still other embodiments, both the foot-facing side and the ground-facing side have such a groove. this helps enable use of the polymeric bladder for an article of footwear configured for a right foot, and also, alternatively, for an article of footwear configured for a left foot. stated differently, the strobel may be secured to an upper configured for a right foot article of footwear or may be flipped over for securement to an upper configured for a left foot article of footwear. in either case, one of the two grooves will be in the same position relative to the upper in both instances (e.g., disposed outward (away from the upper)) to serve as a guide for stitching. the polymeric sheets may be transparent, in which case the groove would be visible at a distal side of the strobel and used as a guide path for stitching even in embodiments in which a groove is provided only on a proximal side of the strobel. in one or more embodiments, the peripheral flange may include a first ridge protruding at an outer surface of the peripheral flange between the first weld and the groove. the peripheral flange may include a second ridge protruding at the outer surface of the peripheral flange between the second weld and the groove. the ridges may be due to material of the polymeric bladder displaced by the first and second welds. the ridges help to define the sides of the groove. in one or more embodiments, the polymeric bladder may have a locating feature that is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, a protrusion at the outer edge of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. for example, a first aperture may extend through one of the interior welds, and a second aperture may extend through another one of the interior welds. the locating feature or features may be used for accurate alignment with an upper and/or a footwear last, as described herein. the article of footwear may also include an upper, and the strobel may be secured to the upper. in one example, the strobel may be secured to the upper by a series of stitches extending through the peripheral flange in the groove. the series of stitches may further extend around an outer edge of the peripheral flange. within the scope of the present disclosure, an article of footwear may further comprise a lasting component disposed at the flange so that the series of stitches further extends through the lasting component. in one or more embodiments, the polymeric bladder and the lasting component are each disposed in at least one different one of a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region of the article of footwear, the lasting component is secured to the polymeric bladder by a first series of stitches extending transversely across the polymeric bladder and the lasting component, and the lasting component and the polymeric bladder are secured to the upper by a second series of stitches extending through the lasting component and through the polymeric bladder in the groove of the polymeric bladder. in one or more embodiments, the lasting component is secured to the peripheral flange at the groove by a series of stitches extending through the lasting component and through the peripheral flange in the groove. in one or more embodiments, the series of stitches is a first series of stitches, and the lasting component is secured to the upper at a second series of stitches that extends through the lasting component and the upper. the second series of stitches may extend only through the upper and the lasting component. alternatively, the second series of stitches may further extend through the peripheral flange in the groove. a midsole may be secured to at least one of the upper or the polymeric bladder. for example, after a last is placed in the upper (e.g., the upper with the strobel secured thereto is placed over the last), a midsole can be secured to at least one of the upper or the polymeric bladder, such as to a lower perimeter of the upper and a distal surface of the polymeric bladder. in some embodiments, the article of footwear may include a protective cover layer overlying a proximal surface of the polymeric bladder and secured to the polymeric bladder at the peripheral flange. the protective cover layer may protect the bladder from shear forces and sharp objects. a method of manufacturing footwear may comprise forming a strobel by welding a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet to one another to define a polymeric bladder that has an interior cavity and is configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity. a peripheral flange may extend around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity. the welding may be at the peripheral flange and the peripheral flange may define a groove extending along the peripheral flange. welding the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet to one another may include welding a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. the interior welds may be arranged in a pattern of rows and columns as described above, may define equilateral triangles as described, and may have equal diameters. a strobel manufactured according to the method may be a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size, and the method may further comprise manufacturing a second strobel corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size by welding the same or different sheets to one another to define a polymeric bladder that has an interior cavity and is configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, and also has a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity, the peripheral flange defining a groove extending along the peripheral flange. welding the same or different sheets to one another may include welding interior welds including the same pattern of rows and columns as on the first strobel and with at least one additional row and/or column. the additional row or column may include one or more interior welds. welding the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet to one another may include welding a first weld and a second weld that are spaced apart from one another and extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange, with the groove extending lengthwise along the peripheral flange between the first weld and the second weld. for example, the first weld and the second weld may be provided simultaneously via the same welding tooling. alternatively, the first weld and the second weld may be provided in succession by different tooling. in still other embodiments, the first weld and the second weld may be provided by applying anti-weld material to the interfacing surfaces of the first and second sheets around but not at the areas that will form the first weld w 1 and the second w 2 . the method of manufacturing may further comprise providing a locating feature on the strobel, wherein the locating feature is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, a protrusion at the outer surface of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. a method of manufacturing footwear may comprise securing a strobel to an upper, such as by stitching a strobel to an upper along a groove in a peripheral flange of the strobel so that a series of stitches extends through the peripheral flange at the groove. the strobel may include a polymeric bladder that defines an interior cavity and is configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, and the peripheral flange may extend around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity. in one or more embodiments, the method may include disposing a lasting component at the flange prior to stitching the strobel to the upper, the series of stitches further extending through the lasting component when the strobel is stitched to the upper. in one or more embodiments, the method of manufacturing footwear begins with the strobel already formed. in other embodiments, the method of manufacturing footwear also includes forming the strobel by welding a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet to one another to define the peripheral flange having the groove, and to define a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. the interior welds may be arranged in a pattern of rows and columns as described above to define equilateral triangles, and may have equal diameters. the strobel manufactured according to the method of manufacturing may be a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size, and the method of manufacturing footwear may further comprise manufacturing a second strobel corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size by welding the same or different sheets to one another to define a polymeric bladder having an interior cavity, the polymeric bladder configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, and the polymeric bladder having a peripheral flange that extends around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity, the peripheral flange defining a groove extending along the peripheral flange. welding the same or different sheets to one another may include welding interior welds in the pattern of rows and columns as on the first strobel with at least one additional row and/or column. stated differently, the majority of the weld pattern is the same for the strobel of the first footwear size and the strobel of the second footwear size. additional interior welds are also included for the strobel of the larger, second footwear size. the method of manufacturing footwear may further comprise placing the upper with the strobel stitched thereto on a last (e.g., inserting a last into the upper). placing the upper with the strobel stitched or otherwise secured thereto on the last may include aligning a locating feature on the strobel with a locating feature on the last. the locating feature on the strobel may be at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, a protrusion from the outer edge of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, such as through one of the interior welds, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. the method of manufacturing footwear may further comprise securing a midsole to at least one of the upper or the strobel while the upper and the strobel are on the last. the polymeric bladder may be in an uninflated state when the strobel is stitched to the upper, and the method of manufacturing footwear may further comprise inflating the polymeric bladder after the strobel is stitched to the upper, and then sealing the interior cavity after inflating the interior cavity. placing the upper with the strobel stitched thereto on the last may be after inflating the polymeric bladder and sealing the interior cavity. in other embodiments, the strobel may be inflated prior to stitching the strobel to the upper and/or prior to placing the upper with the strobel stitched thereto on the last. the above features and advantages and other features and advantages of the present teachings are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the modes for carrying out the present teachings when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers refer to like components throughout the views, figs. 1-3 show a strobel 10 for an article of footwear 12 that includes an upper 14 , shown, for example, in fig. 34 . the strobel 10 comprises a polymeric bladder 16 that defines an interior cavity 18 and is configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity. the polymeric bladder 16 has a peripheral flange 20 extending around at least a portion of a perimeter 21 of the interior cavity 18 . in the embodiment shown, the peripheral flange 20 extends around the entire perimeter 21 (e.g., outwardly surrounding the interior cavity 18 ) generally in an x-y plane of the strobel 10 . the x-y plane is a plane through the width and the length of the strobel 10 , such as the plane of fig. 1 , and the z plane is a plane though the height of the strobel 10 , such as in fig. 4 , from a proximal surface 24 of the strobel 10 to a distal surface 26 of the strobel 10 . the strobel 10 is a full length strobel having a forefoot region 25 , a midfoot region 27 , and a heel region 29 . in other embodiments within the scope of the disclosure, the strobel may extend on only one or two of the regions, such as only in the heel region 29 , only in the forefoot region 25 , in both the forefoot and midfoot regions 25 , 27 but not any of or not all of the heel region 29 , or in both the heel and midfoot regions 27 , 29 but not any of or not all of the forefoot region 25 . the peripheral flange 20 extends around the forefoot region 25 , the midfoot region 27 , and the heel region 29 of the strobel 10 . the peripheral flange 20 defines a groove 22 extending along the peripheral flange 20 . as further discussed herein, the groove 22 serves as a guide path for an operator or for a machine, including a robotic machine, to follow when stitching or otherwise securing the strobel 10 to the upper 14 . as shown in fig. 34 , when the strobel 10 is secured to the upper 14 at its peripheral flange 20 , the strobel 10 and the upper 14 together define a foot-receiving cavity 39 . dynamic compressive loading of the sole structure 80 by a foot in the foot-receiving cavity 39 , as represented by forces fc in fig. 35 may cause tension in the strobel 10 around the peripheral flange 20 in an outward direction as represented by outward forces fo, creating a trampoline like effect as the tension is subsequently relieved. referring to fig. 4 , the polymeric bladder 16 includes a first polymeric sheet 28 and a second polymeric sheet 30 . the first polymeric sheet 28 is secured to the second polymeric sheet 30 at the peripheral flange 20 to enclose the interior cavity 18 . stated differently, when the sheets 28 , 30 are secured together at the peripheral flange 20 and the polymeric bladder 16 is sealed, the first polymeric sheet 28 and the second polymeric sheet 30 retain a fluid in the interior cavity 18 . as used herein, a “fluid” filling the interior cavity 18 may be a gas, such as air, nitrogen, another gas, or a combination thereof. the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 can be a variety of polymeric materials that can resiliently retain a fluid such as nitrogen, air, or another gas. examples of polymeric materials for the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 include thermoplastic urethane, polyurethane, polyester, polyester polyurethane, and polyether polyurethane. moreover, the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 can each be formed of layers of different materials including polymeric materials. in one embodiment, each of the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 is formed from thin films having one or more thermoplastic polyurethane layers with one or more barrier layers of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol (evoh) that is impermeable to the pressurized fluid contained therein such as a flexible microlayer membrane that includes alternating layers of a gas barrier material and an elastomeric material, as disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 6,082,025 and 6,127,026 to bonk et al. which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. alternatively, the layers may include ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer, thermoplastic polyurethane, and a regrind material of the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer and thermoplastic polyurethane. additional suitable materials for the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 are disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 4,183,156 and 4,219,945 to rudy which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. further suitable materials for the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 include thermoplastic films containing a crystalline material, as disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 4,936,029 and 5,042,176 to rudy, and polyurethane including a polyester polyol, as disclosed in u.s. pat. nos. 6,013,340, 6,203,868, and 6,321,465 to bonk et al. which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. in selecting materials for the strobel 10 , engineering properties such as tensile strength, stretch properties, fatigue characteristics, dynamic modulus, and loss tangent can be considered. for example, the thicknesses of the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 used to form the bladder can be selected to provide these characteristics. with reference to figs. 4 and 30 , the peripheral flange 20 has a first weld w 1 and a second weld w 2 spaced apart from the first weld w 1 . the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 bond to one another at an interface 32 at the welds w 1 , w 2 . the sheets 28 , 30 may or may not be bonded to one another at the portion of the interface 32 between the welds w 1 , w 2 . the welds w 1 and w 2 are formed by using a tooling assembly similar to that of figs. 42-43 or that of figs. 44-45 . for example, the tooling assembly may include a first mold portion 34 a and a second mold portion 34 b, as shown and described in figs. 42-43 . the mold portions 34 a, 34 b are closed together on the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 , and the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 may then welded by radio frequency welding (also referred to as high frequency or dielectric welding) as a power source 36 supplies energy creating an alternating electric field that heats the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 where the mold portions 34 a, 34 b contact the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 . alternatively, the sheets 28 , 30 may be secured to one another by another manner of thermal or adhesive bonding. the first weld w 1 and the second weld w 2 extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange 20 . as best shown in fig. 1 , the first weld w 1 and the second weld w 2 extend continuously along the entire peripheral flange 20 to completely surround (i.e., encircle) the interior cavity 18 . the groove 22 extends lengthwise along the peripheral flange 20 between the first weld w 1 and the second weld w 2 . the first weld w 1 is inward of the groove 22 , and the second weld w 2 is outward of the groove 22 , where inward is toward the center of the strobel 10 and outward is away from the center of the strobel 10 . heating and pressure of the tooling assembly at the welds w 1 and w 2 may displace some of the material of the second polymeric sheet 30 so that the peripheral flange 20 may include a first ridge 38 protruding at an outer surface, e.g., the distal surface 26 , of the peripheral flange 20 between the first weld w 1 and the groove 22 , and a second ridge 40 protruding at the distal surface 26 of the peripheral flange 20 between the second weld w 2 and the groove 22 . the ridges 38 , 40 help to define the sides of the groove 22 . in some embodiments, such as in fig. 30 , the groove 22 is in the distal surface 26 , which is the ground-facing side of the polymeric bladder 16 when the strobel 10 is secured to the upper 14 . in other embodiments, the groove 22 may be on the proximal side (proximal surface 24 ), which is the foot-facing side of the polymeric bladder 16 when the strobel 10 is secured to the upper 14 . because the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 may be transparent, the groove 22 would be visible through the peripheral flange 20 at the distal side in embodiments in which a groove 22 is provided only on the proximal side. additionally, the strobel 10 of fig. 1 has the groove 22 on the proximal side if used as a strobel for an article of footwear configured for a left foot and has the groove on the distal side if used as a strobel for an article of footwear configured for a right foot. in still other embodiments, both the distal surface 26 and the proximal surface 24 have such a groove 22 , as shown on the flange 20 a of fig. 31 . providing both sides of the peripheral flange 20 a with a groove 22 helps enable use of the polymeric bladder 16 for an article of footwear configured for a right foot, and also, alternatively, for an article of footwear configured for a left foot. stated differently, a strobel 10 having the peripheral flange 20 a may be secured to an upper 14 configured for a right foot article of footwear or may be flipped over for securement to an upper 14 configured for a left foot article of footwear. in either case, one of the two grooves 22 will be in the same position relative to the upper in both instances (e.g., disposed outward (away from the upper)) to serve as a guide for stitching. in embodiments having a groove 22 on only one of the sides of the peripheral flange 20 , because the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 may be transparent, the groove 22 would be visible at the distal side even in embodiments in which a groove 22 is provided only on the proximal side. referring to fig. 4 , the inner surface 52 of the first polymeric sheet 28 is joined to the inner surface 54 of the second polymeric sheet 30 at a plurality of interior welds 60 each of which is inward of the perimeter 21 of the interior cavity 18 . for example, the interior welds 60 may be formed by a welding process such as radio frequency or ultrasonic welding using tooling that results in welds by thermal bonding of the polymeric bladder 16 . referring to fig. 20 , each interior weld 60 results from a respective pair of protrusions including one of the protrusions 72 a of mold portion 34 a, or of a mold insert 34 c thereof, and one of the protrusions 72 b of mold portion 34 b, or of a mold insert 34 d thereof. the protrusions 72 a, 72 b may also be referred to as weld posts. the mold inserts 34 c, 34 d may also be referred to as shims. utilizing mold inserts 34 c, 34 d that include the protrusions 72 a, 72 b enables the inserts to be switched for inserts with different patterns of protrusions when a different pattern of interior welds is desired. alternatively, the protrusions 72 a, 72 b may be integral with the mold portions 34 a, 34 b, respectively, rather than disposed on removable mold inserts. during welding, the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 are in contact with one another between each pair of protrusions 72 a, 72 b, and an interior weld 60 results where they are in contact. prior to placing the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 between the mold portions 34 a, 34 b and mold inserts 34 c, 34 d, anti-weld material may be placed on all portions of the interior surfaces 52 , 54 where no weld is desired in order to ensure that a desired weld pattern is achieved. in some embodiments, no tooling assembly or radio-frequency welding is used to create the welds w 1 and w 2 at the peripheral flange and the interior welds (e.g., no mold portions are used) as the use of anti-weld material alone is sufficient to achieve the welds w 1 and w 2 and the desired pattern of interior welds 60 . for example, anti-weld material (also referred to as blocker ink) may be printed on or otherwise disposed on one or both of the inner surfaces of the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 . the sheets 28 , 30 may then be placed in a uniform press and will bond to one another at all portions of interfacing surfaces (e.g., inner surfaces) where the anti-weld material is not disposed. the interior welds 60 restrain separation of the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 to the separated positions shown in fig. 4 , which depicts the strobel 10 with the interior cavity 18 inflated and sealed under a given inflation pressure of gas in the interior cavity 18 , so that the strobel 10 is in an inflated state. it should be appreciated, however, that, in some embodiments of a method of manufacturing 200 the strobel 10 (or any of the other strobels described herein), the strobel 10 (e.g., the bladder 16 ) is not inflated and sealed until after it is secured to the upper 14 . in other embodiments of the method 200 , the strobel 10 may be inflated and sealed before it is secured to the upper 14 . the outward force on the inner surfaces 52 , 54 of the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 due to the pressurized gas in the interior cavity 18 places tension on the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 around the interior welds 60 , and the interior welds 60 prevent the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 from further outward movement away from one another. when pressure is exerted on the strobel 10 such as due to compressive forces fc of a dynamic load of a wearer when the footwear 12 impacts the ground during running or other movements, as shown in fig. 35 , the strobel 10 is compressed, and the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 move closer together in proportion to the load on the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 . the protrusions 72 a and 72 b are arranged in patterns that are mirror images of one another, so that when the protrusions 72 a contact the first polymeric sheet 28 and the protrusions 72 b contact the second polymeric sheet 30 during the portion 200 a of the method of manufacturing 200 disclosed herein, the sets of protrusions 72 a, 72 b are aligned, pressing the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 together between them. figs. 42 and 43 schematically depict representative protrusions 72 a, 72 b in patterns that result in the bond pattern of interior welds 60 shown in figs. 1-3 . when the interior cavity 18 is inflated, the interior welds 60 cause dimples 61 at the proximal surface 24 (i.e., the outer surface) of the first polymeric sheet 28 and at the distal surface 26 (i.e., the outer surface) of the second polymeric sheet 30 , as indicated in fig. 4 . stated differently, the proximal surface 24 of the first polymeric sheet 28 at any one of the interior welds 60 is non-planar, and the distal surface 26 of the second polymeric sheet 30 at any one of the interior welds is non-planar. the broken lines around each of the interior welds 60 in figs. 1, 2, and 32 , for example, represent the dimples 61 , where the respective polymeric sheets 28 , 30 curve inward along a generally toroidal surface to the interior weld 60 . only some of the interior welds 60 and some of the dimples 61 are labelled with reference numbers in the drawings. the gas in the interior cavity 18 can fluidly communicate around each interior weld 60 . stated differently, the interior welds 60 do not create subchambers in the interior cavity 18 . this allows the gas to be displaced in the interior cavity 18 around the interior welds 60 when compressive forces fc are applied to the strobel 10 , such as during impact of the article of footwear 12 with the ground gin fig. 35 . for example, as a foot rolls forward from heel to toe during a foot strike, the gas may be displaced from rearward in the strobel 10 to a portion more forward in the strobel 10 . supportive cushioning provided by the fluid in the interior cavity 18 can thus be provided in areas most needed during use of the strobel 10 . as best shown in fig. 1 , each of the interior welds 60 has a circular diameter d due to circular contact surfaces 63 of the protrusions 72 a, 72 b, shown in figs. 42-43 . the energy imparted by the welding process is delivered to the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 over the circular area of the contact surfaces 63 , resulting in circular welds 60 . in embodiments in which only anti-weld material is used without a tooling assembly having protrusions, the anti-weld material is printed to leave circular areas uncovered, resulting in circular welds. as shown, the diameter d of each of the interior welds 60 is equal. in other embodiments, at least a majority (i.e., greater than or equal to one half) of the circular welds 60 have an equal diameter d. in other embodiments, the interior welds 60 may have a shape that is other than circular, such as oval, square, etc. with reference to fig. 1 , the interior welds 60 are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns. in the embodiment of the strobel 10 shown, there are twenty-two rows labelled r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , r 7 , r 8 , r 9 , r 10 , r 11 , r 12 , r 13 , r 14 , r 15 , r 16 , r 17 , r 18 , r 19 , r 20 , r 21 and r 22 . the centers c of each of the interior welds 60 in a row fall along a common line representing the location of the row. the rows are all parallel to one another. there are eleven columns labelled c 1 , c 2 , c 3 , c 4 , c 5 , c 6 , c 7 , c 8 , c 9 , c 10 , and c 11 . the columns are all parallel to one another. the centers of each of the interior welds 60 in a column fall along a common line representing the location of the column. the rows are spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel 10 from the first row r 1 to the twenty-second row r 14 . the longitudinal direction is the direction from the rearmost extent 37 of the strobel 10 to the foremost extent 35 of the strobel 10 . the columns are spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel 10 from the first column c 1 to the eleventh column c 11 . the transverse direction in which the columns are spaced is the direction from the lateral side 33 to the medial side 31 . the pattern of interior welds 60 is such that interior welds 60 of any two consecutive ones of the rows are offset from one another and interior welds of alternate ones of the rows are aligned with one another. for example, interior welds 60 of the odd-numbered rows r 1 , r 3 , r 5 , r 7 , r 9 , r 11 , r 13 , r 15 , r 17 , r 19 , and r 21 are aligned with one another. interior welds 60 of the even-numbered rows r 2 , r 4 , r 6 , r 8 , r 10 , r 12 , and r 14 are aligned with one another. however, the interior welds 60 of the odd-numbered rows are offset from the interior welds 60 of the even-numbered rows. additionally, the pattern of interior welds 60 is such that interior welds 60 of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and interior welds 60 of alternate columns are aligned with one another. for example, interior welds 60 of the odd-numbered columns c 1 , c 3 , c 5 , c 7 , c 9 , and c 11 are aligned with one another. interior welds 60 of the even-numbered columns c 2 , c 4 , c 6 , c 8 , and c 10 are aligned with one another. however, the interior welds 60 of the odd-numbered columns are offset from the interior welds 60 of the even-numbered columns. with this pattern of offset rows and columns, the interior welds 60 may be circular, of equal diameter d, and arranged to define equilateral triangles. as illustrated in fig. 3 , the centers c of any two adjacent interior welds in one of the rows (as depicted by interior welds 60 of row r 3 , which are in alternate columns c 1 , c 3 ) and the center c of an interior weld 60 in a consecutive one of the rows r 2 and in a column c 2 between the two adjacent interior welds of row r 3 are positioned to define corners of an equilateral triangle. by placing the interior welds 60 in offset rows and offset columns to define equilateral triangles as described, and by providing interior welds of equal diameter d, may enable the lowest height in the z direction of the inflated polymeric bladder for a given diameter d and number of interior welds 60 . additionally, the polymeric bladder 16 may be less likely to twist about a longitudinal or transverse axis through the bladder 16 when inflated, as internal forces of the fluid in the interior cavity 18 against the inner surfaces of the polymeric bladder 16 may be more evenly distributed. in general, a greater number of smaller interior welds may provide better control of the height of the inflated strobel than would a smaller number of larger interior welds. the diameter of the interior welds 60 and the distance d 1 between the centers c of the interior welds 60 determines the diameter d 2 of the space between the interior welds 60 that form the equilateral triangle, which in turn is directly proportional to the greatest height in the z direction between the outer surface 24 and the outer surface 26 . the area of the contact surface 63 of each protrusion 72 a, 72 b in figs. 20-21 is equal to the area of each interior weld 60 . with a circular contact surface 63 as shown, the diameter of the contact surface 63 is equal to the diameter of the interior weld 60 . in one example, the diameter of the contact surface 63 of each protrusion 72 a or 72 b (or of each protrusion 172 a or 172 b in fig. 45 ) and the diameter of each interior weld 60 may be from about 0.1 inches (in.) (2.54 millimeters (mm)) to about 0.3 in. (7.6 mm), or may be from about 0.14 in. (3.56 mm) to about 0.23 in. (5.84 mm). for example, each interior weld 60 may have a diameter of 0.1875 in. (4.762 mm). in another example, each interior weld 60 may have a diameter of about 0.2500 in. in one example, a distance d 1 between the centers c of any of the interior welds 60 forming an equilateral triangle as shown in fig. 3 may be from about 0.4 in. (10.1 mm) to about 0.8 in. (20.3 mm), or may be from about 0.46 in. (11.68 mm) to about 0.77 in. (19.56 mm). in one example, the distance d 1 may be 0.6125 in. (15.557 mm). in another example, the distance d 1 may be 0.667 inches. accordingly, the centers of two adjacent protrusions 72 a or 72 b that form the welds 60 are a corresponding distance apart. in one example, the circular space between the three interior welds 60 forming an equilateral triangle (i.e., a circle tangent to each of the three interior welds 60 ) as shown in fig. 3 may be of a diameter d 2 from about 0.3 in. (7.62 mm) to about 0.7 in. (17.8 mm), and may be from about 0.39 in. (9.91 mm) to about 0.65 in. (16.51 mm). in one example, the diameter d 2 may be 0.520 in. (13.20 mm). in an example, each interior weld 60 may have a diameter of 0.1875 in., the distance d 1 between the centers c may be 0.6125 in., and the diameter d 2 may be 0.520 in. in another example, each interior weld 60 may have a diameter of 0.2500 in., the distance d 1 between the centers c may be 0.667 in., and the diameter d 2 may be 0.520 in. accordingly, a circle between and tangent to any three adjacent ones of the protrusions 72 a or 72 b that are arranged to form an equilateral triangle (or any three adjacent ones of the protrusions 172 a, 172 b that are arranged to form an equilateral triangle) has a corresponding diameter d 2 . the inflated polymeric bladder 16 may remain along plane p 1 (indicated in fig. 4 ) from a foremost extent 35 to a rearmost extent 37 of the polymeric bladder 16 , as well as from a medial side 31 to a lateral side 33 of the polymeric bladder 16 . the plane p 1 extends perpendicular to the cross-section shown. by spacing the interior welds 60 in the pattern as described, the strobel 10 is less likely to curl away from the plane p 1 of fig. 4 either in the transverse direction or the longitudinal direction when inflated, such that the plane p 1 becomes instead a curved surface and the strobel 10 appears slightly concave or slightly convex when viewed as a whole at the proximal surface 24 or at the distal surface 26 . providing interior welds 60 with a diameter d (e.g., by providing protrusions 72 a, 72 b or 172 a, 172 b with a contact surface diameter d or by printing blocker ink around a circle of diameter d) and a distance d 1 between centers c in the ranges set forth helps to prevent such curling. the strobel 10 may be a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size. the first footwear size may be indicated by a first length l 1 from the foremost extent 35 to the rearmost extent 37 , and/or a first width y 1 from the medial side 31 to the lateral side 33 at, for example, the sixteenth row r 16 , which may generally correspond with one of the widest areas of the strobel 10 , configured to correspond with the metatarsal joints of a wearer's foot. a second strobel 110 , shown in fig. 32 , may be manufactured according to the same method 200 . accordingly, the portion 200 a of the method 200 discussed herein may include manufacturing a second strobel 110 corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size by welding the same or different sheets 28 , 30 to one another in the pattern of rows and columns included in the first strobel and with at least one additional row and/or column to form a polymeric bladder 116 otherwise identical to the polymeric bladder 16 . for example, the strobel 110 is of a second footwear size indicated by a second length l 2 from the foremost extent 35 to the rearmost extent 37 , where the second length l 2 is greater than the first length l 1 , and/or a second width y 2 from the medial side 31 to the lateral side 33 that is greater than the first width y 1 when measured at the same row of each strobel 10 , 110 (e.g., the sixteenth row r 16 ). the interior welds 60 of the strobel 110 include all of the twenty-two rows and eleven columns of the first strobel 10 including the same pattern of interior welds 60 of the rows and columns, and also includes an additional interior weld 60 in each of the twentieth and twenty-second rows r 20 , r 22 , referred to with reference numeral 60 a for clarity, as well as an additional row (the twenty-third row r 23 ), with four interior welds referred to with reference numeral 60 b for clarity. the additional interior welds 60 a, 60 b retain the pattern of offset rows and columns and have the same relative spacing as the interior welds 60 of the strobel 10 , while maintaining the same overall maximum height in the z direction when inflated as strobel 10 . referring to figs. 5-11 and 33 , although securing the strobel 10 to the upper 14 is not limited to stitching, the strobel 10 may be secured to the upper 14 by a series of stitches 82 extending through the peripheral flange 20 in the groove 22 (only some of the stitches 82 indicated by reference number). the stitching may occur prior to placing a last 84 in the opening 86 formed by the upper 14 (indicated in figs. 46 and 49 ). stated differently, the upper 14 is not placed over the last 84 until after it has been secured to the strobel 10 . it is desirable for manufacturing efficiency that securing the strobel 10 to the upper 14 is done accurately and relatively quickly. the groove 22 in the peripheral flange 20 helps to expedite the stitching process by serving as a visual path for the operator and/or a machine, including a robotic machine, to follow during the stitching process. in figs. 5-11 , various ways of stitching the strobel 10 to the upper 14 are shown. although illustrated with respect to strobel 10 , the various arrangements are also applicable to the strobel 110 and to any of the other strobels shown and described herein. in fig. 5 , an edge 88 of the upper 14 is abutted against the peripheral flange 20 , and the stitches 82 extend through the peripheral flange 20 at the groove 22 (i.e., through both of the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 at the peripheral flange 20 ), and are looped through the upper 14 and around an outer edge 90 of the peripheral flange 20 . the strobel 10 is moved relative to the stitching needle, or vice versa so that the needle moves along the groove 22 with the stitches 82 proceeding along the groove 22 and around the polymeric bladder 16 . fig. 6 shows another stitching arrangement in which the upper 14 is stacked on the peripheral flange 20 on the opposite side of the peripheral flange 20 from the groove 22 (i.e., on the proximal surface 24 ), and the stitches 82 extend through the upper 14 , and both of the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 at the groove 22 , and proceed along the peripheral flange 20 in the groove 22 . fig. 7 shows another stitching arrangement in which the upper 14 is stacked on the peripheral flange 20 on the same side of the flange 20 as the groove 22 (i.e., on the distal surface 26 ), and the stitches 82 extend through the upper 14 , and both of the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 at the groove 22 , and proceed along the peripheral flange 20 in the groove 22 . figs. 8-29 show additional arrangements of securing a strobel to the upper 14 by including one or more lasting components that may be of a substantially inelastic material such as utilized for a traditional strobel. stated differently, the strobels of figs. 8-19 include not only a polymeric bladder with the flange 20 as described herein, but also include a lasting component. more specifically, in a non-limiting example, the lasting component may be one or more of a woven or non-woven textile, an elastomer, or foam backed with a textile layer. the lasting component is thinner (i.e., less tall) than the height of the polymeric bladder and may be generally easier to grip than the bladder during stitching of the strobel to the footwear upper 14 . by adding one or more lasting components, stress on the bladder (such as due to the stitches 82 ) may be minimized. in fig. 8 , a lasting component 17 j overlays the entire bladder 16 , including the flange 20 at the proximal surface 24 . the upper 14 is stitched to the flange 20 in the groove 22 and to the lasting component 17 j by the series of stitches 82 . in fig. 9 , a lasting component 17 k overlays only the flange 20 rather than the entire bladder 16 . for example, the lasting component 17 k may be an elongated strip in the shape of the flange 20 as it appears in fig. 3 and may encircle the interior cavity 18 outward of the interior cavity 18 . alternatively, the lasting component 17 k could underlie the flange 20 . the upper 14 is stitched to the flange 20 in the groove 22 and to the lasting component 17 k by the series of stitches 82 . in fig. 10 , a lasting component 17 l underlies the entire bladder 16 at the distal surface 26 , and the upper 14 is stitched to the flange 20 in the groove 22 and to the lasting component 17 l by the series of stitches 82 . in fig. 11 , a first lasting component 17 l like that of fig. 8 overlays the entire bladder 16 including the flange 20 , and a second lasting component 17 l like that of fig. 10 underlies the entire bladder 16 including the flange 20 . the upper 14 is stitched to the flange 20 in the groove 22 and to the first and second lasting components 17 l by the series of stitches 82 . figs. 12-29 show various embodiments of strobels 10 , 10 aa, 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d, 10 e, 10 f, 10 g, 10 h, 10 i, within the scope of the present teachings. the strobels each include a polymeric bladder 16 , 16 a, 16 b, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g, 16 h, or 161 configured with a flange 20 having a groove 22 , as described with respect to figs. 1-4 . the strobels each also include a lasting component that is secured to the polymeric bladder. the polymeric bladder and the lasting component secured to the polymeric bladder together constitute a formed strobel that is subsequently secured to an upper as described herein. referring to figs. 12-14 , a strobel 10 includes the polymeric bladder 16 of figs. 1-4 and a lasting component 17 secured to the peripheral flange 20 . as shown in fig. 14 , the lasting component 17 has an aperture 19 . the aperture 19 is sized so that the polymeric bladder 16 extends partially through the aperture 19 , and the peripheral flange 20 abuts the lasting component 17 around the aperture 19 . for example, as shown in fig. 12 (which is a bottom view), the lasting component 17 overlays and abuts the flange 20 , and a portion of the second polymeric sheet 30 at the inflated portion of the polymeric bladder 16 extends through the aperture 19 . the outer edge 90 of the flange 20 extends laterally outward of the aperture 19 , and an outer edge 91 of the lasting component 17 extends laterally outward of the outer edge 90 of the flange 20 . the outer edge 90 falls along the phantom boundary 91 a in fig. 14 . stated differently, the polymeric bladder 16 is wider than the aperture 19 , and the lasting component 17 is wider than the polymeric bladder 16 . the lasting component 17 k of fig. 9 is alike in all aspects as lasting component 17 except that it is the same width as the polymeric bladder 16 so that its outer edge 91 is aligned with the outer edge 90 of the polymeric bladder 16 . the lasting component 17 is configured to extend along the peripheral flange 20 around the perimeter 21 (indicated in fig. 1 ) of the interior cavity 18 of the bladder 16 . in the embodiment of figs. 12-14 , the lasting component 17 has a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region corresponding with the forefoot region 25 , the midfoot region 27 , and the heel region 29 of the polymeric bladder 16 indicated in fig. 3 . the aperture 19 and the polymeric bladder 16 extend in each of the forefoot region 25 , the midfoot region 27 , and the heel region 29 . the lasting component 17 has locating features 93 g that may be apertures or markings in the lasting component 17 , or notches in or protrusions at the outer edge of the lasting component 17 that are spaced from one another with the same relative spacing as the notches 93 a or other locating features of the polymeric bladder 16 . the locating features 93 a are aligned with the locating features 93 g when the polymeric bladder 16 is placed at the aperture 19 . this positions the flange 20 correctly relative to the lasting component 17 for subsequent stitching through the flange 20 . alternatively, instead of or in addition to notches 93 a, locating features on the polymeric bladder 16 may be one or more apertures 93 d punched or otherwise provided through the bladder 16 , as shown in fig. 33 . the lasting component 17 is stitched or otherwise secured to the polymeric bladder 16 with stitches 81 that extend through the flange 20 at the groove 22 . the groove 22 serves as a guide path for an operator or for a machine, including a robotic machine, to follow when stitching or otherwise securing the lasting component 17 to the polymeric bladder 16 . as shown in fig. 12 , a first series of stitches 81 extend through the lasting component 17 and through the peripheral flange 20 in the groove 22 and secure the lasting component 17 to the polymeric bladder 16 . the first series of stitches 81 and the groove 22 both extend completely around and outward of the perimeter 21 of the interior cavity 18 of the polymeric bladder 16 . only some of the stitches 81 are indicated with a reference number. the strobel 10 having the polymeric bladder 16 secured to the lasting component 17 may then be secured to the upper 14 by a second series of stitches that extend through the lasting component 17 and through the upper 14 , but not through the polymeric bladder 16 (e.g., may extend through the lasting component 17 outward of the flange 20 , or by a second series of stitches that extend through both the flange 20 and the lasting component 17 like the stitches 82 of fig. 9 . figs. 15-17 show another embodiment of a strobel 10 a that includes a polymeric bladder 16 a and a lasting component 17 a secured to the peripheral flange 20 of the polymeric bladder 16 a by a first series of stitches 81 that extend through the peripheral flange 20 and the lasting component 17 a. the first series of stitches 81 and the groove 22 both extend completely around and outward of the perimeter 21 of interior cavity 18 . as shown in fig. 17 , the lasting component 17 a has an aperture 19 a. the aperture 19 a is sized so that the polymeric bladder 16 a extends partially through the aperture 19 a, and the peripheral flange 20 abuts the lasting component 17 a around the aperture 19 a. the outer edge 90 of the flange 20 extends laterally outward of the aperture 19 a, and an outer edge 91 of the lasting component 17 a extends laterally outward of the outer edge 90 of the flange 20 . the lasting component 17 a is configured to extend along the peripheral flange 20 around the perimeter 21 of the interior cavity 18 of the bladder 16 a. in the embodiment of figs. 15-17 , the lasting component 17 a has a forefoot region 25 , a midfoot region 27 , and a heel region 29 . the aperture 19 a extends in the forefoot region 25 and may extend partially in the midfoot region 27 . the polymeric bladder 16 a is configured to extend in the forefoot region 25 , and partially in the midfoot region 27 if the aperture extends into the midfoot region 27 but does not extend in the heel region 29 . the lasting component 17 a has locating features 93 g that may be apertures in or markings on the lasting component 17 a, or notches in or protrusions at the inner peripheral edge of the lasting component 17 a bounding the aperture 19 a, that are spaced from one another with the same relative spacing as the notches 93 a or other locating features of the polymeric bladder 16 a. the locating features 93 a are aligned with the locating features 93 g when the polymeric bladder 16 a is placed at the aperture 19 a. similar to lasting component 17 , the lasting component 17 a is stitched or otherwise secured to the polymeric bladder 16 a with a first series of stitches 81 that extend through the flange 20 at the groove 22 . the first series of stitches 81 and the groove 22 both extend completely around and outward of the perimeter 21 of interior cavity 18 of the polymeric bladder 16 a. similar to strobel 10 , the strobel 10 a having the polymeric bladder 16 a secured to the lasting component 17 a may be secured to the upper 14 by a second series of stitches 82 that extend through the lasting component 17 a and the upper 14 but not through the polymeric bladder 16 a. figs. 18-20 show another embodiment of a strobel 10 b that includes a polymeric bladder 16 b and a lasting component 17 b secured to the peripheral flange 20 of the polymeric bladder 16 b by a first series of stitches 81 that extend through the peripheral flange 20 and the lasting component 17 b. the first series of stitches 81 and the groove 22 both extend completely around and outward of the perimeter 21 of interior cavity 18 . as shown in fig. 20 , the lasting component 17 b has an aperture 19 b. the aperture 19 b is sized so that the polymeric bladder 16 b extends partially through the aperture 19 b, and the peripheral flange 20 abuts the lasting component 17 b around the aperture 19 b, similarly to lasting component 17 and flange 20 shown in fig. 25 . the outer edge 90 of the flange 20 extends laterally outward of the aperture 19 b, and an outer edge 91 of the lasting component 17 b extends laterally outward of the outer edge 90 of the flange 20 . the lasting component 17 b is configured to extend along the peripheral flange 20 around the perimeter 21 of the interior cavity 18 . in the embodiment of figs. 18-20 , the lasting component 17 b has a forefoot region 25 , a midfoot region 27 , and a heel region 29 . the aperture 19 b extends in the heel region 29 . the polymeric bladder 16 b is configured to extend in the heel region 29 but does not extend in the midfoot region 27 or forefoot region 25 . the lasting component 17 b has locating features 93 g that may be apertures in or markings on the lasting component 17 b, or notches in or protrusions at the inner peripheral edge of the lasting component 17 b bounding the aperture 19 b, that are spaced from one another with the same relative spacing as the notches 93 a or other locating features of the polymeric bladder 16 b. the locating features 93 a are aligned with the locating features 93 g when the polymeric bladder 16 b is placed at the aperture 19 b. the first series of stitches 81 and the groove 22 both extend completely around and outward of the perimeter 21 of interior cavity 18 of the polymeric bladder 16 b. similar to strobel 10 , the strobel 10 b having the polymeric bladder 16 b secured to the lasting component 17 b may be secured to the upper 14 by a second series of stitches 82 that extend through the lasting component 17 b and through the upper 14 , but not through the polymeric bladder 16 b. figs. 21-23 show another embodiment of a strobel 10 c that includes the polymeric bladder 16 and a lasting component 17 c secured to the peripheral flange 20 of the polymeric bladder 16 by a first series of stitches 81 that extend through the peripheral flange 20 and the lasting component 17 c. the first series of stitches 81 and the groove 22 both extend completely around and outward of the perimeter 21 of interior cavity 18 . as shown in fig. 21 , the lasting component 17 c is sized so that the peripheral flange 20 abuts the surface of the lasting component 17 c, and the lasting component 17 c overlays and extends across the polymeric bladder 16 between a medial side of the polymeric bladder 16 and a lateral side of the polymeric bladder 16 . as best shown in fig. 21 , the outer edge 90 of the flange 20 is aligned with the outer edge 91 of the lasting component 17 c as the polymeric bladder 16 and the lasting component 17 c are the same width. the lasting component 17 c is configured to extend along the peripheral flange 20 around the perimeter 21 of the interior cavity 18 and over one side of the bladder 16 (e.g., over the top of the bladder 16 or under the bottom of the bladder 16 depending upon the side of the bladder on which the lasting component 17 c is disposed). in the embodiment of figs. 21-23 , the lasting component 17 c and the polymeric bladder 16 both have a forefoot region 25 , a midfoot region 27 , and a heel region 29 , and the lasting component 17 c does not have an aperture through which the polymeric bladder 16 extends. the lasting component 17 c has locating features 93 g that are apertures or notches in or protrusions at the outer periphery of the lasting component 17 c spaced from one another with the same relative spacing as the notches 93 a or other locating features of the polymeric bladder 16 . the locating features 93 a are aligned with the locating features 93 g when the lasting component 17 c is placed against the polymeric bladder 16 , and the lasting component 17 c is stitched to the polymeric bladder 16 with a first series of stitches 81 that extend through the flange 20 and the lasting component 17 c at the groove 22 . the first series of stitches 81 and the groove 22 both extend completely around and outward of the perimeter 21 of interior cavity 18 of the polymeric bladder 16 . the strobel 10 c is secured to the upper 14 by a second series of stitches that extend through the lasting component 17 c and through the upper 14 , and also through the flange 20 of the polymeric bladder 16 in the groove 22 similar to stitches 82 in fig. 8 . both the first series of stitches 81 and the second series of stitches 82 extend through the polymeric bladder 16 in the groove 22 . in some embodiments, both the lasting component and the polymeric bladder extend the entire width of the strobel, but neither extends the entire length, and the lasting component and the polymeric bladder are arranged longitudinally along the strobel. for example, in the embodiments of figs. 24-29 , the polymeric bladder and the lasting component are each disposed in at least one different one of a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region of the strobel, and the lasting component is secured to the polymeric bladder by a first series of stitches extending transversely across the polymeric bladder and the lasting component. referring to fig. 24 , the polymeric bladder 16 d is disposed in the forefoot region 25 and may extend slightly into the midfoot region 27 . the lasting component 17 d extends in the heel region 29 and in the midfoot region 27 where a forward transverse edge 23 of the lasting component 17 d abuts or slightly overlaps a rearward transverse edge 90 d of the polymeric bladder 16 d. the groove 22 does not extend across the polymeric bladder 16 d (e.g., from the medial side to the lateral side) at the rearward transverse edge 90 d. the polymeric bladder 16 d may be formed by cutting the polymeric bladder 16 and adding a transversely-extending weld w 3 to seal the interior cavity 18 where cut. the first series of stitches 81 extends transversely across the strobel 10 d through the polymeric bladder 16 d rearward of the weld w 3 to secure the lasting component 17 d to the polymeric bladder 16 d. a subsequent second series of stitches to secure the strobel 10 d to the upper 14 would extend through the polymeric bladder 16 d in the groove 22 around the polymeric bladder 16 d to the rearward transverse edge 90 d and would continue around the periphery of the lasting component 17 d near the outer edge 91 , rearward of the series of stitches 81 . the locating features of the polymeric bladder 16 d (e.g., the notches 93 a) and locating features 93 g of the lasting component 17 d are used to align the strobel 10 d to the upper 14 when the strobel 10 d is secured to the upper 14 . the outer edge 90 of the polymeric bladder 16 d forms the outer edge of the strobel 10 d in the forefoot region 25 and in a forward part of the midfoot region 27 , and the outer edge 91 of the lasting component 17 d forms the outer edge of the strobel 10 d in the rearward part of the midfoot region 27 and in the heel region 29 . in the forefoot region 25 , the strobel 10 d includes only the polymeric bladder 16 d. in the heel region, the strobel 10 d includes only the lasting component 17 d. an article of footwear may include a sole structure such as the midsole 83 of fig. 50 secured to the distal side of the polymeric bladder 16 d and a lower extent of the upper 14 at the polymeric bladder 16 d, and to the distal side of the lasting component 17 d and a lower extent of the upper 14 at the lasting component 17 d. fig. 25 shows a strobel 10 e configured the same as described with respect to strobel 10 d except that the polymeric bladder 16 d is replaced with a polymeric bladder 16 e that has a flange 20 with a groove 22 that extends completely around the polymeric bladder 16 e, including at the rearward transverse edge 90 d. in other words, the polymeric bladder 16 e is formed to the size shown, rather than being cut from a longer polymeric bladder 16 and then welded at weld w 3 . the first series of stitches 81 securing the lasting component 17 d at the rearward transverse edge 90 d extend through the flange 20 at the groove 22 . fig. 26 shows a strobel 10 f with a polymeric bladder 16 f cut from the polymeric bladder 16 at rearward transverse edge 90 d and also at a forward transverse edge 90 f. the polymeric bladder 16 f is welded at weld w 3 and also at weld w 4 to seal the interior cavity 18 . the first series of stitches includes stitches 81 a that extend transversely across the strobel 10 f through the polymeric bladder 16 f rearward of the weld w 3 to secure a rear lasting component 17 f 2 to the polymeric bladder 16 f. the first series of stitches also includes stitches 81 b that extend transversely across the strobel 10 f through the polymeric bladder 16 f forward of the weld w 4 to secure a front lasting component 17 f 1 to the polymeric bladder 16 f. a subsequent second series of stitches to secure the strobel 10 f to the upper 14 would extend through the polymeric bladder 16 f in the groove 22 at the medial side and the lateral side of the polymeric bladder 16 f and would continue around rear lasting component 17 f 2 near the outer edge 91 rearward of the series of stitches 81 a, and around the lasting component 17 f 1 forward of the stitches 81 b. the outer edges 91 of the lasting components 17 f 1 and 17 f 2 and the outer edges 90 of the polymeric bladder 16 f form the outer edge of the strobel 10 f. the lasting components 17 f 1 , 17 f 2 each have at least one locating feature 93 g that is an aperture or a notch (or a protrusion or marking) that can be aligned with similarly spaced locating features on the upper 14 , as can notches 93 a or other locating features in the polymeric bladder 16 f, when the strobel 10 f is stitched to the upper 14 . fig. 27 shows a strobel 10 g configured the same as described with respect to strobel 10 f except that the polymeric bladder 16 f is replaced with a polymeric bladder 16 g that has a flange 20 with a groove 22 extending completely around the polymeric bladder 16 g, including at the rearward transverse edge 90 d and the forward transverse edge 90 f. in other words, the polymeric bladder 16 g is formed to the size shown, rather than being cut from a longer polymeric bladder 16 and then welded at welds w 3 and w 4 . the first series of stitches 81 a, 81 b securing the lasting components 17 f 2 , 17 f 1 at the rearward transverse edge 90 d and the forward transverse edge 90 f, respectively, extend through the flange 20 at the groove 22 . fig. 28 shows a strobel 10 h configured similarly to strobel 10 d except that the polymeric bladder 16 h is in the heel region 29 and a rear portion of the midfoot region 27 , and the lasting component 17 h is in the forefoot region 25 and a forward portion of the midfoot region 27 . the polymeric bladder 16 h may be cut from the polymeric bladder 16 and welded at transverse weld w 5 to seal the interior cavity 18 , and then the lasting component 17 h is stitched to the polymeric bladder 16 h at a forward transverse edge 90 g of the polymeric bladder 16 h with a first series of stitches 81 that extend transversely across the strobel 10 h from the medial side to the lateral side of the polymeric bladder 16 h, and are forward of the weld w 5 . fig. 29 shows a strobel 10 i configured the same as described with respect to strobel 10 h except that the polymeric bladder 16 h is replaced with a polymeric bladder 16 i that has a flange 20 with a groove 22 extending completely around the polymeric bladder 16 i, including at the forward transverse edge 90 g. in other words, the polymeric bladder 16 i is formed to the size shown, rather than being cut from a longer polymeric bladder 16 and then welded at weld w 5 . the first series of stitches 81 securing the lasting component 17 h to the polymeric bladder 16 i extend through the flange 20 at the groove 22 near the forward transverse edge 90 g. in the articles of footwear described herein, the polymeric bladders may be secured directly to the upper 14 by stitches (such as stitches 82 ) extending through the flange 20 at the groove 22 . these configurations will tend to constrain the polymeric bladder in the x-y plane during dynamic compression to a greater extent than will configurations in which the polymeric bladder is not directly secured to the upper 14 but is instead secured to a lasting component by a first series of stitches (such as stitches 81 ) and then the lasting component is secured to the upper by a second series of stitches (such as stitches 82 ) that extend only through the lasting component and the upper 14 . in each of the embodiments described herein, the strobel may be secured to the upper 14 as described, prior to placing a last 84 in the opening 86 formed by the upper 14 as illustrated in fig. 49 . stated differently, the upper 14 is not placed over the last 84 until after it has been secured to the strobel. it is desirable for manufacturing efficiency that securing the strobel to the upper 14 is done accurately and relatively quickly. during this process, the strobel is moved relative to the stitching needle, or vice versa so that the needle moves along and the stitches 82 proceed along the lasting component and/or the groove 22 (depending on the embodiment, as described herein). fig. 36 shows an embodiment of the footwear 12 a in which a protective cover layer 85 is secured over the proximal side of the strobel 10 . the protective cover layer 85 will thus be disposed within the foot-receiving cavity 39 . the protective cover layer 85 may be an abrasion resistant material to protect the bladder 16 from shear forces and/or from sharp objects. the protective cover layer may be formed from, for example, a polymeric sheet, a fabric layer, or other protective layer that may protect the bladder 16 from shear forces (e.g., by minimizing (or keeping sufficiently low) a coefficient of friction between the abrasion resistant material of the protective cover layer 85 and the bladder 16 ) in addition to protecting the bladder 16 from sharp objects. the protective cover layer 85 may be secured to the bladder 16 only at the flange 20 by stitches or otherwise. in embodiments having a lasting component surrounding the bladder, the cover layer 85 may instead be secured to the lasting component. the same stitches used to secure the cover layer 85 to the bladder and/or the lasting component (in embodiments that include a lasting component) may also extend through and secure the strobel with cover layer to the upper 14 . alternatively, the cover layer 85 may first be secured to the bladder and/or the lasting component (in embodiments that include a lasting component) and then the strobel with the cover layer 85 secured thereto may be secured to the upper. fig. 37 shows a bladder 16 j within the scope of the disclosure that may be formed from the tooling 134 of fig. 44 described herein, for example. the bladder 16 j has circular interior welds 60 arranged as equilateral triangles as discussed with respect to fig. 2 . the bladder 16 j also has locating features 93 h that are protrusions at the outer peripheral edge 90 of the bladder 16 j. the protrusions 93 h are triangular in shape and may be aligned with similarly-spaced locating features on a lasting component, on an upper 14 , or on the last 84 . figs. 44 and 45 show the tooling 134 for radio frequency welding of the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 to form bladders 16 j. an upper mold portion 134 a and a lower mold portion 134 b are shown. a mold insert 134 c may be secured to the mold portion 134 a, and a mold insert 134 d may be secured to mold portion 134 b. the mold inserts 134 c, 134 d may be mirror images of one another. fig. 44 shows a second pair of mold inserts 134 c, 134 d secured to mold portions 134 a and 134 b in alignment with one another so that two bladders 16 j may be formed simultaneously. each mold insert 134 c, 134 d includes protrusions and ridges 94 , 96 . the protrusions 172 a of mold insert 134 c are identical to the protrusions 172 b of mold insert 134 d in geometry and arrangement. for example, they may be configured to form the circular welds 60 arranged as equilateral triangles. the protrusions 172 a, 172 b (only some of which are indicated with reference numbers in fig. 45 ) and ridges 94 , 96 of mold insert 134 d are in alignment with those of mold insert 134 c. in some embodiments, the mold inserts 134 c, 134 d may be integral with the respective mold portions 134 a, 134 b as one-piece components. the welding may be radio frequency welding accomplished when the mold portions 134 a, 134 b (and mold inserts 134 c, 134 d) are closed together on the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 and a power source 36 supplies energy creating an alternating electric field that heats the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 , creating welds w 1 , w 2 and interior welds 60 where the mold portions 134 a, 134 b and/or mold inserts 34 c, 34 d are applied to the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 . as shown, each bladder 16 j results from compression of first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 disposed between the mold inserts 134 c, 134 d. each mold insert 134 c, 134 d includes six triangular protrusions 98 a at the outer periphery of the ridge 96 that result in the triangular protrusions 93 h of the bladder 16 j. in other embodiments, there may be fewer or more protrusions 98 a of the mold insert and resulting protrusions 93 h on the bladder 16 j, and they may have different shapes. fig. 38 shows another embodiment of a bladder 16 k that has all of the features described with respect to bladder 16 except has a different arrangement of the locating features that are apertures 93 d (e.g., through holes) extending through one or more of the interior welds 60 , and therefore through both of the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 . for example, two are shown in the forefoot region 25 , one is in the midfoot region 27 , and one is in the heel region 29 . providing location features in each of these regions may enable more accurate positioning of the bladder 16 k relative to a lasting component, an upper, or a last. it should be appreciated that, in the embodiment of fig. 38 and in many of the other embodiments shown herein, some of the interior welds are shown disposed partially on the flange 20 . this may occur with certain tooling or when anti-weld material (e.g., blocker ink) is disposed to provide interior welds positioned in such a manner. when the same number of interior welds are used for different grades of footwear, some of the interior welds may fall partially onto the flange 20 for certain grades. to further improve the efficiencies of stitching the upper 14 to the strobel 10 (or any of the other strobels discussed herein), the strobel 10 may be in an uninflated state when the stitching occurs. when in the uninflated state, the strobel 10 is more flexible, making it easier to manipulate the strobel 10 relative to the sewing machine that provides the stitches 82 . after the upper 14 is secured to the strobel 10 by the series of stitches 82 , the strobel 10 is inflated to a predetermined pressure, or is left at ambient pressure without inflating, and the interior cavity 18 is then sealed such as by plugging a port 97 or fill tube of the polymeric bladder 16 . the port 97 is shown, for example, in fig. 1 . although the port 97 is shown partially disposed in the flange 20 , the port 97 may be disposed elsewhere on the strobel 10 . inflating and sealing occurs prior to placing the upper 14 with the strobel 10 stitched thereto on the last 84 because, in its inflated state, the strobel 10 and upper 14 are more representative of their final relative configuration and can therefore enable a more accurate placement on the last 84 when a midsole 83 of the sole structure 80 is subsequently secured to the distal surface 26 of the strobel 10 and/or the lower periphery of the upper 14 such as at a lower perimeter edge 88 (see fig. 46 ) of the upper 14 . in other embodiments, the polymeric bladder such as bladder 16 may be inflated and sealed prior to securing the bladder 16 to the upper 14 . to increase the speed and precision with which the strobel 10 (or any of the other strobels described herein) and the upper 14 are positioned on the last 84 , the strobel 10 may be configured with a locating feature, as discussed. for example, as shown in fig. 1 , the strobel 10 has notches 93 a spaced around the outer edge 90 of the peripheral flange 20 . the notches 93 a in the bladder 16 may be formed by the mold portions 34 a, 34 b or the mold inserts 34 c, 34 d or may otherwise be provided. as shown in fig. 43 , the mold portion 34 b has continuous inner and outer ridges 94 , 96 that are spaced apart from one another, and together create the welds w 1 and w 2 with the groove 22 between the welds w 1 , w 2 . the outer ridge 96 has notches 98 that at least partially form the notches 93 a of the strobel 10 . in general, the various locating features described herein may be provided, for example, by welding, cutting, punching, printing, dyeing, etc. alternatively or in addition to the notches 93 a, the strobel 10 may have locating features that are apertures 93 d extending through one or more of the interior welds 60 , and therefore through both of the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 as shown in figs. 1 and 4 . in other embodiments that locating features of the bladder such as bladder 16 or the locating features of the lasting component such as lasting component 17 may be protrusions, apertures, printed markings, etc. in some embodiments, a combination of notches and protrusions, or other markings may be used. still further, lasers could be used to align features of the strobel such as strobel 10 with the last 84 . the strobel 10 could be aligned with the perimeter of the upper 14 using a separate jig. in some embodiments, the heel center (e.g., at the outer edge of the peripheral flange) could be aligned with a feature on the last. additionally, in some embodiments, a pattern could be printed on the strobel that can then be aligned with a pattern on the last 84 . for example, the distal side of the strobel 10 could have an alignment pattern printed on it, as this side will be adhered to the midsole 83 so that the printed pattern will not be visible in the finished article of footwear. the upper 14 may have locating features that are spaced markings, notches, protrusions, or apertures along its lower periphery near where it is stitched to the strobel 10 . the locating features of the upper 14 have a relative spacing identical to that of the locating features (e.g., the notches 93 a and/or apertures 93 d) of the strobel 10 . the locating features of the upper 14 may be aligned with those of the strobel 10 prior to stitching so that the upper 14 and strobel 10 are properly aligned with one another when stitching along the groove 22 . in fig. 46 , the upper 14 is shown with locating features (e.g., markings or apertures 93 b) that can be aligned with locating features (e.g., notches 93 a) of the strobel 10 for this purpose. alternatively, or in addition, the last 84 can be configured with locating features that have the same relative spacing as the locating features of the strobel 10 . as shown in figs. 39, 40 and 49 , the locating features 93 c or 93 e may be, for example, markings on or apertures in the last 84 that align with locating features 93 a or 93 c of the strobel 10 . in figs. 39 and 40 , the upper 14 is not shown for clarity. in the embodiment of fig. 39 , the last 84 has locating features 93 d that are markings or apertures that are spaced relative to one another at the same relative spacing as the locating features 93 a. in the embodiment of figs. 40 and 49 , the last 84 has locating features 93 e that are markings or apertures that are spaced at the same relative spacing as the locating features 93 d. it should be appreciated that the locating features on the strobel 10 have a slightly different relative spacing when the strobel 10 is in the uninflated state than when the strobel 10 is in the inflated state. accordingly, the locating features on the strobel 10 may have a relative spacing in the inflated state that is identical to the relative spacing of the locating features on the last 84 if the strobel 10 is secured to the upper 14 when in the uninflated state and is placed on the last 84 when in the inflated state, as described herein. the steps of the method 200 of manufacturing footwear including any of the strobels and articles of footwear described herein are shown in the flowchart of fig. 51 . portion 200 a of the method 200 includes the step 206 of providing the strobel, such as strobel 10 , etc. providing the strobel may include forming the strobel. in other embodiments of the method 200 , the strobel may be already in a formed state when provided in step 206 (e.g., the strobel may be obtained in a formed state under step 206 ). accordingly, the entity providing the strobel may both form the strobel and assemble it in the footwear, or a separate entity may form the strobel and the entity carrying out the method 200 may obtain the formed strobel to carry out the method 200 . the providing step 206 thus may or may not include forming the strobel. in embodiments that include forming the strobel, step 206 may include a sub-step in which the first and second polymeric sheets 28 , 30 are welded together at the first and second welds w 1 , w 2 in the peripheral flange 20 to form the polymeric bladder 16 with the interior cavity 18 , and, because the welds w 1 , w 2 create the ridges 38 , 40 , the groove 22 is formed in the peripheral flange 20 . as previously discussed, the welding may be radio frequency welding accomplished when the mold portions, such as mold portions 34 a, 34 b and mold inserts 34 c (or mold portions 134 a, 134 b and mold inserts 13 c, 134 d) are closed together on the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 and a power source 36 supplies energy creating an alternating electric field that heats the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 , creating welds where the mold inserts 34 c (or 134 c, 134 d) are applied to the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 . separately or simultaneously with the sub-step of welding the first and second welds w 1 , w 2 , step 206 may include a sub-step of welding the interior welds 60 by the radio frequency welding via the protrusions 72 a, 72 b. for example, the interior welds 60 will be provided simultaneously with the welds w 1 , w 2 if the portions of the tooling assembly having the ridges 94 , 96 (e.g., the mold portions 34 a, 34 b or 134 c, 134 c) and the portions having the protrusions 72 a, 72 b (e.g., mold inserts 34 c, 34 d), or the protrusions 172 a, 172 b (e.g., mold inserts 134 c, 134 d) are applied to the sheets 28 , 30 simultaneously. the portion 200 a of the method 200 may include a step in which one or more locating features are provided on the strobel 10 , such as notches 93 a, protrusions 93 h, or markings or apertures, both represented as locating features 93 d. in some embodiments, the locating features may be provided during the radio frequency welding included in step 202 of providing the strobel as described. alternatively, the notches 93 a, protrusions 93 h, or the apertures 93 d or markings could be cut, punched, printed, or otherwise formed in a separate subsequent step. for some of the strobels, the portion 200 a of the method 200 may include a step of cutting an aperture in the lasting component, such as apertures 19 , 19 a, 19 b, in lasting components 17 , 17 a, 17 b, respectively. the portion 200 a of the method 200 may include a step of placing the polymeric bladder at the aperture, such as polymeric bladder 16 , 16 a, 16 b at the aperture 19 , 19 a, 19 b, respectively. the portion 200 a of the method 200 may include step 216 , aligning the polymeric bladder with the lasting component, such as by aligning one or more locating features 93 a of the polymeric bladder 16 , 16 a, 16 b, etc., with one or more locating features 93 g of the lasting component 17 , 17 a, 17 b, etc. the portion 200 a of the method 200 includes the step 218 of securing the lasting component to the bladder along the groove in the peripheral flange. for example, once the polymeric bladder and the lasting component are aligned in step 216 , the portion 200 a of the method 200 may proceed to step 218 , and the lasting component may be secured to the polymeric bladder, such as at the peripheral flange 20 or at the edges 90 d, 90 f, 90 g, as described with respect to the different embodiments, such as by stitching a first series of stitches 81 through the lasting component and the polymeric bladder. the strobel 10 manufactured according to the portion 200 a of the method 200 may be a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size, such as strobel 10 . the portion 200 a of the method 200 may be repeated to manufacture a second strobel (e.g., strobel 110 of fig. 32 ) corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size and with interior welds 60 including the same pattern of rows and columns as on the first strobel with at least one additional column or row of interior welds 60 a as described herein with respect to fig. 32 . the second strobel may be formed from the same polymeric sheets 28 , 30 , for example, at a different location on the polymeric sheets 28 , 30 than the first footwear strobel. alternatively, a different set of polymeric sheets including a first sheet and a second sheet like first polymeric sheet 28 and second polymeric sheet 30 may be used. repeating the same pattern of interior welds 60 as on the smaller strobel for a first footwear size and adding interior welds 60 a only to one or more of the existing rows or columns of interior welds 60 or adding an additional row of interior welds 60 a and/or an additional column of interior welds 60 a while maintaining the same spacing between adjacent interior welds as described with respect to fig. 2 . this may provide consistent cushioning characteristics in different footwear sizes. the method 200 of manufacturing footwear depicted in the flow diagram of fig. 51 may include forming the strobel 10 according to the portion 200 a of the method 200 of manufacturing a strobel 10 (i.e., may include steps 206 - 218 and any or all of the sub-steps described with respect thereto) and then proceed to the portion 200 b of the method 200 of manufacturing the article of footwear, or may include only the portion 200 b of the method 200 of manufacturing the article of footwear by starting with a pre-formed strobel (i.e., beginning at step 220 ). with reference to fig. 46 , locating features (e.g., notches 93 a) of the strobel 10 may be aligned with locating features (e.g., apertures or markings 93 b) of the upper 14 . then in step 220 , the strobel 10 may be secured to the upper 14 such as by the series of stitches 82 extending through the bladder 16 at the groove 22 (and/or through a lasting component in embodiments in which the upper 14 is secured to the lasting component). stated differently, the stitches 82 (referred to as a second series of stitches) may extend only through the bladder and the upper 14 in some embodiments, while in other embodiments, the stitches 82 may also extend through the bladder, the upper, and a lasting component, and in still other embodiments, the stitches 82 may extend only through a lasting component, as the bladder is secured to the lasting component with a separate series of stitches. prior to or contemporaneously with step 220 , a protective cover layer 85 may be secured to the strobel 10 such as by stitching, as shown in fig. 36 . in an example embodiment, the protective cover layer 85 may overlay the strobel, and may be secured to the strobel 10 only at the flange 20 , for example, with stitching at or near stitching 82 . the stitching may be computer stitching or may be hand stitching. next, the portion 200 b of the method 200 may proceed to an inflation step in which the polymeric bladder is inflated as shown with respect to the bladder 16 in fig. 48 , such as by a source 99 of pressurized fluid, which may be nitrogen, air, or another gas. the method 200 b may then proceed to a sealing step, in which the interior cavity 18 is sealed by sealing an inflation port or other opening in the polymeric bladder to retain the fluid in the interior cavity 18 . alternatively, if it is desired that the polymeric bladder 16 is at ambient pressure when the footwear is assembled, the portion 200 b of method 200 may skip the inflating step. an ambient polymeric bladder 16 may even be sealed by the welding of step 206 , in which case the portion 200 b of the method 200 may also skip the sealing step. in other embodiments, the bladder 16 may already be inflated before the portion 200 b of the method 200 begins (e.g., the bladder 16 may already be inflated and sealed when provided under step 206 ). the upper 14 with the strobel 10 (or other strobel described herein) stitched thereto may then be placed on the last 84 . this may be by placing the last 84 into the opening 86 of the upper 14 , or moving the upper 14 over the last 84 so that the last 84 is in the opening 86 , as represented by fig. 49 in which the upper 14 and strobel 10 are moved in the direction of arrow a. in step 228 , which may occur simultaneously with placing the strobel 10 on the last 84 or may be subsequent to an adjustment of the strobel 10 on the last 84 , the one or more locating features (e.g., notches 93 a, protrusions 93 h, markings or apertures 93 d) of the strobel are aligned with corresponding one or more locating features (e.g., markings or apertures 93 c, 93 e) of the last 84 . there may be some predetermined tolerance range of the locating features on the last 84 , such as by making the locating features on the last 84 larger than those on the strobel 10 (or any of the other strobels described herein), so that as long as the locating features of the strobel to some extent overlap the locating features of the last 84 , the components are considered to be sufficiently accurately aligned. if the locating features of the strobel and the last 84 are not sufficiently aligned, however, the upper 14 with strobel may be removed and then placed again onto the last 84 to see if better alignment can be achieved. if not, the strobel and upper 14 are considered to be outside of the assembly tolerance range and may be recycled. if step 228 is completed with the locating features of the strobel 10 and the last 84 successfully aligned, then the portion 200 b of the method 200 may proceed to step 230 , and the midsole 83 may be secured to the upper 14 and/or the strobel (such as strobel 10 ) while the upper 14 and strobel 10 are on the last 84 . this is depicted in fig. 50 by the movement of the midsole 83 in the direction of arrow b toward the strobel 10 and the upper 14 . adhesive may be applied to the midsole 83 and or to the strobel 10 and upper 14 where they interface with the midsole 83 to secure the midsole 83 to the upper 14 , and/or the midsole 83 may be in a heated state that causes it to thermally bond to the strobel 10 and upper 14 . in some embodiments, the assembled components may then be heated by placing them in a heater to activate the adhesive. an outsole or any other components of the sole structure 80 (not shown) may also secured to the midsole 83 or to the upper 14 , and then the method 200 is complete. the following clauses provide example configurations of a strobel, an article of footwear, and a method of manufacturing disclosed herein. clause 1: an article of footwear comprising: a strobel including: a polymeric bladder defining an interior cavity and configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, the polymeric bladder having a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity; and wherein the peripheral flange defines a groove extending along the peripheral flange. clause 2: the article of footwear of clause 1, further comprising: an upper; wherein the strobel is secured to the upper. clause 3: the article of footwear of clause 2, wherein the strobel is secured to the upper by a series of stitches extending through the peripheral flange in the groove. clause 4: the article of footwear of any of clauses 2-3, further comprising: a midsole secured to at least one of the upper or the polymeric bladder. clause 5: the article of footwear of any of clauses 3-4, further comprising: a lasting component disposed at the flange; wherein the series of stitches further extend through the lasting component. clause 6: the article of footwear of any of clauses 1-5, wherein: the polymeric bladder includes a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet; the first polymeric sheet is bonded to the second polymeric sheet at the peripheral flange; and the first polymeric sheet is joined to the second polymeric sheet at a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. clause 7: the article of footwear of clause 6, wherein: the interior welds are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel; the interior welds of any two consecutive rows are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate rows are aligned with one another; and the interior welds of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate columns are aligned with one another. clause 8: the article of footwear of clause 7, wherein any two adjacent interior welds in one of the rows and an interior weld in a consecutive one of the rows and in a column between the two adjacent interior welds are positioned to define corners of an equilateral triangle. clause 9: the article of footwear of any of clauses 6-8, wherein at least a majority of the interior welds are circular and have an equal diameter. clause 10: the article of footwear of any of clauses 1-9, wherein: the peripheral flange has a first weld and a second weld spaced apart from the first weld; the first weld and the second weld extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange; the groove extends lengthwise along the peripheral flange between the first weld and the second weld; the first weld is inward of the groove; and the second weld is outward of the groove. clause 11: the article of footwear of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the polymeric bladder has a locating feature that is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, a protrusion at the outer edge of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. clause 12: a method of manufacturing footwear comprising: securing a strobel to an upper along a groove in a peripheral flange of the strobel; wherein the strobel includes a polymeric bladder defining an interior cavity and configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, the peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity. clause 13: the method of clause 12, wherein securing the strobel to the upper is by stitching the strobel to the upper so that a series of stitches extends through the peripheral flange at the groove. clause 14: the method of clause 12, further comprising: forming the strobel by welding a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet to one another to define the peripheral flange having the groove, and to define a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. clause 15: the method of clause 14, wherein: the interior welds are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel; the interior welds of any two consecutive rows are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate rows are aligned with one another; the interior welds of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate columns are aligned with one another; and wherein any two adjacent interior welds in one of the rows and an interior weld in a consecutive one of the rows and in a column between the two adjacent interior welds are positioned to define corners of an equilateral triangle. clause 16: the method of any of clauses 14-15, wherein the strobel is a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size, and the method further comprising: manufacturing a second strobel corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size by welding the same or different sheets to one another to define a polymeric bladder having: an interior cavity, the polymeric bladder configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity; and a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity, the peripheral flange defining a groove extending along the peripheral flange; wherein welding the same or different sheets to one another includes welding interior welds in the pattern of rows and columns as on the first strobel with at least one additional row or column. clause 17: the method of any of clauses 12-16, further comprising: placing the upper with the strobel secured thereto on a last; wherein placing the upper with the strobel stitched thereto on the last includes aligning a locating feature on the strobel with the last; and wherein the locating feature on the strobel is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, a protrusion at the outer edge of the peripheral flange; an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. clause 18: the method of clause 17, further comprising: securing a midsole to at least one of the upper or the strobel while the upper and the strobel are on the last. clause 19: the method of any of clauses 12-18, wherein the polymeric bladder is in an uninflated state when the strobel is secured to the upper, and the method further comprising: inflating the polymeric bladder after the strobel is secured to the upper; and sealing the interior cavity after inflating the interior cavity; wherein placing the upper with the strobel secured thereto on the last is after inflating the polymeric bladder and sealing the interior cavity. clause 20: the method of any of clauses 12-19, further comprising: disposing a lasting component at the flange prior to securing the strobel to the upper. clause 21: a strobel for an article of footwear, the strobel comprising: a polymeric bladder defining an interior cavity and configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, the polymeric bladder having a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity; and wherein the peripheral flange defines a groove extending along the peripheral flange. clause 22: the strobel of clause 21, wherein: the polymeric bladder includes a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet; the first polymeric sheet is bonded to the second polymeric sheet at the peripheral flange; and the first polymeric sheet is joined to the second polymeric sheet at a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. clause 23: the strobel of clause 22, wherein: the interior welds are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel; the interior welds of any two consecutive rows are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate rows are aligned with one another; and the interior welds of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate columns are aligned with one another. clause 24: the strobel of clause 23, wherein any two adjacent interior welds in one of the rows and an interior weld in a consecutive one of the rows and in a column between the two adjacent interior welds are positioned to define corners of an equilateral triangle. clause 25: the strobel of any of clauses 22-24, wherein at least a majority of the interior welds are circular and have an equal diameter. clause 26: the strobel of any of clauses 21-25, wherein: the peripheral flange has a first weld and a second weld spaced apart from the first weld; the first weld and the second weld extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange; the groove extends lengthwise along the peripheral flange between the first weld and the second weld; the first weld is inward of the groove; and the second weld is outward of the groove. clause 27: the strobel of clause 26, wherein: the peripheral flange includes a first ridge protruding at an outer surface of the peripheral flange between the first weld and the groove; and the peripheral flange includes a second ridge protruding at the outer surface of the peripheral flange between the second weld and the groove. clause 28: the strobel of any of clauses 21-27, wherein the polymeric bladder has a locating feature that is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. clause 29: an article of footwear comprising: an upper; a strobel including: a polymeric bladder defining an interior cavity and configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, the polymeric bladder having a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity; wherein the peripheral flange defines a groove extending along the peripheral flange; and wherein the strobel is secured to the upper by a series of stitches extending through the peripheral flange in the groove. clause 30: the article of footwear of clause 29, wherein: the polymeric bladder includes a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet; the first polymeric sheet is bonded to the second polymeric sheet at the peripheral flange; and the first polymeric sheet is joined to the second polymeric sheet at a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. clause 31: the article of footwear of clause 30, wherein: the interior welds are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel; the interior welds of any two consecutive rows are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate rows are aligned with one another; and the interior welds of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate columns are aligned with one another. clause 32: the article of footwear of clause 31, wherein any two adjacent interior welds in one of the rows and an interior weld in a consecutive one of the rows and in a column between the two adjacent interior welds are positioned to define corners of an equilateral triangle. clause 33: the article of footwear of any of clauses 30-32, wherein at least a majority of the interior welds are circular and have an equal diameter. clause 34: the article of footwear of any of clauses 29-33, wherein: the peripheral flange has a first weld and a second weld spaced apart from the first weld; the first weld and the second weld extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange; the groove extends lengthwise along the peripheral flange between the first weld and the second weld; the first weld is inward of the groove; and the second weld is outward of the groove. clause 35: the article of footwear of clause 34, wherein: the peripheral flange includes a first ridge protruding at an outer surface of the peripheral flange between the first weld and the groove; and the peripheral flange includes a second ridge protruding at the outer surface of the peripheral flange between the second weld and the groove. clause 36: the article of footwear of any of clauses 29-35, wherein the polymeric bladder has a locating feature that is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. clause 37: the article of footwear of any of clauses 29-36, further comprising: a midsole secured to at least one of the upper or the polymeric bladder. clause 38: the article of footwear of any of clauses 39-37, further comprising: a lasting component disposed at the flange; wherein the series of stitches further extends through the lasting component. clause 39: a method of manufacturing footwear comprising: forming a strobel by: welding a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet to one another to define a polymeric bladder having: an interior cavity, the polymeric bladder configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity; a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity; and wherein the welding is at the peripheral flange and the peripheral flange defines a groove extending along the peripheral flange. clause 40: the method of clause 39, wherein welding the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet to one another includes welding a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. clause 41: the method of clause 40, wherein: the interior welds are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel; the interior welds of any two consecutive rows are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate rows are aligned with one another; and the interior welds of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate columns are aligned with one another. clause 42: the method of clause 41, wherein the strobel is a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size, and the method further comprising: manufacturing a second strobel corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size by welding the same or different sheets to one another to define a polymeric bladder having: an interior cavity, the polymeric bladder configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity; a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity, the peripheral flange defining a groove extending along the peripheral flange; and wherein welding the same or different sheets to one another includes welding interior welds in the pattern of rows and columns as on the first strobel with at least one additional row or column. clause 43: the method of any of clauses 29-42, wherein welding the first polymeric sheet and the second polymeric sheet to one another includes welding a first weld and a second weld that are spaced apart from one another and extend lengthwise along the peripheral flange, with the groove extending lengthwise along the peripheral flange between the first weld and the second weld. clause 44: the method of any of clauses 29-43, further comprising: providing a locating feature on the strobel; wherein the locating feature is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. clause 45: a method of manufacturing footwear comprising: stitching a strobel to an upper along a groove in a peripheral flange of the strobel so that a series of stitches extends through the peripheral flange at the groove; wherein the strobel includes a polymeric bladder defining an interior cavity and configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity, the peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity. clause 46: the method of clause 45, further comprising: forming the strobel by welding a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet to one another to define the peripheral flange having the groove, and to define a plurality of interior welds each of which extends only partway across the interior cavity. clause 47: the method of clause 46, wherein: the interior welds are arranged in a pattern of rows and columns, with the rows spaced in a longitudinal direction of the strobel and the columns spaced in a transverse direction of the strobel; the interior welds of any two consecutive rows are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate rows are aligned with one another; and the interior welds of any two consecutive columns are offset from one another and the interior welds of alternate columns are aligned with one another. clause 48: the method of clause 47, wherein the strobel is a first strobel corresponding to a first footwear size, and the method further comprising: manufacturing a second strobel corresponding to a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size by welding the same or different sheets to one another to define a polymeric bladder having: an interior cavity, the polymeric bladder configured to retain a fluid in the interior cavity; a peripheral flange extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the interior cavity, the peripheral flange defining a groove extending along the peripheral flange; wherein welding the same or different sheets to one another includes welding interior welds in the pattern of rows and columns as on the first strobel with at least one additional row or column. clause 49: the method of any of clauses 45-47, further comprising: placing the upper with the strobel stitched thereto on a last. clause 50: the method of clause 49, wherein placing the upper with the strobel stitched thereto on the last includes aligning a locating feature on the strobel with a locating feature on the last. clause 51: the method of clause 50, wherein the locating feature on the strobel is at least one of a notch in an outer edge of the peripheral flange, an aperture in the polymeric bladder, or a marking on the polymeric bladder. clause 52: the method of any of clauses 49-51, further comprising: securing a midsole to at least one of the upper or the strobel while the upper and the strobel are on the last. clause 53: the method of any of clauses 49-52, wherein the polymeric bladder is in an uninflated state when the strobel is stitched to the upper, and the method further comprising: inflating the polymeric bladder after the strobel is stitched to the upper; and sealing the interior cavity after inflating the interior cavity; wherein placing the upper with the strobel stitched thereto on the last is after inflating the polymeric bladder and sealing the interior cavity. clause 54: the method of any of clauses 45-53, further comprising: disposing a lasting component at the flange prior to stitching the strobel to the upper; wherein the series of stitches further extend through the lasting component when the strobel is stitched to the upper. to assist and clarify the description of various embodiments, various terms are defined herein. unless otherwise indicated, the following definitions apply throughout this specification (including the claims). additionally, all references referred to are incorporated herein in their entirety. an “article of footwear”, a “footwear article of manufacture”, and “footwear” may be considered to be both a machine and a manufacture. assembled, ready to wear footwear articles (e.g., shoes, sandals, boots, etc.), as well as discrete components of footwear articles (such as a midsole, an outsole, an upper component, etc.) prior to final assembly into ready to wear footwear articles, are considered and alternatively referred to herein in either the singular or plural as “article(s) of footwear” or “footwear”. “a”, “an”, “the”, “at least one”, and “one or more” are used interchangeably to indicate that at least one of the items is present. a plurality of such items may be present unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. all numerical values of parameters (e.g., of quantities or conditions) in this specification, unless otherwise indicated expressly or clearly in view of the context, including the appended claims, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about” whether or not “about” actually appears before the numerical value. “about” indicates that the stated numerical value allows some slight imprecision (with some approach to exactness in the value; approximately or reasonably close to the value; nearly). if the imprecision provided by “about” is not otherwise understood in the art with this ordinary meaning, then “about” as used herein indicates at least variations that may arise from ordinary methods of measuring and using such parameters. in addition, a disclosure of a range is to be understood as specifically disclosing all values and further divided ranges within the range. the terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, or components. orders of steps, processes, and operations may be altered when possible, and additional or alternative steps may be employed. as used in this specification, the term “or” includes any one and all combinations of the associated listed items. the term “any of” is understood to include any possible combination of referenced items, including “any one of” the referenced items. the term “any of” is understood to include any possible combination of referenced claims of the appended claims, including “any one of” the referenced claims. for consistency and convenience, directional adjectives may be employed throughout this detailed description corresponding to the illustrated embodiments. those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that terms such as “above”, “below”, “upward”, “downward”, “top”, “bottom”, etc., may be used descriptively relative to the figures, without representing limitations on the scope of the invention, as defined by the claims. the term “longitudinal” refers to a direction extending a length of a component. for example, a longitudinal direction of an article of footwear extends between a forefoot region and a heel region of the article of footwear. the term “forward” or “anterior” is used to refer to the general direction from a heel region toward a forefoot region, and the term “rearward” or “posterior” is used to refer to the opposite direction, i.e., the direction from the forefoot region toward the heel region. in some cases, a component may be identified with a longitudinal axis as well as a forward and rearward longitudinal direction along that axis. the longitudinal direction or axis may also be referred to as an anterior-posterior direction or axis. the term “transverse” refers to a direction extending a width of a component. for example, a transverse direction of an article of footwear extends between a lateral side and a medial side of the article of footwear. the transverse direction or axis may also be referred to as a lateral direction or axis or a mediolateral direction or axis. the term “vertical” refers to a direction generally perpendicular to both the lateral and longitudinal directions. for example, in cases where a sole structure is planted flat on a ground surface, the vertical direction may extend from the ground surface upward. it will be understood that each of these directional adjectives may be applied to individual components of a sole structure. the term “upward” or “upwards” refers to the vertical direction pointing towards a top of the component, which may include an instep, a fastening region and/or a throat of an upper. the term “downward” or “downwards” refers to the vertical direction pointing opposite the upwards direction, toward the bottom of a component and may generally point towards the bottom of a sole structure of an article of footwear. the “interior” of an article of footwear, such as a shoe, refers to portions at the space that is occupied by a wearer's foot when the article of footwear is worn. the “inner side” of a component refers to the side or surface of the component that is (or will be) oriented toward the interior of the component or article of footwear in an assembled article of footwear. the “outer side” or “exterior” of a component refers to the side or surface of the component that is (or will be) oriented away from the interior of the article of footwear in an assembled article of footwear. in some cases, other components may be between the inner side of a component and the interior in the assembled article of footwear. similarly, other components may be between an outer side of a component and the space external to the assembled article of footwear. further, the terms “inward” and “inwardly” refer to the direction toward the interior of the component or article of footwear, such as a shoe, and the terms “outward” and “outwardly” refer to the direction toward the exterior of the component or article of footwear, such as the shoe. in addition, the term “proximal” refers to a direction that is nearer a center of a footwear component, or is closer toward a foot when the foot is inserted in the article of footwear as it is worn by a user. likewise, the term “distal” refers to a relative position that is further away from a center of the footwear component or is further from a foot when the foot is inserted in the article of footwear as it is worn by a user. thus, the terms proximal and distal may be understood to provide generally opposing terms to describe relative spatial positions. while various embodiments have been described, the description is intended to be exemplary, rather than limiting and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scope of the embodiments. any feature of any embodiment may be used in combination with or substituted for any other feature or element in any other embodiment unless specifically restricted. accordingly, the embodiments are not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. also, various modifications and changes may be made within the scope of the attached claims. while several modes for carrying out the many aspects of the present teachings have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which these teachings relate will recognize various alternative aspects for practicing the present teachings that are within the scope of the appended claims. it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and exemplary of the entire range of alternative embodiments that an ordinarily skilled artisan would recognize as implied by, structurally and/or functionally equivalent to, or otherwise rendered obvious based upon the included content, and not as limited solely to those explicitly depicted and/or described embodiments.
|
064-511-575-934-08X
|
DE
|
[
"DD",
"DE",
"HU",
"ES",
"US",
"EP",
"JP"
] |
B23Q3/157,B23Q37/00
| 1983-08-04T00:00:00 |
1983
|
[
"B23"
] |
device for variable machining workpieces
|
an apparatus for the variable machining of workpieces is described which consists of a central module, which is constructed as a hollow carrier unit and which takes over the functions of the machine housing, and also of a plurality of horizontal and vertical modules which can be selectively connected with this central module and with one another via predetermined mechanical and electrical interfaces. the central module has an outwardly disposed and rotatably mounted carrier sleeve which can be axially displaced by a restricted amount, which can also be clamped, and which has mounts for tool support units, with the mounts extending over only part of the height of the carrier sleeve and being distributed around its periphery. the inner chamber of the central module is provided with fitted guide surfaces for a vertical module which is constructed as a columnar unit with a base end connection surface and with external guide surfaces complementary to the guide surfaces of the central module. the horizontal module consists of carriages which can be connected to one another and/or to the connection surfaces of the central module and columnar unit.
|
1. apparatus for the machining of workpieces, the apparatus comprising a central module and a vertical module, wherein said central module comprises: a substantially cylindrical and hollow basic body with a longitudinal axis defining an internal chamber extending along said longitudinal axis, a hollow carrier sleeve disposed outwardly around said basic body and having at least one mount on a periphery of said carrier sleeve for attachment of various exchangeable tool support units, said carrier sleeve being rotatable around said basic body, and wherein said vertical module comprises: a hollow columnar unit being arranged in said internal chamber, said central module being moveable along said columnar unit. 2. apparatus for the machining of workpieces, the apparatus comprising a central module and a vertical module, wherein said central module comprises: a substantially cylindrical basic body having a cylindrical outer surface, an axis, and an internal chamber; internal guides extending along said substantially cylindrical basic body and provided in said internal chamber; a hollow carrier sleeve disposed outwardly of said substantially cylindrical basic body, said hollow carrier sleeve having a periphery; means for rotating said carrier sleeve about said axis of said basic body; means for clamping said carrier sleeve relative to said basic body; a plurality of mounts provided on said carrier sleeve and distributed around said periphery for accommodating tool support units; and tool drive means mounted at said basic body for driving automatically exchangeable tools provided in said tool support units; and wherein said vertical module comprises: a hollow columnar unit which fits within said internal chamber of said basic body; external guides on said hollow columnar unit complementary to said internal guides for permitting relative axial movement between said central module and said vertical module; and flange means at a base end of said hollow columnmar unit for mounting said hollow columnar unit. 3. apparatus for the machining of workpieces, the apparatus comprising a central module, a vertical module, and at least one horizontal module wherein said central module comprises: a substantially cylindrical basic body having a cylindrical outer surface, an axis, first and second ends, and an internal chamber; internal guides extending along said substantially cylindrical basic body and provided in said internal chamber; a hollow carrier sleeve disposed outwardly of said substantially cylindrical basic body, said hollow carrier sleeve having a periphery; means for displacing said hollow carrier sleeve axially relative to said substantially cylindrical basic body by a restricted amount; means for rotating said carrier sleeve about said axis of said basic body; means for clamping said carrier sleeve relative to said basic body; a plurality of mounts provided on said carrier sleeve and distributed around said periphery for accommodiating tool support units; tool drive means mounted at said basic body for driving automatically exchangeable tools provided in said tool support units; and a pressure fluid distributor associated with said basic body for operation of said tools; wherein said vertical module comprises a hollow columnar unit which fits within said internal chamber of said basic body; external guides on said hollow columnar unit complementary to said internal guides for permitting relative axial movement between said central module and said vertical module; and flange means at a base end of said hollow columnar unit for mounting said hollow columnar unit on said at least one horizontal module; and wherein said at least one horizontal module comprises a carriage and slide means permitting movement of said carriage in a horizontal direction. 4. an apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said cylindrical basic body comprises a base end flange having a lower surface which forms a connection surface and having an upper surface which carries a face-toothed ring which meshes with a complementary face-toothed centering ring provided at a lower side of an annular flange attached to a lower end of said carrier sleeve. 5. an apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said basic body has, at its end opposite the connection surface, an upper wall which is at least substantially closed and is constructed as a carrier for drive units, connection units and auxiliary units. 6. an apparatus according to claim 4, comprising devices disposed in the region of said rings for clamping said basic body and said carrier sleeve hydraulically against one another in axial direction via said face-toothed rings. 7. an apparatus according to claim 6, comprising a pressure fluid distributor provided with circulation grooves in the region of the carrier sleeve and of the basic body above said mounts, said pressure fluid distributor being connected with supply connections on the basic body and via bores with said mounts. 8. an apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said bores are at least partly different from each other, and are adapted to be closed and freed depending on the relative position of the basic body and the carrier sleeve. 9. an apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said means for rotating said carrier sleeve relative to said basic body comprises a motor attached to an upper wall of said basic body, a pinion arranged radially inside of and in the rigion of said face-toothed rings, and a shaft journalled in said basic body and drivingly connected to said motor. 10. an apparatus according to claim 7, wherein transmission, coupling and auxiliary units between a main drive arranged on said upper wall of the basic body and the coupling region for each of the tool carrier units are mounted and journalled in the inner chamber of the central module. 11. an apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said basic body has an upper part and a lower part, a separating plane between said two parts being disposed above said pressure fluid distributor. 12. an apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a cylindrical part which extends the lower part of the basic body upwardly is a carrier for drive units and auxiliary units. 13. an apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a terminal plate which is connected to the lower part of the basic body is a carrier for drive units and auxiliary units. 14. an apparatus according to claim 3, comprising clampable shallow track guides with a large guide ratio of at least 8:1, between the basic body and the vertical module. 15. an apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said basic body has an internal contour which is polygonal in cross-section. 16. an apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said basic body has an internal contour which is rectangular in cross-section. 17. an apparatus according to claim 3, wherein at least one tool changing system is arranged above the carrier sleeve on the basic body. 18. an apparatus according to claim 3, wherein two tool changing systems are arranged above the carrier sleeve, said tool changing systems being of different construction. 19. an apparatus according to claim 3, comprising a blocking device for restricting pivotal movement of the carrier sleeve in two directions to a predetermined amount. 20. an apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said amount is 270.degree.. 21. an apparatus according to claim 10, wherein drill heads adapted to be coupled with said main drive in the working position and which are connected in clamped state with all required fluid connections, are mounted in said mounts. 22. an apparatus according to claim 10, wherein drill heads adapted to be coupled with said main drive in the working position and which are connected in clamped state with all required fluid connections, are exchangeably mounted in said mounts. 23. an apparatus according to claim 21, comprising an adaptor plate between each mount and the respective drill head. 24. an apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said adaptor plate has an integrated clamping and indexing device and through flow channels to the respective drill head. 25. an apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said integrated device also excludes a release device. 26. an apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said adaptor plate is a closure plate for non-occupied tool mounts. 27. an apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said mounts are adapted, via adaptor plates, for the coupling of drill heads for quick-release tapers of different sizes and numbers of spindles, for the coupling of multi-spindle boring heads and for the coupling of nc facing heads and special heads. 28. an apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said special heads are spindle heads for hydrodynamically journalled spindles and spindle heads for boring deep holes. 29. a apparatus according to claim 27, comprising electrical connection lines leading to the spindle heads, which are non-interruptable, even on decoupling from the drive and on pivoting of the carrier sleeve. 30. an apparatus according to claim 21, comprising means for pre-selecting cutting speed and the torque, via a gear box associated with the main drive. 31. an apparatus according to claim 3, comprising at least one tool changer and a drill head changer associated with the central module. 32. an apparatus according to claim 31, comprising a unitary tool magazine, a tool changer, for said magazine, said changer having a linearly translatable changer arm and three controllable positions, including two lateral positions associated with a spindle device, and a central position for tool change with a single spindle head. 33. an apparatus according to claim 32, comprising a magazine for single tools attached to the basic body above the carrier sleeve, an additional magazine, a first double-arm tool changer with a horizontal pivot axis for equipping drill heads associated with the magazine, and a second double-arm tool changer with a vertical pivot axis adapted to be translated in a horizontal direction between the magazine on the basic body and the additional magazine. 34. an apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the additional magazine is a circulating magazine with a first stage for multiple heads, and a second stage for individual tools; and wherein the second double-arm tool changer is mounted on a main changer for the multiple heads which acts between the first stage of the magazine and the mounts on the carrier sleeve. 35. an apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the second double-arm tool changer is extendable in telescope-like manner in a vertical direction. 36. an apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the second double-arm tool changer is actuable independently of the main changer.
|
the invention relates to an apparatus for the variable machining of workpieces, the apparatus comprising a machine housing which is equipped with drives, with fluid supplies, with control devices and auxiliary devices, and with at least one mount for tools, in particular automatically changeable tools, and which can be connected with controllable carriage units. pieces of apparatus of this kind are generally known and are extensively used in practice. in many cases it is however disadvantageous that the machine, which generally represents a comparatively high investment, cannot be used in the ideal manner in relation to the actual machining task. by way of example, a machine which has been constructed for diverse machining tasks, and which thus represents a very high investment cost, can, in particular as a result of changing production requirements, frequently only be used for work which could also be carried out by a machine which offers fewer possibilities and which would therefore be more economical. at the same time situations are likewise often encountered in which tasks which are just a bit more elaborate can no longer be dealt with by a simpler machine so that additional machines have to be acquired. when making further investments of this kind, which are necessary to enlarge the scope of production, care must however be taken to ensure that the existing tools and spindle heads can also be used with the new machines in order to avoid unnecessary costs. this requirement is however in turn a disturbing restriction on the decisions which have to made with regard to the acquisition of machinery. the principal object underlying the present invention is to further develop an apparatus of the initially named kind so that progressive investment which goes hand in hand with production requirements is possible, so that existing tool systems can at least largely continue to be used, and so that, having regard to the machining requirements and the usability of tool systems, ideal flexibility is always present both from the point of view of fundamental usability of the machine and also from the point of view of the technical machining conditions and in particular of the technical chip forming conditions. in order to satisfy this object the invention provides an apparatus of the initially named kind which is however characterised in that there is provided a central module, which is constructed as a hollow carrier unit and which takes on the functions of the machine housing, and a plurality of horizontal and vertical modules which can be selectively connected with the central module and with one another via predetermined mechanical and electrical interfaces; in that the central module has a connection surface at its base and an outwardly disposed and rotatably mounted carrier sleeve which can be axially displaced by a restricted amount, which can also be clamped and which has mounts for tool support units, with the mounts extending over only part of the height of the carrier sleeve and being distributed around its periphery; in that the internal chamber of the central module is provided with fitted guide surfaces for a vertical module; in that the vertical module is constructed as a columnar unit with a connection surface at its base end and with external guide surfaces complementary to the guide surfaces of the central module; and in that the horizontal modules consist of carriages which can be connected to one another and/or to the connection surfaces of the central module and columnar unit. as a result of the consequent subdivision of the apparatus of the invention into individual modules with special functions being associated with each of these modules one provides an apparatus which can be matched to the particular requirements and which can be built up or added to, and also returned to a simpler machine, in accordance with the nature of a modular system. in its simplest form the apparatus consists of a central module which is secured to a stationary support surface. even in this simplest form the apparatus already offers all the possible variations with regard to the use of different tools, spindle heads and also special spindle heads. an arrangement displaceable in the y-direction can be provided by the simple combination of the central module with a vertical module and this arrangement can also be combined with a horizontal module, or with horizontal modules which have been combined together to form a crossed carriage arrangement. suitably predesigned mechanical and electrical interfaces make this modular build-up or breaking down of the machine possible, and simplify the carrying out of such conversions to a decisive extent. the central module preferably has a substantially cylindrical basic body with a base end flange, with this flange serving for the connection with further modules. at the opposite end from the connection flange the basic body is provided with a terminal wall which serves as a carrier for drive units, for connection units and also for an apparatus for weight equalisation, which is preferably of hydraulic construction. the basic body and the carrier sleeve can be clamped hydraulically against one another in the axial direction via face-toothed rings by means of devices disposed in the region of these rings. in the clamped state this arrangement results in the required centering of the carrier sleeve to a high degree of accuracy. in accordance with a further special feature of the invention the region of the carrier sleeve and of the basic body disposed above the mounts for the tool carrier units is constructed as a pressure fluid distributor with circulation grooves, with the pressure fluid distributor being connected, on the one hand, via lines and/or bores with supply connections on the basic body, and, on the other hand, via bores with the mounts provided on the carrier sleeve. in this manner it is possible to associate special pressure fluid supplies, which are necessary for special tool carrier units, multi-spindle boring and thread-cutting heads, hydraulic facing heads, nc facing heads, spindle heads with hydrodynamically journalled spindles, spindle heads for deep hole boring and other special heads, with specific mounting positions. the basic body of the central module is preferably of two part construction with the separating plane lying above the pressure fluid distributor. in this manner it is possible to connect either a cylindrical part with the lower part of the basic body, which extends the lower part of the basic body upwardly, as is necessary in the case of a combination of a central module and a vertical module, or to connect a terminal plate to the lower part of the basic body, so that in the latter case the constructional height is substantially reduced, which can be advantageous if the apparatus of the invention is to be used in its simplest form. the gearing, coupling and auxiliary units which are provided between the main drive and the coupling region for the tool carrier unit which is to be driven in any particular case are preferably mounted and journalled in the inner chamber of the central module in such a way that when using the embodiment with reduced constructional height, i.e. the embodiment with a terminal plate connected to the lower part of the basic body, it is only necessary to use a shortened drive shaft and other simply effected adaptations. the pivotal movement of the carrier sleeve in two directions is preferably limited by a blocking device to a predeterminable amount, in particular to 270.degree.. this selectively usable blocking device makes it possible to leave electrical connection lines which pass to certain spindle heads, in particular nc facing heads, unchanged even when decoupling the spindle heads from the drive and on pivoting of the carrier sleeve. in this way, without using slip rings, there is no danger of unintentional damage or destruction of these connection lines, and the corresponding heads are always available for use by pivoting them into the working position. a further important feature of the invention lies in the fact that a respective adaptor plate is provided between the mounts on the carrier sleeve and the drill heads and other heads which are to be coupled therewith. an adaptor plate with an integrated clamping, indexing and, optionally, a release device, and with throughflow channels, is used depending on the particular drill head or unit which is to be arranged in the mount. adaptor plates constructed as closure plates are advantageously provided for non-occupied tool mounts. by means of these adaptor plates it is possible, in simple manner, to couple in drill heads for quick release tapers of different sizes and/or numbers of spindles, multi-spindle spindle heads, nc facing heads and also special heads, with all the supply lines required for the operation of these drill heads or spindle heads preferably passing through the respective adaptor plate. it is significant in practice that it is also possible to couple in the spindle heads with hydrodynamically journalled spindles, and also spindle heads for the boring of deep holes, because the required supply of pressure fluid and of flushing fluid can likewise take place in the already described manner and it is possible to preselect the respectively required speeds of rotation. it is of particular significance in the context of the invention that the desired spindle speed can be predetermined by the speed of the main shaft, which is selectable via a gear box associated with the main drive, and/or by a fixed stepping up or stepping down ratio in the gearing of a selectable drill head. in this manner it is possible for each tool to be driven with the optimum speed of rotation, cutting speed and also with the optimum torque for its operation. a drill head changer and/or a changing system for multi-spindle spindle heads is preferably associated with the central module, in addition to the tool changer that is envisaged. the translational movements resulting from the optionally used horizontal and/or vertical modules can be used for tool changing purposes. a particularly advantageous tool changer is associated with a unitary tool magazine and has a linearly translatable changer arm which can move to three controlled positions and can effect a tool change in each of these positions. the two lateral positions, which can be travelled to one after the other, are in this arrangement associated with a double spindle device, or with an asymmetrical single spindle device, whereas the central position serves for tool changing with a single spindle head. it is of particular advantage if an additional magazine is associated with the magazine for single tools arranged on the basic body above the carrier sleeve, and if a double-arm tool changer with a vertical pivot axis is provided between these two magazines. this additional magazine is preferably constructed as the second story of a magazine for multi-spindle spindle heads and/or drill heads, with the main changer provided for the spindle heads and drill heads expediently being combined with the double-arm tool changer for the single tools. the individual modules of the apparatus of the invention are suitable for being coupled onto any desired transfer system, and indeed both with synchronous and also with asynchronous transfer. the individual modules are also able to operate with any palette-type system and also with workpiece movement devices, in particular for space angle machining (in german:raumwinkelbearbeitung). as a result of the universal possibilities of coupling tools and tool heads to the corresponding mounts of the carrier sleeve, or to the adaptors which are provided there, it is possible to mount practically any units that may be desired, which means that each user has the possibility of continuing to use the tool system he already has, at least in the previous manner, but can nevertheless ideally adapt to the prevailing machining task by the additional use of interchangeable spindle stocks. from the point of view of economical considerations this is of very special significance. further advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the subordinate claims. the invention will now be described in more detail by way of example only and with reference to the drawings which show: fig. 1 a schematic illustration of the various modules of an apparatus in accordance with the invention which can be combined with one another, and fig. 2 a perspective illustration of preferred embodiment of the invention in combination with a palette-type workpiece store and a magazine for multi-spindle spindle heads, drill heads and the like and also for individual tools. as seen in fig. 1 there is provided a central module 1, a horizontal module 2 which is associated with the x-direction, a horizontal module 3 which is associated with the z-direction and also a vertical module 4. the horizontal modules 2 and 3 can be carriages constructed in the customary manner, but must however have suitable connection surfaces for the vertical module 4 and for the central module 1. the central module 1 has a substantially cylindrical basic body 10 which is equipped at its lower end with a flange 11. the surface of this flange 11 which faces away from the basic body 10 forms a connection surface 5 by which the central module 1 can be secured either to a fixed surface or to one of the horizontal modules 2, 3. the lower region of the basic body 10 of the central module 1 is surrounded by a carrier sleeve 6 which is rotatably mounted and which can be displaced in an axial direction by a restricted amount. this carrier sleeve 6 is likewise provided at its lower end with a flange 14 which faces the flange 11 of the basic body 10. two face-toothed rings 12, 13 which cooperate with one another are arranged between the two flanges 11 and 14, with the ring 12 being fixedly connected with the flange of the base body and with the ring 13 being fixedly connected with the flange of the carrier sleeve. piston-in-cylinder arrrangements 29 are located adjacent to these face-toothed centering and indexing rings 12, 13 and make it possible, on the one hand, to lift the carrier sleeve and thus to decouple the face-toothed rings 12, 13, and, on the other hand to mutually clamp the rings 12, 13 against one another and thus to center the carrier sleeve 6. the carrier sleeve 6 is provided with a ring gear 30 which cooperates with a pinion 16 which is connected with a drive motor 19 via a shaft 17. in this manner, with the toothed rings 12, 13 in the decoupled state, the carrier sleeve 6 can be pivoted relative to the base body 10 in the manner desired in a particular case. the carrier sleeve 6 has a plurality of mounts 7 for tool carrier units, in particular four such mounts, which are located adjacent the ring flange 14 and are uniformly distributed over the periphery of the carrier sleeve. it is possible, by way of example, to secure drill heads 21 for quick-release tapers of different sizes and/or different numbers of spindles to these mounts 7 via adaptor plates 22. in the region of the carrier sleeve 6 above the mounts 7 there is provided a schematically illustrated pressure fluid distributor, indicated by the reference numeral 15, which can be connected, on the one hand, via lines and/or bores with connections on the basic body, and, on the other hand, via bores with the mounts 7 on the carrier sleeve 6. these bores, which can be of different numbers and/or dimensions, at least in part, are closable and freeable independence on the relative position of the basic body 10 and the carrier sleeve 6. in this manner special functions can be associated with the stations distributed around the periphery of the basic body for the various mounts 7, in addition to their respective universal functions, with these special functions again being independent of the nature of the tool carrier unit which is actually provided in the respective mount. the basic body 10 has a terminal wall 18 at its upper end which serves as a carrier for various drive motors, in particular the motor 19 for driving the pinion 16, the main drive motor 20 and an optionally mountable motor 28 for displacing the central module 1 in the y-direction. the main drive motor 20 is connected via a change-over gear and a shaft 23 with a gear and control unit 24 mounted in the basic body 10. the gear and control unit 24 can be connected via couplings 25, 26 with the tool carrier unit 21 which is secured in any particular case to a mount 7 via an adaptor plate 22. the gear and control unit 24 embraces an angle transmission (for example mitre gearing) for transmitting the drive power via the clutch 25 to the respective tool carrier unit. furthermore, this unit contains alignment devices including angular transducers, blocking elements for fixing spindle and coupling positions and also further auxiliary devices. the central module that has been described represents a functionally independent unit which can be mounted on a fixed support and already offers, even in this simplest form of the machine tool, a high degree of variability with regard to the tool carrier units which can be swung into the actual machining position. it is thus suitable for many diverse applications. the central module 1 is provided with internal guides 31 in its inner chamber which can cooperate with external guides 32 of complementary shape on the vertical module 4, if the vertical module 4 is introduced into the central module 1 then the central module 1 can be displaced as a unit in the y-direction. the drive motor 28 and a schematically illustrated ball drive 33 are provided for this purpose. a hydraulically operated support device, which is not shown in the drawing but which is secured to the basic body 10, can be provided for weight synchronisation. the perspective illustration of fig. 2 shows an embodiment of the apparatus in accordance with the invention in which a central module 1 is combined with a horizontal module 2 and also with a palette-type workpiece store 27 and a magazine 38, 39. a palette changing device 34 is provided between the palette-type workpiece store 27 and the central module 1. the individual tools provided in a tool store arranged above the carrier sleeve 6, in particular tools with quick-release tapers, can be positioned in the spindle head 21 or other spindle mounts by means of a double-arm tool changer 36 with a horizontal pivot axis. a horizontally translatable and pivotable main changer 40 is arranged between the central module 1 and the magazine 38 for multi-spindle spindle heads and/or drill heads and/or outside facing heads and the like. in order to substantially increase the capacity of the magazine for individual tools the magazine for the spindle heads and the like is equipped with a second story 39 in which individual tools are provided which can be changed over into the magazine 35 at the central module by means of a double-arm tool changer 35 with a vertical axis of rotation. the double-arm tool changer 37 is combined with the main changer 40 and is preferably so constructed that pivotal and vertical movements of this double-arm tool changer 37 can be controlled independently from the main changer 40. the horizontal drive for the main changer 40 can also be used for the double-arm tool changer 27. the advantages achieved by the invention are extremely diverse and include in particular the following: (a) the ability to combine the individual modules with one another, and with auxiliary units such as palette-type workpiece stores and additional tool stores, (b) the maximum variability of the individual mounts, (c) the ability to simply pivot all the mounts from a waiting position to the working position and vice versa, (d) the free choice of the speed of rotation, of the speed of advance and of a torque which is matched to the particular machining task, (e) the ability to use practically all known tool carrier units, (f) the manner in which the choice of the tools and the spindle heads can be readily matched to the particular machining task, (g) the fact that the machine can be universely used in transfer systems, in palette systems and with workpiece moving devices, and (h) the fact that the machine can always be combined with the ideal tool changing systems in any particular case. although the appended claims are directed to the combination of the central module with other modules it will be understood that the invention is also directed to the construction of the central module itself.
|
065-604-084-644-941
|
US
|
[
"US",
"IL",
"EP",
"AU",
"DE",
"JP",
"NO",
"ES",
"WO",
"CA",
"AT"
] |
G02B23/24,A61B1/00,A61B1/005,A61B1/008,A61B1/01,A61B1/04,A61B1/31,A61B5/06,A61B19/00,A61B34/00,A61B34/30
| 2000-04-03T00:00:00 |
2000
|
[
"G02",
"A61"
] |
steerable endoscope and improved method of insertion
|
a steerable endoscope has an elongated body with a selectively steerable distal portion and an automatically controlled proximal portion. the endoscope body is inserted into a patient and the selectively steerable distal portion is used to select a desired path within the patient's body. when the endoscope body is advanced, an electronic motion controller operates the automatically controlled proximal portion to assume the selected curve of the selectively steerable distal portion. another desired path is selected with the selectively steerable distal portion and the endoscope body is advanced again. as the endoscope body is further advanced, the selected curves propagate proximally along the endoscope body, and when the endoscope body is withdrawn proximally, the selected curves propagate distally along the endoscope body. this creates a serpentine motion in the endoscope body that allows it to negotiate tortuous curves along a desired path through, around, and between organs within the body.
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1 - 18 . (canceled) 19 . a method of advancing an instrument along a path, comprising: selectively steering a distal portion of the instrument to assume a selected curve along the path; and creating a three dimensional model of the selected curve in the memory of an electronic motion controller. 20 . the method according to claim 19 , further comprising: programming the electronic motion controller based on the created three dimensional model so that the instrument will automatically assume the proper shape to follow the selected curve as the instrument is advanced along the path. 21 . the method according to claim 19 , further comprising: programming the electronic motion controller based on the created three dimensional model. 22 . the method according to claim 21 , further comprising: advancing the instrument distally while automatically controlling a proximal portion of the instrument using the electronic motion controller to propagate the selected curve distally along the proximal portion of the instrument. 23 . the method according to claim 21 , further comprising: advancing the instrument proximally while automatically controlling a proximal portion of the instrument using the electronic motion controller to propagate the selected curve proximally along the proximal portion of the instrument. 24 . the method according to claim 21 , further comprising: modifying the programming of the electronic motion controller by withdrawing the instrument proximally and commanding the electronic motion controller to erase the selected curve. 25 . the method according to claim 21 wherein the electronic motion controller receives an input from an axial motion transducer indicative of the axial position of the instrument. 26 . the method according to claim 19 wherein the electronic motion controller receives a signal from an axial motion transducer indicative of the axial position of the instrument. 27 . a method of advancing an instrument along a path, comprising: attempting more than one time to selectively steer the distal portion of the instrument along the path; selecting a curve from the attempts to selectively steer the distal portion of the instrument along the path; and logging the curve into the memory of an electronic motion controller adapted to control the instrument. 28 . the method according to claim 27 further comprising: automatically controlling the proximal portion of the instrument to propagate the curve along the instrument. 29 . an apparatus, comprising: an elongated instrument body having a selectively steerable distal portion and an automatically controllable proximal portion, the selectively steerable distal portion being configured to selectively assume a selected curve along a desired path, and the automatically controllable proximal portion being configured to propagate the selected curve along the elongated instrument body as the elongated instrument body is advanced along the selected curve; an electronic motion controller adapted to control the instrument; an electronic memory adapted to create and store a three dimensional model of the selected curve; and a steering control connected electronic motion controller for selectively steering the instrument. 30 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the electronic motion controller is integrated into a proximal handle. 31 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the steering control is integrated into a proximal handle. 32 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the electronic motion controller can be programmed based on a three dimensional model stored in the electronic memory. 33 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the steering control comprises a joystick. 34 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the electronic memory is adapted to indicate and store an annotation of the three dimensional model of the selected curve. 35 . the apparatus according to claim 29 further comprising a transducer for measuring motion of the elongated instrument body along the desired path. 36 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the selectively steerable distal portion is further adapted to be automatically controlled by the electronic motion controller. 37 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the elongated instrument is configured as an endoscopic instrument for insertion into a patient's body. 38 . the apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the elongated instrument is configured as a surgical instrument.
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cross-reference to other applications the present application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/790,204 filed feb. 20, 2001, which claims priority of u.s. provisional patent application number ser. no. 60/194,140, filed apr. 3, 2000. field of the invention the present invention relates generally to endoscopes and endoscopic medical procedures. more particularly, it relates to a method and apparatus to facilitate insertion of a flexible endoscope along a tortuous path, such as for colonoscopic examination and treatment. background of the invention an endoscope is a medical instrument for visualizing the interior of a patient's body. endoscopes can be used for a variety of different diagnostic and interventional procedures, including colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, thoracoscopy, laparoscopy and video endoscopy. colonoscopy is a medical procedure in which a flexible endoscope, or colonoscope, is inserted into a patient's colon for diagnostic examination and/or surgical treatment of the colon. a standard colonoscope is typically 135-185 cm in length and 12-13 mm in diameter, and includes a fiberoptic imaging bundle, illumination fibers and one or two instrument channels that may also be used for insufflation or irrigation. the colonoscope is inserted via the patient's anus and is advanced through the colon, allowing direct visual examination of the colon, the ileocecal valve and portions of the terminal ileum. insertion of the colonoscope is complicated by the fact that the colon represents a tortuous and convoluted path. considerable manipulation of the colonoscope is often necessary to advance the colonoscope through the colon, making the procedure more difficult and time consuming and adding to the potential for complications, such as intestinal perforation. steerable colonoscopes have been devised to facilitate selection of the correct path though the curves of the colon. however, as the colonoscope is inserted farther and farther into the colon, it becomes more difficult to advance the colonoscope along the selected path. at each turn, the wall of the colon must maintain the curve in the colonoscope. the colonoscope rubs against the mucosal surface of the colon along the outside of each turn. friction and slack in the colonoscope build up at each turn, making it more and more difficult to advance and withdraw the colonoscope. in addition, the force against the wall of the colon increases with the buildup of friction. in cases of extreme tortuosity, it may become impossible to advance the colonoscope all of the way through the colon. steerable endoscopes, catheters and insertion devices for medical examination or treatment of internal body structures are described in the following u.s. patents, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety: 4,753,223; 5,337,732; 5,662,587; 4,543,090; 5,383,852; 5,487,757 and 5,337,733. summary of the invention in keeping with the foregoing discussion, the present invention takes the form of a steerable endoscope for negotiating tortuous paths through a patient's body. the steerable endoscope can be used for a variety of different diagnostic and interventional procedures, including colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, thoracoscopy, laparoscopy and video endoscopy. the steerable endoscope is particularly well suited for negotiating the tortuous curves encountered when performing a colonoscopy procedure. the steerable endoscope has an elongated body with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion and an automatically controlled proximal portion. the selectively steerable distal portion can be selectively steered or bent up to a full 180 degree bend in any direction. a fiberoptic imaging bundle and one or more illumination fibers extend through the body from the proximal end to the distal end. alternatively, the endoscope can be configured as a video endoscope with a miniaturized video camera, such as a ccd camera, which transmits images to a video monitor by a transmission cable or by wireless transmission. optionally, the endoscope may include one or two instrument channels that may also be used for insufflation or irrigation. a proximal handle attached to the elongate body includes an ocular for direct viewing and/or for connection to a video camera, a connection to an illumination source and one or more luer lock fittings that are connected to the instrument channels. the handle is connected to a steering control for selectively steering or bending the selectively steerable distal portion in the desired direction and to an electronic motion controller for controlling the automatically controlled proximal portion of the endoscope. an axial motion transducer is provided to measure the axial motion of the endoscope body as it is advanced and withdrawn. optionally, the endoscope may include a motor or linear actuator for automatically advancing and withdrawing the endoscope. the method of the present invention involves inserting the distal end of the endoscope body into a patient, either through a natural orifice or through an incision, and steering the selectively steerable distal portion to select a desired path. when the endoscope body is advanced, the electronic motion controller operates the automatically controlled proximal portion of the body to assume the selected curve of the selectively steerable distal portion. this process i repeated by selecting another desired path with the selectively steerable distal portion and advancing the endoscope body again. as the endoscope body is further advanced, the selected curves propagate proximally along the endoscope body. similarly, when the endoscope body is withdrawn proximally, the selected curves propagate distally along the endoscope body. this creates a sort of serpentine motion in the endoscope body that allows it to negotiate tortuous curves along a desired path through or around and between organs within the body. the method can be used for performing colonoscopy or other endoscopic procedures, such as bronchoscopy, thoracoscopy, laparoscopy and video endoscopy. in addition, the apparatus and methods of the present invention can be used for inserting other types of instruments, such as surgical instruments, catheters or introducers, along a desired path within the body. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a prior art colonoscope being employed for a colonoscopic examination of a patient's colon. fig. 2 shows a first embodiment of the steerable endoscope of the present invention. fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the steerable endoscope of the present invention. fig. 4 shows a third embodiment of the steerable endoscope of the present invention. fig. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the steerable endoscope of the present invention. fig. 6 shows a wire frame model of a section of the body of the endoscope in a neutral or straight position. fig. 7 shows the wire frame model of the endoscope body shown in fig. 6 passing through a curve in a patient's colon. figs. 8-13 show the endoscope of the present invention being employed for a colonoscopic examination of a patient's colon. detailed description of the invention fig. 1 shows a prior art colonoscope 500 being employed for a colonoscopic examination of a patient's colon c. the colonoscope 500 has a proximal handle 506 and an elongate body 502 with a steerable distal portion 504 . the body 502 of the colonoscope 500 has been lubricated and inserted into the colon c via the patient's anus a. utilizing the steerable distal portion 504 for guidance, the body 502 of the colonoscope 500 has been maneuvered through several turns in the patient's colon c to the ascending colon g. typically, this involves a considerable amount of manipulation by pushing, pulling and rotating the colonoscope 500 from the proximal end to advance it through the turns of the colon c. after the steerable distal portion 504 has passed, the wall of the colon c maintains the curve in the flexible body 502 of the colonoscope 500 as it is advanced. friction develops along the body 502 of the colonoscope 500 as it is inserted, particularly at each turn in the colon c. because of the friction, when the user attempts to advance the colonoscope 500 , the body 502 ′ tends to move outward at each curve, pushing against the wall of the colon c, which exacerbates the problem by increasing the friction and making it more difficult to advance the colonoscope 500 . on the other hand, when the colonoscope 500 is withdrawn, the body 502 ″ tends to move inward at each curve taking up the slack that developed when the colonoscope 500 was advanced. when the patient's colon c is extremely tortuous, the distal end of the body 502 becomes unresponsive to the user's manipulations, and eventually it may become impossible to advance the colonoscope 500 any farther. in addition to the difficulty that it presents to the user, tortuosity of the patient's colon also increases the risk of complications, such as intestinal perforation. fig. 2 shows a first embodiment of the steerable endoscope 100 of the present invention. the endoscope 100 has an elongate body 102 with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion 104 and an automatically controlled proximal portion 106 . the selectively steerable distal portion 104 can be selectively steered or bent up to a full 180 degree bend in any direction. a fiberoptic imaging bundle 112 and one or more illumination fibers 114 extend through the body 102 from the proximal end 110 to the distal end 108 . alternatively, the endoscope 100 can be configured as a video endoscope with a miniaturized video camera, such as a ccd camera, positioned at the distal end 108 of the endoscope body 102 . the images from the video camera can be transmitted to a video monitor by a transmission cable or by wireless transmission. optionally, the body 102 of the endoscope 100 may include one or two instrument channels 116 , 118 that may also be used for insufflation or irrigation. the body 102 of the endoscope 100 is highly flexible so that it is able to bend around small diameter curves without buckling or kinking. when configured for use as a colonoscope, the body 102 of the endoscope 100 is typically from 135 to 185 cm in length and approximately 12-13 mm in diameter. the endoscope 100 can be made in a variety of other sizes and configurations for other medical and industrial applications. a proximal handle 120 is attached to the proximal end 110 of the elongate body 102 . the handle 120 includes an ocular 124 connected to the fiberoptic imaging bundle 112 for direct viewing and/or for connection to a video camera 126 . the handle 120 is connected to an illumination source 128 by an illumination cable 134 that is connected to or continuous with the illumination fibers 114 . a first luer lock fitting, 130 and a second luer lock fitting 132 on the handle 120 are connected to the instrument channels 116 , 118 . the handle 120 is connected to an electronic motion controller 140 by way of a controller cable 136 . a steering control 122 is connected to the electronic motion controller 140 by way of a second cable 13 m. the steering control 122 allows the user to selectively steer or bend the selectively steerable distal portion 104 of the body 102 in the desired direction. the steering control 122 may be a joystick controller as shown, or other known steering control mechanism. the electronic motion controller 140 controls the motion of the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the body 102 . the electronic motion controller 140 may be implemented using a motion control program running on a microcomputer or using an application-specific motion controller. alternatively, the electronic motion controller 140 may be implemented using, a neural network controller. an axial motion transducer 150 is provided to measure the axial motion of the endoscope body 102 as it is advanced and withdrawn. the axial motion transducer 150 can be made in many possible configurations. by way of example, the axial motion transducer 150 in fig. 2 is configured as a ring 152 that surrounds the body 102 of the endoscope 100 . the axial motion transducer 150 is attached to a fixed point of reference, such as the surgical table or the insertion point for the endoscope 100 on the patient's body. as the body 102 of the endoscope 100 slides through the axial motion transducer 150 , it produces a signal indicative of the axial position of the endoscope body 102 with respect to the fixed point of reference and sends a signal to the electronic motion controller 140 by telemetry or by a cable (not shown). the axial motion transducer 150 may use optical, electronic or mechanical means to measure the axial position of the endoscope body 102 . other possible configurations for the axial motion transducer 150 are described below. fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the endoscope 100 of the present invention. as in the embodiment of fig. 2 , the endoscope 100 has an elongate body 102 with a selectively steerable distal portion 104 and an automatically controlled proximal portion 106 . the steering control 122 is integrated into proximal handle 120 in the form or one or two dials for selectively steering, the selectively steerable distal portion 104 of the endoscope 100 . optionally, the electronic motion controller 140 may be miniaturized and integrated into proximal handle 120 , as well. in this embodiment, the axial motion transducer 150 is configured with a base 154 that is attachable to a fixed point of reference, such as the surgical table. a first roller 156 and a second roller 158 contact the exterior of the endoscope body 102 . a multi-turn potentiometer 160 or other motion transducer is connected to the first roller 156 to measure the axial motion of the endoscope body 102 and to produce a signal indicative of the axial position. the endoscope 100 may be manually advanced or withdrawn by the user by grasping the body 102 distal to the axial motion transducer 150 . alternatively, the first roller 156 and/or second roller 158 may be connected to a motor 162 for automatically advancing and withdrawing the body 102 of the endoscope 100 . fig. 4 shows a third embodiment of the endoscope 100 of the present invention, which utilizes an elongated housing 170 to organize and contain the endoscope 100 . the housing 170 has a base 172 with a linear track 174 to guide the body 102 of the endoscope 100 . the housing 170 may have an axial motion transducer 150 ′ that is configured as a linear motion transducer integrated into the linear track 174 . alternatively, the housing, 170 may have an axial motion transducer 150 ″ configured similarly to the axial motion transducer 150 in fig. 2 or 3 . the endoscope 100 may be manually advanced or withdrawn by the user by grasping the body 102 distal to the housing 170 . alternatively, the housing 170 may include a motor 176 or other linear motion actuator for automatically advancing and withdrawing the body 102 of the endoscope 100 . in another alternative configuration, a motor with friction wheels, similar to that described above in connection with fig. 3 , may be integrated into the axial motion transducer 150 ″. fig. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the endoscope 100 of the present invention, which utilizes a rotary housing 180 to organize and contain the endoscope 100 . the housing 180 has a base 182 with a rotating drum 184 to guide the body 102 of the endoscope 100 . the housing 180 may have an axial motion transducer 150 ′″ that is configured as a potentiometer connected to the pivot axis 186 of the rotating drum 184 . alternatively, the housing 180 may have an axial motion transducer 150 ″ configured similarly to the axial motion transducer 150 in fig. 2 or 3 . the endoscope 100 may be manually advanced or withdrawn by the user by grasping the body 102 distal to the housing 180 . alternatively, the housing 180 may include a motor 188 connected to the rotating drum 184 for automatically advancing and withdrawing the body 102 of the endoscope 100 . in another alternative configuration, a motor with friction wheels, similar to that described above in connection with fig. 3 , may be integrated into the axial motion transducer 150 ″. fig. 6 shows a wire frame model of a section of the body 102 of the endoscope 100 in a neutral or straight position. most of the internal structure of the endoscope body 102 has been eliminated in this drawing for the sake of clarity. the endoscope body 102 is divided up into sections 1 , 2 , 3 . . . 10 , etc. the geometry of each section is defined by four length measurements along the a, b, c and d axes. for example, the geometry of section 1 is defined by the four length measurements l 1a , l 1b , l 1c , l 1d , and the geometry of section 2 is defined by the four length measurements l 2a , l 2b , l 2c , l 2d , etc. preferably, each of the length measurements is individually controlled by a linear actuator (not shown). the linear actuators may utilize one of several different operating principles. for example, each of the linear actuators may be a self-heating niti alloy linear actuator or an electrorheological plastic actuator, or other known mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic or electromechanical actuator. the geometry of each section may be altered using the linear actuators to change the four length measurements along the a, b, c and d axes. preferably, the length measurements are changed in complementary pairs to selectively bend the endoscope body 102 in a desired direction. for example, to bend the endoscope body 102 in the direction of the a axis, the measurements l 1a , l 2a , l 3a . . . l 10a would be shortened and the measurements l 1b , l 2b , l 3b . . . l 10b would be lengthened an equal amount. the amount by which these measurements are changed determines the radius of the resultant curve. in the selectively steerable distal portion 104 of the endoscope body 102 , the linear actuators that control the a, b, c and d axis measurements of each section are selectively controlled by the user through the steering control 122 . thus, by appropriate control of the a, b, c and d axis measurements, the selectively steerable distal portion 104 of the endoscope body 102 can be selectively steered or bent up to a full 180 degrees in any direction. in the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 , however, the a, b, c and d axis measurements of each section are automatically controlled by the electronic motion controller 140 , which uses a curve propagation method to control the shape of the endoscope body 102 . to explain how the curve propagation method operates, fig. 7 shows the wire frame model of a part of the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 shown in fig. 6 passing, through a curve in a patient's colon c. for simplicity, an example of a two-dimensional curve is shown and only the a and b axes will be considered. in a three-dimensional curve all four of the a, b, c and d axes would be brought into play. in fig. 7 , the endoscope body 102 has been maneuvered through the curve in the colon c with the benefit of the selectively steerable distal portion 104 (this part of the procedure is explained in more detail below) and now the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 resides in the curve. sections 1 and 2 are in a relatively straight part of the colon c, therefore l 1a =l 1b and l 2a =l 2b . however, because sections 3 - 7 are in the s-shaped curved section, l 3a <l 3b , l 4a <l 4b and l 5a <l 5b , but l 6a >l 6b , l 7a >l 7b and l 8a >l 8b . when the endoscope body 102 is advanced distally by one unit, section 1 moves into the position marked 1 ′, section 2 moves into the position previously occupied by section 1 , section 3 moves into the position previously occupied by section 2 , etc. the axial motion transducer 150 produces a signal indicative of the axial position of the endoscope body 102 with respect to a fixed point of reference and sends the signal to the electronic motion controller 140 , under control of the electronic motion controller 140 , each time the endoscope body 102 advances one unit, each section in the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 is signaled to assume the shape of the section that previously occupied the space that it is now in. therefore, when the endoscope body 102 is advanced to the position marked 1 ′, l 1a =l 1b , l 2a =l 2b , l 3a =l 3b , l 4a <l 4b , l 5a <l 5b , l 6a <l 6b , l 7a >l 7b and l 8a >l 8b , and l 9a >l 9b , when the endoscope body 102 is advanced to the position marked 1 ″, l 1a =l 1b , l 2a =l 2 , l 3a =l 3b , l 4a =l 4b , l 5a <l 5b , l 6a <l 6b , l 7a <l 7b , l 8a >l 8b , l 9a >l 9b , and l 10a >l 10b . thus, the s-shaped curve propagates proximally along the length of the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 . the s-shaped curve appears to be fixed in space, as the endoscope body 102 advances distally. similarly, when the endoscope body 102 is withdrawn proximally, each time the endoscope body 102 is moved proximally by one unit, each section in the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 is signaled to assume the shape of the section that previously occupied the space that it is now in. the s-shaped curve propagates distally along the length of the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 , and the s-shaped curve appears to be fixed in space, as the endoscope body 102 withdraws proximally. whenever the endoscope body 102 is advanced or withdrawn, the axial motion transducer 150 detects the change in position and the electronic motion controller 140 propagates the selected curves proximally or distally along the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 to maintain the curves in a spatially fixed position. this allows the endoscope body 102 to move through tortuous curves without putting unnecessary force on the wall of the colon c. figs. 8-13 show the endoscope 100 of the present invention being employed for a colonoscopic examination of a patient's colon. in fig. 8 , the endoscope body 102 has been lubricated and inserted into the patient's colon c through the anus a. the distal end 108 of the endoscope body 102 is advanced through the rectum r until the first turn in the colon c is reached, as observed through the ocular 124 or on a video monitor. to negotiate the turn, the selectively steerable distal portion 104 of the endoscope body 102 is manually steered toward the sigmoid colon s by the user through the steering control 122 . the control signals from the steering control 122 to the selectively steerable distal portion 104 are monitored b the electronic y motion controller 140 . when the correct curve of the selectively steerable distal portion 104 for advancing the distal end 108 of the endoscope body 102 into the sigmoid colon s has been selected, the curve is logged into the memory of the electronic motion controller 140 as a reference. this step can be performed in a manual mode, in which the user gives a command to the electronic motion controller 140 to record the selected curve, using keyboard commands or voice commands. alternatively, this step can be performed in an automatic mode, in which the user signals to the electronic motion controller 140 that the desired curve has been selected by advancing the endoscope body 102 distally. whether operated in manual mode or automatic mode, once the desired curve has been selected with the selectively steerable distal portion 104 , the endoscope body 102 is advanced distally and the selected curve is propagated proximally along the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 by the electronic motion controller 140 , as described above. the curve remains fixed in space while the endoscope body 102 is advanced distally through the sigmoid colon s. in a particularly tortuous colon, the selectively steerable distal portion 104 may have to be steered through multiple curves to traverse the sigmoid colon s. as illustrated in fig. 9 , the user may stop the endoscope 100 at any point for examination or treatment of the mucosal surface or any other features within the colon c. the selectively steerable distal portion 104 may be steered in any direction to examine the inside of the colon c. when the user has completed the examination of the sigmoid colon s, the selectively steerable distal portion 104 is steered in a superior direction toward the descending colon d. once the desired curve has been selected with the selectively steerable distal portion 104 , the endoscope body 102 is advanced distally into the descending colon d, and the second curve as well as the first curve are propagated proximally along the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 , as shown in fig. 10 . if, at any time, the user decides that the path taken by the endoscope body 102 needs to be revised or corrected, the endoscope 100 may be withdrawn proximally and the electronic motion controller 140 commanded to erase the previously selected curve. this can be done manually using keyboard commands or voice commands or automatically by programming the electronic motion controller 140 to go into a revise mode when the endoscope body 102 is withdrawn a certain distance. the revised or corrected curve is selected using the selectively steerable distal portion 104 , and the endoscope body 102 is advanced as described before. the endoscope body 102 is advanced through the descending colon d until it reaches the left (splenic) flexure f l of the colon. here, in many cases, the endoscope body 102 must negotiate an almost 180 degree hairpin turn. as before, the desired curve is selected using the selectively steerable distal portion 104 , and the endoscope body 102 is advanced distally through the transverse colon t, as shown in fig. 11 . each of the previously selected curves is propagated proximally along the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 . the same procedure is followed at the right (hepatic) flexure fr of the colon and the distal end 108 of the endoscope body 102 is advanced through the ascending colon g to the cecum e, as shown in fig. 12 . the cecum e, the ileocecal valve v and the terminal portion of the ileum i can be examined from this point using, the selectively steerable distal portion 104 of the endoscope body 102 . fig. 13 shows the endoscope 100 being, withdrawn through the colon c. as the endoscope 100 is withdrawn, the endoscope body 102 follows the previously selected curves by propagating the curves distally along the automatically controlled proximal portion 106 , as described above. at any point, the user may stop the endoscope 100 for examination or treatment of the mucosal surface or any other features within the colon c using the selectively steerable distal portion 104 of the endoscope body 102 . in one preferred method according to the present invention, the electronic motion controller 140 includes an electronic memory in which is created a three-dimensional mathematical model of the patient's colon or other anatomy through which the endoscope body 102 is maneuvered. the three-dimensional model can be annotated by the operator to record the location of anatomical landmarks, lesions, polyps, biopsy samples and other features of interest. the three-dimensional model of the patient's anatomy can be used to facilitate reinsertion of the endoscope body 102 in subsequent procedures. in addition, the annotations can be used to quickly find the location of the features of interest. for example, the three-dimensional model can be annotated with the location where a biopsy sample was taken during an exploratory endoscopy. the site of the biopsy sample can be reliably located again in follow-up procedures to track the progress of a potential disease process and/or to perform a therapeutic procedure at the site. in one particularly preferred variation of this method, the electronic motion controller 140 can be programmed, based on the three-dimensional model in the electronic memory, so that the endoscope body 102 will automatically assume the proper shape to follow the desired path as it is advanced through the patient's anatomy. in embodiments of the steerable endoscope 100 that are configured for automatically advancing and withdrawing the endoscope body 102 , as described above in connection with figs. 3, 4 and 5 , the endoscope body 102 can be commanded to advance automatically though the patient's anatomy to the site of a previously noted lesion or other point of interest based on the three-dimensional model in the electronic memory. imaging software would allow the three-dimensional model of the patient's anatomy obtained using the steerable endoscope 100 to be viewed on a computer monitor or the like. this would facilitate comparisons between the three-dimensional model and images obtained with other imaging modalities, for example fluoroscopy, radiography, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging (mri), computed tomography (ct scan), electron beam tomography or virtual colonoscopy. conversely, images from these other imaging modalities can be used to map out an approximate path or trajectory to facilitate insertion of the endoscope body 102 . in addition, images from other imaging modalities can be used to facilitate locating suspected lesions with the steerable endoscope 100 . for example, images obtained using a barium-contrast radiograph of the colon can be used to map out an approximate path to facilitate insertion of the endoscope body 102 into the patient's colon. the location and depth of any suspected lesions seen on the radiograph can be noted so that the endoscope body 102 can be quickly and reliably guided to the vicinity of the lesion. imaging modalities that provide three-dimensional information, such as biplanar fluoroscopy, ct or mri, can be used to program the electronic motion controller 140 so that the endoscope body 102 will automatically assume the proper shape to follow the desired path as it is advanced through the patient's anatomy. in embodiments of the steerable endoscope 100 that are configured for automatically advancing and withdrawing the endoscope body 102 , the endoscope body 102 can be commanded to advance automatically though the patient's anatomy along the desired path as determined by the three-dimensional imacrinc, information. similarly, the endoscope body 102 can be commanded to advance automatically to the site of a suspected lesion or other point of interest noted on the images. although the endoscope of the present invention has been described for use as a colonoscope, the endoscope can be configured for a number of other medical and industrial applications. in addition, the present invention can also be configured as a catheter, cannula, surgical instrument or introducer sheath that uses the principles of the invention for navigating through tortuous body channels. in a variation of the method that is particularly applicable to laparoscopy or thoracoscopy procedures, the steerable endoscope 100 can be selectively maneuvered along a desired path around and between organs in a patient's body cavity. the distal end 108 of the endoscope 100 is g inserted into the patient's body cavity through a natural opening, through a surgical incision or through a surgical cannula or introducer. the selectively steerable distal portion 104 can be used to explore and examine the patient's body cavity and to select a path around and between the patient's organs. the electronic motion controller 140 can be used to control the automatic ally controlled proximal portion 106 of the endoscope body 102 to follow the selected path and, if necessary, to return to a desired location using the three-dimensional model in the electronic memory of the electronic motion controller 140 . while the present invention has been described herein with respect to the exemplary embodiments and the best mode for practicing the invention, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that man modifications, improvements and subcombinations of the various embodiments, adaptations and variations can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.
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067-199-924-607-585
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KR
|
[
"US",
"KR",
"CN"
] |
H01L33/24,H01L21/02,H01L25/07,H01L25/075,H01L33/00,H01L33/08,H01L33/40,H01L33/60,H01L51/52,H01L33/54,H01L33/62,H01L33/44
| 2017-07-18T00:00:00 |
2017
|
[
"H01"
] |
semiconductor light-emitting device having a transparent cover layer tail portion
|
a semiconductor light-emitting device includes a light-emitting structure, a reflective electrode layer, and a transparent cover layer. the light-emitting structure includes a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second semiconductor layer. the reflective electrode layer covers an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer. the transparent cover layer covers an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer on the reflective electrode layer. the transparent cover layer includes a tail portion including a first portion and a second portion. the first portion covers an edge of the reflective electrode layer and a convex upper surface. the second portion is thinner than and extends from the first portion.
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1. a semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising a light-emitting structure including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second semiconductor layer; a reflective electrode layer covering an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer; and a transparent cover layer covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer and an upper surface of the reflective electrode layer, wherein the transparent cover layer includes a tail portion including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion covering an edge of the reflective electrode layer and a convex upper surface, the second portion being thinner than and extending from the first portion. 2. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the transparent cover layer is thicker than other portions around the first portion of the transparent cover layer. 3. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the transparent cover layer has: a first thickness at a center with respect to a horizontal direction, a second thickness being less than the first thickness on a portion around the edge of the reflective electrode layer, which is an inner portion than the first portion, a third thickness being less than the first thickness and greater than the second thickness on the first portion, and a fourth thickness being less than the third thickness on the second portion. 4. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of insulating patterns spaced apart from each other between the second semiconductor layer and the reflective electrode layer, the plurality of insulating patterns having an omni-directional reflector (odr) structure with the reflective electrode layer. 5. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein: the light-emitting structure includes a mesa structure defined by a plurality of trenches exposing a lower surface portion of the first semiconductor layer, and the edge of the reflective electrode layer is spaced apart from an edge of an upper surface of the mesa structure. 6. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein an edge of the transparent cover layer is spaced apart from the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure. 7. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein: a first distance corresponds to a distance between the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and the edge of the transparent cover layer, a second distance corresponds to a distance between the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and the edge of the reflective electrode layer, and the first distance is less than the second distance. 8. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein a value of the first distance is greater than 0 μm and less than 2 μm. 9. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising: an insulating structure covering an upper surface of the first semiconductor layer and the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer around the transparent cover layer; a first interconnection conductive layer electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer through the insulating structure; and a second interconnection conductive layer electrically connected to the reflective electrode layer through the insulating structure. 10. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein: the transparent cover layer includes an insulating material, and the second interconnection conductive layer contacts the reflective electrode layer through the transparent cover layer. 11. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein: the transparent cover layer includes a conductive oxide, and the second interconnection conductive layer contacts the transparent cover layer. 12. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the transparent cover layer includes: a lower transparent cover layer covering the reflective electrode layer and includes a conductive oxide, and an upper transparent cover layer covering the lower transparent cover layer and including an insulating material, and wherein the second interconnection conductive layer contacts the lower transparent cover layer through the upper transparent cover layer. 13. a semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising a light-emitting structure including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, a second semiconductor layer, and a mesa structure defined by a plurality of trenches exposing a lower surface portion of the first semiconductor layer; a reflective electrode layer covering an upper surface of the mesa structure and spaced apart from an edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure; and a transparent cover layer covering at least a portion of the reflective electrode layer and a portion of an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer, wherein the transparent cover layer is thicker than adjacent portions around an edge of the reflective electrode layer, and wherein an edge of the transparent cover layer is spaced apart from the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and positioned on the upper surface of the mesa structure. 14. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 13 , wherein a distance between the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and an edge of the transparent cover layer is less than a distance between the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and the edge of the reflective electrode layer. 15. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising: an insulating structure covering the lower surface portion of the first semiconductor layer and the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer; a first interconnection conductive layer in contact with the lower surface portion of the first semiconductor layer through the insulating structure; and a second interconnection conductive layer electrically connected to the reflective electrode layer through the insulating structure. 16. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 15 , wherein: the transparent cover layer includes an insulating material, and the second interconnection conductive layer contacts the reflective electrode layer through the transparent cover layer. 17. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 15 , wherein: the transparent cover layer includes a conductive oxide, and the second interconnection conductive layer contacts the transparent cover layer. 18. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 15 , wherein: the transparent cover layer includes a lower transparent cover layer including a conductive oxide, and an upper transparent cover layer covering the lower transparent cover layer and including an insulating material, and the second interconnection conductive layer contacts the lower transparent cover layer through the upper transparent cover layer. 19. a semiconductor light-emitting device, comprising a light-emitting structure including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second semiconductor layer and having a mesa structure defined by a plurality of trenches exposing a lower surface portion of the first semiconductor layer; a reflective electrode layer covering an upper surface of the mesa structure and spaced apart from an edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure; a transparent cover layer covering at least a portion of the reflective electrode layer and a portion of an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer and spaced apart from the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure; an insulating structure covering an upper surface of the first semiconductor layer and the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer around the transparent cover layer; a first interconnection conductive layer electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer through the insulating structure; and a second interconnection conductive layer electrically connected to the reflective electrode layer through the insulating structure, wherein the transparent cover layer includes a first portion and a second portion covering the portion of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer, the first portion including an upper surface that upwardly protrudes at a higher level than adjacent upper surfaces around an edge of the reflective electrode layer, the second portion having a concave upper surface. 20. the semiconductor light-emitting device as claimed in claim 19 , wherein a distance between the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and the edge of the reflective electrode layer is greater than a distance between the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and an edge of the transparent cover layer and has a value greater than 0 μm and less than 2 μm.
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cross-reference to related application korean patent application no. 10-2017-0091057, filed on jul. 18, 2017, and entitled, “semiconductor light-emitting device,” is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. background 1. field one or more embodiments described herein relate to a semiconductor light-emitting device. 2. description of the related art a light-emitting diode (led) is a kind of a semiconductor device used in displays, lighting devices, and other applications. as the lighting led market expands and its application range extends to high current and high power, reliability and light extraction efficiency are being sought after. for example, one area that has gained attention relates to the electrical connection between an external structure (e.g., module or package) and a semiconductor layer of the led. summary in accordance with one or more embodiments, a semiconductor light-emitting device includes a light-emitting structure including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second semiconductor layer; a reflective electrode layer covering an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer; and a transparent cover layer covering an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer on the reflective electrode layer, wherein the transparent cover layer includes a tail portion including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion covering an edge of the reflective electrode layer and a convex upper surface and the second portion being thinner than and extending from the first portion. in accordance with one or more other embodiments, a semiconductor light-emitting device includes a light-emitting structure including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, a second semiconductor layer, and a mesa structure defined by a plurality of trenches exposing a lower surface portion of the first semiconductor layer; a reflective electrode layer covering an upper surface of the mesa structure and spaced apart from an edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure; and a transparent cover layer covering at least a portion of the reflective electrode layer and a portion of an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer, on the reflective electrode layer, wherein the transparent cover layer is thicker than adjacent portions around the edge of the reflective electrode layer, and wherein the edge of the transparent cover layer is spaced apart from the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure and positioned at an inner portion of the upper surface of the mesa structure. in accordance with one or more other embodiments, a semiconductor light-emitting device includes a light-emitting structure including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a second semiconductor layer and having a mesa structure defined by a plurality of trenches exposing a lower surface portion of the first semiconductor layer; a reflective electrode layer covering an upper surface of the mesa structure and spaced apart from an edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure; a transparent cover layer covering at least a portion of the reflective electrode layer and a portion of an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer and spaced apart from an edge of an upper surface of the mesa structure, on the reflective electrode layer; an insulating structure covering an upper surface of the first semiconductor layer and an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer around the transparent cover layer; a first interconnection conductive layer electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer through the insulating structure; and a second interconnection conductive layer electrically connected to the reflective electrode layer through the insulating structure, wherein the transparent cover layer includes a first portion including an upper surface that upwardly protrudes at a higher level than adjacent upper surfaces around an edge of the reflective electrode layer and a tail portion extending from the first portion and comprising a second portion having a concave upper surface. brief description of the drawings features will become apparent to those of skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings in which: fig. 1a illustrates a planar layout embodiment of a semiconductor light-emitting device, fig. 1b illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b′ of fig. 1a , and fig. 1c illustrates an enlarged view of an ic region of fig. 1b ; figs. 2a / 2 b to 10 a/ 10 b illustrates various stages of an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor light-emitting device, where figs. 2b to 10b are cross-sectional views taken along lines b-′ of figs. 2a to 10a , respectively; figs. 11 to 14 illustrate additional embodiments of a semiconductor light-emitting device; fig. 15a illustrates a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a semiconductor light-emitting device, and fig. 15b illustrates an enlarged view of an xvb region of fig. 15a ; fig. 16a illustrates another embodiment of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor light-emitting device, and fig. 16b illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along a line b-b′ of fig. 16a ; fig. 17 illustrates an embodiment of a light-emitting device package; fig. 18 illustrates an embodiment of a dimming system; and fig. 19 illustrates an embodiment of a display apparatus. detailed description fig. 1a illustrates a planar layout embodiment of a semiconductor light-emitting device 100 , fig. 1b illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b′ of fig. 1a , and fig. 1c illustrates an enlarged view of an ic region of fig. 1b . referring to figs. 1a and 1b , the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 includes a light-emitting structure 110 formed on a substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes a first semiconductor layer 112 , an active layer 114 , and a second semiconductor layer 116 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes a mesa structure 110 m. the mesa structure 110 m is defined by a plurality of trenches 118 formed, for example, by removing portions of each of the second semiconductor layer 116 , the active layer 114 , and the first semiconductor layer 112 . a lower surface portion 112 l of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed at a bottom surface of the plurality of trenches 118 . a surface of the substrate 102 , facing the first semiconductor layer 112 , has an uneven pattern 104 . the uneven pattern 104 is formed on the surface of the substrate 102 . thus, the crystallinity of semiconductor layers formed on the substrate 102 may be improved, defect density may be reduced to improve internal quantum efficiency, and extraction efficiency (by the diffuse reflection of light on the surface of the substrate 102 ) may be increased to improve the light extraction efficiency of the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 . the substrate 102 may include a transparent substrate. for example, the substrate 102 may include sapphire (al 2 o 3 ), gallium nitride (gan), silicon carbide (sic), gallium oxide (ga 2 o 3 ), lithium gallium oxide (ligao 2 ), lithium aluminum oxide (lialo 2 ), or magnesium aluminum oxide (mgal 2 o 4 ). for example, each of the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 may include a gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor represented by in x al y ga (1-x-y) n (0≤x≤1, 0≤y≤1, 0≤x+y≤1). in some embodiments, the first semiconductor layer 112 may include an n-type gan layer supplying electrons to the active layer 114 according to power supply. the n-type gan layer may include an n-type impurity of one or more group iv elements. the n-type impurity may include, for example, si, ge, and/or sn. in some embodiments, the second semiconductor layer 116 may include a p-type gan layer supplying holes to the active layer 114 according to power supply. the p-type gan layer may include a p-type impurity of one or more group ii elements. in some embodiments, the p-type impurity may include, for example, mg, zn, and/or be. the active layer 114 emits light having a predetermined energy based on a recombination of electrons and holes. the active layer 114 may have a structure in which a quantum well and a quantum barrier are stacked alternately at least once. the quantum well may have a single quantum well structure or a multi-quantum well structure. in some embodiments, the active layer 114 may include u-algan. in some embodiments, the active layer 114 may include a multi-quantum well structure of gan/algan, inalgan/inalgan, or ingan/algan. in order to improve luminous efficiency of the active layer 114 , the depth of the quantum well, the number of layers of a pair of a quantum well and a quantum barrier, the thickness, and/or other features may be changed in the active layer 114 . in some embodiments, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 may further include a nitride semiconductor thin film between the substrate 102 and the light-emitting structure 110 . the nitride semiconductor thin film may serve as a buffer layer to mitigate lattice mismatch between the substrate 102 and the first semiconductor layer 112 . the nitride semiconductor thin film may include a gallium nitride compound semiconductor represented by in x al y ga (1-x-y) n (0≤x≤1, 0≤y≤1, 0≤x+y≤1). in some embodiments, the nitride semiconductor thin film may include gan or mn. in some embodiments, the nitride semiconductor thin film may include superlattice layers of algan/aln. the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 includes a reflective electrode layer 130 covering an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the reflective electrode layer 130 may reflect light emitted from the active layer 114 of the mesa structure 110 m. the reflective electrode layer 130 may include a metal or alloy having a high reflectivity in the wavelength range of light emitted from the active layer 114 . in some embodiments, the reflective electrode layer 130 may include ag, al, a combination thereof, or an alloy thereof. the al alloy may include al and a metal having a work function larger than al. in some embodiments, the reflective electrode layer 130 may include at least one metal of al, ni, au, ag, ti, cr, pd, cu, pt, sn, w, rh, ir, ru, mg, and zn, or an alloy containing at least one metal. in some embodiments, the reflective electrode layer 130 may include a metal layer having both ohmic and light reflective properties. in some embodiments, the reflective electrode layer 130 may include multiple films including a first metal film having an ohmic property, and a second metal film having a light reflective property. for example, the first metal film may include pt, pd, ni, au, ti, or an alloy or a multiple metal film including at least one of pt, pd, ni, au, and ti. the second metal film may include, for example, ag, al, or an alloy or a multiple metal film including at least one of ag and al. in some embodiments, the reflective electrode layer 130 may include multiple films including a first metal film having a light reflective property and a second metal film having a barrier property. the first metal film may include, for example, ag, al, or an alloy or a multiple metal film including at least one of ag and al. the second metal film may include, for example, ni, ti, or an alloy or a multiple metal layer including at least one of ni and ti. in some embodiments, the reflective electrode layer 130 may further include a conductive film that contacts the second semiconductor layer 116 and have an adhesive property. the conductive film having an adhesive property may be a metal film (e.g., ni) or a transparent conductive film (e.g., ito). in some embodiments, for example, the reflective electrode layer 130 may include, but is not limited to, a stacked structure of ag/ni/ti or ni/ag/pt/ti/pt. the reflective electrode layer 130 may contact the second semiconductor layer 116 . in some embodiments, another semiconductor layer may also be between the second semiconductor layer 116 and the reflective electrode layer 130 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 includes a transparent cover layer 135 covering the reflective electrode layer 130 . the transparent cover layer 135 may cover an upper surface and a side surface of the reflective electrode layer 130 . the transparent cover layer 135 may cover the remaining surface of the reflective electrode layer 130 that is not in contact with the second semiconductor layer 116 . the transparent cover layer 135 may cover the reflective electrode layer 130 and one or more portions of an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 adjacent to the reflective electrode layer 130 . the reflective electrode layer 130 may be surrounded by the second semiconductor layer 116 and the transparent cover layer 135 . therefore, the transparent cover layer 135 may prevent the reflective electrode layer 130 from being peeled off the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the transparent cover layer 135 may not cover some portions of the upper surface of the mesa structure 110 m, that is, some portions of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . for example, the transparent cover layer 135 may not cover a portion of the upper portion of the second semiconductor layer 116 , which is adjacent to an edge of the second semiconductor layer 116 . thus, an edge of the transparent cover layer 135 may be spaced apart from the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 135 may entirely cover a portion of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . in this case, the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 may be positioned along the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the transparent cover layer 135 may include, for example, a conductive oxide. the transparent cover layer 135 may include at least one of tio x , ruo x , iro x mgo, sno 2 , mgo, zno, in 2 o 3 , titao 2 , tinbo 2 , indium tin oxide (ito), indium zinc oxide (izo), indium zinc tin oxide (izto), antimony-doped tin oxide (ato), al-doped zinc oxide (azo), indium aluminum zinc oxide (iazo), gallium-doped zinc oxide (gzo), indium gallium oxide (igo), indium gallium zinc oxide (igzo), indium gallium tin oxide (igto), aluminum tin oxide (ato), indium tungsten oxide (iwo), copper indium oxide (cio), magnesium indium oxide (mio), and fluorine-doped tin oxide (fto). the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 may include an insulating structure 140 covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 around the transparent cover layer 135 . the insulating structure 140 may cover a portion of the transparent cover layer 135 and at least a portion of the surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , which is not covered by the transparent cover layer 135 . the insulating structure 140 may include, but is not limited to, sio 2 , si 3 n 4 , mgf 2 , or a combination thereof. the insulating structure 140 may not cover at least a portion of the first semiconductor layer 112 and at least a portion of the transparent cover layer 135 . the insulating structure 140 defines a first contact hole ch 1 exposing at least a portion of the first semiconductor layer 112 and a second contact hole ch 2 exposing at least a portion of the transparent cover layer 135 . a first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed by the first contact hole ch 1 , and a second contact region 135 c of the transparent cover layer 135 may be exposed by the second contact hole ch 2 . the insulating structure 140 may also cover a side surface of the mesa structure 110 m. the insulating structure 140 may also cover a portion of the upper surface of the first semiconductor layer 112 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 includes a first interconnection conductive layer 152 in contact with the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 and a second interconnection conductive layer 154 in contact with the second contact region 135 c of the transparent cover layer 135 . the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 may respectively contact the first contact region 112 c and the second contact region 135 c through the insulating structure 140 . the first contact region 112 c is covered by the first interconnection conductive layer 152 . the second contact region 135 c is covered by the second interconnection conductive layer 154 . the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 are spaced apart from each other with a separation space 150 g therebetween. the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 may be electrically connected to respectively supply power to the first semiconductor layer 112 and the second semiconductor layer 116 . in some embodiments, the first interconnection conductive layer 152 may be an n-type electrode or may be a conductive layer which electrically connects the n-type electrode to the first semiconductor layer 112 . the second interconnection conductive layer 154 may be a p-type electrode or may a conductive layer which electrically connects the p-type electrode and the second semiconductor layer 116 . the first interconnection conductive layer 152 may cover the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 , the lower surface portion 112 l, and a side wall and an upper surface of the mesa structure 110 m. in addition, the first interconnection conductive layer 152 over the upper surface of the mesa structure 110 m may cover a region, which is not covered by the transparent cover layer 135 , of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , and the upper surface of the transparent cover layer 135 . the first interconnection conductive layer 152 may include a first metal reflective film in contact with the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 . the second interconnection conductive layer 154 may include a second metal reflective film in contact with the second contact region 135 c of the transparent cover layer 135 . each of the first metal reflective film and the second metal reflective film may include, for example, al, ag, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments, each of the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 may include multiple metal layers. in some embodiments, each of the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 may have a structure in which a metal reflective film, a metal barrier film, and a metal wiring film are stacked in order. the metal reflective film may include, for example, al, ag, or a combination thereof. the metal barrier film may include, for example, cr, ti, and a combination thereof. the metal wiring film may include, for example, cu, cr, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments, each of the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 may have, for example, a stacked structure of al/cr/ti/cu/cr, a stacked structure of ag/cr/ti/cu/cr, a stacked structure of al/cr/ti/cr/ti/cu/cr, or a stacked structure of ag/cr/ti/cr/ti/cu/cr. referring to fig. 1c , the transparent cover layer 135 may have a first thickness t 1 around a center of a horizontal direction or at a portion of the second contact region 135 c, a second thickness t 2 on an edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 or on a portion adjacent to an inner portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , a third thickness t 3 on the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 or on a portion adjacent to an outer portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , and a fourth thickness t 4 on the second semiconductor layer 116 spaced apart from the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 . the thickness may correspond, for example, to a thickness measured in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the first thickness t 1 may be the largest thickness of the transparent cover layer 135 , e.g., the first thickness t 1 may be larger than the second to fourth thicknesses t 2 , t 3 , and t 4 . the second thickness t 2 may be less than the third thickness t 3 . the fourth thickness t 4 may be less than the second thickness t 2 and the third thickness t 3 . therefore, the thickness of the transparent cover layer 135 may decrease from the center toward the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 , increase around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , and then decrease again toward the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 . in one embodiment, the first thickness t 1 of the transparent cover layer 135 around the center is the largest thickness. this thickness may then decrease from the center to the edge to have the second thickness t 2 on the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 or on the portion adjacent to the inner portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , then increase toward the edge to have the thickness t 3 on the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 or on the portion adjacent to the outer portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , and then decreases toward the edge again. the portion having the second thickness t 2 of the transparent cover layer 135 may be inwardly positioned toward the center of the transparent cover layer 135 than the portion having the third thickness t 3 . in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 135 may have a region having the first thickness t 1 , which is relatively uniform, in a certain region around the center. the transparent cover layer 135 may have a tail portion 135 t that is adjacent to the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 , covers the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , and extends toward the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 . the tail portion 135 t may include a first portion 135 x, which is thicker than adjacent portions around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , and a second portion 135 v, which extends from the first portion 135 x to the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 and thinner than the first portion 135 x. the tail portion 135 t of the transparent cover layer 135 may entirely cover the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 . for example, when the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 has a relatively vertical side surface, the side surface of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 may be entirely covered by the tail portion 135 t of the transparent cover layer 135 . in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 135 may have a convex upper surface on the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 or on a portion adjacent to the outer portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , e.g., a portion having the third thickness t 3 . in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 135 may include the first portion 135 x having a convex upper surface, e.g., an upper surface of a portion having the third thickness t 3 may protrude upward and may have a higher level than the adjacent upper surface with respect to the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . in some embodiments, a portion adjacent to the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 , e.g., a portion having the fourth thickness t 4 may include the second portion 135 v having a concave upper surface. in the transparent cover layer 135 , a portion having the second thickness t 2 may be a portion on a portion around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 positioned inwardly toward the center of the transparent cover layer 135 , rather than a portion having the third thickness t 3 , that is the first portion 135 x. the transparent cover layer 135 may include the first portion 135 x having the convex upper surface and the second portion 135 v having the concave upper surface at a portion extending from the periphery of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 toward the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 . the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 may be protected by the first portion 135 x and the second portion 135 v constituting the tail portion 135 t of the transparent cover layer 135 , thereby preventing the reflective electrode layer 130 from being peeled off the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 may be spaced apart from each other by a first distance w 1 . the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 and the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 may be spaced apart from each other by a second distance w 2 . in some embodiments, the first distance w 1 may be equal to or less than 1 μm. in some embodiments, the second distance w 2 may be equal to or less than 1 μm. the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 may be spaced apart from each other by a third distance w 3 , which is the sum of the first distance w 1 and the second distance w 2 . in some embodiments, the third distance w 3 may be equal to or less than 2 μm. thus, the distance between the upper surface of the mesa structure 110 m (e.g., the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 ) which is the first distance w 1 may be less than the distance between the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 , which is the third distance w 3 . the distances w 1 , w 2 , and w 3 may be different from the values given above in other embodiments. in accordance with the present embodiment, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 may prevent the reflective electrode layer 130 from peeling off as a result of the transparent cover layer 135 covering the reflective electrode layer 130 . thus, reliability of an electrode for electrically connecting an external structure to the second semiconductor layer 116 may be improved. also, the distance between the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 and the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 (e.g., the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure 110 m) may be relatively small, so that a reflective area due to the reflective electrode layer 130 increases and light extraction efficiency of the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 may be improved. figs. 2a / 2 b to 10 a/ 10 b illustrate various stages corresponding to an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor light-emitting device. figs. 2b to 10b are cross-sectional views respectively taken along lines b-b′ of figs. 2a to 10a . referring to figs. 2a and 2b , the method includes forming the light-emitting structure 110 on the substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 has the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 with the uneven pattern 104 . the first semiconductor layer 112 may be formed, for example, on a surface of the substrate 102 having the uneven pattern 104 . metal organic chemical vapor deposition (mocvd), hydride vapor phase epitaxy (hvpe), or molecular beam epitaxy (mbe) may be used to sequentially form the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 of the light-emitting structure 110 . in some embodiments, the first semiconductor layer 112 may be an n-type semiconductor layer. in some embodiments, the second semiconductor layer 116 may be a p-type semiconductor layer. referring to figs. 3a and 3b , a first mask pattern m 1 having a first opening mo 1 is formed on the light-emitting structure 110 , that is, the second semiconductor layer 116 . the first mask pattern m 1 may be formed, for example, using a negative photoresist. the first mask pattern m 1 may be tapered, e.g., the width of the first mask pattern m 1 may narrow from an upper surface to a lower surface of first mask pattern m 1 . the first mask pattern m 1 may have a cross-section of, for example, an inverted trapezoid with a wider upper surface than the lower surface. referring to figs. 4a and 4b , the reflective electrode layer 130 is formed on the light-emitting structure 110 on which the first mask pattern m 1 is formed. the reflective electrode layer 130 may cover a portion of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 that is not covered by the first mask pattern m 1 and exposed. for example, the reflective electrode layer 130 may be formed by a directed vapor deposition (dvd) process using electron beam evaporation. in this case, the reflective electrode layer 130 may be formed on a portion of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , corresponding to the first opening mo 1 of a portion of the upper surface of the first mask pattern m 1 . for example, the reflective electrode layer 130 may be formed on a portion of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 that does not overlap the upper surface of the first mask pattern m 1 in a vertical direction. thus, the reflective electrode layer 130 may be spaced apart from a lower portion of the first mask pattern m 1 . in a formation process of the reflective electrode layer 130 , a layer including the same material as the reflective electrode layer 130 may be formed on the upper surface of the first mask pattern m 1 . referring to figs. 5a and 5b , a transparent material layer 135 p may be formed on the light-emitting structure 110 on which the reflective electrode layer 130 is formed. the transparent material layer 135 p may be formed on the reflective electrode layer 130 and on a portion where the upper surface of the first mask pattern m 1 overlaps the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . for example, the transparent material layer 135 p may be formed by a sputtering deposition method. in some embodiments, the transparent material layer 135 p may be formed by a tilted sputtering deposition method. in this case, the transparent material layer 135 p may also be formed on at least a portion of the portion where the upper surface of the first mask pattern m 1 overlaps the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . a change in thickness and a shape of the upper surface of the transparent material layer 135 p may vary depending, for example, on a position of the transparent material layer 135 p, which may be similar to the transparent cover layer 135 (e.g., see fig. 1c ) described with reference to fig. 1c . as described below, the transparent cover layer 135 is a result of removing a portion of the upper portion and a portion of the edge, of the transparent material layer 135 p. thus, the transparent material layer 135 p may have a relatively large thickness around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 and a portion with a convex upper surface, and a portion adjacent to the edge of the transparent material layer 135 p may have relatively less thickness and a portion with a concave upper surface. a source for forming the transparent material layer 135 p is transferred onto the second semiconductor layer 116 through the first opening mo 1 . the space of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 may decrease as a portion of the first mask pattern m 1 gets closer to the lower surface of the first mask pattern m 1 . as a result, the source may be transferred with a relatively lesser extent to the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , as a portion of the first mask pattern m 1 gets closer to the lower surface of the first mask pattern m 1 . accordingly, as described above, the transparent material layer 135 p may have a relatively large thickness around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 and may have a portion with a convex upper surface. the transparent material layer 135 p may have a relatively less thickness on a portion adjacent to the edge and may have a portion with a concave upper surface. in some embodiments, as the source transferred onto the second semiconductor layer 116 is less transferred to a portion adjacent to the lower surface of the first mask pattern m 1 , a relatively large amount of the source is supplied to a portion around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 . an upper surface of the portion with the convex upper surface may protrude and have a higher level than other portions. in the formation process of the transparent material layer 135 p, a layer including the same material as the transparent material layer 135 p may be formed on the upper surface of the first mask pattern m 1 . referring to figs. 6a and 6b , the first mask pattern m 1 (e.g., see figs. 5a and 5b ) is removed. when removing the first mask pattern m 1 , a layer including the same material as the reflective electrode layer 130 and a layer including the same material as the transparent material layer 135 p may be also removed. thus, the reflective electrode layer 130 and the transparent material layer 135 p may be formed by a lift-off method. referring to figs. 7a and 7b , a portion of each of the second semiconductor layer 116 , the active layer 114 , and the first semiconductor layer 112 is etched using the transparent material layer 135 p (e.g., see figs. 6a and 6b ) as an etching mask to form a plurality of trenches 118 defining the mesa structure 110 m of the light-emitting structure 110 . the lower surface portion 112 l of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed at a lower surface of the plurality of trenches 118 . when forming the plurality of trenches 118 , a portion of the upper portion of the transparent material layer 135 p is removed to form the transparent cover layer 135 . the shape of the transparent cover layer 135 may correspond, for example, to that discussed with reference to fig. 1c . the transparent cover layer 135 may over the upper surface and the side surface of the reflective electrode layer 130 . the transparent cover layer 135 may cover the reflective electrode layer 130 and a portion of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 that is adjacent to the reflective electrode layer 130 . the transparent cover layer 135 may not cover a portion adjacent to the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the portion of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , that is not covered by the transparent cover layer 135 may be a portion where a portion of the transparent material layer 135 p covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 is entirely removed when forming the plurality of trenches 118 . in some embodiments, after forming the plurality of trenches 118 , the transparent cover layer 135 may entirely cover the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . due to the transparent material layer 135 p, the reflective electrode layer 130 may not be exposed to the etching atmosphere for forming the plurality of trenches 118 . furthermore, after the etching process is completed and the plurality of trenches 118 are formed, the transparent cover layer 135 (which is a remaining portion of the transparent material layer 135 p) may cover the reflective electrode layer 130 , so that the reflective electrode layer 130 may be prevented from being peeled off the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the transparent material layer 135 p formed using the first mask pattern m 1 (e.g., see figs. 3a to 5b ) is used as an etching mask without forming a mask pattern separately to form the plurality of trenches 118 . thus, the distance between the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 and the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 (e.g., the edge of the upper surface of the mesa structure 110 m) may be configured to be relatively less. referring to figs. 8a and 8b , the method further includes forming an insulating material layer 140 p covering the light-emitting structure 110 on which the transparent cover layer 135 is formed. the insulating material layer 140 p may be formed to entirely cover the upper surface of the light-emitting structure 110 on which the transparent cover layer 135 is formed. for example, the insulating material layer 140 p may also cover the surface of the transparent cover layer 135 , the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , the side surface of the mesa structure 110 m, and the lower surface portion 112 l of the first semiconductor layer 112 . the insulating material layer 140 p may include, but is not limited to, sio 2 , si 3 n 4 , mgf 2 , or a combination thereof. in some embodiments, the insulating material layer 140 p may be formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (pecvd), a physical vapor deposition (pvd), or a spin coating process. in some embodiments, the insulating material layer 140 p may be a multi-layered film including the same material. in some embodiments, the insulating material layer 140 p may be a multi-layered film including different materials. in some embodiments, the insulating material layer 140 p may be a multi-layered film in which at least two films having different refractive indices are stacked. for example, when the insulating material layer 140 p is the multi-layered film in which at least two films having different refractive indices are stacked, an upper film may have a larger refractive index than a lower film. a second mask pattern m 2 having first and second sub openings mo 2 a and mo 2 b is formed on the insulating material layer 140 p. the first sub opening mo 2 a may overlap a portion of the lower surface portion 112 l of the first semiconductor layer 112 . the second sub opening mo 2 b may overlap a portion of the transparent cover layer 135 . referring to figs. 9a and 9b , a portion of the insulating material layer 140 p (e.g., see figs. 8a and 8b ) is removed using the second mask pattern m 2 (e.g., see figs. 8a and 8b ) as an etching mask to form the insulating structure 140 . the insulating structure 140 includes the first contact hole ch 1 exposing at least a portion of the first semiconductor layer 112 and the second contact hole ch 2 exposing at least a portion of the transparent cover layer 135 . the first contact region 112 c is a portion of the lower surface portion 112 l of the first semiconductor layer 112 and may be exposed at a lower surface of the first contact hole ch 1 . the second contact region 135 c is a portion of the upper surface of the transparent cover layer 135 and may be exposed at a lower surface of the second contact hole ch 2 . referring to figs. 10a and 10b , the method includes forming a conductive material layer 150 covering the light-emitting structure 110 on which the insulating structure 140 is formed. the conductive material layer 150 may be formed to entirely cover the upper surface of the light-emitting structure 110 on which the insulating structure 140 is formed. for example, the conductive material layer 150 may cover the surface of the insulating structure 140 , the portion of the lower surface portion 112 l of the first semiconductor layer 112 exposed at the lower surface of the first contact hole ch 1 , and the portion of the upper surface of the transparent cover layer 135 exposed at the lower surface of the second contact hole ch 2 , together. the conductive material layer 150 may contact the first contact region 112 c and the second contact region 135 c. a third mask pattern m 3 having a third opening mo 3 is formed on the conductive material layer 150 . then, a portion of the conductive material layer 150 is removed using the third mask pattern m 3 as an etching mask until the insulating structure 140 is exposed through the third opening mo 3 to form, as illustrated, for example, in figs. 1a and 1b , the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 . as illustrated, the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 are spaced apart from, with the separation space 150 g (e.g., see figs. 1a and 1b ) therebetween. as a result, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 is formed, e.g., see figs. 1a and 1b . figs. 11 to 14 illustrate additional embodiments of a semiconductor light-emitting devices taken along cross-sectional line b-b′ of fig. 1a . referring to fig. 11 , a semiconductor light-emitting device 100 a includes the substrate 102 and the light-emitting structure 110 on the substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the mesa structure 110 m. in addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 a includes the reflective electrode layer 130 covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and a transparent cover layer 136 covering the reflective electrode layer 130 . the transparent cover layer 136 may include a lower transparent cover layer 136 a covering an upper surface of the reflective electrode layer 130 and an upper transparent cover layer 136 b covering an upper surface of the lower transparent cover layer 136 a. in some embodiments, the lower transparent cover layer 136 a may include conductive oxide. in some embodiments, the upper transparent cover layer 136 b may include an insulating material. in some embodiments, the upper transparent cover layer 136 b may include sio 2 , si 3 n 4 , mgf 2 , or a combination thereof. the upper transparent cover layer 136 b may be connected to the second contact hole ch 2 and have a contact extension hole 136 o exposing a portion of the lower transparent cover layer 136 a . a second contact region 136 c of the lower transparent cover layer 136 a may be exposed through the contact extension hole 136 o. the shape of the transparent cover layer 136 may be similar to the shape of the transparent cover layer 135 described with reference to figs. 1a to 1c , except for the contact extension hole 136 o. the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 a includes the insulating structure 140 that covers the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 around the transparent cover layer 135 and has the first contact hole ch 1 and the second contact hole ch 2 . the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed through the first contact hole ch 1 . the second contact hole ch 2 and the second contact region 136 c of the transparent cover layer 136 may be exposed through the contact extension hole 136 o. the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 a includes the first interconnection conductive layers 152 that are spaced apart from each other, with the separation space 150 g therebetween, and contacts the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 through the insulating structure 140 . the second interconnection conductive layer 154 contacts the second contact region 136 c of the lower transparent cover layer 136 a through the insulating structure 140 and the upper transparent cover layer 136 b. referring to fig. 12 , a semiconductor light-emitting device 100 b includes the substrate 102 and the light-emitting structure 110 on the substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the mesa structure 110 m. in addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 a includes the reflective electrode layer 130 covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and a transparent cover layer 137 covering the reflective electrode layer 130 . in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 137 may include an insulating material. in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 137 may include sio 2 , si 3 n 4 , mgf 2 , or a combination thereof. the transparent cover layer 137 may be connected to the second contact hole ch 2 and may include a contact extension hole 137 o exposing a portion of the reflective electrode layer 130 . a second contact region 130 c of the reflective electrode layer 130 may be exposed through the contact extension hole 136 o. the shape of the transparent cover layer 137 may be similar to the shape of the transparent cover layer 135 described with reference to figs. 1a to 1c , except for the contact extension hole 137 o. the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 b includes the insulating structure 140 that covers the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 around the transparent cover layer 137 and has the first contact hole ch 1 and the second contact hole ch 2 . the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed through the first contact hole ch 1 . the second contact region 136 c of the transparent cover layer 136 may be exposed through the second contact hole ch 2 and the contact extension hole 137 o. the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 b includes the first interconnection conductive layers 152 that are spaced apart from each other, with the separation space 150 g therebetween, and contacts the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 through the insulating structure 140 , and the insulating structure 140 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 that contacts the second contact region 130 c of the reflective electrode layer 130 through the transparent cover layer 137 . referring to fig. 13 , a semiconductor light-emitting device 100 c includes the substrate 102 and the light-emitting structure 110 on the substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes a mesa structure 110 ma. as compared to the mesa structure 110 m of the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 of fig. 1b , a side wall of the mesa structure 110 ma of the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 c may have a rounded shape. for example, the side wall of the mesa structure 110 ma may have a concavely rounded shape. the lower surface portion 112 l of the first semiconductor layer 112 may have a concave shape in which a center is lower than a portion adjacent to the edge. the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 c further includes the reflective electrode layer 130 covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and the transparent cover layer 135 covering the reflective electrode layer 130 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 c includes the insulating structure 140 that covers the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 around the transparent cover layer 135 and has the first contact hole ch 1 and the second contact hole ch 2 . the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed through the first contact hole ch 1 . the second contact region 135 c of the transparent cover layer 135 may be exposed through the second contact hole ch 2 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 c includes the first interconnection conductive layers 152 that are spaced apart from each other with the separation space 150 g interposed therebetween and contacts the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 through the insulating structure 140 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 that contacts the second contact region 135 c of the transparent cover layer 135 through the insulating structure 140 . referring to fig. 14 , a semiconductor light-emitting device 100 d includes the substrate 102 and the light-emitting structure 110 on the substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the mesa structure 110 m. in addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 d includes a plurality of insulating patterns 120 , a reflective electrode layer 130 a , and a transparent cover layer 135 a . the plurality of insulating patterns 120 are on the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and are spaced apart from each other. the reflective electrode layer 130 a covers the plurality of insulating patterns 120 and the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the transparent cover layer 135 a covers the reflective electrode layer 130 a . the plurality of insulating patterns 120 may include, for example, sio 2 , si 3 n 4 , mgf 2 , or a combination thereof. the reflective electrode layer 130 a may extend along an upper surface and a side surface of each of the plurality of insulating patterns 120 and the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . upper surfaces of the plurality of insulating patterns 120 are transferred. thus, the transparent cover layer 135 a has a shape having an upper surface and a lower surface with step differences. the shape of the transparent cover layer 135 a (and especially the shape around the edge) is similar to the shape of the transparent cover layer 135 , for example, described with reference to figs. 1a to 1c , except that the upper surfaces of the plurality of insulating patterns 120 are transferred. the plurality of insulating patterns 120 and the reflective electrode layer 130 a may constitute, for example, an omni-directional reflector (odr) structure. in the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 d , light emitted from the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 of light emitted from the active layer 114 may be reflected by the odr structure including the plurality of insulating patterns 120 and the reflective electrode layer 130 a. in some embodiments, each of the plurality of insulating patterns 120 may be a multi-layered film in which at least two films having different refractive indices are stacked. in this case, in the multi-layered film including the plurality of insulating patterns 120 , an upper film may have a larger refractive index than a lower film. the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 d includes the insulating structure 140 that covers the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 around the transparent cover layer 135 a and has the first contact hole ch 1 and the second contact hole ch 2 . the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed through the first contact hole ch 1 . a second contact region 135 ca of the transparent cover layer 135 a may be exposed through the second contact hole ch 2 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 b includes the first interconnection conductive layers 152 that are spaced apart from each other, with the separation space 150 g therebetween, and contacts the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 through the insulating structure 140 , and the insulating structure 140 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 that contacts the second contact region 130 c of the reflective electrode layer 130 a through the transparent cover layer 135 a. fig. 15a illustrates a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of a semiconductor light-emitting device 200 , and particularly a cross-sectional view of a position corresponding to line b-b′ of fig. 1a . fig. 15b illustrates an enlarged view of an embodiment of a xvb portion in fig. 15a . referring to figs. 15a and 15b , the semiconductor light-emitting device 200 includes a light-emitting structure 110 on a substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the mesa structure 110 m. in addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 200 includes a reflective electrode layer 130 b covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , and a transparent cover layer 135 b covering the reflective electrode layer 130 b. the semiconductor light-emitting device 200 includes the insulating structure 140 that covers the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 around the transparent cover layer 135 b and has the first contact hole ch 1 and the second contact hole ch 2 . the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed through the first contact hole ch 1 . a second contact region 135 cb of the transparent cover layer 135 b may be exposed through the second contact hole ch 2 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 b includes the first interconnection conductive layers 152 that are spaced apart from each other, with the separation space 150 g therebetween, and contacts the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 through the insulating structure 140 , and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 that contacts the second contact region 135 cb of the transparent cover layer 135 b through the insulating structure 140 . for example, the reflective electrode layer 130 b may be formed by a sputtering deposition method. for example, the reflective electrode layer 130 b may be formed by a tilted sputtering deposition method. the reflective electrode layer 130 b may include around the edge thereof a first tail portion 130 tb having a thickness which decreases toward the edge thereof. the transparent cover layer 135 b may have a first thickness t 1 a around a center of a horizontal direction or at a portion of the second contact region 135 cb, a second thickness t 2 a on a portion adjacent to the inner portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b , a third thickness t 3 a on the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b or on a portion adjacent to the outer portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b , and a fourth thickness t 4 a on the second semiconductor layer 116 spaced apart from the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b. the first thickness t 1 a may be the largest thickness of the transparent cover layer 135 b , e.g., the first thickness t 1 a may be larger than the second to fourth thicknesses t 2 a , t 3 a , and t 4 a . the second thickness t 2 a may be less than the third thickness t 3 a . the fourth thickness t 4 a may be less than the second thickness t 2 a and the third thickness t 3 a . thus, the thickness of the transparent cover layer 135 b may decrease from the center to the edge, increase around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b , and then decrease again toward the edge. the transparent cover layer 135 b may include, around the edge, a second tail portion 135 tb extending from the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b to the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 b . the second tail portion 135 tb of the transparent cover layer 135 b may entirely cover the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b , particularly, the first tail portion 130 tb of the reflective electrode layer 130 b. in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 135 b may include a first portion 135 xb having a convex upper surface on the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b , or on a portion adjacent to the outer portion of the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b , e.g., a portion having the third thickness t 3 a . in some embodiments, the transparent cover layer 135 b may include the second contact region 135 cb having a concave upper surface on a portion adjacent to the edge. the transparent cover layer 135 b may include the first portion 135 xb sequentially having convex upper surfaces and the second portion 135 vb having a concave upper surface on a portion extending from a portion around the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b toward the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 b . the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b may be protected by the first portion 135 xb and the second portion 135 vb corresponding to the second tail portion 135 tb of the transparent cover layer 135 b . thus, the reflective electrode layer 130 b may be prevented from being peeled off the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 . the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 b may be spaced apart by a first distance w 1 a . the edge of the transparent cover layer 135 b and the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b may be spaced apart from each other by a second distance w 2 a . in some embodiments, the first distance w 1 a may be equal to or less than 1 μm. in some embodiments, the second distance w 2 a may be equal to or less than 1 μm. the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 and the edge of the reflective electrode layer 130 b may be spaced apart from each other by a third distance w 3 a , which is the sum of the first distance w 1 a and the second distance w 2 a . in some embodiments, the third distance w 3 a may be equal to or less than 2 μm. in some embodiments, the third distance w 3 a of the semiconductor light-emitting device 200 may be less than the third distance w 3 of the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 described with reference to figs. 1a to 1c . the distances may be different in other embodiments. fig. 16a illustrates another embodiment of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor light-emitting device 300 , and fig. 16b illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b′ of fig. 16a . referring to figs. 16a and 16b , a semiconductor light-emitting device 300 includes a light-emitting structure 110 on the substrate 102 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the first semiconductor layer 112 , the active layer 114 , and the second semiconductor layer 116 . the light-emitting structure 110 includes the mesa structure 110 m. in addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 100 a includes the reflective electrode layer 130 covering the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 , and the transparent cover layer 135 covering the reflective electrode layer 130 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 includes the insulating structure 140 that covers the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 around the transparent cover layer 135 and has the first contact hole ch 1 and the second contact hole ch 2 . the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 may be exposed through the first contact hole ch 1 . the second contact region 135 c of the transparent cover layer 135 may be exposed through the second contact hole ch 2 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 includes the first interconnection conductive layers 152 that are spaced apart from each other, with the separation space 150 g therebetween, and contacts the first contact region 112 c of the first semiconductor layer 112 , and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 that contacts the second contact region 135 c of the transparent cover layer 135 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 further includes a passivation layer 160 covering the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 , a first bonding conductive layer 172 connected to the first interconnection conductive layer 152 through a first bonding hole 160 h 1 formed on the passivation layer 160 , and a second bonding conductive layer 174 connected to the second interconnection conductive layer 154 through a second bonding hole 160 h 2 formed on the passivation layer 160 . in another embodiment, the planar shapes of the first bonding hole 160 h 1 and the second bonding hole 160 h 2 , and the first bonding conductive layer 172 and the second bonding conductive layer 174 , may be different from the that illustrated in fig. 16a . the passivation layer 160 may include, but is not limited to, a silicon oxide. each of the first bonding conductive layer 172 and the second bonding conductive layer 174 may include a single film including a single material of, for example, au, sn, ni, pb, ag, in, cr, ge, si, ti, w, and pt, or an alloy including at least two of these materials, or a multi-layered film including a combination thereof. in some embodiments, the first bonding conductive layer 172 and the second bonding conductive layer 174 may include a multiple metal film in which a ti film, a first ni film, a second ni film, and an au film are sequentially stacked. the first ni film and the second ni film may be ni films formed by different deposition processes. for example, the first ni film may be a ni film formed by a sputtering process, and the second ni film may be a ni film formed by a dvd process using electron beam evaporation. in some embodiments, each of the first bonding conductive layer 172 and the second bonding conductive layer 174 may include at least two of a conductive barrier layer, a conductive adhesive layer, a conductive coupling layer, and a conductive bonding layer. the conductive barrier layer may include at least one of a ti layer, at least one pair of ti/pt bilayers, at least one pair of ti/w bilayers, at least one pair of tin/w bilayers, at least one pair of w/tiw bilayers, and a ni layer. the conductive adhesive layer may include ti. the conductive coupling layer may be between the conductive adhesive layer and the conductive bonding layer and may include ni or ni/au. the conductive bonding layer may include, for example, au—sn alloy, ni—sn alloy, ni—au—sn alloy, pb—ag—in alloy, pb—ag—sn alloy, pb—sn alloy, au—ge alloy, or au—si alloy. the first bonding conductive layer 172 and the second bonding conductive layer 174 may be made of different materials or have a different configuration in other embodiments. the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 of figs. 16a and 16b may include the transparent cover layer 136 of fig. 11 , instead of the transparent cover layer 135 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 of figs. 16a and 16b may include the transparent cover layer 137 of fig. 12 , instead of the transparent cover layer 135 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 of figs. 16a and 16b may include the mesa structure 110 ma of fig. 13 , instead of the mesa structure 110 m. the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 of figs. 16a and 16b may further include the plurality of insulating patterns 120 of fig. 14 , and may include the reflective electrode layer 130 a and the transparent cover layer 135 a of fig. 14 instead of the reflective electrode layer 130 and the transparent cover layer 135 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 of figs. 16a and 16b may include the reflective electrode layer 130 b and the transparent cover layer 135 b of fig. 15 , instead of the reflective electrode layer 130 and the transparent cover layer 135 . in order to manufacture the semiconductor light-emitting device 300 of figs. 16a and 16b , the processes described with reference to figs. 2a to 10b may be performed to form the passivation layer 160 covering the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second interconnection conductive layer 154 . cvd, pvd, or another deposition process may be used, for example, to form the passivation layer 160 . then, a portion of the passivation layer 160 is removed to form the first bonding hole 160 h 1 (exposing the first interconnection conductive layer 152 and the second bonding hole 160 h 2 exposing the second interconnection conductive layer 154 ), and to form the first bonding conductive layer 172 connected to the first interconnection conductive layer 152 through the first bonding hole 160 h 1 and the second bonding conductive layer 174 connected to the second interconnection conductive layer 154 through the second bonding hole 160 h 2 . the semiconductor light-emitting devices 100 , 100 a , 100 b , 100 c , 100 d , 200 , and 300 described with reference to figs. 1a to 16b have a structure in which the reflective electrode layers 130 , 130 a , and 130 b are capped with the transparent cover layers 135 , 135 a , and 135 b . thus, due to the excellent adhesion properties of the second semiconductor layer 116 of the mesa structures 110 m and 110 ma and the transparent cover layers 135 , 135 a , and 135 b , peeling-off of the reflective electrode layers 130 , 130 a , and 130 b , or migration or agglomeration of a metal material in the reflective electrode layers 130 , 130 a , and 130 b may be reduced. as a result, reliability of the reflective electrode layers 130 , 130 a , and 130 b and adhesive force between the reflective electrode layers 130 , 130 a , and 130 b and the mesa structures 110 m and 110 ma may be may be improved to produce a more stable structure. in addition, the distance between the edges of the reflective electrode layers 130 , 130 a , and 130 b and the edge of the upper surface of the second semiconductor layer 116 (e.g., the distance between edges of the upper surface of the mesa structures 110 m and 36 - 110 ma) may be relatively small. thus, a reflective area by the reflective electrode layers 130 , 130 a , and 130 b is increased to improve light extraction efficiency of the semiconductor light-emitting devices 100 , 100 a , 100 b , 100 c , 100 d , 200 , and 300 . fig. 17 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a light-emitting device package 900 including a semiconductor light-emitting device. referring to fig. 17 , the light-emitting device package 900 includes a cup-shaped package structure 920 in which electrode patterns 912 and 914 are formed. the cup-shaped package structure 920 includes a lower substrate 922 in which the electrode patterns 912 and 914 are formed on a surface and an upper substrate 924 having a groove portion 930 . a semiconductor light-emitting device 940 is mounted on a lower surface of the groove portion 930 by flip-chip method. the semiconductor light-emitting device 940 may include, for example, one or more of the semiconductor light-emitting devices 100 , 100 a , 100 b , 100 c , 100 d , 200 , and 300 described with reference to figs. 1a to 16b . the semiconductor light-emitting device 940 may be fixed onto the electrode patterns 912 and 914 , for example, by eutectic bonding. for example, the electrode patterns 912 and 914 may be connected to the first and second interconnection conductive layers 152 and 154 or the first and second bonding conductive layers 172 and 174 , described with reference to figs. 1a to 16b . a reflective plate 950 is formed on an inner side wall of the groove portion 930 . the semiconductor light-emitting device 940 is covered by a transparent resin 960 filling the groove portion 930 on the reflective plate 950 . an uneven pattern 962 is formed is formed on a surface of the transparent resin 960 to improve light extraction efficiency. in some embodiments, the uneven pattern 962 may be omitted. the light-emitting device package 900 may be used as a color (e.g., blue) led with high power/high efficiency and, for example, may be used to implement large displays, led tvs, rgb white lighting, emotional lighting, etc. fig. 18 illustrates an embodiment of a dimming system 1000 which includes a semiconductor light-emitting device. referring to fig. 18 , the dimming system 1000 includes a light-emitting module 1020 and a power supply unit 1030 on a structure 1010 . the light-emitting module 1020 includes a plurality of light-emitting device packages 1024 . the plurality of light-emitting device packages 1024 include, for example, one or more of the semiconductor light-emitting devices 100 , 100 a , 100 b , 100 c , 100 d , 200 , and 300 described with reference to figs. 1a to 16b . the power supply unit 1030 includes an interface 1032 to receive power and a power control unit 1034 that controls power supplied to the light-emitting module 1020 . the interface 1032 may include a fuse to block overcurrent and an electromagnetic interference shielding filter to shield the electromagnetic interference signal. the power control unit 1034 may include a rectifying part and a smoothing part for converting an alternating current into a direct current when the alternating current is input as a power source, and a constant voltage controller for converting the voltage into a voltage suitable for the light-emitting module 1020 . the power supply unit 1030 may include a feedback circuit device that performs a comparison of the amount of light emission from the plurality of light-emitting device packages 1024 with a predetermined amount of light, and a memory device to store brightness, color rendering, and/or other information. in some embodiments, the dimming system 1000 may be used as an outdoor lighting device, a backlight unit used in a display device such as a liquid crystal display having an image panel, an indoor lighting device such as a lamp or flat panel light, and an outdoor lighting device such as a street lamp or sign. in some embodiments, the dimming system 1000 may be used for a lighting device for various kinds of transport vehicles, including but not limited to automobiles, ships, and aircraft. the dimming system 1000 may also be used for tvs, refrigerators, medical equipment, and other appliances. fig. 19 illustrates an embodiment of a display device 1100 including a semiconductor light-emitting device. referring to fig. 19 , the display device 1100 includes a broadcast receiving unit 1110 , an image processing unit 1120 and a display 1130 . the display 1130 includes a display panel 1140 and a back light unit (blu) 1150 . the blu 1150 includes light sources generating light and driving elements driving these light sources. the broadcast receiving unit 1110 selects a broadcast channel, received via wireless or wired communication through air or cable, from among a plurality of channels as an input channel and receives a broadcast signal of the channel set as the input channel. the image processing unit 1120 performs signal processing such as video decoding, video scaling, and frame rate conversion (frc) on broadcast content output from the broadcast receiving unit 1110 . the display panel 1140 includes, but is not limited to, a liquid crystal display (lcd). the display panel 1140 displays the broadcast content subjected to signal processing by the image processing unit 1120 . the blu 1150 projects light to the display panel 1140 so that the display panel 1140 displays an image. the blu 1150 includes the semiconductor light-emitting devices 100 , 100 a , 100 b , 100 c , 100 d , 200 , and 300 described with reference to figs. 1a to 16b . in accordance with one or more of the aforementioned embodiments, a semiconductor light-emitting device includes a reflective electrode layer capped with a transparent cover layer. thus, due to the excellent adhesion properties of a second semiconductor layer of a mesa structure and a transparent cover layer, peeling-off of the reflective electrode layer and/or migration or agglomeration of metal material in the reflective electrode layer may be reduced to improve reliability of the reflective electrode layer. also, adhesive force between a reflective electrode layer and a mesa structure may be physically enhanced to have a relatively stable structure. also, a separate mask pattern may not be used to form a plurality of trenches defining a mesa structure, thus, the distance between an edge of a reflective electrode layer and an edge of an upper surface of the second semiconductor layer (e.g., an edge of an upper surface of the mesa structure) may be relatively small. thus, a reflective area by the reflective electrode layer increases to improve light extraction efficiency of the semiconductor light-emitting device. example embodiments have been disclosed herein, and although specific terms are employed, they are used and are to be interpreted in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purpose of limitation. in some instances, as would be apparent to one of skill in the art as of the filing of the present application, features, characteristics, and/or elements described in connection with a particular embodiment may be used singly or in combination with features, characteristics, and/or elements described in connection with other embodiments unless otherwise indicated. accordingly, various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments set forth in the claims.
|
067-520-994-483-707
|
DE
|
[
"CN",
"US",
"RU",
"EP",
"DE",
"WO",
"AU",
"JP",
"MY",
"HK"
] |
H05K9/00,H05K/
| 2002-07-10T00:00:00 |
2002
|
[
"H05"
] |
screening device for electronic subsassemblies on a printed circuit board
|
the invention relates to a screening device comprising: a screening cover, which covers an electronic circuit located on a printed circuit board and comprises an edge that is separated from the component side of the printed circuit board by a gap and a contact device, which is located in the gap and produces an electric connection between the screening cover and a conductive contour element on the printed circuit board. according to the invention, lugs are formed on the edge of the screening cover, said lugs fixing the screening cover on the printed circuit board and maintaining an elastic pretension on the contact device. the contact device is configured as an elastic sealing body that extends continuously through the gap and absorbs electromagnetic waves.
|
1 - 13 . (canceled) 14 . a screening device, comprising: a screening cover, which covers an electronic subassembly arranged on a printed circuit board, with an edge which is spaced from a component side of the circuit board by a gap; and a contact device which is arranged in the gap and establishes an electrical connection between the screening cover and a conducting contour on the circuit board, wherein lugs are formed on the edge of the screening cover by which the screening cover is attached to the circuit board and the contact device is held under elastic pretension, wherein the contact device being embodied as an elastic sealing element running around the circumference of the gap and absorbing electromagnetic waves, and wherein the conducting contour is formed by dome-shaped contact points. 15 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the dome-shaped contact points are arranged on the component side of the printed circuit board at the printed circuit board pitch, or at a grid dimension of the printed circuit board, or at a lead-wire spacing of the printed circuit board. 16 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the printed circuit board further comprises openings through which the lugs of the screening cover protrude on the exit side and wherein plastically deformed end sections of the lugs grip the back of the printed circuit board. 17 . the screening device in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the printed circuit board further comprises openings through which the lugs of the screening cover protrude on the exit side and wherein plastically deformed end sections of the lugs grip the back of the printed circuit board. 18 . the screening device in accordance with claim 16 , wherein each end section of a lug is designed as a hinged flap or a twist-lock flap. 19 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the screening cover is embodied in a uniform material and in one piece and is made of metal. 20 . the screening device in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the screening cover is embodied in a uniform material and in one piece and is made of metal. 21 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the screening cover is designed in a uniform material, merged into each of its elements, and is made of a metallic material. 22 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the edge is designed as a right-angled fold running in the assembled state of the screening cover essentially parallel to the component side, and wherein each lug is formed on the outside circumference and is embodied offset along a wall of the screening cover. 23 . the screening device in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the edge is designed as a right-angled fold running in the assembled state of the screening cover essentially parallel to the component side, and wherein each lug is formed on the outside circumference and is embodied offset along a wall of the screening cover. 24 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the sealing element is designed as a flat seal and is attached by an electrically conductive adhesive at the edge of the screening cover or the component side. 25 . the screening device in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the sealing element is designed as a flat seal and is attached by an electrically conductive adhesive at the edge of the screening cover or the component side. 26 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the screening cover is embodied as a punched-bent part. 27 . the screening device in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the screening cover is embodied as a punched-bent part. 28 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the screening cover is designed in a cuboidal or rectangle shape. 29 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein cutouts are provided on a top and/or a side wall of the screening cover. 30 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein a plurality of screening covers are arranged on a printed circuit board and the screening efficiency of these screen covers is different. 31 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the sealing element is formed from a polymer material metallically coated or surrounded by a metallic mesh. 32 . the screening device in accordance with claim 31 , wherein the polymer material is a polyamide weave or fleece. 33 . the screening device in accordance with claim 14 , wherein the sealing element is formed from an electrically conductive elastomer braided by a tinned copper-coated steel wire mesh.
|
cross reference to related applications this application is the us national stage of international application no. pct/ep2003/005182, filed may 16, 2003 and claims the benefit thereof. the international application claims the benefits of german application no. 10231145.5 filed jul. 10, 2002, both applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. field of the invention the invention relates to a screening or shielding device with a screening cover which covers an electronic circuit located on a printed circuit board, with an edge that is separated from the component side of the printed circuit board by a gap and a contact device which is located in the gap and produces an electrical connection between the screening cover and a conducting contour element on the printed circuit board, with lugs being formed on the edge of the screening cover by which the screening cover is fixed to the printed circuit board and maintaining an elastic pretension on the screening device. background of the invention in electronics there is frequently a requirement for diminishing electrical or magnetic fields within or outside a specific area. screening housings which attenuate the emission or entry of electromagnetic interference. on printed circuit boards the interference radiation can also be caused by subassemblies located on the same printed circuit board. with miniaturized subassembles, for example those using smd technology, interference sinks and interference sources are often immediately adjacent to one another. for screening field values which change over time small designs of multipart screening devices are employed. they mostly consist of a screening frame subdivided into individual chambers by partition walls and soldered to the printed circuit board. to keep the subassembles covered by the screening accessible for test purposes the screening frame is closed off by a removable cover. since the frame part only becomes mechanically stable once it is soldered to the printed circuit board it is necessary, when fitting these miniaturized screening devices, to handle the frame part and the cover part together. putting the cover on and taking it off is a cumbersome process and assembly is time-consuming. a single-part metallic screening device which can be fitted onto a printed circuit board is known from de 29 808 620 u1. it is attached by locking lugs which grip the back of the printed circuit board. mass contacting of the screen with the printed circuit board is provided by a plurality of spring-loaded tongues. these tongues are under elastic pretension once a screening tray is assembled and make electrical contact by line or point contact. under harsh operating conditions it can occur that contacting fails as a result of mechanical effects or corrosion. in this case the screening efficiency of the interference suppression medium is adversely affected. a further disadvantage is that a compression force is necessary on assembly of the screening cover to overcome the spring pressure, said force having to be applied to the screen tray and borne by the printed circuit board. the screening effect depends on the contacting spring pressure and the distance between the individual contact points. if however a large number of spring tongues have to be elastically deformed a correspondingly greater compression force is required and it can occur with miniaturized modules that the circuit board is impermissibly deformed. micro cracks can then develop in the conductive structure. contact is also established by contact springs around the edge of the screening in the screening device known from de 297 13 412 u1. manufacturing these known one-piece screening devices requires a complex manufacturing tool. changes to this tool required to produce a new screening geometry or spatial form are only possible with a comparatively large amount of effort. summary of the invention the underlying object of the invention is to develop a screening device of the type stated at the start which improves screening efficiency and makes it possible to manufacture screening devices, especially those of different sizes, with less effort. in accordance with the invention this object is achieved by the claims. the dependent claims make reference to advantageous embodiments. in the inventive screening device there is provision for the contacting device to be formed by a sealing element running in a gap around the edge of the unit, with the sealing element being made of an elastic material which absorbs sources of electromagnetic waves. characteristic of the invention is also the fact that linear or point contacting is not established by a plurality of contact points but by a sealing element made of elastic material lying on the surface of the board. because of its compressibility this is better adapted to undulations and unevenness in the printed circuit board. even with mechanical shocks or vibrations a lower contact resistance of ground contacting is maintained. in addition the sealing element running around the circumference in the gap between screening housing and circuit board forms a seal and in this way also protects the interior from contamination penetrating into the screening. the constructional separation of the contacting and the screening frame makes it easier to manufacture. the tool for manufacturing the screening cover is a simpler design. upgrade costs for changes to the manufacturing tool are lower. the screening cover can be manufactured at low costs as a punched-bent part from sheet metal. the sealing element can be a blank or a semi finished product. overall manufacturing can be adapted to a partial screening of different-sized areas on a circuit board with little effort. surprisingly it has transpired that an emf seal which is just a few millimeters wide provides very efficient screening against rf fields. materials which have an attenuating effect on electromagnetic radiation are known in various compositions and versions and are commercially available. for easy attachment of the screening cover to the circuit board there is provision for the circuit board to be provided with openings and for an end of a lug projecting through the opening to be elastically deformed so that it grips the back of the printed circuit board. this produces a tight-fitting connection which is easy to establish. the plastic deformation of the projecting end sections can be formed by bending, stamping or pressing. to enable the cover to be easily removed for test purposes each end part of a lug can be embodied as a hinged flap. as regards the manufacturing costs it is useful for the screening cover to be formed from a uniform material and in one piece from a metallic material, for example from sheet metal. the sheet metal can be protected by tin plating. in a further embodiment of the invention there is provision for the edge of the cover to be embodied as a right-angled folded edge which, in the assembled state of the screening cover essentially runs parallel to the component side and for each lug to be formed on the outside circumference and to be embodied offset from a wall of the screening cover. this enables the screening cover to be manufactured using a punching or bending process. with this punched-bent part a very effective screening cover can be implemented by embodying the sealing element as a flat seal and attaching it by electrically-conductive adhesive to the edge of the screening cover or the component side of the circuit board. this produces the additional advantage of enabling the screening cover along with the seal to be handled as one piece during assembly. to improve contact reliability the conducting contour of the circuit board features domed contact points which press into the flat seal. its surface is sealed by the elastic flat seal and largely protected against corrosion. if only partial areas on a printed circuit board need to be screened it can be useful for the screening cover to be embodied in a rectangular shape to match the pitch of the printed circuit board as regards the geometry. this uniform modular construction reduces manufacturing and logistics costs. for the case where the interior of the screening cover has to be ventilated or vented there is provision for holes to be provided in the top or the side walls of the screening cover to form openings for cooling air. the size of the holes is adapted to the frequency spectrum to be screened. if part areas with different screening effects are required on the circuit board there is provision for a number of screening covers to be arranged on the printed circuit board and for the screening efficiency of these covers to differ. to further reduce costs, commercially-available emc materials can be used, that is polymer materials, the particular preference being for polyamide fleece which has a metal coating or is enclosed by a metal mesh. brief description of the drawings the invention is explained below in greater detail on the basis of an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings. the drawings show: fig. 1 a perspective exploded diagram of the inventive screening device, in a embodiment in which the entire printed circuit board is covered by the screening cover, fig. 2 an enlarged detailed diagram of the screening cover from below, fig. 3 a detailed cross-sectional view of the edge area of a screening device mounted on a printed circuit board, fig. 4 a section of the conducting contour on the printed circuit board with contact points arranged offset at intervals. detailed description of the invention in the drawings fig. 1 shows a typical embodiment of the inventive screening device 1 in an exploded perspective view. the screening device 1 consists of a screening cover 20 and a contact device 6 . in the example shown, the screening cover 20 covers the entire area of the printed circuit board 2 . the explanations below are not however restricted to this embodiment but in particular also include screening devices which cover only parts of the printed circuit board. as shown in fig. 1 lugs 8 are formed on the outer edge 3 of the screening cover by which the screening cover 20 can be attached to a component side 4 of the printed circuit board 2 . on the component side 4 of the printed circuit board 2 a guide contour 7 can be seen of which the outline corresponds to the edge area of the screening cover 20 . the guide contour 7 consists of contact points which are explained in greater detail below and is etched to correspond to the pitch of the board. the contact device 6 is embodied as a seal 22 running around the edge. when the screening device is assembled the screening cover 20 is lowered onto the printed circuit board 2 . as the cover is lowered onto the board, lugs 8 pointing in the direction of the printed circuit board 2 engage in openings 10 of the circuit board as the lowering operation proceeds the elastic sealing element 22 is initially compressed. because of the good compression characteristics of the seal material only a light force is required to compress the seal. lowering the cover further causes the end 9 of the lug 8 to pass through the opening and project beyond the back of the board. to attach the screening cover the lugs now projecting from the opening on the exit side are plastically deformed by bending them on both sides. a tight-fitting connection is made between cover 20 and carrier 2 . as already shown, the plastic deformation can however also be made by bending, by stamping or by pressing. in the gap between the edge of the cover and the component side the elastic sealing element 22 will be compressed. the electromagnetic radiation energy penetrating into the sealing gap 5 is greatly attenuated as a result of the damping material properties of the sealing material. because the sealing material is only slightly compressed assembly requires only a comparatively light pressure. fig. 1 shows the screening cover with two preformed attachment lugs on its long side and one lug on its short side. of course the number of attachment lugs varies in accordance with the size of the screening cover. the openings 15 for ventilation or venting of the interior are shown greatly enlarged. the diameter of these holes is in reality very small and tuned to the frequency of the alternating field to be screened. screening cover 20 is a one-piece bent-punched element made from tin-plated sheet metal. figs. 2 and 3 show the edge area of the screening cover in an enlarged detailed view. the edge 3 of the screening cover 20 is continued by a right-angled fold 12 . on the outside circumference the lug 8 is formed on the fold 12 . the end section 9 of the lug is embodied as a hinged flap 11 . as can be easily seen from the cross-sectional diagram shown in fig. 3 , the lug 8 is inserted through the opening 10 of the printed circuit board 2 . the end section 9 is plastically deformed along the axis pointing in the direction of insertion by bending on both sides. in this way the hinged flap 11 grips the back of the printed circuit board 2 . with a closed embodiment of the screening cover the seal running around the edge 22 also simultaneously protects the interior 18 against dust or contamination entering from the outside 19 . in the cross-sectional view shown in fig. 3 the seal 22 is shown as a flat seal 13 . it is located in the sealing gap 5 between the printed circuit board 2 and the edge 12 under elastic pretension. the flat seal 13 is coated on its upper side with an adhesive 14 which means that seal and screening cover form a single unit for assembly and are easier to handle. the underside of the flat seal 13 lies along the conducting contour 7 on the component side 4 . the conducting contour 7 is formed by stepped contact points 21 linked electrically by a corresponding layout. compressing the seal in the gap 5 causes the seal material to deform elastically. the contact points 21 press on the underside of the flat seal this enclosure of the domed surface of the contact point means that it is very well protected from outside influences. this counters the effects of corrosion in the contact area. the result is that over a very long period of use the ohmic resistance of the ground contacting can be kept very low. contour 7 can also be formed by a continuous conductor track or by another contact pattern. naturally it is also possible to coat the other side of the flat seal 13 with a conductive adhesive. the arrangement of the dome-shaped contacts 21 along the conducting contour 7 is shown in an enlarged view in fig. 4 . the contact points 21 are arranged staggered at intervals. the gap between the contact points in the lengthwise direction of the mass contacting is four millimeters in the example. the domes on the contact points are tinned and have a diameter of 1.3 millimeters. the emc flat seal is made of a polyamide spun bond fleece which has a high compressibility of up to 85 percent and is very flexible. the emc seal can however be constructed in a different way and made of other materials. the seal can for example be an open-cell foam plastic to which electrically and magnetically conductive particles are added. woven and compound materials are also suitable which contain fibers of a material with these conductivity properties. the metal mesh can be a tinned, copper-coated steel wire mesh. the sealing element can be braided by the steel mesh. it is also possible however for the metallic mesh to be embedded into the sealing element by polymer attachment.
|
069-142-043-223-392
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
A61B18/14,A61B18/00,A61B18/12
| 2015-12-30T00:00:00 |
2015
|
[
"A61"
] |
jaw position impedance limiter for electrosurgical instrument
|
an electrosurgical system may comprise an rf current generator, a handle body, an end effector have a first jaw including a first energizing surface electrically contacting a first terminal of the rf generator, and a second jaw including a second energizing surface electrically contacting a second terminal of the rf current generator, in which the two jaws form a jaw angle. the system may also comprise a shunt impedance circuit including a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined impedance value, in which the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first and second energizing surfaces when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle. the system may also comprise an impedance detector in electrical communication with the first and second energizing surfaces. the system may be used to measure an impedance between the first and second energizing surfaces by the impedance detector.
|
1 . an electrosurgical system comprising: an rf current generator; a handle body; an end effector comprising: a first jaw comprising a first energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a first terminal of the rf current generator; and a second jaw comprising a second energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator; wherein the first jaw and the second jaw form a jaw angle; a shunt impedance circuit comprising a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, wherein the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle; and an impedance detector in electrical communication with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface. 2 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the first jaw is movable when a force is applied to the end effector. 3 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the second jaw is movable when a force is applied to the end effector. 4 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a contactor in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. 5 . the electrosurgical system of claim 4 , wherein the contactor is configured to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. 6 . the electrosurgical system of claim 5 , wherein the contactor is a spring-loaded contactor. 7 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the shunt impedance element is one or more of a resistive element, a capacitive element, and an inductive element. 8 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined shunt impedance value is an impedance value of a cauterized tissue. 9 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a shunt switch in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. 10 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the end effector comprises the shunt impedance circuit. 11 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , wherein the handle body comprise the shunt impedance circuit. 12 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , further comprising an elongated shaft having a proximal end in mechanical communication with the handle body and a distal end in mechanical communication with the end effector. 13 . the electrosurgical system of claim 1 , further comprising a scissor style device, wherein the end effector is in mechanical communication with the handle. 14 . an end effector for an electrosurgical device, the end effector comprising: a first jaw comprising a first energy delivery surface configured to be in electrical communication with a first terminal of an rf current generator; a second jaw comprising a second energy delivery surface configured to be in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator, wherein the first jaw and the second jaw form a jaw angle, and wherein the first jaw, the second jaw, or the first jaw and the second jaw is movable; and a shunt impedance circuit comprising a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, wherein the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle. 15 . the end effector of claim 14 , wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a contactor in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. 16 . the end effector of claim 15 , wherein the contactor is a spring-loaded contactor. 17 . the end effector of claim 15 , wherein the contactor is configured to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. 18 . the end effector of claim 14 , wherein the shunt impedance element is configured to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. 19 . the end effector of claim 14 , wherein the shunt impedance element is one or more of a resistive element, a capacitive element, and an inductive element. 20 . the end effector of claim 14 , wherein the pre-determined shunt impedance value is an impedance value of a cauterized tissue. 21 . the end effector of claim 14 , wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a shunt switch in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. 22 . a method of controlling an rf current delivered to an end effector of an electrosurgical system, the method comprising: providing an electro electrosurgical system comprising: an rf current generator; a handle body; an end effector comprising: a first jaw comprising a first energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a first terminal of the rf current generator, and a second jaw comprising a second energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator, wherein the first jaw and the second jaw form a jaw angle; a shunt impedance circuit comprising a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, wherein the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle; an impedance detector in electrical communication with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface; and a controller of the rf current generator; sourcing an rf current from the rf current generator to the first energy delivery surface via the first terminal of the rf current generator and receiving an rf current by the rf current generator from the second energy delivery surface via the second terminal of the rf current generator; measuring an impedance between the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface by the impedance detector; and causing the controller of the rf current generator to disable sourcing the rf current to the first energy delivery surface when a measured impedance between the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface is greater than a pre-determined impedance limit. 23 . the method of claim 22 , wherein the rf current generator comprises the impedance detector. 24 . the method of claim 22 , wherein the rf current generator generates an rf current of about 100 khz to about 1 mhz. 25 . the method of claim 22 , wherein the pre-determined impedance limit is an impedance of a cauterized tissue.
|
background electrosurgical devices are used in many surgical operations. electrosurgical devices apply electrical energy to tissue in order to treat tissue. an electrosurgical device may comprise an instrument having a distally-mounted end effector comprising one or more electrodes. the end effector can be positioned against tissue such that electrical current is introduced into the tissue. electrosurgical devices can be configured for bipolar operation. during bipolar operation, current is introduced into and returned from the tissue by active and return electrodes, respectively, of the end effector. bipolar devices may also have an end effector consisting of two or more jaws each having at least one of the active and or return electrodes. at least one of the jaws is moveable from a position spaced apart from the opposing jaw for receiving tissues to a position in which the space between the jaws is less than that of the first position. movement of the moveable jaw compresses the tissue held between. heat generated by the current flow through the tissue in combination with the compression achieved by the jaw movement may form hemostatic seals within the tissue and/or between tissues and thus may be particularly useful for sealing blood vessels, for example. the end effector of an electrosurgical device sometimes also comprises a cutting member that is movable relative to the tissue and the electrodes to transect the tissue. electrical energy applied by an electrosurgical device can be transmitted to the instrument by a generator. the electrical energy may be in the form of radio frequency (“rf”) energy. the electrical energy may be in the form of radio frequency (“rf”) energy that may be in a frequency range described in en 60601-2-2:2009+a11:2011, definition 201.3.218—high frequency. for example, the frequency in monopolar rf applications are typically restricted to less than 5 mhz. however, in bipolar rf applications, the frequency can be almost anything. frequencies above 200 khz can be typically used for monopolar applications in order to avoid the unwanted stimulation of nerves and muscles which would result from the use of low frequency current. lower frequencies may be used for bipolar techniques if the risk analysis shows the possibility of neuromuscular stimulation has been mitigated to an acceptable level. normally, frequencies above 5 mhz are not used in order to minimize the problems associated with high frequency leakage currents. however, higher frequencies may be used in the case of bipolar techniques. it is generally recognized that 10 ma is the lower threshold of thermal effects on tissue. during its operation, an electrosurgical device can transmit rf energy through tissue compressed between the two or more jaws. such rf energy may cause ionic agitation in the tissue, in effect producing resistive heating, and thereby increasing the temperature of the tissue. increased temperature of the tissue may lead to tissue cauterization. in some surgical procedures, rf energy may be useful for removing, shrinking, or sculpting soft tissue while simultaneously sealing blood vessels. rf energy may work particularly well on connective tissue, which is primarily comprised of collagen and shrinks when contacted by heat. because a sharp boundary may be created between the affected tissue and the surrounding tissue, surgeons can operate with a high level of precision and control, without sacrificing un-targeted adjacent tissue. summary in one aspect, an electrosurgical system may include an rf current generator, a handle body, an end effector having a first jaw including a first energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a first terminal of the rf current generator, and a second jaw including a second energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator. the first jaw and the second jaw may form a jaw angle. the electrosurgical system may also have a shunt impedance circuit including a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, in which the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle. the electrosurgical system may also include an impedance detector in electrical communication with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, first jaw that may be movable when a force is applied to the end effector. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, the second jaw may be movable when a force is applied to the end effector. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, the shunt impedance circuit may include a contactor in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, the contactor may be configured to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, the contactor may be a spring-loaded contactor. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, the shunt impedance element may be one or more of a resistive element, a capacitive element, and an inductive element. in one aspect the electrosurgical system, the pre-determined shunt impedance value may be an impedance value of a cauterized tissue. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, the shunt impedance circuit may include a shunt switch in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. in one aspect of the electrosurgical, the end effector may include the shunt impedance circuit. in one aspect of the electrosurgical system, the handle body may include the shunt impedance circuit. in one aspect, the electrosurgical system may further include an elongated shaft having a proximal end in mechanical communication with the handle body and a distal end in mechanical communication with the end effector. in one aspect, the electrosurgical system may further include a scissor style device, in which the end effector is in mechanical communication with the handle. in one aspect, an end effector for an electrosurgical device may include a first jaw having a first energy delivery surface designed to be in electrical communication with a first terminal of an rf current generator and a second jaw having a second energy delivery surface designed to be in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator. the first jaw and the second jaw may form a jaw angle, in which the first jaw, the second jaw, or the first jaw and the second jaw is/are movable. the end effector may also include a shunt impedance circuit including a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, in which the shunt impedance element may be reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle. in one aspect of the end effector, the shunt impedance circuit may include a contactor in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. in one aspect of the end effector, the contactor may be a spring-loaded contactor. in one aspect of the end effector, the contactor may be designed to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. in one aspect, of the end effector, the shunt impedance element may be designed to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. in one aspect of the end effector, the shunt impedance element may be one or more of a resistive element, a capacitive element, and an inductive element. in one aspect of the end effector, the pre-determined shunt impedance value may be an impedance value of a cauterized tissue. in one aspect of the end effector, the shunt impedance circuit may include a shunt switch in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. in one aspect, a method of controlling an rf current delivered to an end effector of an electrosurgical system may include providing an electrosurgical system that may include an rf current generator, a handle body, an end effector, a shunt impedance circuit, an impedance detector, and a controller of the rf current generator; the end effector may include a first jaw having a first energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a first terminal of the rf current generator and a second jaw comprising a second energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator. the first jaw and the second jaw may form a jaw angle therebetween. the shunt impedance circuit may include a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value and the shunt impedance element may be reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle. the impedance detector may be in electrical communication with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface. the method may also include sourcing an rf current from the rf current generator to the first energy delivery surface via the first terminal of the rf current generator and receiving an rf current by the rf current generator from the second energy delivery surface via the second terminal of the rf current generator. the method may further include measuring an impedance between the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface by the impedance detector, and causing the controller of the rf current generator to disable sourcing the rf current to the first energy delivery surface when a measured impedance between the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface is greater than a pre-determined impedance limit. in one aspect of the method, the rf current generator may include the impedance detector. in one aspect of the method, the rf current generator may generate an rf current of about 100 khz to about 1 mhz. in one aspect of the method, the pre-determined impedance limit may be an impedance of a cauterized tissue. brief description of the figures the features of the various aspects are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. the various aspects, however, both as to organization and methods of operation, together with advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings as follows: fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of one aspect of an electrosurgical instrument. fig. 2 illustrates a perspective view of one aspect of the end effector of the electrosurgical instrument of fig. 1 with the jaws open and the distal end of an axially movable member in a retracted position. fig. 3a illustrates a perspective view of one aspect of the end effector of the electrosurgical instrument of fig. 1 with the jaws closed and the distal end of an axially moveable member in a partially advanced position. fig. 3b illustrates an exploded view of one aspect of the end effector of the electrosurgical instrument of fig. 1 fig. 4 illustrates a perspective view of one aspect of the axially moveable member of the electrosurgical instrument of fig. 1 . fig. 5 illustrates a sectional view of one aspect of the end effector of the electrosurgical instrument of fig. 1 . fig. 6a is a block diagram of an electrosurgical system including a surgical instrument coupled to a generator, according to some aspects. fig. 6b is a simplified block diagram of one form of the wired generator in fig. 6a according to some aspects. fig. 6c illustrates one aspect of an rf drive and control circuit. fig. 6d illustrates one aspect of the main components of a control circuit. fig. 7 is a graph of calculated impedance values of tissue versus the time of application of cauterizing power to the tissue. fig. 8 illustrates one aspect of a circuit incorporating a shunt impedance element reversibly placed in parallel with energy delivery surfaces associated with jaw members of the end effector. fig. 9 illustrates one aspect of an end effector having a contactor. fig. 10 are graphs of calculated impedance values of tissue versus the time of application of cauterizing power to the tissue for an end effector having a circuit with a shunt impedance and an end effector lacking the circuit with shunt impedance. fig. 11 is a graph of calculated impedance values of tissue versus the time of application of cauterizing power to the tissue for an end effector transitioning from a first state to a second state. fig. 12a illustrates one aspect of an end effector having a spring loaded contactor and a separate shunt impedance element in a first state. fig. 12b illustrates one aspect of an end effector having a spring loaded contactor and a separate shunt impedance element in a second state. fig. 13a illustrates a side view of one aspect of an end effector having a contactor that incorporates a shunt impedance element. fig. 13b illustrates an end view of one aspect of an end effector having a contactor that incorporates a shunt impedance element. fig. 14 illustrates an internal view of one aspect of an electrosurgical device having an impedance shunt circuit and switch located within a handle portion of the device. detailed description reference will now be made in detail to several aspects, including example implementations of electrosurgical medical instruments for cutting and coagulating tissue. wherever practicable similar or like reference numbers may be used in the figures and may indicate similar or like functionality. the figures depict examples of the disclosed surgical instruments and/or methods of use for purposes of illustration only. one skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative examples of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein. various aspects of surgical instruments that utilize therapeutic and/or sub-therapeutic electrical energy to treat tissue or provide feedback to the generators (e.g., electrosurgical instruments). the various aspects are adapted for use in a manual or hand operated manner, although electrosurgical instruments may be utilized in robotic applications as well. fig. 1 is a perspective view of one example of a surgical instrument system 100 comprising an electrical energy surgical instrument 110 . the electrosurgical instrument 110 may comprise a proximal handle 112 , a distal working end or end effector 126 and an introducer or elongated shaft 114 disposed in-between. alternatively, the end effector may be attached directly to the handle as in scissor style devices such as the electrosurgical instrument described in u.s. pat. no. 7,582,087. the electrosurgical system 100 can be configured to supply energy, such as electrical energy, ultrasonic energy, heat energy, or any combination thereof, to the tissue of a patient either independently or simultaneously, for example. in one example, the electrosurgical system 100 may include a generator 120 in electrical communication with the electrosurgical instrument 110 . the generator 120 may be connected to the electrosurgical instrument 110 via a suitable transmission medium such as a cable 122 . in one example, the generator 120 may be coupled to a controller, such as a control unit 125 , for example. in various aspects, the control unit 125 may be formed integrally with the generator 120 or may be provided as a separate circuit module or device electrically coupled to the generator 120 (shown in phantom to illustrate this option). the control unit 125 may include automated or manually operated controls to control the amount of current delivered by the generator 120 to the electrosurgical instrument 110 . although as presently disclosed, the generator 120 is shown separate from the electrosurgical instrument 110 , in some aspects, the generator 120 (and/or the control unit 125 ) may be formed integrally with the electrosurgical instrument 110 to form a unitary electrosurgical system 100 , where a battery located within the electrosurgical instrument 110 may be the energy source and a circuit coupled to the battery produces the suitable electrical energy, ultrasonic energy, or heat energy. in one aspect, the generator 120 may comprise an input device located on a front panel of the generator 120 console. the input device may comprise any suitable device that generates signals suitable for programming the operation of the generator 120 , such as a keyboard, or input port, for example. in one example, one or more electrodes in the first jaw 164 a and one or more electrodes in the second jaw 164 b may be coupled to the generator 120 . the cable 122 may comprise multiple electrical conductors for the application of electrical energy to a first electrode (which may be designated as a + electrode) and to a second electrode (which may be designated as a − electrode) of the electrosurgical instrument 110 . it may be recognized that + and − designations are made solely for convenience and do not indicate an electrical polarity. an end of each of the conductors may be placed in electrical communication with a terminal of the generator 120 . the generator 120 may have multiple terminals, each configured to contact one or more of the conductors. the control unit 125 may be used to activate the generator 120 , which may serve as an electrical source. in various aspects, the generator 120 may comprise an rf source, an ultrasonic source, a direct current source, and/or any other suitable type of electrical energy source, for example, which may be activated independently or simultaneously. in various aspects, the electrosurgical system 100 may comprise at least one supply conductor 131 and at least one return conductor 133 , wherein current can be supplied to the electrosurgical instrument 110 via the at least one supply conductor 131 and wherein the current can flow back to the generator 120 via the at least one return conductor 133 . in various aspects, the at least one supply conductor 131 and the at least one return conductor 133 may comprise insulated wires and/or any other suitable type of conductor. as described below, the at least one supply conductor 131 and the at least one return conductor 133 may be contained within and/or may comprise the cable 122 extending between, or at least partially between, the generator 120 and the end effector 126 of the electrosurgical instrument 110 . the generator 120 can be configured to apply a sufficient voltage differential between the supply conductor 131 and the return conductor 133 such that sufficient current can be supplied to the end effector 126 to perform the intended electrosurgical operation. fig. 2 shows a perspective view of one example of the end effector 126 with the jaws 164 a , 164 b open, while fig. 3a shows a perspective view of one aspect of the end effector 126 with the jaws 164 a , 164 b closed. fig. 3b illustrates an exploded view of one aspect of the end effector 126 . as noted above, the end effector 126 may comprise the upper first jaw 164 a and the lower second jaw 164 b , which may be straight or curved. the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b may each comprise an elongated slot or channel 162 a and 162 b , respectively, disposed outwardly along their respective middle portions. further, the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b may each have tissue-gripping elements, such as teeth 163 , disposed on the inner portions of the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b . the first jaw 164 a may comprise an upper first jaw body with an upper first outward-facing surface and an upper first energy delivery surface 165 a . the second jaw 164 b may comprise a lower second jaw body with a lower second outward-facing surface and a lower second energy delivery surface 165 b . the first energy delivery surface 165 a and the second energy delivery surface 165 b may both extend in a “u” shape about the distal end of the end effector 126 . in some non-limiting examples, an insulator 170 may be associated with second jaw 164 b . the insulator 170 may be placed in contact with second energy delivery surface 165 b thereby shielding the second energy delivery surface from direct electrical contact with first energy delivery surface 165 a associated with the first jaw 164 a . it may be recognized that an alternatively an insulator 170 may be placed in contact with first energy delivery surface 165 a thereby shielding the first energy delivery surface from direct electrical contact with second energy delivery surface 165 b associated with the second jaw 164 b. the lever arm 121 of the handle 112 may be adapted to actuate the axially moveable member 178 , which also may function as a jaw-closing mechanism. for example, the axially moveable member 178 may be urged distally as the lever arm 121 is pulled proximally along the path 33 via the shuttle. fig. 4 is a perspective view of one example of the axially moveable member 178 of the surgical instrument 110 . the axially moveable member 178 may comprise one or several pieces, but in any event, may be movable or translatable with respect to the elongated shaft 114 and/or the jaws 164 a , 164 b . also, in at least one example, the axially moveable member 178 may be made of 17-4 precipitation hardened stainless steel. the distal end of axially moveable member 178 may comprise a flanged “i”-beam configured to slide within the channels 162 a and 162 b in jaws 164 a and 164 b . the axially moveable member 178 may slide within the channels 162 a , 162 b to open and close the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b . the distal end of the axially moveable member 178 may also comprise an upper flange or “c” shaped portion 178 a and a lower flange or “c”-shaped portion 178 b . the flanges 178 a , 178 b respectively define inner cam surfaces 167 a and 167 b for engaging outward facing surfaces of the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b . the opening-closing of jaws 164 a and 164 b can apply very high compressive forces on tissue using cam mechanisms which may include movable “i-beam” axially moveable member 178 and the outward facing surfaces 169 a , 169 b of jaws 164 a , 164 b. more specifically, referring now to figs. 2-4 , collectively, the inner cam surfaces 167 a and 167 b of the distal end of axially moveable member 178 may be adapted to slidably engage the first outward-facing surface 169 a and the second outward-facing surface 169 b of the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b , respectively. the channel 162 a within first jaw 164 a and the channel 162 b within the second jaw 164 b may be sized and configured to accommodate the movement of the axially moveable member 178 , which may comprise a tissue-cutting element 171 , for example, comprising a sharp distal edge. fig. 3a , for example, shows the distal end of the axially moveable member 178 advanced at least partially through channels 162 a and 162 b ( fig. 2 ). the advancement of the axially moveable member 178 may close the end effector 126 from the open configuration shown in fig. 2 . in the closed position shown by fig. 3a , the upper first jaw 164 a and the lower second jaw 164 b define a gap or dimension d between the first energy delivery surface 165 a and second energy delivery surface 165 b of the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b , respectively. in various aspects, dimension the d can equal from about 0.0005″ (about 13 μm) to about 0.040″ (about 1 mm), for example, and in some aspects, between about 0.001″ (about 25 μm) to about 0.010″ (about 250 μm), for example. in some non-limiting examples, the dimension d may have values of about 0.0005″ (about 13 μm), about 0.001″ (about 25 μm), about 0.002″ (about 51 μm), about 0.004″ (about 100 μm), about 0.005″ (about 130 μm), about 0.01″ (about 250 μm), about 0.02″ (about 510 μm), about 0.04″ (about 1 mm), or a range between any two of these values including endpoints. also, the edges of the first energy delivery surface 165 a and the second energy delivery surface 165 b may be rounded to prevent the dissection of tissue. fig. 5 is a section view of one example of the end effector 126 of the surgical instrument 110 . the engagement, tissue-contacting, surface 165 b of the lower jaw 164 b is adapted to deliver energy to tissue, at least in part, through a conductive-resistive matrix, such as a variable resistive ptc body, as discussed in more detail below. at least one of the upper and lower jaws 164 a , 164 b may carry at least one electrode 173 configured to deliver the energy from the generator 120 to the captured tissue. the engagement, tissue contacting, surface 165 a of the upper jaw 164 a may carry a similar conductive-resistive matrix (i.e., a ptc material), or in some aspects the surface may be a conductive electrode or an insulating layer, for example. alternatively, the engagement surfaces of the jaws can carry any of the energy delivery components disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 6,773,409, filed oct. 22, 2001, entitled electrosurgical jaw structure for controlled energy delivery, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. the first energy delivery surface 165 a and the second energy delivery surface 165 b each may be in electrical communication with the generator 120 . the first energy delivery surface 165 a and the second energy delivery surface 165 b may be configured to contact tissue and deliver electrosurgical energy to the captured tissue thereby sealing or welding the tissue. electrical generator 120 may include control unit 125 to regulate the electrical energy delivered by the electrical generator to the first energy delivery surface 165 a and the second energy delivery surface 165 b . the energy delivery may be initiated by an activation button 128 ( fig. 1 ) operably engaged with the lever arm 121 and in electrical communication with the generator 120 via a cable 122 . in one example, the electrosurgical instrument 110 may be energized by the generator 120 by way of a foot switch 129 ( fig. 1 ). when actuated, the foot switch 129 triggers the generator 120 to deliver electrical energy to the end effector 126 , for example. although the foot switch 129 may be suitable in many circumstances, other suitable types of switches can be used, such as, for example, a thumb switch incorporated in the body of the electrosurgical instrument 110 . as mentioned above, the electrosurgical energy delivered by electrical generator 120 and regulated, or otherwise controlled, by the control unit 125 may comprise radio frequency (rf) energy, or other suitable forms of electrical energy. further, the opposing first and second energy delivery surfaces 165 a and 165 b may carry variable resistive ptc bodies that are in electrical communication with the generator 120 and the control unit 125 . additional details regarding electrosurgical end effectors, jaw closing mechanisms, and electrosurgical energy delivery surfaces are described in the following u.s. patents and published patent applications: u.s. pat. nos. 7,087,054; 7,083,619; 7,070,597; 7,041,102; 7,011,657; 6,929,644; 6,926,716; 6,913,579; 6,905,497; 6,802,843; 6,770,072; 6,656,177; 6,533,784; and 6,500,112; and u.s. pat. app. pub. nos. 2010/0036370 and 2009/0076506, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of this specification. in one example, the generator 120 may be implemented as an electrosurgery unit (esu) capable of supplying power sufficient to perform bipolar electrosurgery using radio frequency (rf) energy. in one example, the esu can be a force triad™ energy platform sold by medtronic of boulder colo. in some aspects, such as for bipolar electrosurgery applications, a surgical instrument 110 having an active electrode and a return electrode can be utilized, wherein the active electrode and the return electrode can be positioned against, adjacent to and/or in electrical communication with, the tissue to be treated such that current can flow from the active electrode, through the ptc bodies and to the return electrode through the tissue. thus, in various aspects, the electrosurgical system 100 may comprise a supply path and a return path, wherein the captured tissue being treated completes, or closes, the circuit. in other aspects, the generator 120 may provide sub-therapeutic rf energy levels for purposes of evaluating tissue conditions and providing feedback in the electrosurgical system 100 . such feed back may be employed to control the therapeutic rf energy output of the electrosurgical instrument 110 . sub-therapeutic rf energy levels may be used for bipolar surgical procedures if a risk analysis shows the possibility of neuromuscular stimulation has been mitigated to an acceptable level. under some conditions, frequencies above 5 mhz may not be used in order to minimize problems associated with high frequency leakage currents. however, higher frequencies may be used in the case of bipolar techniques. it is generally recognized that 10 ma is the lower threshold of thermal effects on tissue. during operation of electrosurgical instrument 110 , the user generally grasps tissue, supplies energy to the grasped tissue to form a weld or a seal (e.g., by actuating button 128 and/or pedal 129 ), and then drives a tissue-cutting element 171 at the distal end of the axially moveable member 178 through the grasped tissue. according to various aspects, the translation of the axial movement of the axially moveable member 178 may be paced, or otherwise controlled, to aid in driving the axially moveable member 178 at a suitable rate of travel. by controlling the rate of the travel, the likelihood that the captured tissue has been properly and functionally sealed prior to transection with the cutting element 171 is increased. fig. 6a is a block diagram of a surgical system electronic portion 4900 comprising a surgical instrument 110 ( fig. 1 ) coupled to a generator 4935 , according to some aspects. the surgical instrument 110 described in the present disclosure, may be coupled to a generator 4935 configured to supply power to the surgical instrument 110 through external means, examples of which will be provided in more detail below. in certain instances, the surgical instrument 100 may include a microcontroller 4915 coupled to an external wired generator 4935 . the external generator 4935 may be powered by ac mains. the electrical and electronic circuit elements associated with the surgical instrument 110 and/or the generator 4935 may be supported by a control circuit board assembly, for example. the microcontroller 4915 may generally comprise a memory 4910 and a microprocessor 4905 (“processor”) operationally coupled to the memory 4910 . the surgical system electronic portion 4900 may be configured to control transmission of energy to the electrodes 173 at the end effector 126 of the surgical instrument. it should be understood that the term processor as used herein includes any suitable microprocessor, microcontroller, or other basic computing device that incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit (cpu) on an integrated circuit or at most a few integrated circuits. the processor 4905 may be a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. it is an example of sequential digital logic, as it has internal memory. processors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system. in some cases, the processor 4905 may be any single core or multicore processor such as those known under the trade name arm cortex by texas instruments. in some cases, any of the surgical instruments of the present disclosures may comprise a safety processor such as, for example, a safety microcontroller platform comprising two microcontroller-based families such as tms570 and rm4x known under the trade name hercules arm cortex r4, also by texas instruments. nevertheless, other suitable substitutes for microcontrollers and safety processor may be employed, without limitation. in certain instances, the microcontroller 4915 may be an lm 4f230h5qr, available from texas instruments, for example. in at least one example, the texas instruments lm4f230h5qr is an arm cortex-m4f processor core comprising on-chip memory 4910 of 256 kb single-cycle flash memory, or other non-volatile memory, up to 40 mhz, a prefetch buffer to improve performance above 40 mhz, a 32 kb single-cycle serial random access memory (sram), internal read-only memory (rom) loaded with stellarisware® software, 2 kb electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (eeprom), one or more pulse width modulation (pwm) modules, one or more quadrature encoder inputs (qei) analog, one or more 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (adc) with 12 analog input channels, among other features that are readily available for the product datasheet. other microcontrollers may be readily substituted for use in the surgical instrument 110 . accordingly, the present disclosure should not be limited in this context. in certain instances, the surgical instrument 110 may comprise one or more embedded applications implemented as firmware, software, hardware, or any combination thereof. in certain instances, the surgical instrument 110 may comprise various executable modules such as software, programs, data, drivers, and/or application program interfaces (apis), for example. fig. 6b is a simplified block diagram 5000 of one form of the generator 4935 . additional details of the generator 4935 are described in commonly assigned and contemporaneously filed u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/896,360, titled “surgical generator for ultrasonic and electrosurgical devices,” attorney docket number end6673usnp/100558, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. wth reference to fig. 6b , the generator 5000 may comprise a patient isolated stage 5034 in communication with a non-isolated stage 5002 via a power transformer 5032 . a secondary winding 5036 of the power transformer 5032 is contained in the isolated stage 5034 and may comprise a tapped configuration (e.g., a center-tapped or a non-center-tapped configuration) to define drive signal outputs 5038 , 5044 , 5048 for outputting drive signals to different surgical devices, such as, for example, a surgical device 100 having an end effector 126 with electrodes 173 as in fig. 5 . in particular, drive signal outputs 5044 , 5048 may output an electrosurgical drive signal (e.g., a 100v rms drive signal) to a power and control assembly, with output 5044 corresponding to the center tap of the power transformer 5032 . the non-isolated stage 5002 may comprise a power amplifier 5026 having an output connected to a primary winding 5062 of the power transformer 5032 . in certain forms the power amplifier 5026 may be comprise a push-pull amplifier. for example, the non-isolated stage 5002 may further comprise a logic device 5018 for supplying a digital output to a digital-to-analog converter (dac) 5020 , which in turn supplies a corresponding analog signal to an input of the power amplifier 5026 . in certain forms the logic device 5018 may comprise a programmable gate array (pga), a field-programmable gate array (fpga), programmable logic device (pld), among other logic circuits, for example. the logic device 5018 , by virtue of controlling the input of the power amplifier 5026 via the dac 5020 , may therefore control any of a number of parameters (e.g., frequency, waveform shape, waveform amplitude) of drive signals appearing at the drive signal outputs 5038 , 5044 , 5048 . in certain forms and as discussed below, the logic device 5018 , in conjunction with a processor (e.g., a digital signal processor discussed below), may implement a number of digital signal processing (dsp)-based and/or other control algorithms to control parameters of the drive signals output by the generator 5000 . power may be supplied to a power rail of the power amplifier 5026 by a switch-mode regulator 5004 . in certain forms the switch-mode regulator 5004 may comprise an adjustable buck regulator, for example. the non-isolated stage 5002 may further comprise a first processor 5012 , which in one form may comprise a dsp processor such as an analog devices adsp-21469 sharc dsp, available from analog devices, norwood, mass., for example, although in various forms any suitable processor may be employed. in certain forms the processor 5012 may control operation of the switch-mode power converter 5004 responsive to voltage feedback data received from the power amplifier 5026 by the dsp processor 5012 via an analog-to-digital converter (adc) 5008 . in one form, for example, the dsp processor 5012 may receive as input, via the adc 5008 , the waveform envelope of a signal (e.g., an rf signal) being amplified by the power amplifier 5026 . the dsp processor 5012 may then control the switch-mode regulator 5004 (e.g., via a pulse-width modulated (pwm) output) such that the rail voltage supplied to the power amplifier 5026 tracks the waveform envelope of the amplified signal. by dynamically modulating the rail voltage of the power amplifier 5026 based on the waveform envelope, the efficiency of the power amplifier 5026 may be significantly improved relative to a fixed rail voltage amplifier schemes. in certain forms, the logic device 5018 , in conjunction with the dsp processor 5012 , may implement a direct digital synthesizer (dds) control scheme to control the waveform shape, frequency and/or amplitude of drive signals output by the generator 5000 . in one form, for example, the logic device 5018 may implement a dds control algorithm by recalling waveform samples stored in a dynamically-updated look-up table (lut), such as a ram lut, which may be embedded in an fpga. because the waveform shape of a drive signal output by the generator 5000 is impacted by various sources of distortion present in the output drive circuit (e.g., the power transformer 5032 , the power amplifier 5026 ), voltage and current feedback data based on the drive signal may be input into an algorithm, such as an error control algorithm implemented by the dsp processor 5012 , which compensates for distortion by suitably pre-distorting or modifying the waveform samples stored in the lut on a dynamic, ongoing basis (e.g., in real-time). in one form, the amount or degree of pre-distortion applied to the lut samples may be based on the error between a computed motional branch current and a desired current waveform shape, with the error being determined on a sample-by-sample basis. in this way, the pre-distorted lut samples, when processed through the drive circuit, may result in a motional branch drive signal having the desired waveform shape (e.g., sinusoidal) for optimally driving an ultrasonic transducer. in such forms, the lut waveform samples will therefore not represent the desired waveform shape of the drive signal, but rather the waveform shape that is required to ultimately produce the desired waveform shape of the motional branch drive signal when distortion effects are taken into account. the non-isolated stage 5002 may further comprise an adc 5022 and an adc 5024 coupled to the output of the power transformer 5032 via respective isolation transformers 5028 , 5030 for respectively sampling the voltage and current of drive signals output by the generator 5000 . in certain forms, the adcs 5022 , 5024 may be configured to sample at high speeds (e.g., 80 msps) to enable oversampling of the drive signals. in one form, for example, the sampling speed of the adcs 5022 , 5024 may enable approximately 200× (depending on frequency) oversampling of the drive signals. in certain forms, the sampling operations of the adc 5022 , 5024 may be performed by a single adc receiving input voltage and current signals via a two-way multiplexer. the use of high-speed sampling in forms of the generator 5000 may enable, among other things, calculation of the complex current flowing through the motional branch (which may be used in certain forms to implement dds-based waveform shape control described above), accurate digital filtering of the sampled signals, and calculation of real power consumption with a high degree of precision. voltage and current feedback data output by the adcs 5022 , 5024 may be received and processed (e.g., fifo buffering, multiplexing) by the logic device 5018 and stored in data memory for subsequent retrieval by, for example, the dsp processor 5012 . as noted above, voltage and current feedback data may be used as input to an algorithm for pre-distorting or modifying lut waveform samples on a dynamic and ongoing basis. in certain forms, this may require each stored voltage and current feedback data pair to be indexed based on, or otherwise associated with, a corresponding lut sample that was output by the logic device 5018 when the voltage and current feedback data pair was acquired. synchronization of the lut samples and the voltage and current feedback data in this manner contributes to the correct timing and stability of the pre-distortion algorithm. in certain forms, the voltage and current feedback data may be used to control the frequency and/or amplitude (e.g., current amplitude) of the drive signals. in one form, for example, voltage and current feedback data may be used to determine impedance phase. the frequency of the drive signal may then be controlled to minimize or reduce the difference between the determined impedance phase and an impedance phase setpoint (e.g., 0°), thereby minimizing or reducing the effects of harmonic distortion and correspondingly enhancing impedance phase measurement accuracy. the determination of phase impedance and a frequency control signal may be implemented in the dsp processor 5012 , for example, with the frequency control signal being supplied as input to a dds control algorithm implemented by the logic device 5018 . in another form, for example, the current feedback data may be monitored in order to maintain the current amplitude of the drive signal at a current amplitude setpoint. the current amplitude setpoint may be specified directly or determined indirectly based on specified voltage amplitude and power setpoints. in certain forms, control of the current amplitude may be implemented by control algorithm, such as, for example, a pid control algorithm, in the processor 5012 . variables controlled by the control algorithm to suitably control the current amplitude of the drive signal may include, for example, the scaling of the lut waveform samples stored in the logic device 5018 and/or the full-scale output voltage of the dac 5020 (which supplies the input to the power amplifier 5026 ) via a dac 5010 . the non-isolated stage 5002 may further comprise a second processor 5014 for providing, among other things user interface (ui) functionality. in one form, the ui processor 5014 may comprise an atmel at91sam9263 processor having an arm 926ej-s core, available from atmel corporation, san jose, calif., for example. examples of ui functionality supported by the ui processor 5014 may include audible and visual user feedback, communication with peripheral devices (e.g., via a universal serial bus (usb) interface), communication with a footswitch, communication with an input device (e.g., a touch screen display indicators 4930 ) and communication with an output device (e.g., a speaker). the ui processor 5014 may communicate with the processor 5012 and the logic device 5018 (e.g., via serial peripheral interface (spi) buses). although the ui processor 5014 may primarily support ui functionality, it also may coordinate with the dsp processor 5012 to implement hazard mitigation in certain forms. for example, the ui processor 5014 may be programmed to monitor various aspects of user input and/or other inputs (e.g., touch screen inputs, footswitch inputs, temperature sensor inputs) and may disable the drive output of the generator 5000 when an erroneous condition is detected. in certain forms, both the dsp processor 5012 and the ui processor 5014 , for example, may determine and monitor the operating state of the generator 5000 . for the dsp processor 5012 , the operating state of the generator 5000 may dictate, for example, which control and/or diagnostic processes are implemented by the dsp processor 5012 . for the ui processor 5014 , the operating state of the generator 5000 may dictate, for example, which elements of a user interface (e.g., display screens, sounds) are presented to a user. the respective dsp and ui processors 5012 , 5014 may independently maintain the current operating state of the generator 5000 and recognize and evaluate possible transitions out of the current operating state. the dsp processor 5012 may function as the master in this relationship and determine when transitions between operating states are to occur. the ui processor 5014 may be aware of valid transitions between operating states and may confirm if a particular transition is appropriate. for example, when the dsp processor 5012 instructs the ui processor 5014 to transition to a specific state, the ui processor 5014 may verify that requested transition is valid. in the event that a requested transition between states is determined to be invalid by the ui processor 5014 , the ui processor 5014 may cause the generator 5000 to enter a failure mode. the non-isolated stage 5002 may further comprise a controller 5016 for monitoring input devices (e.g., a capacitive touch sensor used for turning the generator 5000 on and off, a capacitive touch screen). in certain forms, the controller 5016 may comprise at least one processor and/or other controller device in communication with the ui processor 5014 . in one form, for example, the controller 5016 may comprise a processor (e.g., a mega168 8-bit controller available from atmel) configured to monitor user input provided via one or more capacitive touch sensors. in one form, the controller 5016 may comprise a touch screen controller (e.g., a qt5480 touch screen controller available from atmel) to control and manage the acquisition of touch data from a capacitive touch screen. in certain forms, when the generator 5000 is in a “power off” state, the controller 5016 may continue to receive operating power (e.g., via a line from a power supply of the generator 5000 ). in this way, the controller 5016 may continue to monitor an input device (e.g., a capacitive touch sensor located on a front panel of the generator 5000 ) for turning the generator 5000 on and off. when the generator 5000 is in the power off state, the controller 5016 may wake the power supply (e.g., enable operation of one or more dc/dc voltage converters 5060 of the power supply 5006 ) if activation of the “on/off” input device by a user is detected. the controller 5016 may therefore initiate a sequence for transitioning the generator 5000 to a “power on” state. conversely, the controller 5016 may initiate a sequence for transitioning the generator 5000 to the power off state if activation of the “on/off” input device is detected when the generator 5000 is in the power on state. in certain forms, for example, the controller 5016 may report activation of the “on/off” input device to the processor 5014 , which in turn implements the necessary process sequence for transitioning the generator 5000 to the power off state. in such forms, the controller 5016 may have no independent ability for causing the removal of power from the generator 5000 after its power on state has been established. in certain forms, the controller 5016 may cause the generator 5000 to provide audible or other sensory feedback for alerting the user that a power on or power off sequence has been initiated. such an alert may be provided at the beginning of a power on or power off sequence and prior to the commencement of other processes associated with the sequence. in certain forms, the isolated stage 5034 may comprise an instrument interface circuit 5050 to, for example, provide a communication interface between a control circuit of a surgical device (e.g., a control circuit comprising hand piece switches) and components of the non-isolated stage 5002 , such as, for example, the programmable logic device 5018 , the dsp processor 5012 and/or the ui processor 5014 . the instrument interface circuit 5050 may exchange information with components of the non-isolated stage 5002 via a communication link that maintains a suitable degree of electrical isolation between the stages 5034 , 5002 , such as, for example, an infrared (ir)-based communication link. power may be supplied to the instrument interface circuit 5050 using, for example, a low-dropout voltage regulator powered by an isolation transformer driven from the non-isolated stage 5002 . in one form, the instrument interface circuit 5050 may comprise a logic device 5054 (e.g., logic circuit, programmable logic circuit, pga, fpga, pld) in communication with a signal conditioning circuit 5052 . the signal conditioning circuit 5052 may be configured to receive a periodic signal from the logic circuit 5054 (e.g., a 2 khz square wave) to generate a bipolar interrogation signal having an identical frequency. the interrogation signal may be generated, for example, using a bipolar current source fed by a differential amplifier. the interrogation signal may be communicated to a surgical device control circuit (e.g., by using a conductive pair in a cable that connects the generator 5000 to the surgical device) and monitored to determine a state or configuration of the control circuit. the control circuit may comprise a number of switches, resistors and/or diodes to modify one or more characteristics (e.g., amplitude, rectification) of the interrogation signal such that a state or configuration of the control circuit is uniquely discernable based on the one or more characteristics. in one form, for example, the signal conditioning circuit 5052 may comprises an adc for generating samples of a voltage signal appearing across inputs of the control circuit resulting from passage of interrogation signal therethrough. the logic device 5054 (or a component of the non-isolated stage 5002 ) may then determine the state or configuration of the control circuit based on the adc samples. in one form, the instrument interface circuit 5050 may comprise a first data circuit interface 5056 to enable information exchange between the logic circuit 5054 (or other element of the instrument interface circuit 5050 ) and a first data circuit disposed in or otherwise associated with a surgical device. in certain forms, for example, a first data circuit may be disposed in a cable integrally attached to a surgical device hand piece, or in an adaptor for interfacing a specific surgical device type or model with the generator 5000 . the data circuit may be implemented in any suitable manner and may communicate with the generator according to any suitable protocol. in certain forms, the first data circuit may comprise a non-volatile storage device, such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (eeprom) device. in certain forms, the first data circuit interface 5056 may be implemented separately from the logic device 5054 and comprise suitable circuitry (e.g., discrete logic devices, a processor) to enable communication between the programmable logic device 5054 and the first data circuit. in other forms, the first data circuit interface 5056 may be integral with the logic device 5054 . in certain forms, the first data circuit may store information pertaining to the particular surgical device with which it is associated. such information may include, for example, a model number, a serial number, a number of operations in which the surgical device has been used, and/or any other type of information. this information may be read by the instrument interface circuit 5050 (e.g., by the logic device 5054 ), transferred to a component of the non-isolated stage 5002 (e.g., to logic device 5018 , dsp processor 5012 and/or ui processor 5014 ) for presentation to a user via an output device and/or for controlling a function or operation of the generator 5000 . additionally, any type of information may be communicated to first data circuit for storage therein via the first data circuit interface 5056 (e.g., using the logic device 5054 ). such information may comprise, for example, an updated number of operations in which the surgical device has been used and/or dates and/or times of its usage. additionally, forms of the generator 5000 may enable communication with instrument-based data circuits. for example, the generator 5000 may be configured to communicate with a second data circuit contained in an instrument of a surgical device. the instrument interface circuit 5050 may comprise a second data circuit interface 5058 to enable this communication. in one form, the second data circuit interface 5058 may comprise a tri-state digital interface, although other interfaces also may be used. in certain forms, the second data circuit may generally be any circuit for transmitting and/or receiving data. in one form, for example, the second data circuit may store information pertaining to the particular surgical instrument 110 with which it is associated. such information may include, for example, a model number, a serial number, a number of operations in which the surgical instrument 110 has been used, and/or any other type of information. in some forms, the second data circuit may store information about the electrical properties of an end effector 126 , or attachable components including the electrodes 173 . for example, the first data circuit may indicate a burn-in frequency slope, as described herein. additionally or alternatively, any type of information may be communicated to second data circuit for storage therein via the second data circuit interface 5058 (e.g., using the logic device 5054 ). such information may comprise, for example, an updated number of operations in which the instrument has been used and/or dates and/or times of its usage. in certain forms, the second data circuit may transmit data acquired by one or more sensors (e.g., an instrument-based temperature sensor). in certain forms, the second data circuit may receive data from the generator 5000 and provide an indication to a user (e.g., an led indication or other visible indication) based on the received data. in certain forms, the second data circuit and the second data circuit interface 5058 may be configured such that communication between the logic device 5054 and the second data circuit can be effected without the need to provide additional conductors for this purpose (e.g., dedicated conductors of a cable connecting a hand piece to the generator 5000 ). in one form, for example, information may be communicated to and from the second data circuit using a 1-wire bus communication scheme implemented on existing cabling, such as one of the conductors used transmit interrogation signals from the signal conditioning circuit 5052 to a control circuit in a hand piece. in this way, design changes or modifications to the surgical device that might otherwise be necessary are minimized or reduced. moreover, because different types of communications implemented over a common physical channel can be frequency-band separated, the presence of a second data circuit may be “invisible” to generators that do not have the requisite data reading functionality, thus enabling backward compatibility of the surgical device instrument. in certain forms, the isolated stage 5034 may comprise at least one blocking capacitor 5040 connected to the drive signal output 5044 to prevent passage of dc current to a patient. a single blocking capacitor may be required to comply with medical regulations or standards, for example. while failure in single-capacitor designs is relatively uncommon, such failure may nonetheless have negative consequences. in one form, a second blocking capacitor 5042 may be provided in series with the blocking capacitor 5040 , with current leakage from a point between the blocking capacitors 5040 , 5042 being monitored by, for example, an adc 5046 for sampling a voltage induced by leakage current. the samples may be received by the logic circuit 5054 , for example. based changes in the leakage current, the generator 5000 may determine when at least one of the blocking capacitors 5040 , 5042 has failed. accordingly, the form of fig. 8b provides a benefit over single-capacitor designs having a single point of failure. in certain forms, the non-isolated stage 5002 may comprise a power supply 5006 for outputting dc power at a suitable voltage and current. the power supply may comprise, for example, a 400 w power supply for outputting a 48 vdc system voltage. the power supply 5006 may further comprise one or more dc/dc voltage converters 5060 for receiving the output of the power supply to generate dc outputs at the voltages and currents required by the various components of the generator 5000 . as discussed above in connection with the controller 5016 , one or more of the dc/dc voltage converters 5060 may receive an input from the controller 5016 when activation of the “on/off” input device by a user is detected by the controller 5016 to enable operation of, or wake, the dc/dc voltage converters 5060 . it may be recognized that external generator 4925 and exemplary external generator 5000 may all be considered non-limiting examples of generator 120 depicted in fig. 1 . fig. 6c is a part schematic part block diagram illustrating an rf drive and control circuitry 220 used in some aspects to generate and control the rf electrical energy supplied to the electrodes 173 described above. the drive circuitry 220 may describe part or all of the components in internal generator 4940 sufficient for providing power and control to the electrodes. as will be explained in more detail below, the drive circuitry 220 is a resonant based circuit and the control circuitry operates to control the operating frequency of the drive signal so that it is varied around the resonant frequency of the drive circuit, which in turn controls the amount of power supplied to the electrodes 173 at the end effector 126 . the way that this is achieved will become apparent from the following description. the drive circuit 220 may be configured in any suitable manner. in some aspects, the generator circuit comprises an rf drive and control circuit 240 and a controller circuit 282 . fig. 6c illustrates an rf drive and control circuit 240 , according to one aspect. fig. 6c is a part schematic part block diagram illustrating the rf drive and control circuitry 240 used in this aspect to generate and control the rf electrical energy supplied to the end effector 126 . as will be explained in more detail below, in this aspect, the drive circuitry 240 is a resonant mode rf amplifier comprising a parallel resonant network on the rf amplifier output and the control circuitry operates to control the operating frequency of the drive signal so that it is maintained at the resonant frequency of the drive circuit, which in turn controls the amount of power supplied to the end effector 126 . the way that this is achieved will become apparent from the following description. as shown in fig. 6c , the rf drive and control circuit 240 comprises the above described battery 237 are arranged to supply, in this example, about 0v and about 12v rails. an input capacitor (c in ) 242 is connected between the 0v and the 12v for providing a low source impedance. a pair of fet switches 243 - 1 and 243 - 2 (both of which are n-channel in this aspect to reduce power losses) is connected in series between the 0v rail and the 12v rail. fet gate drive circuitry 245 is provided that generates two drive signals-one for driving each of the two fets 243 . the fet gate drive circuitry 245 generates drive signals that causes the upper fet ( 243 - 1 ) to be on when the lower fet ( 243 - 2 ) is off and vice versa. this causes the node 247 to be alternately connected to the 12v rail (when the fet 243 - 1 is switched on) and the 0v rail (when the fet 243 - 2 is switched on). fig. 8b also shows the internal parasitic diodes 248 - 1 and 248 - 2 of the corresponding fets 243 , which conduct during any periods that the fets 243 are closed. as shown in fig. 6c , the node 247 is connected to an inductor-inductor resonant circuit 250 formed by inductor l s 252 and inductor l m 254 . the fet gate driving circuitry 245 is arranged to generate drive signals at a drive frequency (f d ) that opens and crosses the fet switches 243 at the resonant frequency of the parallel resonant circuit 250 . as a result of the resonant characteristic of the resonant circuit 250 , the square wave voltage at node 247 will cause a substantially sinusoidal current at the drive frequency (f d ) to flow within the resonant circuit 250 . as illustrated in fig. 6c , the inductor l m 254 is the primary of a transformer 255 , the secondary of which is formed by inductor l sec 256 . the inductor l sec 256 of the transformer 255 secondary is connected to an inductor-capacitor-capacitor parallel resonant circuit 257 formed by inductor l 2 258 , capacitor c 4 260 , and capacitor c 2 262 . the transformer 255 up-converts the drive voltage (v d ) across the inductor l m 254 to the voltage that is applied to the output parallel resonant circuit 257 . the load voltage (v l ) is output by the parallel resonant circuit 257 and is applied to the load (represented by the load resistance r load 259 in fig. 8c ) corresponding to the impedance of the forceps' jaws and any tissue or vessel gripped by the end effector 126 . as shown in fig. 8c , a pair of dc blocking capacitors c h 280 - 1 and 280 - 2 is provided to block any dc signal being applied to the load 259 . in one aspect, the transformer 255 may be implemented with a core diameter (mm), wire diameter (mm), and gap between secondary windings in accordance with the following specifications: core diameter, d (mm) d= 19.9×10 −3 wire diameter, w (mm) for 22 awg wire w= 7.366×10 −4 gap between secondary windings, in gap=0.125 g =gap/25.4 in this aspect, the amount of electrical power supplied to the end effector 126 is controlled by varying the frequency of the switching signals used to switch the fets 243 . this works because the resonant circuit 250 acts as a frequency dependent (lossless) attenuator. the closer the drive signal is to the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit 250 , the less the drive signal is attenuated. similarly, as the frequency of the drive signal is moved away from the resonant frequency of the circuit 250 , the more the drive signal is attenuated and so the power supplied to the load reduces. in this aspect, the frequency of the switching signals generated by the fet gate drive circuitry 245 is controlled by a controller 281 based on a desired power to be delivered to the load 259 and measurements of the load voltage (v l ) and of the load current (i l ) obtained by conventional voltage sensing circuitry 283 and current sensing circuitry 285 . the way that the controller 281 operates will be described in more detail below. in one aspect, the voltage sensing circuitry 283 and the current sensing circuitry 285 may be implemented with high bandwidth, high speed rail-to-rail amplifiers (e.g., lmh6643 by national semiconductor). such amplifiers, however, consume a relatively high current when they are operational. accordingly, a power save circuit may be provided to reduce the supply voltage of the amplifiers when they are not being used in the voltage sensing circuitry 283 and the current sensing circuitry 285 . in one aspect, a step-down regulator (e.g., l t1502 by linear technologies) may be employed by the power save circuit to reduce the supply voltage of the rail-to-rail amplifiers and thus extend the life of the battery 237 . fig. 6d illustrates the main components of the controller 281 , according to one aspect. as illustrated in fig. 6d , the controller 281 is a microprocessor based controller and so most of the components illustrated in fig. 6d are software based components. nevertheless, a hardware based controller 281 may be used instead. as shown, the controller 281 includes synchronous i, q sampling circuitry 291 that receives the sensed voltage and current signals from the sensing circuitry 283 and 285 and obtains corresponding samples which are passed to a power, v rms and i rms calculation module 293 . the calculation module 293 uses the received samples to calculate the rms voltage and rms current applied to the load 259 ( fig. 6c ; end effector 126 and tissue/vessel gripped thereby) and from them the power that is presently being supplied to the load 259 . the determined values are then passed to a frequency control module 295 and a medical device control module 297 . the medical device control module 297 uses the values to determine the present impedance of the load 259 and based on this determined impedance and a pre-defined algorithm, determines what set point power (p set ) should be applied to the frequency control module 295 . the medical device control module 297 is in turn controlled by signals received from a user input module 299 that receives inputs from the user (for example pressing buttons or activating the control levers 114 , 110 on the handle 104 ) and also controls output devices (lights, a display, speaker or the like) on the handle 104 via a user output module 261 . the frequency control module 295 uses the values obtained from the calculation module 293 and the power set point (p set ) obtained from the medical device control module 297 and predefined system limits (to be explained below), to determine whether or not to increase or decrease the applied frequency. the result of this decision is then passed to a square wave generation module 263 which, in this aspect, increments or decrements the frequency of a square wave signal that it generates by about 1 khz, depending on the received decision. as those skilled in the art will appreciate, alternatively, the frequency control module 295 may determine not only whether to increase or decrease the frequency, but also the amount of frequency change required. in this case, the square wave generation module 263 would generate the corresponding square wave signal with the desired frequency shift. in this aspect, the square wave signal generated by the square wave generation module 263 is output to the fet gate drive circuitry 245 , which amplifies the signal and then applies it to the fet 243 - 1 . the fet gate drive circuitry 245 also inverts the signal applied to the fet 243 - 1 and applies the inverted signal to the fet 243 - 2 . in some non-limiting medical procedures, the electrosurgical system 100 may be used to weld or seal vessels prior to tissue resection. such vessels may also be removed as part of procedures to resect other tissue such as cysts, tumors, or infected materials. blood vessel sealing may reduce bleeding, thereby decreasing potential harmful effects during a resection procedure. in such procedures, the vessels may be cut at the cauterization location. it may be understood that complete sealing is required at the site of the cut to prevent bleeding. it is therefore useful to have an electrosurgical device such as the electrosurgical system 100 that is prevented from cutting the vessel until complete sealing is assured. in some aspects, an electrosurgical system 100 may include automated features to prevent the vessel from being severed before sealing is complete. in some aspects, such an automated feature may rely on the change of tissue impedance during cauterization to determine when the vessel may be cut. it is known that normal tissue, comprising water and electrolytes, presents a low impedance to electrical current. however, the process of cauterization removes water and causes tissue to oxidize into less conductive materials. fig. 7 depicts a graph 900 of calculated tissue impedance versus time of exposure to rf power. it may be appreciated that the tissue impedance 910 starts at a low value (at short times) due to the amount of water and ionic charge carriers present in the tissue. however, as the power deposited in the tissue increases over time, water is removed and the tissue is converted into non-conducting material, thereby increasing the tissue impedance. a threshold value of tissue impedance 920 may be chosen as being indicative that the tissue has been cauterized sufficiently. the threshold value indicative of sufficient cauterization 920 may have an impedance value of about 100ω to about 500ω. in some non-limiting examples, the threshold impedance value may be about 100ω, about 200ω, about 300ω, about 400ω, about 500ω, or any value therebetween including endpoints. in one non-limiting example, the threshold value 920 may have an impedance of about 450ω. therefore, in one non-limiting example, an electrosurgical system 100 may include logic, implemented in hardware and/or software, that prevents the use of a tissue cutting element 171 until the measured impedance is greater than the threshold value of tissue impedance 920 . in an alternative non-limiting example, an electrosurgical system 100 may include one or more indicators to notify a physician using the electrosurgical system that the tissue has been properly sealed so that a tissue cutting knife may be deployed to sever the tissue. such indicators may include, without limitation, an optical indicator (such as a light or an led) or an auditory indicator (such as a tone, a buzzer, or a vocalization produced by a speech synthesizer). proper sealing may require that sufficient pressure is placed on the vessel to assure that the vessel walls are proximate to each other and that no intervening gap remains therebetween. in addition, proper sealing may require that sufficient power is provided to assure that the vessel walls receive sufficient heat to weld the walls together. thus both tissue compression and tissue cauterization are required to form a proper seal. as disclosed above, end effector 126 comprises jaws 164 a and 164 b that can be manipulated to compress a tissue, such as a blood vessel, between them. jaws 164 a , 164 b may be closer together when the tissue is compressed compared to their relative positions when not compressing a tissue. it may be understood that the amount of movement of a first jaw (for example 164 a ) with respect to the second jaw (for example 164 b ) may depend on the thickness of the tissue (which may include a blood vessel) or the placement of the tissue between the jaws. as a result, a user of the electrosurgical system 100 may not know when the jaws 164 a and 164 b of the end effector 126 have sufficiently compressed the tissue or vessel to assure that a proper seal is made. if the jaws 164 a and 164 b do not compress the tissue sufficiently when rf energy is applied, then the impedance of the cauterized tissue may not be a sufficient indicator that the tissue has been sealed. if the logic of the electrosurgical system 100 depends solely on a measured value of tissue impedance being greater than the threshold value 920 indicative of cauterized tissue, the system may allow the tissue cutting element 171 to sever an unsealed or partially sealed blood vessel. presently, spring based jaw closure devices do not ensure that the jaws have sufficiently compressed the vessel walls when the impedance threshold is measured. in some non-limiting examples, a measurement of jaw proximity may include the use of additional switches, sensors, potentiometers, and contacts coupled to a signal circuit to send a signal to the generator 120 that the jaw gap is or is not adequate. generators 120 in use in the field may not be capable of enabling the additional functionality of sensors. fig. 8 depicts an electrical circuit schematic that incorporates a shunt impedance circuit 350 that is reversibly placed in parallel to the capacitive circuit formed by the energy delivery surfaces 165 a , 165 b of the end effector 126 . generator 120 may include three terminals, an rf source terminal 310 , a signal source terminal 330 , and a common ground or neutral terminal 320 . the first energy delivery surface 165 a may receive rf current from the rf source terminal 310 , and the second energy delivery surface 165 b may be in electrical communication with the common ground or neutral terminal 320 . the shunt impedance circuit 350 may be reversibly placed in parallel with the energy delivery surfaces 165 a , 165 b . the shunt impedance circuit 350 may include a shunt impedance element 360 and a shunt switch 370 . although fig. 8 depicts the shunt impedance element 360 as a resistor, other electrical components may comprise the shunt impedance element. such components may include, without limitation, any one or more of a fixed resistor, a fixed capacitor, a fixed inductor, a variable resistor, a variable capacitor, or a variable inductor. other components may include a thermistor or other sensor configured to measure or respond to environmental factors such as tissue temperature, mechanical force, or jaw proximity. when the shunt switch 370 is closed, the shunt impedance element 360 is placed in parallel to the energy delivery surfaces 165 a , 165 b . when the shunt switch 370 is open, the shunt impedance element is functionally removed from the circuit. an energy signal switch 2829 may be activated by a physician to signal the generator 120 to provide rf energy from the rf source terminal 310 . the energy signal switch 2829 may include an energy activation button 128 located on the handle 112 of the electrosurgical device 110 . alternatively, the energy signal switch 2829 may include a foot switch 129 . when a physician activates the energy signal switch 2829 , current from the signal source terminal 330 may flow to the ground or neutral terminal 320 . the current flow from the signal source terminal 330 may be sensed by the generator 120 which will respond by sourcing current through the rf course terminal 310 . in some non-limiting examples, the current flow from the signal source terminal 330 may be sensed by a transistor. in another non-limiting example, the current flow from the signal source terminal 330 may activate a solenoid coil in a relay to close a switch thereby sourcing the rf current to the rf source terminal 310 . fig. 9 depicts an end effector 126 configured to prevent an electrosurgical system from receiving impedance measurements consistent with a cauterized vessel from tissue that has not been cauterized. the end effector 126 may comprise a first jaw 164 a that can be moved relative to a second jaw 164 b , thereby forming a jaw angle α therebetween. in one non-limiting example, such a movement may require a rotation of a portion of the first jaw 164 a about a pivot 1125 mechanically linked the two jaws 164 a , 164 b together. the first jaw 164 a may comprise a first energy delivery surface 165 a and the second jaw 164 b may comprise a second energy delivery surface 165 b . such energy delivery surfaces ( 165 a and 165 b ) may be configured to deliver rf energy to a tissue compressed by the jaws 164 a , 164 b . each energy delivery surface ( 165 a and 165 b ) may be in electrical communication with an electrode. each electrode may be in mechanical communication with a jaw ( 164 a or 164 b ) of the end effector 126 . as one non-limiting example, supply electrode 173 may be in electrical communication with the second energy delivery surface 165 b , both of which being incorporated into the second jaw 164 b . each electrode may be in electrical communication with a terminal of generator 120 via a conductor. in one non-limiting example, electrode 173 in electrical communication with the energy delivery surface 165 b of second jaw 164 b may be in electrical communication with a rf source terminal 310 of generator 120 via supply conductor 131 . the first jaw 164 a may have an electrode in electrical communication with an energy delivery surface 165 a and a common ground or neutral terminal 320 of generator 120 via return conductor 133 . when the jaws ( 164 a and 164 b ) contact a tissue, current supplied by generator 120 may pass along supply conductor 131 to the second jaw 164 b and second energy delivery surface 165 b , through the tissue, and then return via first energy delivery surface 165 a , first jaw 164 a , and the return conductor 133 to the generator. in this manner, the tissue contacted by the first jaw 164 a and second jaw 164 b forms a load for the generator 120 . as depicted in fig. 6c , a load voltage (v l ) and a load current (i l ) may be measured by the voltage sensing circuitry 283 and current sensing circuitry 285 , respectively. the impedance of the load (or tissue), for example a load resistance r load , may be determined by an impedance detector. in one non-limiting example, an impedance detector may incorporate voltage sensing circuitry 283 and current sensing circuitry 285 . alternatively, the impedance detector may be a separate element from the voltage sensing circuitry and current sensing circuitry. in one non-limiting example, the load impedance may be calculated by dividing a value of the load voltage (v l ) by a value of the load current (i l ). as disclosed above, a measured load impedance having a value similar to that of cauterized tissue may not be sufficient to indicate that a proper tissue seal has been made via compression of the tissue by jaws ( 162 a and 162 b ). therefore, a method is required to assure that the jaws ( 162 a and 162 b ) are sufficiently proximate to each other to assure proper tissue compression during the cauterization process. fig. 9 depicts a mechanism to determine when the jaws 162 a , 162 b are sufficiently proximate to compress the tissue during cauterization. the mechanism may be based on removably placing a shunt impedance circuit 350 ( fig. 8 ) in parallel with the energy delivery surfaces 165 a , 165 b . the shunt impedance circuit may have a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined value. in a non-limiting example, the shunt impedance may have a value less than or equal to the threshold impedance value 920 . in fig. 9 , such a shunt impedance circuit may be provided by a contactor 1370 incorporating a shunt impedance element 1360 . the contactor 1370 may be configured to be in electrical communication with the electrode 173 that supplies current to the second energy delivery surface 165 b at a first end, and the equivalent electrode that sinks current from the first energy delivery surface 165 a at a second end. the contactor 1370 may form the only electrical connection between the first jaw 164 a (or electrical components thereof) and the second jaw 164 b (or electrical components thereof). the pivot 1125 may be constructed of electrically insulating materials, thereby preventing electrical shorting between the first jaw 164 a (or electrical components thereof) and the second jaw 164 b (or electrical components thereof). alternatively, the shunt impedance element may not be located on the end effector 126 , but may be placed at an alternative location within the electrosurgical instrument 110 . such a shunt impedance element is represented in fig. 9 by shunt element 1365 which may be in electrical contact via conductor 1133 (dashed line) with the return conductor 133 . as noted above, in one non-limiting example depicted in fig. 9 , contactor 1370 may be electrically closed with respect to first jaw 164 a , thereby placing shunt impedance element 1360 in parallel with energy surfaces 165 a , 165 b , when the jaws 164 a , 164 b are at an angle α greater than a limiting jaw angle. similarly, contactor 1370 may be electrically open with respect to first jaw 164 a , thereby removing shunt impedance element 1360 from the electrical circuit, when the jaws 164 a , 164 b are at an angle α less than a limiting jaw angle. in one aspect in which the shunt element is not located in the end effector 126 , the contactor 1370 may be electrically open with respect to first jaw 164 a , and thereby placing shunt element 1365 in parallel with energy surfaces 165 a , 165 b , when the jaws 164 a , 164 b are at an angle α greater than a limiting jaw angle. similarly, in the aspect in which the shunt element is not located in the end effector 126 , the contactor 1370 may be electrically closed with respect to first jaw 164 a and thereby removing shunt element 1365 from the circuit, when the jaws 164 a , 164 b are at an angle α less than a limiting jaw angle. it is well understood that the total impedance (z t ) of a circuit composed of a variable load impedance (z load ) and a pre-determined shunt impedance (z shunt ) in parallel with the load impedance may be calculated according to eq. 1. z t =( z load *z shunt )/( z load +z shunt ) eq. 1 the load impedance may be a variable value related to the impedance of tissue in contact with the end effector 126 . over the course of a cauterization procedure, the tissue impedance may vary as disclosed above. it may be recognized that as the load impedance becomes much larger than the shunt impedance, the total impedance approaches, but is never greater than, the shunt impedance. a shunt impedance in parallel with the load impedance may therefore prevent an electrosurgical system from measuring a large impedance when the end effector jaws 164 a and 164 b do not achieve a proper gap or the tissue is not compressed to a proper thickness. in one non-limiting example, the shunt impedance value of the connector 1370 at the operating frequency of the electrosurgical device 100 may be chosen to be about equal to the impedance threshold 920 indicative of a good cautery seal. alternatively, the shunt impedance value of the shunt impedance element 1360 may be greater than or less than the impedance threshold 920 . a measurement of only the tissue impedance may be made when the connector 1370 is disabled, thereby removing the shunt impedance from the impedance measurement circuit. in one non-limiting example, the connector 1370 may be disabled based on a jaw angle α between the first jaw 164 a and the second jaw 164 b . a non-limiting example of disabling the connector 1370 based on a jaw angle α may include preventing electrical connectivity between the connector and an electrode in either of the first jaw 164 a or the second jaw 164 b when the jaw angle α is less than a jaw angle limit. a jaw angle limit may have a value of about 1.0° to about 10.0°. non-limiting examples of a jaw angle limit may include about 1.0°, about 2.0° about 3.0° about 4.0° about 5.0° about 6.0° about 7.0° about 8.0° about 9.0° about 10.0°, or any value therebetween including endpoints. in some non-limiting examples, a jaw angle limit may be about 8.0° for 15 mm jaws. in some non-limiting examples, a jaw angle limit may be about 3.5° for 35 mm jaws. in another non-limiting example, a jaw angle limit may be about 5.0°. in a non-limiting example, a jaw angle limit may be chosen as one that assures that both jaws ( 164 a and 164 b ) form a good electrical contact with the tissue therebetween. in another non-limiting example, a jaw angle limit may be chosen as one that assures that the walls of a vessel contacted by the jaws 164 a , 164 b are sufficiently proximate as to assure that a closed weld in the vessel is made. when the jaws 164 a , 164 b have a jaw angle α greater than the jaw angle limit, the shunt impedance of the connector 1370 may limit the impedance measured through the instrument. however, once the jaws 164 a , 164 b compress a tissue to a jaw angle α about equal to or less than the jaw angle limit, the electrical connection through the shunt impedance of connector 1370 may be broken, and the generator 120 may determine the impedance of the tissue directly. fig. 10 depicts a calculated impedance value curve 910 measured by an electrosurgical system over time for an end effector 126 lacking a parallel shunt circuit, and an impedance value curve 1230 measured over time for an end effector having a parallel shunt circuit in place. the impedance curve 910 for the system lacking the parallel shunt circuit is similar to that depicted in fig. 7 . the calculated impedance curve 1230 for an end effector 126 having 1230 a parallel shunt circuit in place can be understood in view of eq. 1, above. over time, the impedance of tissue subject to rf current (the load impedance, or z load ) may increase. as a result, the impedance determined by the impedance sensor of the electrosurgical device may also increase and approach the shunt impedance value z shunt 1235 as a limiting value. in some non-limiting examples, z shunt 1235 may be about the same as the threshold value 920 . in some other non-limiting examples, z shunt 1235 may be greater than the threshold value 920 . the time axis of fig. 10 implies a time over which rf energy is deposited into tissue by the electrosurgical device. however, as noted above, the jaws of the end effector may also be closed over time to compress the tissue as the energy is added. thus, the tissue may be both compressed and heated over time to form the cautery seal. as disclosed above, z shunt may be removed from the impedance sensing circuit for a jaw angle α less than the pre-determined jaw angle limit, thereby allowing the impedance sensor to measure the tissue impedance directly. line 1220 depicts a possible transition point between the two impedance curves when the jaw angle α of the end effector transitions from an angle greater than the jaw angle limit to an angle smaller than the jaw angle limit. fig. 11 depicts a calculated impedance 1300 detected by an impedance sensor over time that includes a transition impedance 1320 from a large jaw-angle impedance curve 1330 (that includes z shunt ) to a narrow jaw-angle impedance curve 1310 (in which z shunt is removed). figs. 12a, 12b, 13a, and 13b depict non-limiting examples of end effectors having contactors including shunt impedance elements. figs. 12a and 12b depict one aspect of an end effector having a spring loaded connector 1370 contacting a separate shunt impedance element 1420 . fig. 12a illustrates the end effector having its jaws ( 164 a and 164 b ) open wider than a jaw angle limit. it may be observed in fig. 12a that the spring loaded connector 1370 is in electrical communication with an electrode associated with the second jaw 164 b and is also in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element 1420 associated with the upper jaw 164 a . the shunt impedance element 1420 is in electrical communication with an electrode associated with the upper jaw 162 a . as depicted in fig. 12a , the shunt impedance (z shunt ) is enabled when the jaws form an angle greater than the jaw angle limit. z shunt is thus placed electrically in parallel with any load impedance (z load ) between the jaws 164 a and 164 b . fig. 12b illustrates the same end effector having its jaws ( 164 a and 164 b ) open smaller than a jaw angle limit. it may be observed in fig. 12b that a gap exists between the spring loaded connector 1370 and the shunt impedance element 1420 associated with the upper jaw 164 a . thus, as depicted in fig. 12b , the shunt impedance (z shunt ) is disabled when the jaws form a jaw angle α less than the jaw angle limit, and only the load impedance (z load ) from tissue between the jaws 164 a and 164 b can be measured. figs. 13a and 13b depict another aspect of an end effector in which the connector 1530 includes a shunt impedance element 1420 in a single unit. fig. 13a depicts a side view of an end effector with jaws 164 a and 164 b having a jaw angle α larger than a jaw angle limit. fig. 13b depicts an end view of the end effector with jaws 164 a and 164 b having a jaw angle α larger than a jaw angle limit. under such a condition (large jaw angle), connector 1530 may be in electrical communication with an electrode component of second jaw 164 b through a first end of the connector and in electrical communication with an electrode component of first jaw 164 a through a second end of the connector comprising the impedance element 1420 . alternatively, connector 1530 may be in electrical communication with an electrode component of first jaw 164 a through a first end of the connector and in electrical communication with an electrode component of second jaw 164 b through a second end of the connector comprising the impedance element 1420 . in one non-limiting example, when the jaws have a jaw angle α less than the jaw angle limit, the connector 1530 may remain in electrical communication with the second jaw 164 b (or electrical components thereof) but may break its electrical communication with the first jaw 164 a (or electrical components thereof). in another non-limiting example, when the jaws have a jaw angle α less than the jaw angle limit, the connector 1530 may remain in electrical communication with the first jaw 164 a (or electrical components thereof) but may break its electrical communication with the second jaw 164 b (or electrical components thereof). in another non-limiting example, the connector 1370 may be distinct from the shunt impedance element 1420 . in this second non-limiting example, the connector 1370 and the shunt impedance element 1420 may separate when the jaws form a jaw angle α less than the jaw angle limit. in a non-limiting example of such one aspect, the connector 1370 may remain in physical and electrical communication with the second jaw 164 b while the shunt impedance element 1420 may remain in physical and electrical communication with the first jaw 164 a . in another non-limiting example of such one aspect, the connector 1370 may remain in physical and electrical communication with the first jaw 164 a while the shunt impedance element 1420 may remain in physical and electrical communication with the second jaw 164 b. it may be recognized that components required for measuring tissue impedance including, but not limited to, voltage sensing circuit 283 and current sensing circuit 285 may be conveniently located along any electrical path capable of permitting the measurement of values of i l and v l . similarly, processing and controlling components configured to calculate impedance values, determine limiting values of measured tissue impedance, and/or control automated features to prevent the vessel from being severed before cauterization is complete may be incorporated in any suitable computing or control component of the system 100 including, but not limited to, the surgical system electronic portion 4900 or generator including an external generator 4935 , internal generator 4940 , or any non-limiting example thereof (for example, exemplary generator 5000 ). alternatively, such necessary processing and control components may be found in additional electronic portions not otherwise disclosed above. fig. 14 depicts an alternative aspect in which a shunt impedance circuit 350 is located within the handle 112 of the electrosurgical device. as depicted in fig. 14 , the handle 112 of the electrosurgical device 100 may include mechanical components 1420 configured to actuate jaws 164 a , 164 b . in one non-limiting example, the mechanical components 1420 may be configured to close an angle between the jaws 164 a , 164 b when the mechanical components are moved to a proximate position. in such a manner, tissue placed between the jaws 164 a , 164 b may be compressed as a result of this proximal motion. the mechanical components 1420 may include a contactor 1470 configured to move with the mechanical components. in some non-limiting examples, the contactor 1470 may be mounted on a spring 1430 to provide mechanical compliance as the mechanical components 1420 move. the mechanical components 1420 may be sized so that the contactor 1470 contacts shunt switch 1470 when the jaw angle α is less than a limiting jaw angle. it may be recognized that spring 1430 may allow the contactor 1470 to maintain contact with the shunt switch 1470 while the mechanical components 1420 move in a further proximal direction, thereby closing jaws 164 a , 164 b around the tissue for improved compression. in the non-limiting example depicted in fig. 14 , shunt switch 1470 may be a normally closed switch. thus, when contactor 1450 does not contact shunt switch 1470 , the shunt switch is closed, placing shunt impedance element 1450 in parallel with the energy delivery surfaces through its connections with supply conductor 131 and return conductor 133 . when contactor 1450 contacts shunt switch 1470 , the shunt switch may be opened, thereby removing shunt impedance element 1450 from the circuit. it may be understood that the aspect depicted in fig. 14 is only one non-limiting example of an electrosurgical device having a shunt circuit incorporated in its handle. in another non-limiting example, the mechanical components 1420 may be configured to close the jaws 164 a , 164 b by means of a distal motion. in such one aspect, the contactor 1450 may contact a normally open shunt switch 1470 when the jaws 164 a , 164 b form an angle α greater than a jaw angle limit. by closing the shunt switch 1470 , the contactor 1450 may thereby place the shunt impedance element 1460 in parallel with the energy surfaces. when the mechanical components 1420 move in a sufficiently distal direction so that the jaws 164 a , 164 b form an angle α less than a jaw angle limit, contactor 1450 may cease contacting the shunt switch 1470 , thereby opening the connection to the shunt impedance element 1450 . the open connection may then remove the shunt impedance element 1450 from the circuit. it will be appreciated that the terms “proximal” and “distal” are used throughout the specification with reference to a clinician manipulating one end of an instrument used to treat a patient. the term “proximal” refers to the portion of the instrument closest to the clinician and the term “distal” refers to the portion located furthest from the clinician. it will further be appreciated that for conciseness and clarity, spatial terms such as “vertical,” “horizontal,” “up,” or “down” may be used herein with respect to the illustrated embodiments. however, surgical instruments may be used in many orientations and positions, and these terms are not intended to be limiting or absolute. various aspects of surgical instruments and robotic surgical systems are described herein. it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various aspects described herein may be used with the described surgical instruments and robotic surgical systems. the descriptions are provided for example only, and those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples are not limited to only the devices disclosed herein, but may be used with any compatible surgical instrument or robotic surgical system. reference throughout the specification to “various aspects,” “some aspects,” “one example,” or “one aspect” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the aspect is included in at least one example. thus, appearances of the phrases “in various aspects,” “in some aspects,” “in one example,” or “in one aspect” in places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same aspect. furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics illustrated or described in connection with one example may be combined, in whole or in part, with features, structures, or characteristics of one or more other aspects without limitation. while various aspects herein have been illustrated by description of several aspects and while the illustrative embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. additional advantages and modifications may readily appear to those skilled in the art. for example, it is generally accepted that endoscopic procedures are more common than laparoscopic procedures. accordingly, the present invention has been discussed in terms of endoscopic procedures and apparatus. however, use herein of terms such as “endoscopic”, should not be construed to limit the present invention to an instrument for use only in conjunction with an endoscopic tube (e.g., trocar). on the contrary, it is believed that the present invention may find use in any procedure where access is limited to a small incision, including but not limited to laparoscopic procedures, as well as open procedures. it is to be understood that at least some of the figures and descriptions herein have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the disclosure, while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, other elements. those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, however, that these and other elements may be desirable. however, because such elements are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure, a discussion of such elements is not provided herein. while several aspects have been described, it should be apparent, however, that various modifications, alterations and adaptations to those embodiments may occur to persons skilled in the art with the attainment of some or all of the advantages of the disclosure. for example, according to various aspects, a single component may be replaced by multiple components, and multiple components may be replaced by a single component, to perform a given function or functions. this application is therefore intended to cover all such modifications, alterations and adaptations without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. any patent, publication, or other disclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated materials does not conflict with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure. as such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference. any material, or portion thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material. various aspects of the subject matter described herein are set out in the following numbered clauses: clause 1. an electrosurgical system comprising: an rf current generator; a handle body; an end effector comprising: a first jaw comprising a first energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a first terminal of the rf current generator, anda second jaw comprising a second energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator, wherein the first jaw and the second jaw form a jaw angle; a shunt impedance circuit comprising a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, wherein the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle; and an impedance detector in electrical communication with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface. clause 2. the electrosurgical system of clause 1, wherein the first jaw is movable when a force is applied to the end effector. clause 3. the electrosurgical system of any of clauses 1-2, wherein the second jaw is movable when a force is applied to the end effector. clause 4. the electrosurgical system of any one of clause 1-3, wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a contactor in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. clause 5. the electrosurgical system of clause 4, wherein the contactor is configured to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. clause 6. the electrosurgical system of clause 5, wherein the contactor is a spring-loaded contactor. clause 7. the electrosurgical system of any one of clauses 1-6, wherein the shunt impedance element is one or more of a resistive element, a capacitive element, and an inductive element. clause 8. the electrosurgical system of any one of clauses 1-7, wherein the pre-determined shunt impedance value is an impedance value of a cauterized tissue. clause 9. the electrosurgical system of any one of clauses 1-8, wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a shunt switch in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. clause 10. the electrosurgical system of any one of clauses 1-9, wherein the end effector comprises the shunt impedance circuit. clause 11. the electrosurgical system of any one of clauses 1-10, wherein the handle body comprise the shunt impedance circuit. clause 12. the electrosurgical system of any one of clauses 1-11, further comprising an elongated shaft having a proximal end in mechanical communication with the handle body and a distal end in mechanical communication with the end effector. clause 13. the electrosurgical system of any one of clauses 1-12, further comprising a scissor style device, wherein the end effector is in mechanical communication with the handle. clause 14. an end effector for an electrosurgical device, the end effector comprising: a first jaw comprising a first energy delivery surface configured to be in electrical communication with a first terminal of an rf current generator; a second jaw comprising a second energy delivery surface configured to be in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator, wherein the first jaw and the second jaw form a jaw angle, and wherein the first jaw, the second jaw, or the first jaw and the second jaw is movable; and a shunt impedance circuit comprising a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, wherein the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle. clause 15. the end effector of clause 14, wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a contactor in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. clause 16. the end effector of clause 15, wherein the contactor is a spring-loaded contactor. clause 17. the end effector of clause 15, wherein the contactor is configured to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. clause 18. the end effector of any one of clauses 14-17, wherein the shunt impedance element is configured to form an electrical contact with one or more electrical components of the first jaw or one or more electrical components of the second jaw. clause 19. the end effector of any one of clauses 14-18, wherein the shunt impedance element is one or more of a resistive element, a capacitive element, and an inductive element. clause 20. the end effector of any one of clauses 14-19, wherein the pre-determined shunt impedance value is an impedance value of a cauterized tissue. clause 21. the end effector of 14-20, wherein the shunt impedance circuit comprises a shunt switch in electrical communication with the shunt impedance element. clause 22. a method of controlling an rf current delivered to an end effector of an electrosurgical system, the method comprising: providing an electro electrosurgical system comprising: an rf current generator;a handle body;an end effector comprising: a first jaw comprising a first energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a first terminal of the rf current generator, anda second jaw comprising a second energy delivery surface in electrical communication with a second terminal of the rf current generator, wherein the first jaw and the second jaw form a jaw angle;a shunt impedance circuit comprising a shunt impedance element having a pre-determined shunt impedance value, wherein the shunt impedance element is reversibly placed electrically in parallel with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface when the jaw angle is at least a pre-determined angle;an impedance detector in electrical communication with the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface; anda controller of the rf current generator; sourcing an rf current from the rf current generator to the first energy delivery surface via the first terminal of the rf current generator and receiving an rf current by the rf current generator from the second energy delivery surface via the second terminal of the rf current generator; measuring an impedance between the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface by the impedance detector; and causing the controller of the rf current generator to disable sourcing the rf current to the first energy delivery surface when a measured impedance between the first energy delivery surface and the second energy delivery surface is greater than a pre-determined impedance limit. clause 23. the method of clause 22, wherein the rf current generator comprises the impedance detector. clause 24. the method of any one of clauses 22-23, wherein the rf current generator generates an rf current of about 100 khz to about 1 mhz. clause 25. the method of any one of clauses 22-24, wherein the pre-determined impedance limit is an impedance of a cauterized tissue.
|
072-444-335-122-835
|
US
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"WO"
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C10L5/46,B03B9/06,B07B15/00,C10L5/40,C10L5/48,C10L5/08,C10L5/44
| 2015-06-24T00:00:00 |
2015
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[
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process and system for producing engineered fuel
|
a process and system for producing an engineered fuel product that meets customer specifications for composition and combustion characteristics is provided. the engineered fuel product is preferably a high-btu, alternative fuel that burns cleaner than coal or petroleum coke (petcoke) and has significantly reduced nox, so 2 and ghg emissions.
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1. a process for treating a solid waste material, the process comprising: removing a first set of waste components from the solid waste material, the first set of waste components comprising at least one of ferrous and non-ferrous metals; shredding the solid waste material after the first set of waste components are removed from the solid waste material; removing a second set of waste components from the solid waste material, the second set of waste components comprising one or more of organics, glass, aggregates, wood, textiles, and rubber; proportionally adding a clean stream to the solid waste material, the clean stream comprising at least one of fibers and clean plastics, such that a desired plastics content is introduced into the solid waste material, wherein the clean stream does not originate from the solid waste material; removing a third set of waste components from the solid waste material, the third set of waste components comprising at least one of ferrous and non-ferrous metals; and reshredding the solid waste material. 2. the process of claim 1 , further comprising densifying the solid waste material after reshredding the solid waste material.
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cross reference to related applications this application is a continuation application and claims the benefit, and priority benefit of u.s. patent application ser. no. 16/556,415, filed aug. 30, 2019, which is a continuation application of, and claims the benefit and priority benefit of u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/192,533, filed jun. 24, 2016, now issued as u.s. pat. no. 10,400,188, which claims the benefit and priority benefit of u.s. provisional patent application ser. no. 62/184,163, filed jun. 24, 2015, titled “process and system for producing engineered fuel,” the contents of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. background field of invention this invention relates generally to the production of engineered fuel and to an improved process and system for producing an engineered fuel product that meets customer specifications for composition and/or combustion characteristics. description of the related art the following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section. it is known in the art that landfill-bound waste can instead be processed to form a fuel product that can be used as an alternative energy source to replace or supplement traditional energy sources such as coal, petroleum coke and woody biomass. improvements to this technology are desired. summary the following presents a simplified summary of the disclosed subject matter in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein. this summary is not an exhaustive overview of the technology disclosed herein. in certain illustrative embodiments, a process for treating a solid waste material is provided. the process can include the following non-exclusive steps. in certain aspects, a first set of waste components can be removed from the solid waste material. the first set of waste components can include, for example, ferrous and non-ferrous metals. the solid waste material can be shredded in a primary shredder. the material can be shredded, for example, to a particle size of 10-inch or less. a second set of waste components can be removed from the solid waste material. the second set of waste components can include, for example, one or more of organics, glass, aggregates, wood, electrical components, batteries, textiles, rubber, and yard waste. a clean stream can be proportionally added to the solid waste material. the clean stream can include, for example, fibers and clean plastics. a third set of waste components can be removed from the solid waste material. the third set of waste components can include, for example, ferrous and non-ferrous metals of less than 10 square inches (two dimensional). all or substantially all of the remaining solid waste material can be shredded to a particle size of 2-inch or less. the solid waste material can then be densified to form an engineered fuel product such as, for example, fuel pellets. the ferrous and non-ferrous metals of the first set of waste components can have a size and density that is beyond the handling capacity of the primary shredder, and could cause damage to the primary shredder. for example, the ferrous and non-ferrous metals of the first set of waste components can have a size of 12-inch by 8-inch (length and width) by ½-inch (thickness) or greater. the solid waste material can be one or more of municipal solid waste and residual solid waste. the organics can include one or more of food waste and yard waste, wood, glass, textiles, aggregates, small batteries, small electronics and rubber. in certain aspects, the step of removing the first set of waste components from the solid waste material can include one or more additional steps. for example, the solid waste material can be passed under a metal detector via a conveyer moving in a forward direction. the movement of the conveyer can be reversed to a backwards direction if the metal detector detects the first set of waste components in the solid waste material, and the first set of waste components can be removed from the conveyer. in certain aspects, the step of removing the second set of waste components from the solid waste material can include passing the solid waste material through an air classifier. in certain aspects, the step of removing the third set of waste components from the solid waste material can include additional steps. for example, the solid waste material can be passed under a magnet to remove the ferrous metals. the solid waste material can also be passed through an eddy current separator to remove the non-ferrous metals. the ferrous metals and/or non-ferrous metals can have a size of 10 square inches (10-inch) or less. the metals can be essentially two dimensional at this point in the process. the solid waste can also be passed through a screener to reject materials having a particle size of 2-inch or less after shredding the solid waste material to a particle size of 10-inch or less (again, essentially two-dimensional). in certain illustrative embodiments, the solid waste material can be densified to produce an engineered fuel product. the engineered fuel product can be a pelletized product having a weight density of nominal 30-35 pounds/cubic ft. the engineered fuel product can also be a non-pelletized product having a weight density of nominal 22 pounds/cubic ft. in some aspects, ninety nine percent (99%) or greater by volume of the engineered fuel product can comprise fibers and clean plastics. the solid waste material can have a moisture content of ±fifty five percent (55%) prior to removing the first set of waste components from the solid waste material. the engineered fuel product can have a moisture content of fifteen percent (15%) or less. the engineered fuel product can have a chloride content of three tenths of one percent (0.3%) or less. the engineered fuel product can have a heating value of nominal 11,000 btu/pound. in certain illustrative embodiments, a process for controlling the moisture content of an engineered fuel product made from a solid waste material is provided. the solid waste material can include heavier weight components, medium weight components and lighter weight components. the solid waste material can be introduced into a separator. the heavier weight components can be separated from the medium weight components and the lighter weight components in the separator. a receiver can be positioned at either a first receiving location or a second receiving location with respect to the separator. the receiver can be capable of receiving the medium weight components and the light weight components. the first receiving location can be capable of receiving more of the medium weight components than the second receiving location. an amount of the medium weight components and an amount of the lighter weight components can be captured in the receiver. the medium weight components and lighter weight components from the receiver can be densified to produce the engineered fuel product. in certain aspects, the combined medium weight components and lighter weight components can have a nominal density of 8 pounds/cubic foot or less. the heavier weight components can include one or more organics from the group of wood, textiles, aggregates and rubber. the medium weight components can include one or more from the group of fibers and rigid plastics. the lighter weight components can include one or more from the group of foam plastics and film plastics. in certain illustrative embodiments, the moisture content of the engineered fuel product can be adjusted by moving the location of the receiver. for example, the moisture content of the engineered fuel product can be decreased by moving the receiver from the first receiving location to the second receiving location such that the receiver receives less of the medium weight components. also, the moisture content of the engineered fuel product can be increased by moving the receiver from the second receiving location to the first receiving location such that the receiver receives more of the medium weight components. the receiver can be a single receiver that receives both the lighter weight components and the medium weight components. the receiver can be a moveable conveyer belt. the separator can be an air classifier. the amount of heavy weight components captured in the receiver can be less than one percent of the total amount of medium weight components and light weight components captured in the receiver. the solid waste material can include one or more of municipal solid waste and residual solid waste. a clean stream can be proportionally added to the medium weight components and lighter weight components prior to densifying the medium weight components and lighter weight components. the clean stream can include one or more from the group of fibers and clean plastics. the solid waste material can have a moisture content of ±55% prior to entering the air classifier. the engineered fuel product can have a moisture content of 15% or less. brief description of the drawings a better understanding of the presently disclosed subject matter can be obtained when the following detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein: fig. 1 is a process flow diagram and mass balance for a process for producing an engineered fuel product in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter; and figs. 2a and 2b are front views of a separator used in a process and system for producing an engineered fuel product in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter. while certain preferred illustrative embodiments will be described herein, it will be understood that this description is not intended to limit the subject matter to those embodiments. on the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as may be included within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. detailed description the presently disclosed subject matter relates generally to the production of engineered fuel and to a process and system for producing an engineered fuel product. the subject matter is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which embodiments of the process and system are shown. the process and system may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the process and system to those skilled in the art. in certain illustrative embodiments, a process is provided for extracting commodities of value such as fibers and clean plastics from municipal solid waste that would otherwise be landfilled. as used herein, the term “municipal solid waste” or “msw” means waste that includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following materials: heavy weight materials (i.e., aggregates, glass, textiles, rubber, etc. . . . ), medium weight materials (i.e., fibers and rigid plastics), light weight materials (i.e., foam plastics and film plastics), pvc plastics, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, inert residues, organic materials (i.e., food waste) and very heavy and/or bulky materials. as used herein, the term “fibers” includes paper and/or cardboard and like materials, the term “clean plastics” includes rigid plastics, foam plastics and film plastics and like materials, and the term “undesirable plastics” means plastics that are known to contain high levels of chlorine (i.e., pvc plastics). in certain illustrative embodiments, municipal solid waste containing post-recycle materials can undergo a multi-step, mechanically engineered process to prepare an engineered fuel product. the engineered fuel product is preferably a high-btu, alternative fuel that burns cleaner than coal or petroleum coke (pet coke) and has significantly reduced nox, so 2 and ghg emissions. the engineered fuel product can consist of 99% or greater post-recycle fibers and clean plastics, in certain illustrative embodiments. as used throughout this application, the term “%” means volume percent unless otherwise specifically indicated. the presently disclosed process and system for producing an engineered fuel product are preferably precise and rigorous, and can result in a homogeneous and highly consistent solid fuel product designed to meet the customer's specifications for composition and/or combustion characteristics. in certain illustrative embodiments, a heterogeneous, contaminated unprocessed waste material with low commercial fuel and recycling value can be converted into a high-value, high-btu fuel product. ongoing batch sampling and analysis and continuous spectroscopic analysis of feedstock can ensure fuel integrity and composition. in certain illustrative embodiments, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and undesirable plastics can be extracted from the municipal solid waste as rejected materials. after these unwanted materials have been extracted and isolated from the commodities of value (primarily fibers and clean plastics), the commodities of value can be proportionately recombined to produce an engineered solid fuel product with a consistent and predictable heating value. the engineered fuel product can be managed and sold as a valuable solid fuel commodity. the presently disclosed process and system are substantially different from previous approaches that simply shred and pelletize refuse-derived fuel (rdf). instead, the presently disclosed process and system can transform materials that would otherwise be disposed into commodities that can be beneficially reused and that meet customer specifications for composition and/or combustion characteristics. in certain illustrative embodiments, a single plant utilizing the presently disclosed process and system can potentially handle approximately 300,000 tons per year or 1,000 tons per day of in-bound feedstock material. the primary feedstock is preferably non-hazardous secondary material (“nhsm”) derived from municipal solid waste. the municipal solid waste may have undergone some preliminary source separation by households or businesses to extract recyclables that were collected and processed through local recycling programs where implemented. the primary feedstock may also be augmented with commercial and industrial secondary material streams such as hard-to-recycle plastics. this feedstock, otherwise bound for the landfill, can be diverted to the engineered fuel processing plant where mechanical and spectroscopic equipment can isolate and reject unwanted materials from fibers and clean plastics extracted for fuel production. in certain illustrative embodiments, the presently disclosed process and system can capture about 40-55% of the total, raw in-bound material stream for production of the engineered fuel product. the remaining paper, plastics, metals, glass, other inert residues and food wastes can be extracted for recycling, eventual treatment or disposal. for example, old corrugated containers and ferrous and non-ferrous metals, which can comprise about 5-7% of the in-bound material stream, can be extracted for recycling. also, organic materials (primarily food waste), which can comprise about 20-30% of the in-bound material stream, can be extracted for potential treatment via composting or anaerobic digestion. finally, rejected heavy materials, inert residues and pvc plastics, which can comprise about 20-30% of the in-bound material stream, can be sent to landfill. in certain illustrative embodiments, the process and system can comprise one or more of the following stages, aspects of which are described in u.s. pat. no. 9,126,204 issued sep. 8, 2015, and assigned to wm intellectual property holdings llc, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety: stage 1: removal of heavy and/or bulky items in a first stage, in-bound solid waste collection vehicles entering the process facility can be diverted from the landfill and directed to discharge their municipal solid waste loads for presorting. in certain illustrative embodiments, the loads can be placed onto an inbound tipping floor. the municipal solid waste can be presorted on tipping floor to remove very heavy and/or bulky materials deemed unsuitable for the engineered fuel product (i.e., tires, mattresses, post-consumer carpet, etc. . . . ). on tipping floor, readily identifiable, high-quality, and safely accessible recyclable fibers and clean plastics can also be removed. removal can be performed using excavators and wheel loaders, as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. the remaining raw materials comprise a treatable municipal solid waste stream that can then proceed through the subsequent steps and equipment of the presently disclosed process and system. in certain illustrative embodiments, metals are contained within the raw in-bound solid waste, received initially on the tipping floor. large metallic components of high density and physical size ±25-inches (i.e. tire rims, brake drums, metal doors, etc.), that could cause damage to the primary shredder are removed on the process floor using a magnetic four over three grapple claw attached to the excavator boom (pictures attached showing the grapple claw and volvo excavator with grapple attachment). a second process step, to remove further metallic components occurs, when solid waste material is initially conveyed into the process. solid waste material is conveyed forward through a metal detector preset to remove metallic components greater than 12-inches by 8-inches by ½-inch thickness. metallic components greater than ½-inch thick have a high probability of damaging to the internal cutters of the primary shredder. stage 2: slow-speed, high torque, primary pre-shredding in a second stage, the municipal solid waste can be pre-shredded. in certain illustrative embodiments, in-feed belt can deliver the municipal solid waste to a primary shredder. pre-shredding can break up the materials in the municipal solid waste to produce a homogeneous material suitable for further mechanical processing. primary shredder can reduce the materials in the municipal solid waste to 12-inch minus dimensional size, in certain illustrative embodiments. in general, shredder can reduce the municipal solid waste to a more manageable size and homogenize and volumetrically expand the raw materials therein. stage 3: removal of large metal objects in a third stage, large metal objects can be removed from the municipal solid waste. in certain illustrative embodiments, an in-feed belt can mechanically convey the municipal solid waste away from tipping floor. while travelling on in-feed belt, the municipal solid waste can pass through one or more metal detectors, which can detect and eject large metallic items such as propane tanks and other large metallic or dense items which may be contained within non-transparent containers and bags in the municipal solid waste. stage 4: ferrous metal extraction in a fourth stage, ferrous metals can be extracted. in certain illustrative embodiments, the municipal solid waste can be conveyed away from primary shredder via fourth stage belt. an over-belt magnet can be positioned over fourth stage belt to extract ferrous metals. throughout the presently disclosed process, over-belt magnets can be positioned at some or all extraction points to extract any remaining ferrous metals in the municipal solid waste and maximize ferrous metal recovery. all ferrous metals extracted from the municipal solid waste are preferably recycled. in certain illustrative embodiments, metal extraction and recovery for recycle of ferrous & non-ferrous metals can represent around 5% of the total raw material mass balance, which represents all or substantially all of the ferrous & non-ferrous metals from the municipal solid waste. stage 5: screening of organic materials in a fifth stage, organic materials can be screened from the municipal solid waste. in certain illustrative embodiments, the municipal solid waste from fourth stage belt can undergo screening via screener. all or substantially all of the organic materials can be extracted via screener to promote a consistent, high heating value in the engineered fuel product. in certain illustrative embodiments, organic materials can represent about 20-30% of the total in-bound municipal solid waste. in certain illustrative embodiments, the organic materials are <2 inches in size, and 90% or more of these organic materials are food waste. possible treatment options for these organic materials can include composting and/or anaerobic digestion. stage 6: multi-step air classification in a sixth stage, the raw materials in the municipal solid waste can be separated by weight density to produce a plurality of distinct streams. in certain illustrative embodiments, a multi-step air classifier can be utilized to separate the municipal solid waste into a heavy weight materials stream, a medium weight materials stream and a light weight materials stream. in certain illustrative embodiments, the medium weight materials can represent around 50-55% of the raw-in bound material mass balance. in a first section, multi-step air classifier can separate the heavy weight materials from the medium weight materials and light weight materials to form heavy weight materials stream. the extracted heavy weight materials are typically deemed unsuitable for the engineered fuel product, and after passing under an over-belt magnet to extract remaining ferrous metals, the heavy weight materials stream (primarily inert waste) can be disposed in the landfill. in certain illustrative embodiments, first section can remove all or substantially all of the heavy weight materials from the municipal solid waste, with substantially all of the heavy weight materials comprising at least 25-30% of the municipal solid waste. in a second section, the multi-step air classifier can separate the medium weight materials from the light weight materials to form a plurality of distinct streams. in an illustrative embodiment, the plurality of distinct streams can comprise medium weight materials stream and light weight materials stream, although additional streams of, for example, medium-light weight materials, could also be formed in other embodiments. in certain illustrative embodiments, the separation can be performed by weight density based on air flows, residence times and/or material recirculation. in certain illustrative embodiments, the equipment operators can select materials for recirculation and can move materials between sections of air classifier to control the materials that ultimately exit air classifier. also, controlled particulate matter air scrubbers (not shown) can be used in classifier to eliminate dust within the negative-air controlled confines of the processing plant, in certain illustrative embodiments. stage 7: eddy current (non-ferrous metal extraction) in a seventh stage, non-ferrous metals can be removed for recycling. the medium weight materials stream and light weight materials stream can exit the multi-step air classifier and be discharged onto separate conveyor lines. conveyor lines can then be exposed to one or more electromagnets (e.g., eddy current) whereby the non-ferrous metals can be removed from the medium weight materials stream and light weight materials stream. stage 8: nir/his (near infrared spectroscopic/hyper spectral imaging) sorting in an eighth stage, the medium weight materials and the light weight materials can undergo two distinct processing steps, in certain illustrative embodiments. first, the materials can undergo chlorine removal. in certain illustrative embodiments, conveyor lines can be routed through an nir/his (near infrared spectroscopic/hyper spectral imaging) sorter, such as the one manufactured by rtt steinert gmbh, pellenc st, or tomra sorting solutions a.k.a. titech. nir/his sorter can be programmed to identify and eject pvc plastic materials with high chlorine content. chlorine removal is a critical step in the process, in certain illustrative embodiments, as it alters the chemical composition of the engineered fuel product to improve fuel characteristics. nir/his sorter can also be programmed to identify and eject metallic materials not extracted by overbelt magnets or eddy currents. nir/his sorter can preferably provide granular data on plastic content by resin type and percentage, as well as by biogenic fiber components. in certain illustrative embodiments, nir/his sorter can be designed to record up to 27 million detections per second at a 320 pixel resolution. in certain illustrative embodiments, nir/his sorter has the ability to create a data log of all engineered fuel material components in the medium weight materials and the light weight materials by material percentage, i.e., biogenic fiber and plastic. second, some or all remaining metals can be removed from the materials. nir/his sorter can identify metals that were not extracted by the previous over-belt magnets and eddy currents in the process. nir/his sorter can detect the light reflected from the objects onto highly sensitive nir sensors and, in certain illustrative embodiments, is capable of detecting objects as small as one-half inch in size. nir/his sorter can identify and pinpoint the location of a particular object in the medium weight materials on one conveyor line or the light weight materials on the other conveyor line. a precise puff of air from nozzles associated with the nir/his sorter can eject any undesirable materials before the municipal solid wastes on conveyor lines are discharged from the nir/his sorter, in certain illustrative embodiments. in certain illustrative embodiments, nir equipment can also be utilized in various other locations in the process and system. for example, a nir scanner can be disposed at one or more of the following locations: before third stage (pre-shredding), before fifth stage (organics screening), before and after sixth stage (multi-step air classification), before stage (shredding) and before stage (staging/drying). nir scanners can detect moisture in the municipal solid waste. the data recorded by nir scanners can be used to either increase or reduce the process flow rate. for example, when the process flow rate is reduced, more moisture laden material can be extracted from the municipal solid waste, preferably at an early stage of the process and system to promote more efficient separation of heavy weight materials, medium weight materials and light weight materials. nir scanners can also detect moisture in the municipal solid waste at later stages in the process and system to control the moisture content of the engineered fuel product. stage 9: fine tuning of engineered fuel product in a ninth stage, the medium weight materials and light weight materials that were previously separated during sixth stage can be proportionately recombined. also, in a related stage 9a, pre-sorted materials can be proportionally added to the recombined stream of medium weight and light weight materials to produce a “fine-tuned” recombined stream. the “fine-tuned” recombined stream can be used to produce an engineered fuel product that meets customer specifications for various desired features. in certain illustrative embodiments, the medium weight materials and light weight materials on conveyor lines are recombined to form recombined stream. for example, conveyor lines can be combined in recombiner. the mix of medium weight materials and light weight materials can produce a fuel that is approximately 50% fiber and 50% plastic with a heat content of approximately 9000 btu/pound, in certain illustrative embodiments. in certain illustrative embodiments, selected clean materials known as “pre-sorts” can be added to recombined stream. the pre-sorts can be proportionally incorporated into recombined stream to produce a fine-tuned recombined stream. the pre-sorts can comprise a clean stream of fibers and/or clean plastics, in certain illustrative embodiments. for example, the clean plastics pre-sorts can comprise polyethylene, polypropylene and/or polystyrene plastics all having a known btu content, such as post-industrial waste like polypropylene automobile carpet trims and/or polyethylene food wrappers. as used herein, the term “fine-tuned recombined stream” means a stream comprising recombined stream and clean stream. the materials in clean stream can have a known heat content that will produce desired properties in the engineered fuel product. in certain illustrative embodiments, adding pre-sorts mainly comprising fibers will typically reduce the heating value and increase the biogenic content of the engineered fuel product. as used herein, the term “biogenic content” means content of plant-based carbon molecules. higher biogenic carbon fuels are of value to utility-based end-users seeking a lower heat content/higher biogenic content fuel that potentially will qualify in their fuel portfolio for renewable energy credits. in certain illustrative embodiments, clean stream and recombined stream will each have a biogenic content and fine-tuned recombined stream will have a higher biogenic content than recombined stream when clean stream comprises more fibers than clean plastics. in other illustrative embodiments, adding pre-sorts mainly comprising clean plastics will typically increase the heat content of the engineered fuel product. thus, fine tuning can chemically improve the as-fired energy content of the engineered fuel product for end-users seeking a higher heating value fuel. for example, a mix of 30% fibers/70% plastics can produce a 11,500 btu/pound fuel, a mix of 50% fibers/50% plastics can produce a 9000 btu/pound fuel, and a mix of 70% fibers/30% plastics can produce a 7500 btu/pound fuel, in certain illustrative embodiments. in certain illustrative embodiments, clean stream and recombined stream will each have a heat content and fine-tuned recombined stream will have a higher heat content than recombined stream when clean stream comprises more clean plastics than fibers. also, in certain illustrative embodiments, binding and scrubbing materials can be added to fine-tuned recombined stream to adjust the biogenic content and enhance the emissions characteristics of the engineered fuel product. in certain illustrative embodiments, the pre-sorts can be added to recombined stream via a by-pass conveyer. the pre-sorts from by-pass conveyer can be incorporated at a metered rate into recombined stream. preferably, the pre-sorts will be stored separately from any inbound municipal solid waste coming in the plant. in certain illustrative embodiments, pre-sorts can be added to the municipal solid waste at other locations besides, or in addition to, the recombined stream. for example, pre-sorts in the form of clean plastics or fibers can be added to the municipal solid waste at one or more of third stage 3 (pre-shredding) and/or in the recombined stream at ninth stage (fine tuning). further, pre-sorts in the form of clean plastics or fibers can be added to the municipal solid waste at one or more of third stage (pre-shredding), prior to sixth stage (multi-step air classification) and/or in the recombined stream at ninth stage (fine tuning). in certain illustrative embodiments, adding pre-sorts to the municipal solid waste relatively early in the process (i.e., prior to sixth stage) allows a user to reduce the moisture percentage in the municipal solid waste and promote more efficient separation of heavy weight materials, medium weight materials and light weight materials. stage 10: high speed shredding in a tenth stage, fine-tuned recombined stream can undergo additional shredding. in certain illustrative embodiments, fine-tuned recombined stream can be passed through a high speed shredder that can shred stream to <2-inch minus particle size. the purpose of this additional shredding is to produce a particle size that can easily pass through the dies of densifier (as described in stage 13) without causing plugging. stage 11: staging/drying in an eleventh stage, staging and drying can occur. fine-tuned recombined stream can be staged and dried in a dryer as needed. for example, in certain illustrative embodiments, optimal performance in densifier of stage 13 requires that the inbound feed to densifier should have approximately 15% moisture content. during densification, densifier will typically release approximately 5% moisture in the form of steam, thus yielding a process engineered fuel product with a moisture content of approximately 10%. in certain illustrative embodiments, this 10% moisture content can be achieved by utilizing dryer and/or by adding dry pre-sorts to the municipal solid waste at various stages of the process. stage 12: final tramp material removal in a twelfth stage, the fine-tuned recombined stream can undergo at least one final extraction step to ensure elimination of tramp metals. as used herein, the term “tramp metals” means ferrous or non-ferrous metals and inert fines of 1-inch or less that that have not already been removed and that could damage the fuel production equipment. in certain embodiments, fine-tuned recombined stream can pass through a tramp separator to extract tramp metals. in other embodiments, tramp separator is not utilized, and the fine-tuned recombined stream is conveyed directly from dryer to densifier of stage 13. stage 13: engineered fuel production in a thirteenth stage, an engineered fuel product can be produced. prior to thirteenth stage, fine-tuned recombined stream is in a low-density form commonly referred to as “fluff”. a fuel in “fluff” form typically has a weight density of about 6-10 pounds/cubic ft. and a particle size of approximately 2 inches with a generally 2-dimensional (flat) structure. in thirteenth stage, an engineered fuel product with a higher density than fluff can be manufactured that also meets customer specifications for fuel content and/or composition, according to the illustrative embodiments provided herein. in certain illustrative embodiments, the density of the engineered fuel product can be controlled via manipulation of heat and force in the production equipment. in certain illustrative embodiments, fine-tuned recombined stream can be delivered to a densifier. in densifier, fine-tuned recombined stream can be mechanically driven into a plurality of dies. the materials in fine-tuned recombined stream are compressed under high pressure via one or more press wheels which rotate within dies. dies can also be heated to allow the plastic constituent within fine-tuned recombined stream to become malleable. densifiers such as those manufactured by lundell enterprises of cherokee, iowa or amandus kahl gmbh & co. kg may be used, although densifiers by other manufacturers may also be utilized. in certain illustrative embodiments, dies can be heated to a temperature in the range of approximately 200 to 250 degrees fahrenheit, whereby constant heat is preferably maintained within dies via electrical or other heating methods. the heat in dies coupled with the force of press wheels causes the plastic constituent in fine-tuned recombined stream to become malleable which in turn encases the material in fine-tuned recombined stream within a hardened shell to form a pelletized fuel product. in certain embodiments, the engineered fuel product in highly-dense pelletized form has a consistent size (⅞ inch diameter×1 to 2 inch length) and an average weight density of about 30 pounds/cubic ft (about 810 pounds/cubic yd). in another illustrative embodiment, an engineered fuel product in “crumb” form can be produced. in this embodiment, fine-tuned recombined stream passes through dies at a higher volume and lower temperature than when the pelletized engineered fuel product is produced. in a specific embodiment, electrical heat is not provided to dyes, and instead fine-tuned recombined stream is heated by the friction between dyes and press wheels. as a result, fine-tuned recombined stream experiences about the same amount of force via direct pressure within dies, with a reduced temperature exposure. this can produce a “crumb” material that is finely shredded and less dense than the pelletized product. for example, as compared to the pelletized product having a size of ⅞ inch diameter and 1-2 inches in length, and the fluff material having a particle size of approximately 2 inches in a primarily 2-dimensional (flat) configuration, the “crumb” material has a reduced particle size of approximately 1 inch in a primarily 3-dimensional (stacked or piled) configuration. in certain illustrative embodiments, the engineered fuel product in partially densified “crumb” form has an average weight density of about 18-25 pounds/cubic ft, which is significantly less than the average weight density of about 30 pounds/cubic ft for the engineered fuel product in pelletized form, and significantly more than the average weight density of about 6-10 pounds/cubic ft for the mix of medium weight and light weight materials in fluff form. the “crumb” material has proven beneficial for end users due to the lighter nature of the fuel and its ability to be introduced to the combustion process via air induction and/or mechanical introduction or other means in locations where a pelletized fuel product is too large to fit. the lighter crumb material can also be introduced in varying stages of the end process due to the low retention time and quick ignition. it has also been observed that, in certain illustrative embodiments, utilizing the engineered fuel product in a partially densified “crumb” form yields the following advantages: (i) engineered fuel production yields have increased; (ii) engineered fuel transport vehicles continue to achieve maximum transportation axle weights, while fluff could not achieve the required axle weights; (iii) end-users have seen improved combustion kinetics in their combustion units; (vi) greater density prevents the fuel products from being dispersed by prevailing winds; and (v) end-users have greater flexibility in how and where the engineered fuel product is introduced to the combustion zone. the engineered fuel product manufactured according to the process and system described herein can have the product specifications set forth below, in certain illustrative embodiments. these specifications were developed based on engineering controls and verified with a week of daily composite sampling and analysis. three test burns of process engineered fuel were conducted at a major global cement manufacturer's facility, with progressively larger amounts of engineered fuel combusted in each of the trials (500 tons, 1,000 tons and 2,000 tons). key results are incorporated below. ongoing fuel batch sampling and analysis for customers, and feedstock composition analysis via spectroscopic equipment can ensure that the production process continues to produce a highly consistent engineered fuel product that meets the specifications set forth herein. fuel composition: the composition of the process engineered fuel product can be 99 or greater post-recycle fibers and plastic, in certain illustrative embodiments. this distinguishes the process engineered fuel product from traditional refuse derived fuel (“rdf”), including pelletized rdf, which is not processed as rigorously and is contaminated with far higher percentages of inert materials, metals and wet organics. whether in fluff or pelletized form, rdf would typically not be expected to meet a criterion of 1% or less contamination or unsuitable materials in the fuel mix. fuel heat content: the ratio of fibers to plastics may be adjusted for production batches to meet precise customer specifications within ±10%. the fuel heat content of specific formulations can fall between a low of 7,500 btu/pound and a high of 11,000 btu/pound based on customer specifications, in certain illustrative embodiments. this feature also distinguishes the process engineered fuel product from rdf, as the heating value of rdf may range up to a high of about 6,500 btu/pound, but is still significantly below the low-end range heating value of the process engineered fuel product disclosed herein. the high heating value of rdf would not be expected to consistently achieve even the low-end heating value of the process engineered fuel product, which is 7,500 btu/pound, and the heating value would not be consistent, i.e., could not be effectively targeted to meet a specific value. heating value of the feedstock components: the heating value of each feedstock material stream comprising the process engineered fuel product can be greater than 5,000 btu/pound. for example, the medium weight materials comprising fibers and rigid plastics can have an average heating value of 6,000 btu/pound, and the light weight materials comprising film plastics and foam plastics can have an average heating value of greater than 11,000 btu/pound, in certain illustrative embodiments. heating value and composition engineered to meet precise customer specifications: the composition and fuel heating value of the process engineered fuel product can be adjusted to meet specifications provided by utility customers based on their combustion unit firing diagrams. for example, to ensure fuel integrity, the fuel composition ratios of fibers to plastics may range from 70:30 fibers/plastics resulting in a heating value of 7,500 btu/pound, to a ratio of 30:70 fibers/plastics for a fuel heating value of 11,000 btu/pound. the fuel composition can be verified based on analyses of the process engineered fuel product and continuous process controls including spectroscopic characterization as described in eighth stage 8 above. this ensures that a consistent product that burns evenly without spiking is produced. fuel size: fuel feedstock can be mechanically-sized and can be formed into a cylindrical shape (⅞-inch diameter by 1 to 2-inches in length) in pelletized form or a less dense “crumb” form. fuel characteristics: the mechanical densification of the process engineered fuel into a cylindrical shape creates a thin plastic coating around the outer surface of the fuel cylinder and a pelletized product. the coating ensures a stable fuel that will not breakdown, compost, has no odor and is easy to transport. fuel density: fuel density can average 810-945 pounds/cubic yd for the pelletized product and vary based on heat content requested by customer. fuel moisture content: fuel moisture content can range between 5 and 15%. fuel chlorine content: fuel chlorine content can range between non-detect and 0.3%. fuel sulfur content: fuel sulfur content can range between non-detect and 0.3%. fuel mercury content: fuel mercury content can range between non-detect and 0.3 ppm. combustion characteristics: from the perspective of the combustion facility, one of the most important attributes of engineered fuel is its homogeneity. the rigorous manufacturing process described herein results in a process engineered fuel product with a highly consistent heating value, moisture content, chemical makeup and composition. this allows the process engineered fuel product to burn evenly and completely with few to no spikes. a trial burn of process engineered fuel product at a cement manufacturing facility precalciner kiln was performed, and the relative impact of the process engineered fuel product on precalciner combustion characteristics and kiln material product was evaluated. the process engineered fuel product was used to replace petroleum coke fuel in the precalciner. the five-day trial results were positive and indicated similar if not improved combustion characteristics during replacement of petroleum coke. facility engineers closely watched carbon monoxide (co) measurements as a means to confirm complete burnout of the fuel. no co spiking occurred, indicative of consistent combustion, and co measurements stayed below 100 ppm with oxygen at 5%, indicative of complete combustion. to further assess the impact of process engineered fuel product on combustion as well as kiln material product, buildup of condensed raw material within the last stage of the precalciner was periodically sampled to assess thermochemical stability. excessive buildup will typically occur when the thermochemistry between alkalies, sulfur and chlorine (input fuels and raw materials fed to the kiln system) in the precalciner are imbalanced. such excessive buildup can quickly force a shutdown of the kiln operation and ruin kiln product. one measure of this potential buildup is to measure the composition of the condensed raw material sulfur and/or chlorine content. for the trial burn, the condensed raw material was sampled and analyzed. during the five-day trial there was no noticeable buildup within the precalciner as seen in conducted thermal imaging and chlorine content in the condensed raw material remained within acceptable levels throughout the test period, even during periods of an elevated feed of the process engineered fuel product of 16 tons per hour. based on the sampling and analysis and consistency of the fuel material, the metals content in the process engineered fuel product should remain in the following ranges from table 1 below, in certain illustrative embodiments: table 1metals content (mg/kg)antimony16.9 to 51.5arsenicnon-detect to 0.61berylliumnon-detectcadmium0.34 to 1.37chromium10.30 to 20.60cobalt0.78 to 1.40lead12.30 to 48.00manganese34.00 to 48.00nickel1.72 to 7.25selenium1.03 to 1.30 a contrast between the process engineered fuel product (according to certain illustrative embodiments) and rdf is set forth in table 2 below: table 2comparison of process engineered fuel product to rdfprocess engineered fuel productrdfhighly uniform & consistent compositionheterogeneous compositionthe process and system described herein result in aminimally processed to remove non-combustibles.consistent engineered fuel product composed of 99 +whether in pelletized or fluff form, rdf is unable% fibers and clean plastics. control of unsuitable fuelto meet standard of 1% or less contamination bymaterials (e.g., inert, metals, wet organics) or traceunsuitable fuel materials (e.g., inert, metals, wetcontaminants (e.g., chlorine) enhances com-organics) or trace contaminants (e.g., chlorine) inbustion characteristics and allows engineered fuelfuel mix.product to burn evenly and completely with minimalto no spikes.fine-tuned heating contentminimal processing/no fine-tuning of heatingthe process and system described herein are designedcontentsuch that operators can adjust and “fine-tune” the ratiounrefined material, heterogeneous material mixof fibers and clean plastics in the engineered fuelresults in uncontrolled combustion, heating andproduct to within 10% of the customer target value.emission spikes. cannot be fine-tuned to meetthis ratio correlates directly to heat content and is acustomer combustion specifications. btu/poundparametric measure of the heat content of thecan range between 5,500 to 6,500, depending uponengineered fuel product. btu/pound can be adjustedcontamination by inert and wet organic materials.between 7,500 to11,000, based on customerspecifications.well-controlled moisture/ash contenthighly variable moisture/ash contentengineered fuel product is processed to within 5% ofhighly unpredictable moisture (wt %) 15-35, ashthe customer target value using control of components(wt %) 8-25. extensive fuel feed systemand/or heating process. moisture (wt %) 5-15, ashmodifications required by end-user.(wt %) 2-15.controlled chlorine contentuncontrolled chlorine contaminationthe spectroscopic analyzer and sorting system withinrdf pellets or fluff generally cannot guaranteethe process and system described herein allows a userchlorine % as there are no controls to identify andto control the chlorine content of the engineered fuelreject pvc in processing systems. chlorineproduct to within 0.1% over the course of weeklycontent can range from 0.3% to 2%.production. chlorine content non-detect to 0.3%.fuel enhancing agentsno process controls to allow customizationthe process allows for customized fuel formulationsrdf is not manufactured to meet customer'swith the addition of fuel enhancing agents such asspecifications. rdf is minimally processed forcalcium hydroxide (acid gas scrubbing) or lignindisposal in msw combustion facilities.(adjust fuel structure-adjust oxidation rate andimprove fuel handling).clean burning fuel easily used in coal-firedhigher emissions, requires extensive systemboilers/kilnsmodificationburns cleaner than solid fossil fuels, msw and rdf,rdf has much higher ash, moisture, chlorine, andsignificantly reducing emissions of criteria pollutantssulfur content causing significantly higherand ghgs. end users need not make significantemissions than engineered fuel product. use ofmodifications to fuel feed or combustion units.rdf requires extensive combustion unit and fuelfeed systems. in certain illustrative embodiments, a system and process for producing an engineered fuel product is provided. flow diagrams and mass balances for various illustrative embodiments of the process for producing engineered fuel are shown in fig. 1 hereto, generally at 100 and 200 . fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary process that may include a plurality of sequential, non-sequential, or sequence independent steps or stages for preparing an engineered fuel product using, for example, the systems and equipment shown or described herein. note that the process described in fig. 1 is exemplary, and may be performed in different orders and/or sequences as dictated or permitted by the system and equipment described herein, and any alternative embodiments thereof. in addition, the processes described herein are not limited to the specific use of the system and equipment described herein but may be performed using any system and equipment that is capable of producing an engineered fuel product as described in connection with the processes shown in the figures. numerous arrangements of the various stages, techniques, equipment and materials can be utilized. in addition, not all stages, techniques, equipment and materials described herein need be utilized in all embodiments. however, it should be noted that certain particular arrangements of equipment and/or process steps for the system and process described herein are materially distinguishable from and provide distinct advantages over previously known technologies, as described in further detail later herein. in certain illustrative embodiments, a process for treating a solid waste material is provided, wherein the process can comprise one or more of the following stages: stage 1—tip floor presort and removal of large metallic objects in a first stage 101, a first set of waste components can be removed from the solid waste material. the solid waste material can include municipal solid waste and/or residual solid waste. the first set of waste components can include ferrous and non-ferrous metals contained within the solid waste material. the solid waste material can be received initially, for example, as a raw in-bound waste material dropped onto the process floor (or “tipping floor”) of the waste processing facility by a waste delivery vehicle. large and/or bulky metallic components of high density and physical size of ±25-inches (i.e. tire rims, brake drums, metal doors, etc.) that could cause damage to the primary shredder can be removed on the process floor. for example, a magnetic four over three grapple claw attached to the excavator boom can be utilized to remove these large metallic materials. in certain illustrative embodiments, further removal of metallic components can occur. for example, the solid waste material can be passed through a metal detector that is preset to remove metallic components greater than 12-inches by 8-inches by ½-inch thickness. metallic components greater than ½-inch thick have a high probability of damaging the internal cutters of the primary shredder. thus, removal of metals of this thickness specification can greatly improve shredder performance, if the metals are removed beforehand. in certain illustrative embodiments, the solid waste material can be passed under a metal detector via a conveyer moving in a first or forward direction. the movement of the conveyer can be reversed to an opposite or backwards direction if the metal detector detects the first set of waste components in the solid waste material. then, the first set of waste components can be removed from the conveyer with the magnet. this first stage 101 generally corresponds to the stage 1 (“removal of heavy and/or bulky items”) and stage 2 (“removal of large metal objects”) described in a previous embodiment herein. stage 2—primary shredding/size reduction in a second stage 102, shredding of the solid waste material can occur in a primary shredder. this shredding can break up the materials in the municipal solid waste to produce a homogeneous material suitable for further mechanical processing. in certain illustrative embodiments, the materials can be shredded to a particle size of 10-inch or less. this second stage 102 generally corresponds to the stage 3 (“slow-speed, high torque, primary pre-shredding”) described in a previous embodiment herein, with the exception that the materials are shredded to a smaller dimensional size. stage 3—screening in a third stage 103, the solid waste can be passed through a screener to reject undesired materials. in certain illustrative embodiments, the solid waste can be screened to a size of 2-inch particle size or less (such as fines) immediately after shredding the solid waste material to a particle size of 10-inch or less (two-dimensional). the screened materials can include materials such as organics (i.e., food waste) as well as additional materials such as glass, batteries, e-waste, and aggregates which can all comprise the heavier weight, higher-moisture materials in the solid waste material. in certain illustrative embodiments, the screening can occur via a vibratory screening process, whereby the screened materials are rejected as “unders” while material “overs” can proceed to stage 4 air classification. for example, a vibrating waste screener such as the type available from ife aufbereirtungstechnik gmbh or spaleck gmbh & co. kg can be utilized. the vibrating waste screener can have a plurality of vibrating screen decks to promote separation, in certain illustrative embodiments. vibrating waste screeners with decks can provide improved waste separation as compared to commonly known rotary trommel screeners. stage 4—air classification. in a fourth stage 104, a second set of waste components can be removed from the solid waste material after the waste components have undergone screening to a size of 2-inch particle size or less. the second set of waste components can include materials such as aggregates, wood, textiles and rubber, which comprise the heavier weight materials in the solid waste material of stage 4. in general, the solid waste material can include heavier weight components, medium weight components and lighter weight components. the heavier weight components can include, as described above, the second set of waste components which comprises aggregates, wood, textiles and rubber. the medium weight components can include one or more of fibers and rigid plastics, and the lighter weight components can include one or more of foam plastics and film plastics. in some cases, the combined medium weight components and lighter weight components can have a nominal density of 8 pounds/cubic foot or less as compared to the heavier weight components. in certain illustrative embodiments, the second set of waste components can be removed from the solid waste material by passing the solid waste material through a separator such as, for example, a wind sifter or other type of air classifier device such as the type manufactured by westeria fordertechnik gmbh. in doing so, the moisture content of the final engineered fuel product made from the solid waste material can be adjusted and controlled as desired. an illustrative embodiment of a windsifter separator 300 is shown in figs. 2a and 2b . the solid waste material can be introduced into the separator 300 . in certain illustrative embodiments, the heavier weight components can be separated from the medium weight components and the lighter weight components in the separator 300 . for example, in certain illustrative embodiments, the separator 300 can comprise a delivery device 310 such as a first conveyer, a rotary drum 320 , an air supply device 330 and a receiver device 340 such as a second conveyer. delivery device 310 and receiver device 340 are preferably disposed on opposite sides of rotary drum 320 . the delivery device 310 carries the solid waste material towards the rotary drum 320 . air flow from the air supply device 330 blows onto the solid waste material as onto the solid waste material attempts to pass over the top side of rotary drum 320 , which is rotating in a clockwise direction towards receiver device 340 . in certain illustrative embodiments, most of the heavier weight components will fall off of the delivery device 310 and are rejected as heavies or “unders” without being able to pass over the top of rotary drum 320 . in certain illustrative embodiments, most of the medium weight components and light weight components are able to pass over the top of rotary drum 320 either alone or with assistance from the air flow from air supply device 330 , thus distributing these medium weight components and lighter weight components as “overs” in the direction of receiver device 340 . thus, the receiver device 340 can be capable of receiving an amount of the medium weight components and the light weight components that have passed over rotary drum 320 . in certain illustrative embodiments, the receiver device 340 can be positioned at either a first receiving location or a second receiving location with respect to the rotary drum 320 of the separator 300 , and the moisture content of the engineered fuel product can be adjusted based on manipulation of the location of the receiver device 340 . in general, the engineered fuel product will have a higher moisture content if it contains a higher percentage of medium weight materials. thus, the moisture content of the engineered fuel product can be increased by moving the receiver device 340 from the second receiving location to the first receiving location or otherwise positioning the receiver device 340 in the first receiving location (as shown in fig. 2 a) to receive more of the medium weight components. also, the moisture content of the engineered fuel product can be decreased by moving the receiver device 340 from the first receiving location to the second receiving location or otherwise positioning the receiver device 340 in the second receiving location (as shown in fig. 2b ) to receive less of the medium weight components. thus, when positioned at the first receiving location ( fig. 2a ), the receiver device 340 can be capable of receiving more of the medium weight components than when positioned the second receiving location, and when positioned at the second receiving location ( fig. 2b ), the receiver device 340 can be capable of receiving more of the lighter weight components than when positioned the first receiving location. in certain illustrative embodiments, the receiver device 340 can be a single receiver that receives both the lighter weight components and the medium weight components. for example, the receiver device 340 can be a conveyer belt that is moveable between different locations with respect to its distance from rotary drum 320 . delivery device 310 can also be a conveyer belt that delivers the solid waste material towards rotary drum 320 . air supply device 330 can be a fan or similar air blower device. in certain illustrative embodiments, the amount of heavy weight components captured in the receiver device 340 can be less than one percent (1%) of the total amount of components captured in the receiver device 340 . once the heavier weight materials (the “unders”) have been removed or substantially separated from the solid waste material, the remaining medium weight components and lighter weight components (the “overs”), which typically include one or more of fibers, rigid plastics, foam plastics and film plastics, can proceed to further processing stages. stage 5—fuel amendment in a fifth stage 105, a clean stream of pre-sorted materials can be proportionally adding to the solid waste material. the clean stream can include, for example, fibers and clean plastics. these pre-sorted materials can be proportionally added to the solid waste material to produce a “fine-tuned” stream. the metered addition of the “fine-tuned” stream to the solid waste material can produce an engineered fuel product that meets customer specifications for various desired features. this fifth stage 105 generally corresponds to stage 9 (“fine tuning of engineered fuel product”) described in a previous embodiment herein. stage 6—ferrous/non-ferrous metal removal in a sixth stage 106, a third set of waste components can be removed from the solid waste material. the third set of waste components can include ferrous and non-ferrous metals having a size of less than 10-square inches (essentially two dimensional). for example, the solid waste material can be passed under an over-belt magnet to remove the ferrous metals and through an eddy current separator to remove the non-ferrous metals. the recovered metals can be recycled. this sixth stage 106 generally corresponds to stage 4 (“ferrous metal extraction”) and stage 7 (“eddy current-non-ferrous metal extraction”) described in a previous embodiment herein. stage 7—nir sorting in a seventh stage 107, the materials can undergo can undergo chlorine removal and removal of additional materials via an nir/his (near infrared spectroscopic/hyper spectral imaging) sorter. the sorter can analyze the radiation reflected from the material stream being sorted and identify various plastic and fibers. the system can then use high precision particle detection followed by a burst of compressed air to separate the detected particles. the nir/his equipment is commercially available from, for example, rtt steinert gmbh, pellenc st, or tomra sorting solutions a.k.a, titech. this seventh stage 107 generally corresponds to stage 8 (“near infrared (nir) spectroscopic/hyper spectral imaging system (his) sorting”) described in a previous embodiment herein. stage 8—secondary shredding in an eighth stage 108, all or substantially all of the solid waste material can be reshredded to a particle size of 2-inch or less. the purpose of this additional shredding is to produce a particle size that can easily pass through the dies of the densifier described in stage 9 without causing plugging. this eighth stage 108 generally corresponds to stage 10 (“high speed shredding”) described in a previous embodiment herein. stage 9—fuel staging in a ninth stage 109, staging and drying of the solid waste materials can occur. this ninth stage 109 generally corresponds to stage 11 (“staging/drying”) described in a previous embodiment herein. stage 10—densification in a tenth stage 110, the solid waste material (now characterized as fluff in certain illustrative embodiments) can be densified to produce an engineered fuel product. this tenth stage 110 generally corresponds to stage 8 (“near infrared (nir) spectroscopic/hyper spectral imaging system (his) sorting”) described in a previous embodiment herein. stage 11—fuel load out in an eleventh stage 111, the densified fuel can be loaded onto fuel trailers for shipment to end users such as, for example, cement/lime manufacturers and utilities. in certain illustrative embodiments, the final engineered fuel product can be engineered to meet various end user fuel specifications. for example, the final engineered fuel product can be a pelletized product having a weight density of nominal 30 pounds/cubic ft. the engineered fuel product can also be a non-pelletized product having a weight density of nominal 22 pounds/cubic ft. in some aspects, ninety nine percent (99%) or greater by volume of the engineered fuel product can comprise fibers and clean plastics. in some aspects, the engineered fuel product can comprise less than three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) chlorides. in certain illustrative embodiments, the solid waste material can have a moisture content of ±fifty five percent (55%) prior to removing the first set of waste components from the solid waste material, and the final engineered fuel product can have a moisture content of fifteen percent (15%) or less. the engineered fuel product can have a chloride content of three tenths of one percent (0.3%) or less. the engineered fuel product can have a heating value of nominal 11,000 btu/pound. in certain illustrative embodiments, the system and process described herein is materially distinguishable from, and provides distinct advantages over, previously known technologies. the system and process described herein also displays certain unexpected and surprising results. for example, in certain illustrative embodiments, it has been found that through improved waste screening and air classification, such as described in stage 3 (103) and stage 4 (104) herein, a more robust removal of contaminants at all stages (fines, inert materials, metals, etc. . . . ) can be achieved and moisture levels in the engineered fuel product can be reduced and/or more precisely controlled. for example, moisture content in the engineered fuel product can be manipulated more quickly and/or to a more exact value than with prior technologies. in certain illustrative embodiments, fuel density can average 810-945 pounds/cubic yard for the pelletized product and can vary based on heat content requested by customer, and fuel moisture content can range between 5 and 15%, in the alternative systems and processes described herein. the engineered fuel product can be a sustainable fuel replacement for coal, petroleum coke and other traditional solid fuels used to produce steam, electricity or heat. the engineered fuel product can meet precise end-user fuel specifications such as btu value, biogenic carbon content, and low sulfur content, and can be easily used in coal-fired boilers and kilns. the process for manufacturing the engineered fuel product extracts materials of value from the solid waste stream for recycling and fuel production resulting in significant landfill diversion (up to 65%, in certain illustrative embodiments). the engineered fuel product is a high btu fuel that burns cleaner than solid fossil fuels, significantly reducing criteria air pollutants and ghg emissions. the engineered fuel product is also a cost-effective compliance tool to meet emissions standards under the clean air act. in certain illustrative embodiments, the process can produce 4-6 tons/hour per production unit. the engineered fuel product can typically be stored in an enclosed, covered storage unit for 1-3 days before being transported to the customer via truck, rail or barge along with the supporting material safety data sheets (msds). it is to be understood that the described subject matter is not limited to the exact details of construction, operation, exact materials, or illustrative embodiments shown and described, as modifications and equivalents will be apparent to one skilled in the art. accordingly, the subject matter is therefore to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
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073-001-533-522-358
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JP
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[
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G02C13/00,A61B3/10,G09G5/00,G09G5/02,G02C7/06
| 2008-10-17T00:00:00 |
2008
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visual field image display device for eyeglasses and method for displaying visual field image for eyeglasses
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a visual field image display device for spectacles capable of displaying a retinal image by simulation corresponding to change even in visual line direction. a visual field image display device for spectacles adapted to display a retinal image seen when wearing a progressive-addition lens by simulation includes: an image processing section adapted to create the retinal image by performing a processing of adding blur and distortion to data of an original image in a visual field corresponding to the direction of a visual line of an eye of a person in a state where the person wears the progressive-addition lens, wherein the blur and distortion correspond to a passing point of the visual line on the progressive-addition lens; and a display section adapted to display the retinal image created by the image processing section.
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1 . a visual field image display device for spectacles adapted to display a retinal image seen when wearing a progressive-addition lens by simulation, the device comprising: an image processing section adapted to create the retinal image by performing a processing of adding blur and distortion to data of an original image in a visual field corresponding to the direction of a visual line of an eye of a person in a state where the person wears the progressive-addition lens, wherein the blur and distortion correspond to a passing point of the visual line on the progressive-addition lens; and a display section adapted to display the retinal image created by the image processing section. 2 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 1 , wherein the distortion is calculated by using brightness information of the original image, the brightness information being specified at a point in a visual field on an object side corresponding to a pixel sampled in a visual field on an image side. 3 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 1 , wherein the blur is calculated based on a continuous function which expresses a light distribution of light-rays from the object, the light-rays spreading with an image point as the center. 4 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 3 , wherein the processing of adding blur is performed by distributing the brightness of each pixel of the display section to peripheral pixels base on the continuous function, and recalculating the brightness of all pixels of the image. 5 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 4 , wherein the processing of adding blur is performed by using a normal distribution function and parameters expressed as the following equation (1) and including an equiprobability ellipse which expresses the level of the spreading, the distortion and the blur of the image point: (here, μ, ν are respectively the deflection angles of the principal light-ray from the coordinate axis direction, and σ μ , σ ν , ρ are parameters of the normal distribution, wherein σ μ >0, σ ν >0, −1<ρ<1). 6 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 5 , wherein the parameters are calculated based on a one-dimensional nested structure. 7 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 1 , wherein the direction of the visual line is identified by a visual line tracking device and a gyro sensor. 8 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 7 , wherein the display section includes a head mounted display, and the visual line tracking device and the gyro sensor are mounted on the head mounted display. 9 . a method for displaying visual field image for spectacles adapted to display a retinal image seen when wearing a progressive-addition lens by simulation, the method comprising: calculating the retinal image to be displayed at each point of a point group spirally arranged within a visual field. 10 . the method for displaying visual field image for spectacles according to claim 9 , wherein the spiral arrangement includes at least two spirals. 11 . the method for displaying visual field image for spectacles according to claim 10 , wherein the spiral arrangement includes six spirals. 12 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 2 , wherein the blur is calculated based on a continuous function which expresses a light distribution of light-rays from the object, the light-rays spreading with an image point as the center. 13 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 12 , wherein the processing of adding blur is performed by distributing the brightness of each pixel of the display section to peripheral pixels base on the continuous function, and recalculating the brightness of all pixels of the image. 14 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 13 , wherein the processing of adding blur is performed by using a normal distribution function and parameters expressed as the following equation (1) and including an equiprobability ellipse which expresses the level of the spreading, the distortion and the blur of the image point: (here, μ, ν are respectively the deflection angles of the principal light-ray from the coordinate axis direction, and σ μ , σ ν , ρ are parameters of the normal distribution, wherein σ μ >0, σ ν >0, −1<ρ<1). 15 . the visual field image display device for spectacles according to claim 14 , wherein the parameters are calculated based on a one-dimensional nested structure.
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technical field the present invention relates to a visual field image display device for spectacles adapted to display a retinal image seen when wearing a spectacle lens by simulation, and a method for displaying visual field image for spectacles. background art conventionally, in a spectacles store, a spectacle wearer wears sample lenses to confirm the vision, and selects lenses and frame to place an order. however, the number of kinds of the sample lenses possible to be prepared by the spectacles store is limited. since there are so many kinds of lenses particularly in the case where the lens is a progressive-addition lens, there is no guarantee that there is a sample lens suited to the spectacle wearer among the sample lenses. for this reason, the spectacle wearer can not know what vision is to be seen through the ordered lens until he (or she) actually wears the ordered lens after the lens is completed. to solve such a problem, it is proposed to display a vision to be seen through a lens not covered by the sample lenses by displaying a retinal image seen when wearing spectacles by simulation (see, for example, patent document 1). in a progressive-addition lens, since a distance portion and a near portion, which have different powers from each other, are smoothly connected to each other, distortion is generated. therefore there will be image fluctuation when direction of the face of the spectacle wearer changes. by displaying the retinal image seen when wearing spectacles by simulation, it becomes possible to easily show the image fluctuation. in the configuration described in patent document 1, the image range is changed according to the change of the direction of the face of the spectacle wearer, and an image processing with respect to the distortion is performed on the image in that range. prior art documents patent documents [patent document 1] specification of japanese patent no. 3893760 disclosure of the invention problems to be solved by the invention in the configuration described in the aforesaid patent document, since the image processing with respect to the distortion is simply performed on the image in the range of the visual field, calculation is relatively simple, and it is possible to easily simulate the retinal image seen when wearing a progressive-addition lens. however, it is not possible to precisely simulate an image seen when actually wearing the progressive-addition lens. to be specific, when actually using a progressive-addition lens, the vision is little changed by only changing the direction of the face. typically the progressive-addition lens wearer changes the angle of his (or her) face to change the direction of the visual field just for purpose of reducing the image fluctuation and distortion. further, changeover between the near portion and the distance portion is mainly achieved by moving visual line by cycloduction. thus, although the vision (the direction of the visual field) changes when the spectacle wearer changes the angle of his (or her) face, the changeover between the near portion and the distance portion is typically achieved by the change of the visual line direction (i.e., the angle of the cycloduction). with the configuration described in the aforesaid patent document, for example, if the spectacle wearer lowers his (or her) face with his (or her) visual line fixed at the distance power position of the progressive-addition lens, the simulation will be performed based on the judgment that the spectacle wearer is looking at the near power position. thus, the magnification and distortion of the image will become different from those corresponding to the fact that the visual line is fixed at the distance power position, and therefore it is not possible to precisely perform simulation. further, similar problem will arise if the spectacle wearer raises his (or her) face with his (or her) visual line fixed at the near power position. since the difference of the magnification in the lateral direction is not as large as that in the up-down direction, it is, on some level, possible to simulate the peripheral vision by moving the face in the lateral direction. however, it is not possible to simulate the peripheral vision portion and the principal gazing vision portion by moving the face in the up-down direction. to solve the aforesaid problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a visual field image display device for spectacles capable of displaying a retinal image by simulation corresponding to the change even in visual line direction. further, it is another object of the present invention to provide a method for displaying visual field image for spectacles capable of displaying a retinal image close to the actual retinal image seen when actually wearing spectacles by simulation. means for solving the problems a visual field image display device for spectacles according to an aspect of the present invention is adapted to display a retinal image seen when wearing a progressive-addition lens by simulation. the device includes: an image processing section adapted to create the retinal image by performing a processing of adding blur and distortion to data of an original image in a visual field corresponding to the direction of a visual line of an eye of a person in a state where the person wears the progressive-addition lens, wherein the blur and distortion correspond to a passing point of the visual line on the progressive-addition lens; and a display section adapted to display the retinal image created by the image processing section. the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the distortion is calculated by using brightness information of the original image, the brightness information being specified at a point in a visual field on an object side corresponding to a pixel sampled in a visual field on an image side. further, the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the blur is calculated based on a continuous function which expresses a light distribution of light-rays from an object, the light-rays spreading with an image point as the center. further, in addition to the aforesaid configuration, the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the processing of adding blur is performed by distributing the brightness of each pixel of the display section to peripheral pixels base on the continuous function, and recalculating the brightness of all pixels of the image. further, in addition to the aforesaid configuration, the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the processing of adding blur is performed by using a normal distribution function and parameters expressed as the following equation (1) and including an equiprobability ellipse which expresses the level of the spreading, the distortion and the blur of the image point: (here, μ, ν are respectively the deflection angles of the principal light-ray from the coordinate axis direction, and σ μ , σ ν , ρ are parameters of the normal distribution, wherein σ μ >0, σ ν >0, −1<ρ<1) further, in addition to the aforesaid configuration, the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the parameters are calculated based on a one-dimensional nested structure. the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the direction of the visual line is identified by a visual line tracking device and a gyro sensor. further, in addition to the aforesaid configuration, the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the display section includes a head mounted display, and the visual line tracking device and the gyro sensor are mounted on the head mounted display. a method for displaying visual field image for spectacles according to another aspect of the present invention is adapted to display a retinal image seen when wearing a progressive-addition lens by simulation. the method includes: calculating the retinal image to be displayed at each point of a point group spirally arranged within a visual field. the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the spiral arrangement includes at least two spirals. further, the aforesaid visual field image display device for spectacles can be configured so that the spiral arrangement includes six spirals. advantages of the invention with the visual field image display device for spectacles according to the present invention, in the image processing section, the retinal image is created by performing the processing of adding the blur and distortion to data of the original image in the visual field corresponding to the direction of a visual line of an eye of a person, wherein the blur and distortion correspond to a passing point of the visual line on the progressive-addition lens. because of this feature, it is possible to create a retinal image in which a processing of adding blur and distortion is performed while the change of the visual line passing point on the lens caused not only by the change of the direction of face but also by the change of the visual line direction is reflected. thus, it is easy to accurately simulate the peripheral vision portion and the principal gazing vision portion. thus, with the visual field image display device for spectacles of the present invention, it is possible to achieve a visual field image display device for spectacles capable of displaying a retinal image close to an actual vision corresponding to even the change of the visual line direction. according to the method for displaying visual field image for spectacles of the present invention, the retinal image to be displayed at each point of a point group spirally arranged within a visual field is calculated. by using a spirally arranged point group, it is possible to arrange more point groups in the visual field compared with, for example, the case where a vertically and horizontally arranged point group is used, so that the area within the visual field can be more efficiently used to calculate a retinal image close to the actually seen retinal image. thus, with the method for displaying visual field image for spectacles of the present invention, it is possible to display a retinal image close to the retinal image seen when actually wearing spectacles by simulation. brief description of drawings fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a visual field image display device for spectacles (a display system) according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a view showing an example of a three-dimensional cg model used in the system shown in fig. 1 ; fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the steps performed by the device shown in fig. 1 until a simulation image is displayed; fig. 4 shows a coordinate system used in the simulation according to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 is a view for explaining distortion of light-rays caused by the refraction of a lens; fig. 6 is a view for explaining light-ray tracing for obtaining psf; fig. 7a and fig. 7b are views each showing a method of dividing an entrance pupil; fig. 8 is a view showing correspondence between the image position on the retina and the incidence angle; and fig. 9 is a view showing an equiprobability ellipse. best modes for carrying out the invention the best mode for carrying out the present invention (referred to as “embodiment” hereinafter) will be described below. the description will be made in the following order. 1. description of configuration of device/system according to an embodiment of the present invention 2. description of theory and method of moving image simulation 2-1. purpose of simulation 2-2. coordinate system used in simulation 2-3. description of distortion of lens 2-3. description of blur of lens 2-5. synthesis of simulation image 2-6. coordinate transformation in a case where central visual line of visual field is designated 2-7. spline interpolation approximation of light-ray data 2-8. simplification of psf 2-9. speeding up multi-dimensional spline interpolation calculation 2-10. summary <1. description of configuration of device/system according to an embodiment of the present invention> a block diagram of a schematic configuration of a visual field image display device for spectacles (a display system), as an embodiment of the present invention, is shown in fig. 1 . the system shown in fig. 1 includes a hmd (head mounted display) 11 , a pc (personal computer) 15 , two monitors 16 , 17 , and a game pad 18 or a keyboard 19 (as input device). a tracking sensor for head movement (such as a gyro sensor or the like) 12 and a tracking sensor for visual line (such as a visual line tracking device) 13 are mounted on the hmd 11 . a graphic board 21 for image for the right eye, a graphic board 22 for image for the left eye, and a usb 23 are provided in the pc 15 . further, a hmd controller 14 is connected between the hmd 11 and the pc 15 . due to the provision of the graphic boards 21 , 22 , the pc 15 functions as an image processing section of the visual field image display device for spectacles of the present invention. a purpose of the present invention is to allow the spectacle wearer to experience a vision seen through a progressive-addition lens in terms of “image fluctuation (i.e., distortion)” and “blur”. to serve this purpose, an image processing effect of the “distortion” and “blur” is added to a three-dimensional cg (computer graphics) movie (which is the object to be viewed) by performing real-time calculation, so that the vision seen through the progressive-addition lens is recreated. in the system shown in fig. 1 , a stereoscopic vision can be displayed by preparing an image for the right eye and an image for the left eye. further, the recreated visual field is displayed in a manner in which the visual field in the three-dimensional cg model is tracked by the gyro sensor (i.e., the tracking sensor for head movement 12 ) and the visual line tracking device (i.e., the tracking sensor for visual line 13 ) mounted on the hmd 11 according to the movement of the visual line of the viewer. in the pc 15 , an image processing functioning as a “distortion filter” and a “blur filter” is performed. the “distortion filter” is a mechanism for returning the value of an output coordinate (t′, c′) on the image side based on a b spline light-ray database, with respect to each pixel of an original image. the “blur filter” is a mechanism for returning the values of the size (σ μ , σ ν ) and density (ρ) of the blur texture based on the b spline light-ray database, with respect to each pixel of the original image. all pixels of the original image are functioned as the input, and a blur texture image returned through the “blur filter” is added (i.e., overpainted) on the coordinate position of the outputted image returned through the “distortion filter”, so that a visible image (the output) is generated. an example of the three-dimensional cg model used in the system of fig. 1 is shown in fig. 2 . five objects 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 respectively having shapes of a ball, a cylinder, a rectangular parallelepiped, a cube and the like are arranged in a space. when viewing from a spectacle wearer 41 , the distances respectively from the object 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 are different. the distance from the ball-shaped object 31 is relatively smaller, and the distances from the object 32 and object 34 are relatively larger. further, in fig. 2 , in addition to the arrangement of the three-dimensional cg model, visual line passing points 46 a, 46 b on a spectacle lens 50 are shown in principal visual lines 43 a, 43 b in two directions. the fact that the positions of the visual line passing points on the spectacle lens 50 change according to the position of the visual field will be described below with reference to fig. 2 . first, a condition is considered in which the spectacle wearer 41 views the object 32 and the object 33 , and sees a visual vision 44 a. at this time, although not shown, the head 42 of the spectacle wearer 41 is directed to the visual vision 44 a. further, the principal visual line 43 a is directed to the center of a visual field 45 a of the visual vision 44 a. here, since the distance of the visual vision 44 a from the spectacle wearer 41 is relatively larger, the position of the visual line passing point 46 a on the spectacle lens 50 is slightly higher than the center portion. next, a condition is considered in which the spectacle wearer 41 views the object 34 and the object 35 , and sees a visual vision 44 b. at this time, although not shown, the head 42 of the spectacle wearer 41 is directed to the visual vision 44 b. further, the principal visual line 43 b is directed to the center of a visual field 45 b of the visual vision 44 b. here, since the distance of the visual vision 44 b from the spectacle wearer 41 is smaller than the distance of the visual vision 44 a, the position of the visual line passing point 46 b on the spectacle lens 50 is located near the center portion of the spectacle lens 50 , which is lower than the aforesaid position of the visual line passing point 46 a. thus, due to the change of the visual visions 44 a, 44 b, not only the direction of the head 42 of the spectacle wearer is changed, but also the visual line passing points 46 a, 46 b on the spectacle lens 50 are changed according to the distances to the visual vision 44 a, 44 b and the like. thus, if the simulation image is displayed to correspond only to the movement of the head as described in patent document 1, when the visual line passing point is fixed, the vision will be largely different from the actual vision. in the present embodiment, the system shown in fig. 1 is used to display the simulation image also corresponding to the change of the positions of the visual line passing point 46 a, 46 b on the spectacle lens 50 . next, the steps until the simulation image is displayed will be described with reference to a flowchart of fig. 3 . the simulation steps performed by the system shown in fig. 1 will be described below with reference to fig. 3 . first, the position of the face, the direction (the direction of the head 42 ), and the visual line direction of the spectacle wearer 42 are detected by the gyro sensor (i.e., the tracking sensor for head movement 12 ) and the visual line tracking device (i.e., the tracking sensor for visual line 13 ) mounted on the hmd 11 . the detection for the right eye is performed in step s 1 , and the detection for the left eye is performed in step s 2 . on the other hand, in step s 3 , the cg imaginary objects (i.e., the three-dimensional cg model) shown in fig. 2 are prepared. next, in step s 4 , by using a cg walk-through function, a visual vision cut off from the three-dimensional cg model is obtained according to the position of the face, the direction, and the visual line direction detected in step s 1 and step s 2 . the visual vision has different visual fields respectively for the right eye and the left eye. next, in step s 5 , an original image with no distortion and blur for the right eye is created based on the visual vision cut off in step s 4 . similarly, in step s 6 , an original image with no distortion and blur for the left eye is created based on the visual vision cut off in step s 4 . on the other hand, in step s 7 , the prescribed power, the addition power of the spectacle wearer 41 and the lens kind are inputted by the input device (such as the keyboard 19 or the like). next, based on the inputted content, shape data and layout data of the right lens are created in step s 8 , and shape data and layout data of the left lens are created in step s 9 . further, based on the inputted content, a right eyeball model is created in step s 10 , and a left eyeball model is created in step s 11 . next, based on the shape data, the layout data and the eyeball models respectively created in steps s 8 to s 10 , a three-dimensional spline interpolation coefficient of the light-ray data is generated in step s 12 . next, in step s 13 , the three-dimensional spline interpolation coefficients of various parameters such as outgoing light-ray direction, psf parameter, lens passing point position and the like for the right eye are obtained by using the three-dimensional spline interpolation coefficient of the light-ray data generated in step s 12 . similarly, in step s 14 , the three-dimensional spline interpolation coefficients of various parameters such as outgoing light-ray direction, psf parameter, lens passing point position and the like for the left eye are obtained. next, in step s 15 , the simulation is performed using the original images created in step s 5 and step s 6 , and the parameters and interpolation coefficients obtained in step s 13 and step s 14 . the processing of the simulation includes use of image processing hardware. next, in step s 16 , an image containing blur and distortion for the right eye is created. similarly, in step s 17 , an image containing blur and distortion for the left eye is created. the image containing blur and distortion created in the aforesaid manner is displayed on the display screen of the hmd 11 , the monitor 16 for monitoring the right eye, and the monitor 17 for monitoring the left eye. by the aforesaid process, the image containing blur and distortion corresponding to the visual line direction is displayed on the display screen of the hmd 11 . <2. description of theory and method of moving image simulation> 2-1. purpose of simulation the purpose of the moving image simulation is to express how the spectacle wearer will see if he (or she) has worn spectacles by using a still image and a moving image. by using a combination of the three-dimensional cg and the hmd 11 , the gyro sensor and the visual line tracking device, it is possible to present an image seen when turning head and/or changing visual line in a virtual space on a real-time basis. further, as shown in the system of fig. 1 and the flowchart of fig. 3 , it is possible to provide a binocular stereo vision if different images are respectively presented to the right and left eyes. 2-2. coordinate system used in simulation the coordinate system used in the simulation according to the present embodiment is shown in fig. 4 . a coordinate system having an x-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis is defined as shown in fig. 4 . the x-axis is defined as a direction extending from the front side to the eye. the y-axis is defined as an upward direction perpendicular to the x-axis. the z-axis is defined as a horizontal direction extending from the right to the left. the directions of the x-axis, the y-axis, and the z-axis are defined by the right-hand rule. further, the origin is located at the center of cycloduction. the broken line in the drawing schematically shows the eyeball and the cornea. further, in the coordinate system shown in fig. 4 , an arbitrary point p (x, y, z) (herein x<0, which means the point p is located before the eye) can be expressed by angles β, γ of the light-ray entered into the eye and a distance po between the point p and the center of cycloduction. the position in the simulation image is: tan β=y/x in the longitudinal direction, and tan γ=z/x in the lateral direction. in the case of spectacles, it is convenient to express the distance of the object by the inverse of the distance, rather than by the distance as it is. thus, the position of an arbitrary point in the space can be expressed as follows. d 1 =1/√{square root over ( x 2 +y 2 +z 2 )}, ψ=tan β= y/x, ζ=tan γ= z/x 2-3. description of distortion of lens the light-ray will be inflected when being seen through a lens. in other words, the object point located in a direction (ψ, ζ) seen by a naked eye will move to (ψ′, ζ′) when seen through a spectacle lens. thus phenomenon will be described in more detail with reference to fig. 5 . fig. 5 shows the spectacle lens 50 , an eyeball 51 , and a back vertex sphere 52 corresponding to the spectacle lens 50 . with respect to an arbitrary point p shown in fig. 5 , the incident direction in the case of the naked eye is po, while when wearing the spectacles to look through the spectacle lens 50 , the incident direction to the center of cycloduction o of the eyeball 51 will be changed into ro. similarly, with respect to a point a shown in fig. 5 , the incident direction in the case of the naked eye is ao, while when looking through the spectacle lens 50 , the incident direction to the center of cycloduction o of the eyeball 51 will be changed into bo. here, the position (ψ′, ζ′) of the object felt when wearing the spectacles can be expressed by a function of the position (d 1 , ψ, ζ) felt in the case of the naked eye. to be specific, the position (ψ′, ζ′) of the object felt when wearing the spectacles can be expressed by the following function. ψ′=ψ′( d 1 ,ψ,ζ) ζ′=ζ′( d 1 ,ψ,ζ) the content of the above function can be determined by light-ray tracing (which is to be described later). 2-3. description of blur of lens the reason of the blur caused by the lens is because not all light-rays from the object point are converged on one point of the retina. the light from the object point forms a light distribution which spreads to a certain range with an image point as the center. such a distribution is called psf (point spread function). a method for obtaining the psf will be described below with reference to fig. 6 . to obtain the psf, a principal light-ray pqo passing through the point p is searched firstly. after the principal light-ray has been determined, an entrance pupil is equally-divided (into 400 divisions, for example), the light-rays connecting the point p with each of divided areas are traced, and the points interacted with the retina are obtained. in fig. 6 , each light-ray can be traced using the azimuth angle of the point p, and the azimuth angle of the light-ray coming from the point p with respect to the principal light-ray. the position of the entrance pupil is, in a strict sense, a point conjugate to the object side of the pupil; however it is convenient to set the position of the entrance pupil as a point o′ in an extension of the line pq, which is a portion of the principal light-ray on the object side, wherein the point o′ satisfies the condition of: po=po′. if the pdf is based on the geometric optics principle, the density of the intersection points on the retina will be, in its entirety, the psf. in the case where the effect of wave optics is considered, the optical path difference between the light-rays of respective divided areas should be calculated, and fresnel integral should be performed to obtain the psf. next, various methods are considered as the method for dividing the entrance pupil. as main division methods, there are two kinds of division methods which are a tetragonal division shown in fig. 7a and a spiral division shown in fig. 7b . in the tetragonal division shown in fig. 7a , the area is divided vertically and horizontally, and the center point of each divided area is used. in such a case, it is only possible to trace about 70 percent of the coming light-rays simply because of the existence of useless parts at four corners. while in the spiral division shown in fig. 7b , points in the curves spirally extending from the center point of the entrance pupil are used. in such a case, it is possible to trace all coming light-rays. incidentally, it is preferred that the spiral arrangement includes at least two spirals. by including at least two spirals, it is possible to more efficiently use the entrance pupil compared with the case where only one spiral is included. further, in the case where six spirals are included as shown in fig. 7b , it is possible to most efficiently use the entrance pupil. the psf obtained in the aforesaid manner represents the light density distribution on the retina. however, since the coordinate of the incident image is the coordinate (ψ, ζ) in the direction seen from the center of cycloduction, it is necessary to perform a conversion between the coordinate on the retina and the coordinate (ψ, ζ) of the incident image. here, the relationship between the incidence angle and the image height is shown in fig. 8 . it is considered that, in the effective range of the psf, the image height is small, and sufficiently high accuracy can be obtained in paraxial calculation. to be specific, ψ m =y m /f, and ζ m =z m /f. here, f represents the focal length of the eye, and f varies according to the prescribed power. thus, the light distribution in the position of the retina can be converted into the light distribution in the direction of the incident light-ray. in other words, the eye feels that the light from the object point is coming from a space in a certain range with the object point as the center, instead of only coming from the object point. further, there is influence between adjacent points, so that difference is not easy to distinct, and therefore blur is caused. it is obvious that the psf will be different if looking through the different position of the lens. further, even when looking through the same position of the lens, the psf will be different if the object distance is different. furthermore, even when looking at a point of the same object distance through the same position of the lens, the psf will be different if the accommodation state of the eye is different. 2-5. synthesis of simulation image the distortion and the blur caused by the lens have been described as above. it is possible to simulate the image seen when wearing a spectacle lens if the distortion and the blur are synthesized by using an image processing method. further, it is possible to not only simulate a still image, but also simulate a moving image. concerning the distortion, the image processing with respect to the distortion can be achieved by obtaining the object side points corresponding to all pixels in the image side visual field, and applying the obtained result to the brightness information of the original image. concerning the blur, the image processing with respect to the blur can be achieved by “distributing” the brightness of each pixel to the peripheral pixels according to the psf to reconstruct the brightness of all pixels of the image. the blur processing is also called “convolution”. the convolution herein differs from a general convolution in that the psf is indefinite. 2-6. coordinate transformation in a case where central visual line of visual field is designated as described above, it is possible to simulate the entire visual field in a coordinate system in which the x-axis is defined as the direction extending from the front side to the eye (such a coordinate system is referred to as a “global coordinate system” hereinafter) by using the distortion information (the conversion from an object-side vision direction to an image-side vision direction) and the blur information (the psf in specified vision direction and visual distance). however, in the actual simulation, the central visual line does not have to be directed to the front side. for example, in the case where the vision of the near portion wants to be confirmed, the central visual line needs to pass through the near portion of the lens. in such case, the central visual line is in an oblique direction of the global coordinate system. the simulation is performed in a local coordinate system whose x′-axis is defined as the oblique direction. at this time, the problem is how to determine the y′-axis and z′-axis of the local coordinate system. herein, the y′-axis and z′-axis of the local coordinate system is determined according to the listing's law, which is one of the laws regarding cycloduction. according to the listing's law, when the central visual line is directed to the front side, the up-down direction and the right-left direction respectively change in a given direction corresponding to the movement of the central visual line caused by cycloduction. also, when the central visual line changes and thereby the visual line direction changes, the up-down direction and the right-left direction of the actual object change so that the up-down direction and the right-left direction of the actual object also be the up-down direction and the right-left direction in the retinal image. the coordinate axis transform matrix is shown as the following equation (2) (here, a, b, c represent respective axial constituents of the directional unit vector (a b c) in the global coordinate system of the central visual line direction) further, the local coordinate (x′, y′, z′) of an arbitrary point (x, y, z) of the global coordinate is converted according to the following equation (3). in contrast, the global coordinate (x, y, z) of an arbitrary point (x′, y′, z′) of the local coordinate is converted according to the following equation (4). by using the aforesaid coordinate transformation equations, it is possible to really simulate the distortion in the case where the central visual line is the visual line direction passing through an arbitrary point on the lens. 2-7. spline interpolation approximation of light-ray data the optical principle and image processing method of simulating the vision seen through the spectacle lens have been established as above. however, when actually performing simulation, vast calculations will be an annoying problem. the shape of the spectacle lens is not limited to a simple spherical surface. particularly, in a progressive-addition lens, the shape of the spectacle lens is a free-form surface. a repeat convergence method is employed to perform light-ray tracing of a complex surface such as the spectacle lens. the time necessary to perform such light-ray tracing is at least several times longer than the time necessary to perform light-ray tracing of a simple spherical surface. further, vast number of pixels of the simulation image is another factor associated with increased calculations. the light-ray tracing for determining each pixel of the resultant image corresponds to which pixel of the original image has to be performed for all pixels of all resultant images of the simulation. further, in order to determine the psf, many light-rays (for example, 100 pieces) from the corresponding object point are traced to obtain the spots on the retina. since all of these light-rays are traced with respect to an aspheric surface, the repeat convergence method has been employed, and therefore there will be tremendously vast calculations. given the calculation capability of one current personal computer, it will take several days to process one image (one frame of a moving image) by using such method. on the other hand, with respect to an arbitrary point on the object side as follows, the image side (ψ′, ζ′) is uniquely determined under the condition that the lens shape, the eyeball parameter, and the position relation between the lens and the eyeball are all determined. d 1 =1/√{square root over ( x 2 +y 2 +z 2 )}, ψ=tan β= y/x, ζ=tan γ= z/x to be specific, the following functions are true. ψ′=ψ′( d 1 ,ψ,ζ) ζ′=ζ′( d 1 ,ψ,ζ) further, it is easy to imagine that functions (ψ′, ζ′) change continuously with respect to the variables (d 1 , ψ, ζ). such functions are suitable for performing spline interpolation. thus, a limited number of sample points are set within the domain of each variable. for example, fifteen points (−0.2, 0.0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.1, 1.4, 1.7, 2.0, 2.3, 2.6, 2.9, 3.2, 3.6, 4.0) are set as the sample points of the object distance inverse d 1 , fifteen points (−1.5, −1.2, −1.0, −0.8, −0.6, −0.4, −0.2, 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.5) are set as the sample points of tangent ψ of the up-down angle, and fifteen points (−1.5, −1.2, −1.0, −0.8, −0.6, −0.4, −0.2, 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.5) are set as the sample points of tangent ζ of the right-left angle. the light-ray tracing is performed on all combinations of these sample points to obtain true function values. there are method of interpolating the function values of the other variable values (the values between sample points) using the true function values of the sample points. there are many interpolation methods corresponding to different purposes. b spline method is the most suitable interpolation method for the case where the true values of sample points are known. sample point number and sample point interval are related to interpolation accuracy. generally, high interpolation accuracy can be achieved in the place where sample point interval is small. however, if the sample point interval is reduced, the sample point number will be increased to cover the whole domain, and therefore it is necessary to increase the program memory. since a current pc and os can be configured to have large memory, the limitation on the sample point number is relaxed, so that it has become possible to obtain high-accuracy results. in such a manner, it becomes possible to obtain the following function (which expresses distortion information) by performing the spline interpolation with less calculations. where c represents an interpolation coefficient, and n represents a basis polynomial function based on the node of each dimension. 2-8. simplification of psf as describe above, in a strict sense, in order to obtain the psf of a certain object point, the light-rays passing through many points that equally divide the entrance pupil are necessary to be traced to obtain the spots on the retina, and further, obtain a spots density distribution function. however, with such method, the accuracy is not increased as much as expected even the number of the light-rays is increased. further, there is not only a case where, when the distortion is small, the spots concentrate, and the light-rays hardly pass through the places other than the image points, but also a case where, when the power error is large, the spots are evenly distributed in a certain area, so that the psf function changes intensively. on the other hand, in the case of performing simulation and/or performing lens performance evaluation, it is not necessary to have an accurate psf. for example, eyesight represents the closest distance between two discriminable points (visual angle). in such a case, the precise form of the psf function is not necessary, but the size of the range covering the psf is an important parameter. thus, the role in performing lens performance evaluation will not be significantly affected even if the psf is boldly simplified. in contrast, if previously assuming that the psf is a continuous function and applying its parameters to the psf by using the light-ray tracing data, the psf can be expressed with less parameters. these parameters can be obtained by performing spline interpolation (three-dimensional), as the aforesaid distortion function. to be able to approximate the psf of the power error and astigmatism and all axis angles, it is appropriate that the form of the simplified function is a two-dimensional normal distribution. to be specific, it is appropriate that the simplified function is the following equation (5). (here, μ, ν are respectively the deflection angles from the principal light-rays of y and z directions, and σ μ , σ ν , ρ are parameters of the normal distribution. these parameters satisfy the conditions of: σ μ >0, σ ν >0, −1<ρ<1) with respect to all points (μ, ν) in the line of the ellipse expressed by the following equation (6), the equation (1) mentioned above is true. further, the integral within the contour ellipse is the following equation (7). an equiprobability ellipse in such a case is shown in fig. 9 . thus, the two-dimensional normal distribution function can express the level of the spread (σ μ , σ ν ), the level of the astigmatic blur (ratio of major axis to minor axis of the equiprobability ellipse), and the angle (angle of the major axis). obviously, it is impossible to faithfully express an almost infinite change due to the state of the optical system of the pfs, however it is effective as a simplified function for expressing the psf. a considerable method of obtaining the parameters σ μ , σ ν , ρ of the two-dimensional normal distribution function based on the light-ray data is the method of obtaining statistical values of the intersection points of many light-rays distributed on the plane (μ, ν) and applying the statistical values to σ μ , σ ν , ρ. to be specific: here, n represents the number of light-rays, and (μ i , ν i ) represent the coordinates of the intersection points. in such a manner, it is possible to approximate the psf distribution function of an arbitrary point (d 1 , ψ, ζ) in the object space by the two-dimensional normal distribution function having the parameters σ μ , σ ν , ρ. further, σ μ , σ ν , ρ can be expressed as the functions of (d 1 , ψ, ζ) as follows. σ μ =σ μ ( d 1 ,ψ,ζ) σ ν =σ ν ( d 1 ,ψ,ζ) p =ρ( d 1 ,ψ,ζ) similar to the distortion information, theses functions can be obtained by performing spline interpolation. to be specific, theses functions can be obtained as follows. it should be noted that, due to spline interpolation error, there is a possible that the function values may go beyond the domain. for example, in the case where ρ is −1<ρ<1, the result becomes ρ=1.002 if obtained by performing interpolation, which means the ellipse does not exist. an effective method to solve such a problem is to obtain sin −1 ρ, instead of ρ, by performing interpolation, and perform a sine calculation on the result to obtain ρ. in addition to the parameters of the distortion and blur, other useful parameters can be obtained by performing spline interpolation. such parameters include, for example, lens convex surface passing point position (y convex , z convex ) of the principal light-ray, lens concave surface passing point position (y convex , z convex ) of the principal light-ray, and the like. such parameters can be calculated as follows. the lens passing point position of the principal light-ray is useful in performing simulation of the distribution of the distortion and blur in a local coordinate system whose central visual line is a transmitted light-ray at a particular position of the lens. 2-9. speeding up multi-dimensional spline interpolation calculation one-dimensional spline interpolation is expressed as follows. here, i represents the node number of each dimension, c i represents the coefficient thereof, and n represents the number of the sample points. n i (x) represents a basis function corresponding to i-th node. when the number of orders is m, n i (x) has a nonzero value in a range between i-th node and (i+m)-th node, and the interval between adjacent nodes is expressed by a (m−1)-order polynomial (due to the partiality of the basis function). in other words, at an arbitrary point a within the domain of x, there only exists at most m pieces of nonzero n i (x). thus, it seems like there are n terms when looking the interpolation equation, however there actually are m terms at x=a, and f(a) can be obtained by performing m multiplications and m additions. three-dimensional spline interpolation is expressed by the following equation (8). here, i, j, k represent the node numbers of each dimension, and respectively change by the numbers of the sample points. in other words, the number of the terms is equal to the product of the number of the sample points of each dimension. however, due to the partiality of the aforesaid basis function, the number of the nonzero terms at a certain point is equal to the product of the number of the orders of each dimension. in the case where the number of the orders of the spline of each dimension is 4, the number of the terms is 4 3 =64. in other words, the number of the calculations of one interpolation is 64 additions and 64×3=192 multiplications. generally, the number of necessary multiplications for performing an nj-dimensional m-order spline interpolation calculation is nj×m nj and therefore if the number of dimensions becomes large, the calculation burden will rapidly increase. however, if the above equation (8) is rewritten into the following equation (9), the number of calculation can be slightly reduced. the equation (9) is a nested structure of a one-dimensional interpolation, and dimension order can be changed at will. the number of additions and the number of multiplications are both equal to 4+4×(4+4×4)=84, so that the time necessary to perform calculation is reduced to ½. generally, the number of necessary multiplications for performing an nj-dimensional m-order spline interpolation calculation is expressed as following equation (10). 2-10. summary the moving image simulation using the three-dimensional cg has been described mainly focusing on the technical aspect. since the three-dimensional outside world seen when wearing a progressive-addition lens is simulated by the moving image, the calculation amount is vast. the vast amount of calculations can be reduced to a feasible level by performing spline interpolation and parameterizing the psf. further, by applying the present invention, the necessary calculation time of the simulation can be reduced to 1/100 to 1/1000, compared with the calculation time of the case where the present invention is not applied. actually, a spline coefficient database of the distortion and blur parameters of both the right eye and the left eye is previously prepared to generate a simulation image using a high-performance personal computer and a graphic board. further, the simulation image can be generated at a speed of 10 frames/second when a real time walk-through is performed in the cg with an hmd having a gyro mounted thereon. according to the aforesaid embodiment, in the processing of adding distortion, the object side points corresponding to all pixels in the image side visual field is obtained, and the obtained result is applied to the brightness information of the original image. further, according to the aforesaid embodiment, in the processing of adding blur, the brightness of each pixel is “distributed” to the peripheral pixels according to the psf to reconstruct the brightness of all pixels of the image. furthermore, the normal distribution function and the parameters expressed as equation (1) is used. in the present invention, the method of adding blur and distortion is not limited to the method described in the aforesaid embodiment, but includes other methods. further, either or both of the processing of adding distortion and the processing of adding blur can be performed by other methods than the method described in the aforesaid embodiment. further, in the aforesaid embodiment, the image for right eye and the image for left eye are respectively created so that it is possible to obtain a stereoscopic vision. however, the present invention also includes a configuration in which only the image for the right eye or the image for the left eye is created. further, the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which the image is displayed on both the hmd 11 and monitors 16 , 17 as described in the aforesaid embodiment, but includes other configurations such as the one in which there is only one display section, such as the case where the monitors are omitted and the image is displayed only on the hmd or the like, and the retinal image is displayed on the display section. in the present invention, the display section for displaying the retinal image is not limited to the hmd and the monitor. further, the sensor for detecting the movement of the head is not limited to the gyro sensor. furthermore, the method for displaying visual field image of the present invention is not limited to performing processing of adding blur and distortion corresponding to the change in the visual line direction as described in the aforesaid embodiment, but can be applied to a wider range of visual field image display device for spectacles (display system). for example, the present invention can also be applied to a device (system) configured to only perform either the processing of adding distortion or the processing of adding blur. it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the aforesaid embodiment, but includes various other configurations without departing from the spirit of the present invention. explanation of reference numerals 11 hmd15 pc16 , 17 monitor41 spectacle wearer42 head43 a, 43 b principal visual line44 a, 44 b visual vision46 a, 46 b visual line passing point50 spectacle lens
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073-720-239-868-164
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US
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[
"US"
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G01F1/82
| 1975-11-25T00:00:00 |
1975
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[
"G01"
] |
mass flowmeter starting system
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a zener diode voltage sensing circuit senses when the 115 volt, 400 hz primary power source to a conventional 8 hz two-phase mass flowmeter is below approximately 80 volts and through an amplifier, a frequency halving flip-flop, and a quad nand gate halves the frequency from 8 hz to 4 hz so that the impeller of the two-phase drive motor will start or continue rotating, then as the primary voltage rises above the 80 volt predetermined amount, and after approximately a one-second delay, the 4 hz, two-phase drive frequency is changed to the normal two-phase 8 hz impeller driver voltage.
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1. the improvement in a mass flowmeter system operating from a nominal 115 volt primary ac line and providing an 8 hz signal counted down in a countdown circuit from a high frequency oscillator of frequency f, for rotating the impeller rotor of the transmitter of the said mass flowmeter, the said improvement for rotating the said impeller under conditions of low primary line voltage comprising: a. means for sensing the said 115 volt primary line and providing a first signal when the said primary line voltage is below approximately 80 volts, and providing a second signal when the said primary line voltage is above approximately 80 volts; b. a divide-by-two circuit cooperating with the said fixed frequency oscillator providing an output frequency of f/2; c. a dc amplifier cooperating with the said sensing means and providing a first voltage potential responsive to the said first signal and a second voltage potential responsive to the said second signal; d. a quad nand gate having a first input receiving the frequency f, a second input receiving the said frequency f/2, a first and a second state binary switching input, and an output responsive to the said first f input and the said second f/2 input and the said switching input providing an output signal of frequency f responsive to a first state of the said binary switching input and an output signal of frequency f/2 responsive to the said second state of the said binary switching input; f. means for connecting the output of the said quad nand gate to the said countdown circuit whereby the said signal rotating the said impeller is 4 hz when the said primary line voltage is below approximately 80 volts and 8 hz when the said primary line voltage is above approximately 80 volts; and g. an rc time constant circuit comprising a capacitor and a resistor cooperating with the output of the said dc amplifier and the switching input of the said quad nand gate, for actuating the said first and second switching states of the said quad nand gates and providing approximately a one-second delay in switching the said quad nand gate after the said sensing means provides the said second signal.
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background of the invention the field of the invention is in mass flowmeter instrumentation and particularly in the electronic circuitry art for mass flowmeters. mass flowmeters are well known and in wide usage. a typical examples where mass flowmeters are widely used is in the measurement of the fuel flowing into a jet aircraft engine. mass flowmeters are used to indicate the pounds per hour of fuel flow independent of the absolute values of the density of the fuel and its velocity of flow. in order to fully comprehend this invention it is necessary that the operation of conventional mass flowmeters be understood. typical prior art devices are schematically represented in figs. 1 and 2. the fluid mechanics of the system is illustrated in fig. 1. the flow sensing means is comprised of two similar rotors 11 and 12 placed coaxially end-to-end, suspended for independent rotation, and separated axially only a small amount occasioned by the stationary disc separator 13. the upstream rotor 11 is commonly referred to as the impeller and the downstream rotor 12 the turbine. each rotor is comprised of a pair of concentric cylinders with radial vanes dividing the annular space between them into a number of identical flow passages. they are enclosed in a common cylindrical housing in which radial clearances are small enough to prevent appreciable fuel flow around the rotors. the impeller 11 is driven at constant angular velocity. each unit mass of fuel (as represented by the small arrows 14) in transit emerges from the impeller flow passages with the angular velocity of the impeller. by virtue of this angular velocity, each unit mass of fuel enters the flow passages of the turbine 12 with angular momentum proportional to impeller speed, but independent of flow rate, fuel density and viscosity, and other ambient conditions. all the angular momentum imparted to the fuel by the impeller is recovered by the turbine so that, in accordance with newton's law, the fuel exerts on the turbine 12 a torque directly proportional to the product of mass flow rate and impeller speed. the turbine 12 is restrained by a spring 15 to deflect through an angle of arc proportional to the torque exerted upon it by the fuel. this angle of rotation, of the turbine 12, moves the pointer 16 across the face of a dial 17 on which the calibration of the corresponding rates of flow are engraved. fig. 2 schematically illustrates a conventional control and indicating arrangement as is usually used to drive the impeller and sense and indicate the movement of the turbine; the movement of which is indicative of the mass-flow of the fluids. the fluid flow 21-22 is through the conduit 23 from the fuel source to the item of utilization, typical from a fuel tank to a jet engine. the impeller 11, supported on low friction bearings, is conventionally driven in angular rotation by a two-phase 8 hz signal in the quadrature coils 24 and 25 which is supplied by the controller 26. these coils are located outside of the fluid conduit 23. the movement of the turbine 12 is sensed by a conventional repeater system (such as a selsyn or synchro type system) having transmitter coil 27 and remote indicator coil 28. the indicator coil 28 conventionally drives the indicator card 29 to an angular position corresponding to the angular movement that the turbine 12 is moved against the restoring force of spring 15 by the mass-flow of the fluid 21-22 passing through the system. the card 29 is conventionally calibrated to indicate the mass fuel flow in pounds-per-hour, or multiples thereof. prior to this invention a severe impeller starting problem had existed with aircraft having low primary voltage during the startup cycle or at any time the nominal 115 v 400 hz primary voltage dropped to less than about 80 volts and then was slow to regain a nominal 115 volt value. one of the reasons for difficulty in starting the impeller with low primary voltage is due to the eddy currents in the aluminum conduit or housing 23 separating the two-phase starter windings 24 and 25 from the permanent magnet rotor in the impeller. these eddy current losses can be reduced by using a titanium or other higher resistance housing, but of a great expense. another way that has been attempted to make the impeller easier to start has been to incorporate swirl vanes to provide a flow assist effect but swirl vanes cause an increased pressure drop and in most applications, particularly military, an extremely low pressure drop is a requirement that is placed on the mass flowmeter transmitter so that maximum fuel flow with minimum pump energy is obtained. obviously providing sufficient power at 8 hz to start under all conditions of temperature, low voltage, and high flow is impractical because of indicator power limitations and the cost of the required higher rated electronic components. thus, it was highly desirable to discover some means of starting the two-phase synchronous 8 hz impeller at a lower voltage than its nominal designed voltage. it has been found that once the impeller is in rotational motion, it will lock into synchronism and properly function at voltages of about 80 volts and above, but that it is normally incapable of starting at voltages approximately equal to or less than 80 volts. it is during the startup period when voltages are low that it is also very important to know the fuel flow into the engine. typical examples of the prior art in connection with the starting of synchronous motors are exemplified by u.s. pat. nos. 3,408,547 to patentee w. saeger; 3,855,510 to patentee d. j. houck; 3,219,897 to patentee a. beltrami and 3,582,735 to patentee a. p. maruschak. summary of the invention an economical, simple, and reliable system for starting the synchronous impeller rotors of mass flowmeters under conditions of low primary live voltage is disclosed. brief description of the drawing fig. 1 is a schematic-pictorial representation of the transmitter structure of a mass flowmeter; fig. 2 is a schematic-pictorial representation of a complete mass flowmeter system; fig. 3 is an electrical schematic diagram of an improved mass flowmeter; and fig. 4 is a detailed electrical schematic diagram of the frequency control citcuit. description of the preferred embodiment it has been discovered that the utility of a conventional 8 hz mass flowmeter system can be greatly increased and an improved mass flowmeter system provided by providing an electronic control system that at start, or at any other time when the primary line voltage becomes less than a predetermined set value, reduces the 8hz to 4 hz for the period that the voltage is lower than the set value and for a determined time interval after the predetermined set value is regained before switching to the 8 hz operating frequency. with a nominal 115 volt 400 hz primary voltage the optimum magnitude of this predetermined set value has been found to be approximately 80 volts. it has also been found that adding an additional divide-by-two stage so that the normal 8 hz that is obtained by counting down the frequency from a crystal oscillator, is further reduced to 4 hz when the primary line drops below the approximately 80 volt value will enable the impeller in the transmitter to start rotating. the divide-by-two stage is removed as the primary voltage rises above the 80 volt value where synchronization of the impeller rotor with the 8 hz signal will be obtained provided the impeller was previously rotating at the 4 hz rate. the transition is delayed for approximately one second to assure stable transmitter operation at 4 hz before switching to 8 hz. this delay is not critical in duration but some delay is important to prevent hunting and instable operation (with switching back and forth) as the primary voltage may tend to waver slightly during its rising to the nominal value. approximately a one-second delay has been found optimum to provide stable operation yet get the system to functioning normally as soon as practical. referring to fig. 3, if the modification 50 is removed from the circuit and the crystal oscillator 51 is connected by conductor 52, shown dotted, to the input 53 of the countdown frequency-phase control system 54, and the line from the modification circuit opened at point 55 a conventional 8 hz, prior art, mass flowmeter is obtained. the modification 50, improving the conventional mass flowmeter circuit, senses a reference voltage on line 56, connected to existing line 57 of the power supply, that is proportional to the primary line voltage and has a nominal value of approximately 10 volts dc when the primary voltage is approximately 115 volts ac. the frequency of the signals on line 53 is then controlled by the apparatus of this invention to be either approximately 262 khz or approximately 131 khz in accord with normal primary line voltage, or low line voltage, respectively. an enlarged, detailed, schematic diagram of the improvement circuit alone is shown in fig. 4. the connections with the conventional circuit are the same as shown in fig. 3. a line 59 connects with the clock frequency (oscillator) output from the crystal oscillator. line 56 connects to the monitored voltage, line 58 connects to a five-volt dc power source, and line 53 carrying either the clock (oscillator) frequency or one-half the clock frequency connects to the countdown divider in the conventional circuit. the improvement circuit comprises essentially five functional circuits. a voltage sensing circuit comprising a seven-volt zener reference voltage diode 60 keeps the base of transistor 61 substantially at that potential until the primary line potential drops below approximately 80 volts. a dc amplifier comprising transistors 61 and 62, amplifies the dc voltage from the zener diode and provides a low impedence control voltage output. an rc time delay circuit comprising capacitor 63 and resistor 64 cooperates with the output impedence of the dc amplifier through resistor 65 and determines the time delay interval between a switching change in the control voltage on line 56 and a corresponding switching level change on line 66. a conventional divide-by-two flip-flop 67 provides pulses on line 68 at one-half the frequency of the pulses on line 59. and a conventional quad nand gate 69 receives clock pulses on line 59, clock/2 pulses on line 68 and a binary "one" or a "zero" signal on line 66 according to the magnitude of the charge on capacitor 63, and provides an output on line 53 of either clock frequency or one-half clock frequency. by way of further explanation of the operation of the circuit, when the control voltage on line 56 is larger than approximately seven volts, zener diode 60 conducts and the base of transistor 61 is placed at substantially this potential, (actually 10/11 of it), placing it in heavy conduction. this lowers the potential on the base of transistor 62 substantially to ground potential substantially cutting if off and permitting the charge on capacitor 63 to rise to approximately five volts. a high potential, (a one), on line 66 inhibits the f/2 pulses at the output of nand gate 70 and provides for clock pulses to flow through gates 71 and 72 down line 53 to the conventional divider in the conventional control circuit which then drives the impeller rotor of the transmitter at 8 hz. when the voltage on line 56 drops, or is below approximately seven volts, as in an initial startup, zener diode 60 opens (or is open) and the potential on the base of transistor 61 goes to ground potential cutting off transistor 61. the base of transistor 62 rises placing it in heavy conduction with a lowering of the voltage on line 66, the charge voltage of capacitor 63. this provides a zero on line 66 to the quad nand gates 69 and the frequency of the output on line 53 to the conventional divider that is one-half the clock frequency. the system then operates at 4 hz to drive the impeller of the transmitter. the impeller will thus start rotating at the 4 hz rate at voltages as low as approximately one-half the voltage required to start it at the 8 hz rate due to the lower losses in coupling the electrical energy from the impeller stator to the impeller rotor and the decreased frictional drag imposed on the impeller by its environment. thus, it has been found that at 4 hz approximately 20 volts plus and minus on lines 80 and 81 respectively (fig. 3) will start the impeller and synchronize it to 4 hz. that is equivalent to one-half primary line voltage. then with the impeller turning, as the primary line voltage rises above approximately 80 volts the drive frequency is changed to 8 hz, after approximately a one-second delay required to change the charge on capacitor 63 sufficiently to change the logic to the nand gates. at voltages above that figure (80 volts) impeller will lock into synchronism at the 8 hz rate and the mass flowmeter will function normally to give accurate flow readings for all primary line voltages above 80 volts. without this invention the impeller would not commence rotation at voltages below approximately 105 volts and would cease to rotate at approximately 75 volts (when previously rotating) and would not start up again until the primary voltage reached approximately the 105 volt value. thus, this invention has economically, expediently, and easily, greatly improved the utility of mass flowmeters that must operate at times under low values of primary line voltages.
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073-788-823-240-713
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US
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[
"US"
] |
H04L29/08,H04L12/58
| 2005-07-22T00:00:00 |
2005
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[
"H04"
] |
adding a card to a mash guide/proximity grid
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events may be identified by storing information in response to activating an event stamp function. as a result of activating the event function, the information collected may immediately be compared to event information in a database. alternatively, the information collected may later be compared to event information in a database. one or more candidates for the event of interest may be automatically or manually retrieved, and the user may decide whether a candidate event of the one or more candidates correspond to the event of interest.
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1 . a method comprising: receiving, at a server, a request for information from a device, the request including at least location information indicative of a location of the device that sent the request, the server having a processor system including at least one processor, the server also having a memory system; determining, by the server, locations of interest, based on the request; retrieving, by the processor system, from a database information related to the locations of interest; sending, to the device, the information related to the locations of interest ranked according to a proximity of the locations of interest to the location of the device; and receiving, at the server, a request to add an entry to the database, the entry including location information about an item of interest not previously in the database. 2 . the method of claim 1 , the server sending to a user device a link for entering text that is displayed on a page associated with the item of interest. 3 . the method of claim 1 , the server sending to a user device a link for entering audio information that is accessible by a page associated with the item of interest. 4 . the method of claim 1 , the server sending to a user device a link for entering one or more images that are displayed on a page associated with the item of interest. 5 . the method of claim 1 , the server sending to a user device a link for entering times when information about the item of interest are returned in response to a search. 6 . the method of claim 1 , the server sending to a user device a link for entering a vicinity within which the information about the item of interest are returned in response to a search. 7 . the method of claim 1 , the server sending to a user device a link for creating a page that is displayed as part of a location based guide that is presented to users in response to a search. 8 . the method of claim 7 , the server sending to a user device a link for creating one or more pages for providing further information about the item of interest, the one or more pages being accessible from the page that is displayed as part of the location based guide that is presented to users in response to a search. 9 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving at the server an event stamp in association with request to add the entry, the event stamp including location information, the event stamp having a predetermined format in which the event stamp is received; associating by the server a location with the item of interest based on the location information in the event stamp. 10 . the method of claim 9 , the event stamp being received in the predetermined format without prompting from the server; the method further comprising: processing the event stamp at the server based on the predetermined format. 11 . the method of claim 10 , the processing including locating, by the server, the location information in the event stamp based on the predetermined format of the event stamp and information that was stored prior to receiving communications from the device the at the server about event stamps.
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cross-reference to related applications this application is a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/663,318, filed oct. 29, 2012, by john reimer, entitled, “identifying events,” (22-6) which is a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/803,766, filed jul. 6, 2010, by john reimer, entitled, “identifying events,” which is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/490,905, filed jul. 21, 2006, by john reimer, entitled, “identifying events,” which claims priority benefit of u.s. provisional patent application no. 60/701,551, filed jul. 22, 2005, by john reimer, entitled, “identifying events,” and which are all incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. field the invention relates generally to finding information. background of the disclosure the subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. the subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions. an individual may listen to a radio and hear a song or see something that catches the individual's interest. the individual may, at later time, search the web to find the song or information about the item seen, and may intend to purchase the song or something related to the item seen, but may not have enough information or forget some of the information needed for finding the song or the item seen. to address this problem, us patent application, publication number 2004/0002938, discloses a marker for marking pieces of music and a dedicated timestamp. however, the use of the marker and timestamp are somewhat limited and could be improved. summary of invention in an embodiment, an event stamp or grid stamp function is provided that records multiple pieces of information, such as the time of day, the date, and the location. in an embodiment, the location is identified via gps coordinates. in this specification, the phrases “event stamp” and “grid stamp” are used interchangeably—either term may be substituted for the other where ever either occurs to obtain a different embodiment. thus, similarly, the phrases “event stamp function” and “grid stamp function” and “event stamp button” and “grid stamp button” are used interchangeably—either term may be substituted for the other where ever either occurs to obtain a different embodiment. in an embodiment, when performing a search in addition to returning the event information that has the closest correspondence to the event stamp, information about other events that have some partially corresponding information is also returned. in an embodiment, activating the event function automatically launches an immediate search for the type of information sought. in an embodiment, the event stamp button includes a cylindrical component that rotates, and rotating the cylindrical component causes a scrolling through the search results found. in an embodiment, the user can configure different modes of operation, such as whether the event function causes just the storage of information for later use, launches an immediate search, or immediately causes a purchase of a product. in an embodiment, the event function has different modes (and optionally multiple mode buttons that invoke the different modes) in which in each of these modes different types of information are sought. in an embodiment, the event stamp information may be used for determining which bus, plane, train, or other mode of transportation passed a certain location. in an embodiment, the activating the event stamp function causes a comparison of radio waves received to sound received or a comparison of sounds or clips from a song or other broadcast received and stored to sounds and/or images stored in a database to identify the broadcast of interest. in an embodiment, the event stamp information may be used for determining the location of a particular vendor and initiating a transaction, such as locating the nearest available taxi and ordering a taxi pickup. in an embodiment, the event stamp information may be used to immediately locate a restaurant or other vendor that is nearby, view the menu, and the restaurant owner may return special offers, possibly dependent upon the user visiting the restaurant within a certain time frame. in an embodiment, the event stamp information may be used to immediately locate a barber, hairstylist, dentist, doctor, or other shop that is nearby and schedule an appointment. in an embodiment, the event stamp information may be used for establishing a journal of times and locations visited. in an embodiment, the event stamp may allow entry of a verbal annotation. in an embodiment, the event stamp may include a picture, and optionally the event stamp function may activate a camera (e.g., on a mobile phone). any of the above embodiments may be used alone, or with or without any combination of any of the other embodiments. additionally, the invention is not limited to the embodiments listed above. other embodiments of the invention may exist that do not include any of the above embodiments and/or that include other features not listed above. brief description of the figures in the following drawings like reference numbers are used to refer to like elements. although the following figures depict various examples of the invention, the invention is not limited to the examples depicted in the figures. fig. 1 shows a representation of an example of an event identification system. fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the keychain of fig. 1 . fig. 3 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the mobile phone of fig. 1 . fig. 4 shows a representation of an embodiment of the mobile phone of fig. 1 , which may be an embodiment of the mobile phone of fig. 3 or another embodiment. fig. 5 shows a block diagram of an example of a machine that may be used in the event identification system of fig. 1 . fig. 6 shows an example of a screenshot of a webpage that may be presented by a website host. fig. 7 shows a block diagram of an example of an attachment that may be attached to another device to thereby add an event button. fig. 8 shows a flowchart of an example of a method of using an event stamp. fig. 9 is a flowchart of an example of a method for establishing event identification system of fig. 1 . fig. 10a shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a software for an event identification system. fig. 10b shows a representation of an entity relationship diagram of an embodiment of an event identification system of fig. 10a . fig. 10c shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method of device communication for establishing the event identification system of fig. 10a . fig. 11 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method of activating a mash guide account. fig. 12 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method of using a mash guide. fig. 13 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method of creating a meeting/greeting event. fig. 14 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method of using a send it once page. fig. 15 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method of using a mobcast system. fig. 16 shows a representation of an example of communication between devices in an embodiment of an event identification system. fig. 17 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the watch of fig. 16 . fig. 18 shows a representation of an embodiment of a mash guide used in the event identification system. fig. 19 shows a representation of an embodiment of how the information in the mash guide can be formatted as a card. fig. 20 shows a representation of an embodiment of a smartwatch, which may be an embodiment of the watch of fig. 16 . fig. 21 shows a representation of an embodiment of the smartphone, which may be an embodiment of the mobile phone of fig. 1 or fig. 16 . fig. 22 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the mobile phone of either fig. 1 or fig. 16 , which may be an embodiment of the smartphone representation of fig. 21 . fig. 23 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the watch of fig. 16 , which may be an embodiment of the smartwatch representation of fig. 20 . fig. 24 shows a representation of an example of pairing between a smartwatch and a smartphone to be used in an event identification system and may be an embodiment of figs. 21-23 . detailed description of the drawings although various embodiments of the invention may have been motivated by various deficiencies with the prior art, which may be discussed or alluded to in one or more places in the specification, the embodiments of the invention do not necessarily address any of these deficiencies. in other words, different embodiments of the invention may address different deficiencies that may be discussed in the specification. some embodiments may only partially address some deficiencies or just one deficiency that may be discussed in the specification, and some embodiments may not address any of these deficiencies. in general, at the beginning of the discussion of each of figs. 1-7, 10a, 10b, and 16-24 is a brief description of each element, which may have no more than the name of each of the elements in the one of figs. 1-7, 10a, 10b, and 16-24 that is being discussed. after the brief description of each element, each element is further discussed in numerical order. in general, each of figs. 1-24 is discussed in numerical order, and the elements within figs. 1-24 are also usually discussed in numerical order to facilitate easily locating the discussion of a particular element. nonetheless, there is no one location where all of the information of any element of figs. 1-24 is necessarily located. unique information about any particular element or any other aspect of any of figs. 1-24 may be found in, or implied by, any part of the specification. in various places in discussing the drawings a range of letters, such as a-l, a-m, and a-n are used to refer to individual elements of various series of elements that are the same. in each of these series, the ending letters are integer variables that can be any number. unless indicated otherwise, the number of elements in each of these series is unrelated to the number of elements in others of these series. specifically, even though one letter (e.g. “1”) comes earlier in the alphabet than another letter (e.g., “n”), the order of these letters in the alphabet does not mean that the earlier letter represents a smaller number. the value of the earlier letter is unrelated to the later letter, and may represent a value that is greater than, the same as, or less than the later letter. fig. 1 shows an event identification system 100 . event identification system 100 includes broadcast source 102 , listening device 104 having event stamp button 106 , keychain 107 a having event stamp button 107 b , network appliance 108 , mobile phone 109 a optionally having event stamp button 109 b , network 110 , website host 112 , database 114 , broadcast sources 116 - 124 , airports 126 a - n , train stations 128 a - m , and vendor website hosts 130 a - 1 . in other embodiments, event identifying system 100 may not have all of the components associated with fig. 1 or may have other components in addition to or instead of those components associated with fig. 1 . event identification system 100 may be used for identifying one or more different types of events. event identification system 100 identifies at least some identifying information associated with at least certain events, such as a name or another identifier of the event. in this context, event information encompasses a broad range of types of occurrences, such as songs being played on the radio, information about the environment at a particular time, an occurrence of an action, or other forms of events. similarly, a company that broadcast the sound and/or video segments, a company that shows a movie or play, a company that hosts a sporting event, a company that runs a store (such as a barber shop or restaurant), or company that runs a mode of transportation, such as a taxi, train, bus, airplane, may be referred to as event sponsors. in this specification, any place the word “time” is mentioned, such as in conjunction with an event time associated with an event stamp, it is generic to the time of day, the calendar date, and the combination of the time of day and the calendar date. consequently, any place the word “time” appears at least three specific embodiments may be obtained by substituting, the time of day, the calendar date, and the combination of the time of day and the calendar date for the word “time.” as an example of a type of event that may be identified, in one embodiment, event identification system 100 is capable of identifying songs played on a radio station. in another embodiment, event identification system 100 is additionally, or alternatively, capable of identifying information about other types of events, such as which radio program was played at a particular time, information that was in an advertisement at a particular location, or which airplane or train passed by a particular location at a particular time or used a particular travel way (e.g., a particular train track, road, shipping lane and/or air passageway). broadcast source 102 may broadcast a wide variety of types of information, such as sound, text, and/or images. for example, broadcast source 102 may be a radio station that broadcasts sound segments, such as songs and/or radio programs. in another embodiment, broadcast source 102 may be a television station that broadcasts both image and sound information. broadcast source 102 is discussed further in conjunction with broadcast sources 116 - 124 . listening device 104 outputs the information being broadcast. for example, listening device 104 may include a radio. listening device 104 may be capable of outputting sound or other information from other sources, such as a compact disc (cd), flash memory, and/or hard drive. for example, listening device 104 may include a radio, a television, and/or a media player, such as a moving pictures expert group 3 (mpeg 3—a compression standard—or more commonly referred to as mp3) player with a radio attached, or a cassette player with a radio attached. optionally, listening device 104 may include a system that determines a current location, such as a global positioning system (gps) or a receiver for receiving gps coordinates from a gps system. there are many embodiments of the event identification device. listening device 104 is just one example of a device that may be used as and/or included in an event identification device. if the event identification device is capable of receiving broadcasts, it may be referred to as a receiving device. other non-limiting examples are given below. event stamp button 106 is button that activates an event stamp function, which is a function that causes the recording of event stamp information, which may be identifying information. an event stamp function is generic to a timestamp but may include other information in addition to and/or instead of the time. for example, the event stamp may record time, location, image information (e.g. photographs, audio and/or video of a location and/or event), and/or a broadcast source being received. any of the functions discussed in association with any of the event stamp buttons or event stamp functions in this specification may be associated with any event stamp function that may be initiated by any event stamp button. in this specification, the term identifying information refers to information that is used for identifying an event and the term event stamp information refers to information recorded as a result of activating an event stamp function. the event stamp function may be activated by one or two actions, for example. the event stamp information may be event identifying information. event stamp button 106 is an example of an implementation of an event stamp function that may be included in any event identification device. for example, the event stamp information recorded by event stamp button 106 may include information related to when and where the event occurred and/or the type of event. event stamp button 106 may be a mechanical button, a heat sensitive pad, or other touch sensitive pad. although in one embodiment, the event stamp function may be activated by pressing on a button in other embodiments the event stamp function is activated in any of a variety of other ways. for example, instead of event stamp button 106 , the event stamp function may be activated by a switch, an icon on a display, a roller, a function of another button. in one embodiment, event stamp button 106 is a timestamp that records the time of the event. in an embodiment, event stamp 106 may record a location associated with the pressing of event stamp 106 . the location information may be useful for many different types of events in a variety of different ways. in the case of a radio broadcast, event stamp button 106 may record the time of day at which event stamp button 106 was activated, the radio station being played by listening device 104 , and optionally may record location information (e.g., gps coordinates). the location information may be useful in identifying a broadcast source such as a radio station, because the same radio station number may be used by different radio stations having different locations, for example. in other words, situations in which there are multiple radio or television stations having the same name but having different locations, the location information may be useful in differentiating between the two radios or television stations. event stamp button 106 does not need to be placed on listening device 104 . the event stamp function may be associated with a multiplicity of different functions. similarly, event identifying system 100 may be used for identifying any of a number of types of information. for example, the event stamp function may be used for creating a journal of locations and times that the locations were visited. the event stamp function may cause a search for a place, a song, a television program, a movie, a play, a form of transportation, and/or an advertisement. the event stamp function may cause a recording of an excerpt of a broadcast (including images and/or sound), sounds and/or images of the location at which the event function is implemented, and/or a voice annotation (e.g., explaining why the event stamp function was implemented and/or other information associated with an event). as another example, a user may be able to manually enter a time and a location along a railroad line, or a search may be automatically launched in response to activating an event stamp function, to find out which train passed by a particular location at a certain time. the user may be able to determine the train's origin and regular schedule. as another example, event identification system 100 may be used to find out information that was in an advertisement, such as on a billboard, in a bus or along a roadside and/or to find out information that was in an advertisement on television or radio. instead of, or in addition to, placing event stamp button 106 on listening device 104 , an event stamp function may be placed on any mobile device to get information while traveling. the event stamp function may be placed on a viewing device, such as a television, on the dashboard of a car. the event stamp function may be placed elsewhere in a car, in a purse, in a wallet, on a briefcase, on a bicycle, and/or on a keychain (some examples are discussed below). similarly, event stamp button 106 may be included on a cell phone, a media player, a computer, a web appliance, a mp3 player, a radio, a television, a vehicle, a handheld computer, a keychain or a memorandum device, for example. each time the user activates the event stamp function, an immediate search launched for a particular type of information. additionally, or alternatively, the time and optionally other information, such as a radio station being played may be recorded in a memory system in a machine readable medium. optionally or alternatively, the device also collects gps or other location information that is included in the event stamp to facilitate identifying the station. at a later time or immediately after collecting the event information, the user causes the event stamps to be uploaded to the website or the event stamp is automatically sent to the website in response to activating the event stamp function, and for each event stamp, the website displays corresponding event information, such as songs. alternatively, the user enters the event stamp information into the website manually. event information related to events that occurred before and after the time of the event may be returned in addition to events associated with the same time as the event stamp. in an embodiment in which the events are songs being played, for each event stamp, the song played at that time of the event stamp is displayed and one or two songs before and after the song corresponding to the time of the event stamp may also be displayed. then the user may select a link for purchasing one or more songs desired. in an embodiment, the time, location, and/or other data could be recorded by hand for use in determining an event. alternatively, the user may carry a device that has an event stamp function on it. if included on a radio, upon hearing the broadcast segment, the event stamp button is pressed, and the time and radio station are automatically recorded. if the device has gps capability, the gps coordinates may be automatically recorded as part of the event stamp. in an embodiment, broadcasts may be sent with profile information, which may appear at the head of a broadcast message or elsewhere. circuitry (e.g., a programmed processor) associated with the event stamp may be configured for reading the profile information of a broadcast from the circuitry associated with a media player or other device that is designed to read the profile information from the broadcast segment. the event stamp function may be associated with a continuous recording of events (e.g., a continuous recording of all broadcast segments played on a radio or media player). the event stamp may be just a marking on the recording to identify the segment stamped. optionally, part of the recording is discarded and part is retained. the part retained includes at least the segment marked and may optionally also include one or more segments preceding the one marked and/or one or more segments following the one marked. the user may hear a segment, and after the segment is finished, the user may decide that to purchase the segment. retaining the one or more segments prior to and/or after the one marked facilitates finding the segment that is desired, even after the segment is no longer being broadcasted. specifically, returning several segments associated with times or other information other than the time and event information associated with the event stamp may facilitate finding the event (e.g., the broadcast segment) of interest despite potential inaccuracies in the time information or other information associated with the event. regarding broadcast sources, even if the time associated with the event stamp is accurate, the broadcast source may not have a schedule of which segment was played at any particular time. even if the broadcast source initially had a schedule of when the broadcast source planned to broadcast each segment, the broadcast source may deviate from its plans. for example, the broadcast source may play the segments at different times, play the segments in a different order, play segments not planned to be played, or not play all of the segments planned to play. as another example, if the events are taxis that are currently available and nearby, several available taxis may be returned in addition to the closest taxi, because the user may prefer to wait a longer time to get a taxi that is less expensive and/or that provides more courteous service. thus, after pressing the event function, the user may retrieve the information recorded and use the information to determine the event (e.g., the segment such as a song that was broadcast) by visiting the website and entering at least some of the information recorded. the information recorded may be uploaded to the website or entered by hand. optionally, the event stamp function may automatically connect to a web address and initiate a purchase of the segment (e.g., by actually purchasing the segment or giving the user an option to purchase the segment). the event function may have different settings that control whether to immediately start a purchasing process or just record the event information without initiating a purchasing procedure. the event stamp function may send a communication, such as an e-mail or other communication, to a purchasing site (e.g., the website) that is answered at a later time. alternatively, the event stamp function may initiate a direct link to the purchasing site. as an example of listening device 104 , listening device 104 may include at least a tuner having a read out of the station being played, a time source (e.g., a clock), and event stamp button 106 . the event stamp function may be associated with a memory for recording the event stamp information. in an embodiment, instead of or in addition to using a time to identify a song, a fingerprint of the song is used. in other words, identifying characteristics of the song are recorded, such as a segment of the song, the tone, and/or the pitch. the identifying characteristics may then be used to identify and/or purchase the desired song. as another example in which time may or may not be included, the identification of a billboard may be performed by using the location to identify the advertisement. in an embodiment, the time is included in the event stamp even when not necessary for identifying the event. keychain 107 a is another example of an event identification device, and keychain 107 a may be for car keys and/or other keys. event stamp button 107 b is similar to event stamp button 106 in that it may be used for recording event identifying information, such as a time, a location, a radio station identifier, and/or other information that may be used for identifying an event. event stamp button 107 b is another example of a location where an event stamp function may be placed. keychain 107 a may include circuitry capable of locating a radio station based on sounds being emitted from a listening device (such as listening device 104 ) in response to activating event stamp button 107 b . for example, keychain 107 a may include a receiver for receiving audio signals. upon pressing event stamp button 107 b , the keychain scans radio stations using a tuner in the keychain. the audio signals for a radio external to the keychain are matched to songs found while scanning radio stations. once a match is found, information identifying the song and/or the radio station playing the song is recorded. this information can be used later or immediately to purchase the song. network appliance 108 may be any of a number of types of appliances that are capable of accessing a network, such as a computer, a terminal, a web television, and/or a mobile phone. the user enters event identification information recorded by an event stamp function (e.g., event stamp button 106 or 107 b ) into network appliance 108 , and in response network appliance 108 sends the event identifying information to another location for identifying the event associated with the information recorded by the event stamp function. the information may be entered manually, uploaded, and/or transferred wirelessly into network appliance 108 . network appliance 108 may itself have a hardware and/or software version of an event stamp function, and this embodiment is another example of an event identification device. in addition to, or instead of, the information recorded by event stamp functions 106 or 107 b , an event stamp function associated with network appliance 108 . in addition to or instead of the event stamp functions discussed in conjunction with event stamp buttons 106 , 107 b , and 109 b , the event function of appliance 108 may record the url link associated with a webcast and optionally other information about the webcast to facilitate identifying the webcast. mobile phone 109 a is another example of an event identification device, and is an example of a network appliance. mobile phone 109 a may link via a phone network to a computer network to retrieve information associated with an event function stamp. mobile phone 109 a may include an event stamp button 109 b . although event stamp button 109 b is depicted as a button, event stamp button 109 b may be a menu item that is selected using cursor control buttons, such as the cursor control buttons that are often associated with the keypad of a mobile phone. network 110 may be any one of, or any combination of one or more local area networks (lans), wide area networks (wans) (e.g., an internet or intranet), phone networks, wireless networks, and/or other networks. event identifying information is sent from one of the devices having an event function via network 110 to a database, where more information about the event may be obtained. website host 112 hosts a website that may be accessed by one of the network appliances. the event stamp information (which may include event identifying information) is sent from one of the network appliances, via network 110 , to website host 112 . website host 112 uses the event stamp information (and/or other information) to retrieve other event information, which may include an event identifier (e.g., a name of an event) and/or to retrieve information about vendors, stores, service providers, and/or professional within a given proximity of a particular location. the other event information may include download information and/or purchase information, which may be used to download and/or purchase a recording or other information about the event. for example, if the event is one or more songs or other segments of a radio program or one or more segments of a television show, the information downloaded may include information about where to download and/or purchase the one or more segments, songs, programs and/or shows. in an embodiment, the website may return several segments that are before and after the one corresponding to the timeslot chosen. the reasons for returning events corresponding to times before and after the time of interest are explained above. in one embodiment, website host 112 may host a website in which a user enters the time, location, and broadcast source (e.g., radio station or television station) and the website returns the segment (e.g., song title and artist, radio program, or television program) that was being broadcasted at that time, for example. the website may have links to one or more vendors that sell the segments (e.g., songs) that were broadcasted. in one embodiment, the selection of the link causes the segment to be purchased. alternatively, by selecting the link the user may be brought to web pages associated with the vendor for making the purchase. in another embodiment, any segment may be downloaded for free. in an embodiment, downloading segments for free may be limited to certain conditions, only at certain times, and/or only certain segments. thus, in embodiments having a website, the user can hear a segment of a broadcast, write down the time, place, and/or other event information (or record the event information using an event function), and then the user can go to the website to obtain the segment. in another embodiment, in response to activating the event function, an identification device (such as listening device 104 , key chain 107 a , network appliance 108 , and/or mobile phone 109 a ) may automatically initiate a search or make a purchase via website host 112 , which then automatically returns the search results and/or a purchase receipt to the identification device. in an embodiment, website host 112 may include an application which in response to determining that a professional that provides a particular type of service (that is being searched for) is within a given proximity (e.g., 1 mile) of the searcher, sends a message (e.g., including the searcher's phone number, e-mail address, or instant messenger address) to the professional to contact the searcher. database 114 may store information that is used by website host 112 in conjunction with the event stamp information sent from one of the web appliances or another identifying device to identify the event. additionally, database 114 may store information related to where to obtain and/or purchase commodities related to the event, such as songs, radio programs, airline tickets, train tickets, and/or tickets to shows. for example, database 114 may store information, such as links to websites where a broadcast may be purchased, playlists, programming schedules, and/or contact information for various broadcast sources. website host 112 may maintain database 114 (in which event information, such as broadcast segments and information about the broadcast segments are stored). database 114 may maintain a correlation of event information. for example, database 114 may maintain a correlation of the segments actually broadcasted with the times the segments were broadcasted and optionally with the other information such as the broadcaster, and the broadcast area of the broadcaster. database 114 may maintain a correlation of routes, schedules, and bus numbers and/or train identifiers. database 114 may maintain a correlation of taxi identifiers and current locations of the taxis. database 114 may maintain a correlation of restaurants, locations, menus, and/or special offers. database 114 may maintain a correlation of times, locations, temperature, pressure, humidity, and/or whether it was sunny, cloudy, or raining. database 114 may maintain a list of professionals, vendors, stores, and/or services correlated with the locations, an availability indication, and/or hours of operations of the professionals, vendors, stores, and/or services. the availability indication may indicate whether a store is currently open or closed and/or whether a professional is currently willing to accept requests for service. the locations of the professionals may include the current gps coordinates (or other location identifiers) of the professional. for example, if the professional is a doctor currently attending a baseball game, the location of the professional may include the gps coordinates of the doctor at the baseball game and the availability indication may indicate whether the doctor is available for providing general medical services, emergency services, or not available. thus, if user is not feeling well while at the baseball game, the user can perform a search for doctors, and the doctor may receive a message that there is someone in the baseball stadium that needs the doctor's services. to keep database 114 up to date, web site host 112 may monitor one or more (possibly a very large number of) broadcast sources (e.g., radio stations) and/or other sponsors. further, based on the monitoring database 114 may record the date, time of day, event sponsor (e.g., broadcast source), and/or the event occurrence (e.g., the segment being broadcast). in an embodiment, the various broadcast sources may be monitored by human monitors, associated with web site host 112 and/or database 114 , that enter the data about the broadcast segment into database 114 . in an embodiment, the broadcast source (e.g., a radio station) or other event sponsor may send an event schedule (e.g., a playlist, a schedule of entertainment events, or schedule associated with a mode of transportation) to database 114 , a record of the times when the events actually occurred (e.g., when the segments were actually broadcasted, the entertainment event actually occurred, or the times when a transportation vehicle actually arrived at locations on its schedule), and/or other information associated with the events. web site host 112 may provide the radio station or other event sponsors with tools for submitting a record to database 114 of when events occurred. alternatively, the web site host 112 may automatically monitor the event sources (e.g., broadcast sources or radio transmissions of dispatchers) and figure out which events occurred and when the events occurred. in the case of broadcasts, the broadcast coming from the event source may include (e.g., come with) a profile from which event information may be extracted. for example, the profile may include the time of the segment, an identifier of the segment (e.g., the name of the song or program), and the location of the broadcast source of the segment. the event information may be extracted and stored in database 114 in correlation with the event, and/or may be extracted by the event identification device (e.g., listening device 104 ) of the user. in the case of professionals, the professional may sign up for a service, which downloads an application onto the professional's cell phone or other mobile device, and the application may periodically send an update to database 114 of the current location of the professional. the application may include an option for indicating the professional current availability. broadcast sources 116 - 124 are a set of broadcast sources, such as radio or television stations. broadcast sources 102 and 116 - 124 are one of many examples of types of event sponsors or event sources. website host 112 collects information from broadcast sources 102 and 116 - 124 related to the time and content of broadcasts that were delivered, which may be stored in database 114 . thus, when information from an event stamp is received by website host 112 , the information gathered from broadcast sources 102 and 116 - 124 may be used to determine the corresponding broadcast, the broadcast source from which the broadcast originated, and a link to a vendor that sells the broadcast. in some cases, the broadcast source may also be the vendor that sells the broadcast. although only six broadcast sources are depicted, there may be any number of broadcast sources. broadcast sources 102 and 116 - 124 may be communicatively linked to website host 112 in a variety of different ways. for example, broadcast sources 102 , 116 , 118 and 120 may be linked to website host 112 via network 110 . thus, broadcast sources 102 , 116 , 118 , 120 may be linked to website host 112 via wan, lan, and/or just ordinary phone lines, for example. obtaining information from broadcast sources 102 , 116 , 118 , and 120 may be automated or may involve a person telephoning, or listening to, broadcast sources 102 , 116 , 118 , and 120 , and then recording the information. broadcast source 122 is an example of a broadcast source being directly connected to website host 112 , and broadcast source 124 is an example of a broadcast source linked via another broadcast source, to website host 112 . in an embodiment, an event source (e.g., one of broadcast sources 102 and 116 - 124 or other event source) and/or other sponsors of events may receive a monetary compensation each time a user purchases and/or accesses information related to a product based on an event (e.g., a broadcast or another event) that originated from (e.g., was sponsored by or broadcasted by) that event source. the broadcast source, such as one of broadcast sources 102 and 116 - 124 , that hosted the event (e.g., that broadcasted the segment) may be compensated for purchases associated with the event, such as the purchase of the segment, every time a user makes a purchase that is based on information that is expected to have been obtained during the event, such as information indicating hearing the segment at the radio station or seeing an advertisement. airplane sources 126 a - n and train sources 128 a - m are examples of other sources of information about events and/or event sponsors that may provide information about events to website host 112 . airplane sources 126 a - n represent one or more airports and/or airlines, and train sources 128 a - m represent one or more train stations and/or transit services. for example, a user may hear a plane flying overhead, or a train passing by, at a particular time and location. the user then enters the information into one of the devices having an event stamp, such as network appliance 108 or mobile phone 109 a . the event information is then forwarded to website host 112 . network host 112 then retrieves information from database 114 , which was gathered from airplane sources 126 a - n or train sources 128 a - m , and then determines the airline and flight information or the train and train schedule, respectively. network host 112 may also provide one or more links where an airline ticket or a train ticket (e.g., related to the event stamp information) may be purchased. vendor website hosts 130 a - 1 represent one or more host of websites of vendors that sell songs, movies, radio programs, television programs, tickets to shows, tickets to movies, train tickets, airline tickets, taxis, barbers, restaurants, products associated with an advertisement and/or other products related to event identifying information provided. website host 112 may send a link such as a url to a web appliance or cause a web appliance to link to one of vendor website hosts 130 a - 1 , in response to receiving a request to purchase items associated with an event form website host 112 and/or form a web appliance. website host 112 may refer a web appliance to one of vendor website hosts 130 a - 1 for buying a product and/or for finding out more information about the product. event identification system 100 may be used for identifying other types of events by including other types of organizations that are responsible for generating those events. for example, event identification system 100 may be used for identifying the contents of ads on buses or billboards by having website host 112 linked to the advertising agencies that produce the ads on the buses or bill boards, respectively. fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of keychain 107 a . keychain 107 a may include microphone system 202 and receiver system 204 , which may include tuner system 206 . keychain 107 a may also include antenna system 208 , output system 210 , bus system 212 , and processor system 214 , which may include clock system 216 . keychain 107 a may also include memory system 218 , which may store sound identification algorithm 220 . also, keychain 107 a may include input system 222 , which may include input for identification information 224 . in other embodiments, keychain 107 a may include or may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. microphone system 202 may include one or more microphones and may receive sound waves that are used for identifying a broadcast segment. receiver system 204 may include one or more receivers that may receive radio waves, which may be compared to the broadcast segment in order to identify a television and/or radio station associated with the sound waves being emitted by the television or radio. receiver system 204 may also be capable of receiving global positioning satellite (gps) signals for determining a current location. tuner system 206 may automatically tune the frequency of the radio waves that is received by receiver system 204 or otherwise change the channel or station being received by receiver system 204 . by automatically tuning tuner system 206 , a set of several stations and/or channels may be scanned in order to determine whether there is a match between the broadcast segment received by the microphone and the radio waves received by the receiver. in some cases, the time that it takes to match the sound waves received with a radio station may be longer than the time of play of the radio broadcast of interest, but nonetheless the radio station may be identified, which in combination with the time may identify the broadcast segment of interest. antenna system 208 is attached to receiver system 204 and picks up an electromagnetic signal from the environment, which is sent to receiver system 204 . the electromagnetic signal picked up by antenna system 208 is determined by the current settings of tuner system 206 . antenna system 208 may be located within the key fob of the keychain and/or exterior to the key fob. in an embodiment, the keychain attached to the key fob is part of the antenna, and consequently any metal keys attached hanging on the keychain may also act as part of antenna system 208 . output system 210 is for outputting identifying information associated with the broadcast segment. for example, output system 210 may include a port that can be communicatively coupled to a computer via which the event stamp information may be transferred to a computer so that the broadcast segment may be identified via a website on network 110 . the communicative coupling may be accomplished by an electrical and/or optical connection, for example. in addition to, or instead of a port, output system 210 may include a display for displaying the event stamp information so that the event stamp information may be manually input to a web appliance attached to network 110 . if output system 210 includes a display, the display may show information input by a user, so that the user can verify that the information that is currently being input is the information that was intended to be input. depending on the embodiment, the display may be capable of displaying both input information and displaying automatically generated event stamp information. alternatively, the display may only be capable of displaying one of the input information or the automatically generated event stamp information. bus system 212 carries signals between the components of keychain 107 a . for example, bus system 212 communicatively couples microphone system 202 , receiver system 204 , and processor system 214 (processor system 214 is discussed in the next paragraph). in other embodiments, the components of keychain 107 a communicate in other ways instead of using bus system 212 . processor system 214 may compare signals generated by microphone system 202 (generated as a result of the microphone receiving sound waves) and signals generated by receiver system 204 (generated as a result of receiver system 204 receiving radio waves) to determine whether the broadcast segment matches the radio waves or matches a broadcast segment stored on database 114 . processor system 214 may also automatically change the settings of tuner system 206 in order to cause receiver system 204 to scan a set of radio and/or television stations. processor system 214 may also process gps signals to determine a location. clock system 216 may have many uses that facilitate the operations of processor system 214 , for example. additionally, clock system 216 may be used for recording a time associated with the broadcast segment received via microphone system 202 . for example, if a user presses on an event stamp button, processor system 214 may read clock system 216 and record the time in association with other identifying information that may be recorded as event stamp information and may be used to identify the broadcast segment. in an alternative embodiment, processor system 214 may be replaced with a specialized circuit that is configured for comparing the broadcast segment with the radio waves received and thereby determine the radio or television station being listened to and/or configured for recording the time associated with a broadcast segment of interest. memory system 218 may store the event stamp information. for example, memory system 218 may store a time associated with activating the event stamp function and a radio or television station that processor system 214 identified as matching the broadcast segment. memory system 218 may also store a location where the timestamp was pressed, which may have been determined by processor system 214 based on gps signals. memory system 218 may also store a part of the broadcast segment, which may be used to help identify the broadcast segment at a later time with the aid of a computer and/or a website. sound identification algorithm 220 may also be stored in memory system 218 . sound identification algorithm 220 may be the machine instructions implemented by processor system 214 to determine whether the broadcast segment received and stored in memory system 218 matches radio waves received or a broadcast segment in database 214 . input system 222 may include a button that activates the event stamp function and causes event stamp information to be recorded in memory system 218 and/or may cause other identification information to be collected and/or stored as part of the event stamp information. input for identification information 224 may include a keypad or other input mechanism via which identification information can be entered manually via the user, which may be used as event stamp information. fig. 3 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of mobile phone 109 a . mobile 109 a may include microphone system 302 , other telephone circuitry 304 , camera system 306 , and receiver and transmitter system 308 , which may include tuner system 310 . mobile phone 109 a may also include antenna system 312 , output system 314 , bus system 316 , speaker system 317 , and processor system 318 , which may include clock system 320 . mobile phone 109 a may also include memory system 322 , which may store event identification algorithm 324 . also, mobile phone 109 a may include input system 326 , which may include input for identification information 328 and keypad 330 . in other embodiments, mobile phone 109 a may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. microphone system 302 is for the user to speak into when making a telephone call. other telephone circuitry 304 is the circuitry that allows mobile phone 109 a to function as a telephone, which may include functions for dialing, connecting to a telephone network, storing messages, storing phone numbers, and voice mail, for example. camera system 306 is for taking pictures and is optional. the user may choose to take any picture desired upload the picture and send the picture to a friend, for example. camera system 306 may also take a picture in response to activating the event stamp button 109 a . the picture taken by camera system 306 in response to operating may be stored in association with the time and other identifying information. receiver and transmitter system 308 receives and transmits messages from and to, respectively, a wireless network. receiver and transmitter system 308 may receive and transmit phone messages. optionally, receiver and transmitter system 308 may also receive radio waves. receiver and transmitter system 308 may also be capable of receiving gps signals for determining a current location. receiver and transmitter system 308 may be used for communicatively coupling to a web server, such as website host 112 , that stores information, such as playlists of radio stations (that may be used for determining a song, program, or other broadcast segment), menus of restaurants, price lists, taxi locations, or other event information based on event stamp information stored in order to identify the broadcast segment or other event. tuner system 310 is optional, and (if present) may tune the frequency of the radio waves that is received by receiver and transmitter system 308 to allow the user to choose which radio station to listen to. antenna system 312 is attached to receiver and transmitter system 308 and picks up an electromagnetic signal from the environment, which is sent to receiver system 204 . the electromagnetic signal picked up by antenna system 312 is determined by the current settings of tuner 312 . output system 314 is for outputting menu information, search results (which may have been produced as a result of activating an event function), viewing phone numbers being dialed, viewing phone numbers stored, viewing television programs, and optionally viewing information related to a radio station being listened to, for example. output system 314 may be used for surfing a wan, such as the internet, sending and viewing text messages, and viewing web pages. for example, output system 314 may be used for viewing candidates for a broadcast segment or other event information that corresponds to event stamp information stored. output system 314 may also be used to view the event stamp information being stored. output system 314 may include a port that can be communicatively coupled to a computer via which the identification information may be transferred to a computer so that the event information may be identified via a website on network 110 . bus system 316 carries signals between all of the components of mobile 109 a . for example, bus system 316 communicatively couples microphone system 302 , other telephone circuitry 304 , camera system 306 , receiver and transmitter system 308 , output system 314 , and processor system 318 (processor system 318 is discussed in the next paragraph). speaker system 317 may be used for listening to phone calls, radio stations, television programs, and/or web pages, for example. processor system 318 may be configured for automatically or manually locating a website and sending event stamp information to a server for determining an identity of a broadcast segment associated with event stamp information stored on mobile phone 109 a in response to pressing event stamp button 109 b . processor system 318 may also be configured for automatically making a purchase base on event stamp information (for example, based on information identifying the broadcast segment). processor system 318 may also process gps signals to determine a location. processor 318 may be configured for reading profile information in a broadcast segment. clock system 320 may facilitate the operations of processor system 318 . clock system 320 may also be used for determining a time associated with an event stamp. for example, if a user presses on an event stamp button, processor system 316 may read clock system 320 and record the time in association with other identifying information that may be used included in the event stamp information. in an alternative embodiment, processor system 318 may be replaced with a specialized circuit that is configured for recording event stamps, locating a website, sending the event stamp information to the appropriate host, receiving search results that are based on the event stamp information sent, initiating a purchase based on the event stamp information, and/or completing the purchase initialized. memory system 322 may store the identification information. for example, memory system 322 may store a time associated with pressing an event stamp button and a radio or television station that processor system 318 determined as being associated with a broadcast segment that was being played at the time the event stamp was pressed. memory system 322 may also store a picture taken by camera system 306 , which may have been taken in conjunction with pressing the event stamp button. similarly, memory system 322 may store a location where the timestamp was pressed, which may have been determined by processor system 318 based on gps signals. memory system 322 may also store a part of the broadcast segment, which may be used to help identify the broadcast segment at a later time with the aid of a computer and/or a website. as explained above, storing a portion of a broadcast segment may facilitate automatically identifying the correct broadcast segment so that a purchase may also be automatically made without the user reviewing the item being purchased, because the likelihood of purchasing the wrong item is reasonably low. event identification algorithm 324 may also be stored in memory system 322 . event identification algorithm 324 may be the machine instructions implemented by processor system 318 that determines the station to which tuner system 310 is tuned. event identification algorithm 324 may include instructions that cause processor system 318 to take measurements of the frequency to which tuner 310 is tuned. event identification algorithm 324 may contain instructions that cause processor system 318 to automatically (and/or manually) access a remote database, send event stamp information to the database, and in response receive such results, such as information from the database further identifying the event. for example, the further information may be a name of a song, a name of a radio program, a name of a television program, a name of a movie, the number of a bus or train and a name of the company operating the bus or the train, a connection to a taxi dispatcher, the name of a product and an advertiser that makes the product such as the name of a restaurant, club, or hotel. input system 326 may include any of a variety of input mechanisms, such as keys, buttons, touch pads, ports for optically or electronically downloading information from other machines (e.g., computers or other mobile phones). in an embodiment, input for identification information 328 may include one or more buttons that initiate an event stamp function, which may include the collection of event identifying information. for example, input for identification information 328 may include a button that may cause processor system 318 to read and record the time from clock system 320 . additionally, the button may cause a picture to be taken and stored in association with the time. alternatively, the button may cause processor 318 to collect gps or other location information, which is then stored in association with the time. the button may also cause processor 318 to access a database containing more information related to the identifying information stored. input identifying information 328 may include two buttons—one button may be for collecting and recording the event identifying information, and the other button may be for accessing one or more remote databases that are expected to contain more information related to event identifying information. additionally, or alternatively, input for identifying information 328 may include a button for causing identifying information collected to be displayed via output system 314 . in an embodiment, input for identifying information 328 may include one or more mode buttons, which change the mode of an event stamp button. in one mode, the event stamp button may collect information related to a radio or television program being received, which is recorded as the event identifying information. in another mode, the event identifying information collected and recorded may be related to available transportation, such as commuter buses, trains, and planes. in yet another mode, the information collected and recorded may be related to forms of entertainment that are in a particular area, such as restaurants, clubs, gyms, theaters, parks, and museums. in still another mode, information related to advertisements, such as advertisements on public billboards or in public commuter facilities (e.g., trains, train stations, buses, bus stations, airports, and airplanes) and/or local shops, such as barbers, bookstores, grocery stores, clothing stores, and/or shoe stores may be collected and recorded. some modes may collect and record the same information, but differ as to which database or which portion of a database is accessed when retrieving further information about the event. for example, a mode for collecting information related to advertisements and a mode for collecting information related to modes of transportation may both record the time, gps information, and a picture, but the transportation mode may access a database of transportation schedules (e.g., bus, train, and/or plain schedules), while the advertisement mode may access a database storing names of advertisers, products advertised, and the locations where the advertisements are displayed. in a mode for transportation, current locations of available taxis may be included along with an option for automatically ordering a taxi to come and/or for automatically dialing a phone number to contact the taxi or the taxi dispatcher. in a mode for seeing information about places for entertainment, an advertisement may be generated in real time that give special offers if the user uses the service within a particular time frame. for example, if the user is standing outside of the door of a restaurant, and the user activates the event stamp function, in addition to receiving information ordinarily provided by the restaurant, the user may receive a discount if the use orders within a given period of time. in a mode for searching advertisements and local shops, the user may be able to automatically reserve a time for a haircut. the modes may be configurable. for example, event identification algorithm 324 may include instructions that allow the user to configure a transportation mode to only collect information about trains. event identification algorithm 324 may contain instructions that allow the user to establish a new mode. keypad 330 may be a standard keypad provided with a standard mobile phone. alternatively, one or more of the keys of keypad 330 may act as one or more event buttons and/or as one or more mode buttons for the one or more event buttons. keypad 330 may include keys and/or modes that allow the user to view event identifying information that was recorded, retrieve information from one or more databases related to the event stamp information initially recorded, and/or to purchase products based on the information retrieved from one or more databases. additionally, or alternatively, keypad 330 may allow the user to configure one or more mode buttons of input for identification information 328 . fig. 4 shows an embodiment 400 of mobile phone 109 a , which may be an embodiment of in fig. 3 or another embodiment. mobile phone 400 may include antenna system 312 , keypad 330 , lens 402 , event button 404 , display 406 , time field 408 , source field 410 , location field 412 , candidates 414 a - e , which may include times 416 a - e , event names 418 a - e , event sponsors 420 a - e , links 422 a - e , and sampler links 424 a - e . mobile phone 400 may also include exit 426 , select 428 , and switch 430 . in other embodiments, mobile phone 400 may include may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. antenna system 312 and keypad 330 were described in conjunction with fig. 3 , above. however, antenna system 312 and keypad 330 may be used with different circuits than the one of fig. 3 . lens 402 may be a lens for (forming an image to be recorded) or a view finder for a camera, such as camera system 306 ( fig. 3 ). event button 404 may be part of input for identification information 328 ( fig. 3 ). although only one event button is illustrated in fig. 4 , mobile phone 400 may have multiple event buttons and/or mode buttons associated with event button 404 , as discussed in conjunction with input for identification information 328 . in the example of fig. 4 , event button 404 is illustrated as having a cylindrical component protruding from the housing of mobile phone 400 . in an embodiment, the cylindrical component of event button 404 rotates. by pressing event button 404 inwards, the collection of event stamp information may be initiated. in this embodiment, rotating event button 404 may cause scrolling through information displayed in association with event button 404 . for example, after associating the event stamp information collected with other event information in a remote database and after retrieving the information (e.g., search results) from the remote database, the information retrieved may be displayed on a display of mobile phone 400 and scrolled through by rotating the cylindrical component of event button 404 . similarly, event button 404 may be used for scrolling through event identifying information collected prior to retrieving information from any database. in other embodiment, event button 404 may have other features that facilitate navigation through information associated with events. in other embodiments, event button 404 may be another sort of switch or button, and scrolling and/or other navigation functions may be implemented by pressing navigation buttons on keypad 330 instead of, or in addition to, event button 404 having navigation features. display 406 is the display of mobile phone 400 , which may be part of output system 314 ( fig. 3 ). in fig. 4 , mobile phone 400 is in a mode in which display 406 displays information (about an event) that was retrieved from a remote database. however, mobile phone 400 may have many other modes for displaying many other types of information, such as the information discussed in conjunction with output system 314 . time field 408 displays a time that was recorded as a result of activating event button 404 . in an embodiment, first the user presses event button 404 , and event stamp information (e.g., one or more event identifying pieces of information) are collected and stored. then, immediately or at a later time, a search is automatically launched or the user manually retrieves the event stamp information, and causes the event stamp information to be matched with more information in a remote database, which is returned to mobile phone 400 . the information returned may be displayed on display 406 . time field 408 displays the time that the event stamp information was collected as a result of pressing event button 404 . in other modes and/or in other embodiments, the time in time field 408 may be entered manually in addition to, or instead of, by selecting an entry stored in the memory of mobile phone 400 (which was stored as a result of pressing event button 402 ) as an event stamp. similarly, source field 410 shows the source of the event associated with the time in time field 408 . in the example illustrated in fig. 4 , the event is the playing of a song, and source of the event is the radio station indicated in source field 410 . however, in other embodiments and/or in other modes the source of the event displayed in source field 410 may be any of a variety of sources of events such as television stations, current locations of taxis, menu information for restaurants, a bus having an advertisement, an airport where a plane landed, or a train station where a train arrived. in some modes, the source of the event may be assumed to be unknown, and another type of information may be displayed in source field 410 or source field 410 may be left blank or not present on display 406 . location field 412 may be a location where the event was observed, which was collected as a result of activating event button 404 . in the example of fig. 4 , location field 412 illustrates the location where the song was heard. however, in other embodiments and/or modes the location may be a location where an advertisement, a plane, a train, a bus was seen, for example. although in the example of fig. 4 , the location is a city, which is stationary and of a certain general size, in other embodiments and/or modes the location may be of a smaller or larger size and/or may be mobile. for example, the location may be designated by gps coordinates, a longitude and latitude, a street, a county, a state, a country, a particular bus, a particular train, and/or a particular plane. in an embodiment, time field 408 , source field 410 , and/or location field 412 are filled in automatically in response to pushing event button 109 b. event candidates 414 a - e are candidates for the event of interest to the user. in an embodiment, the event candidate that is expected to be the one of interest to the user is at least initially displayed as highlighted (e.g., selected). in an embodiment, other candidates that occurred before or after the time associated with the event stamp are also displayed so that the user can decide which event (if any) is the one of interest. although in the example of fig. 4 , five event candidates are displayed in other embodiments and/or other modes, more candidates or fewer candidates may be displayed. in an embodiment, the user can configure mobile phone 400 to display the number of candidates desired and/or can select criterion for deciding which candidates are most likely to be of interest. times 416 a - e are the times at which each of candidate events 414 a - e occurred. names 418 a - e are names of candidate events 414 a - e , respectively, which in the example of fig. 4 are names of songs. sponsors 420 a - e are the names of creators or producers or of candidate events 414 a - e. links 422 a - e are links where each of event candidates 414 a - e or items related to each of event candidates 414 a - e can be found, purchased, and/or downloaded. in the example of fig. 4 , links 422 a - e may link the user to a webpage where the user can buy and download the song. in other embodiments and/or modes, the user may be brought to a site where the user can download the song for free, purchase tickets for a theater, make reservations for a restaurant, call a dispatcher of a nearby cab, and/or purchase tickets for a train, plane, and/or bus. sampler links 424 a - e may allow the user to see and/or hear at least a portion of event candidates 414 a - e , respectively. thus in the example of a song the user can hear the song to determine if the event candidate is the song they want to purchase. in the example of a television program or movie, sampler links 424 a - e may allow the user to see some of the movie or television program. in the case of a restaurant, sampler links 424 a - e may allow the user to see the menu or a picture of the restaurant. in the case of a form of transportation, sampler links 424 a - e may allow the user the see the fair, the schedule, and/or route that the particular public transportation vehicle follows. select 426 is for selecting one of links 422 a - e or sampler links 424 a - e . exit 428 exits the mode for viewing candidates 414 a - e , allowing the user to select other functions of mobile phone 400 . switch 430 is for turning mobile phone 400 on and/or off. fig. 5 shows a block diagram of a machine 500 used in event identification system 100 . machine 500 may include output system 502 , input system 504 , memory system 506 , instructions 507 , processor system 508 , communications system 512 , and input/output system 514 . in other embodiments, machine 500 may include may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. machine 500 is an example of a computer or other machine that may be used for any of network appliance 108 , website host 112 , database 114 , and vendor website hosts 130 a - 1 may have the structure of machine 500 . output system 502 may include any one of, some of, any combination of, or all of a monitor system, a handheld display system, a printer system, a speaker system, a connection or interface system to a sound system, an interface system to peripheral devices and/or a connection and/or interface system to a computer system, intranet, and/or internet, for example. input system 504 may include any one of, some of, any combination of, or all of a keyboard system, a mouse system, a track ball system, a track pad system, buttons on a handheld system, a scanner system, a microphone system, a connection to a sound system, and/or a connection and/or interface system to a computer system, intranet, and/or internet (e.g., irda, usb), for example. memory system 506 may include, for example, any one of, some of, any combination of, or all of a long term storage system, such as a hard drive; a short term storage system, such as random access memory; a removable storage system, such as a floppy drive or a removable drive; and/or flash memory. memory system 506 may include one or more machine-readable mediums that may store a variety of different types of information. the term machine-readable medium is used to refer to any non-transient medium capable carrying information that is readable by a machine. one example of a machine-readable medium is a computer-readable medium. another example of a machine-readable medium is paper having holes that are detected that trigger different mechanical, electrical, and/or logic responses. instructions 507 allow machine 500 to perform the tasks for which it was configured. if system 500 is used for network appliance 108 , instruction 505 may include an event identification algorithm similar to that of keychain 107 a and/or mobile phone 109 a . if machine 500 is website host 112 , instructions 507 may cause one or more processors to present a webpage presenting event candidates. if machine 500 is website host 112 , instructions 507 may allow machine 500 to receive event identifying information from a network appliance, and to send representations of event candidates to website host 112 . if machine 500 is website host 112 , instructions 507 may forward the user to a website for purchasing items related to one of the event candidates. instructions 507 may cause website host 112 to submit a query to database 114 and retrieve information from database 114 . if machine 500 is any of network appliance 108 , website host 112 , database 114 , and vendor website hosts 130 a - 1 , instructions 507 may also include an algorithm for matching images and/or sound segments. if machine 500 is used for database 114 or website host 112 , instructions 507 may include a database server, which in turn may include instructions for finding and retrieving information from database 114 . if machine 500 is used for database 114 , memory system 506 may store information and/or representations of events, such as playlists, transportation schedules, television schedules, current movie showings, play bills, restaurant menus, and/or other information. if machine 500 is any of vendor website hosts 130 a - 1 , instructions 507 may allow the vendor website host to receive a request to present a webpage for purchasing various products, such as songs, movies, tickets, and/or other products. processor system 508 may include any one of, some of, any combination of, or all of multiple parallel processors, a single processor, a system of processors having one or more central processors and/or one or more specialized processors dedicated to specific tasks. processor 508 may implement instructions 507 and/or cause an event function to be performed in response to pressing an event stamp button or otherwise activating an event stamp function. communications system 512 communicatively links output system 502 , input system 504 , memory system 506 , processor system 508 , and/or input/output system 514 to each other. communications system 512 may include any one of, some of, any combination of, or all of electrical cables, fiber optic cables, and/or means of sending signals through air or water (e.g. wireless communications), or the like. some examples of means of sending signals through air and/or water include systems for transmitting electromagnetic waves such as infrared and/or radio waves and/or systems for sending sound waves. input/output system 514 may include devices that have the dual function as input and output devices. for example, input/output system 514 may include one or more touch sensitive screens, which display an image and therefore are an output device and accept input when the screens are pressed by a finger or stylus, for example. the touch sensitive screens may be sensitive to heat and/or pressure. one or more of the input/output devices may be sensitive to a voltage or current produced by a stylus, for example. input/output system 514 is optional, and may be used in addition to or in place of output system 502 and/or input system 504 . if machine 500 is network appliance 108 , input/output system 514 may include an event stamp button or other mechanism for activating an event stamp function. fig. 6 shows an example of a screenshot of a webpage 600 that may be presented by website host 112 . webpage 600 may include header 602 and navigation links 604 , which may include about link 606 , accounts link 608 , products link 610 , and contact link 612 . webpage 600 may also include search field bar 614 , which may include time field 616 , source field 618 , and location field 620 . webpage 600 may include shopping cart link 622 , account link 624 , sampler link 626 , price link 628 , details link 630 , selected candidate image 631 , selected candidate source 632 , selected candidate sponsor 634 , selected candidate information 636 , selected candidate time 638 , same sponsor products 640 , other related products 642 , search results 644 , event candidate sources 646 a - c , navigation icons 648 a - c , source identifiers 650 a - c , event candidate images 652 a - n , event candidate times 654 a - n , event candidate sponsors 656 a - n , and event candidate names 658 a - n . in other embodiments, webpage 600 may not include all of the features listed above and/or may include additional features instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. fig. 6 displays an example of a webpage in which the events are broadcasts of songs. the respective titles and artists of the songs correspond to event stamps for songs. fig. 6 has three rows of icons at the bottom, and each row includes five icons. each row corresponds to a single event stamp. in each row, the icon that has been grayed indicates the song played precisely at the timeslot corresponding to a time associated with the event stamp. the user may select one of the icons corresponding to songs played before and after the grayed icon instead of selecting the grayed icon. specifically, header 602 may provide information identifying the purpose and/or owners of the website. although not illustrated, the webpage shown in display 406 of fig. 4 may have a similar header. however, webpage 600 has more room for a header, and consequently, header 602 may provide more information than a header for the short message service (sms) webpage of fig. 4 or the header may be absent. in an embodiment, mobile phone 107 a views a sms version of webpage 600 . navigation links 604 are links to other web pages associated with the same website as webpage 600 . about link 606 is a link to one or more webpages describing various aspects of the organization that sponsors and/or maintains the webpage 600 . accounts link 608 is a link to one or more webpages that assist an individual in setting up an account. products link 610 links the user to one or more webpages that describe other products provided by the same organization that sponsors and/or maintains webpage 600 . contact link 612 links the user to one or more webpages that give information related to contacting the organization that sponsors and/or maintains webpage 600 . in other embodiments, navigation links 605 may not include all of the links of the example of fig. 4 or may include other links in addition to, or instead of, the navigation links of fig. 4 . search field bar 614 includes one or more different fields via which the user may search for the event of interest. time field 616 , source field 618 , and location field 620 are essentially the same as time field 408 , source field 410 , and location field 412 , respectively, which were described above in conjunction with fig. 4 . although in the example of fig. 4 location field 410 has a city name identifying the location and in the example of fig. 6 the zip code is used for identifying the location in other embodiments location field 620 may use a city name or other location identifier and/or mobile phone 107 a may use a zip code or other location identifier to identify the location associated with the event. in an embodiment, time field 616 , source field 618 , and location field 620 are filled in automatically. if the user of the webpage 600 or mobile phone 107 a is accessing webpage 600 via a device without an event stamp or with an event stamp, but without a means of automatically transmitting the information to website host 112 , the user is likely to enter the information manually. shopping cart link 622 links a user to one or more webpages where the user may view the items the user selected for purchasing, but has not yet purchased and/or the prices associated with the items selected for purchase. account link 624 link the user to one or more webpages where the user can view information about their account. in an embodiment, accounts link 608 and account link 624 access the same information. in an embodiment, only one of account links 602 and account link 624 appear on webpage 600 . sampler link 626 is the same as sampler links 424 a - e , which are described in conjunction with fig. 4 , above. although in the example of fig. 4 each of event candidates 414 a - e has a sampler link, while in the example of fig. 6 only the selected candidate has a sampler link, in other embodiments and/or modes mobile phone 107 a may only offer a sampler link for the selected candidate and webpage 600 may offer a sampler link for each event candidate. in other embodiments, sampler links do not appear for all event candidates displayed, but still appear for other event candidates in addition to the selected event candidate. for example, in another embodiment, in mobile phone 107 a and/or on webpage 600 , sampler links only appear for the three event candidates that are expected to have the highest likelihood of being the event candidate of interest. price link 628 may link the user to one or more webpages that show the price of the selected candidate. for example, price link 628 may link the user to a list of vendors or to links to vendors that sell items related to the event, and the prices that each vendor charges. alternatively, selecting or moving a cursor over and/or near price link 628 may cause a balloon to appear displaying the price. in another embodiment, the price may be displayed instead of price link 628 and/or another price links may be displayed elsewhere. details link 630 may allow a user to view more details and/or see a larger version of an image displayed for the purposes of representing the selected candidate. selected candidate image 631 may an image of an item associated with the selected candidate. for example, if the selected candidate is a song, candidate image 631 may be the image on a cover of an album and/or cd where the song can be found. selected candidate source 632 is the source of the selected event candidate. sources were described in conjunction with sources 418 a - e of fig. 4 . selected candidate sponsor 634 is the sponsor of the selected event sponsor. event sponsor were described in conjunction with sponsor 420 a - e of fig. 4 . selected candidate information 636 gives more information related to the selected event candidate. selected candidate time 638 is the time associated with the selected event candidate. the times associated with event candidates was described in conjunction with times 416 a - e of fig. 4 . same sponsor products 640 is a list of products (e.g., events or other products) having the same sponsor (e.g., that were made by the same artist and/or that are sold by the same company). other related products 642 is a list of other products related to the selected event. search results 644 lists the results of one or more searches for events corresponding to one or more event stamps. event candidate sources 646 a - c are the event sources that correspond to the information associated with each event stamp entered as a search query. navigation icons 648 a - c allow the user to navigate (e.g., scroll through) the candidate events associated with a particular event source. source identifiers 650 a - c identify the event sources. in the example of fig. 6 in which the event sources are radio stations, the source identifiers 650 a - c are the location, name, and/or frequency associated with each radio station. event candidate images 652 a - n are images (e.g. icons image of covers of cds having the candidate song) associated with each of the event candidates, respectively. event candidate times 654 a - n , event candidate sponsors 656 a - n , and event candidate names 658 a - n are essentially the same as times 416 a - e , sponsors 420 a - e , and names 418 a - e , respectively, which were described in conjunction with fig. 4 . fig. 7 shows an attachment 700 that may be attached to another device to thereby add an event button. attachment 700 includes housing 702 , event stamp button 704 , first mode button 706 , second mode button 708 , third mode button 710 , and connector 712 . in other embodiments, attachment 700 may not include all of the components listed above and/or may include other components instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. attachment 700 may include a circuit similar to machine 500 housed within housing 702 . event stamp button 704 may have the same functions as event button 404 of fig. 4 . the machine to which attachment 700 is attached will be referred to as the primary appliance. pressing event stamp button 704 may cause the device to which attachment 700 is attached (the primary appliance) to collect event stamp information. in another embodiment, pressing event stamp button 704 may cause attachment 700 to collect event information. for example, attachment 700 may include a clock whose time is read and recorded as a result of pressing event stamp button 704 . similarly, pressing event stamp button 704 may cause attachment 700 to determine a radio station to which the primary device is tuned. first mode button 706 , second mode button 708 , and third mode button 710 may change the mode of event stamp button 704 . for example, first mode button 706 may place event stamp button 704 in a mode in which event information related to broadcasts is collected, second mode button 708 may place event stamp button 704 in a mode in which event information related to transportation is collected, and third mode button 710 may place event stamp button 704 in a mode in which event information related to entertainment (e.g., restaurants and theaters) is collected. there may be a third mode button for collecting information related to advertisements. connector 712 connects to the primary appliance, such as a cell phone, computer, or another primary appliance. connector 712 is not limited to the specific type of connector illustrated. any of a number of connectors may be used instead, such as a usb connector or another connector. in one embodiment, attachment 700 stores the event information in the memory of attachment 700 . in another embodiment, attachment 700 stores the event information collected in the memory of the primary appliance to which it is attached. fig. 8 shows a flowchart of an example of a method 800 of using an event stamp. in step 802 , an event function is activated. step 802 may involve activating event functions associated with input for identification information 224 , input for identification information 328 , input system 504 , and/or activating event stamp buttons 106 , 107 b , 109 b , 404 , and/or 704 . in step 804 , event stamp information is collected, which may involve retrieving the time from a clock, retrieving gps information, retrieving profile information from a broadcast of a radio, television or other broadcast segment, recording a portion of a broadcast segment, measuring and recording a frequency and/or station to which a tuner is set, taking a picture, recording a voice message, measuring and recording a temperature, measuring and recording an altitude, and/or measuring and recording a pressure. in an alternative embodiment, all or part of the event stamp information is entered manually in addition, or instead of, performing steps 802 and 804 . in step 806 , the event stamp information is stored, which may involve storing the event stamp information in memory system 218 , 322 , and/or 506 . in step 808 , the event stamp information is retrieved from storage. for example, while the user is involved in some activity, the user merely activates the event stamp, and then at a later time when the user is not involved in any particular activity, the user retrieves candidate event information based on the event stamp information. alternatively, step 806 may be performed automatically or manually immediately after collecting the candidate event information (for example is step 804 ), in which case the event stamp information may never be stored in long term storage. if the event stamp information is not stored in long term storage, step 806 may only involve storing the event stamp information is short term storage (e.g., in the cache of the processor) or step 806 and 808 may be skipped. in step 810 , the event stamp information is sent to a database. step 810 may involve sending the event stamp information from listening device 104 , network appliance 106 , keychain 107 a , and/or mobile phone 109 a to website host 112 , which may then be forwarded to an appropriate database, such as database 114 , and/or to one or more other databases associated with broadcast sources 116 - 124 , airports 126 a - n , train stations 128 a - n , taxis, restaurants, hair cutteries (or barbers or beauty parlors), other shops and/or forms of entertainment, and/or vendors associated with advertisements. alternatively, the event stamp information may be manually or automatically transferred from listening device 104 , keychain 107 a , and/or mobile phone 109 a to network appliance 106 (which may be a computer or mobile phone, for example) prior to sending the event stamp information to the appropriate database (the transfer may also be from a first mobile phone that has an event function, but that is not capable of accessing website host 112 or database 114 , to a second mobile phone that does have access). in step 812 , the appropriate one or more databases are searched, which may involve automatically formulating and sending a database query to the appropriate database and searching the appropriate database via a database server based on the query. in step 814 , candidate event information is retrieved based on the search of step 812 . in step 816 , the candidate event information is sent back to listening device 104 , network appliance 106 , keychain 107 a , and/or mobile phone 109 a . in the case of network appliance 106 , mobile phone 109 a or any other network appliance having a display, a webpage including candidate event information may be sent (the webpage may also include advertisements related to the event stamp information and/or the candidate event information and/or the current location of the event identification device with respect to the advertiser). some examples of the candidate event information are found and discussed in conjunction with figs. 4 and 6 . in step 818 , the candidate event information (and possibly an associated webpage) are received by listening device 104 , network appliance 106 , keychain 107 a , and/or mobile phone 109 a . in step 820 , the candidate event information (and possibly an associated webpage) is presented to the user on the display of the user's network appliance. in step 822 , the user initializes a purchase, which may be based on the candidate event information. step 822 may involve the user reviewing the candidate information presented, deciding which candidate event information corresponds to the event of interest. deciding which candidate event information corresponds to the event of interest may involve a significant amount of interaction between the user, the network appliance being used, website host 112 and/or the appropriate database. for example, the user may hear and/or view sample clips associated the candidate event information before deciding which candidate event information is of interest. as a further example, the user may be presented with the candidate event information for three candidate events having the closest time to the time associated with the event stamp information. however, the user may decide that none of the three candidate events are the events of interest, and request candidate event information for candidate event that are associated with other times that are not as close as to the time associated with the event stamp as the candidate event information originally presented. at the end of step 822 , the user selects a purchase icon, such as links 422 - a - e , therein initiating a purchase. in step 824 , in response to the user selecting the purchase icon, the request is sent to the vendor. in step 826 , the vendor receives the request. in response, in step 828 , the vendor determines the product requested and sends the product to the user, therein fulfilling the user's request. in step 830 , the vendor determines through which source the user became interested in the product sold. for example, the vendor determines which radio station the user heard the song or on which television stations the user saw a program, and the vendor sends the source a payment. alternatively, a portion of the purchase price may go to website host 112 , which may in turn send a payment to the source of the event, or the source of the event is compensated in another fashion. in yet another embodiment, no payment is sent to the source of the event. in an alternative embodiment and/or mode, all or part of steps 820 - 826 may be performed automatically without user intervention. in an embodiment, each of the steps of method 800 is a distinct step. in another embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 8 , step 802 - 830 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 800 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 800 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 800 may be used to form their own method. fig. 9 is a flowchart of an example of a method 900 for establishing event identification system 100 . in step 902 , a standard may be established for event stamps. having a standard for event stamps facilitates allowing a larger variety of participants than were no standard being used. by having a standard, each perspective participant may be reasonably sure of being capable of participating by conforming to the standard. the standard may include a minimal set of identifying pieces of information, an order in which the identifying pieces of information are stored in an event stamp, a location within a file or group of messages where the event stamp is stored and/or communicated. different types of event stamps may have different standards. for example, event stamps for songs and programs may require a time, followed by a location, followed by a source of the event (e.g., a radio station or a television station). in contrast, the standard for a mode of transportation may include a time, followed by a location, where the location is a city or a street, followed by the type of transportation. similarly, the standard for an advertisement may include a time, followed by where the advertisement was seen, heard, or otherwise observed (which may be a street, a form of transportation, a radio station, or a television station, followed by the type of transportation). step 902 is optional, because event identification system 100 may be established without a standard for event stamps. for example, a proprietor may prefer not to have a publicly useable standard so that it is more difficult for competitors to compete. in step 904 , a database is established (e.g., constructed or purchased) that for stores event data, such as database 114 . in step 906 , the database is configured for handling requests for event information. for example, database 114 may be configured to automatically lookup retrieve and return event information in response to a request for information about an event. during step 906 , database 114 may also be configured to automatically receive and/or request updates of information from a variety of vendors. in step 908 , identification devices, which may have event stamps, such as key chain 107 a , mobile phone 109 a , network appliance 106 , and/or attachment 700 are constructed. if the identification device has an event stamp constructing the identification device includes installing and constructing the event stamp. in step 910 , the identification devices are configured (e.g., programmed) for collecting the event stamp information, storing the event stamp information, retrieving the event stamp information, sending the event stamp information to a website host, receiving event information in reply, displaying the event information, sending a request to purchase items associated with the event, and/or receiving the purchased item. in an embodiment, each of the steps of method 900 is a distinct step. in another embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 9 , step 902 - 910 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 900 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 900 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 900 may be used to form their own method. block diagram of mash guide fig. 10a shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a mash guide 1000 for an event identification system. mash guide 1000 may include object modules 1002 having information about object 1004 , links to further detail 1006 , posts 1008 , and geo-tags 1010 . mash guide 1000 may also include meetings modules 1012 , which may include invitation sending module 1014 , reply-to-invitation module 1016 , greeting module 1018 , events 1020 , locations of aspects 1022 , and attendees 1024 . hardware configuration an embodiment of hardware used for implementing mash guide 1000 is discussed in conjunction with figs. 10c and 18 , for example. however, as background to the discussion of mash guide 1000 , that hardware is also briefly discussed here, leaving the further details that are not needed for the discussion of the mash guide to figs. 10c and 18 . in an embodiment there may be system including a wearable device, a network appliance, and a server. in one embodiment, a gps module is in the network appliance. in another embodiment, the gps is in the wearable device in addition to, or instead of, being in the network appliance. the network appliance may be a mobile device, for example. the network appliance may provide a connection to the internet for the wearable device. page views, based on information provided by a server, may be sent from the network appliance to the wearable device. an event stamp button and/or event stamp function may be on and/or incorporated into the wearable device, but is not necessarily on the wearable device. throughout this specification, it should be understood that whenever an event stamp button is mentioned, it could be a physical event stamp button or a virtual event stamp button. for example, upon activating an event stamp button on the wearable device, the wearable device may communicate some or all of the event stamp information to the network appliance and/or the wearable device may request the network appliance to prepare event stamp information. for example, the event stamp function (and geo tagging, which is discussed below) may be triggered by a stand-alone event stamp button that is not on the wearable device and/or that is on the wearable device, and the wearable device may be used for viewing the results of activating the event stamp function. the result of activating the event stamp button may be: displaying to the user the event stamp information, allowing the user to add more event stamp information (e.g., a sound recording, additional descriptive text, still images, and/or a video) in addition to the event stamp information collected automatically, and/or performing a search for events that match the event stamp information. for example, the network appliance may be a phone (or other mobile device) and the wearable device may be a watch, where the mobile device provides the connection to the internet for the watch, which may have an event stamp button. the phone sends the pages to the watch. the watch sends a signal that the event stamp button was pressed, and in response, the mobile device creates the event stamp, using gps facilities on the mobile device for adding location information to the event stamp information and/or other search information. mash guide/proximity grid returning to the discussion of mash guide 1000 , billboards and ads, such as those posted on buildings, at the side of roads, at bus stops, in train stations, in trains, in buses, and in taxis, have only a very limited amount of information. there are a lot of specialized applications for finding different types of location sensitive information, such as for movies, restaurants, and theaters, that are dedicated to finding a specific type of information or information that is associated with a particular company. however, there is no one place to find all of the location based information. the closest type of service that is available for uniting all of the different types of location based information are general purpose search engines (e.g., google®), which search essentially static web pages. additionally, the search engines do not provide any information that is directly connected to specific billboards and ads. if one remembers enough of the information that is in the ad, when the user is in a location and situation that is amenable for formulating a search, the user may be able to do a search to find more information about the event, service or product in the advertisement. although there is not a lot of resistance to performing a search or to opening one particular app related to one specific type of service, while traveling there is a lot of resistance to finding the one app that provides the desired type of information and/or for performing a search to get more information. also, identifying multiple apps to get a variety of information related to a particular location can be cumbersome and time-consuming. the proximity server provides information based on location regardless of the type of content, but the information is organized according to type of subject matter, so that the user may easily sort through and receive only the information of interest. since the information is proximity based, the total amount of information is also limited. this further increases the ease of finding the desired information. this specification recognizes that a user is highly motivated to find certain types of information (which may be in an ad, for example), and the provider or a corresponding service, product, or event is highly motivated to provide the information regardless of how the user finds the information (whether or not the information is provided by the provider's specialized application or otherwise). consequently, the providers are likely to be willing to provide information that populates the proximity grid. the proximity grid provides information from many different types of sources and of many different types discoverable in one location. in an embodiment, the wearable device and/or network appliance retrieves from the proximity server and displays different objects that are grouped together and organized into guides, where each guide may include a different category of objects (each located at a different node of the mesh that form the mash guide) that are categorized by the subject-matter of the objects. in an embodiment, each guide is presented in a column (alternatively each guide is presented in a row) and each row (or alternatively each column) corresponds to a different distance and/or proximity. the guides may include links to multiple objects that are related to each other and that the user may scroll through. in an embodiment, the user may combine guides, if desired. in other words, in an embodiment, a user may combine multiple guides together to return (e.g., in one column or row) objects that are at least related to all of the guides combined. for example, a user may be interested in seeing a movie and has not yet determined whether to see the movie at home or to see the movie at a theater, and consequently the user may want to search both nearby theaters and search services that rent movies simultaneously. note that the proximity grid is the grid of information that is posted in the system, whereas the mash guide 1000 is a specific manner in which the information is organized and presented to the user. in other words, the proximity grid is a network of places, establishments, people, businesses, public facilities (e.g., museums and parks), landmarks, etc. that have a grid card, via which users of the grid may locate entities and provide location-related information (as well as other information to others via the network. mash guide is a guide to geo-tagged establishments and/or other entities that are available, via grid cards, to users. however, in this specification, the terms proximity grid and mash guide 1000 may be substituted one of the other to obtain different embodiments. although the mash guide and proximity grid are not the same thing, one may substitute one term for the other where ever one of the two terms occur and obtain different embodiments. in an embodiment, some or all of the objects in the mash guide 1000 may be based on event information, such as from event stamps, that are entered by individual users (which may later be searched for using event stamp information). in an embodiment, the user may select a particular object and be directed to additional information to learn more about the object. in an embodiment, in response to the user selecting a particular object and being directed to additional information to learn about the objects, the user may also be provided with an option to upload a user response about the object. optionally, the user posted information may be temporary and disappear after a period of time. whether the posting is permanent or temporary and/or the duration of time of the posting may be based on user choices, event-provider input, and/or the choices of an administrator of a proximity server. in an embodiment, the user may set the user response to disappear after a period of time. the user may or may not be able to set the specific amount of time. in an embodiment, a user associated with an establishment related to an object may leave a user response that may include at least promotional offers and/or time sensitive information that relates to the object. in an embodiment, the user provided information includes various user ratings, user comments, user provided sound recordings, user provided images (e.g., still images and/or video images), and/or other user provided information about the object that the user may optionally be able to listen to, read, and/or view. in this specification, the term image is generic to both still images and videos images. whenever the term image is used, a video and/or still image may be substituted to obtain specific embodiments. in other words, the user response may include at least a rating based on a set scale, a text message left by the user, user provided images and/or a voice message left by the user. in an embodiment, one may push a button and receive a grid or mesh having an arrangement of grid cards, which the user may navigate through, where the particular cards that are displayed are based on a user's preferences, the current time, and/or location. in an embodiment, the mash guide 1000 may be used and searched without usage of any event stamp function or event stamp information, without usage of a smart phone and/or wearable device. for example, when the user accesses the mash guide 1000 , the server may choose which objects to present to the user based on prior chosen preferences and/or the user's current location. alternatively, or additionally, the user may have an option of inputting various parameters manually to perform a search and/or of having a search automatically performed based on information in an event stamp. in an embodiment, event information (e.g., related to a physical object at a location) may be stored in response to activating an event stamp function. in response to activating an event stamp function, multiple types of event information are collected from a user. event information that may be collected may include location information including gps coordinates, time, user inputs including voice and images, and contextual information. in response to collecting the event information, the device displays multiple objects, which may be based at least in part on the event information. based on the object displayed, the user may decide which of the objects corresponds to the event information collected as part of the event stamp. the physical object may be tagged with comments from the user collecting the event stamp information and/or from others that access the mash guide 1000 . an object module 1002 may be a module representing objects that are stored and presented to users viewing the mash guide 1000 . the object represented by object modules 1002 may be any location based entity. there may be any number of object and type of objects in the mash guide 1000 . for example, there may be objects representing landmarks, billboards, stores, museums, parks, historic sites, transportation stations (e.g., airports, airline terminals, bus stations, bus routes, buses, airline routes, airplanes, airlines, trains, train companies, train routes, and railroad tracks), professional service, professionals, individual people, entertainment, theaters, movies, movie theaters, eateries, barbers, hair stylists, stores, and/or circuses. geo-cards and geo-ramps objects modules 1002 may include geo-cards and/or geo-on ramps that may be visible to the user when the user first views the object in the mash guide, which may include basic information about the object and links to further information about the object. the geo-card may be referred to as a card, grid card, proximity card, or proximity grid card. wherever the phrase card, geo-card, grid card, proximity card, or proximity grid card occur one can be substituted for the other to obtain another embodiment. in an embodiment, those posting information, such as by creating a node, grid card, or mesh point of the mash guide 1000 , provide at least a card (e.g., the grid card), which may be an object in objects modules 1002 . the card may be returned to a user in response to performing a location based search (which may also be referred to as a geo search), which is a search for an item of interest (e.g., an event, person, and/or place) that is within a particular vicinity of interest. further, data may also be available by clicking on links provided with the card. in an embodiment, each posting has a geo-ramp (which is one of the objects of object modules 1002 ). the geo-ramp is the initial information provided about the item of interest, which is intended to induce the user to ask for more data. a program is provided, via which an individual user can quickly create a card. the card could be sent to people anywhere, but some of the information on the card may only be available when within a certain distance of a location (e.g., as a security check). the card has a geo tag, which in an embodiment must be created while at the location that is associated with the geo tag, but the geo-tag could be associated with the card at another location and/or time. in an embodiment, each block or node of the mesh of the mash guide 1000 is a geo-card or grid card. for example, each store, vendor, theater, museum, eatery, landmark or other establishment in a particular vicinity (e.g., a village square) may have a separate geo-card and/or geo ramp that is visible to the user while the user is within a certain proximity of the location of that establishment. the number of geo-cards that are presented to the user and/or that are presented on the same page may depend on the user-determined proximity settings. in another embodiment, the mash guide 1000 may be a mixture of geo-cards and other objects. in yet another embodiment, a collection of geo-cards may be stored in a database in a searchable format that is unrelated to the mash guide 1000 . some of the information and/or geo-tags may only be available during certain times of the day. for example, a user may run a hot dog stand that is only open during certain hours of the day and the corresponding geo-tag is only discoverable during those times of the day that the hot dog stand is open. in an embodiment, geo-tags may be placed on a social media site, which limits the visibility of the comments on the social media site to users within a predetermined vicinity of a location associated with the geo-tag. in an embodiment, the geo-tag may be used to prioritize search results according to location. for example, the content on the social media site may appear as a node of a mesh or grid (such as a mash guide 1000 ) in which the nodes of the mesh are that are further from the top and/or left sides of the page are associated with locations that are further from a particular location of interest, such as the user's current location or a location that the user plans on visiting. in an embodiment, one geo-tag may be an entire social media site, so that the entire site is only visible when the location of interest is within a predetermined vicinity of the location associated with the geo-tag. additionally, or alternatively, individual portions of the social media site have separate geo-tags. for example, individual comments, individual posts, individual pages, and/or individual users may have different geo-tags each associated with a location that is allowed to be different from the other locations of the other geo tags. in an embodiment in which the social media site, as a whole, has a geo location, the geo-tags of the individual parts of the geo-site may be restricted to be within a certain vicinity of the location of the geo-tag for the site as-a-whole, which may be the vicinity that is associated with a location of an event, a store, an establishment, and/or a site of interest associated with the site, for example. similarly, in an embodiment in which an element social media site has a geo-tag (or geo-location), the geo-tags of the individual sub-elements of that element may be restricted to be within a certain vicinity of the location associated with the geo-tag for the element as-a-whole, which may be the vicinity that is associated with a portion of a location of an event, a portion of a store, a portion of an establishment, and/or a portion of a site of interest associated with the element, for example. information about object 1004 is descriptive information about the entity represented by the object. for example, the information may include times of availability, contact information, phone number, e-mail address, website, a description of the services and/or products provided by the entity, and/or promotional offers. links to further detail 1006 may include links that provide further information about the entity represented by the object. for example, the links to further information may include a link to another page that is part of the mash guide that provides more detailed information, or a link to a webpage and/or website that provides further information about the entity. posts 1008 may include objects that were posted by someone that is associated with the entity and/or objects posted by other users, such as comments critiquing the entity and/or helpful information about the entity. geo-tags 1010 may be location based tags that are associated with the object, with comments posted by users about the object, with different aspects and information about those aspects of the object. for example, the object may have one geo tag associated with the object as a whole, which determines the vicinity associated with the object in the mash guide. various rooms and/or exhibits within an establishment represented by the object may have different geo tags that associate a vicinity with those rooms and/or exhibits, which may determine when that information appears in the mash guide in association with the object. meetings module 1012 is one specific type of object that represents meetings. meetings 1012 may include all of the features of one of the object modules of object modules 1002 . meetings module 1012 may include tools for setting up a meeting, tools for adding descriptive information about the meeting, tools for associating the meeting with a location, and tools for associating the meeting with a time. meetings 1012 may include tools for entering an agenda to the meeting, and entering sessions, session times, session locations, session topics, and/or session speakers. invitation sending module 1014 may include tools for preparing and sending invitations and/or other announcements to interested parties. the invitation may include the time, place, agenda, schedule, sessions, activities, and/or speakers of the meeting. reply-to-invitation module 1016 may include software that the attendees can download and use to indicate whether the user is attending the meeting. reply-to-invitation module 1016 may also include a module that automatically sends multiple messages with updates about the attendees estimated time of arrival, progress in traveling to the meeting, and/or current location. greeting module 1018 may include tools for the organizer of the meeting to post greeting messages that are presented and/or visible to the attendee upon arrival at the meeting. the messages may also include information about updates to the meeting, the current happenings at the meeting, and changes in locations of the meeting or of events associated with the meeting. whether or not the greeting messages of the greetings module 1018 are visible to the attendees may be determined by a geo tag associated with the greeting messages, the location of the attendee and the current time. different events within the meeting may have their own greeting messages that have their own geo tags associated with the greeting messages, and whose visibility may also be determined by the event specific geo-tag, the location of the attendee, and the current time. events 1020 may include a list of events associated with the activities and information about the events. optionally, some or all of the information about the event may include geo tags that determine whether the user can view the information about the event depending on the user's location. locations of aspects 1022 may include the locations of the meeting, the location of different events of the meeting and/or the location of different sessions of the meeting. locations in the locations of aspects 1022 may include gps coordinates and/or other coordinates for determining the locations of interest. locations of aspects 1022 may include geo tags associated with the meeting. attendees 1024 may include information about attendees of the meeting. each attendee may be given a page on which others may post messages and/or the attendee may post messages. attendees 1024 may include information about the attendee that other attendees and/or the host of the meeting may view. attendees 1024 may include public and/or private location information about the attendees, which other attendees and/or the host may use to locate the attendee and/or meet with the attendee. schema fig. 10b shows a representation of an entity relationship diagram of an embodiment of a schema 1030 for an event identification system of fig. 10a . schema 1030 may include main table 1031 having object identifiers 1032 , locations 1034 , times 1036 , categories 1038 , users 1040 , object types 1042 , object information 1044 , and tags/posts 1046 . schema 1030 may also include category 1048 having subcategories 1050 and user 1051 having user information 1052 , user preferences 1054 , and user location 1055 . schema 1030 may also include tags/posts 1056 , having proximity settings 1058 , expiration settings 1060 , text 1062 , images 1064 , and/or sound 1066 . schema 1030 is just one example of a manner of storing and organizing the data in the mash guide. in an embodiment, schema 1030 is a relational database. however, other types of databases may be used instead. main table 1031 is a table representation of a database object that represents the content of the mash guide. in the embodiment of fig. 10b , a star schema is used (although in other embodiments another schema may be used) in which the keys of the main table 1031 link to other tables that provide more information about the information associated with that key of the main table 1031 . the columns of the main table 1031 represent the attributes of main table 1031 . each column of main table 1031 may be a key in one or more other tables that contain more information about the attribute represented by that column. object identifiers 1032 are a list of identifiers that identify the individual object of the mash guide. in an embodiment, each object identifier of object identifiers 1032 may be just a numerical or alpha numerical value that the database uses to identify the object. in an embodiment, each object identifier 1032 is a unique value that is used to only identify one object. in an embodiment, the column for object identifies 1032 is a primary key for main table 1031 . each object identifier uniquely identifies a record of the database, which contains more information about the object identified by the object identifier. there may be other tables that include more information about the objects associated with object identifier 1032 . locations 1034 are locations associated with the objects of object identifiers 1032 . each object may be associated with multiple locations. for example, if the object is a franchise (e.g., a chain of movie theaters) or an establishment with many branches (e.g., a library system) each branch or franchise may have a different location associated with the object. similarly, an establishment having many rooms and/or exhibits in different locations may have multiple locations associated with the object representing the establishment, one location for each room and/or exhibit. some objects may have multiple locations for multiple branches and each branch may have multiple locations associated with different rooms and/or exhibits (e.g., a system of museums). also, sometimes two object may have the same location, if the two objects are close enough to one another, or if the resolution of the location coordinates available is too low to distinguish between the two locations. the location determines the vicinity within which the object is visible within the mash guide and/or the ranking/position of the object within a guide of the mash guide. times 1036 are the times associated with the objects of object identifiers 1032 . times 1036 may determine the times at which the information about objects associated with object identifiers 1032 is visible to users. each object may be associated with multiple times 1032 . for example, if the establishment associated with the object has a complicated schedule of when the establishment is open and closed. the times may include an hour of the day, the day of the week, the day of the month, and/or the day of the year to account for different days having different schedules. similarly, an establishment with many locations (e.g., many franchises) or an establishment with many branches (e.g., a library system) may have different times associated with the object as a result of having different schedules. also, an establishment having many rooms and/or exhibits with different schedules, may have multiple times associated with the object representing the establishment, including a different set of times for each room and/or exhibit. some objects may have multiple times for multiple branches and each branch may have multiple times associated with different rooms and/or exhibits (e.g., a system of museums). also, two object may have some of the same times and/or the same set of times if the two objects have similar or the same schedules. the times 1036 may determine the times within which the object is visible within the mash guide and/or the ranking/position of the object within a guide of the mash guide. categories 1038 are the categories associated with the objects. categories 1038 may include sub-categories of the categories. some categories may be entertainment, theater, movies, sports arenas, ice skating rinks, ski resorts, museums, food, grocery stores, restaurants, fast food stores, coffee shops, pubs, bagel places, diners, ice cream parlors, education, schools, colleges, universities, high schools, elementary schools, preschools, after school care and/or enrichment centers, day care centers, household goods, furniture stores, hardware stores, computer stores, office supply stores, sporting goods stores, gyms, banks, restrooms, urgent care hospitals, clothing stores, and/or toys. users 1040 may include the users that are registered with the system. each user may have a separate column, which may indicate which objects and/or categories of objects the user is interested in seeing. users 1040 may indicate which categories the user wants grouped together as one category. for example, the categories and/or objects that a given user is not interested in seeing may be marked with a zero. each category that the user is interested in seeing may be marked with a different number, and those categories that the user wants grouped together may be given the same number. the number used may indicate a hierarchy based on the interest of the user. object types 1042 may indicate something about the type of establishment represented by the object. for example, a person and a store may have different object types 1042 . some examples of object types 1042 may include entertainment, food, educational, commercial, and/or free. object information 1044 may include descriptive information about the establishment represented by the object. for example, object information 1044 may include a description the type and quality of the services and/or products offered by the establishment, upcoming events, sales, and a schedule of times that the establishment is open. object information may be included as sound, text, and/or image information. tags/posts 1046 may include tags and/or posts that were posted by various users, who may be members of the general public and/or individuals that represent the establishment, such as a manager, officer, host, and/or owner of the establishment. category 1048 is a table of categories that includes further information about the categories. in an embodiment, the information in key categories 1038 is a primary key of the table categories 1048 . each category of categories 1048 may represent a different category listed in categories 1038 . for example, category 1038 may just include a list of numerical identifiers of the categories, and the rest of the information about the category may be in table category 1048 . the category represented by category 1048 may be a subcategory listed in categories 1038 . subcategories 1050 are the subcategories of category 1048 (which in turn may be a subcategory listed in categories 1038 as a subcategory of one of the categories of categories 1038 ). user 1051 may be a table of users that includes further information about each user (e.g., user table 1051 ). each user in the user table 1051 may correspond to one of the users of users 1040 . for example, user 1040 may just include a list of numerical identifiers of the users, and the rest of the information about the users may be in user table 1051 . an organization may be one of the users of users 1040 , and may have several individuals associated with the organization that are users as a result of being members of the organization. in which case, the corresponding record of user table 1051 may include a list of individuals of that organization that are users as a result of the organization being a user. user information 1052 may include information about user 1051 , which may include the user's name, profession, marital status, hobbies, likes, and dislikes, and/or contact information. alternatively, if the user is an organization, the information may be about the organization. user preferences 1054 may include user chosen preferences, such as which guides to combine together, which guides to show the user, and/or expiration time of the user's comments, for example. user location 1055 may be the current location coordinates of the user. user location 1055 may be used to determine whether the user is within a predetermined vicinity of an establishment represented by an object. user location 1055 may be used in combination with locations 1034 to determine whether to show an object to the user and/or the order in which to present the object to the user. tags/posts 1056 is a table of tags and posts that users add to the object and/or elements of objects of the mash guide, which provide further information about the tags and/or posts than tags/posts 1046 . in an embodiment, the key tags/posts 1046 of table 1031 may be the primary key of the table tags/posts 1046 . for example, tags/posts 1056 may just include a list of numerical identifiers of the tags/posts, and the rest of the information about the tags/posts may be in table tags/posts 1046 . proximity settings 1058 are the settings that determine the vicinity within which the tag or post becomes visible to the user. for example, when the difference between the location coordinates associated with the tag and/or post is less than a specific magnitude set by proximity settings 1058 , the tag and/or post is made visible to the user. in an embodiment the proximity setting 1058 may allow the user to set a proximity that corresponds to any of a variety of shapes (e.g., circle, oval, rectangle, polygon, trapezoid, and/or rhombus), and if the user's coordinates are within that vicinity having the specified shape, the tag and/or post becomes visible to the user. expiration settings 1060 are settings that determine when the tag and/or post expires and is no longer visible to any user no matter where that user is located. the expiration settings may be set by the provider of the event and/or establishment and/or by the user posting the post and/or tag. text 1062 is the text that is included in the tag or post, which expresses the thought that the user wishes to convey. images 1064 are any pictures, still of video images, or any other images that the user wishes to upload and include in the tag and/or post. the images may help clarify the message in the text and/or may convey another message. sound 1066 is the sound that the user wishes to associate with the tag and/or post. sound 1066 may be any sound that is intended to accompany text 1062 and/or images 1064 . optionally sound 1066 may carry its own message unrelated to and/or unaccompanied by any text and/or images. for example, sound 1066 may be a voice recording. in an embodiment, if sound 1066 includes a voice recording, sound 1066 is converted to text automatically or at the user's request. in an alternative embodiment, each category of category 1038 may have its own table category 1048 having the information provided by the table category 1048 , each user of users 1040 may have their own table having the information provided by the table user 1051 , and/or each tag/post of tag/post 1046 has its own table tag/post 1056 having the information provided by the table tag/post 1056 . device communications fig. 10c shows a flowchart of an example of method 1070 , which is a method of device communication. method 1070 may be used in an embodiment of a method for establishing the event identification system of fig. 10c (which may be an embodiment of the system of fig. 1 ) in which a mobile device communicates with a second device. the device communication may be implemented on any network appliance, including a smart watch, a cellular phone (e.g., smart phone), tablet computer, laptop, or desktop, for example. method 1070 allows a user possessing a watch or smart watch that does not have all of the functions of a smart phone to still be able to use the event identification system. in an embodiment, the smart watch performs some of the functions related to the event stamp function while the smart phone performs other functions related to the event stamp function. in an embodiment, the smart watch includes an event stamp button. in an embodiment, the smart watch includes an interface having virtual and/or hardwired input buttons and a display. in this specification, the term item of interest may refer to an event, person, place, and/or any item of interest. in step 1072 , the user presses a physical or a virtual event stamp button device 1 , and in response device 1 sends a signal to device 2 . in an embodiment, only one of devices 1 and 2 contain gps, which is device 2 . in an embodiment, device 1 is a watch. in an embodiment, device 2 is a smart telephone with gps. in the embodiment in which device 1 is a watch and device 2 is smart phone, the watch may not necessarily have any connection to any network, but can only communicate with the smart phone. in an embodiment, the watch has an event stamp button on it. the event stamp function may be located on device 1 or device 2 or another device. in an embodiment, the user activates an event stamp button. as a result, device 1 activates an event stamp function. optionally, device 1 may request gps information from device 2 to include in the event stamp information. then device 1 may send a signal to the device 2 to perform a search based on the event stamp information. alternatively, device 1 may send a signal to device 2 , requesting device 2 to active the event stamp function. in an embodiment, device 1 (e.g., the smart watch) sends signals via a local communication channel and/or local network to device 2 (smart phone). in an embodiment, device 1 (e.g., a smart watch) may send the time of the event to device 2 as part of the activation signal which device 2 incorporates into the event stamp. the time of the event stamp may be the time at which the event stamp button was activated. in step 1074 , device 2 activates the event stamp function based on the signal from device 1 . in an embodiment, event stamp information (e.g., related to a physical object at a location) may be stored in response to activating an event stamp function. the event stamp has been discussed in reference to the event identification system 100 of fig. 1 . in response to activating an event stamp function, multiple types of event stamp information may be collected from a user. the event stamp information that may be collected may include location information including gps coordinates, time, user inputs, including voice and images, and contextual information, for example. the location information can be input by the user. optionally, the device 2 contains gps, and in response to activating the event stamp function, device 2 automatically determines the location of the user at the time of the activation of the event stamp button. as part of the activation, the user may also indicate more information about the event, including but not limited to, a photo, a voice description, a sound description, etc. in an alternative embodiment, device 1 may implement the event stamp function and just obtain the location information from device 2 , if device 1 does not have gps or another mechanism of automatically determining the current location. in step 1076 , device 2 creates the event stamp. device 2 places the information of the event stamp into the event stamp format. the event stamp has been discussed with reference to fig. 1 in the event identification system 100 . an example of communications between device 1 , device 2 and a proximity server will be discussed in conjunction with fig. 16 , below. in step 1077 ( a ), in an embodiment, the event stamp information is sent to a proximity server to perform a search, based on the event stamp information. in step 1077 ( b ), device 2 receives the results of the search in which the information returned (which is based on the event stamp function) is organized in a mesh. the details of the mesh were discussed in conjunction figs. 10a and 10b and are discussed further in conjunction with fig. 18 , for example. if one is interested in a particular type of event, one can likely find it on the internet. however, there is no single location where one can go to find all the types of things that one is interested in, and that will also return information of interest that was not specifically requested and that is related to the user's immediate environment. the mash guide, by default, shows the user topics of interest organized according to location. if the user wants to perform a search, a search can be performed on the database of the mash guide, which will return information about the content searched that is organized according to location. there may be a metadata structure that is added to each object to help categorize the objects/events. there may also be member posted events, which could be personal parties that are open to mash guide members. the database may include a media layer, which may include voice and image. by allowing the user to post voice reviews, there is less resistance to posting reviews, and the user may be more likely to post good reviews. also, if there is less resistance to posting information, the owner of an establishment may be more likely to post promotional offers. in an embodiment, posts that are more recent may be highlighted, such as by having the post flash or be in a particular color or labeled as recent. there may be a tag on an object that indicates that there is a geo tag with more information about the object, and the user could go to their mash guide search for the geo tag and/or object having the geo tag and listen to the recording. for example, in places where a phone number is provided for providing more information, there could also be a geo tag. in step 1078 , device 2 sends information related to the event to device 1 . device 2 then transmits the results of the event stamp function to device 1 for the user to analyze. the user may choose to find out more information about one or more of the objects. in an embodiment, the page views based on the event may be sent to the watch. data can include data about objects, data from individual users, data from special services (e.g., fandango), and data associated with items of fixed location, such as historical landmarks or billboards (the billboard advertiser and/or owner may provide the proximity server with information about the location and content of each billboard and ad). in optional step 1080 , the user is presented with an option to post a geo tag related to the location associated with the event stamp. the geo tag is created using device 1 and/or device 2 , by posting information related to a location in association with that location. posting a geotag may involve the following steps. first device 1 and/or 2 presents the option to post a geo tag to the user and the user enters the information. then a message having the information for the geo tag is sent from device 1 to device 2 and then to the server. the server then posts the information and associates the information with the location. in an embodiment, the information in the geo tag is only made available to users that are within a certain vicinity of the location associated with the geo-tag. geo-tagging organizes information based on the location of the device (device 1 ) so that different data is available depending on the user's proximity to various locations. in step 1082 , device 2 sends the information related to an event from the server to device 1 . the information from the server is based on an event stamp function, a mash guide, a meeting, a mob cast, etc. the event identification system allows a user to learn about the user's immediate environment in real-time on any type of device. the mash guide is a mesh of blocks of information about different events (in other words the blocks may be arranged in a mesh). the blocks in the mesh may be arranged according to category, location, and/or time of event to aid the user in sifting through the information in the mash guide. mash guides will be discussed further in conjunction with fig. 11 (in the introduction to flowchart 1100 ) and fig. 16 . in an embodiment, each of the steps of method 1070 is a distinct step. in another embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 10c , step 1072 - 1082 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 1070 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 1070 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 1070 may be used to form their own method. meet ups (meeting greeting cloud) a user, such as the host of a meeting, other person responsible for organizing the meeting or other interested party, may post a piece of information about a meeting that is updatable in real time. the meetings may be added to the mash guide or may be stored in a separate database for meetings. in an embodiment, the home page representing a meeting could is a geo card. in another embodiment, the home page representing a meeting is not necessarily a geo card. there may be a downloadable app and/or a node in a mesh (e.g., in a mash guide or proximity grid), to help one find a location, and the node may have posts. when one arrives within a vicinity of the location, the user may receive a welcome message (e.g., “welcome john! thank you for coming.”), updates about the meeting, information about what is currently happening at the meeting (e.g., the wedding ceremony will start in ten minutes), and/or instructions about where to go and how to find the room or group of rooms where the meeting is currently being held. as another example, as a user sam is pulling in to the location associated with the event, such as the driveway of a house that is hosting a meeting, the system may send a message “hey, sam welcome! everyone is in the backyard.” the system may include options for a host to send invitations, invites, and/or e-mails announcing an event and optionally requesting an rsvp. once the user arrives at the meeting, information is available that can be accessed via a mobile device, and can be updated in real time to accommodate last minute changes in the details of the meeting. there may be two or more levels of being present, such as nearby and checked in. the user may be also able to post and update an expected time of arrival. although twitter can be used for posting comments about an event, the comments are not organized in any manner. people attending an event can post what is happening and a user could track what just their friends have to say about the event. after the event ended, possibly nothing can be posted to the event. send it once optionally, as part of the meeting greeting feature (or as a stand-alone feature), when a user activates an invitation to an event, the invitation or a reply to an invitation may create an object or add an element to an object that shows whether the user is nearby and/or checked-in. the object may be visible to the host (or other interested party) and may show a list of expected attendees the status of each attendee, such as where the attendee is currently (how far the attendee is from the meeting and/or whether the attendee has arrived). the user may choose to allow others to see the estimated time and location for the user's approach. there may be a one-time tracker arrival object, which automatically announces when the user is within a certain predetermined time and/or distance from the user's destination. for example, after the user sends a message that the user is on the way, a message may be automatically sent when the user is ten minutes away and/or five minutes away etc. in other words, the user sends an rsvp or an indication that the user is about to come to the meeting, just once, and automatically multiple updates of the user's progress to the meeting is tracked and updated periodically and/or at predetermined distance intervals. for example, a first user may select a first object (e.g., an rsvp to a meeting or an i-am-on-my-way indicator) from a guide (e.g., a mash guide). in response, automatically, the selection of the first object triggers the sending of a second object (e.g., a message saying i am only 5 miles away) to other users, where the second object is based at least in part on the first object. in an embodiment, in response to sending the first object, other users will receive multiple subsequent objects that may be based at least in part on the first object. in an embodiment, the multiple subsequent objects are sent to the other users at predetermined times and/or distances (e.g., i am 5 miles away and i am 1 mile away or i am a half an hour away and i am 5 minutes away), where the predetermined times and/or distances may relate to the first user's estimated time of arrival, an interval of time, and/or a distance of travel. in an embodiment, the multiple subsequent objects provide location information of the first user, which may at least include the gps location (a street location, or other indication of location) of the user. more about meeting-greetings in an embodiment, the category of a mash guide may relate to an interaction between one or more users, where the objects contained within the mash guide may include objects that at least relate to the interaction. in an embodiment, the interaction between one or more users may relate to a meeting between one or more users. in an embodiment, the objects related to a meeting may provide real-time updates of information about the meeting that is of interest to a user. in an embodiment, the real-time updates about the meeting may include information relating to the location of other users that are currently at the meeting. in an embodiment, the information relating to the location of the users at the meeting may include the gps coordinates of the user at the meeting, gps coordinates of users on the way to the meeting, and/or an estimated time of arrival of users to the meeting. in an embodiment, in response to a user selecting a particular object related to a meeting and being directed to additional information to learn about the objects related to the meeting, the user may be given the ability to update the additional information about the meeting. in an embodiment, the updates to the additional information about the meeting may include text messages and/or voice messages to other users (e.g., that are at the meeting), reminders to other users (reminders related to the meeting), and/or changes to the object related to the meeting. in an embodiment, a user can create an object related to the meeting that may be displayed in the mash guide. add your event in an embodiment, a user may be presented with options for tagging a location and have the tag show up in the mash guides as something going on within a particular vicinity. to look ahead and send an expiring tracking option, the user may create or post greeting objects that publicize start and finish times and/or other real-time information relevant to the meeting. once at meeting, one may establish social connections and send posts to checked-in people. preferences for notification about an event may include proximity and geo tag info information that may be posted by visitors and/or friends. using the system users may be able to see what various people (e.g., lecturers and/or people engaged in individual conversations) are saying now at the meeting. if the site (e.g., a mash guide) is launched with primarily the meetings options, then as meetings occur and more information is posted about different sites related to the meetings, the site may be expanded to include other location based information. as a result, the site may be initially populated with only information that is easier to post, information that users organically, and/or a minimum of information about the event, without need to populate the site. mobcast a mobcast is a group of one or more pages on which users post information about an event and which is dedicated to the event. a mobcast may occur when many people attend an event (or location) and post information and/or other media content about the event. from the posted information, one can get an idea of what the event is like, and, if enough information is posted, one can virtually attend the event. the mobcast may be applied to provide information about a meeting or another event. optionally, the posts about the event may expire based on a predetermined time after the event begins and/or ends (e.g., elimination). or, in an embodiment, after the posts of an event expire, the event can still be found, but the event is not live (e.g., the event is in hibernation). as an example of a mob cast, there may be a data base for national parks in which users can add their own comments, photos, and recordings about the parks as the users visit. potential visitors (or scientists) may view those photos to determine whether to visit the park and/or to see how the park is changing due to changes in nature. as another example of a mobcast many people may post information about a meeting as the meeting is occurring, allowing those that are not able to attend to get an idea of the events that occurred during the meeting. similarly, attendees that are at one part of the meeting may be able to later (or simultaneously) get an idea of what happened (or is happening) at other parts of the meeting that occurred (or are currently occurring) at the same time (when the user was elsewhere in the meeting). for example, attendees that are at one part of the same room may be able to later (or simultaneously) get an idea of what happened (or is currently happening) at other parts of the same room at the same time. likewise, attendees that are at one event or session of the meeting may be able to later (or simultaneously) get an idea of what happened (or is happening) at other events or sessions of the meeting that occurred (or are currently occurring) at the same time as the event the user attended (or is currently attending) a different session or event. mash guide, meeting-greeting, send-it once, and mobcast may be implemented on any server and accessed on any device having computer readable medium, including a cellular phone, tablet computer, or laptop/desktop computer. further general comments in general, in an embodiment, to implement, the mash guide, geo-cards, geo-ramps, meeting greeting, or mob-cast, for example, a first user may send a message (e.g., about an event or locations) that may be seen by other users, which may or may not be associated with the first user, and may be viewed as objects by the other users. in an embodiment, the selection of other users may be based at least in part on the message of the user and/or the location of the other users (e.g., the selection may be a selection of an event or location that the first user posted information about). in an embodiment, the other users may provide a user response which may include voice messages, text messages, and/or picture messages (e.g., which may provide more information about the event or location). in response, the first user (e.g. a provider of the event) may receive an object that is based at least in part on the user response of the other users. in an embodiment, in response to a user selecting a particular object and being directed to additional information to learn about the objects, the user may be given the ability to update the additional information. in an embodiment, the update to the additional information may include text messages and/or voice messages to other users, reminders to other users, and/or changes to the object. in an embodiment, a user can create an object that may be displayed in the guide. there may be a rules-based lifetime for objects. for example, after a set period of time (e.g., 2 hours, 2 days, years for example) past the start time of event, end of an event, and/or other significant time associated with the event, the object expires. there may be multiple expiration times associated with an event. there may be a time after which, no new posts about what is currently happening at the meeting can be posted, there may be a time after which no new comments about the meeting can be posted. there may be a time after which certain geo tags expire. there may be a time after which one group of people (e.g., the public) can see only certain information, while another group of people (e.g., members of an organization) can still see all of the information. there may be a time after which no information about the event can be seen. there may be events or places that allow tags in which some or all of the tags have a short term voice review that disappears after a short amount of time (e.g., a review of a particular item that is only available for a short period of time). the owner (e.g., the person that originally established the post) can post time sensitive information and time sensitive posts about his own place. people may add pictures. in an embodiment, an indication is provided, such as an icon flashing, which indicates when a post is current. in an embodiment, the system may translate voice tags to text (where the voice tags and/or text are associated with the meeting, geo-tag, geo-card, send-it-once reply, geo-on-ramp, and/or mash guide, for example). account setup and discovery engine fig. 11 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of method 1100 in which a mash guide account is set-up and/or activated in an embodiment of a method for establishing the event identification system from the perspective of the server. in the embodiment in fig. 11 , the information received at the server may be received from a smart watch via a smart phone and the results may be sent from the server to the phone to the watch. regarding method 1100 , a discovery engine may be stored on the proximity server, which finds things that user may not have necessarily been looking for, per se, but that the user is likely to be interested in, based on the user's past, past interests and current interests. in embodiment, the server sends a sign-up or sign-in page to the user. upon sign-up, the user may fill out a questionnaire asking not only the user's likes and dislikes, but the user's past activities (from which additional interests may be gleaned) and the things that the user may have wished that they did (whether or not the user actually did those things). in an embodiment, a user may provide information about his/her interests by answering questions/prompts from the device. the answers to the questions may determine (at least in-part) which objects are returned to the user. in an embodiment, the questions/prompts may relate to various topics that can be used to help determine relevant objects that the user is likely to be interested in. when a user logs in, the user may see every nearby event that may be of interest (mash guide). in the setup, there is an attempt to find key words and/or other triggers that are likely to aid in discovering information the user is seeking and information that the user is likely to find interesting (whether or not that information was requested by the user). in other words, the discovery engine searches for information that is not related to the user's search, but that is nonetheless expected to be of interest to the user. in embodiment upon sign-up to the mash guide, the user may fill out a questionnaire asking not only the user's likes and dislikes, but the user's past activities (from which additional interests may be gleaned) and activities that the user may have wished to have done, but did not do. the user may be asked questions about what the user did in the past (e.g., as a child) and what the user would have liked to have done as a child, in addition to being asked about what the user likes and does not like. although in fig. 11 the mash guide was discussed with reference to a smart watch, a smart phone and a server, the mash guide may be implemented on any computer readable medium device, including a cellular phone, tablet computer, laptop, or desktop. the mash guide may include a media layer—voice and images (still or moving images). in an embodiment, the mash guide may have a filter and/or sort button to filter out unwanted objects, events or images according to subject matter, distance, and/or time. the user may use a “hands free” method to navigate through the columns and/or rows of the mash guide system (e.g., by voice commands). in an embodiment, in response to pushing a physical or virtual button, a mash guide opens up and an event stamp can be created. using the information about the user, information input by the user (e.g., as a result of creating an event stamp), the location, the time, etc. the system can produce a mash guide giving the user real-time information based on the search and the location. in step 1102 , the server sends a sign-in or sign-up page to the user. when signing up, a user sets up the username and password. the name and password may include any of a variety of security processes. the user may set up an account when the user wishes to receive information in the mash guide or when the user wants to post information in the mash guide. the mash guide may aid the user in matching the event stamp information with a specific event. the mash guide may include a collection of locations or objects based on information arranged by topic and location and/or time. in step 1104 , after receiving the user's choice for a username and password, the server sets up the account having the user's chosen password and username. in steps 1106 - 1110 , the server sends further pages requesting more information about the user that will be used in the future to create user-specific search results (e.g., the mash guide). the mash guide is tailored for the user based on the user's interests (past and present interests). for example, the user may be asked about courses taken, professions, hobbies, place of residence, fantasy places of residence, about what their past and present fantasy careers would be, past and present fantasy hobbies would be, past and present fantasy academic course of study, past and present fantasy extracurricular activities, and/or what courses or activities the user would have liked to participate in, but did not. thus, for example, if the user indicates that the user had a fantasy career as a child of being an astronaut, the system may present places and events related to space exploration to the user in the mash guide even though the user did not ask for those events, because there is reason to believe that space exploration is of interest to the user, based on the user's former fantasy career. the mash guide is interactive in that the mash guide is based on the user inputs, geo tags, and other comments the user may have input previously. in step 1106 , the server presents to the user one or more pages for entering information about the user's interests. the user may provide information about interests by answering questions/prompts from the server, via device 1 and/or 2 . the organization of the mash guide and/or the objects presented to the user in the mash guide may be based, at least in part, on the user's input during the setup process. in an embodiment, the questions/prompts may relate to various topics that can be used to help determine relevant objects and/or types of objects that the user is likely to be interested in. in an embodiment, the one or more pages presented to the user may include a questionnaire asking not only about the person's likes and dislikes, but about the person's activities from which additional interests may be gleaned. the information collected about the user may include clubs, topics of interest, the user's volunteer activities, political activities and preferences, religion, hobbies, books read and/or favorite books, movies viewed watched and/or favorite movies, television programs viewed and/or favorite television programs, information about the user's pets, the sports that the user is interested in and participates in, the teams that the user follows, the user's expertise, the places that the user has traveled to or is interested in traveling to, food preferences, music interests, the user's languages, make and model of the user's car, other modes of transportation used by the user, the user's health and the user's interests in health, the user's favorite brands and the brands used by the user, the user's favorite shops and the shops used by the user, the user's favorite people and the people the user knows, dislikes, motivations, type of computer, type of cell phone, type of tablet computer, etc. in step 1108 , the server presents, via device 1 and/or 2 , to the user one or more pages for entering information about the user's past activities. from the user's past activities, more information about the user's interests may be inferred and/or identified. the user may be asked questions about what they did at different times of their life (as a child, as a teenager, as a college student, as an adult, etc.). statistical correlations may be made between the user's past activities, and interests of people sharing those past activities, in order to predict the user's current interests to determine which objects to present to the user in the mash guide and/or to determine a priority in which to present certain objects to the user in the mash guide. in step 1110 , the server sends a page soliciting information about the user's future. the user provides information about the user's future or hoped-for activities and/or long-term goals (e.g., to buy a summer home in lake tahoe, to go to law school, to learn a language, to learn to scuba dive) or bucket list. from this, more information about the user's interests may be identified and used in searches. in step 1112 , the server uses the information to configure the view of the mash guide presented to the user to be user-specific. when the user activates an event stamp function, results of a search based on the event stamp information may be presented in the form of a mash guide, which may be configured according to the information the user enters about the event, the information the user included about the user's interests and experiences, the location, the time, etc. in addition to including the search results (an example of a mesh of the mash guide will discussed in conjunction with fig. 17 ). the user may also open the mash guide without specifically doing a search, and when the user initially opens the mash guide, the mash guide may be populated with the user's favorites (e.g., the topics the user likes to browse). if the user activates an event stamp function, the mash guide will automatically use the information the user input, the location, and the time to determine the configuration and the priority of the results returned by the search. in an embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 11 , step 1102 - 1112 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 1100 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 1100 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 1100 may be used to form their own method. using the mash guide fig. 12 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of method 1200 for using a mash guide. as discussed above, in conjunction with fig. 11 , the view of the mash guide presented to the user may be tailored for the individual user based on the user's interests. additionally, or alternatively, the mash guide may display results according to the user's location and the time of day, but the contents displayed are not specifically tailored for any one user. in the embodiment in fig. 12 , the information received at the server may be received from a smart watch via a smart phone and the results may be sent from the server to the phone to the watch. in step 1202 , a mash guide request is received from a user because an event stamp function is activated on a device. event stamp information (e.g., related to a physical object at a location) may be stored in response to activating an event stamp function. in response to activating an event stamp function, information may be collected including location information (such as gps coordinates), time, user inputs, including voice and images, and/or other contextual information (e.g., meta data). in response to collecting the event stamp information, the device sends the event stamp information to perform a search. in step 1204 , after a search is submitted, based on the event stamp information, the proximity server performs a search. if there is a voice message, the voice message may be parsed. if the event stamp information includes an image, a pattern matching algorithm may attempt to match the image with images of objects in that area and/or an algorithm may attempt to recognize characters in the image (if there are any) and search for the characters in association with objects associated with the locations within a vicinity of the location of the event stamp. in an embodiment, as part of the search, there may be an attempt to find key words that are associated with objects that are likely to be of interest to the user. in an embodiment, the server also searches for objects that are related to things that are not being expressly sought, but are expected to be of interest (based on the user's interests). the discovery engine may find things that the user may not have necessarily been looking for, but that the user is likely to be interested in. the information entered by the user in the initiation process (see fig. 11 ) may be used. in an embodiment, the proximity server may organize data from multiple other sites of similar content to allow the user to search the content together. the format that the data is presented in and the meta data may be standardized. data can be presented in a mesh with columns for categories and rows for distance from the user. alternatively, the rows and columns could be interchanged. in an embodiment, in searching the event stamp information, a proximity search is performed, and the proximity automatically filters out data that would not be of interest to the user based on user interests and history (see fig. 11 ). in an alternate embodiment, if the results are viewed on a phone or watch, the user may be able to swipe a finger to get to the next piece of data, the next card in a category, and/or the next category, and the server returns multiple objects which may be based at least in part on the event stamp information. in step 1206 , the guides that are found by the server in doing the search are returned to the device for display to the user. the guides may include links to multiple objects that are related to each other and that the user may scroll through. in an embodiment, the guides are based on event stamp information and comments from other users. the guides may be the columns in the mesh. for example, the guides may be eateries, theaters, museums, hotels, etc. in step 1206 , objects are displayed based on the guides that are chosen. after receiving the results, the user may combine multiple guides together to return objects that are at least related to two or more guides. for example, if a user likes the stanford college calendar and the mit college calendar, these two guides may be mixed together to create a generic college calendar. in step 1210 , information is displayed based on the object(s) that are chosen. in an embodiment, the user may select a particular object and be directed to additional information to learn more about the object. in an embodiment, the additional information may include various user ratings about the object that the user may optionally be able to listen to, read, or view. in optional step 1212 , a response from the user is uploaded and associated with the object(s), as chosen by the user. in an embodiment, in response to the user selecting a particular object and being directed to additional information to learn about the object, the user may upload a user response about the object which optionally may be temporary and disappear after a period of time. the user response may include at least a rating based on a set scale, a text message, left by the user, and/or a voice message left by the user. in an embodiment, the user and/or host of the event may set the user response to disappear after a period of time, which the user and/or host may or may not be able to set. in an embodiment, a user that establishes an object, may include promotional offers and/or time sensitive information that relate to the object, for example. the mash guide creates a single place for the user to go for location based information instead of going to multiple places to find the same information. optionally, if the objects returned do not include any that correspond to the event stamp information sent, the user may add an entry to the mash guide. for example, if the user is walking down the street and finds a monument, the user may create an event stamp with a photograph and/or verbal description of the monument, and have a search performed for the monument. the mash guide is returned, but there is no monument at the locations of interest in the mash guide. if the mash guide has an entry for the object of interest, a tag with comments may be added from the one collecting the event stamp information and/or from others that access and view the event stamp information. the comments may or may not include reviews. in an embodiment, the reviews may have an expiration. optionally, the tag may only be viewed by other users that are within a predetermined proximity of that site and/or that are performing a search based on an earlier created event stamp. the results returned may be a view of the mash guide in which the information is grouped into guides based on the user's interests (see fig. 11 and/or the location of the user, based on gps). guides may include different objects that are categorized by the subject-matter of the objects. in an embodiment, each of the steps of method 1200 is a distinct step. in another embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 12 , step 1202 - 1212 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 1200 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 1200 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 1200 may be used to form their own method. creating meetings fig. 13 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of method 1300 of creating a meeting/greeting event. the meeting/greeting allows a host to set up a meeting, send out invitations, identify when attendees arrive, and send greeting messages to the arriving attendees as the attendees arrive. in the embodiment in fig. 13 , the information received at the server may have been received from a smart watch via a smart phone and the results may be sent from the server to the phone to the watch. in step 1302 , the server receives a request from a user to initiate the creation of a meeting event. the meeting may be a consumer meeting (a non-business meeting, such as a party, of users that is not focused on any business goal) or a business meeting. the host may set up a meeting and input information about the meeting (e.g., as detailed in the remaining steps of method 1300 ), such as times, information, location, attendees, methods of notification, and comments. the meeting may be posted or parts of the meeting may be posted. optionally, the host may electronically send invitations via emails, for example. in an embodiment, the site allows the host (or a representative of the host) to create an object and assign a url to the object. the host/user may tag the location and have it show up in the mash guides as an event. in step 1304 , time information is requested from the user. for example, a public start time, and public finish time can be set up and posted. optionally, observation of the times of arrival of attendees may be set up. as part of the observations of time of arrivals of attendees, when the attendees arrive for the meeting, the attendee may receive a hospitality greeting. the host may choose a setting that causes a message to be sent to a particular attendee, such as “hey sam, welcome” as hospitality for those just arriving. in step 1306 , a request for participants is sent to the meeting creator/user. the participants may be entered into the meeting so that the participants' arrivals at the meeting may be tracked, greetings may be sent to the attendees as the attendees arrive, so that attendees may post messages about the meeting during the meeting, and so that attendees of the meeting may send messages to one another using the meeting greeter. the host/user can choose which participants are allowed at the meeting/event or may allow all of the public to be participants (e.g., a political town hall). alternatively, the host may choose the participants to be anyone within a particular location (e.g., anyone within a chosen diameter around a particular gps coordinates). in step 1308 , preferences are requested for notification. preferences for notification may include proximity and geo tag information of and/or from visitors and/or friends. using the system, a visitor to the meeting may be able to see who else is present at the meeting and where particular people are currently located. also, users may be able to see the current posts of the people who are currently at the meeting. the system may translate voice tags to text, and allow users to post talks and/or conversation with others at the meeting in association with the meeting. in step 1310 , information about rules/expiration of the event is requested. the meeting can be set up with an expiring tracking option. there may be rules-based lifetimes for objects. for example, after 2 hours from the start of the event/meeting, the item expires. the expiration may be associated with the meeting as an object. in other words, the expiration may determine how long the meeting object remains in the system. alternatively, the expiration may decide how long the meeting object is modifiable. after the expiration, the meeting may still exist as a historical object, but no longer be modifiable (e.g., and after the expiration, comments may not be allowed). in step 1312 , optionally, an interaction with social media can be set up. the server sends a request to the user/meeting creator to choose whether to include interaction with social media. if the user decides to include interaction with social media, interactions such as meetup meetings, facebook, and twitter feeds with geo tags can be set up. depending on whether the meeting is public, the meeting may be returned when a user causes a search to be performed based on an event identification stamp. the meeting may be visible, in the mash guide, for example, when someone is in an area near the meeting. in an embodiment, the site, initially populated with the meeting, may later also include more information posted about different sites related to the meeting (e.g., informational, future meetings, etc.). the server may request the further information or the meeting creator, or other users may include the information by sending it to the server. in step 1314 , the server uses the information to set up the meeting, interactively before the meeting, during the meeting, to set up the rules and notifications (times), to set up the start and end, invitations, check ins, rule-based lifetimes, comments, etc. once at the meeting, user may have the ability to individually post messages, after the user checks in. the user may be able to post the information to specific individuals, e.g., on a page of the meeting for that individual. alternatively, posts that go to all participants can be set up. the posts can be set up in a rule-based manner. other information may be posted including updated agendas, a wi-fi password, if the location changes, who is attending, who checked in, future meeting information, etc. in an embodiment, all of the steps of the meeting/greeting can occur via voice commands (including comments). accepting voice commands for setting up and conducting the meeting allows the user to use the systems in a “hands free” mode. in an embodiment, each of the steps of method 1300 is a distinct step. in another embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 13 , step 1302 - 1314 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 1300 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 1300 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 1300 may be used to form their own method. send it once fig. 14 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of method 1400 a “send it once” event in an embodiment of a method for establishing an event identification system. send it once may be used by a host to track the arrivals of attendees at meetings or parties. the host can send out invitations. those that reply to the invitation only need to send a reply indicating that the user is coming and/or on their way, and when the attendee is on the way to the meeting, the host may automatically receive updates of the attendee's progress. when someone arrives at the event, the host may be notified. attendees may use the system to contact the host about arrival times. send it once can be used in conjunction with any embodiments that include meetings, parties, seminars, and events in which people are invited to or are attending. in the embodiment in fig. 14 , the information received at the server may have been received from a smart watch via a smart phone and the results may be sent from the server to the phone to the watch. in step 1402 , the server receives a first object from a first user. the first user selects a first object from a guide (guides were discussed, above, with respect to figs. 11 and 12 . for example, the guide may be for parties. the host may set up a party as an object within the party categories (guides). in step 1404 , the server receives a second object (based on the first object) and sends it to other users. the second object may be based at least in part on the first object. attendees may use the system to find meetings and/or parties and to rsvp. the second object may be a comment (e.g., “we're on our way! . . . here is our estimated time of arrival.” in an embodiment, the comment(s) can be posted via an audio message (e.g., the person can push a button and speak into the device to send an immediate comment). in step 1406 , the server receives a third object and sends the third object to other users. the third object may be sent to other users based on a predetermined time. for example, the third objects may be updates about the user's progress in arriving at a destination. the second object may be based at least in part on the first object. optionally, one or more of the objects (first object, second object, or third object, etc.) may be sent to the other users at predetermined times. the predetermined times that the objects are sent may relate to the first user's estimated time of arrival or an interval of time. the location may be monitored by the system via gps. thus, accepted users may be within 1 mile, 0.5 mile, 100 feet, or 20 feet of the gps location, or 10 feet, 5 feet, or 1 foot of the event. in an embodiment, the times may relate to an event start time, various times during the event, an event end time, etc. in an embodiment, the times may relate to the usefulness of the objects at a time of day (e.g., a coupon or a start-time for a sale). for example, attendees may send comments to the host about when the attendees will arrive and/or where the attendees are prior to arrival. in step 1408 , optionally, the server receives subsequent objects and the subsequent objects are sent to other users. the subsequent objects may be sent based on a predetermined time. the number of objects sent and the predetermined time may be chosen by the first user. for example, when someone arrives at a party, everyone at the party may receive a notification that someone has arrived. the host may use this function to know when an important person arrives. in step 1410 , optionally, the server may send location information to other users based on a request from one or more users. one or more of the objects may include information about the location of the first user, the gps location of the first user, maps, directions, etc. in step 1412 , the server uses any of the information related to the event to update searches/interests for each user involved. in an embodiment, each of the steps of method 1400 is a distinct step. in another embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 14 , step 1402 - 1410 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 1400 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 1400 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 1400 may be used to form their own method. mobcast fig. 15 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of method 1500 of implementing a mobcast in an embodiment of a method for establishing the event identification system. the mobcast may be implemented for any event or object that is applicable. for example, a mobcast may be set up or implemented when there is a “mob” of people attending an event (e.g., a sports event, a concert, a dance recital/program, a play, a movie, a party, etc.). in the embodiment in fig. 15 , the information received at the server was received from a smart watch via a smart phone and the results are sent from the server to the phone to the watch. in step 1502 , the server creates an event, such as a meeting where other users may post information about the event (e.g., a mobcast). optionally user 1 selects associated users that are associated with the event. optionally, the user can choose which users can receive the mobcast. the choice of users may be based on a relationship with the user, personal interests, marketing, type of job, sex, age, etc. the choice of users may also be based on who is known to be attending the event or comments may be accepted based on the location/gps of the user (if the location of the user corresponds to the location of the event). alternatively, no one ever chooses the members of the mob, the mob forms organically, by people attending the event. in step 1504 , the server receives a message/object from user 1 . user 1 may post a message/object about the event in association with the object representing the event, which may be seen by other users. the object may be a recording of a session or talk that occurred at the event, a recording of an incident that occurred at the event, and/or other information about the event. in one embodiment, the message/object can be seen by any users that are within certain proximity of the event. in another embodiment, the message/object may be viewed by anyone regardless of proximity. in an embodiment, only those users within certain proximity of the event may post information about the event. the message/object may be a comment about the event, a picture, a video, an audio, etc. in step 1506 , optionally, the server may request information from user 1 choosing user(s) with whom to share the object. in an embodiment, the selection of the users can be based at least in part on the message of the user and/or the location of the other users. in step 1508 , optionally, user 1 receives a response/object from the other users. in an embodiment, the other users may provide a user response, which may include voice messages, text messages, and/or picture messages. in response, the first user may receive an object that is based at least in part on the user response of the other users. steps 1504 - 1508 may be repeated by different users. as a result of multiple users posting information about the event, if enough users post information and comments about the event, someone that is not at the event can get a feel for what the event was like. in an embodiment, each of the steps of method 1500 is a distinct step. in another embodiment, although depicted as distinct steps in fig. 15 , step 1502 - 1508 may not be distinct steps. in other embodiments, method 1500 may not have all of the above steps and/or may have other steps in addition to or instead of those listed above. the steps of method 1500 may be performed in another order. subsets of the steps listed above as part of method 1500 may be used to form their own method. fig. 16 shows a representation of an example of device communication system 1600 in an embodiment of an event identification system. in other embodiments, 1600 may not have all of the elements or features listed and/or may have other elements or features instead of or in addition to those listed. device communication system 1600 may include wearable device 1602 , event stamp button 1603 , network device 1604 , proximity server 1606 , and network 1608 . in other embodiments, device communication system 1600 may not include all of the features listed above and/or may include additional features instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. a method for using device communication system 1600 was explained with reference to fig. 10 . device communication system 1600 allows a user to activate an event stamp from a wearable device, such as a watch, and then the event stamp information is sent via a smart phone or network device to a proximity server. the proximity server may look up information and/or return information in the mash guide, based on the event stamp information received ( figs. 11 and 12 , meeting/greeting ( fig. 13 ), send it once ( fig. 14 ) and mobcast ( fig. 15 ). wearable device 1602 may include event stamp button 1603 . event stamp button 1603 is an embodiment of the event stamp function discussed earlier in the specification, such as with respect to figs. 1 ( 106 , 107 , and 109 ). wearable device 1602 may be communicatively coupled to proximity server 1606 via the network. alternatively, wearable device 1602 is only communicatively coupled to a mobile phone and mobile phone communicates with the network. watch may be communicatively coupled to a network device 1604 via a local wireless connection. upon pressing an event stamp button 1603 on the wearable device 1602 , the wearable device 1602 sends a signal to a network device 1604 (e.g., the smart phone 1604 ), which initiates the event stamp function, which in turn may be used to retrieve information from pages associated with the mash guide, meeting/greeting, send it once, and/or mobcast. based on the response to the event stamp function, the wearable device 1602 may then be used to make a purchase, to upload a comment, and/or to find out more information. network device 1604 is discussed with reference to fig. 17 . network device 1604 may be communicatively coupled to proximity server 1606 , via the network. network device 1604 may be communicatively coupled to wearable device 1602 , via a local wireless connection. network device 1604 may be used to activate the event stamp functions and send the results to wearable device 1602 . network device 1604 is discussed with reference to fig. 1 ( 109 ). proximity server 1606 is a machine that contains the algorithm to carry out a proximity-based search and other functions based on the event stamp functions, mash guides, mobcasts, meeting/greeting, etc. proximity server 1606 can be communicatively coupled to network device 1604 and/or wearable device 1602 via the network. network 1608 is in an embodiment of network 110 , which was discussed with reference to fig. 1 . fig. 17 shows block diagram of an embodiment of the wearable device 1700 . the wearable device 1700 may be a smart watch and may include display 1702 , input 1703 , event stamp button 1704 , receiver-transmitter 1705 , antennae system 1706 , communication system 1707 , memory system 1708 , processor system 1710 , and clock 1712 . in other embodiments, wearable device 1700 may include additional components and/or may not include all of the components listed above. wearable device 1700 may be an embodiment of wearable device 1602 , which was discussed in conjunction with fig. 16 . display 1702 may be a display for displaying information related to the functioning of the wearable device 1700 . in an embodiment in which wearable device is a watch, display 1702 , may display the time, when wearable device 1700 is not being used for other purposes. optionally, wearable device 1702 may be capable of interfacing with the display of another device upon which the user may view information from the wearable device 1700 . input system 1703 may include microphone, one or more physical buttons for inputting settings, one or more virtual buttons, a touch sensitive screen, and/or an interface for connecting to input systems of other systems, such as any one of, some of, any combination of, or all of a keyboard system, a mouse system, a track ball system, a track pad system, buttons on a handheld system, a scanner system, a microphone system, a connection to a sound system, and/or a connection and/or interface system to a computer system, intranet, and/or internet (e.g., irda, usb), for example. event stamp button 1704 is a button that activates an event stamp function, which is a function that causes the recording of event stamp information, which may be identifying information. event stamp button is discussed with reference to fig. 1 (see 106 ) in more detail, for example. receiver-transmitter system 1705 receives and transmits messages from and to, respectively, a wireless network. receiver-transmitter system 1704 may include a separate receiver and transmitter and/or may include a combined receiver and transmitter. receiver-transmitter system 1704 receives and transmits phone messages. optionally, receiver-transmitter system 1704 may also receive radio waves. receiver-transmitter system 1704 may also be capable of receiving gps signals for determining a current location. receiver-transmitter system 1704 may be used for communicatively coupling to a web server or proximity server, such as website host 112 or proximity server 1606 , that stores information, such as playlists of radio stations (that may be used for determining a song, program, or other broadcast segment), menus of restaurants, price lists, taxi locations, restaurant locations, theater location (movie, music or play), museum location information or other event stamp information based on event stamp information stored in order to identify the broadcast segment or other event. antenna system 1706 is attached to receiver-transmitter system 1705 and picks up and sends electromagnetic signals from/to the environment, which is sent to/received at receiver-transmitter system 1705 . communication system 1707 carries signals between all of the components of wearable device 1700 . for example, communication system 1707 communicatively couples receiver-transmitter system 1705 , input system 1703 , display 1702 , and processor system 1710 (processor system 1710 is discussed in the next paragraphs). memory system 1708 may store the even stamp information. for example, memory system 1708 may store a time and location at which the event stamp button was pressed. memory system 1708 may also store a picture taken by a camera system, which may have been taken in conjunction with pressing the event stamp button. similarly, memory system 1708 may store a location where the timestamp was pressed, which may have been determined by processor system 1710 based on gps signals or may be sent from a network appliance. memory system 1708 may also store a part of the broadcast segment, which may be used to help identify the broadcast segment at a later time with the aid of a computer and/or a website. processor system 1710 may be configured for automatically or manually locating a website and sending event stamp information to a server to perform a search based on the event stamp information. processor system 1710 may be configured for accessing a proximity server, via a network appliance to access information associated with or add information to a mash guide, mobcast, meeting/greeting, or other activity in response to pressing an event stamp button. processor system 1710 may also be configured for automatically making a purchase or posting a comment based on the results of a search performed based on event stamp information. processor system 1710 may also process gps signals to determine a location or request gps information from a network appliance. processor 1710 may be configured for reading profile information in a broadcast segment. clock 1712 may include all of the functions of a normal clock, such as display the current time and provide alarms at the user's choosing. clock system 1712 may facilitate the operations of processor system 1710 . clock system 1712 may also be used for determining a time associated with an event stamp. for example, if a user presses on an event stamp button, processor system 1710 may read clock system 1712 and record the time in association with other identifying information that may be used included in the event stamp information. in an alternative embodiment, processor system may be replaced with a specialized circuit that is configured for recording event stamps, locating a website, sending the event stamp information to the appropriate host, receiving search results that are based on the event stamp information sent, initiating a purchase based on the event stamp information, and/or completing the purchase initialized. figs. 18a and b show a representation of an embodiment of a mash guide 1800 used in the event identification system to display results, particularly in association with the mash guide (or proximity grid). mash guide 1800 may be an embodiment of mash guide 1000 . fig. 18a shows the mash guide 1800 . the mash guide 1800 may include categories header 1802 with each category 1802 a - e ; distance from user header 1804 , with distance markers 1804 a and 1804 b , and object square 18 a - n . fig. 18b shows an example of the information shown in each object 1806 m , which may be a grid card (or node) on mash guide 1800 . in other embodiments, mash guide 1800 may not include all of the features listed above and/or may include additional features instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. the list of categories of categories header 1802 (which is made up of the collection of category headers 1802 a - e ) may label one axis of a mesh of mash guide 1800 (mash guide 1800 may show the results of a search). the categories of categories header 1802 can be the guides discussed with reference to the mash guides. fig. 18 provides an example and a mash guide, which may be the results of a location search in a city. the user may be in a neighborhood that the user is not familiar with and wants to find out about what types of entertainment or facilities are available within the neighborhood. the objects returned are presented in a mesh or grid. the categories of the example of fig. 18 include eateries 1802 a , movie theaters 1802 b , museums 1802 c , theaters 1802 d , and hotels 1802 e. distance-from-user-header 1804 indicates the distance from the user or location entered. in the column below, markers are given identifying the distance to the various establishments in the same row as the marker. distance markers 1804 a and 1804 b indicate the distance to the establishments in the same row as the distance marker of interest. distance-from-user-header 1804 , with distance markers 1804 a and 1804 b , show the distance to the various facilities and establishments from the user's current position. in the example of fig. 18 , the results include a location search in a city. the objects returned are presented in a mesh, with the distances being laid out from the closest to the furthest indicating which objects in the categories are closest to the user and which are further from the user. in the example of fig. 18 , the distances are from 0 miles ( 1804 a ) and 1 mile ( 1804 b ). the user can choose the parameters of the distance to view establishments that are the chosen distance from the user. object squares 18 a - n are the objects returned in the search. each of object squares 18 a - n represents a different object. in an embodiment, object squares 18 a - n include pictures of the objects (eatery, movie theater, museum, hotel, etc.). information may also be presented within the object square that is readable without selecting the object, such as opening and closing time, dates of operation, what is showing, show times, address, and telephone number. if the user selects the object (e.g., by touching or clicking on the object), the object may be presented in a larger format (more readable) than the object appears in the mesh, or may be presented with more information about the object. fig. 18b shows the enlarged object 1806 m after being selected by the user. in the example of fig. 18b , the enlarged object 1806 m is for the pantages theater and includes more information and/or links, such as the website (a link capable of being activated) names of shows (cats), show times (tonight “cats” 8 pm), ticket prices, the address of the theater, the telephone number of the theater and/or other information allowing the user to purchase tickets and/or learn more about available shows. fig. 19 shows a representation of an embodiment of the structure 1900 of a node of a mash guide. structure 1900 may include metadata 1901 , which may include location 1902 , time 1904 , type of object 1906 , user preferences 1908 , and user information 1910 . structure 1900 may also include data 1950 , which may include text 1952 , voice 1954 , and image 1956 . structure 1900 may also include tags and comments 1980 , which may include text 1982 , voice 1984 , and image 1986 . in other embodiments, structure 1900 may not include all of the features listed above and/or may include additional features instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. in an embodiment, structure 1900 may be the structure of a card, such as a geo card, a page for hosting a meeting, a page for hosting a mobcast, a geo tag, and/or a geo on-ramp, for example. however, the information in each node of the mash guide is organized into a unified format, so that the data and/or metadata can be searched through to determine the relevance of the data to a particular guide and/or search. the metadata of each object may include an indicator that indicates the type of data that the object contains. having a uniform structure for the metadata facilitates allowing third parties to add their own nodes to the mash guide. the information on the card may be divided into sections as follows: metadata|data|tags and comments. the metadata associated with an event stamp may include, location|time|type of object|user information|user preferences. the data and/or the tags and comments may further be divided into layers as follows, text|voice|images. the metadata 1901 of each object may include an indicator that indicates the type of data that the object contains. the metadata 1901 may include the location, time, type of object, user preferences, and user information. location 1902 may include metadata indicating the location and/or where to find the location in structure 1900 , which associated with the items of fixed location, such as historical landmarks or bill boards (the bill board advertiser and/or owner may provide the proximity server with information about the location and content of each billboard and ad) the time 1904 may include metadata indicating the time and/or where to find the location in structure 1900 , which be the time that the event or card is active. for example, the time may be the time that a store or restaurant is open, the time a show starts, the time a movie starts, or the time a meeting starts. alternatively, the time may be the time that a coupon is active or a sale occurs. the time can be used when the user activates the mash guide and/or event stamp to identify whether the event should be included in the mash guide. the type of object 1906 may include metadata indicating the type of object and/or where to find the type of object in structure 1900 , which the category of the object, whether the object is a meeting, a play, a musical performance, a store, a theatre and/or play, etc. the type of object may be used to identify whether the object should be placed in a certain category in the mash guide. user preferences 1908 may include metadata indicating the user preferences and/or where to find the user preferences in structure 1900 . the user preferences and/or the metadata about the user preferences may include information about when the user wants the card to be displayed, how the user wants the card to be displayed, and what will be displayed. user information 1910 can include information identifying the user. the user that is identified is the user that is associated with the event/card and/or creates the event card. the metadata 1900 may include data related to special services (e.g., fandango). for example, the metadata may include whether the event is associated with a particular application such as fandango. the data 1950 may include any data related to the event that is described on the card, such as the agenda for the event, people attending the event, people speaking at the event, and/or performers performing at the event, etc. the data 1950 may include text 1952 . the text 1952 data can include any information about the event that the user might find helpful and that may be convenient to convey, via text. for example, the text data may include data about the operating hours, the beginning and end time of an event, an explanation of the event, the price, the location, more information about the performers, a website to go to for more information about the event, the venue and/or the performers, etc. (see for example, fig. 18 , the card numbered 1806 m ). voice 1954 information may be any or all of the information that is provided as text information and/or other information about the event. in other words, the text information may be converted to voice information and vice versa. the voice information may also be a preview or an example of the performance, movie, etc. of the event. with the voice layer, the seller can leave information that one can click and listen to. any posting may have a geo card with voice component and/or a web address where a user may listen to the comments and tags that have been posted about the subject matter of the sign. for example, a sign advertising a house for sale may be associated with a voice recording that is returned when the user presses an event stamp button within a certain vicinity of the sign and/or that is returned as a block on a mash guide when a user is within a certain vicinity of the sign, and for example, the voice recording may give a more pictorial description of the house than the text description. the image 1956 data may include any supplemental information about the event shown as an image. the image might show a theater, an ad for a movie or other performance, an image of a restaurant, an image of a monument, store, or museum. an exemplary image of the food or merchandise in a store or restaurant might be shown. the image 1956 might be a photo of a person involved in a meeting, a speaker, or the person throwing a party. the image 1956 might be the photo of a user. the tags and comments 1980 can include any additional information provided by users. the additional information might be information that has changed during the course of the event, information about people at the event, information rating the event, food, merchandise, experience, etc. the tags and comments 1980 can be provided as text, voice or images. regarding the voice layer, someone may be really interested in posting something, because he/she has a motivation. however, some users are hesitant to post anything, because of the time involved, unless the user is angry. allowing users to post voice tags and voice messages can reduce the time needed to post a comment and/or tag and therefore may encourage more people to post comments and tags. geo tags or event stamps and messages including geo tags or event stamps sent by the user may include similar metadata as in metadata 1901 and/or a similar structure to structure 1900 . fig. 20 shows a representation of an embodiment of a smartwatch 2000 . smartwatch 2000 may include case body 2002 , bezel 2004 , first strap 2006 , second strap 2008 , action button 2010 , display screen 2012 , apps 2014 , and crown 2016 . in other embodiments, smartwatch 2000 may include may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. smartwatch 2000 may be an embodiment of the wearable device 1602 of fig. 16 . case body 2002 is the enclosure for the components of smartwatch 2000 , such as computing and processing elements. the case body 2002 may include a display screen 2012 that is surrounded around the screen's border by a bezel 2004 . in an embodiment, the display screen 2012 may form the face of case body 2002 , and the bezel 2004 may wrap around the edges of the display screen 2012 . first strap 2006 and second strap 2008 may connect to opposite sides of case body 2002 , allowing a user to wear the smartwatch 2000 . the straps 2006 , 2008 may wrap around a portion of a wrist, arm, leg, chest, or other portion of a user's body to secure the case body 2002 to the user. in an embodiment, the ends of straps 2006 , 2008 may have a fastening mechanism, such as buckle, clasp, buttons, magnetic fasteners, snaps, or velcro strips, allowing the ends of the straps 2006 , 2008 to connect together. in an embodiment, the case body 2002 may have lugs that connect to the ends of the straps 2006 , 2008 . action button 2010 is a button on smartphone 2000 that performs an action when pressed. in addition, action button 2010 may be an event stamp button, which, when pressed, may cause the smartwatch 2000 to create an event stamp and/or establish communications with smartphone for creating an event stamp. action button 2010 may a physical or a virtual button. optionally, the action button 2010 may automatically launch a search for an event matching the event stamp information, such as by opening a mash guide, and presenting entries in the mash guide based on the event stamp information. opening the mash guide may involve locating a website where the mash guide information is stored and searching through the mash guide entries for entries relevant to the event stamp information. optionally, there may be other buttons for turning on or off smartwatch 2000 , setting the time, setting an alert, taking a photograph, and/or recording a video/audio. display screen 2012 is a display that shows graphics and texts to the user and may be used for viewing a mash guide and/or results of a search performed based on event stamp information. the display screen 2012 may be substantially any type of display screen that can provide a visual output for smartwatch 2000 , such as liquid crystal display, light emitting diode display, or the like. in an embodiment, the display screen 2012 may be a touch sensitive display screen that is configured to receive a user input through the user's touch. the display screen 2012 may be a multi-touch display screen that receives user inputs through capacitive sensing elements. display screen 2012 may display a virtual event stamp button, that activates an event stamp function. display screen 2012 may be used for viewing search results, which may have been produced as a result of activating an event function; for viewing phone numbers being dialed; for viewing phone numbers stored; for displaying apps and/or other programs running on the smartwatch 2000 ; and optionally for viewing information related to an event corresponding to an event stamp created by smartwatch 2000 and/or a smartphone. display screen 2012 may be responsive to swiping action produced by a user swiping a finger over display screen 2012 (e.g., to cause the page of the mash guide, of another website, or of an app) to switch to the next page. crown 2016 is optional and/or may be purely decorative, serving no function. alternatively, crown 2016 may be a wheel and/or button that is rotatable and/or translatable relative to the housing. optionally, the turning of the crown 2016 adjust the time. in an embodiment, crown 2016 as an action button having any combination of the functions described with respect to action button 2010 , and crown 2016 may be provided in addition to or instead of action button 2010 . in an embodiment, the user may configure the crown 2016 to activate the event stamp function when pressed. in another embodiment, when the crown 2016 is pressed a home screen may be displayed showing a mash guide and/or the main menu, for example. fig. 21 shows a representation of an embodiment of the smartphone 2100 . smartphone 2100 may include phone enclosure 2102 , screen border 2104 , touch sensitive display screen 2106 , earpiece speaker 2108 , camera lens 2110 , button 2112 , apps 2114 . in other embodiments, smartphone 2100 may include may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. smartphone 2100 may be an embodiment of the mobile phone 109 a of fig. 1 or the network device 1604 of fig. 16 . phone enclosure 2102 encases the computing elements, camera, time keeping elements, processing elements and/or other hardware of the smartphone 2100 . the phone enclosure 2102 may include a touch sensitive display screen 2106 that is at least partially surrounded by screen border 2104 . in an embodiment, the touch sensitive display screen 2106 may form a face of the phone enclosure 2102 and the screen border 2104 may wrap around the edges of smartphone 2100 . touch sensitive display screen 2106 may be any type of display screen that can provide a visual output, such as liquid crystal display or light emitting diode display, and can receive user input through capacitive sensing elements. in an embodiment, touch sensitive display screen 2106 is a multi-touch display screen. touch sensitive display screen 2106 is for displaying search results (which may have been produced as a result of activating an event function), viewing phone numbers being dialed, viewing phone numbers stored, displaying apps (or programs running on the smartphone 2100 ), and optionally viewing information related to a radio station being listened to are things that may be shown on touch sensitive display screen 2106 and/or menu information, earpiece speaker 2108 outputs the audio from a web site and/or during a phone call through the earpiece. although not shown, the smartphone 2100 may also have a speakerphone speaker separate from the earpiece speaker 2108 . the speakerphone speaker may output the audio for situation where music is being played, for example. camera lens 2110 may be similar to lens 402 and may be a lens for forming an image to be recorded and/or a view finder for a camera, such as camera system 2208 ( fig. 22 ). button 2112 is a button on smartphone 2100 may cause smartphone 2100 to automatically collect event stamp information and may optionally launch a search based on the event stamp information collected, such as by causing the mash guide to be opened and populated with information that is based on the event information collected. in an embodiment, the button 2112 may perform other actions (e.g., when pressed in combination with other functions) in addition to or instead of activating an event stamp function. for example, pressing and holding the button 2112 for three seconds may launch an application. in an embodiment, the smartphone 2100 may have a button for presenting a home screen to the user, which could be the mash guide. in another embodiment, the smartphone 2100 may have a switch or button for turning smartphone 2100 on and/or off. fig. 22 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a smartphone 2200 . the smartphone 2200 may include processor system 2202 , memory system 2204 , input system 2206 , output system 2207 , camera system 2208 , action buttons 2210 , vibrator 2212 , on/off button 2214 , power management unit 2216 , battery connection 2218 , dock connection 2220 , audio codec 2222 , audio jack 2224 , microphone system 2226 , speaker system 2228 , bluetooth system 2230 , wlan system 2232 , wlan/bluetooth frontend 2234 , rf diplexer 2236 , gps receiver 2238 , antenna 2240 , baseband radio processor system 2242 , memory system 2244 , sim port 2246 , cellular network rf circuitry 2248 , and antenna 2250 . in other embodiments, smartphone 2200 may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. smartphone 2200 may be an embodiment of the mobile phone 109 a of fig. 1 , the network device 1604 of fig. 16 , and/or the smartphone representation of fig. 21 . processor system 2202 may be configured to automatically or manually locate a website and send event stamp information to a server for determining an event associated with event stamp information stored on smartphone 2200 in response to pressing an event stamp button. processor system 2202 may also be configured (e.g., hardwired) for automatically making a purchase based on event stamp information (for example, based on information identifying the broadcast segment). processor system 2202 may also process gps signals or other location identifying signals to determine a location. processor system 2202 may implement machine instructions for initiating the event stamp function and retrieving information from pages associated with the mash guide, geo-cards, geo-ramps, meeting/greeting, send it once, and/or mobcast. memory system 2204 stores the boot code for starting the smartphone 2200 , the operating system that runs on smartphone 2200 , and any applications that runs on the operating system. memory system 2204 may also store the identification information. for example, memory system 2204 may store a time associated with pressing an event stamp button and a radio or television station that processor system 2202 determined as being associated with a broadcast segment that was being played at the time the event stamp was pressed. memory system 2204 may also store one or more machine instructions that facilitate and/or for interacting with a server that implements mash guide, geo-cards, geo-ramps, meeting/greeting, send it once, and/or mobcast. memory system 2204 may also store a picture taken by camera system 2208 , which may have been taken in conjunction with pressing the event stamp button. similarly, memory system 2204 may store a location where the timestamp was pressed, which may have been determined by processor system 2202 based on gps signals from gps receiver 2238 . memory system 2204 may also store photos, video recordings, audio recordings (e.g., a part of the broadcast segment), other event information, which may be used to help identify events at a later time with the aid of a computer and/or a website. in an embodiment, event identification algorithm 324 of fig. 3 may also be stored in memory system 2204 . input system 2206 may include any of a variety of input mechanisms, such as keys, buttons, touch pads, virtual keypad on a touch screen, ports for optically or electronically downloading information from other machines (e.g., computers or other mobile phones). in an embodiment, the input system may include one or more buttons for identification information input similar to the input for identification information 328 of fig. 3 . the button may initiate an event stamp function, which may include the collection of event identifying information. additionally, the button may cause a picture to be taken and stored in association with the time. alternatively, the button may cause processor 2202 to collect gps or other location information, which is then stored in association with the time. the button may also cause processor 2202 to access a database containing more information related to the identifying information stored. input system 2206 may include a button that activates the event stamp function and causes event stamp information to be recorded in memory system 2204 and/or may cause other identification information to be collected and/or stored as part of the event stamp information. in an embodiment, the input system 2206 may be a touch sensitive display screen that responds to the touch and presses of the user on the screen. output system 2207 is for outputting menu information, search results (which may have been produced as a result of activating an event function), viewing phone numbers being dialed, viewing phone numbers stored, viewing television programs, and optionally viewing information related to a radio station being listened to, for example. output system 2207 may be used for surfing a wan, such as the internet, sending and viewing text messages, and viewing web pages. for example, output system 2207 may be used for viewing candidates for a broadcast segment or other event information that corresponds to event stamp information stored. output system 2207 may also be used to view the event stamp information being stored. output system 2207 may include a port that can be communicatively coupled to a computer via which the identification information may be transferred to a computer so that the event information may be identified via a website on network 110 . in an embodiment, the output system 2207 may be a touch sensitive display screen. camera system 2208 is for taking pictures. the user may choose to take any picture desired, upload the picture, and send the picture to a friend, for example. camera system 2208 may also take a picture in response to activating the event stamp button, which may be a physical button on the smartphone or a virtual button that is pressed through the touch screen. the picture taken by camera system 2208 in response to activating the event stamp button may be stored in association with the time and other identifying information. action buttons 2210 are buttons on smartphone 2200 that perform an action when pressed. action buttons 2210 may include an event stamp button, home/menu button, and a volume button, which controls the volume of the audio coming from the speaker system 2228 , audio jack 2224 , or dock connection 2220 (if the smartphone 2200 is connected to an external speaker through the dock). the event stamp button, when pressed, may cause the smartphone 2200 to locate a web site and send event stamp information to a server for determining an identity of a broadcast segment associated with event stamp information stored on smartphone 2200 , as described above. other buttons and functions on smartphone 2200 include a vibrator 2212 , which is used to indicate whether a phone vibrates when receiving an incoming call and may be tied to the volume button, and an on/off button 2214 , which allows the user to turn on the phone or reset the phone when pressed. power management unit 2216 monitors the power consumption by individual components of smartphone 2200 and may signal power management commands to one or more of the components as needed so as to conserve battery energy and control battery temperature. the power management unit 2216 may monitor the more power intensive components, which includes the baseband radio processor 2242 , the processor system 2202 , output system 2207 , and the cellular network rf circuitry 2248 . battery connection 2218 connects the smartphone battery to the power management unit 2216 , providing power to the smartphone. dock connection 2220 allows for the smartphone 2200 to connect to an external device for the purpose of sending and receiving data. for example, the dock connection may connect to a data cable attached to a computer, so that the user may transfer music, pictures, and other information between the computer and the smartphone 2200 . in addition, the dock connection 2200 may be connected with to an external power source (e.g., a cable connected to an electrical outlet, a power adapter, an external battery), charging the battery of smartphone 2200 , via battery connection 2218 . audio codec 2222 is an audio coder-decoder that acts as an interface to the analog input of the microphone system 2226 and the analog outputs of the receiver and speaker system 2228 , by providing any and all analog amplifiers and other analog signal conditioning circuitry that is needed for conditioning the analog acoustic transducer signals. the audio codec 2222 may be a separate integrated circuit package. in addition, audio codec 2222 may have an audio jack 2224 to plug wired headphones/earphones, for example, allowing the smartphone 2200 to output the audio through audio jack 2224 . in such embodiment, the audio codec 2222 may send the audio through the audio jack 2224 , instead of through the speaker system 2228 . alternatively, the audio codec 2222 may send the audio to external speakers connected through the dock connection 2220 . in one embodiment, the audio codec 2222 may operate in either media player mode or call mode. through the programming from the processor system 2202 or control signals, audio codec 2222 can be configured into either mode. in media player mode, the smartphone 2200 operates as a digital media player, where the audio codec 2222 applies analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion to the analog acoustic transducer signals to generate corresponding digital signals. the audio codec 2222 supplies the digitized microphone signal to the processor system 2202 and converts a digital audio signal from the processor system 2202 into analog form and then applies it to the receiver and/or speaker system 2228 for playback. in call mode, the smartphone 2200 operates as a mobile telephone device, where the user can have real-time audio conversation with another remote user during a cellular telephone call. in this mode, the audio codec 2222 acts as an analog pass through with no digital conversion, so that the analog acoustic transducer signals are passed through, with perhaps some analog amplification or buffering, between the baseband radio processor system 2242 and the acoustic transducers. microphone system 2226 is for the user to speak into when making an audio recording, making a telephone call, asking a question, or calling out a voice command. speaker system 2228 may be used for listening to phone calls, radio stations, television programs, and/or web pages, for example. the speaker system 2228 may include an earpiece speaker and/or a speakerphone speaker. bluetooth system 2230 and wlan system 2232 provide additional wireless communication channels for the smartphone 2200 . bluetooth system 2230 wirelessly connects the smartphone 2200 with other local devices, such as speakers, smartwatches, or other smartphones. wlan system 2232 receives and transmits data and information from and to a wireless network, for example, by a tcp/ip link. additionally, wlan system 2232 may receive and transmit phone messages. the bluetooth system 2230 and the wlan system may share an antenna for short range wireless communications. the rf diplexer 2236 has a pair of rf ports that are coupled to the antenna. one of the rf ports is used for gps services, which the gps receiver 2238 uses to obtain gps data, so that the smartphone 2200 can indicate its location to the user and/or which may be included in the event stamp information. the other rf port of the rf diplexer 2236 is coupled to wlan/bluetooth frontend 2234 , which combines the rf signals of bluetooth and wlan. rf diplexer 2236 , the wlan/bt frontend 2234 and baseband radio processor 2242 may receive radio waves through the antenna. the wlan/bt frontend 2234 and a baseband radio processor may be used for communicatively coupling to a web server, such as website host 112 , that stores information, such as the mash guide, playlists of radio stations (that may be used for determining a song, program, or other broadcast segment), menus of restaurants, price lists, taxi locations, or other event information based on event stamp information stored in order to identify the broadcast segment or another event. the antenna 2240 is an antenna for short range wireless communications. antenna 2240 connects to the rf diplexer 2236 , which allows the bluetooth channel and the wlan channel to share the antenna. the baseband radio processor system 2242 is a chip that manages all the radio functions, such as the information from the antenna 2250 . baseband radio processor system 2242 has a firmware and its own memory system 2244 . the baseband processor system 2242 may also perform cellular baseband processing tasks including cellular protocol signaling, coding and decoding, and signaling with the external rf transceiver. baseband radio processor system 2242 may be programmable and operate based on the firmware stored in memory system 2244 . baseband radio processor system 2242 may grant the user access to the cellular network based on the authentication of the user (a module that checks the user information and password) and the sim card, which is inserted in the sim port 2246 of the smartphone 2200 . the sim port 2246 reads the sim card for information regarding the cellular network. in an embodiment, the services for gps, cellular network, bluetooth link, and wlan may be managed by programs through the processor system 2202 to communicate with the baseband radio processor system 2242 , bluetooth system 2230 , and wlan system 2232 through separate component buses. in another embodiment, there may also be separate component buses connecting the baseband radio processor system 2242 to the bluetooth system 2230 and wlan system 2232 to allow the bluetooth system 2230 and wlan system 2232 to use the audio processing engine in the baseband radio processor system 2242 . for example, using the wlan system 2232 , the use of the audio processing engine could allow the user to conduct a wireless voice over ip call. as another example, using the bluetooth system 2230 , the user could conduct the call through a wireless headset. the cellular network rf circuitry 2248 is a rf transceiver integrated circuit package. the cellular rf circuitry 2248 may have a frequency up-converter and a down converter. the frequency upconverter upconverts the uplink signal from the baseband radio processor system 2242 into the radiation band of the antenna 2250 . the rf down-converter translates the downlink signal from the radiation band of antenna 2250 into a lower frequency suitable for input to the baseband radio processor system 2242 . in an embodiment, the rf up conversion and down conversion may be direct, from and to baseband radio processor system 2242 , rather than going through an intermediate frequency (if). fig. 23 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a smartwatch 2300 . the smartwatch 2300 may include processor system 2302 , memory system 2304 , input system 2306 , output system 2308 , sensors 2310 , scroll button 2312 , on/off button 2314 , power management unit 2316 , battery connection 2318 , audio codec 2320 , microphone system 2322 , speaker system 2324 , bluetooth system 2326 , wlan system 2328 , wlan/bluetooth frontend 2330 , rf diplexer 2332 , antenna 2334 , gps receiver 2336 , camera system 2338 , and real time clock 2340 . in other embodiments, smartwatch 2300 may not include all of the components and/or may include other components, in addition to, and/or instead of the components listed above. smartwatch 2300 may be an embodiment of the smartwatch of fig. 20 . processor system 2302 may be configured to automatically or manually locate a website and send event stamp information to a server identify an event associated with event stamp information stored on smartwatch 2300 in response to pressing an event stamp button. processor system 2302 may also be configured for automatically making a purchase base on event stamp information (for example, based on information identifying the broadcast segment). processor system 2302 may also process gps signals to determine a location. processor system 2302 may be configured for reading profile information in a broadcast segment. memory system 2304 stores the boot code for starting the smartwatch 2300 , the operating system that runs on smartwatch 2300 , and any applications that runs on the operating system. memory system 2304 may also store the identification information. for example, memory system 2304 may store a time associated with pressing an event stamp button and a radio or television station that processor system 2302 determined as being associated with a broadcast segment that was being played at the time the event stamp was pressed. memory system 2304 may also store a picture taken by camera system 2338 , which may have been taken in conjunction with pressing the event stamp button. similarly, memory system 2304 may store a location where the timestamp was pressed, which may have been determined by processor system 2302 based on gps signals from gps receiver 2336 . memory system 2304 may also store a part of the broadcast segment, which may be used to help identify the broadcast segment at a later time with the aid of a computer and/or a website. as explained above, storing a portion of a broadcast segment may facilitate automatically identifying the correct broadcast segment so that a purchase may also be automatically made without the user reviewing the item being purchased, because the likelihood of purchasing the wrong item is reasonably low. in an embodiment, event identification algorithm 324 of fig. 3 may also be stored in memory system 2304 . input system 2306 may include any of a variety of input mechanisms, such as keys, buttons, touch pads, virtual keypad on a touch screen, ports for optically or electronically downloading information from other machines (e.g., computers or other mobile phones). in an embodiment, the input system may include one or more buttons for identification information input similar to the input for identification information 328 of fig. 3 . the button may initiate an event stamp function, which may include the collection of event identifying information. additionally, the button may cause a picture to be taken and stored in association with the time. alternatively, the button may cause processor system 2302 to collect gps or other location information, which is then stored in association with the time. the button may also cause processor system 2302 to access a database containing more information related to the identifying information stored. input system 2306 may include a button that activates the event stamp function and causes event stamp information to be recorded in memory system 2304 and/or may cause other identification information to be collected and/or stored as part of the event stamp information. in an embodiment, the input system 2306 may be a touch sensitive display screen that responds to the touch and presses of the user on the screen. output system 2308 is for outputting menu information, search results (which may have been produced as a result of activating an event function), viewing phone numbers being dialed, viewing phone numbers stored, viewing apps, and optionally viewing information related to a radio station being listened to, for example. output system 2308 may be used for surfing a wan, such as the internet, sending and viewing text messages, and viewing web pages. for example, output system 2308 may be used for viewing candidates for a broadcast segment or other event information that corresponds to event stamp information stored. output system 2308 may also be used to view the event stamp information being stored. output system 2308 may include a port that can be communicatively coupled to a computer via which the identification information may be transferred to a computer so that the event information may be identified via a website on network 110 . in an embodiment, the output system 2308 may be a touch sensitive display screen. sensors 2310 are sensors on smartwatch 2300 that help the smartwatch 2300 collect information of the watch's surrounding. sensors 2310 may include accelerometers, heart rate monitor, proximity sensor, temperature sensors, and gyroscope. other sensors may be included for different applications, such as monitoring the user's blood glucose level. scroll button 2312 is a button on smartwatch 2300 that can be pressed (into the smartwatch) or turned (like how one would turn the knob on a watch). depending whether scroll button 2312 is pressed or turned, the action performed is different and may depend on what is displayed on the touch screen. in an embodiment, the scroll button 2312 may be configured to be an event stamp button, which, when pressed, sends a signal to a paired smartphone (e.g., smartphone 2200 ), which initiates the event stamp function, which in turn may be used to retrieve information from pages associated with the mash guide, meeting/greeting, send it once, and/or mobcast. based on the response to the event stamp function, the smartwatch 2300 may then be used to make a purchase, to upload a comment, and/or to find out more information. alternatively, the pressing of the scroll button 2312 may cause the smartwatch 2300 to initiate the event stamp function and retrieve information regarding mash guide, meeting/greeting, send it once, and/or mobcast, as described above. scroll button 2312 may be connected to crown 2016 of fig. 20 . power management unit 2316 monitors the power consumption by individual components of smartwatch 2300 and may signal power management commands to one or more of the components as needed so as to conserve battery energy and control battery temperature. the power management unit 2316 may monitor the more power intensive components, which includes the processor system 2302 and output system 2308 . battery connection 2318 connects the smartphone battery to the power management unit 2316 , providing power to the smartphone. battery connection 2318 may also connect the battery to an induction coil that allows the battery to be charged wirelessly. audio codec 2320 is an audio coder-decoder that acts as an interface to the analog input of the microphone system 2322 and the analog outputs of the receiver and speaker system 2324 , by providing any and all analog amplifiers and other analog signal conditioning circuitry that is needed for conditioning the analog acoustic transducer signals. the audio codec 2320 may be a separate integrated circuit package. in one embodiment, the audio codec 2320 may operate in either media player mode or call mode. through the programming from the processor system 2302 or control signals, audio codec 2320 can be configured into either mode. in media player mode, the smartwatch 2300 is operating as a digital media player, where the audio codec 2320 applies analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion to the analog acoustic transducer signals to generate corresponding digital signals. the audio codec 2320 supplies the digitized microphone signal to the processor system 2302 and converts a digital audio signal from the processor system 2302 into analog form and then applies it to the receiver and/or speaker system 2324 for playback. in call mode, the smartwatch 2300 is operating as a mobile telephone device, where the user can have real time audio conversation with another remote user during a cellular telephone call. in this mode, the audio codec 2320 acts as an analog pass through with no digital conversion, so that the analog acoustic transducer signals are passed through, with perhaps some analog amplification or buffering, between the baseband radio processor system 2302 and the acoustic transducers. microphone system 2322 is for the user to speak into when recording audio, making a telephone call, asking a question, or calling out a voice command. speaker system 2324 may be used for listening to phone calls, radio stations, television programs, and/or web pages, for example. the speaker system 2324 may include a speakerphone speaker. bluetooth system 2326 and wlan system 2328 , which is optional, provide additional wireless communication channels for the smartwatch 2300 . bluetooth system 2326 wirelessly connects the smartwatch 2300 with other local devices, such as speakers, smartwatches, or other smartphones. wlan system 2328 receives and transmits data and information from and to a wireless network, for example, by a tcp/ip link. additionally, wlan system 2328 may receive and transmit phone messages. the bluetooth system 2326 and the wlan system may share an antenna 2334 for short range wireless communications. the rf diplexer 2332 has a pair of rf ports that are coupled to the antenna 2334 . one of the rf ports is used for gps services, which the gps receiver 2336 uses to obtain gps data, so that the smartwatch 2300 can indicate its location to the user. the other rf port of the rf diplexer 2332 is coupled to wlan/bluetooth frontend 2330 , which combines the rf signals of bluetooth and wlan. through antenna 2334 and rf diplexer 2332 , the wlan/bt frontend 2330 and baseband radio processor may receive radio waves. the wlan/bt frontend 2234 and baseband radio processor may be used for communicatively coupling to a web server, such as website host 112 of fig. 1 , that stores information, such as mash guides, playlists of radio stations (that may be used for determining a song, program, or other broadcast segment), menus of restaurants, price lists, taxi locations, or other event information based on event stamp information stored in order to identify the broadcast segment or another event. camera system 2338 is for taking pictures and is optional. the user may choose to take any picture desired, upload the picture, and send the picture to a friend, for example. camera system 2338 may also take a picture in response to activating the event stamp button, which may be a physical button on the smartphone or a virtual button that is pressed through the touch screen. the picture taken by camera system 2338 in response to activating the event stamp button may be stored in association with the time and other identifying information. although not shown, the smartwatch 2300 may have a baseband radio processor system that manages all the radio functions and may be connected to an antenna and a separate memory system. real time clock 2340 is a computer clock that keeps track of the current time. real time clock 2340 may be in the form of an integrated circuit. real time clock 2340 may have an alternate source of power to continue to keep time while the primary source of power is off or unavailable. alternatively, the smartwatch 2300 , through bluetooth system 2326 or wlan system 2328 , may collect the information for the current time from a nearby device through a wireless connection, or the smartwatch 2300 , through the baseband radio processor, may get the time from a nearby radio tower. fig. 24 shows a representation of an example of pairing between smartwatch 2402 and smartphone 2404 to be used in an event identification system and may be an embodiment of figs. 21-23 . extensions or alternatives in general, each of the embodiments and each aspect of each embodiment disclosed in this specification may be used together in any combination or separately from one another. each embodiment disclosed herein may be used or otherwise combined with any of the other embodiments disclosed. any element of any embodiment may be used in any embodiment. although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. in addition, modifications may be made without departing from the essential teachings of the invention.
|
074-477-954-941-585
|
US
|
[
"DE",
"US",
"JP",
"EP",
"CA",
"AU",
"AT",
"WO"
] |
B41J2/01,H01L51/40,B41J3/407,G02F1/1334,G02F1/1345,G02F1/1362,G02F1/167,H01L21/288,H01L21/336,H01L21/768,H01L29/786,H01L29/861,H01L29/866,H01L51/05
| 1998-12-15T00:00:00 |
1998
|
[
"B41",
"H01",
"G02"
] |
method for printing of transistor arrays on plastic substrates
|
electronic devices such as transistors and diodes are manufactured by ink-jet printing using a transfer member. these electronic devices are used in addressing an electronic display.
|
1. a method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising the steps of: 2. the method of claim 1 wherein the ink-jet printing system further comprises an applicator for applying a release material to the transfer member. 3. the method of claim 1 wherein step b) comprises providing the substrate on a conveyor belt. 4. the method of claim 1 wherein step b) comprises providing a plurality substrates as a batch. 5. the method of claim 1 wherein the substrate is provided between the transfer member and a pressure applying member. 6. the method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ink drops further comprises an insulating material. 7. the method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ink drops form an ink pattern corresponding to at least a component of a transistor. 8. the method of claim 1 further comprising the step of applying a release material to a surface of the transfer member and step c) comprises dispensing the plurality of ink drops adjacent the release material. 9. the method of claim 1 further comprising rotating the transfer member between steps c) and d). 10. the method of claim 1 wherein step c) comprises dispensing a plurality of ink drops by applying a voltage signal to the print head. 11. the method of claim 9 further comprising providing a controller for controlling an application of the voltage signal. 12. the method of claim 1 wherein step b) comprises providing a flexible substrate. 13. the method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ink drops comprises at least one of an organic conductive material and an organic semiconductive material. 14. the method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ink drops comprises at least one of a colloidal inorganic conductive material and a colloidal inorganic semiconductive material. 15. the method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ink drops comprises at least one of a conductive material and a semiconductive material, forming an ink pattern comprising at least one of a source electrode, a drain electrode, a semiconductor layer, and a gate electrode. 16. the method of claim 1 further comprising the step of planarizing the electronic device. 17. the method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ink drops form an ink pattern corresponding to the electronic device and an electronic display media adjacent the electronic device. 18. the method of claim 1 further comprising providing an electronic display media and assembling the electronic device with the electronic display media. 19. the method of claim 18 wherein the electronic display media comprises a plurality of microcapsules, each capsule including a plurality of particles dispersed in a fluid. 20. the method of claim 18 wherein the electronic display media comprises a plurality of microcapsules, each capsule includes a bichromal sphere dispersed in a fluid. 21. the method of claim 1 wherein step c) comprises dispensing a plurality of ink drops forming the ink pattern having a width of less than about 50 microns. 22. the method of claim 1 wherein step d) comprises transferring the ink pattern to an object provided on the substrate and registering the placement of the ink pattern relative to the object. 23. the method of claim 22 wherein the object comprises one of a registration mark, a conductive pattern, and another electronic device. 24. the method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ink drops form an ink pattern corresponding to at least a component of a diode.
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field of the invention this invention generally relates to methods of manufacturing electronic devices, and more specifically to methods of manufacturing non-linear devices for addressing electronic displays. background of the invention microencapsulated, particle-based displays can be made highly reflective, bistable, and optically and electrically efficient. to obtain a high resolution display, however, individual pixels of a display must be addressable without interference from adjacent pixels. one way to achieve this objective is to provide an array of nonlinear elements, such as transistors, diodes, or varistors, where one or more nonlinear elements are associated with each pixel. most examples of nonlinear elements to date have been fabricated using vacuum-deposited silicon on glass. this process is costly in addition to being complex. the complexity prevents large area devices from being readily constructed. in addition, it is difficult to create silicon transistors on plastic or other flexible film. recently, there has been significant development in the area of organic semiconducting polymers and molecules. thin film transistors have been made out of semiconducting polymers. see bao et al., soluble and processable regioregular poly (3- hexylthiophene ) for thin film field - effector transistor applications with high mobility, appl. phys. lett. 69(26), 4108 (december 1996); and bao et al., high - performance plastic transistors fabricated by printing techniques, chem. mater. 1997, 9, 1299. u.s. pat. no. 5,574,291 describes addressing liquid crystal displays with transistors made out of semiconducting polymers. while remarkable advances have been made in the performance of organic-based transistors, the mobility characteristics of many organic semiconductor materials and devices are insufficient to successfully drive many types of liquid crystal or emissive displays. therefore, many organic-based transistors are not suitable for use with liquid crystal displays. in addition, liquid crystals can degrade the transistors when they come in contact with the transistors. many organic semiconductor materials can be swollen by, or dissolved by, liquid crystalline fluids because those fluids are good solvents. this solvent compatibility makes it challenging to design systems in which organic transistor devices can remain stable while in contact with or close proximity to liquid crystalline solvents, limiting their viability. many organic-based transistors have been made using a screen printing technology, in which the organic material is squeezed through an opening in a mesh to produce fine lines. lines having a pitch as small as about 250 microns have been printed using the screen printing technology. while this line spacing is adequate for some applications, it is preferable to construct transistors with much smaller features, a goal not readily reached using screen printing. in addition, the solvent carrier used for supporting screen printable materials must have a certain range of viscosity and surface energy characteristics. such solvent carriers can potentially interfere with the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor material of the transistors. finding proper solvent carriers, therefore, is difficult. summary of the invention the invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electronic device. in one aspect, an electronic device is manufactured in accordance with the following steps. an ink-jet printing system is provided. the ink-jet printing system includes a print head and a transfer member. a substrate is provided. a plurality of ink drops are dispensed from the print head to a surface of the transfer member forming an ink pattern corresponding to at least a component of the electronic device. the plurality of ink drops can include a conductive material and/or a semiconductive material. the ink pattern is transferred from the transfer member to the substrate, thereby forming the component of the electronic device. in one embodiment, the ink drops include an organic conductive material and/or an organic semiconductive material. in another embodiment, the ink drops include a colloidal inorganic conductive material and/or a colloidal inorganic semiconductive material, or organometallic material. in one embodiment, the ink drops further includes an insulating material. in one embodiment, the ink drops form an ink pattern corresponding to at least a component of a transistor, such as a source electrode, a drain electrode, a dielectric layer, a semiconductor layer, or a gate electrode. in one embodiment, the ink-jet printing system further includes an applicator for applying a release material to the transfer member. for example, the release material can be applied to a surface of the transfer member and the plurality of ink drops can be dispensed adjacent the release material. in one embodiment, the substrate is provided between the transfer member and a pressure applying member. the substrate can be provided on a conveyor belt. alternatively, a plurality of substrates can be provided for a batch process. the substrate can be flexible. in one embodiment, an electronic display media is provided and assembled with the electronic device. the electronic display media can include a plurality of microcapsules, where each capsule includes particles dispersed in a fluid. alternatively, each microcapsule can include a bichromal sphere. brief description of the drawings the foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the invention itself, will be more fully understood from the following description of preferred embodiments, when read together with the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 a shows a cross-section view of a transistor according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 1 b shows a cross-section view of a transistor according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 shows a cross-section view of a diode according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 3 illustrates ink jet printing according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 4 illustrates ink jet printing according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 5 illustrates ink jet printing using a transfer member according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 6 illustrates ink jet printing using a transfer member according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7 a shows a cross-section view of an electronic display according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7 b shows a cross-section view of an electronic display according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7 c shows a top view of the electronic display of fig. 7 b with the display media and the first electrode removed. fig. 8 shows a cross-section view of a transistor according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 9 shows a cross-section view of an electronic display according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 10 shows a cross-section view of an electronic display according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 11 a shows a partial cross-section view of an electronic ink according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 11 b shows a partial cross-section view of an electronic ink according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 11 c shows a partial cross-section view of an electronic ink according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 11 d shows a cross-section view of an electronic ink according to one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 12 illustrates a method of assembling an electronic display according to one embodiment. detailed description of preferred embodiments referring to fig. 1 a, an organic-based field effect transistor 10 includes a substrate 12 , a gate electrode 14 provided on the substrate 12 , a dielectric layer 16 provided on the gate electrode 14 , an organic semiconductor 18 provided on the dielectric layer 16 , and a source electrode 20 and a drain electrode 22 provided on the organic semiconductor 18 . the substrate 12 can be flexible. for example, the substrate 12 can be made of an insulating polymer, such as polyethylene terephthalate (pet), polyester, polyethersulphone (pes), polyimide film (e.g. kapton, available from dupont wilminton, de; upilex available from ube corporation japan), or polycarbonate. alternatively, the substrate 12 can be made of an insulator such as undoped silicon, glass, or other plastic material. the substrate 12 can also be patterned to serve as an electrode. the substrate 12 can further be a metal foil insulated from the gate electrode 14 by a non-conducting material. the substrate 12 can also be a woven material or paper, planarized or otherwise modified on at least one surface by a polymeric or other coating to accept the other structures. the gate electrode 14 , the source electrode 20 , and the drain electrode 22 , for example, can comprise a metal such as aluminum or gold. the electrodes 14 , 20 , 22 can also comprise a conductive polymer such as polythiophene or polyaniline. the electrodes 14 , 20 , 22 can further include a printed conductor such as a polymer film comprising metal particles such as silver or nickel, a printed conductor comprising a polymer film containing graphite or some other conductive carbon material, or a conductive oxide such as tin oxide or indium tin oxide. the dielectric layer 16 , for example, can comprise a silicon dioxide layer. alternatively, the dielectric layer 36 can comprise an insulating polymer such as polyimide and its derivatives, poly-vinyl phenol, polymethylmethacrylate, polyvinyldenedifluoride, an inorganic oxide such as metal oxide, an inorganic nitride such as silicon nitride, or an inorganic/organic composite material such as an organic-substituted silicon oxide, or a sol-gel organosilicon glass. the dielectric layer 36 can also comprise a bicylcobutene derivative (bcb) available from dow chemical (midland, mich.), spin-on glass, or dispersions of dielectric colloid materials in a binder or solvent. the semiconductor layer 18 can be an organic polymer. in one embodiment, the organic semiconductor comprises a polymeric or oligomeric semiconductor. examples of suitable polymeric semiconductors include, but are not limited to, polythiophene, poly(3-alkyl)thiophenes, alkyl-substituted oligothiophene, polythienylenevinylene, poly(para-phenylenevinylene) and doped versions of these polymers. an example of suitable oligomeric semiconductor is alpha-hexathienylene. horowitz, organic field - effect transistors, adv. mater., 10, no. 5, p. 365 (1998) describes the use of unsubstituted and alkyl-substituted oligothiophenes in transistors. a field effect transistor made with regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) as the semiconductor layer is described in bao et al., soluble and processable regioregular poly (3- hexylthiophene ) for thin film field - effect transistor applications with high mobility, appl. phys. lett. 69 (26), p. 4108 (december 1996). a field effect transistor made with a-hexathienylene is described in u.s. pat. no. 5,659,181. in another embodiment, the organic semiconductor 18 comprises a carbon-based compound. examples of suitable carbon-based compounds include, but are not limited to, pentacene, phthalocyanine, benzodithiophene, buckminsterfullerene or other fullerene derivatives, tetracyanonaphthoquinone, and tetrakisimethylanimoethylene. the materials provided above for forming the substrate, the dielectric layer, the electrodes, or the semiconductor layer are exemplary only. other suitable materials known to those skilled in the art having properties similar to those described above can be used in accordance with the present invention. referring to fig. 1 b, an organic-based field effect transistor 30 includes a substrate 32 , a gate electrode 34 disposed adjacent the substrate 32 , a dielectric layer 36 disposed adjacent the gate electrode 34 , an organic semiconductor 38 disposed adjacent the dielectric layer 36 , and a source electrode 40 and a drain electrode 42 disposed adjacent the dielectric layer 36 and in contact with the semiconductor layer 38 . the field effect transistor configurations provided in figs. 1 a and 1 b are exemplary only. other transistor designs known to those skilled in the art can be used in accordance with the present invention. for example, a top gate structure in which the source and drain electrodes are placed adjacent the substrate, covered by the semiconductor layer, which in turn is covered by the dielectric and gate electrode, can also be used in accordance with the present invention. back-to-back diodes may also be used as a non-linear element in an electronic display. referring to fig. 2 , a back-to-back organic-based diode 50 includes a substrate 51 , a patterned stack of a first conductive layer 52 provided on the substrate 51 , a layer 54 of p-type semiconducting material provided on the first conductive layer 52 , a layer of n-type 56 semiconducting material provided on the p-type semiconducting layer 54 , a second layer of p-type semiconducting material 54 provided on the n-type semiconducting layer 56 , and a second conductive layer 58 provided adjacent the second p-type semiconducting layer 54 . in another embodiment, the back-to-back diode is formed by depositing a stack consisting of a first conducting layer, a semiconducting layer, a second conducting layer characterized by a different work function than the first conducting layer, a second semiconducting layer, and a third conducting layer with the same work function as the first conducting layer. for example, gold and aluminum are known to have markedly different work functions and thus can be used as the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer. the diode configuration provided in fig. 2 is exemplary only. the substrate 51 can be flexible and be made of various materials discussed above in connection with fig. 1 a, and the conductors 52 , 58 can be made of various materials such as conductive polymers or dispersions of conductive particles as discussed above. the semiconducting layers can be made from the organic semiconductors discussed above. both n-type and p-type organic semiconductors are known to those skilled in the art. other diode designs known to those skilled in the art can be implemented using the present invention. according to the present invention, one or more constituent layers of non-linear electronic devices such as the transistors of figs. 1 a and 1 b and the diode of fig. 2 can be manufactured by ink-jet printing. referring to fig. 3 , an ink-jet printer 60 includes a print head 62 coupled to a control assembly (not shown). in one embodiment, the print head 62 includes a plurality of orifices for dispensing one or more fluids onto a desired media. for example, one sub-group of orifices can be connected to a reservoir that contains a conducting fluid solution, a second sub-group of orifices can be connected to a reservoir that contains a semiconducting fluid solution, and a third sub-group of orifices can be connected to a reservoir that contains an insulating fluid solution. in one embodiment, the print head 62 can further include a fourth group of orifices connected to a reservoir that contains a solution comprising a precursor material. the precursor material advantageously affects subsequent deposition of the semiconducting material. the precursor material can be selected from a wide spectrum of available materials including, but not limited to, surface active agents such as octadecyltrichlorosilane (ots). by modifying the dielectric surface chemistry, the surface active agents can improve the performance of a completed thin film transistors. in another embodiment, a plurality of print heads, each capable of printing only one constituent material, can be used to deposit each of the materials used to build electronic devices. in operation, the control assembly applies the necessary control signals to each of the orifices to control the sequence of printing of the various ink materials. the ink drops 61 are dispensed on the substrate 63 through the openings in the print head 62 . the print head 62 preferably uses a pulse-on-demand method, and can employ one of the following methods to dispense the ink drops 61 : piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, electromechanical, electropneumatic, electrostatic, rapid ink heating, magnetohydrodynamic, or any other technique well known to those skilled in the art. the ink drops 61 dispersed on the substrate 61 form an ink pattern which corresponds to a constituent layer of an electronic device. the ink patterns undergo a curing step or another processing step before subsequent layers are applied. referring to fig. 4 , the substrate 63 can be provided on a transport 64 which includes a stage 65 and a pair of rollers 66 . the rollers 66 provide continuous movement of the substrate 63 relative to the print head 62 resulting in a continuous printing process. alternatively, multiple substrates can be processed as a batch. in one embodiment, an electronic device can be manufactured using an ink-jet printer of fig. 5 . the inkjet printer 70 includes a control assembly 71 , a print head 72 , a transfer member 74 , a tensioner 78 , and a transport 82 . the control assembly 71 includes sufficient driving electronics to allow for independent control of the dispensing of fluid drops from each of the orifices. the control assembly also regulates the speed at which the transfer member 74 and substrates 80 move through the printer 70 . the transfer member 74 can be a drum. alternatively, the transfer member 74 can have another configuration sufficient for receiving ink drops to form an ink pattern and for transferring the ink pattern to a substrate 80 . the transfer member 74 can include surface material which aids transfer of the ink pattern to the substrate 80 . for example, the transfer member 74 can be coated with a thin film of an oil-based material to facilitate the transfer of aqueous-based ink drops from the surface of the transfer member 74 . in one embodiment, the transfer member 74 is constructed of a rigid body and a surface material comprising a resilient polymeric material. in another embodiment, the surface of the transfer member 74 can be coated with a non-sticking layer such as silicone, silicone rubber or teflon. in one example, the transfer member 74 is made of an aluminum base material and a surface layer is made from silicon rubber doped with carbon filler to prevent charge accumulation. the transfer member 74 can be rigid or flexible. the transfer member 74 can also be made of a woven material. the material for the transfer member 74 can be chosen on the basis of several parameters, including precision of transfer, mechanical properties, surface properties, durability, and cost. the tensioner 76 can be a backing roller which, together with the transfer member 74 , provides pressure to the substrate 80 . alternatively, the tensioner 76 can have another configuration sufficient to support and provide pressure to the substrate 80 . alternatively, other means of transporting the substrate 80 relative to the transfer member 74 and/or providing pressure to the substrate 80 can be used in accordance with the present invention. the transport 82 can include a pair of rollers as shown in fig. 5 . in one embodiment, the ink-jet printer 100 further includes a planzarizer for planzarizing the ink pattern provided on the substrate 80 . in operation, a substrate 80 is provided between the transfer member 74 and the tensioner 78 . the substrate 80 is delivered to the transfer member 74 through the rollers 82 , which continuously move the substrate 80 relative to the transfer member 74 . the control assembly 71 provides appropriate control commands (e.g. voltages) to the print head 72 to cause the print head 72 to dispense droplets of ink. the control assembly 71 produces an independent output signal for each orifice 86 on the print head 72 . the signal waveform is selected based upon the print head design, and upon the fluid mechanical properties (e.g. density, viscosity, surface tension) of the ink material. the control assembly also synchronizes the advance speed of the transfer member 74 or the substrate 80 with the print rate. the print head 72 dispenses ink drops 84 on a surface of the transfer member 74 through the orifices 86 . the ink drops 84 can include a semiconductor material, a conductor material and/or an insulator material to form an electronic device. the ink drops can be organic material based or colloidal inorganic material based. the ink drops 84 form an ink pattern 90 , which corresponds to a portion of the electronic device, on the surface of the transfer member 74 . the transfer member 74 rotates relative to the substrate 80 until the portion of the transfer member 74 having the ink pattern 90 comes in contact with the substrate 80 . the ink pattern is transferred from the transfer member 74 to the substrate 80 as the transfer member 74 contacts the substrate 80 . the ink pattern transferred to the substrate 80 can subsequently be cooled, cured, or treated further to convert the ink material into a component of the electronic device. these steps are repeated until all the necessary components of an electronic device are printed on the substrate 80 . thereafter, electronic device 92 is formed on the substrate 80 . for some ink materials, it is preferable to cure the ink material after deposition on the transfer member 74 , but before transferring it to the substrate 80 . alternatively, electronic devices can be manufactured using the ink-jet printer 100 of fig. 6 . the ink-jet printer 100 of fig. 6 is substantially similar to the ink-jet printer 70 of fig. 5 . in addition to the features of the ink-jet printer 70 of fig. 5 , the ink-jet printer 100 further includes a release agent applicator 102 , a blade 106 , and a stripper 104 . the release agent applicator 102 can be a squeegee roller which rotates in the direction opposite that of the transfer member 74 . the squeegee roller, along with the blade 106 , provide a controlled thin coating of a release agent to be provided on a surface of the transfer member 74 prior to dispensing the ink drops on the transfer member 74 . the release agent aids transfer of the ink pattern 90 to the substrate 80 . the desirable properties of the release agent depend intimately upon the chemistry of the material in the ink drops. it is desirable for the release agent to have the following properties: (1) the ink material should be insoluble in the release agent; (2) the difference between the surface tension of the release agent and the surface tension of the ink material should be such that a contact angle of the at-rest ink drop is less than 90 degrees; (3) the ink drop should be transferred to a substrate without leaving any significant residue on the surface of the transfer member. the ink-jet printers provided in figs. 5 and 6 are exemplary only. ink-jet printers having other variations known to those skilled in the art can also be used in accordance with the present invention. the ink-jet printer which uses the transfer member improves the quality of printing, making the printed image more precise. for example, it reduces blurring of the printed image which results from the wicking of the ink into the substrate due to the flow of the liquid based ink. also, the transfer member's surface may be of much higher quality (smaller surface roughness and more carefully controlled surface chemistry) than that of the substrate. therefore, the ink pattern transferring from the transfer member to the substrate can be more precise. according to the present invention, small drops of conductor or semiconductor can be deposited in precise locations on a substrate to create fine lines having width smaller than 50 microns, with precisely controlled spaces between the lines. using this technique, one or more non-linear devices can be fabricated. for example, a transistor can be constructed as follows. first, a conductive ink solution is deposited in the desired pattern onto the transfer member, transferred to a substrate, and cured or further processed to form a transistor gate. second, an insulating ink solution is deposited in the desired pattern onto the transfer member, transferred to the substrate adjacent the transistor gate, and cured or further processed to form the gate dielectric. third, a semiconducting ink solution is deposited in the desired pattern onto the transfer member, transferred to the substrate adjacent the gate dielectric, and cured to form the semiconducting thin film. finally, the conductive ink solution is again applied in the desired pattern onto the transfer member, transferred to the substrate adjacent the semiconducting thin film, and cured or further processed to form the source and drain structures. this technique may be used to create any of a wide number of thin film transistor structures known to those skilled in the art. means of curing printed materials to make them solvent resistant are well known to those skilled in the art. such curing methods include, but are not limited to, heating, photochemical reaction, and solvent evaporation. diodes and other electronic devices can be manufactured through ink jet printing in a manner similar to that described with respect to a transistor. the transistors and other electronic devices made in accordance with the present invention and as described above can be used in addressing an electronic display. referring to fig. 7 a, an electronic display 110 includes a display media 112 , a first electrode 116 , a second electrode 118 , an array of transistors 120 , an array of row electrodes 117 , and an array of column electrodes 115 . the first electrode 116 is disposed on a first surface 111 of the display media 112 . in one embodiment, the first electrode 116 comprises a transparent, continuous electrode. the second electrode 118 disposed on a second surface 113 of the display media 112 comprises an array of patterned pixel electrodes 118 . each patterned electrode 118 defines a pixel of the display 110 . the transistors 120 are located underneath the pixel electrodes 118 . each transistor 120 is electrically connected to a pixel electrode 118 to address a pixel. a row electrode 117 is electrically connected to all the transistors 120 in that row. a column electrode 115 is electrically connected to all the transistors 120 in that column. in the display 110 of fig. 7 a, the transistors 120 are located on the backside of the display 110 from the standpoint of the viewer 119 . alternatively, the transistors 120 can be located on the front side of the display 110 . in this embodiment, transparent pixel electrodes would be positioned on the first surface 111 of the display media 112 , while the continuous electrode would be positioned on the second surface 113 of the display media 112 . the continuous electrode need not be transparent. in one embodiment, the electronic display 110 can be reflective. in this embodiment, the size of the transistors 120 positioned on the backside of the display 110 does not affect the ability of the viewer 119 to view the display 110 . therefore, the size of the transistor 120 can be determined based on manufacturing considerations and transistor performance. the size of the transistor 120 can be in the range from about 1% to about 100% of the area of the pixel the transistor 120 addresses. in another embodiment, the electronic display 110 can be transmissive. in this embodiment, the transistors 120 can impede the ability of the viewer 119 to view the display 110 . therefore, the transistors 120 are made as small as possible. in one embodiment, the size of the transistor 120 is less than 50% of the area of the pixel addressed by the transistor 120 . in a preferred embodiment, the size of the transistor 120 is less than 20% of the area of the pixel addressed by the transistor 120 . in a more preferred embodiment, the size of the transistor 120 is less than 5% of the area of the pixel addressed by the transistor 120 . referring to figs. 7 b and 7 c, an electronic display 110 includes a display media 112 having a plurality of pixels defined by the second electrodes 118 . the display 110 further includes the first electrode 116 , the transistors 120 , the row electrodes 117 , the column electrodes 115 , and an insulator 121 . in this embodiment, the transistors 120 are positioned adjacent the pixel electrodes 118 . in one embodiment, an organic-based field effect transistor is protected by a barrier layer. the barrier layer protects the transistor from air, water, light or other environmental factors to which the transistor can be sensitive. the barrier layer also protects the transistor from the solvent of the display media, if necessary. where the solvent of the display media has a different polarity from the transistor material, contact between the solvent and the transistor may not affect the transistor properties. however, where the solvent would affect the properties of the transistor upon contact, the barrier layer segregates the solvent and the transistor. in one embodiment, the barrier layer is opaque. in one embodiment, the barrier layer comprises a metal film such as an aluminum film. in another embodiment, the barrier layer comprises a metal oxide coating such as indium oxide, tin oxide, indium tin oxide, silicon monoxide, or silicon dioxide coatings. a metal film layer or a conducting oxide film layer may require additional insulating layers to prevent unwanted electrical connections between transistor components. in another embodiment, the barrier layer comprises a polymeric film containing fluorine. in another embodiment, the barrier layer comprises a polymeric film containing absorbing particles or dyes. in still another embodiment, the barrier layer comprises multiple layers of materials including metal and/or insulator. for example, the barrier layer can comprise a multi layer polymer composite film. referring to figs. 8 and 9 , each transistor 130 is individually protected from the display media 132 by a barrier layer 134 . each transistor 130 is positioned adjacent a pixel electrode 136 on a substrate 138 . the column electrode 140 , and the row electrode (not shown) are also provided on the substrate 138 . the barrier layer 134 is positioned over at least the semiconductor layer 142 of the transistor 130 which would otherwise be exposed to the display media 132 . alternatively, the barrier layer 134 can protect the entire transistor 130 . the source electrode 146 is connected to the column electrode 140 . the drain electrode 148 is connected to the pixel electrode 136 . the gate electrode 150 is connected to the row electrode (not shown). referring to fig. 10 , an array of transistors 230 are protected from the display media 232 with a first barrier layer 233 . the array of transistors 230 are positioned on a substrate 235 and placed underneath the pixel electrodes 234 . the substrate 235 also functions as a second barrier layer, protecting the transistors 230 from the environment. the edges of the first barrier layer 233 and the second barrier layer 235 are sealed, thereby forming a barrier capsule 236 encapsulating the array of transistors 230 . the barrier capsule 236 also encapsulates the column electrodes 238 and the row electrodes (not shown). the first barrier layer 233 includes a plurality of vias for providing an electrical contact between a transistor 230 and its adjacent pixel electrode 234 . the vias can be made by etching the first barrier layer 233 to provide a plurality of opening and providing a conductive material inside the openings, thereby providing electrical contact between the drain electrode 237 of the transistor 230 and the pixel electrode 234 . in one embodiment, the display is addressed in the following manner. while a voltage is applied to the gate electrodes on a row, different voltages are applied to each column electrode so that each pixel in that row is driven to a unique state. the characteristics of the transistors prevent pixels on other rows from responding to the column voltages. each row electrode (gate line) is then scanned in sequence, so that an image can be built up across the entire display. in another embodiment, the electronic display comprises an irregular grouping of pixels and electrodes, rather than a regular x-y grid of electrodes and pixels. an electronic display comprising a microencapsulated particle-based display media and an organic-based field effect transistor offer numerous advantages. first, the display can be made inexpensively using a simple manufacturing process. for example, both the organic-based field effect transistor and the display media can be printed. commonly owned u.s. pat. no. 6,118,426 filed on aug. 27, 1998, incorporated herein by reference, describes an electronic display which is printed in its entirety. since the entire display can be printed, the display can be made large. the display can possess a large number of pixels addressed in a row and column (also known as xy) addressing scheme. the display can also be made using flexible substrates. second, the performance requirements for the organic-based field effect transistor when used in this particle-based display is not stringent. because of low current requirements of the particle-based encapsulated display media, transistors having moderate performance characteristic (i.e., transistor mobility of less than 10 ^{ 3 } cm ^{ 2 } /vs) can be suitable for driving such display. third, since a microencapsulated particle-based display is truly reflective, the underlying substrate need not be transparent. this offers significant design advantages for the combination of organic-based transistors and microencapsulated particle-based displays. for example, the transistor can be as large as the pixel itself. fourth, since the microencapsulated particle-based electrophoretic display can be bistable and require updating only occasionally, the organic transistor need not address the display continuously, which will extend the life of the transistor. fifth, a microencapsulated particle-based display media prevents fluid from the display media from coming in contact with the transistor device, and provides additional stability for the transistor. in one embodiment, the display media used in forming the electronic display of figs. 7 a - 7 c, 8 - 10 and 11 a - 11 c comprises a particle-based display media. in one detailed embodiment, the particle-based display media comprises an electronic ink. an electronic ink is an optoelectronically active material which comprises at least two phases: an electrophoretic contrast media phase and a coating/binding phase. the electrophoretic phase comprises, in some embodiments, a single species of electrophoretic particles dispersed in a clear or dyed medium, or more than one species of electrophoretic particles having distinct physical and electrical characteristics dispersed in a clear or dyed medium. in some embodiments the electrophoretic phase is encapsulated, that is, there is a capsule wall phase between the two phases. the coating/binding phase includes, in one embodiment, a polymer matrix that surrounds the electrophoretic phase. in this embodiment, the polymer in the polymeric binder is capable of being dried, crosslinked, or otherwise cured as in traditional inks, and therefore a printing process can be used to deposit the electronic ink onto a substrate. the optical quality of an electronic ink is quite distinct from other electronic display materials. the most notable difference is that the electronic ink provides a high degree of both reflectance and contrast because it is pigment based (as are ordinary printing inks). the light scattered from the electronic ink comes from a very thin layer of pigment close to the top of the viewing surface. in this respect it resembles an ordinary, printed image. also, electronic ink is easily viewed from a wide range of viewing angles in the same manner as a printed page, and such ink approximates a lambertian contrast curve more closely than any other electronic display material. since electronic ink can be printed, it can be included on the same surface with any other printed material, including traditional inks. electronic ink can be made optically stable in all display configurations, that is, the ink can be set to a persistent optical state. fabrication of a display by printing an electronic ink is particularly useful in low power applications because of this stability. electronic ink displays are novel in that they can be addressed by dc voltages and draw very little current. as such, the conductive leads and electrodes used to deliver the voltage to electronic ink displays can be of relatively high resistivity. the ability to use resistive conductors substantially widens the number and type of materials that can be used as conductors in electronic ink displays. in particular, the use of costly vacuum-sputtered indium tin oxide (ito) conductors, a standard material in liquid crystal devices, is not required. aside from cost savings, the replacement of ito with other materials can provide benefits in appearance, processing capabilities (printed conductors), flexibility, and durability. additionally, the printed electrodes are in contact only with a solid binder, not with a fluid layer (like liquid crystals). this means that some conductive materials, which would otherwise dissolve or be degraded by contact with liquid crystals, can be used in an electronic ink application. these include opaque metallic inks for the rear electrode (e.g., silver and graphite inks), as well as conductive transparent inks for either substrate. these conductive coatings include conducting or semiconducting colloids, examples of which are indium tin oxide and antimony-doped tin oxide. organic conductors (polymeric conductors and molecular organic conductors) also may be used. polymers include, but are not limited to, polyaniline and derivatives, polythiophene and derivatives, poly3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (pedot) and derivatives, polypyrrole and derivatives, and polyphenylenevinylene (ppv) and derivatives. organic molecular conductors include, but are not limited to, derivatives of naphthalene, phthalocyanine, and pentacene. polymer layers can be made thinner and more transparent than with traditional displays because conductivity requirements are not as stringent. fig. 11 a shows an electrophoretic display 430 . the binder 432 includes at least one capsule 434 , which is filled with a plurality of particles 436 and a dyed suspending fluid 438 . in one embodiment, the particles 436 are titania particles. when a direct-current electric field of the appropriate polarity is applied across the capsule 434 , the particles 436 move to the viewed surface of the display and scatter light. when the applied electric field is reversed, the particles 436 move to the rear surface of the display and the viewed surface of the display then appears dark. fig. 11 b shows another electrophoretic display 440 . this display comprises a first set of particles 442 and a second set of particles 444 in a capsule 441 . the first set of particles 442 and the second set of particles 444 have contrasting optical properties. for example, the first set of particles 442 and the second set of particles 444 can have differing electrophoretic mobilities. in addition, the first set of particles 442 and the second set of particles 444 can have contrasting colors. for example, the first set of particles 442 can be white, while the second set of particles 444 can be black. the capsule 441 further includes a substantially clear fluid. the capsule 441 has electrodes 446 and 446 disposed adjacent it. the electrodes 446 , 446 are connected to a source of voltage 448 , which may provide an alternating-current (ac) field or a direct-current (dc) field to the capsule 441 . upon application of an electric field across the electrodes 446 , 446 , the first set of particles 442 move toward electrode 446 , while the second set of particles 444 move toward electrode 446 . fig. 11 c shows a suspended particle display 450 . the suspended particle display 450 includes needle-like particles 452 in a transparent fluid 454 . the particles 452 change their orientation upon application of an ac field across the electrodes 456 , 456 . when the ac field is applied, the particles 452 are oriented perpendicular with respect to the display surface and the display appears transparent. when the ac field is removed, the particles 452 are randomly oriented and the display 450 appears opaque. the electrophoretic displays provided in figs. 11 a - 11 c are exemplary only, and other electrophoretic displays can be used in accordance with the present invention. other examples of electrophoretic displays are described in commonly owned, copending u.s. pat. no. 6,120,588 and u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/140,792 which are incorporated herein by reference. the successful construction of an encapsulated electrophoretic display requires the proper interaction of a binder for binding the capsules to a substrate, electrophoretic particles, fluid (for example, to surround the electrophoretic particles and provide a medium for migration), and a capsule membrane (for example, for enclosing the electrophoretic particles and fluid) must all be chemically compatible. the capsule membranes may engage in useful surface interactions with the electrophoretic particles, or may act as an inert physical boundary between the fluid and the binder. polymer binders may set as adhesives between capsule membranes and electrode surfaces. various materials may be used to create electrophoretic displays. selection of these materials is based on the functional constituents of the display to be manufactured. such functional constituents include, but are not limited to, particles, dyes, suspending fluids, stabilizing/charging additives, and binders. in one embodiment, types of particles that may be used to fabricate suspended particle displays include scattering pigments, absorbing pigments and luminescent particles. such particles may also be transparent. exemplary particles include titania, which may be coated in one or two layers with a metal oxide, such as aluminum oxide or silicon oxide, for example. such particles may be constructed as comer cubes. luminescent particles may include, for example, zinc sulfide particles. the zinc sulfide particles may also be encapsulated with an insulative coating to reduce electrical conduction. light-blocking or absorbing particles may include, for example, dyes or pigments. types of dyes for use in electrophoretic displays are commonly known in the art. useful dyes are typically soluble in the suspending fluid, and may further be part of a polymeric chain. dyes may be polymerized by thermal, photochemical, and chemical diffusion processes. single dyes or mixtures of dyes may also be used. a suspending (i.e., electrophoretic) fluid may be a high resistivity fluid. the suspending fluid may be a single fluid, or it may be a mixture of two or more fluids. the suspending fluid, whether a single fluid or a mixture of fluids, may have its density substantially matched to that of the particles within the capsule. the suspending fluid may be halogenated hydrocarbon, such as tetrachloroethylene, for example. the halogenated hydrocarbon may also be a low molecular weight polymer. one such low molecular weight polymer is poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene). the degree of polymerization for this polymer may be from about 2 to about 10. furthermore, capsules may be formed in, or later dispersed in, a binder. materials for use as binders include water-soluble polymers, water-dispersed polymers, oil-soluble polymers, thermoset polymers, thermoplastic polymers, and uv- or radiation-cured polymers. while the examples described here are listed using encapsulated electrophoretic displays, there are other particle-based display media that also should work well, including encapsulated suspended particles and rotating ball displays. other display media, such as liquid crystals and magnetic particles, also can be useful. in some cases, a separate encapsulation step of the process is not necessary. the electrophoretic fluid may be directly dispersed or emulsified into the binder (or a precursor to the binder material) to form what may be called a polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display. in such displays, the individual electrophoretic phases may be referred to as capsules or microcapsules even though no capsule membrane is present. such polymer-dispersed electrophoretic displays are considered to be subsets of encapsulated electrophoretic displays. in an encapsulated electrophoretic display, the binder material surrounds the capsules and separates the two bounding electrodes. this binder material must be compatible with the capsule and bounding electrodes and must possess properties that allow for facile printing or coating. it may also possess barrier properties for water, oxygen, ultraviolet light, the electrophoretic fluid, or other materials. further, it may contain surfactants and cross-linking agents, which could aid in coating or durability. the polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display may be of the emulsion or phase separation type. in another detailed embodiment, the display media can comprise a plurality of bichromal spheres shown in fig. 11 d. a bichromal sphere 460 typically comprises a positively charged hemisphere 462 of a first color and a negatively charged hemisphere 464 of a second color in a liquid medium 466 . upon application of an electric field across the sphere 460 through a pair of electrodes 468 , 468 , the sphere 460 rotates and displays the color of one of the two hemispheres 462 , 464 . in one embodiment, an electronic display is created by printing the entire display or a portion of the display. the term printing is intended to include all forms of printing and coating, including: premetered coating such as patch die coating, slot or extrusion coating, slide or cascade coating, and curtain coating; roll coating such as knife over roll coating, forward and reverse roll coating; gravure coating; dip coating; spray coating; meniscus coating; spin coating; brush coating; air knife coating; screen printing processes; electrostatic printing processes; thermal printing processes; and other similar techniques. in a preferred embodiment, the entire display or a portion of the display is ink-jet printed using a transfer member. referring to fig. 12 , step 1, the display media 500 can be ink-jet printed on a substrate 502 comprising a top electrode 504 . in one embodiment, microcapsules, with each capsule comprising electrophoretic particles 508 dispersed in a fluid 510 , and a binder 512 can be provided in the print head of an ink-jet printer. the microcapsules 506 and the binder 512 can be dispensed as ink drops on the transfer member of the ink-jet printer to form an ink pattern. the ink pattern is subsequently contact transferred to a substrate 502 comprising a top electrode 504 . in another embodiment, the top electrode 504 , itself, is ink-jet printed to form a thin conductive film on the substrate 502 prior to ink-jet printing the microcapsules 506 . the ink used to coat the substrate 502 may be a nanocrystalline suspension of indium tin oxide (ito), or may be selected from a range of electrically conducting polymers. alternatively, the display media 500 can be prepared using other printing methods or other appropriate non-printing methods known to those skilled in the art. referring to fig. 12 , step 2, column electrodes 520 , row electrodes (not shown), and pixel electrodes 522 , as well as organic-based transistors 524 can be ink-jet printed on a substrate 526 using a transfer member as discussed above. the conductor for forming the electrodes can be any one of the following materials: organic conductor, molten metal, conductive polymer, ito, and polymer film comprising metal or other conductive particles. alternatively, the electrodes can be provided using another printing method, evaporation, deposition or other suitable processing methods, while the transistors are ink-jet printed. referring to fig. 12 , step 3, the display media 500 provided on the substrate 502 and the electronics 530 provided on the substrate 526 can be assembled to form an electronic display 600 . for example, the display media 500 and the electronic 530 can be laminated and sealed for protection. while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
|
074-572-684-243-765
|
US
|
[
"CA",
"US"
] |
B60T7/16,B60T13/66,B60T17/22,B61H13/34,B60T13/74
| 2005-11-29T00:00:00 |
2005
|
[
"B60",
"B61"
] |
brake pipe control system with remote radio car
|
a remote radio railroad car located within or at the end of the train that charges or exhausts the brake pipe in response to radio commands from the le ad unit. the brake pipe control system includes a first controller at a first car at the lead end for controlling the brake pipe at the first car and transmitting, via a radio link, brake pipe control signals to a second controller in a remote car in the train. the second controller controls the brake pipe at the remote car in response to the brake pipe control signals from the first controller. if the second controller is on the last car and t he last car does not include an independent end of train device, the second controller transmits brake pipe condition signals to the first controller. if the second controller is on th e last car and the last car does include an independent end of train device, the first controll er established separate communication links with the second controller and the end of train device. if the second controller is not on the last car and the last car includes an en d of train device, the first controller established separate communication links with the secon d controller and the end of train device.
|
1 . a brake pipe control system for a train having a first car at the lead end and a last car connected by a brake pipe, the system comprising: a first controller at the first car for controlling the brake pipe at the first car and transmitting, via a radio link, brake pipe control signals to a second controller in a remote car in the train; the second controller controls the brake pipe at the remote car in response to the brake pipe control signals from the first controller; if the second controller is on the last car and the last car does not include an independent end of train device, the second controller transmits brake pipe condition signals to the first controller; if the second controller is on the last car and the last car does include an independent end of train device, the first controller established separate communication links with the second controller and the end of train device; and if the second controller is not on the last car and the last car includes an end of train device, the first controller established separate communication links with the second controller and the end of train device. 2 . the system according to claim 1 , wherein the separate communication link to the second controller is by an end of train device at the first car. 3 . the system according to claim 1 , wherein the first car is a locomotive and the remote car is a car including an engine driving a compressor which charges a reservoir and driving an alternator which charges a battery. 4 . the system according to claim 1 , wherein the second controller includes an equalization reservoir control portion, a brake pipe control portion and a relay control portion which provides control signals to the equalization reservoir control portion and the brake pipe control portion in response to the received brake pipe control signals from the first controller. 5 . the system according to claim 1 , wherein if the second controller is on the last car and the last car does not include an independent end of train device, the last car includes a marker light. 6 . the system according to claim 1 , wherein the second controller charges, exhausts or cuts off the brake pipe. 7 . a brake pipe control system for a train having a first and last car connected by a brake pipe, the system comprising: a first controller at the first car for controlling the brake pipe at the first car and communicating, via a radio link, with a first end of train device connected to the brake pipe at the last car; a second end of car device connected to the brake pipe at the first car; and a second controller at a car remote from the first car for communicating, via a radio link, with the second end of train device and controlling the brake pipe at the remote car in response to brake pipe condition signals from the second end of train device. 8 . the system according to claim 1 , wherein if the second controller is on the last car and the last car does not include the first end of train device, the second controller transmits brake pipe condition signals to the first controller as the first end of car device.
|
background and summary of the invention the present system relates generally to brake control systems and more specifically to a brake pipe control system from both ends of the train and possibly at a point in between. the control of a brake pipe of a train from ends of the train is well known as illustrated by u.s. pat. nos. 4,013,323 and 4,056,286. this control is produced by radio communication between the locomotive at the head-end and the caboose at the rear-end of the train. radio control of two locomotive consists in a train with the remote consists being substantially in the middle of the train is illustrated in u.s. pat. no. 3,380,399. the radio car receives the signals from the master locomotive and operates to create locomotive control signals for the locomotives attached to the radio car. the radio car is not itself a locomotive. radio communication between the head and mid-train and end of train unit or a multitude of cars is illustrated in u.s. pat. no. 6,375,276 and u.s. pat. no. 4,553,723. in addition, end of train units (eot) are provided and attached to a regular car which is the last car in the train and is in radio communication with the head of train unit. there may be one-way or two-way communication. a typical example is additionally shown in u.s. pat. no. 6,126,247. the present disclosure is directed to a radio repeater or remote railroad car located within or at the end of the train that charges or exhausts the brake pipe in response to radio commands from the lead unit. the brake pipe control system includes a first controller at a first car at the lead end for controlling the brake pipe at the first car and transmitting, via a radio link, brake pipe control signals to a second controller in a remote car in the train. the second controller controls the brake pipe at the remote car in response to the brake pipe control signals from the first controller. if the second controller is on the last car and the last car does not include an independent end of train device, the second controller transmits brake pipe condition signals to the first controller. if the second controller is on the last car and the last car does include an independent end of train device, the first controller established separate communication links with the second controller and the end of train device. if the second controller is not on the last car and the last car includes an end of train device, the first controller established separate communication links with the second controller and the end of train device. the remote or radio repeater car charges or exhausts the brake pipe in response to commands received from the first or head car end or unit which is generally a locomotive. it also has the capability of charging or exhausting the brake pipe as well as means for brake pipe cutoff required for brake pipe leakage testing. the radio repeater car includes a source of air pressure, a brake pipe controller and a radio module. in one embodiment the lead unit communicates with the radio repeater car in parallel to an end of train device eot. if the radio repeater is the last car, the eot device is mounted on the radio car. this parallel communication is secured by providing an end of car device at the lead unit. it senses the brake pipe conditions and transmits communication to the repeater car radio module. in a second embodiment, the remote repeater radio module is capable of parallel communication to an end of car device at the lead locomotive as well as the end of train control device unit at the lead locomotive. in such case, the repeater radio module is capable of communicating with a end of train control device through a single channel. these and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, when considered in conjunction with accompanying drawings. brief description of drawings fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a train including a first embodiment of the present brake pipe control system. fig. 2 is a schematic representation of a train including a second embodiment of the present brake pipe control system. fig. 3 is a schematic representation of a train including a third embodiment of the present brake pipe control system. fig. 4 is a schematic representation of a brake pipe controller in the radio repeater car according to the present brake pipe control system. fig. 5 is a fluid schematic representation of an equalization reservoir control portion of the fig. 4 controller. detailed description of the preferred embodiments figs. 1-3 show a train with a head unit or locomotive 10 , a remote or radio repeater car 12 and a plurality of other cars 14 therebetween and interconnected by brake pipe 16 . most of the examples to be discussed, the radio repeater car 12 is at the end of the train, but it may be anywhere within the train. also, the lead unit is at the head end of the train and may be the first car in the train or in any case in the head end consist. in fig. 1 , the train includes an end of train device (eot) 18 connected to the brake pipe at the last car. in figs. 2 and 3 , the radio repeater car brake pipe control system performs the same function as the end of train device and therefore only requires a marker light 20 since it does not have the marker light that is integrated into the end of train device 18 . the lead locomotive includes a brake pipe a locomotive brake valve 22 with an input device 24 for the operator. locomotive brake valve 22 is a brake pipe controller which controls the pressure on the brake pipe 16 to transmit brake application and release signals on the brake pipe 16 . the lead unit 10 also includes a communication link for the eot device 18 . in fig. 1 , a communication device, for example a cab display unit cdu 26 , communicates directly with eot 18 , whereas in fig. 2 , the cdu 26 communicates with the radio repeater module 30 since an eot 18 is not provided. an example of a cdu is model 6696 from union switch and signal. in figs. 1 and 2 , a separate communication link from the lead unit 10 and the eot 18 is provided between the lead unit 10 and the radio repeater or remote car 12 . this is provided by an eot device 28 at the lead unit. in fig. 1 , the eot device 28 at the lead unit 10 communicates with a cab interface unit ciu 32 , which may be the same as the cdu 26 at the lead or just a cab interface unit ciu, for example, a union switch & signal model 6680. if it is a ciu, a separate display and interface or operator interface oiu 34 is provided as illustrated in fig. 1 . if the ciu 32 is the same as the cdu 26 , it has a display and operator interface integral thereto, and therefore a separate display and interface 34 is then needed. this is illustrated in fig. 2 as the generic radio module 30 . in the embodiment of fig. 3 , the repeater radio module 30 is capable of communicating with a head of train device hotd 29 . this may be, for example, a wabtec train link™ system. if such system is used, the additional eot device 28 at the lead unit 10 , as shown in figs. 1 and 2 , would not be needed for communication to the radio repeater car 12 . it should be noted that under the present protocol, the transmitter to an end of train device can only have a single identifier for the end of train device. thus in fig. 1 where there are two end of train devices, two separate identifiers must be used. the cdu 26 would be set to an identifier for the eot 18 different than the identifier that ciu 32 would bet set for the eot device 28 . in fig. 2 , the repeater radio module 30 would have the id of an end of train device for communication with cdu 26 while the eot 28 at the lead unit would have a different identifier for transmission with the radio module 30 . in fig. 3 , bidirectional communication would be conducted with the repeater radio module 30 having an end of train device identifier to be received by the transmitter 29 . the transmitter 29 would have the equivalent of a train identifier with respect to the transmitter of the repeater radio module 30 . the eots 18 and 28 and the remote radio car 12 acting as an eot should be two-way communication devices with the “arming” feature for an emergency braking of the brake pipe by the eots. it is obvious, the system of fig. 1 allows remote radio car 12 to be other than at the end of train device because two separate communication links are established between the lead unit 10 and the end of train device 18 and the remote radio car 12 . the remote radio car 12 includes a brake pipe controller 40 . the brake pipe controller 40 includes an equalization reservoir control portion ercp 42 , a brake pipe control portion bpcp 44 , a power supply and control portion pscp 46 and a relay control portion rcp 48 mounted to a manifold 49 . a more detailed illustration is shown in fig. 4 . the brake pipe controller 40 includes standard elements part of an electro-pneumatic locomotive brake system, for example ccb® locomotive brake control unit available from new york air brake corporation and is illustrated in u.s. pat. no. 6,036,284, which is incorporated herein by reference. other electro-pneumatic locomotive brake systems may be used. the relay control portion rcp 48 is effectively the input device equivalent to the electronic brake valve ebv in the ccb® in that it takes the radio received brake signals and provides them as inputs to the control portions. the remote radio car 12 also includes an engine 50 , for example, diesel engine which drives an alternator/generator 52 to charge battery 54 . the engine 50 also drives compressor 56 to fill supply reservoirs 58 for the brake pipe controller 40 . the brake pipe controller 40 is responsive to inputs from the display interface oiu 34 and signals received via ciu 32 or other repeater radio module 30 to control pressure in the brake pipe 16 at its car. signals are used to vary the value in the equalization reservoir to the desired brake value by ercp 42 . the brake pipe control portion bpcp 44 is responsive to the value in the equalization reservoir to control the value of the brake pipe 16 at its car. measured values of brake pipe and equalization reservoir may also be transmitted from the remote radio car 12 back to the head end unit via 30 or 32 . the brake pipe controller 40 is that in a ccb® controller. reference is made to fig. 10 of u.s. pat. no. 6,036,284 for the details. the brake pipe control portion bpcp 44 is responsive to the pressure and equalization reservoir controlled by the equalization regular control portion ercp 42 and controls the brake pipe as a function of the pressure and equalization reservoir and the brake pipe pressure. the equalization reservoir control portion ercp 42 as illustrated in fig. 5 , is a modification of the equalization reservoir control portion ercp 42 as shown in fig. 18 of u.s. pat. no. 6,036,284. the input 208 into the mver is not the er backup but is exhaust ex. the choke and check valve portion de, der, c 1 , cv 1 used to interconnect the main reservoir mr and the brake pipe bp 16 is disabled by connecting the brake pipe port to exhaust ex, as is shown in portion 220 . the present structure has an addition structure for pneumatic emergency and electronic control similar to portion 240 of the 16 interface portion illustrated in fig. 22 of u.s. pat. no. 6,036,284. the magnetic valve portion of the mver, which is the pilot line for the pneumatic portion, are connected via line 216 , choke c 2 and check valve cv 2 to the output of an emergency pilot valve pvsu. pilot line 216 for emergency pilot valve pvsu is either closed or open via line 252 exhaust ex. if it is connected to exhaust it prevents the pilot pressure for the pilot valve portion of the mver to build up. this results in the output 212 , which is connected to the equalization reservoir, to be connected to exhaust ex equalization reservoir. the pilot portion of the pilot valve pvsu is connected to the output of the double check valve dcv. one input on line 254 is connected to the main reservoir. the other input on line 252 is connected to the output of the magnetic valve mv 26 . mv 26 is selectively controlled to connect line 252 to the main reservoir or mr to the exhaust ex. a pilot mv 26 has been connected so it has no effect on the ultimate circuit. supply from supply reservoirs or mr 58 is connected to the brake pipe controller 40 where the manifold 49 distributes to each the ercp 42 and the bpcp 44 . equalization reservoir (er) pressure is developed and controlled by the ‘app & rel’ magnet valves in conjunction with feedback pressure from transducer ert. the er control is connected through the pilot valve of magnet valve mver to the er volume and thus the control port of the brake pipe relay within the bpcp 44 , as previously described. the mver magnet valve is normally de-energized. this causes its pilot valve to be in the de-activated position as shown. in this position, the er volume is connected to atmosphere either preventing charging of brake pipe or exhausting er volume at a prescribed rate (chocked orifice normally set to service rate). in order to electronically control er volume, the mver must be energized and the pneumatic override must be satisfied. the mver is driven directly by the intelligent controller of the ercp 42 and is energized when the remote radio car is active and no fault or override condition is present. when the mver is energized, mr supply is ported to the pilot valve and through check valve cv 2 to the #10 port (blanked optional potential) and to pilot valve pvsu. the pvsu de-activated ports through to exhaust. the psvu is the override that must be activated to allow pressure to build at the mver pilot valve to connect er volume. the pvsu is activated when the brake pipe trainline is not in emergency (or when brake pipe is greater than ˜20 psi) or when the magnet valve mv 26 is energized as controlled by logic. in the event of an emergency brake application or reduction of brake pipe to 0 psi, the design is such to de-activate pilot valve pvsu and thus exhaust the #10 port which causes the mver pilot valve to de-activate and exhaust er volume to atmosphere. the mv 26 is momentarily energized by logic for the recovery of an emergency. the 10 t transducer provides status of the pneumatic override to the logic controller. the bct transducer provides a secondary brake pipe pressure logic input to that located in the bpcp. the bpt transducer, so far, is not required. the er pressure is controlled to that brake pipe command as received through the radio interface module or as overridden by logic. although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that this is done by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation. the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims.
|
078-624-812-234-183
|
JP
|
[
"JP",
"EP"
] |
H01M8/0606,H01M8/04,H01M8/0612,B01D53/00,B01D53/86,C01B3/38,H01M8/04089,H01M8/04223,H01M8/0432,H01M8/0438,H01M8/04992,H01M8/0662
| 2014-11-27T00:00:00 |
2014
|
[
"H01",
"B01",
"C01"
] |
fuel cell system
|
problem to be solved: to provide a fuel cell system capable of being appropriately operated even when types of raw material for reforming are different, while suppressing oxidation/degradation of a desulfurization catalyst and a reforming catalyst caused by oxygen included in the raw material for reforming.solution: a fuel cell system includes a controller 15 comprising: a storage unit 15a including a first map m1 showing first correlation between a concentration c of oxygen included in raw material for reforming and a type of the raw material for reforming; an estimation unit 15b (step s108) for estimating, on the basis of the first map m1, a type of the raw material for reforming from a concentration c of oxygen detected by an oxygen concentration estimation device 11a7; and an operation condition calculation unit 15c for calculating an operation condition of the fuel cell system depending on the type of the raw material for reforming estimated by the estimation unit 15b.selected drawing: figure 8
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a fuel cell system comprising: a fuel cell (34) generating an electric power by a reformed gas and an oxidant gas; an oxygen treatment device (11a6) being supplied with a source material from a supply source (gs) to remove oxygen contained in the source material by a catalyst for oxygen treatment; an oxygen concentration detection device (11a7) detecting a concentration (c) of the oxygen contained in the source material; a desulfurization device (11a8) being supplied with the source material after the oxygen in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device (11a6) to remove a sulfur component contained in the source material by a desulfurization catalyst; an evaporating portion (32) generating water vapor from water for reforming; a reforming portion (33) generating the reformed gas by the source material which is supplied from the desulfurization device (11a8) and in which the sulfur component is removed and the water vapor supplied from the evaporating portion (32), the reforming portion (33) supplying the reformed gas to the fuel cell (34); and a control unit (15) at least controlling the fuel cell (34), wherein the control unit (15) includes: a storage portion (15a) storing a first map (m1) that indicates a first correlation between the concentration (c) of the oxygen contained in the source material and a type of the source material; an estimation portion (15b) estimating the type of the source material based on the concentration (c) of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device (11a7) in accordance with the first map (m1); and an operation condition calculation portion (15c) calculating an operation condition of the fuel cell system depending on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion (15b). the fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen concentration detection device (11a7) is a temperature sensor arranged at the oxygen treatment device (11a6) for detecting a temperature (th) within the oxygen treatment device (11a6). the fuel cell system according to either claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage portion (15a) stores a second map (m2) indicating a second correlation between the type of the source material and a steam to carbon ratio that indicates a ratio of a volume of the water vapor relative to a volume of the source material supplied to the reforming portion (33), the operation condition calculation portion (15c) includes a steam to carbon ratio calculation portion (15c1) calculating the steam to carbon ratio based on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion (15a) in accordance with the second map (m2). the fuel cell system according to any one of claims 1 through 3, further comprising a flow rate detection device (11a3) detecting a flow rate of the source material, wherein the storage portion (15a) stores a third map (m3) indicating a plurality of third correlations between a detected flow rate (qk) detected by the flow rate detection device (11a3) and an actual flow rate (qr) of the source material based on types of the source material, the operation condition calculation portion (15c) includes a decision portion (15c2) deciding one of the plurality of third correlations indicated by the third map (m3), the one of the plurality of third correlations conforming to the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion (15a), the control unit (15) includes an actual flow rate calculation portion (15d) calculating the actual flow rate (qr) based on the detected flow rate (qk) detected by the flow rate detection device (11 a3) in accordance with the one of the plurality of third correlations decided by the decision portion (15c2). the fuel cell system according to any one of claims 1 through 4, further comprising a recycle fuel pipe (39) connecting between a reformed gas supply pipe (38) supplying the reformed gas from the reforming portion (33) to the fuel cell (34) and a source material supply pipe (11 a) supplying the source material from the supply source (gs) to the oxygen treatment device (11a6), the recycle fuel pipe (39) supplying a portion of the reformed gas to the oxygen treatment device (11a6) as a recycle fuel, wherein the desulfurization device (11a8) removes the sulfur component contained in the source material by hydrogen included in the recycle fuel. the fuel cell system according to any one of claims 1 through 5, further comprising: a recycle fuel pipe (39) connecting between a reformed gas supply pipe (38) supplying the reformed gas from the reforming portion (33) to the fuel cell (34) and a source material supply pipe (11a) supplying the source material from the supply source (gs) to the oxygen treatment device (11a6), the recycle fuel pipe (39) supplying a portion of the reformed gas to the oxygen treatment device (11a6) as a recycle fuel; and a flow rate regulating valve (39b) arranged at the re cycle fuel pipe (39) and configured to adjust a flow rate of the recycle fuel, wherein the control unit (15) secures a volume of hydrogen for a desulfurization at the desulfurization device (11a8) by adjusting the flow rate of the recycle fuel by the flow rate regulating valve (39b) based on the concentration (c) of the oxygen contained in the source material detected by the oxygen concentration detection device (11a7).
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technical field this disclosure generally relates to a fuel cell system. background discussion a known fuel cell system is disclosed, for example, in jp09-27338a . the fuel cell system disclosed in jp09-27338a includes a desulfurizer that desulfurizes odorant (sulfur compound) contained in source fuel such as city gas including traces of oxygen, for example, a steam reformer generating reformed gas by performing a steam reforming on the source fuel by a reforming catalyst, and a shift converter reducing a co concentration of the reformed gas that is generated by the steam reformer. the fuel cell system performs a power generation by supplying hydrogen-rich reformed gas that is reformed via the desulfurizer, the steam reformer and the shift converter to a fuel electrode of a fuel cell. in addition, the fuel cell system includes a combustion catalyst device that removes oxygen contained in the source fuel from a supply source to send the resulting source fuel to the desulfurizer. by removing the oxygen contained in the source fuel by the combustion catalyst device, oxidation degradation of the reforming catalyst caused by oxygen may be restrained. nevertheless, depending on a region or a community where the fuel cell system is installed, for example, different kinds of source fuel may be supplied from the supply source. for example, instead of city gas in which natural gas (methane) serves as a main component, liquefied petroleum gas mixed with air including oxygen so as to be adjusted to include substantially the same heat capacity as the city gas may be supplied to the fuel cell system. because such liquefied petroleum gas includes propane as a main component, a carbon number per unit volume and the heat capacity of the liquefied petroleum gas may be higher than the city gas including methane as a main component. thus, in a case where the fuel cell system is operated so as to conform to the heat capacity of the city gas, fluctuation in power generation (i.e., generated amount) of the fuel cell or coking may occur at the reformer, for example, by the supply of the liquefied petroleum gas where air is mixed. a need thus exists for a fuel cell system that may restrain oxidation degradation caused by oxygen contained in source material and that may appropriately operate with different kinds of source material. summary according to an aspect of this disclosure, a fuel cell system includes a fuel cell generating an electric power by a reformed gas and an oxidant gas, an oxygen treatment device being supplied with a source material from a supply source to remove oxygen contained in the source material by a catalyst for oxygen treatment, an oxygen concentration detection device detecting a concentration of the oxygen contained in the source material, a desulfurization device being supplied with the source material after the oxygen in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device to remove a sulfur component contained in the source material by a desulfurization catalyst, an evaporating portion generating water vapor from water for reforming, a reforming portion generating the reformed gas by the source material which is supplied from the desulfurization device and in which the sulfur component is removed and the water vapor supplied from the evaporating portion, the reforming portion supplying the reformed gas to the fuel cell, and a control unit at least controlling the fuel cell. the control unit includes a storage portion storing a first map that indicates a first correlation between the concentration of the oxygen contained in the source material and a type of the source material, an estimation portion estimating the type of the source material based on the concentration of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device in accordance with the first map, and an operation condition calculation portion calculating an operation condition of the fuel cell system depending on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion. accordingly, the fuel cell system may remove the oxygen contained in the source material with the usage of the catalyst for oxygen treatment by the oxygen treatment device. in addition, the control unit may estimate the type of the source material by the estimation portion based on the concentration of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device. further, the control unit may calculate the operation condition of the fuel cell system by the operation condition calculation portion based on the type of the source material that is estimated by the estimation portion. accordingly, oxidation degradation of the desulfurization catalyst by the oxygen contained in the source material is restrained. even in a case where the type of the source material varies and differs, the control unit may appropriately operate the fuel cell system. the oxygen concentration detection device is a temperature sensor arranged at the oxygen treatment device for detecting a temperature within the oxygen treatment device. accordingly, because the oxygen concentration detection device is constituted by the temperature sensor, the oxygen concentration detection device may be easily constituted at a relatively low cost. the storage portion stores a second map indicating a second correlation between the type of the source material and a steam to carbon ratio that indicates a ratio of a volume of the water vapor relative to a volume of the source material supplied to the reforming portion. the operation condition calculation portion includes a steam to carbon ratio calculation portion calculating the steam to carbon ratio based on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion in accordance with the second map. accordingly, the flow rate of the water vapor may be adjusted to an appropriate flow rate depending on the type of the source material relative to the flow rate of the source material supplied to the reforming portion. a generation of coking may be restrained. the fuel cell system further includes a flow rate detection device detecting a flow rate of the source material. the storage portion stores a third map indicating plural third correlations between a detected flow rate detected by the flow rate detection device and an actual flow rate of the source material based on types of the source material. the operation condition calculation portion includes a decision portion deciding one of the plural third correlations indicated by the third map, the one of the plural third correlations conforming to the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion. the control unit includes an actual flow rate calculation portion calculating the actual flow rate based on the detected flow rate detected by the flow rate detection device in accordance with the one of the plural third correlations decided by the decision portion. the control unit calculates the actual flow rate depending on the type of the source material based on the detected flow rate by the actual flow rate calculation portion. accordingly, the flow rate of the source material depending on the type of the source material may be appropriately controlled. the control unit may appropriately control the flow rate of the reformed gas supplied to the fuel cell to thereby appropriately control the power generation (i.e., generated amount) of the fuel cell. the fuel cell system further includes a recycle fuel pipe connecting between a reformed gas supply pipe supplying the reformed gas from the reforming portion to the fuel cell and a source material supply pipe supplying the source material from the supply source to the oxygen treatment device, the recycle fuel pipe supplying a portion of the reformed gas to the oxygen treatment device as a recycle fuel. the desulfurization device removes the sulfur component contained in the source material by hydrogen included in the recycle fuel. in a case where a superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is employed as the desulfurization catalyst performing a desulfurization with the usage of hydrogen, a possible flow of the oxygen contained in the source material to the desulfurization device may cause a combustion of the oxygen because an activating temperature of the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is approximately 250 °c, which results in oxidation of the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent. in the aspect of the disclosure, however, the oxygen contained in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device so that the oxygen is restrained from flowing to the desulfurization device. thus, the oxidization of the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent may be inhibited. in addition, in a case where the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is employed as the desulfurization catalyst, the hydrogen in the recycle fuel is utilized for the desulfurization. in this case, because the temperature within the desulfurization device is approximately 250 °c, the possible flow of the oxygen contained in the source material to the desulfurization device may cause a combustion reaction between the hydrogen and the oxygen to thereby consume the hydrogen in the recycle fuel. thus, a desulfurizing performance of the desulfurization device may decrease because the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is impossible to utilize the hydrogen in the recycle fuel. in the aspect of the disclosure, however, because the oxygen contained in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device, the oxygen is retrained form flowing to the desulfurization device. the desulfurizing performance of the desulfurization device may be thus restrained from decreasing. the fuel cell system further includes a recycle fuel pipe connecting between a reformed gas supply pipe supplying the reformed gas from the reforming portion to the fuel cell and a source material supply pipe supplying the source material from the supply source to the oxygen treatment device, the recycle fuel pipe supplying a portion of the reformed gas to the oxygen treatment device as a recycle fuel, and a flow rate regulating valve arranged at the recycle fuel pipe and configured to adjust a flow rate of the recycle fuel. the control unit secures a volume of hydrogen for a desulfurization at the desulfurization device by adjusting the flow rate of the recycle fuel by the flow rate regulating valve based on the concentration of the oxygen contained in the source material detected by the oxygen concentration detection device. in the oxygen treatment device, the hydrogen contained in the recycle fuel and the oxygen contained in the source material react each other. thus, the hydrogen contained in the recycle fuel may be consumed before the recycle fuel is supplied to the desulfurization device. accordingly, in a case of a shortage of hydrogen for the desulfurization, the desulfurizing performance of the desulfurization device decreases. in the aspect of the disclosure, however, the flow rate regulating valve configured to adjust the flow rate of the recycle fuel is provided at the recycle fuel pipe. thus, the control unit may secure the volume of hydrogen necessary for the desulfurization at the desulfurization device by adjusting the flow rate of the recycle fuel by the flow rate regulating valve based on the concentration of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device. thus, a decrease of desulfurizing performance at the desulfurization device caused by a shortage of hydrogen may be restrained. brief description of the drawings the foregoing and additional features and characteristics of this disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with the reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a fuel cell system according to an embodiment disclosed here; fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relation between a temperature within an oxygen treatment device illustrated in fig. 1 and a concentration of oxygen contained in source material; fig. 3 is a block diagram of the fuel cell system illustrated in fig. 1 ; fig. 4 is a first map stored at a storage portion illustrated in fig. 3 and indicating a first correlation between a type of the source material and the concentration of the oxygen contained in the source material; fig. 5 is a second map stored at the storage portion illustrated in fig. 3 and indicating a second correlation between the type of the source material and a steam to carbon ratio; fig. 6 is a third map stored at the storage portion illustrated in fig. 3 and indicating a third correlation between an actual flow rate and a detected flow rate based on the type of the source material; fig. 7 is a fourth map stored at the storage portion illustrated in fig. 3 and indicating a fourth correlation between a generated electric current of a fuel cell and a target flow rate of the source material specified on a basis of the type of the source material; fig. 8 is a flowchart of program executed by a control unit illustrated in fig. 3 ; and fig. 9 is a schematic view illustrating a main portion of the fuel cell system according to a modified example of the embodiment. detailed description a fuel cell system according to an embodiment is explained as blow. as illustrated in fig. 1 , the fuel cell system includes a power generation unit 10 and a water storage tank 21. the power generation unit 10 includes a case 10a, a fuel cell module 11, a heat exchanger 12, an inverter device 13, a water tank 14 and a control unit 15. the fuel cell module 11 at least includes a fuel cell 34. the fuel cell module 11 is supplied with a source material for reforming (source material), water for reforming (water) and cathode air. specifically, the fuel cell module 11 is connected to a first end of a source material supply pipe (fuel supply pipe) 11 a of which a second end is connected to a supply source gs so that the fuel supply pipe 11a is supplied with the source material. the fuel cell module 11 is also connected to a first end of a water supply pipe 11 b of which a second end is connected to the water tank 14 so that the water supply pipe 11 b is supplied with the water. a water pump 11b1 is disposed at the water supply pipe 11 b. the water pump 11 b1, which is a water supply device for supplying the water to the fuel cell module 11, is configured to adjust a flow rate (flow rate per time unit) of the water from the water tank 14 based on a control command value from the control unit 15. the water pump 11 b1 serves as a pumping device for suctioning the water to pump the water to the fuel cell module 11. the fuel cell module 11 is further connected to a first end of a cathode air supply pipe 11 c of the which a second end is connected to a cathode air blower 11 c1 so that the cathode air supply pipe 11 c is supplied with the cathode air. the fuel supply pipe 11a is explained in detail. a shut-off valve 11a1, a pressure sensor 11a2, a flow sensor 11a3 serving as a flow rate detection device, a pressure regulating device 11 a4, a source material pump (i.e., fuel pump) 11 a5, an oxygen treatment device 11a6, an oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 and a desulfurization device 11a8 are provided at the fuel supply pipe 11 a in the mentioned order from an upstream side thereof. the shut-off valve 11a1, the pressure sensor 11 a2, the flow sensor 11 a3, the pressure regulating device 11 a4, the fuel pump 11 a5, the oxygen treatment device 11a6, the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 and the desulfurization device 11a8 are housed or accommodated within the case 10a. the shut-off valve 11a1 is a valve (double valves) that selectively opens and closes the fuel supply pipe 11a by a command from the control unit 15. the pressure sensor 11a2 detects a pressure of the source material supplied to the fuel cell module 11 (specifically, pressure at a place where the pressure sensor 11a2 is positioned) and transmits a detection result to the control unit 15. the flow sensor 11 a3 detects a flow rate (per time unit) of the source material supplied to the fuel cell module 11 and transmits a detected flow rate qk serving as a detection result to the control unit 15. the pressure regulating device 11a4 regulates the pressure of the source material introduced to the pressure regulating device 11 a4 to a predetermined pressure and sends out the resulting source material. for example, the pressure regulating device 11 a4 is constituted by a zero governor that regulates the pressure of the source material so that the source material at ambient pressure is sent out from the pressure regulating device 11 a4. the pressure regulating device 11 a4 is configured to regulate the pressure of the fuel supply pipe 11 a at a secondary side relative to the pressure regulating device 11 a4 so that the aforementioned pressure is smaller than a pressure at a recycle gas pipe 39 serving as a recycle fuel pipe. the pressure regulating device 11 a4 regulates the pressure of the fuel supply pipe 11 a to be lower than the pressure of the recycle gas pipe 39 so that reformed gas flows through the recycle gas pipe 39. the fuel pump 11 a5 serves as a source material (fuel) supply device for supplying fuel (source material for reforming) to the fuel cell 34. the fuel pump 11a5 adjusts the flow rate of the source material from the supply source gs based on the control command value from the control unit 15. the fuel pump 11a5 serves as a pumping device for suctioning the source material to pump the source material to a reforming portion 33. the oxygen treatment device 11a6 is supplied with the source material from the supply source gs to remove oxygen contained in the source material by a catalyst for oxygen treatment. the oxygen treatment device 11a6 is also supplied with recycle gas containing hydrogen. the catalyst for oxygen treatment is obtained by noble metal such as platinum (pt) and palladium (pd), for example, deposited on a ceramic carrier or by a porous material formed of nonmetal such as copper (cu) and zinc (zn), for example, or transition metal. hydrocarbon contained in the source material and the aforementioned hydrogen contained in the recycle gas are burnt by the catalyst for oxygen treatment to thereby remove the oxygen contained in the source material. specifically, in a case where the source material is city gas in which natural gas (methane gas) serves as a main component, an oxidation reaction (combustion reaction) between methane, hydrogen and oxygen is generated as indicated by a chemical formula (1) and a chemical formula (2) as below. (1) ch 4 + 2o 2 → co 2 + 2h 2 o (2) 2h 2 + o 2 → 2h 2 o in addition, the oxygen treatment device 11a6 may include a catalytic heater 11a6a that heats the catalyst for oxygen treatment as necessary so that the temperature thereof turns to a combustion temperature of the hydrocarbon contained in the source material or the hydrogen. the catalytic heater 11a6a is an alternating current heater (ac heater serving as an alternating current auxiliary machinery) for heating by an alternating current based on a command from the control unit 15. the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 detects a concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material. specifically, the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 is a temperature sensor provided at the oxygen treatment device 11a6 for detecting a temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6. the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6 changes depending on the temperature generated by the aforementioned oxidation reaction. changes of the temperature generated by the oxidation reaction depend on the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material. specifically, as illustrated in fig. 2 , the higher the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material is, the higher the temperature generated by the oxidation reaction is. that is, the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6 increases with the increase of the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material. the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 detects the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material by detecting the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6. the relation between the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material and the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6 as illustrated in fig. 2 is obtained in a case where the flow rate of the source material is a predetermined target flow rate qt1. the predetermined target flow rate qt1 corresponds to a target flow rate qt of the source material in a case where an estimation control for estimating a type of the source material (which is explained later) is performed. the aforementioned relation illustrated in fig. 2 is obtained beforehand by an actual measurement in an experiment, for example. the desulfurization device 11a8 is supplied with the source material after the oxygen in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device 11a6. a sulfur component (for example, sulfur compound) in the source material is removed by a desulfurization catalyst at the desulfurization device 11a8. the desulfurization device 11a8 houses and accommodates therein a hydro-desulfurizing agent and a superhigh-order desulfurizing agent serving as the desulfurization catalyst. in the hydro-desulfurizing agent, the sulfur compound and the hydrogen react each other to generate hydrogen sulfide. the hydro-desulfurizing agent is, for example, a combination of nickel-molybdenum system, cobalt-molybdenum system and zinc oxide. the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is, for example, a copper-zinc system desulfurizing agent, a copper-zinc-nickel system desulfurizing agent or the like. the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent takes in and removes the hydrogen sulfide that is converted from the sulfur compound by the hydro-desulfurizing agent. such superhigh-order desulfurizing agent exercises an excellent desulfurizing performance at a high temperature of 200 °c to 300 °c (for example, 250 °c to 300 °c). therefore, the desulfurization device 11a8 is arranged at a position so that the inside of the desulfurization device 11 a8 is at the high temperature of 200 °c to 300 °c (for example, 250 °c to 300 °c). for example, the desulfurization device 11a8 is disposed within a casing 31 or at an outer surface of the casing 31. as mentioned above, according to the fuel cell system of the embodiment, the hydro-desulfurizing agent and the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent are used as the desulfurization catalyst that utilizes hydrogen for desulfurization. then, a portion of reformed gas that is reformed at the reforming portion 33 is configured to return to the fuel supply pipe 11 a. specifically, the recycle gas pipe 39 is provided for returning the reformed gas to the fuel supply pipe 11 a. a first end of the recycle gas pipe 39 is connected to a reformed gas supply pipe 38 that supplies the reformed gas from the reforming portion 33 to the fuel cell 34. a second end of the recycle gas pipe 39 is connected to an upstream position of the desulfurization device 11a8 at the fuel supply pipe 11a, i.e., specifically, to a position between a portion where the pressure regulating device 11a4 is disposed and a portion where the fuel pump 11a5 is disposed at the fuel supply pipe 11a. accordingly, a portion of the reformed gas flowing from the reforming portion 33 through the reformed gas supply pipe 38 returns to the fuel supply pipe 11a by flowing through the recycle gas pipe 39 as recycle gas serving as recycle fuel. the reformed gas includes hydrogen (which is explained later), and therefore the recycle gas serving as the portion of the reformed gas also contains hydrogen. accordingly, because the recycle gas containing hydrogen returns to the fuel supply pipe 11a, the hydrogen in the recycle gas is mixed with the source material and the resulting source material is sent and supplied to the desulfurization device 11a8 through the fuel supply pipe 11 a. as a result, the sulfur compound within the source material reacts with the hydrogen to generate the hydrogen sulfide. the hydrogen sulfide is removed by a chemical reaction with the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent. an orifice 39a is provided at the recycle gas pipe 39. a flow path bore is formed at the orifice 39a so that a flow rate (i.e., flow rate per time unit) of the recycle gas that returns to the fuel supply pipe 11 a via the recycle gas pipe 39 is adjusted by the flow path bore. the heat exchanger 12 is supplied with exhaust combustion gas emitted or discharged from the fuel cell module 11 and with storage water stored at the water storage tank 21 to perform a heat exchange between the exhaust combustion gas and the storage water. specifically, the water storage tank 21 which stores water (hot or warmed water) serving as the storage water is connected to a water circulation line 22 (storage water circulation line) where the water (storage water) circulates in a direction indicated by arrows in fig. 1 . a storage water circulation pump 22a and the heat exchanger 12 are arranged in the mentioned order from a lower end to an upper end of the water storage tank 21 at the water circulation line 22. an exhaust pipe 11 d from the fuel cell module 11 is connected to the heat exchanger 12 in a penetration manner. a condensed water supply pipe 12a which is connected to the water tank 14 is connected to the heat exchanger 12. the exhaust combustion gas from the fuel cell module 11 is led to the heat exchanger 12 by flowing through the exhaust pipe 11 d and is condensed and cooled at the heat exchanger 12 because of the heat exchange with the storage water. the exhaust combustion gas after condensation flows through the exhaust pipe 11 d to be discharged to the outside of the fuel cell system. condensed water resulting from the aforementioned heat exchange flows through the condensed water supply pipe 12a so as to be supplied to the water tank 14. the water tank 14 brings the condensed water to be formed into pure water (deionized water) by means of ion-exchange resin. the heat exchanger 12, the water storage tank 21 and the water circulation line 22 constitute an exhaust heat recovery system 20. the exhaust heat recovery system 20 recovers exhaust heat of the fuel cell module 11 and stores the exhaust heat in the storage water. the inverter device 13 receives a direct-current (dc) voltage output from the fuel cell 34 and converts the dc voltage into a predetermined alternating-current (ac) voltage so as to output the ac voltage to a power line 16b connected to an alternating system power supply 16a (hereinafter simply referred to as a system power supply 16a) and an external electric power load 16c (hereinafter simply referred to as an external power load 16c) such as an electrical appliance, for example. the inverter device 13 also receives an ac voltage from the system power supply 16a via the power line 16b and converts the ac voltage into a predetermined dc voltage so as to output the dc voltage to an auxiliary machinery (each pump or blower) and the control unit 15. the control unit 15 drives the auxiliary machinery to thereby control the operation of the fuel cell system. the fuel cell module 11 includes the casing 31, an evaporating portion 32, the reforming portion 33 and the fuel cell 34. the casing 31 in a box form is made of an insulative material. the evaporating portion 32 generates water vapor from water (water for reforming). specifically, the evaporating portion 32 which is heated by combustion gas (which is explained later) generates the water vapor by evaporating the water supplied to the evaporating portion 32. the evaporating portion 32 also preheats the source material supplied to the evaporating portion 32. the evaporating portion 32 mixes the water vapor generated in the aforementioned manner and the source material that is preheated so as to supply the mixture to the reforming portion 33. the source material corresponds to gaseous fuel (gaseous fuel for reforming) such as city gas in which natural gas (methane) serves as a main component and liquefied petroleum gas (lp gas) in which propane serves as a main component, for example, and liquid fuel (liquid fuel for reforming) such as kerosene, gasoline (petrol) and methanol, for example. in the present present embodiment, the source material is the city gas. the evaporating portion 32 is connected to the first end of the water supply pipe 11 b of which the second end (lower end) is connected to the water tank 14. in addition, the evaporating portion 32 is connected to the first end of the fuel supply pipe 11 a of which the second end is connected to the supply source gs. the supply source gs corresponds to a city gas supply pipe or an lp gas cylinder, for example. the reforming portion 33 generates the reformed gas by the source material supplied from the desulfurization device 11a8 in a state where the sulfur component is removed or eliminated from the source material and the water vapor supplied from the evaporating portion 32 so that the reformed gas is supplied to the fuel cell 34. the reforming portion 33 is heated by the combustion gas so as to receive heat necessary for a water vapor reforming reaction. the reforming portion 33 generates the reformed gas from mixed gas (source material and water vapor) supplied from the evaporating portion 32 and discharges the reformed gas. the inside of the reforming portion 33 is filled with a catalyst (catalyst for reforming), for example, with a ru-ni catalyst or a pt-rh catalyst. the mixed gas supplied from the evaporating portion 32 reacts by means of the catalyst so as to be reformed, thereby generating hydrogen gas and gas containing carbon monoxide, for example (so-called a water vapor reforming reaction). the reformed gas includes hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor, natural gas (methane gas) that is not reformed, and water (water vapor) not used for reforming. the water vapor reforming reaction is an endothermic reaction. the fuel cell 34 generates an electric power by the reformed gas and oxidant gas. the fuel cell 34 includes a lamination of plural cells 34a each including a fuel electrode, an air electrode (an oxidant electrode), and an electrolyte disposed between the fuel electrode and the air electrode. the fuel cell 34 according to the present embodiment is a solid oxide fuel cell where zirconium oxide serving as a solid oxide is used as the electrolyte. the fuel electrode of the fuel cell 34 is supplied with hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane gas, for example, as fuel. a fuel flow passage 34b through which the reformed gas serving as the fuel flows is formed at the fuel electrode of each of the cells 34a. an air flow passage 34c through which the air (cathode air) serving as the oxidant gas flows is formed at the air electrode of each of the cells 34a. the fuel cell 34 is placed on a manifold 35. the reformed gas is supplied from the reforming portion 33 to the manifold 35 via the reformed gas supply pipe 38. a lower end (first end) of the fuel flow passage 34b is connected to a fuel lead-out port formed at the manifold 35. the reformed gas led out from the fuel lead-out port of the manifold 35 is introduced from the lower end of the fuel flow passage 34b and is discharged from an upper end of the fuel flow passage 34b. the cathode air sent from the cathode air blower 11c1 flows through the cathode air supply pipe 11 c so as to be supplied from a lower end of the air flow passage 34c and be discharged from an upper end of the air flow passage 34c. a combusting portion 36 is disposed among the fuel cell 34, the evaporating portion 32, and the reforming portion 33. the combusting portion 36 heats the evaporating portion 32 and the reforming portion 33 by burning anode off-gas from the fuel cell 34 serving as the reformed gas not used in the power generation and cathode off-gas from the fuel cell 34 serving as the oxidant gas not used in the power generation. the anode off-gas is burnt at the combusting portion 36 so as to generate the combustion gas (exhaust combustion gas) (i.e., flames 37). first and second ignition heaters 36a1 and 36a2 are provided at the combusting portion 36 to ignite the combusting portion 36, i.e., ignite the anode off-gas. each of the first and second ignition heaters 36a1 and 36a2 is an alternating-current heater (ac heater serving as an ac auxiliary machinery) which is heated by an alternating current by the command of the control unit 15. as illustrated in fig. 3 , the pressure sensor 11 a2, the flow sensor 11 a3, the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7, the shut-off valve 11a1, the pumps 11a5, 11b1, 22a, the cathode air blower 11 c1, the catalytic heater 11a6a and the ignition heaters 36a1, 36a2 are connected to the control unit 15. the control unit 15 includes a storage portion 15a, an estimation portion 15b, an operation condition calculation portion 15c, an actual flow rate calculation portion 15d, a target flow rate calculation portion 15e, a feedback control portion 15f and a water flow rate calculation portion 15g. the storage portion 15a stores data used for executing control program, for example. the storage portion 15a stores a first map m1, a second map m2, a third map m3 and a fourth map m4. the first map m1 indicates a first correlation between the concentration c of the oxygen included in the source material and the type of the source material as illustrated in fig. 4 . generally, the city gas (in which methane gas is a main component) as an example of the source material may be mixed with oxygen depending on a region or a community where the fuel cell system is installed, for example. in addition, depending on a region or a community where the fuel cell system is installed, the liquefied petroleum gas regulated and adjusted so as to include a heat capacity substantially the same as the city gas by mixing with air including oxygen may be employed in addition to the city gas. in the present embodiment, an explanation where a city gas g1, a city gas mixed with air (which is hereinafter referred to as air mixture city gas) g2 or a liquefied petroleum gas mixed with air (which is hereinafter referred to as air mixture lp gas) g3 is supplied to the fuel cell system is explained. in the present embodiment, the concentration c of the oxygen included in the city gas g1 is equal to or smaller than 1%, for example. the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the air mixture city gas g2 is substantially equal to 4%, for example. the concentration c of the oxygen included in the air mixture lp gas g3 is substantially equal to 7%, for example. in addition, in the present embodiment, the first correlation indicated by the first map m1 is a relation between the type of the source material supplied to the fuel cell system at a region or a community where the fuel cell system is installed and the concentration c of the oxygen. specifically, according to the first correlation, for example, the concentration c of the oxygen is equal to or smaller than 2% in a case where the source material is the city gas g1, in a range from 3% to 5% in a case where the source material is the air mixture city gas g2, and in a range from 6% to 8% in a case where the source material is the air mixture lp gas g3. the second map m2 indicates a second correlation between the type of the source material and a steam to carbon ratio (hereinafter referred to as a s/c ratio) indicating a ratio of a volume (i.e., flow rate per time unit) of the water vapor relative to a volume (flow rate per time unit) of the source material supplied to the reforming portion 33. the s/c ratio is a ratio of the flow rate of the water supplied to the evaporating portion 32 relative to the flow rate of the source material supplied to the reforming portion 33 (s/c ratio = (flow rate of water) / (flow rate of source material)). the s/c ratio is specified so as to inhibit coking where deposition of carbon included in the source material occurs because of a shortage of the flow rate of the water vapor relative to the flow rate of the source material. specifically, the s/c ratio of each of the city gas g1 and the air mixture city gas g2 is specified in a range from 2.5 to 3.0, for example. the s/c ratio of the air mixture lp gas g3 is specified in a range from 3.0 to 3.5, for example. according to the second correlation indicated by the second map m2, the s/c ratio of each of the city gas g1 and the air mixture city gas g2 is 2.8 and the s/c ratio of the air mixture lp gas g3 is 3.3, for example. the third map m3 indicates plural third correlations between the detected flow rate qk detected by the flow sensor 11a3 and an actual flow rate qr serving as an actual flow rate of the source material based on types of the source material. that is, the third map m3 indicates the plural third correlations between the detected flow rate qk and the actual flow rate qr for the city gas g1, between the detected flow rate qk and the actual flow rate qr for the air mixture city gas g2 and between the detected flow rate qk and the actual flow rate qr for the air mixture lp gas g3. the third correlations for the respective types of the source material indicated by the third map m3 are obtained beforehand by an actual measurement in an experiment, for example. in a case where the actual flow rates qr for the respective types of the source material are compared to each other under the same detected flow rate qk, the actual flow rate qr is small for the source material including a large specific gravity. in the present embodiment, as illustrated in fig. 6 , because the specific gravity of the air mixture lp gas g3 is greater than the specific gravity of each of the city gas g1 and the air mixture city gas g2, the actual flow rate qr of the air mixture lp gas g3 is smaller than the actual flow rate qr of each of the city gas g1 and the air mixture city gas g2 under the same detected flow rate qk. further, because the specific gravity of the air mixture city gas g2 is greater than the specific gravity of the city gas g1, the actual flow rate qr of the air mixture city gas g2 is smaller than the actual flow rate qr of the city gas g1 when compared under the same detected flow rate qk. the actual flow rate qr in the third map m3 is measured by a flow sensor with a relatively high accuracy provided for an experiment. the fourth map m4 indicates plural fourth correlations between a generated electric current i of the fuel cell 34 and the target flow rate qt of the source material based on the types of the source material. that is, the fourth map m4 indicates the plural fourth correlations between the generated electric current i and the target flow rate qt for the city gas g1, between the generated electric current i and the target flow rate qt for the air mixture city gas g2, and between the generated electric current i and the target flow rate qt for the air mixture lp gas g3. regardless of the types of the source material, a supply volume (flow rate per time unit) of the reformed gas that should be supplied to the fuel cell 34 is decided depending on the generated electric current i. specifically, the supply volume of the reformed gas necessary for the fuel cell 34 increases with the increase of the generated electric current i. at this time, depending on the types of the source material (i.e., composition of the source material), the volume of the reformed gas generated from the source material per unit volume varies and differs. thus, the target flow rate qt of the source material supplied to the fuel cell 34 differs depending on the types of the source material so as to achieve the necessary supply volume of the reformed gas for the generated electric current i. the fourth correlations for the respective types of the source material indicated by the fourth map m4 are obtained beforehand by an actual measurement in an experiment, for example. in the present embodiment, in a comparison under the same generated electric current i, the target flow rate qt of the air mixture lp gas g3 is smaller than the target flow rate qt of each of the city gas g1 and the air mixture city gas g2. the estimation portion 15b estimates the type of the source material supplied to the fuel cell system. specifically, the estimation portion 15b estimates the type of the source material based on the concentration c of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7 in accordance with the first map m1. the operation condition calculation portion 15c calculates an operation condition of the fuel cell system based on the type of the source material that is estimated by the estimation portion 15b. the operation condition calculation portion 15c includes a steam to carbon ratio calculation portion 15c1, a first decision portion 15c2 serving as a decision portion and a second decision portion 15c3. the steam to carbon ratio calculation portion 15c1 calculates the s/c ratio as the operation condition of the fuel cell system. specifically, the steam to carbon ratio calculation portion 15c1 calculates the s/c ratio based on the type of the source material that is estimated by the estimation portion 15b in accordance with the second map m2. the first decision portion 15c2 decides the third correlation as the operation condition of the fuel cell system. specifically, the first decision portion 15c2 decides one of the third correlations among the plural third correlations indicated by the third map m3 so as to conform to the type of the source material that is estimated by the estimation portion 15b. the second decision portion 15c3 decides the fourth correlation as the operation condition of the fuel cell system. specifically, the second decision portion 15c3 decides one of the fourth correlations among the plural fourth correlations indicated by the fourth map m4 so as to conform to the type of the source material that is estimated by the estimation portion 15b. the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d calculates the actual flow rate qr based on the detected flow rate qk detected by the flow sensor 11a3 in accordance with the third correlation that is decided by the first decision portion 15c2. the target flow rate calculation portion 15e calculates the target flow rate qt of the source material conforming to the generated electric current i of the fuel cell 34 in accordance with the fourth correlation that is decided by the second decision portion 15c3. the feedback control portion 15f controls the fuel pump 11a5 so that the actual flow rate qr calculated by the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d becomes equal to the target flow rate qt of the source material calculated by the target flow rate calculation portion 15e. the feedback control portion 15f calculates a feedback amount (i.e., operation amount (revolutions) of the fuel pump 11 a5) for the fuel pump 11 a5 as a control command value based on a difference between the actual flow rate qr calculated by the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d and the target flow rate qt of the source material calculated by the target flow rate calculation portion 15e (i.e., qt-qr) and outputs the calculated control command value to the fuel pump 11 a5. because a pwm control is performed on the fuel pump 11a5, the feedback amount is calculated by a duty ratio in the pwm control. the water flow rate calculation portion 15g calculates the flow rate of the water supplied to the evaporating portion 32 based on the actual flow rate qr calculated by the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d and the s/c ratio that is calculated by the steam to carbon ratio calculation portion 15c1. specifically, the flow rate of the water is calculated by multiplying the actual flow rate qr by the s/c ratio (i.e., (flow rate of water) = qr x (s/c ratio)). next, a control for estimating the type of the source material supplied to the fuel cell system (i.e., estimation control) in the fuel cell system is explained with reference to a flowchart in fig. 8 . in a case where a start switch is pressed (turned on) to start the operation of the fuel cell system or the operation is started in accordance with a planned operation, the control unit 15 executes program illustrated in fig. 8 . the control unit 15 starts the supply of the source material by specifying the target flow rate qt of the source material to the predetermined target flow rate qt1 in step s102. in a case where the source material is supplied to the oxygen treatment device 11a6 and the aforementioned oxidation reaction occurs by the catalyst for oxygen treatment, the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6 increases. then, the control unit 15 determines whether or not a predetermined time t has elapsed from a point at which the supply of the source material is started in step s104. the predetermined time t is specified from the start point of the supply of the source material to a point at which the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6 is stabilized. the predetermined time t is obtained beforehand by an actual measurement in an experiment, for example. in a case where the predetermined time t has not elapsed, the control unit 15 repeatedly performs the determination in step s104. the control unit 15 proceeds the operation to step s106 in a case where the predetermined time t has elapsed. the control unit 15 acquires the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material detected by the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7 in step s106. then, the control unit 15 estimates the type of the source material supplied to the fuel cell system in step s108 (i.e., by the estimation portion 15b). specifically, the control unit 15 estimates the type of the source material based on the concentration c of the oxygen in the source material calculated by the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7 in accordance with the first map m1. the control unit 15 calculates the operation condition of the fuel cell system conforming to the type of the source material that is estimated by the estimation portion 15b. first, the control unit 15 calculates the s/c ratio based on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15b in accordance with the second map m2 in step s110 (i.e., by the steam to carbon ratio calculation portion 15c1). in addition, the control unit 15 decides the third correlation among the plural third correlations indicated by the third map m3 so as to conform to the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15b in step s112 (i.e., by the first decision portion 15c2). for example, in a case where the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15b is the city gas g1, the control unit 15 decides the third correlation conforming to the city gas g1. further, the control unit 15 decides the fourth correlation among the plural fourth correlations indicated by the fourth map m4 so as to conform to the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15b in step s114 (i.e., by the second decision portion 15c3). for example, in a case where the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15b is the city gas g1, the control unit 15 decides the fourth correlation conforming to the city gas g1. next, a case where the aforementioned flowchart is executed in a start-up operation of the fuel cell system is explained. in addition, an example where the city gas g1 is supplied to the fuel cell system is explained. in a case where the start switch is pressed (turned on) to start the operation of the fuel cell system or the operation is started in accordance with the planned operation, the control unit 15 starts the start-up operation of the fuel cell system. the control unit 15 supplies an electric power to the catalytic heater 11a6a when the start-up operation is started. the power supply to the catalytic heater 11a6a causes the temperature of the catalyst for oxygen treatment to increase. the control unit 15 acquires the concentration c (approximately 1 %) of the oxygen contained in the source material detected by the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 after the elapse of the predetermined time t from the start of the supply of the source material with the predetermined target flow rate qt1 in steps s102 to s106. the control unit 15 estimates the type of the source material as the city gas g1 based on the concentration c of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 in step s108. in addition, the control unit 15 calculates or decides the s/c ratio, the third correlation and the fourth correlation conforming to the city gas g1 in steps s110 to s114. the control unit 15 calculates the actual flow rate qr by the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d from the detected flow rate qk in accordance with the third correlation conforming to the city gas g1. the control unit 15 controls the fuel pump 11a5 by the feedback control portion 15f so that the actual flow rate qr becomes equal to the predetermined target flow rate qt1. after the supply of the source material is started in step s102, the control unit 15 ignites the ignition heaters 36a1 and 36a2 to thereby burn or combustion the gas sent from the fuel cell 34 at the combusting portion 36. further, the control unit 15 supplies the water to the evaporating portion 32 by controlling the water pump 11 b1. at this time, the control unit 15 calculates the flow rate of the water by the water flow rate calculation portion 15g by multiplying the actual flow rate qr which is calculated by the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d by the s/c ratio conforming to the city gas g1 (i.e., (flow rate of water) = qr x (s/c ratio)). accordingly, the water with the flow rate conforming to the city gas g1 is supplied to the evaporating portion 32. because a pwm control is performed on the water pump 11 b1, the control command value to the water pump 11 b1 is calculated by a duty ratio in the pwm control. in a case where the temperature of the reforming portion 33 that is heated by the combusting portion 36 reaches a predetermined temperature (approximately 350 °c, for example), the temperature of the recycle gas reaches substantially the predetermined temperature. in a case where the temperature of the recycle gas is equal to the predetermined temperature, the oxygen contained in the source material is removed by the oxidation reaction between the hydrogen contained in the recycle gas and the oxygen within the oxygen treatment device 11a6. further, in a case where the temperature of the fuel cell 34 reaches a predetermined operation temperature (approximately 600 °c, for example), the control unit 15 stops the start-up operation and starts a power generation operation. the control unit 15 controls a generated electric power of the fuel cell 34 to be equal to a consumed power of the external power load 16c during the power generation operation of the fuel cell system (i.e., performs a load following control). specifically, based on the consumed power of the external power load 16c, the generated electric power and further the generated electric current i of the fuel cell 34 are decided. the target flow rate calculation portion 15e of the control unit 15 calculates the target flow rate qt of the city gas g1 based on the generated electric current i of the fuel cell 34 that is decided as above, in accordance with the fourth map m4. the control unit 15 controls the fuel pump 11 a5 by the feedback control portion 15f so that the actual flow rate qr becomes equal to the target flow rate qt of the city gas g1 that is calculated by the target flow rate calculation portion 15e. the control unit 15 controls the water pump 11 b1 with the flow rate of the water calculated by the water flow rate calculation portion 15g based on the actual flow rate qr and the s/c ratio conforming to the city gas g1. in a case where the source material is the air mixture city gas g2, the source material is estimated to be the air mixture city gas g2 by the estimation portion 15b in step s108. then, the control unit 15 estimates the operation condition of the fuel cell system conforming to the air mixture city gas g2 in steps s110 to s114 and controls the operation of the fuel cell system in the same way as the case where the source material is the city gas g1 as mentioned above. in a case where the source material is the air mixture lp gas g3, the source material is estimated to be the air mixture lp gas g3 by the estimation portion 15b in step s108. then, the control unit 15 estimates the operation condition of the fuel cell system conforming to the air mixture lp gas g3 in steps s110 to s114 and controls the operation of the fuel cell system in the same way as the case where the source material is the city gas g1 as mentioned above. according to the present embodiment, the fuel cell system includes the fuel cell 34 generating an electric power by the reformed gas and the oxidant gas, the oxygen treatment device 11a6 being supplied with the source material from the supply source gs to remove tge oxygen contained in the source material by the catalyst for oxygen treatment, the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 detecting the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material, the desulfurization device 11a8 being supplied with the source material after the oxygen in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device 11a6 to remove the sulfur component contained in the source material by the desulfurization catalyst, the evaporating portion 32 generating the water vapor from the water for reforming, the reforming portion 33 generating the reformed gas by the source material which is supplied from the desulfurization device 11a8 and in which the sulfur component is removed and the water vapor supplied from the evaporating portion 32, the reforming portion 33 supplying the reformed gas to the fuel cell 34, and the control unit 15 at least controlling the fuel cell 34. the control unit 15 includes the storage portion 15a storing the first map m1 that indicates the first correlation between the concentration c of the oxygen contained in the source material and the type of the source material, the estimation portion 15b estimating the type of the source material based on the concentration c of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7 in accordance with the first map m1 (step s108), and the operation condition calculation portion 15c calculating the operation condition of the fuel cell system depending on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15b. accordingly, the fuel cell system may remove the oxygen contained in the source material with the usage of the catalyst for oxygen treatment by the oxygen treatment device 11a6. in addition, the control unit 15 may estimate the type of the supplied source material by the estimation portion 15b based on the concentration c of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7. further, the control unit 15 may calculate the operation condition of the fuel cell system by the operation condition calculation portion 15c based on the type of the source material that is estimated by the estimation portion 15b. accordingly, the oxidation degradation of the desulfurization catalyst and the reforming catalyst by the oxygen contained in the source material is restrained. even in a case where the type of the source material varies and differs, the control unit 15 may appropriately operate the fuel cell system. in addition, the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7 is a temperature sensor arranged at the oxygen treatment device 11a6 for detecting the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6. accordingly, because the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7 is constituted by the temperature sensor, the oxygen concentration detection device 11 a7 may be easily constituted at a relatively low cost. further, the storage portion 15a stores the second map m2 indicating the second correlation between the type of the source material and the steam to carbon ratio that indicates the ratio of the volume of the water vapor relative to the volume of the source material supplied to the reforming portion 33. the operation condition calculation portion 15c includes the steam to carbon ratio calculation portion 15c1 calculating the steam to carbon ratio based on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15a in accordance with the second map m2 (step s110). the control unit 15 calculates the s/c ratio depending on the type of the source material by the steam to carbon ratio calculation portion 15c1. accordingly, the flow rate of the water vapor may be adjusted to an appropriate flow rate depending on the type of the source material relative to the flow rate of the source material supplied to the reforming portion 33. the generation of coking may be restrained. the fuel cell system further includes the flow sensor 11 a3 detecting the flow rate of the source material. the storage portion 15a stores the third map m3 indicating the plural third correlations between the detected flow rate qk detected by the flow sensor 11 a3 and the actual flow rate qr of the source material based on the types of the source material. the operation condition calculation portion 15c includes the decision portion 15c2 deciding one of the plural third correlations indicated by the third map m3, the one of the plural third correlations conforming to the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15a (step s112). the control unit 15 includes the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d calculating the actual flow rate qr based on the detected flow rate qk detected by the flow sensor 11 a3 in accordance with the one of the plural third correlations decided by the decision portion 15c2. the control unit 15 calculates the actual flow rate qr depending on the type of the source material based on the detected flow rate qk by the actual flow rate calculation portion 15d. accordingly, the flow rate of the source material depending on the type of the source material may be appropriately controlled. the control unit 15 may appropriately control the flow rate of the reformed gas supplied to the fuel cell 34 to thereby appropriately control the power generation (i.e., generated amount) of the fuel cell 34. the fuel cell system further includes the recycle gas pipe 39 connecting between the reformed gas supply pipe 38 supplying the reformed gas from the reforming portion 33 to the fuel cell 34 and the fuel supply pipe 11 a supplying the source material from the supply source gs to the oxygen treatment device 11a6, the recycle gas pipe 39 supplying a portion of the reformed gas to the oxygen treatment device 11a6 as the recycle fuel. the desulfurization device 11a8 removes the sulfur component contained in the source material by the hydrogen included in the recycle fuel. in a case where the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is employed as the desulfurization catalyst performing the desulfurization with the usage of hydrogen, the possible flow of the oxygen contained in the source material to the desulfurization device 11a8 may cause a combustion of the oxygen because an activating temperature of the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is approximately 250 °c, which results in oxidation of the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent. in the present embodiment, however, the oxygen contained in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device 11a6 so that the oxygen is restrained from flowing to the desulfurization device 11a8. thus, the oxidization of the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent may be inhibited. in addition, in a case where the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is employed as the desulfurization catalyst, the hydrogen in the recycle gas is utilized for the desulfurization. in this case, because the temperature within the desulfurization device 11a8 is approximately 250 °c, the possible flow of the oxygen contained in the source material to the desulfurization device 11a8 may cause the combustion reaction between the hydrogen and the oxygen to thereby consume the hydrogen in the recycle gas. thus, the desulfurizing performance of the desulfurization device 11a8 may decrease because the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent is impossible to utilize the hydrogen in the recycle gas. in the present embodiment, however, because the oxygen contained in the source material is removed by the oxygen treatment device 11a6, the oxygen is retrained form flowing to the desulfurization device 11a8. the desulfurizing performance of the desulfurization device 11a8 may be thus restrained from decreasing. in the aforementioned embodiment, the operation condition calculation portion 15c of the control unit 15 calculates the s/c, for example, as the operation condition of the fuel cell system. in addition to the s/c, the temperature of each portion (i.e., fuel cell 34, reforming portion 33 and the like) of the fuel cell module 11 conforming to the type of the source material and the temperature of the water supplied to the evaporating portion 32, for example, may be calculated. in this case, plural maps indicating correlations between the type of the source material and the temperature of each portion of the fuel cell module 11 and between the type of the source material and the temperature of the water supplied to the evaporating portion 32, for example, may be stored at the storage portion 15a. the control unit 15 calculates the temperature of each portion of the fuel cell module 11 and the temperature of the water supplied to the evaporating portion 32, for example, by the operation condition calculation portion 15c based on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion 15b in accordance with the aforementioned plural maps. the control unit 15 may appropriately operate the fuel cell system in a case where the type of the source material varies and differs. in addition, in the embodiment, the control unit 15 executes the flowchart illustrated in fig. 8 during the start-up operation of the fuel cell system. alternatively, the control unit 15 may execute the flowchart illustrated in fig. 8 periodically (for example, every 24 hours) during the power generation operation of the fuel cell system. further, in the present embodiment, the hydro-desulfurizing agent and the superhigh-order desulfurizing agent are accommodated within the desulfurization device 11a8 as the desulfurization catalyst. alternatively, a normal temperature desulfurizing agent for removing the sulfur component contained in the source material without the usage of hydrogen may be accommodated within the desulfurization device 11a8 as the desulfurization catalyst. the normal temperature desulfurizing agent is, for example, zeolite. the sulfur component in the source material is removed by being adsorbed to zeolite. when the normal temperature desulfurizing agent is employed, the recycle gas pipe 39 and/or the pressure regulating device 11a4 may be eliminated. furthermore, in the present embodiment, the fuel cell system may additionally include a flow rate regulating valve 39b at the recycle gas pipe 39 as illustrated in fig. 9 so that the flow rate of the recycle gas is adjustable by the command from the control unit 15. the flow rate regulating valve 39b is, for example, a needle valve. in the oxygen treatment device 11a6, the hydrogen contained in the recycle gas and the oxygen contained in the source material react each other. thus, the hydrogen contained in the recycle gas may be consumed before the recycle gas is supplied to the desulfurization device 11a8. accordingly, in a case of a shortage of hydrogen for the desulfurization, the desulfurizing performance of the desulfurization device 11a8 decreases. in a case where the flow rate regulating valve 39b configured to adjust the flow rate of the recycle gas is provided at the recycle gas pipe 39, however, the control unit 15 may secure the volume of hydrogen necessary for the desulfurization at the desulfurization device 11a8 by adjusting the flow rate of the recycle gas by the flow rate regulating valve 39b based on the concentration c of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device 11a7. thus, the decrease of desulfurizing performance at the desulfurization device 11a8 caused by a shortage of hydrogen may be restrained. furthermore, in the present embodiment, the catalytic heater 11a6a of the oxygen treatment device 11a6 may be eliminated or omitted in the fuel cell system. in this case, the oxygen treatment device 11a6 may be arranged at a portion (for example, within the casing 31) where the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6 reaches a certain temperature (for example, approximately 200 °c for propane) at which the oxidation reaction between the hydrocarbon and the oxygen contained in the source material occurs. in a case of the elimination or omission of the catalytic heater 11a6a of the oxygen treatment device 11a6, the oxygen treatment device 11a6 may be disposed at a portion (for example, outer surface of the casing 31) where the temperature th within the oxygen treatment device 11a6 reaches a certain temperature (for example, approximately 100 °c) at which the oxidation reaction between the hydrogen and the oxygen occurs. in this case, the temperature of the catalyst for oxygen treatment at the oxygen treatment device 11a6 may increase by the oxidation reaction between the hydrogen and the oxygen contained in the recycle gas. a fuel cell system includes a fuel cell (34), an oxygen treatment device (11a6) removing oxygen contained in a source material, an oxygen concentration detection device (11a7) detecting a concentration (c) of the oxygen contained in the source material, a desulfurization device (11a8), an evaporating portion (32), a reforming portion (33), and a control unit (15) including a storage portion (15a) storing a first map (m1) that indicates a first correlation between the concentration of the oxygen contained in the source material and a type of the source material, an estimation portion (15b) estimating the type of the source material based on the concentration of the oxygen detected by the oxygen concentration detection device in accordance with the first map, and an operation condition calculation portion (15c) calculating an operation condition of the fuel cell system depending on the type of the source material estimated by the estimation portion.
|
078-843-162-890-84X
|
DE
|
[
"ES",
"GR",
"YU",
"HU",
"DK",
"US",
"BR",
"EP"
] |
F16B13/08
| 1984-05-29T00:00:00 |
1984
|
[
"F16"
] |
expansion dowel.
|
an expansion anchor for anchoring in drill-holes, preferably in drill-holes having undercuts widening inwardly, comprises an expansion member having an expander cone supported at the bottom of the drill-hole, and an expansible sleeve driven onto the expander cone. the expansion member has an element for fastening or securing articles. the expansion member is punched out from sheet steel and the expander cone is rolled from a suitable flat blank. the gap provided at the outer surface of the expander cone is calibrated for closure.
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1. an expansion anchor for anchoring in drill holes having undercut portions widening towards bottoms of the drill holes, the anchor comprising an expansion member having an expander cone at a leading end thereof and supported at the bottom of the drill hole; an expansible sleeve being driven onto said expansion member, said expansible sleeve having elongated slots spaced from each other to form expansible portions driven onto said cone; means for securing objects, provided on said expansion member; and means for driving said expansible sleeve, said expansion member being punched-out from sheet steel and said expander cone being rolled from a respective flat blank, said expander cone having a roll gap at an outer surface thereof, said gap being calibrated for closure, said expansion member having a narrowed portion immediately adjoining said expander cone, said expansible portions of said expansible sleeve being bent into said narrowed portion in a non-anchored position. 2. the anchor as defined in claim 1, wherein said expansion member has an elongated portion between said expander cone and said securing means, said elongated portion being formed with a profile notch. 3. the anchor as defined in claim 1, wherein said securing means is a lug formed of one piece with said expansion member. 4. the anchor as defined in claim 3, wherein said expansion member includes an extension having an external dimension corresponding to the diameter of said expansible sleeve, said expansible sleeve having two opposing slots starting from a trailing end face of said sleeve and accommodating said extension. 5. the anchor as defined in claim 1, wherein said driving means include a punch tool having a recess receiving a trailing end of said expansion member.
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background of the invention the present invention relates generally to an expansion anchor, and more particularly to an expansion anchor for anchoring in a hole formed in a support structure. an expansion anchor for anchoring in drill-holes is adapted preferably for anchoring in drill-holes that have been prepared such that they have undercut portions which flare inwards. expansion anchors for securing an object to a support structure of the type under discussion, which comprise an expansion member supported at the bottom of the drill hole and an expander cone onto which an expansion sleeve is driven, have been known and are disclosed, for example in applicant's u.s. pat. nos. 3,733,959; 3,340,761; 3,955,464; 3,964,229; 3,471,183; 3,802,059; 4,028,857, etc. expansion anchors of the foregoing type are used in particular in ceilings, because by driving the expansible sleeve onto the expander cone of the expansion member, resting on the bottom of the drill-hole, an anchorage, that is not liable to develop cracks, is achieved. the load applied to the expansion member ensures that expansion will increase if the drill-hole becomes widened as a consequence of a crack running through the bore; this increase in expansion compensates for the loss in a pull-out force, caused by the bore opening up, or at least substantially reduces this loss. in order, firstly, to reduce the amount of energy required to drive the expansible sleeve, and, secondly, to increase the expansion ability, it is advantageous with the expansion anchor of this kind to provide the drill-hole with an undercut that widens towards the bottom of the drill-hole. with known expansion anchors of this type, a stay bolt, having a pressed-on expander cone, is generally used as the expansion member. the thread of the stay bolt serves for fastening objects or for screwing in extension pieces, on which objects may be suspended by means of wires, perforated bands or similar means. the manufacture of the stay bolts, and especially of the extension pieces, is extremely expensive and, in view of the shallow anchoring depth that is desired, these components are too large on account of the manufacturing method. summary of the invention it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved expansion anchor. it is another object of the invention to provide an expansion anchor which is simple and inexpensive in manufacture. these and other objects of the invention are attained by an expansion anchor for anchoring in drill holes having undercut portions widening towards bottoms of the drill holes, the anchor comprising an expansion member having an expander cone at a leading end thereof and supported at the bottom of the drill hole; an expansible sleeve being driven onto said expansion member, said expansible sleeve having elongated slots spaced from each other to form expansible portions driven onto said cone; means for securing objects, provided on said expansion member; and means for driving said expansible sleeve, said expansion member being punched-out from sheet steel and said expander cone being rolled from a respective flat blank, said expander cone having a roll gap at an outer surface thereof, said gap being calibrated for closure. a piece of sheet steel may be used for the manufacture of the expansion pin, the expansion member being punched out together with the flat blank for the expander cone and also the corresponding means for fastening or securing articles. the expander cone is subsequently rolled up, and additionally checked for dimensional accuracy on the one hand, and for complete closure of the slot in the outer surface of the expander cone, on the other hand. by closure of the slot, the expander cone is imparted stability that precludes a deformation of the expander cone as the expansible sleeve is driven on. the conditions for expansion are therefore identical with those of an expander cone hammered from a solid material. onto the bridging portion of the expansion member, joining the expander cone to the article-securing means, the expansible sleeve is pulled laterally, which is likewise rolled. the expansion member may have a portion adjoining said expander cone, said portion being formed with an elongated profile notch. this profile notch stiffens the portion of the expansion part located in the expansible sleeve. the expansion member may have a narrowed portion immediately adjoining said expander cone, said expansible portions of said expansible sleeve being bent into said narrowed portion in a non-anchored position. this produces a stop for the expansible sleeve which prevents the expansible sleeve from becoming caught up as the expansion pin is driven in, and thus facilitates the process of hammering the pin in. as soon as the expander cone is resting on the bottom of the drill-hole, the stop formed by the narrowed part, which stop acts a barrier for the end face of the expansible sleeve, is overcome by a somewhat harder blow, and the expansion portions of the sleeve are driven onto the expander cone. the securing means may be a lug formed of one piece with said expansion member. the expansion member may include an extension of an external dimension corresponding to the diameter of said expansible sleeve, said expansible sleeve having two opportune slots starting from a trailing end face of said sleeve and accommodating said extension. the driving means may include a pinch-like tool having a recess receiving a trailing end of said expansion member. for the anchoring, the expansion anchor according to the invention is inserted into a predrilled hole having an undercut until the expander cone rests on the bottom of the undercut of the drill-hole. by striking the end face of the expansible sleeve, using a punch-like tool that can be pushed over the attaching lug, the expansible sleeve is then driven onto the expander cone. articles, such as cables, pipes, covers and similar articles, can now be fastened or suspended, using the attaching lug. the aforementioned extension accommodated in the slots of the expansible sleeve fixes the expansion member in the center of the expansible sleeve. because the expansible sleeve lies with its outer surface closely against the wall of the drill-hole, the expansion member is also therefore supported in all directions by way of the extension. the shortened support over the longitudinal edges of the expansion part in the internal bore of the expansible sleeve is compensated by the fact that the expansion member lies, by virtue of the extension corresponding to the outer diameter of the expansible sleeve, closely against the wall of the drill-hole. in a further supplement to the invention, the extension may rest at the bottom of at least one slot. such an embodiment means that as the expansion anchor is positioned, by hammering on the attaching lug, the expansible sleeve, which is guided even in the case of narrow drill-holes, does not slip back over the expansion member. the novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. the invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 a partial sectional vertical view of the expansion anchor inserted in a drill-hole; fig. 2 is a vertical view, partially in section, of the expansion anchor anchored in a supporting structure; fig. 3 illustrates an arrangement for fastening an object to the expansion anchor of the invention; fig. 4 is a vertical view, partially in section, of another embodiment of the expansion anchor; and fig. 5 is a vertical view, partially in section, of the expansion anchor of fig. 4 in the anchored condition. detailed description of the preferred embodiments referring now to the drawings in detail, and firstly to figs. 1 and 2 thereof, the expansion anchor of the invention includes an expansion member 1 having, at its end insertable into the undercut widened portion 13 of a drill-hole 12, a cone-shaped expander cone 2 and an expansible sleeve 4 which is provided over the part of its length with longitudinal slots 3 circumferentially spaced from each other in the known fashion to form expanding portions or blades 8. sleeve 4 is rolled of a piece of sheet metal. the expansion member 1 is punched out from a piece of sheet steel, with rolling-on a flat blank for the expander cone 2 and an attaching lug 5. attaching lug 5 is provided for fastening or securing objects to a support structure 30. to form the expander cone 2, the corresponding flat blank on the expansion member is rolled such that the expander cone is formed. by calibration in a mold, a shape and dimensional accuracy of the expander cone 2 on the one hand, and a complete closure of a rolling gap 6 are ensured. to push the expansible sleeve 4 onto the portion of the expansion member between the expander cone 2 and the attaching lug 5, the expansible sleeve 4 is bent open at its continuous longitudinal slot 7 until it can be pulled over the portion of the expansion member. after the expansible sleeve has sprung back, a lasting connection between the expansible sleeve 4 and the expansion member 1 is produced. if necessary, the sleeve 4 may be compressed, wherein simultaneously the expanding portions 8 of sleeve 4 are bent into a narrowed portion 9 provided on the expansion member 1. this produces a stop preventing the expansible sleeve 4 from becoming caught up as it is driven into the hole. to anchor the expansion anchor in the hole of structure 30, a punch-like tool 11 is provided, which has a slot 10 matched to and receiving the attaching or fastening lug 5, with which tool expansible sleeve 4 is hammered on its end face. as a result the opposite end face of the expansible sleeve 4 strikes against the stop 9' formed on the narrowed portion 9, and the expansion member 1 is pushed into the drill-hole 12 until the expander cone 2 rests against the bottom of the drill-hole. after overcoming the stop 9' of the narrowed portion 9 of the expansion member 1 by a somewhat harder blow, the expanding portions 8 of sleeve 4 are driven into the gap between the outer surface of the expander cone 2 and the wall of the undercut 13 of the drill-hole 12, and thus the expansion anchor is anchored in the drill-hole 12. the attaching lug 5 of the expansion member 1 serves as means for fastening or securing objects. depending on the design of the attaching lug 5, wires or perforated bands 14 may be slipped through it or fastened to it by means of a fastening screw 15. to render the expansion member 1 rigid, a longitudinally extending profile-notch 16 is formed in it between the expander cone 2 and the attaching lug 5. to support the expansion member in the expansible sleeve 4 at right angles to the plane of the lug 5, the modified expansion member 1, shown in figs. 4 and 5, is provided with an extension 20 adjoining the lug. the external dimension of extension 20 corresponds to the diameter of the expansible sleeve 4. to accommodate extension 20, the expansible sleeve 4 has two opposing slots 21 that start from the rear end face of the expansible sleeve 4. one of these slots is aligned with the continuous longitudinal slot 7 of the expansible sleeve 4. the inner width of the longitudinal slot 7 may vary from that of each slot 21. the length of the slots 21 accommodating the extension 20 is so selected that the extension 20 rests at the bottom of these slots. it will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of expansion anchors differing from the types described above. while the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a an expansion anchor, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
|
081-548-580-436-793
|
GB
|
[
"EP",
"DE",
"JP",
"KR",
"SG",
"US",
"GB"
] |
H04B1/08,H04M17/00,H04W8/24,H04W88/02
| 1991-10-14T00:00:00 |
1991
|
[
"H04"
] |
communications receiver.
|
a communications receiver, such as a radiopager (10), has a socket (22) into which a device, such as a card (24), can be inserted in order to load into the receiver data relating to its operation. the data may comprise a radio identity code (ric) and prepaid credit units which are cancelled by the receiver as they are spent. additionally the data may relate to frequency and data rate information which is usable by the receiver to adapt it to be able to receive messages transmitted by the respective paging system. once the data has been loaded in the device it is removed from the receiver and is either discarded or re-used after having the credit units recharged on payment of a fee. the receiver may be adapted to any one of a number of paging systems by simply inserting the appropriate card (24) and loading in the operating information, ric and credit units embedded in it. a user can roam from country to country and by downloading the relevant information from an insertable card be able to adapt his receiver to the local paging system and pay for his usage of his receiver as he goes.
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a communications receiver comprising receiving means (14, 30) for frequency down-converting and decoding a received radio signal, control means (16) for controlling the operation of said receiver in accordance with a stored program of instructions, said control means being coupled to said receiving means (14, 30) to receive decoded information from said receiving means, output means (34, 36) controlled by said control means (16) to produce an indication of the received information to a user of said receiver, and device receiving means (22) coupled to said control means (16) for receiving a device (24) containing information for use in carrying out the stored program of said control means, at least some of which information is expendable, characterised in that electrically alterable non-volatile storage means (26) is coupled to said control means (16) and in that when said device (24) is received by said device receiving means (22) said control means is adapted to cause the information in said device (24) to be read-out and stored in said non-volatile storage means and in so doing said expendable information in said device (24) is erased thereby enabling the device to be removed from the device receiving means (22) without affecting the operation of the receiver. a receiver as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the expendable information contained in said device (24) includes information relating to a radio frequency and reception protocol applicable to a particular geographical area, said information upon read-out from said device being stored by said control means (16) in said non-volatile storage means (26). a receiver as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the expendable information contained in said device (24) includes information relating to radio frequency and reception protocols applicable to at least two different geographical areas, said information upon read-out from said device being stored by said control means (16) in said non-volatile storage means (26). a receiver as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that the expendable information contained in said device (24) includes at least one radio identity code which upon read-out from said device (24) is stored by said control means (16) in said non-volatile storage means (26), and in that said control means (16) is adapted to compare an address code derived from a received radio signal with the radio identity code stored in said non-volatile storage means (26) in order to determine whether the received radio signal is addressed to said receiver. a receiver as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the expendable information contained in said device (24) includes prepayment information relating to authorized usage of said receiver, said pre-payment information is read-out from said device and stored by said control means (16) in said non-volatile storage means (26), and in that said control means (16) is adapted to debit the stored prepayment information in accordance with extent of usage of said receiver. a receiver as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that said control means (16) comprises timing means (32) for debiting the stored prepayment information in accordance with time of usage of the receiver. a receiver as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the expendable information contained in said device (24) includes an encryption key which upon read-out from said device (24) is stored by said control means (16) in said non-volatile storage means (26), and in that said control means (16) is adapted to use the stored encryption key in carrying out said stored program.
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the present invention relates to a communications receiver for receiving messages, such as a radiopager. in the present specification the term radiopager is intended to cover a communications receiver for receiving an address codeword only or an address codeword together with concatenated data message codewords. normally such receivers are not able to transmit signals although what is termed answer-back radiopagers are becoming available. for convenience of description, the present invention will be described for use in a pocsag or ccir radiopaging code no. 1 system details of which are disclosed in "the book of the ccir radiopaging code no. 1" available from secretary rcsg, british telecom, radiopaging, 23 howland street, london, w1p 6hq, united kingdom. however the teachings of the present invention are not system dependent and could readily be applied to radiopagers operating in accordance with the golay or ermes radiopaging protocols. in the united kingdom, pocsag digital radiopaging services are provided by several network providers. however service providers supply radiopaging receivers to the end user and also bill the customer at periodic intervals say every 3 months. when supplying a radiopager, a service provider writes a radio identity code (ric) or address in a non-volatile store included in the radiopager. the ric uniquely links the radiopager with the particular user. thus in operation if the radiopager detects the transmission of its ric in the relevant predetermined frame of a batch, it remains energised to provide an audio, visual and/or tactile alert indication to the user and where appropriate it will store message data which is concatenated with its address codeword. also the service provider will adjust the receiver to receive signals in the relevant frequency channel, the bit rate being already predetermined by the pocsag protocol. the radiopager as delivered to the end customer is then able to operate within the receiving range of the transmitters operated by a predetermined network provider. at the present time many countries have their own national digital paging systems based on pocsag. however because of the likelihood of the same ric being issued to a different pager in each country and each country operating its paging system on a different frequency or frequencies it is not usually possible for a user to take say a normal uk digital radiopager to another country operating the pocsag system and use it there. furthermore no arrangements currently exist for billing users who cross national boundaries. a number of ptts and other network providers in europe operate euromessage which is one attempt to provide a degree of international paging coverage within certain parts of europe, primarily the major cities. euromessage operates on a single frequency at uhf and requires a user to hire a radiopaging receiver from a service provider, and also requires the user to indicate, several weeks in advance of his departure, those countries in which the user wishes to be paged. drawbacks to euromessage are that it is relatively inflexible, it is not comprehensive in its coverage of the respective countries and it requires a user to have to carry a second radiopaging receiver in addition to that usable in his home country. ep-a2-0 360 228 discloses a paging receiver capable of receiving a rom card which contains data which is usable by a pager controller in operating the receiver. in this known arrangement the rom card has to be inserted into an appropriate built-in card reader for the duration of the usage of the receiver. thereafter it can be removed for subsequent re-use. a drawback to such an arrangement is that if the rom card is mislaid or damaged then the paging receiver cannot be used. another drawback of retaining a rom card in the paging receiver is that it detracts from the overall compactness of what is intended to be a small apparatus. an object of the present invention is to provide more flexibility in the use of radiopagers. according to the present invention there is provided a communications receiver comprising receiving means for frequency down-converting and decoding a received radio signal, control means for controlling the operation of said receiver in accordance with a stored program of instructions, said control means being coupled to said receiving means to receive decoded information from said receiving means, output means controlled by said control means to produce an indication of the received information to a user of said receiver, and device receiving means coupled to said control means for receiving a device containing information for use in carrying out the stored program of said control means, at least some of which information is expendable, characterised in that electrically alterable non-volatile storage means is coupled to said control means and in that when said device is received by said device receiving means said control means is adapted to cause the information in said device to be read out and stored in said non-volatile storage means and in so doing said expendable information in said device is erased thereby enabling the device to be removed from the device receiving means without affecting the operation of the receiver. in one embodiment of the present invention the radiopager is a standard receiver which has not had a ric embedded in it by a service provider. however the device, which may comprise a card, stores a ric which is assigned to the card together with credit information comprising prepaid credit units. by inserting the card into the radiopager the ric together with the credit units are loaded into respective storage locations in the radiopager which confirms that the information has been received. the card which has been erased is then withdrawn. a user has then to inform his office of the new ric or access code, which may be printed on the card, in order that he can be paged. the prepaid credit units are debited in accordance with the usage of the radiopager, which usage might be related to the number of paging calls addressed to, and received by, the radiopager or the period(s) of time when the radiopager is available to receive paging calls. when the credit units have been exhausted then the user has a number of options, for example to obtain a new card with its own ric or access code and prepaid credit units, to take the original card to a suitable office or a shop where the credit units are recharged on payment, or to have a supply of cards having the same ric or access code and prepaid credit units. the use of such cards with radiopagers means that both items can be obtained from any suitable retail outlet and not just from an established service provider. additionally because the credit units are prepaid then the service provider is relieved of the job of billing the user at regular intervals. in another embodiment of the present invention the radiopager is capable of adapting its operating characteristics such as its frequency and, if applicable, its data rate in response to information loaded into it from a suitable card which has stored in it not only such information but also a ric and prepaid credit units. when such information is loaded in then the radiopager is adapted to receive calls from a paging system operating in a particular area or country. if the radiopager has sufficient storage then information from two or more such cards can be loaded into the radiopager. the information includes operating characteristics of systems in difference geographical areas. when a user is in a particular area, say france, he selects france and the radiopager adapts itself according to the information loaded in from a french card. on crossing into germany then the user selects germany and the radiopager adapts itself accordingly. the prepaid credit units associated with one country cannot be used in another country should the credit units for that country be exhausted. if desired the radiopager may be capable of receiving encrypted messages but in order to decode them the encryption key is required. such a key may be provided by an insertable card which is erased during the loading of the key into the radiopager. if at the base station, the key used in the encryption is changed then the user of a radiopager has to insert a card having the new key in order to be able to receive paging alerts and/or messages. the use of prepayment cards, credit cards and bank cards for the payment of telephone calls is known per se but such cards do not provide the telephone unit with an identity by which it can receive calls. it is also known from a conference paper "smart card technology applied to the future european cellular telephone on the digital d-network" read at smart card '90 international exhibition and conference, plf commun, 3 vol. 332 pp, pages q1 to q13, vol. 2, 1990 that in order for a user to be able to use his gsm radiotelephone it must have a subscriber identity module (sim) inserted into the telephone in order to be able to operate. a user carrying his sim with him is then able to roam internationally through the gsm system and make calls via any telephone unit simply by inserting his sim. billing is done by debiting the user. a sim does not provide the possibility of prepayment of credit units to avoid billing, does not have its own ric as opposed to that of a user and does not adapt the radiotelephone to the radio transmission characteristics of a country in which it is to be used. the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:- figure 1 is a sketch drawing illustrating a radiopager and a device consisting of a card in which is embedded information to be loaded into the radiopager in order to enable it to operate, figure 2 is a block schematic diagram of a radiopager, and figure 3 is a sketch illustrating one method by which the radiopager can be used in different geographical areas. in the drawings the same reference numerals have been used to indicate corresponding features. the radiopager 10 shown in figures 1 and 2 comprises a housing 12 which contains a radio receiver 14 and a controller 16. a liquid crystal display (lcd) panel 18 is provided in a wall of the housing 12 together with a plurality of push switches 20 which are used to determine various operating modes of the radiopager 10. a socket 22 is provided in a wall of the housing 12 for receiving a device, such as a card 24, which contains a ric, prepaid credit units and, depending on its application, frequency, data rate and any other information which will be required by the radiopager 10 in order for it to operate. the card 24 is inserted into the socket 22 and the information it contains is loaded into a non-volatile store 26 under the control of the controller 16. the store 26 is electrically alterable and may comprise an eeprom. the completion of the loading in of the information is confirmed by the radiopager displaying a confirmation message which may contain the ric, number of credit units and optionally a system or country code on the lcd panel 18. the radiopager 10 includes a frequency synthesiser 28 which produces a local oscillator frequency which is supplied to the receiver 14. the local oscillator frequency may be varied as required by means of the controller 16. a decoder 30 is connected between an output of the receiver 14 and an input to the controller 16. the purpose of the decoder 30 is to adapt a received paging signal coded according to the specified standard into a form which is suitable for application to the controller 16. a timer 32, lcd drivers 34 and an audio, visual and/or tactile alerting device(s) 36 are connected respectively to the controller 16. in one mode of operation, a user of the radiopager 10 obtains a card 24 from any suitable retail outlet, which card has a ric, access code and prepaid credit units embedded in it. the user inserts the card 24 into the socket 22 and the ric and the number of credit units are loaded into the store 26 and the successful transfer of this information is indicated on the lcd panel 18. the card is then discarded as the information has been erased. finally, the user then has to inform, say, his office of his current ric or access code. in use the radiopager 10 is energised for its respective frame according to the specified standard and if a paging message is received, it is decoded and the address codeword is compared with the current ric by the controller 16 and if there is a match then the alerting device 36 is energised and, where applicable, any message codewords are stored in a ram 37. if the debiting is done on a per call basis then the number of credit units is reduced by one after each call received. alternatively if the debiting is done on a time basis, then when switching on the radiopager 10, the timer 32 increments the time and after a predetermined unit of time has elapsed the controller 16 deducts one credit unit from the number held in the store 26. when the number of credit units has expired then various options are possible. for example the user goes to a retail outlet and purchases another card which has its own ric, access code and credit units and the user inserts this card into the socket 22 and loads in the new ric and the prepaid credit units. he then has to inform say, his office, of his new ric or access code. frequent changes of rics may be avoided by credit units on the card being rechargeable on payment of a fee or by a batch cards having the same ric and access code being purchased and held by the user and/or his office. this simple mode of operation has the advantages that the user can purchase his radiopager and cards from any suitable retail outlet and is not dependent on a service provider who may not be open for business, that billing is avoided and that the user has some control over the cost of operating his radiopager - currently in great britain service providers charge monthly fees independent of the degree of usage and number of calls received. figure 3 illustrates a mode of use where for example countries a and b have pocsag digital paging systems which are operated on different frequency channels. in order to be able to use the same radiopager 10 in both countries, the local oscillator frequency produced by the frequency synthesiser 28 must be such as to enable the paging signal to be received. accordingly the card 24 contains not only a ric or access code and credit units suitable for the country concerned but also frequency data which the controller 16 can supply to the synthesiser 28 so that it generates the appropriate local oscillator frequency. thus when in country a, which will be regarded as the home country, the user purchases a card 24a and loads in the required information which is used to adapt the radiopager 10 accordingly. as before, the user notifies his office of his ric or access code. whilst in country a, the user can be paged by way of a paging system psa and its associated base stations bs. when the user travels to country b, he purchases a card 24b and loads in a new ric or access code, credit units and frequency information for country b and notifies his office in country a of his ric or access code. the radiopager 10 is now only able to accept paging calls from the paging system psb in country b, which if they are from his office in country a, are relayed by the paging system psa and the international pstn network 38 to the paging system psb. depending on the level of sophistication in the radiopager various implementations are possible to cover a radiopager roaming outside the area of one paging system and into the area of another paging system. for example when considering figure 3, the insertion of the card 24b can erase not only the ric but also the unused credit units due to country a and vice versa when a subsequent card 24a is inserted. alternatively if the store 26 is large enough it may be able to store simultaneously rics, credit units and frequency information on a per country basis and when a user arrives, or prior to his arrival, in a country either he buys a card and loads the information into his radiopager 10 or if such information is already stored and there are unused credit units, he uses the push switches 20 to select operation for the country concerned. in a further refinement, if the radiopager has been preloaded with information relating to two or more countries and is in credit, then the controller 16 can by adapting the receiver characteristics on an empirical basis automatically set the radiopager up for receiving paging messages from the local paging system in the country concerned. credit units are stored on a per paging system basis and only debited when used on that system. for example, credit units for use on system psb(figure 3) cannot be used in the event the radiopager 10 operating on the system psa and exhausting the number of credit units it has for that system. a practical problem which may occur when using rics embedded into cards is one of how long an interval should be allowed to elapse before issuing a card with an identical ric. this problem can occur because there is a large but finite number of rics and therefore the number of cards with different rics is not limitless. if the same ric has been issued two or more times and the respective radiopagers are in credit then without some precautions being taken a paging request can be accepted by the pager system for anyone of them and its transmissions can be received by all those pagers having the same ric. one method of reducing the incidence of multiple transmissions is for the card to be limited to a certain life, say 6 months or to a predetermined number of paging messages, say 100 messages, after which time or number of messages its registration at the paging system terminal is deleted. a method by which the registration is deleted after a predetermined period of time will now be described. the card includes a ric, an access code and a registration number. when the user purchases a new card he loads in the pager specific ric and other information as described previously. at that point in time, the timer 32 (figure 2) has not been set and can only be set by the user registering with the paging system by telephoning the registration number and giving the ric or access number. the pager system then sends an initiating paging message to the radiopager 10 on the new ric. the radiopager 10 will respond only to the initialising message, and on receipt of this message the timer 32 begins to count for a predetermined duration, say 6 months. at the same time the paging system records the time it sent the initiating message. at the end of the predetermined duration the paging system refuses to accept any more calls for that ric or access number and also the radiopager 10 can indicate that its current ric has expired. the system can now sanction the issuing of another card having the same ric. in the case of the authorisation of a predetermined number of calls, then the paging system monitors the number of paging calls which have been transmitted. to be viable, the authorisation will also contain a time restriction such as 100 calls in 6 months. this method may not prevent a pager which has still the same ric as has been reissued subsequently from receiving pages meant for someone else who also has that ric. however this problem can be overcome by the timer erasing the ric stored in the controller 16 so that it cannot receive anything except a specific initiating message after insertion of new/updated card data. another use for information stored on an insertable card is to decrypt encrypted messages by the card having the currently used encryption key which is loaded into the radiopager. if the paging system changes the encryption key monthly then new cards will have to be issued monthly if the user is to continue to be able to decrypt encrypted messages sent to his radiopager.
|
082-725-571-168-345
|
JP
|
[
"JP",
"EP",
"US",
"CN"
] |
G06T7/00,G06V10/774,G06N20/00,G08G1/00,G06T7/73
| 2018-08-02T00:00:00 |
2018
|
[
"G06",
"G08"
] |
information processing method and information processing system
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an information processing method includes the following performed using a computer: acquiring images created through capturing at the same time, and positions and capturing directions of image capturing devices that created respectively each of the images; acquiring object detection results obtained respectively through object detection processes performed using each of the images; and performing a training data selection process using the images, the positions and the capturing directions, and the object detection results acquired. the training data selection process includes: calculating a common region that is seen in the images in common, based on the positions and the capturing directions; determining a degree of agreement among the object detection results in the common region; and selecting an image to be used as training data from among the images, according to the degree of agreement.
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an information processing method, comprising the following performed using a computer: acquiring a plurality of images created through capturing at the same time, and positions and capturing directions of a plurality of image capturing devices that created respectively each of the images; acquiring a plurality of object detection results, wherein the object detection results are obtained respectively through a plurality of object detection processes performed using each of the images; and performing a training data selection process using the images, the positions and the capturing directions, and the object detection results acquired, wherein the training data selection process includes: calculating a common region that is seen in the images in common, based on the positions and the capturing directions; determining a degree of agreement among the object detection results in the common region; and selecting an image to be used as training data from among the images, according to the degree of agreement. the information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining whether to perform the training data selection process, according to a specific object detection result obtained through an object detection process performed using an image created through capturing by a specific image capturing device of the image capturing devices; and performing the training data selection process in a case where the training data selection process is determined to be performed. the information processing method according to claim 2, wherein an other image capturing device which is one of the image capturing devices other than the specific image capturing device is an image capturing device capable of capturing ranges overlapping a capturing range of the specific image capturing device. the information processing method according to claim 3, wherein the other image capturing device is an image capturing device that is located within a predetermined range from a reference location with reference to a position of the specific image capturing device. the information processing method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising: causing an other image capturing device which is one of the image capturing devices other than the specific image capturing device to perform the capturing. the information processing method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the specific object detection result includes a likelihood of an object detection result, and the determining whether to perform the training data selection process includes: determining that the training data selection process is to be performed when the likelihood satisfies a predetermined condition. the information processing method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the determining whether to perform the training data selection process includes: acquiring statistical information on at least one item of information from among capturing times of the images, positions of the image capturing devices that perform the capturing to create the images, and an attribute or a state of an object detected through the object detection processes; and determining whether to perform the training data selection process using the acquired statistical information. the information processing method according to claim 7, wherein the statistical information includes rarity information that indicates a rarity of the at least one item of information, and the determining whether to perform the training data selection process includes: determining that the training data selection process is to be performed when the rarity satisfies a predetermined condition. the information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein in the training data selection process, in a case where there is an object detection result that does not agree with others of the object detection results, an image to be used as training data is selected from among the images. the information processing method according to claim 9, wherein in a case where performances of the image capturing devices are same and performances of the object detection processes are same, the image to be used as the training data is selected from among the images according to a number or a ratio of agreeing object detection results of the object detection results. the information processing method according to claim 9, wherein in one of a case where performances of the image capturing devices are different from one another and a case where performances of the object detection processes are different from one another, a parameter for the training data selection process is determined according to how high the performances of the image capturing devices are or how high the performances of the object detection processes are, and the training data selection process with the determined parameter is performed. an information processing system, comprising: an acquirer that acquires a plurality of images created through capturing at the same time, positions and capturing directions of a plurality of image capturing devices that created respectively each of the images, and a plurality of object detection results, wherein the object detection results are obtained respectively through a plurality of object detection processes performed using each of the images; and a performance unit that performs a training data selection process using the images, the positions and the capturing directions, and the object detection results acquired by the acquirer, wherein as the training data selection process, the performance unit: calculates a common region that is seen in the images in common, based on the positions and the capturing directions; determines a degree of agreement among the object detection results in the common region; and selects an image to be used as training data from among the images, according to the degree of agreement.
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field the present disclosure relates to an information processing method and an information processing system for selecting images to be used as training data. background ptl 1 discloses a database construction system that automatically collects supervised training data for machine learning that uses a result of detection by one of a plurality of kinds of sensors as training data to perform recognition of objects from outputs of another sensor. citation list patent literature ptl 1: japanese unexamined patent application publication no. 2017-102838 summary technical problem by the technique of ptl 1, however, in a case where a precision or an accuracy (hereinafter, also referred to simply as a precision) of a result of detection by a sensor to be used as training data is low, the result of detection by the sensor is not adopted as training data. therefore whether the training data is obtained or not depends on the precision of the first sensor. as a result, it is difficult for the technique of ptl 1 to obtain training data stably. hence, the present disclosure has an objective to provide an information processing method and an information processing system that are less susceptible to a precision of an object detection process using sensors and are capable of providing captured images to be used as training data in a stable manner. solution to problem an information processing method according to the present disclosure includes the following performed using a computer: acquiring a plurality of images created through capturing at the same time, and positions and capturing directions of a plurality of image capturing devices that created respectively each of the images; acquiring a plurality of object detection results, wherein the object detection results are obtained respectively through a plurality of object detection processes performed using each of the images; and performing a training data selection process using the images, the positions and the capturing directions, and the object detection results acquired, wherein the training data selection process includes: calculating a common region that is seen in the images in common, based on the positions and the capturing directions; determining a degree of agreement among the object detection results in the common region; and selecting an image to be used as training data from among the images, according to the degree of agreement. note that these general or specific aspects may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a computer-readable recording medium such as a cd-rom, or may be implemented as any combination of a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium. advantageous effect the information processing method and the information processing system according to the present disclosure are less susceptible to a precision of an object detection process using sensors and are capable of providing captured images to be used as training data in a stable manner. brief description of drawings fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an information processing system according to embodiment 1. fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image processing apparatus according to embodiment 1. fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a vehicle according to embodiment 1. fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the information processing system according to embodiment 1. fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of first data. fig. 6 is a diagram viewed from above and illustrating an example of a relation between a specific image capturing device and other image capturing devices each of which has a capturing range overlapping a capturing range of the specific image capturing device. fig. 7a illustrates a plurality of images taken by a plurality of image capturing devices at the same time point. fig. 7b is a diagram illustrating an example of an object position model obtained by use of a plurality of images, and positions and capturing directions of the plurality of image capturing devices at the same time points. fig. 7c illustrates a plurality of projected images obtained by projecting a calculated common region onto the plurality of images. fig. 8a is a diagram used for describing a first example of how to select an image to be used as training data. fig. 8b is a diagram used for describing a second example of how to select an image to be used as training data. fig. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of operations performed in an information processing system according to an embodiment. fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of details of training data selection process in the information processing apparatus according to an embodiment. fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the information processing system according to variation 1. fig. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of operations performed in an information processing system according to variation 1. description of embodiment (underlying knowledge forming the basis of the present invention) in recent years, object detection using machine learning such as deep learning on images taken by cameras has been put to practical use in fields such as automated driving, video surveillance, and robotics. such object detection requires a large amount of training data used in machine learning. hence, a large number of images taken by different cameras are collected, and a person gives correct solutions to the collected images to create the training data. however, giving the correct solutions to the images by a person increases costs, and it is thus not preferable to create the training data simply from all of a large number of obtained images. in addition, even if the training data can be obtained by giving the correct solutions to all of the large number of images without regard to costs, the large amount of obtained training data needs to be subjected to machine learning, which increases a processing load on the machine learning and increases a processing time. to perform machine learning efficiently, it is therefore necessary to select images useful for the machine learning from among a large number of images. here, the large number of images used for the machine learning is required to include a plurality of images taken in varied situations different from one another, that is, a plurality of various images. in other words, using a plurality of images taken in situations different from one another is more effective in implementing efficient machine learning than using a plurality of images taken in situations similar to one another. as described above, the database construction system of ptl 1 collects the supervised training data by associating highly confident recognition data on objects based on output data from a first sensor with training data and input data being output data obtained by a second sensor. however, in a case where the confidence of the recognition data on objects based on the output data from the first sensor is not high, there is a risk of generating incorrect training data. for example, since the confidence of the recognition data on objects depends on a quality of the first sensor, the first sensor is to be required to have a certain or higher quality. that is, the conventional technique requires a result of detection by a sensor with a high precision, which increases costs. in addition, according to ptl 1, in a case where a quality of a result of detection by the first sensor is poor, the result of detection by the first sensor is not adopted as training data. therefore, whether the training data is obtained or not depends on the quality of the first sensor. this makes it difficult to provide the training data in a stable manner. in order to solve such a problem, an information processing method according to the present disclosure includes the following performed using a computer: acquiring a plurality of images created through capturing at the same time, and positions and capturing directions of a plurality of image capturing devices that created respectively each of the images; acquiring a plurality of object detection results, wherein the object detection results are obtained respectively through a plurality of object detection processes performed using each of the images; and performing a training data selection process using the images, the positions and the capturing directions, and the object detection results acquired, wherein the training data selection process includes: calculating a common region that is seen in the images in common, based on the positions and the capturing directions; determining a degree of agreement among the object detection results in the common region; and selecting an image to be used as training data from among the images, according to the degree of agreement. the same time might be the time point considered to be the same. for this reason, in a case where the plurality of image capturing devices capture an object common to the plurality of image capturing devices, the plurality of object detection results from the plurality of object detection processes for the common object can be obtained. this enables selection of images to be used as training data according to the degree of agreement among the plurality of object detection results about the common object. for example, images subjected to the object detection processes that produce object detection results not agreeing with one another can be selected as the images to be used as the training data. therefore, the information processing method is less susceptible to a precision of an object detection process using sensors and is capable of providing captured images to be used as training data in a stable manner. furthermore, the information processing method may further include: determining whether to perform the training data selection process, according to a specific object detection result obtained through an object detection process performed using an image created through capturing by a specific image capturing device of the image capturing devices; and performing the training data selection process in a case where the training data selection process is determined to be performed. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a situation that needs the learning, such as a situation where the precisions of the object detection results are low, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a situation that does not need the learning, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, an other image capturing device which is one of the image capturing devices other than the specific image capturing device may be an image capturing device capable of capturing ranges overlapping a capturing range of the specific image capturing device. for this reason, the other image capturing devices can be selected with reference to the specific image capturing device. therefore, the object detection results useful for determining the degree of agreement can be obtained. furthermore, the other image capturing device may be an image capturing device that is located within a predetermined range from a reference location with reference to a position of the specific image capturing device. for this reason, other image capturing devices highly likely to capture the same object that the specific image capturing device captures can be selected. furthermore, the information processing method may further include causing an other image capturing device which is one of the image capturing devices other than the specific image capturing device to perform the capturing. for this reason, the other image capturing devices can use the same capturing conditions that the specific image capturing device uses. for example, capturing time points can be adjusted to time points that are considered to be the same. furthermore, the specific object detection result may include a likelihood of an object detection result, and the determining whether to perform the training data selection process may include: determining that the training data selection process is to be performed when the likelihood satisfies a predetermined condition. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a situation that needs the learning, such as a situation where the likelihood is low, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a situation that does not need the learning, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, the determining whether to perform the training data selection process may include: acquiring statistical information on at least one item of information from among capturing times of the images, positions of the image capturing devices that perform the capturing to create the images, and an attribute or a state of an object detected through the object detection processes; and determining whether to perform the training data selection process using the acquired statistical information. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a situation that needs the learning, such as a situation where capturing conditions or capturing details are suitable for the learning from a statistical viewpoint, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a situation that does not need the learning, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, the statistical information may include rarity information that indicates a rarity of the at least one item of information, and the determining whether to perform the training data selection process may include: determining that the training data selection process is to be performed when the rarity satisfies a predetermined condition. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a case where the rarity satisfies the predetermined condition, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a case where the rarity fails to satisfy the predetermined condition, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, in the training data selection process, in a case where there is an object detection result that does not agree with others of the object detection results, an image to be used as training data may be selected from among the images. this enables selection of images as training data. for example, images subjected to the object detection processes that produce object detection results having a possibility of false detection or omission of detection can be selected as the training data. as a result, the image taken in a situation different from a situation of an image that is already selected as the training data can be selected as the training data. furthermore, in a case where performances of the image capturing devices are same and performances of the object detection processes are same, the image to be used as the training data may be selected from among the images according to a number or a ratio of agreeing object detection results of the object detection results. for this reason, for example, images with which the number of agreeing object detection results is less than a predetermined number or a ratio of agreement among the object detection results is lower than a predetermined ratio can be selected as the training data. furthermore, in one of a case where performances of the image capturing devices are different from one another and a case where performances of the object detection processes are different from one another, a parameter for the training data selection process may be determined according to how high the performances of the image capturing devices are or how high the performances of the object detection processes are, and the training data selection process with the determined parameter may be performed. for this reason, even in a case where the plurality of image capturing devices have specifications different from one another or the plurality of object detection processes have specifications different from one another, the respective specifications are taken into account, and thus images including an image subjected to the object detection process that produces an object detection result having a possibility of false detection or omission of detection can be selected as the training data. as a result, the image taken in a situation different from a situation of an image that is already selected as the training data can be selected as the training data. note that these general or specific aspects may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a computer-readable recording medium such as a cd-rom, or may be implemented as any combination of a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium. hereinafter, an information processing method and an information processing system will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. note that each of the following embodiments shows an specific example of the present disclosure. the numerical values, shapes, materials, structural components, the arrangement and connection of the structural components, steps, the processing order of the steps, etc. shown in the following embodiments are mere examples, and thus are not intended to limit the present disclosure. furthermore, among the structural components described in the following embodiments, structural components not recited in any one of the independent claims that indicate the broadest concepts are described as optional structural components. (embodiment) an embodiment will be described below with reference to fig. 1 to fig. 10 . [1-1. configuration] fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an information processing system according to the embodiment. specifically, fig. 1 illustrates information processing apparatus 100, image capturing devices 200a and 200b, communication network 300, and base station 310 of a mobile telecommunications system. of these constituent components, for example, information processing system 1 includes information processing apparatus 100 and image capturing devices 200a and 200b. note that, as image capturing devices 200a and 200b, fig. 1 illustrates vehicles each include camera 205, but image capturing devices 200a and 200b are not limited to the vehicles and may be other kinds of image capturing devices such as surveillance cameras. in addition, although there are two image capturing devices 200a and 200b, the number of image capturing devices may be three or more. information processing apparatus 100 is an apparatus that acquires a plurality of images taken by image capturing devices 200a and 200b and selects training data for machine learning from among the plurality of acquired images. information processing apparatus 100 is, for example, a server. image capturing devices 200a and 200b are vehicles each of which includes camera 205 and performs automated driving or driver assistance using, for example, a result of object detection or object recognition obtained by use of image data obtained by camera 205. note that image capturing devices 200a and 200b do not necessarily need to have a function of performing the automated driving or driver assistance as long as they include camera 205. communication network 300 may be a general-purpose network such as the internet or may be a dedicated network. base station 310 is, for example, a base station used in a mobile telecommunications system such as the third generation (3g) mobile telecommunications system, the fourth generation (4g) mobile telecommunications system, or lte (r). next, a specific example of a hardware configuration of information processing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to fig. 2 . fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment. as illustrated in fig. 2 , information processing apparatus 100 has a hardware configuration including processor 101, main memory 102, storage 103, and communication interface (if) 104. processor 101 is a processor that executes a control program stored in storage 103 or the like. main memory 102 is a volatile storage area used by processor 101 executing the control program as a work area. storage 103 is a nonvolatile storage area for holding the control program or various kinds of data such as image data and point cloud data. communication if 104 is a communication interface for communication with image capturing devices 200a, 200b, etc., over a communication network. communication if 104 is, for example, a wired lan interface. note that communication if 104 may be a wireless lan interface. communication if 104 is not limited to a lan interface and may be any kind of communication interface that can establish a communication connection to the communication network. next, a specific example of a hardware configuration of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, etc., will be described with reference to fig. 3 . fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a vehicle according to embodiment 1. as illustrated in fig. 3 , each of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c and the like has a hardware configuration including processor 201, main memory 202, storage 203, communication interface (if) 204, camera 205, inertial measurement unit (imu) 206, global navigation satellite system (gnss) 207. since image capturing devices 200a, 200b, and the like have the same configuration, image capturing device 200a will be described below, and description of the configuration of the others, image capturing devices 200b and 200c, will be omitted. processor 201 is a processor that executes a control program stored in storage 203 or the like. processor 201 may include a processor used in an ecu for performing automated driving or driver assistance in image capturing device 200a. main memory 202 is a volatile storage area used by processor 201 executing the control program as a work area. storage 203 is a nonvolatile storage area for holding the control program or various kinds of data such as image data and point cloud data. communication if 204 is a communication interface for communication with information processing apparatus 100 over communication network 300. that is, communication if 204 may be any communication interface that can establish a communication connection to communication network 300. specifically, communication if 204 is a communication interface for establishing a communication connection to communication network 300 through a communication connection to base station 310 of the mobile telecommunications system. communication if 204 may be, for example, a wireless communication interface conforming to a telecommunications standard used in a mobile telecommunications system such as the third generation (3g) mobile telecommunications system, the fourth generation (4g) mobile telecommunications system, or lte (r). furthermore, communication if 204 may be, for example, a wireless local area network (lan) interface conforming to ieee 802.11a, b, g, n, or ac standard or may be an communication interface that establishes a communication connection to communication network 300 through a communication connection to a router (e.g., a mobile wireless lan router) not illustrated. camera 205 is an optical sensor held in image capturing device 200a, including an optical system such as lenses, and including an image sensor, and is an example of the first sensor. imu 206 is a sensor device including an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor. the acceleration sensor is a sensor that detects accelerations that image capturing device 200a undergoes in three different directions, respectively. the gyro sensor is a sensor that detects angular velocities of respective rotations of image capturing device 200a about three axes in three different directions. gnss 207 receives information indicating a position of gnss 207 itself from artificial satellites including global positioning system (gps) satellites. that is, gnss 207 detects a current position of image capturing device 200a. next, a functional configuration of information processing system 1 will be described with reference to fig. 4 . fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the information processing system according to an embodiment. note that fig. 4 does not illustrate communication network 300 and base station 310 illustrated in fig. 1 . a functional configuration of image capturing device 200a will be described first. image capturing device 200a has a functional configuration including detector 210, memory 220, object detector 230, and transmitter 240. the other image capturing devices, image capturing devices 200b, 200c, and the like, have the same functional configuration as image capturing device 200a. detector 210 detects images taken by camera 205 of image capturing device 200a. detector 210 also detects a position and a capturing direction of image capturing device 200a at a time when the image is created by the capturing by camera 205. as the position and capturing direction of image capturing device 200a at the time when the image is created by the capturing, a position and a capturing direction that are detected at a time point closest to the time point at which the image is captured may be adopted, or a latest position and a latest capturing direction of a plurality of positions and a plurality of capturing directions detected at the time point at which the image is captured may be adopted. for example, the position of image capturing device 200a is detected by gnss 207. for example, the capturing direction of image capturing device 200a may be detected by use of a detected value from imu 206, may be detected by use of a detected value from gnss 207, or may be detected by use of a combination of detected values from imu 206 and gnss 207. in a case where image capturing device 200a includes a geomagnetic sensor, the capturing direction may be detected by use of a detected value from the geomagnetic sensor. the capturing direction is a capturing direction of camera 205 and a direction predetermined for image capturing device 200a. in a case where camera 205 is disposed in a vehicle as image capturing device 200a with the capturing direction fixed, a direction in which camera 205 faces with respect to the vehicle is the capturing direction. for example, in a case where camera 205 captures an image ahead of the vehicle, a direction ahead of the vehicle is the capturing direction. detector 210 stores the plurality of images in memory 220 after associating a plurality of frames or a plurality of still images forming the plurality of images with capturing time points, which are the time at which the frames or the still images are taken. in addition, detector 210 associates the plurality of positions with detection time points, each of which is the time at which the relevant position is detected, and stores the positions and the detection time points in memory 220. similarly, detector 210 associates the plurality of capturing directions with detection time points, each of which is the time at which the relevant capturing direction is detected, and stores the capturing directions and the detection time points in memory 220. to associate the plurality of images with the plurality of positions and the plurality of capturing directions according to detection time points, positions and capturing directions obtained at time points closest to time points at which the images are obtained may be associated, or the plurality of images, and the plurality of positions and the plurality of capturing directions detected during predetermined time intervals may be associated with each other. detector 210 is provided by, for example, a combination of camera 205, imu 206, gnss 207, and the like. memory 220 stores the plurality of images detected by detector 210 together with the respective capturing time points of the plurality of images. in addition, memory 220 stores the plurality of positions and the plurality of capturing directions detected by detector 210 together with the respective detection time points of the plurality of positions and the plurality of capturing directions. in addition, memory 220 associates object detection results detected through the object detection process by object detector 230 on the images with the images and stores the images and the object detection results. memory 220 is provided by, for example, storage 203. object detector 230 performs the object detection process using a predetermined object detection model on each of the plurality of images detected by detector 210 to detect an object included in the images. for example, object detector 230 may perform the object detection process on the plurality of images stored in memory 220 or may perform the object detection process on the plurality of images detected by detector 210. by performing the object detection process on, for example, an image, object detector 230 recognizes an attribute or a state of an object included in the image. examples of the attribute of an object include a person, a vehicle, and the like, and may further include a sex, an age, and the like of the person, and a body type and the like of the vehicle. the state of an object indicates standing, sitting, lying, walking, running, or the like when the object is a person, or indicates traveling, slowing down, stopping, or the like when the object is a vehicle. to recognize the attribute of an object, for example, object detector 230 evaluates, for each attribute of kinds of objects, a likelihood that the detected object has the attribute, and based on the evaluated likelihood, recognizes an attribute of the detected object. for example, when the evaluated likelihood is the highest and higher than other likelihoods by a predetermined difference value or larger, object detector 230 may recognizes the attribute as the attribute of the object. the likelihood is an accuracy, a credibility, a score, or the like of the object detection, and a likelihood showing a higher value indicates a higher evaluation of the object detection result. as seen from the above, the object detection result may include a likelihood. object detector 230 associates an image with the object detection result obtained by performing the object detection process on the image and stores the image and object detection result in memory 220. associating the image with the object detection result may be performed by giving the object detection result an identifier to identify the image or may be performed by giving the object detection result an identifier shared with the image. object detector 230 is provided by, for example, a combination of processor 201, main memory 202, and storage 203. transmitter 240 transmits, to information processing apparatus 100, first data that includes the plurality of images, the plurality of positions, the plurality of capturing directions, and the plurality of object detection results stored in memory 220, as illustrated in fig. 5 . transmitter 240 may transmit the first data obtained through the detection by detector 210 to information processing apparatus 100 periodically, for example, every day or every week. alternatively, for example, when a vehicle being image capturing device 200a is parked in a storage space for the vehicle such as a home of a driver of the vehicle, transmitter 240 may transmit the first data obtained during traveling of the vehicle until the parking to information processing apparatus 100 via, for example, a wireless lan router provided in the home. at this time, in a case where there is first data detected before but not transmitted to information processing apparatus 100 yet, transmitter 240 may transmit the first data to information processing apparatus 100. note that fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of the first data. transmitter 240 is provided by, for example, processor 201, main memory 202, storage 203, communication if 204, and the like. next, a functional configuration of information processing apparatus 100 will be described. information processing apparatus 100 has a functional configuration including acquirer 110, performance determiner 120, and performance unit 130. acquirer 110 acquires first data from each of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like. acquirer 110 thereby acquires a plurality of images created through capturing, positions and capturing directions of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like that perform the capturing to create the plurality of images, and a plurality of object detection results obtained by a plurality of object detection processes by the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like. performance determiner 120 determines whether to perform a training data selection process using performance unit 130, according to a specific object detection result that is performed by use of images created through capturing by a specific image capturing device of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like. performance determiner 120 may determine that the training data selection process is to be performed in a case where, for example, a likelihood included in an object detection result from the specific image capturing device satisfies a predetermined condition. that is, the specific image capturing device is an image capturing device that outputs an object detection result satisfying the predetermined condition out of a plurality of object detection results. the object detection result satisfying the predetermined condition is, for example, one including evaluated likelihoods of a plurality of attributes of which a difference value between a highest likelihood and a likelihood is less than a predetermined difference value. that is, the case where the predetermined condition is satisfied is a case where the object detection result is such that it is difficult to narrow a plurality of attributes or a plurality of states of an object down to one of the plurality of attributes or the plurality of states, and hence a precision of the detection result is not trustworthy. specifically, the case is where there is substantially no difference between a likelihood of a first attribute and a likelihood of a second attribute, and it is impossible to determine which of the first attribute and the second attribute is to be an attribute of an object as the object detection result. note that this is true for a state of an object. alternatively, the object detection result satisfying the predetermined condition is, for example, one including likelihoods of which a highest likelihood is higher than other likelihoods by a predetermined difference value or larger or likelihoods of which a likelihood exceeds a predetermined likelihood. that is, the case where the predetermined condition is satisfied is a case where the object detection result is such that it is easy to narrow a plurality of attributes or a plurality of states of an object down to one of the plurality of attributes or the plurality of states, and hence a precision of the detection result is trustworthy. performance determiner 120 may acquire statistical information on image attribute information that indicates an image attribute of at least one of a capturing time of the plurality of images, positions of the image capturing devices where the image capturing devices create images through capturing, and an attribute or a state of an object detected through object detection processes in the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like, and may use the acquired statistical information to determine whether to perform the training data selection process. note that the statistical information may include rarity information that indicates a rarity of the image attribute information. in a case where the rarity indicated by the rarity information satisfies a predetermined condition, performance determiner 120 may determine that the training data selection process is to be performed. the rarity indicated by the rarity information satisfying the predetermined condition means that the first data includes an image attribute having a rarity. here, the image attribute having a rarity means that a degree of deviation (or an outlier) of an image attribute of an image in question with respect to a plurality of image attributes of a plurality of images already selected as the training data is higher than a predetermined threshold value, in one or a combination of two or more of the capturing time, the positions of the image capturing devices, and the attribute or the state of the object performance unit 130 performs the training data selection process using a plurality of first data items acquired by acquirer 110. performance unit 130 may perform the training data selection process in a case where performance determiner 120 determines that the training data selection process is to be performed. performance unit 130 includes, specifically, calculator 131, degree-of-agreement determiner 132, and selection unit 133. in the training data selection process, calculator 131 calculates the common region that is seen in the plurality of images in common in the plurality of first data items, based on respective positions and capturing directions of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like at predetermined time points. for example, calculator 131 extracts a plurality of first data items including the plurality of images taken at the predetermined time points, from the plurality of first data items acquired by acquirer 110. the predetermined time points refer to time points that can be considered to be the same. that is, the predetermined time points are not necessarily the same time and may include all time points included in a predetermined duration set with respect to a time point. the predetermined duration may be, for example, a time based on a capturing interval for taking images in the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like, for example, a time one to ten times as long as the capturing interval. in the present embodiment, the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like move since the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are vehicles. it is therefore more often the case where the plurality of images taken by the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like do not include the common region. as a result, if calculator 131 performs the process of calculating the common region on all of the plurality of first data items acquire by acquirer 110, an efficiency of the process is poor. therefore, calculator 131 may perform a process of extracting a plurality of first data items including a plurality of images sharing the common region, before the process of calculating the common region. for example, calculator 131 extracts the plurality of first data items taken by the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like capable of capturing ranges overlapping one another, by analyzing the positions and the capturing directions of the image capturing devices of the plurality of first data items, and associates the extracted plurality of first data items to create the second data. calculator 131 thereby extracts the first data items obtained by other image capturing devices which are image capturing devices other than the specific image capturing device having taken the images determined to be subjected to the training data selection process by performance determiner 120 and can capture ranges overlapping a capturing range of the specific image capturing device. accordingly, even in a case where acquirer 110 acquires the first data items from the plurality of image capturing devices having capturing ranges not overlapping one another, calculator 131 easily calculates the common region. note that in a case of selecting the plurality of image capturing devices having overlapping capturing ranges by analyzing the positions and the capturing directions of the image capturing devices of the plurality of first data items, calculator 131 selects image capturing devices located within a predetermined range from a reference location based on the position of the specific image capturing device. for example, as illustrated in fig. 6 , calculator 131 selects image capturing devices 200b and 200c located within a range having radius r1 centered about reference location b1 away from a distance d1 ahead of specific image capturing device 200a, as other image capturing devices 200b and 200c having capturing ranges overlapping a capturing range of specific image capturing device 200a. note that fig. 6 is a diagram viewed from above and illustrating an example of a relation between the specific image capturing device and the other image capturing devices each of which has the capturing range overlapping the capturing range of the specific image capturing device. here, a specific example of a method for calculating the common region will be described with reference to fig. 7a to fig. 7c . fig. 7a to fig. 7c are diagrams used for describing the specific example of the method for calculating the common region. fig. 7a illustrates a plurality of images p10, p20, and p30 taken by a plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, and 200c at the same time point. the plurality of images p10, p20, and p30 are, for example, images including object 400 common to the images. fig. 7b is a diagram illustrating an example of an object position model obtained by use of a plurality of images p10, p20, and p30, and positions and capturing directions of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, and 200c at the same time point described above. fig. 7b illustrates the object position model viewed from above. specifically, calculator 131 uses image p10 and the position and the capturing direction of image capturing device 200a to calculate capturing range 410 and object range 411. specifically, capturing range 410 indicates a capturing range that is estimated from the position and the capturing direction of image capturing device 200a that takes image p10. object range 411 indicates a range where object 400 is present, obtained from a region of object 400 in image p10 and capturing range 410. similarly, calculator 131 calculates capturing range 420 and object range 421 from image p20, and the position and the capturing direction of image capturing device 200b. capturing range 420 indicates a capturing range that is estimated from the position and the capturing direction of image capturing device 200b that takes image p20. object range 421 indicates a range where object 400 is present, obtained from a region of object 400 in image p20 and capturing range 420. similarly, calculator 131 calculates capturing range 430 and object range 431 from image p30, and the position and the capturing direction of image capturing device 200c. capturing range 430 indicates a capturing range that is estimated from the position and the capturing direction of image capturing device 200c that takes image p30. object range 431 indicates a range where object 400 is present, obtained from a region of object 400 in image p30 and capturing range 430. note that calculator 131 determines that objects 400 is an object taken in the plurality of images p10, p20, and p30 in common to calculate object ranges 411, 421, and 431. calculator 131 need not calculate object ranges 411, 421, and 431. next, calculator 131 uses calculated capturing ranges 410, 420, and 430 to calculate common region 401 common to capturing ranges 410, 420, and 430. then, as illustrated in fig. 7c , calculator 131 creates projected images p11, p21, and p31 obtained by projecting calculated common region 401 onto images p10, p20, and p30. degree-of-agreement determiner 132 determines a degree of agreement among a plurality of object detection results in the common region. degree-of-agreement determiner 132 may determine the degree of agreement among a plurality of object detection results by, for example, comparing a plurality of object detection results with one another. note that the object detection result in the common region is, for example, an object detected in a region on an image overlapping the common region. selection unit 133 selects an image to be used as the training data from among the plurality of images according to a degree of agreement determined by degree-of-agreement determiner 132. in a case where there is an object detection result that does not agree with others of the plurality of object detection results included in the second data, selection unit 133 selects an image to be used as the training data from among the plurality of images included in the second data. for example, in a case where capturing performances of cameras 205 of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are the same and processing performances of the object detection processes of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are the same, selection unit 133 selects the image to be used as the training data from among the plurality of images according to a number or a ratio of agreeing object detection results of the plurality of object detection results included in the second data. an example of selecting the image to be used as the training data will be described with reference to fig. 8a and fig. 8b . fig. 8a and fig. 8b are diagrams used for describing an example of how to select an image to be used as training data. as illustrated in fig. 8a illustrating a first example, in a case where an object detection result in common region 401 on projected image p11 is a vehicle and each of object detection results in common region 401 on projected image p21 and p31 is nothing, degree-of-agreement determiner 132 may make a majority decision and determine that an object detection result in common region 401 is nothing as correct, and may determine that the object detection result on projected image p11 is highly likely to have false detection. alternatively, as illustrated in fig. 8b illustrating a second example, in a case where each of object detection results in common region 401 on projected images p11 and p31 is a vehicle and an object detection result in common region 401 on projected image p21 is nothing, degree-of-agreement determiner 132 may make a majority decision and determine that an object detection result in common region 401 is a vehicle as correct, and may determine that the object detection result on projected image p21 is highly likely to have false detection. according to a determination result in degree-of-agreement determiner 132, selection unit 133 then selects the image about which the object detection result is determined to be highly likely to have false detection, as an image to be used as the training data. in a case where there a plurality of object detection results on common region 401 have different results, selection unit 133 may select all of a plurality of images from which the plurality of object detection results are detected, as images to be used as the training data. for example, in a case where the capturing performances of cameras 205 of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are different from one another or the processing performances of the object detection processes of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are different from one another, selection unit 133 determines a parameter for the selection process of selecting an image to be used as the training data from among the plurality of images according to how high the capturing performances of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are or how high the processing performances of the object detection processes of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are, and performs the selection process with the determined parameters. for example, selection unit 133 may assign a heavier weight to an object detection result from an image capturing device of higher performances according to how high the capturing performances of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are or how high the processing performances of the object detection processes are, and considering that an object detection result to which a heavier weight is assigned has a higher precision, selection unit 133 may select an image corresponding to an object detection result different from an object detection result of high precision as an image to be used as the training data. that is, selection unit 133 selects an image corresponding to an object detection result different from object detection results with evaluation values equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value obtained by multiplying the object detection results by coefficients that are increased with how high the performances are, as an image to be used as the training data. [1-2. operations] next, operations of information processing system 1 according to an embodiment will be described. fig. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of operations performed in an information processing system according to an embodiment. first, in each of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like, detector 210 detects an image, and a position and a capturing direction of an image capturing device at a time point at which the image is taken (s11), and stores the time point of the capturing, the detected images, and the detected position and capturing direction of the image capturing device in memory 220. next, object detector 230 of the image capturing device performs the object detection process on the image detected by detector 210 to detect an object, obtaining an object detection result (s12). the obtained object detection result is associated with the image subjected to the object detection process and stored in memory 220. the image capturing device thereby creates first data in which the time point of the capturing, the detected image, the detected position and capturing direction of the image capturing device, and the object detection result are associated with one another. transmitter 240 of the image capturing device then transmits the created first data to information processing apparatus 100 (s13). in information processing apparatus 100, acquirer 110 acquires the first data transmitted from each of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like (s21). next, performance determiner 120 of information processing apparatus 100 determines whether to perform a training data selection process using performance unit 130, according to a specific object detection result that is performed by use of images created through capturing by a specific image capturing device of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like (s22). in a case where performance determiner 120 determines that the training data selection process is to be performed (yes in s22), performance unit 130 of information processing apparatus 100 performs the training data selection process (s23). the training data selection process will be described later. meanwhile, in a case where performance determiner 120 determines that the training data selection process is not to be performed (no in s22), performance unit 130 of information processing apparatus 100 does not perform the training data selection process. note that whether or not the training data selection process is performed, processes of steps s11 to s13 in each of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like, and processes of steps s21 to s23 in information processing apparatus 100 are repeated in information processing system 1. note that details of the processes of steps s11 to s13 and s21 to s23 by the processing units have already described in the description of the functional configuration of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like and the description of the functional configuration of information processing apparatus 100 with reference to fig. 4 to fig. 8b , and thus the details will not be described. fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of details of a training data selection process in the information processing apparatus according to an embodiment. when the training data selection process in step s23 is started, calculator 131 of performance unit 130 extracts a plurality of first data items that are associated with an image created through capturing by a specific image capturing device having the same time, and that include a common capturing range, from among a plurality of first data items acquired by acquirer 110. calculator 131 thereby extracts the plurality of taken images (s31). next, calculator 131 uses the plurality of extracted first data items to calculate a common region that is seen in the plurality of images in common, based on positions and capturing directions of the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like (s32). degree-of-agreement determiner 132 then determines a degree of agreement among a plurality of object detection results in the common region (s33). selection unit 133 thereafter selects an image to be used as the training data from among the plurality of images according to a degree of agreement determined by degree-of-agreement determiner 132 (s34), and ends the training data selection process. note that details of the processes of steps s31 to s34 by the processing units have already described in the description of the functional configuration of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like and the description of the functional configuration of information processing apparatus 100 with reference to fig. 4 to fig. 8b , and thus the details will not be described. [1-3. effects] by the information processing method according to the present embodiment, in the training data selection process, a common region that is seen in each of a plurality of images in common is calculated based on a plurality of positions and capturing directions of a plurality of image capturing devices, a degree of agreement among a plurality of object detection results in the common region is determined, and according to the determined degree of agreement, an image to be used as the training data is selected from among the plurality of images. for this reason, in a case where the plurality of image capturing devices capture an object common to the plurality of image capturing devices, the plurality of object detection results from the plurality of object detection processes for the common object can be obtained. this enables selection of images to be used as training data according to the degree of agreement among the plurality of object detection results about the common object. for example, images subjected to the object detection processes that produce object detection results not agreeing with one another can be selected as the images to be used as the training data. therefore, the information processing method is less susceptible to a precision of an object detection process using sensors and is capable of providing captured images to be used as training data in a stable manner. furthermore, the information processing method according to this embodiment further includes: determining whether to perform the training data selection process, according to a specific object detection result obtained through an object detection process performed using an image created through capturing by a specific image capturing device of the image capturing devices; and performing the training data selection process in a case where the training data selection process is determined to be performed. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a situation that needs the learning, such as a situation where the precisions of the object detection results are low, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a situation that does not need the learning, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, according to the information processing method according to this embodiment, an other image capturing device which is one of the image capturing devices other than the specific image capturing device is an image capturing device capable of capturing ranges overlapping a capturing range of the specific image capturing device. for this reason, the other image capturing devices can be selected with reference to the specific image capturing device. therefore, the object detection results useful for determining the degree of agreement can be obtained. furthermore, according to the information processing method according to this embodiment, the other image capturing device is an image capturing device that is located within a predetermined range from a reference location with reference to a position of the specific image capturing device. for this reason, other image capturing devices highly likely to capture the same object that the specific image capturing device captures can be selected. furthermore, according to the information processing method according to this embodiment, the specific object detection result includes a likelihood of an object detection result, and the determining whether to perform the training data selection process includes determining that the training data selection process is to be performed when the likelihood satisfies a predetermined condition. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a situation that needs the learning, such as a situation where the likelihood is low, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a situation that does not need the learning, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, according to the information processing method according to this embodiment, the determining whether to perform the training data selection process includes: acquiring statistical information on at least one item of information from among capturing times of the images, positions of the image capturing devices that perform the capturing to create the images, and an attribute or a state of an object detected through the object detection processes; and determining whether to perform the training data selection process using the acquired statistical information. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a situation that needs the learning, such as a situation where capturing conditions or capturing details are suitable for the learning from a statistical viewpoint, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a situation that does not need the learning, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, according to the information processing method according to this embodiment, the statistical information includes rarity information that indicates a rarity of the at least one item of information, and the determining whether to perform the training data selection process includes: determining that the training data selection process is to be performed when the rarity satisfies a predetermined condition. for this reason, the training data selection process can be performed in a case where the rarity satisfies the predetermined condition, which makes it possible to obtain intended training data more reliably. in addition, by not performing the training data selection process in a case where the rarity fails to satisfy the predetermined condition, unnecessary performance of the process can be reduced. furthermore, according to the information processing method according to this embodiment, in the training data selection process, in a case where there is an object detection result that does not agree with others of the object detection results, an image to be used as training data is selected from among the images. this enables selection of images as training data. for example, images subjected to the object detection processes that produce object detection results having a possibility of false detection or omission of detection can be selected as the training data. as a result, the image taken in a situation different from a situation of an image that is already selected as the training data can be selected as the training data. furthermore, according to the information processing method according to this embodiment, in a case where performances of the image capturing devices are same and performances of the object detection processes are same, the image to be used as the training data is selected from among the images according to a number or a ratio of agreeing object detection results of the object detection results.. for this reason, for example, images with which the number of agreeing object detection results is less than a predetermined number or a ratio of agreement among the object detection results is lower than a predetermined ratio can be selected as the training data. in addition, according the information processing method according to the present embodiment, in one of a case where performances of the image capturing devices are different from one another and a case where performances of the object detection processes are different from one another, a parameter for the training data selection process is determined according to how high the performances of the image capturing devices are or how high the performances of the object detection processes are, and the training data selection process with the determined parameter is performed. for this reason, even in a case where the plurality of image capturing devices have specifications different from one another or the plurality of object detection processes have specifications different from one another, the respective specifications are taken into account, and thus images including an image subjected to the object detection process that produces an object detection result having a possibility of false detection or omission of detection can be selected as the training data. as a result, the image taken in a situation different from a situation of an image that is already selected as the training data can be selected as the training data. [1-4. variations] [1-4-1. variation 1] information processing system 1 according to the embodiment described above has a configuration in which each of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like, has object detector 230 performing an object detection process on an image detected by detector 210, but the configuration is not limited to this, and, for example, image capturing devices 201a, 201b, 201c, and the like each having a configuration not including object detector 230 may be adopted, as illustrated in fig. 11 . in information processing system lain this case, acquirer 110a of information processing apparatus 100a performs an object detection process on an image included in each of a plurality of acquired first data items. fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the information processing system according to variation 1. fig. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of operations performed in an information processing system according to variation 1. first, in each of image capturing devices 201a, 201b, 201c, and the like, detector 210 detects an image, and a position and a capturing direction of an image capturing device at a time point at which the image is taken (s11), and stores the detected images, and the detected position and capturing direction of the image capturing device in memory 220. next, transmitter 240 of image capturing device 200a transmits first data including the time point of the capturing, the detected image, and the detected position and capturing direction of the image capturing device to information processing apparatus 100a (s13a). in information processing apparatus 100a, acquirer 110a acquires the first data transmitted from each of image capturing devices 201a, 201b, 201c, and the like (s21a). next, acquirer 110a of information processing apparatus 100a performs an object detection process on an image included in each of the plurality of acquired first data items to detect an object, obtaining an object detection result (s21b). processes of the following steps s22 and s23 are the same as those in the embodiment, and description of the processes will be omitted. [1-4-2. variation 2] in information processing system 1 according to the embodiment described above, in the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like, it is assumed that the capturing is performed all the time in a predetermined period by cameras 205 while the vehicles being the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are operating (e.g., engines of the vehicles are driving or powered on), but information processing system 1 is not limited to this. for example, the specific image capturing device may be caused to perform the same determination that performance determiner 120 performs and caused to transmit a capturing request to other image capturing devices located around the specific image capturing device at a time point at which an image on which the training data selection process is to be performed is acquired, by which the other image capturing devices may be caused to perform the capturing. the capturing request from the specific image capturing device may be transmitted to the other image capturing devices via information processing apparatus 100 or may be transmitted directly to the other image capturing devices. this configuration allows the other image capturing devices to perform capturing only when receiving the capturing request, which can reduce a frequency of a capturing process. [1-4-3. variation 3] in information processing system 1 according to the embodiment described above, it is assumed that all of the first data items obtained in the plurality of image capturing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and the like are transmitted to information processing apparatus 100, but information processing system 1 is not limited to this. for example, the specific image capturing device may be caused to perform the same determination that performance determiner 120 performs and caused to transmit a capturing request to other image capturing devices located around the specific image capturing device at a time point at which an image on which the training data selection process is to be performed is acquired, by which the other image capturing devices can transmit only first data items at the time point to information processing apparatus 100. this configuration can reduce a communication load from the image capturing devices to information processing apparatus 100, which allows information processing apparatus 100 to prevent a storage capacity of a storage for storing the first data items from becoming scarce. in each of the above-described embodiments, the constituent components may be implemented in a form of dedicated hardware or by executing software programs adapted to the constituent components. the constituent components may be implemented by a program executing unit such as a cpu or a processor reading and executing a software program recorded in a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. here, software implementing the information processing method, the information processing apparatus, and the like in each of the above-described embodiments is the following program. specifically, the program causes a computer to execute an information processing method that includes: acquiring a plurality of images created through capturing at the same time, and positions and capturing directions of a plurality of image capturing devices that created respectively each of the images; acquiring a plurality of object detection results, wherein the object detection results are obtained respectively through a plurality of object detection processes performed using each of the images; and performing a training data selection process using the images, the positions and the capturing directions, and the object detection results acquired, wherein the training data selection process includes: calculating a common region that is seen in the images in common, based on the positions and the capturing directions; determining a degree of agreement among the object detection results in the common region; and selecting an image to be used as training data from among the images, according to the degree of agreement. although an information processing method and an information processing system according to one or more aspects of the present invention has been described based on exemplary embodiments above, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above. other forms realized through various modifications to the embodiments conceived by a person of ordinary skill in the art or through a combination of the components in different embodiments described above, so long as they do not depart from the essence of the present invention, may be included in the scope in the one or more aspects of the present invention. in addition, in the embodiment described above, an example is given in which the training data is a captured image, but the training data is not limited to this. for example, the training data may be data such as point cloud data obtained from an optical sensor different from an image sensor, such as a lidar. note that machine learning may be used in the processes performed by performance determiner 120 and degree-of-agreement determiner 132. examples of the machine learning include supervised learning that learns a relation between an input and an output using training data, in which labels (output information) is given to input information, unsupervised learning that builds a structure of data only from an input without labels, semi-supervised learning that uses both of an input with labels and an input without labels, and reinforcement learning that gains feedback (reward) on an action selected according to a result of observing a state and learns consecutive actions that can provide a maximum reward. as specific methods of the machine learning, there are neural network (including deep learning using a multilayered neural network), genetic programming, decision tree, bayesian network, support vector machine (svm), and the like. in the present disclosure, any one of the specific examples described above may be used. although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims. industrial applicability the present disclosure is useful as an information processing method, an information processing system, and the like that are capable of providing a captured image to be used as training data from a large number of obtained images in a stable manner while being less susceptible to a precision of an object detection process using a sensor. reference signs list 1, 1a information processing system 100, 100a information processing apparatus 101,201 processor 102, 202 main memory 103,203 storage 104, 204 communication if 110, 110a acquirer 120 performance determiner 130 performance unit 131 calculator 132 degree-of-agreement determiner 133 selection unit 200a, 200b, 200c, 201a, 201b, 201c image capturing device 205 camera 206 imu 207 gnss 210 detector 220 memory 230 object detector 240 transmitter 300 communication network 310 base station 400 objects 401 common region 410, 420, 430 capturing range 411, 421, 431 object range
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082-784-332-503-513
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JP
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[
"KR",
"JP",
"US"
] |
H01L27/12,H01L21/336,H01L29/78,H01L29/786
| 1990-11-23T00:00:00 |
1990
|
[
"H01"
] |
soi type mos transistor
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an soimos transistor device which comprises a substrate, an insulating film formed on the substrate, a source and a drain sandwiching a channel region therebetween and formed on the insulating film is described. the channel region has regions in contact with the source and the drain, respectively, and each region has a concentration of an impurity lower than those of the source and the drain, and a gate electrode is formed on the soi layer. the regions are formed by diffusion of the impurity from the source and the drain in lateral directions, respectively, and extending beneath the gate electrode along the thickness of the source and the drain.
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1. a method for manufacturing a soi mos transistor device comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; forming an insulating film on a surface of said substrate; forming an soi layer which has a thickness of 0.1 .mu.m or less on said insulating film; forming a gate insulating film on a portion of said soi layer; first ion implanting an n-type low concentration impurity into said soi layer, using said gate electrode as a mask, to form a source region and a drain region; applying a thermal treatment to said device to form a lightly-doped source region and a lightly-doped drain region by side diffusion of said n-type low concentration impurity in said course region and said drain region, under the opposite side edges of said gate electrode, said lightly doped source region and said light-doped drain region disposed below and under the side edges of said gate electrode; and second ion implanting an n-type high concentration impurity into said soi layer using said gate electrode as a mask to form said source region and said drain region. 2. a method for manufacturing a soimos transistor device comprising the steps of: forming an soi layer which has a thickness of 0.1 .mu.m or less on a substrate; forming a gate electrode over a portion of said soi layer; first implanting a low concentration impurity of a first type into said soi layer using said gate electrode as a mask to form a source region, a drain region and a channel region, said channel region disposed below said portion of said soi layer over which said gate electrode is formed; applying a thermal treatment to said device to produce a low concentration impurity of said first type source region and a low concentration impurity of said first type drain region, said low concentration impurity source region disposed under the side edge of said gate electrode between said channel region and said source region, and said low concentration impurity drain region disposed under the side edge of said gate electrode between said channel region and said drain region; and second implanting said soi layer with a high concentration impurity of said first type using said gate electrode as a mask so as to increase the first type of impurity concentration in and form said source and drain regions.
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background of the invention 1. field of the invention this invention relates to an soimos transistor device of the type wherein the source resistance is low and the drain breakdown voltage is high. 2. description of the prior art known (ldd)mos transistor devices are those as shown in section in figs. 1 to 3 wherein fig. 1 is a sectional view of an ldd-type mos transistor. in recent years, in order to increase a drain breakdown voltage, many attempts have been made to fabrication of mod transistor devices which have an ldd structure. fig. 1 shows a mos transistor device of the ldd structure. in the figure, indicated at 1 is a p-type semiconductor substrate, at 2 is an n.sup.+ -type source, at 3 is an n.sup.+ -type drain, at 4 is an n.sup.- -type lightly doped source region, at 5 is an n.sup.- -type lightly doped drain region, at 6 is a gate insulating film, at 7 is a gate electrode and at 8 is side walls formed on the side walls of the gate electrode 7. this type of soimos transistor device is formed, prior to formation of the side walls 8, by implanting impurity ions through the mask of the gate electrode 7 to form the lightly doped source region 4 and the lightly doped drain region 5. then, the side walls 8 are formed, followed by ion implantation of an impurity through the mask of the gate electrode 7 and the side walls 8 to form the source 2 and the drain 3. the formation of the lightly doped region 5 permits impact ionization to be reduced which will take place at the end side of the drain of the channel, eventually leading to an increase of the drain breakdown voltage. however, the mos transistor has the problem that the parasitic resistance at the side of the source becomes great with a lowering of gm. this is because the mos transistor device having the ldd structure is so arranged that the lightly doped regions 4,5 are turned away from the lower side toward the outside of the gate electrode 7 or toward the sides of the source 2 and the drain 3. in order to increase the breakdown voltage of the drain without increasing the source resistance, attempts have been made to position the lightly doped regions 4,5 below the gate electrode 7. figs. 2 and 3 are, respectively, sectional views of the devices made by such attempts. fig. 2 shows a mos transistor device wherein a gate electrode 17a is made thin at the end portions of the source and drain sides. an impurity is subjected to ion implantation through the mask of the gate electrode 17a to form a source 12 and a drain 13 having lightly doped regions 14, 15 beneath the thin end portions at the source and drain sides. the mos transistor device of fig. 3 has a lightly doped region with a low surface impurity concentration below a gate electrode 27, as indicated by the broken line, by ion implantation in an oblique direction through thermal treatment. however, the mos transistor of fig. 2 has the problem that the gate electrode 17a has to be formed as having partially different thicknesses, involving a complicated procedure. the mos transistor device of fig. 3 has also the problem that it is difficult to properly control the concentration distributions of a source 22 and a drain 23 as desired, i.e. the process control is difficult, with relatively poor reproducibility and, thus, it is difficult to reproduce desired characteristics. objects and summary of the invention an object of the invention is to provide an soimos transistor device which has a small source resistance and a high drain breakdown voltage without involving the difficulty in the process control and an additional number of steps. another object of the invention is to provide an soimos transistor device which has source and drain regions, a gate electrode, and low impurity concentration regions extending beneath the gate electrode by diffusion of an impurity from the source and drain regions along the lateral directions. according to the invention, there is provided an soimos transistor device which comprises a substrate, an insulating film formed on the substrate, a source and a drain sandwiching a channel region therebetween and formed on the insulating film, the channel region having regions in contact with the source and the drain, respectively, and each region having a concentration of an impurity lower than those of the source and the drain, and a gate electrode formed on the channel region the lower concentration regions being formed by diffusion of the impurity from the source and the drain in lateral directions, respectively, and extending beneath the gate electrode along the thickness of the source and the drain. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a sectional view of a known mos transistor device having a ldd structure with side walls; fig. 2 is a sectional view of another known mos transistor device having lightly doped regions at source and drain sides; fig. 3 is a sectional view of a further known mos transistor device wherein ions are implanted in an oblique direction; fig. 4 is a sectional view of an soimos transistor device according to the invention; figs. 5a to 5c are, respectively, schematic views illustrating a fabrication process of the soimos transistor of the invention; fig. 6 is an impurity concentration profile of the soi-type mos transistor device of the invention along the longitudinal direction; and fig. 7 is an impurity concentration profile of the soi-type mos transistor device of the invention shown in fig. 4 along the transverse direction. description of the preferred embodiments the soimos transistor device of the invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly, to fig. 4. in the figure, there is shown a transistor device which has a semiconductor substrate 39. the substrate 39 has an insulating film 30 having a thickness, for example, of 0.1 .mu.m and an channel region 31 formed on the insulating film 30. the soi layer which consists of channel region 31, source 32 and drain 33 is formed in a thickness, for example, of 0.1 .mu.m. indicated at 32 is an n.sup.+ -type source, at 33 is an n.sup.+ drain, at 34 is an n.sup.- -type lightly doped source region and at 35 is an n.sup.- -type lightly doped drain region. these are arranged as shown in the figure. a gate insulating film having a thickness, for example, of 0.01 .mu.m is formed on the channel region 31 and the regions 34 and 35, on which a polysilicon gate electrode having a thickness, for example, of 0.3 .mu.m is formed. in the soimos transistor device having such an arrangement as set out above, the source 32 and the drain 33 are formed by ion implantation of an impurity using the gate electrode 37 as a mask. as a result, any impurity is not implanted beneath the gate electrode 37. in contrast, the lightly doped region 34 and the lightly doped region 35 are formed by diffusing impurities from the source 32 and the drain 33 in a lateral direction (i.e. by side diffusion), so that the impurities are present beneath the gate electrode 37. this is why the soimos transistor of the invention has a small source resistance and a high drain breakdown voltage. the fabrication of the soimos transistor shown in fig. 4 is illustrated step by step in figs. 5(a) to 5(c). (a) the gate electrode 37 is formed on the soi layer through the gate insulating film 36 by a usual manner, after which an n-type impurity is implanted through-the mask of the gate electrode 37 into the soi layer 31 as shown in fig. 5(a), thereby forming the source 32 and the drain 33. at this stage, the impurity concentration in the source 32 and the drain 33 is not so high. (b) thereafter, the impurity in the source 32 and the drain 33 is subjected to side diffusion by thermal treatment sufficient to cause the side diffusion, so that, as shown in fig. 5(b), there are formed the lightly doped source region 34 and the lightly doped drain region 35 which, respectively, extend inwardly from the source 32 and the drain 33 to the portions under the gate electrode 37 as shown in the figure. (c) subsequently, an impurity is ion-implanted through the mask of the gate electrode 37 into the soi layer 31 as shown in fig. 5(c), thereby increasing the impurity concentration of the source 32 and the drain 33. as will be apparent from the above description, there can be simply obtained an soimos transistor device, which has a low source resistance and a high drain breakdown voltage, without involving any difficulty in the process control. if the above procedure is applied to fabrication of a bulk mos transistor device, the junction depth of the source 32 and the drain 33 becomes great, causing the short channel effect. however, with the soimos transistor device wherein the insulating film 30 is provided below the semiconductor layer 31, the short channel effect is unlikely to occur. the reason why the side diffusion takes place uniformly along the longitudinal direction or along the thickness is described with reference figs. 4, 6 and 7. in fig. 6, there is shown an impurity concentration profile along the the longitudinal direction of the soimos transistor device in which the line a--a of fig. 6 means a section taken along the line a--a of fig. 4. the initial impurity concentration curve is indicated by reference numeral 41, from which it will be seen that the impurity is so distributed as to draw the gauss curve about a position with a certain depth relative to both sides of the silicon surface 33 and the insulating film 30. when the impurity distributed in such a manner as mentioned above is subjected to thermal treatment, the distribution can be expressed by a concentration profile indicated by reference numeral 42 wherein the concentration becomes substantially flat in the si layer as shown in fig. 6. this is ascribed to the fact that since the si layer is made thin at the time of the thermal treatment, the impurity is substantially uniformly distributed along the depth of the ion-implanted region of the entire si layer. fig. 7 shows part of an impurity concentration profile in lateral directions of the soimos transistor device in the vicinity of the gate electrode. this concentration profile is one which is obtained after completion of the thermal treatment. the solid lines indicated by reference numeral 43 are for concentration profiles of the low concentration impurities 34, 35 and reference numeral 44 indicates concentration profiles of highly concentrated impurities 32, 33. as will be apparent from the above, the regions 34, 35 as shown in fig. 4 have, respectively, the impurity substantially diffused in lateral directions. this is because the diffusion rate in the si layer is faster than that in the sio.sub.2 insulating film during the thermal treatment. during the course of the thermal treatment for the side or lateral diffusion, the impurity may, more or less, be diffused in the sio.sub.2 film. however, since the sio.sub.2 film is insulating in nature, the side diffusion does not adversely influence electric characteristics of the soimos transistor device. as stated hereinbefore, the soimos transistor device of the invention is characterized in that an impurity is doped in the soi layer through the gate electrode mask formed on the soi layer to form a source and a drain, from which the impurity is diffused in the lateral directions to provide lower impurity concentration regions extending from the source and the drain, respectively, at the portions under the gate electrode and low impurity concentration regions are formed by diffusion of the impurity from the source and the drain in lateral directions to extend beneath the gate electrode. the soimos transistor device of the invention has such low impurity concentration regions beneath the gate electrode by diffusion of the impurity from the source and the drain, so that the drain breakdown voltage can be increased while not increasing the source resistance. this can be realized without formation of any gate electrode with a specific shape or without formation of side walls or without oblique ion implantation. this leads to a final transistor device having a low source resistance and a high drain breakdown voltage without involving any difficulty in the process control or a lowering of reproducibility.
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083-059-045-341-923
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CN
|
[
"CN",
"US"
] |
F16K27/00,F16K31/60,E03C1/04
| 2019-09-12T00:00:00 |
2019
|
[
"F16",
"E03"
] |
valve core seat fixing structure of extraction type faucet, and extraction type faucet
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the invention provides a valve core seat fixing structure of an extraction type faucet, and the extraction type faucet. the valve core seat fixing structure consists of a facet main body and a valve core seat body of the extraction type faucet in a cooperation manner; the faucet main body consists of a main body hollow pipe and a valve core assembling pipe, wherein the upper part and the lower part of the main body hollow pipe are opened; the sidewall of the main body hollow pipe is branched outwards to form the valve core assembling pipe; the valve core seat body consists of a valve core seatand a fixing seat which is integrated with the valve core seat; the angle formed by the valve core seat and the fixing seat is the same as the angle formed by the main body hollow pipe and the valvecore assembling pipe; a valve core main body is locked inside the main body hollow pipe by using a screw and a positioning pin; the valve core seat is exactly buckled inside the branch valve core assembling pipe, and thus a relatively-high-intensity assembly effect is realized.
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1 . a pull-out faucet main body comprising a valve core seat assembly, characterized in that the pull-out faucet main body comprises a faucet main body and a valve core seat assembly; the faucet main body is composed of a main pipe and a side wall branch pipe, the main pipe is penetrated in an axial direction, and the side wall branch pipe is obliquely arranged from a side wall of the main pipe, and the side wall branch pipe is penetrated in an axial direction; the valve core seat assembly comprises a valve core seat and a main body fixing seat; the main body fixing seat comprises a body and a lug, and the body is composed of a vertical section and an oblique section, an included angle formed by the vertical section and the oblique section matches an included angle formed by the main pipe and the side wall branch pipe, the body is provided with at least one lug extending outwards in a horizontal direction, and the lug is provided with a first threaded hole, and one water outlet channel and at least one water inlet channel which are independent from each other are formed inside the body; the valve core seat comprises a water passing end surface and an annular flange, and the water passing end surface is fixedly arranged on an end of the oblique section of the body of the main body fixing seat, the water passing end surface is provided with a water outlet and a water inlet which are in communication with the water outlet channel and the water inlet channel of the body respectively; an annular flange extends outwardly from the water passing end surface at an end facing towards the side wall branch pipe, and forms together with an outer edge of the water passing end surface a first stepped surface, and the annular flange has an outer wall provided with a threaded section; an inner wall of the main pipe is provided with a second threaded hole, and when the valve core seat assembly is installed in the main pipe, and the first threaded hole of the lug of the main body fixing seat is aligned opposite to the second threaded hole, a bolt is threadedly connected into the first threaded hole and the second threaded hole sequentially, thereby locking and fixing the main body fixing seat into the main pipe, a keeping off space is formed between the body of the main body fixing seat and the inner wall of the main pipe, the valve core seat is exactly located in the side wall branch pipe, and a gap is presented between the threaded section of the annular flange of the valve core seat and an inner wall of the side wall branch pipe. 2 . the pull-out faucet main body comprising the valve core seat assembly according to claim 1 , characterized in that: the body of the main body fixing seat is provided with a pair of lugs with gradually increasing distance therebetween in the main pipe, each of the two lugs is provided with a first threaded hole; the inner wall of the main pipe is provided with two second threaded holes, and the two second threaded holes are respectively aligned opposite to the two first threaded holes of the main body fixing seat; when the valve core seat assembly is installed in the main pipe, two bolts are respectively threadedly connected into the correspondingly arranged first threaded holes and second threaded holes sequentially, thereby locking and fixing the main body fixing seat into the main pipe, and the two lugs, the inner wall of the main pipe and an outer wall of the vertical section of the body enclose to form a keeping off space. 3 . the pull-out faucet main body comprising the valve core seat assembly according to claim 1 , characterized in that: the lug of the main body fixing seat is provided with a positioning through hole beside its first threaded hole; and the inner wall of the main pipe is provided with a positioning blind hole beside its second threaded hole, and the positioning blind hole is aligned opposite to the positioning through hole; and when the valve core seat assembly is mounted in the main pipe, a positioning pin passes through the positioning through hole into the positioning blind hole sequentially, and a bolt is threadedly connected into the first threaded hole of the lug of the main body fixing seat and the second threaded hole in the main pipe sequentially, a cap nut of the bolt abuts by its inner side against an end of the positioning pin such that the positioning pin does not fall off from the positioning through hole. 4 . the pull-out faucet main body comprising the valve core seat assembly according to claim 3 , characterized in that: the positioning pin has an interference fit with each of the positioning through hole and the positioning blind hole. 5 . the pull-out faucet main body comprising the valve core seat assembly according to claim 1 , characterized in that: the body of the main body fixing seat has therein a first water inlet channel, a second water inlet channel and the water outlet channel which are independent from each other; and the water passing end surface of the valve core seat is provided with the water outlet, a first water inlet and a second water inlet respectively, the water outlet channel is in communication with the water outlet, the first water inlet channel is in communication with the first water inlet, and the second water inlet channel is in communication with the second water inlet. 6 . the pull-out faucet main body comprising the valve core seat assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the water passing end surface of the valve core seat is provided with a positioning hole. 7 . the pull-out faucet main body comprising the valve core seat assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the side wall branch pipe is provided with a second stepped surface at an end facing towards the main pipe, and the second stepped surface is configured to abut against the water passing end surface of the valve core seat. 8 . a pull-out faucet, characterized in that it comprises the pull-out faucet main body according to claim 1 , and a water outlet channel, a first water inlet channel and a second water inlet channel which are independent from each other are formed in the body of the main body fixing seat; a water passing end surface of the valve core seat is provided with a first water outlet, a first water inlet and a second water inlet respectively, and the water outlet channel is in communication with the first water outlet, the first water inlet channel is in communication with the first water inlet, and the second water inlet channel is in communication with the second water inlet; a sleeve, a valve core and a compression ring are further provided in the side wall branch pipe; the sleeve has an inner wall provided with a threaded section, and is arranged inside the side wall branch pipe and is threadedly connected to the threaded section of the annular flange of the valve core seat; the valve core is arranged inside the sleeve and is configured to perform the adjustment of the water temperature and the switching on/off of the water paths, the valve core is provided with a water outlet end surface at an end facing towards the valve core seat, and the water outlet end surface is provided with a third water inlet, a fourth water inlet and a second water outlet respectively, and the valve core is provided at the other end with an adjusting knob, and the third water inlet, the fourth water inlet and the second water outlet of the water outlet end surface of the valve core are respectively in communication with the first water inlet, the second water inlet and the first water outlet correspondingly arranged in the water passing end surface of the valve core seat, and the compression ring is sleeved on an end, at the adjusting knob, of the valve core, and the compression ring has an outer wall provided with a threaded section, and with the compression ring and the sleeve being threadedly connected and fixed to each other, it is ensured that the valve core is firmly confined in the sleeve; a handle is rotatably arranged on an outer side of the side wall branch pipe, and is fixedly connected to the adjusting knob of the valve core; a bent pipe is provided at an upper end of the main pipe, and a pull-out water outlet head is provided at an outer end of the bent pipe, and a threaded mounting hole is provided in the inner cavity of the main pipe above the keeping off space therein, and a guide tube, a first water inlet tube, a second water inlet tube and a mixed water outlet hose are arranged in the inner cavity of the main pipe, and the guide tube passes through the keeping off space and is threadedly connected and fixed to the threaded mounting hole, and the guide tube has an inner cavity in communication with an inner cavity of the bent pipe; the first water inlet tube, the second water inlet tube, and the mixed water outlet hose pass through the gap between an outer wall of the guide tube and the inner wall of the main pipe and are respectively in communication with the first water inlet channel, the second water inlet channel and the water outlet channel correspondingly arranged in the body of the main body fixing seat, and the other end of the mixed water outlet hose passes through the guide tube, the bent pipe sequentially and is in a sealed communication with the water outlet head; cold water flows through the first water inlet channel of the body of the main body fixing seat via the first water inlet tube, and flows from the first water inlet of the valve core seat into the third water inlet of the valve core; hot water flows through the second water inlet channel of the body of the main body fixing seat via the second water inlet tube, and flows from the second water inlet of the valve core seat into the fourth water inlet of the valve core; and the cold water and the hot water converge into the valve core to form a mixed water, and the mixed water flows into the first water outlet of the valve core seat via the second water outlet of the valve core and flows into the mixed water outlet hose via the water outlet channel of the body of the main body fixing seat, and is finally sprayed out from the water outlet head. 9 . the pull-out faucet according to claim 8 , characterized in that: the valve core is provided with two positioning protruding bits at the bottom thereof, and the water-passing end surface of the valve core seat is provided with two positioning holes aligned opposite to the two positioning protruding bits, with the positioning matching between the positioning protruding bits and the positioning holes, it is ensured that the first water outlet, the first water inlet and the second water inlet of the water-passing end surface of the valve core seat are respectively in communication with the third water inlet, the fourth water inlet and the second water outlet correspondingly arranged in the water outlet end surface of the valve core. 10 . the pull-out faucet according to claim 8 , characterized in that: the bent pipe is rotatable circumferentially about the central axis of the main pipe, and an inner wall of the upper end of the main pipe is provided with a circle of stepped edge and internal screw threads sequentially from top to bottom; the pull-out faucet further comprises a connector and a c-shaped ferrule; the connector is penetrated axially, and is provided at its bottom portion with external screw threads, a first annular groove and a convex edge sequentially from bottom to top, a first o-ring is nested in the first annular groove, and the connector is provided with at least one second annular groove at its upper part, and a second o-ring is nested in the second annular groove, the connector has a necking section arranged between the first annular groove and the second annular groove, the c-shaped ferrule is sleeved on the necking section, and the c-shaped ferrule is rotatable circumferentially relative to the connector; the bottom of the connector and the upper end of the main pipe are threadedly connected to each other until the convex edge of the connector and the stepped edge of the inner wall of the upper end of the main pipe abut against each other to ensure the firm connection of the connector to the main pipe, and the bent pipe is then sleeved onto the connector, the inner wall of the bent pipe is in interference fit with the c-shaped ferrule and, the second o-ring and the first o-ring at an upper end and a lower end of the connector abut against and contact the inner wall of the bent pipe, thereby, the bent pipe is circumferentially rotatable with respect to the connector.
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this application claims the benefit of chinese patent application no. cn201910864505.5, titled “pull-out faucet main body including valve core seat assembly and pull-out faucet”, filed on sep. 12, 2019 with the chinese patent office, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. field the present application relates to the field of sanitary wares, in particular to a pull-out faucet (including pull-out and pull-down and any other pull type faucet herein) main body including a valve core seat assembly and a pull-out faucet made with the faucet main body. background in order to facilitate the kitchen cleaning, pull-out faucets have been widely used in daily life of households of various types and countries, and a pull-out water outlet head carrying a hose at its back of the pull-out faucet can be pulled out and returned in a certain range, which provides convenience for consumers in using them; due to the use requirements of the pull-out faucet, it is generally necessary to arrange a valve core in a side wall branch pipe of the pull-out faucet, and arrange water tubes in its main body, so it is often necessary to assemble a valve core seat at a corner portion between the main body and the side wall branch pipe, for fixing the valve core and connecting the water tubes, since the corner portion is not reliable to receive force, it is difficult to effectively fix the valve core seat in the corner portion. according to the conventional practice, in the design of this structure, generally, structures capable of snapping fit with each other are provided between the valve core seat and the side wall branch pipe to realize the fitting between the valve core seat and the side wall branch pipe. however, in the process of use, due to the long-term pulling of the pull-out water outlet head, a hose inside the side wall branch pipe is brought to slide, which may impose a pulling force on the valve core seat ever and again, however, and solely using the snapping fit between the valve core seat and the side wall branch pipe may lead to a limited load-bearing capability of the valve core seat, such that the valve core seat is apt to falling off from the connection with the side wall branch pipe; moreover, the fitting manner imposes a high requirement on precision of the fitting between the valve core seat and the side wall branch pipe, and if any error occurred in the manufacturing precision causes deviation of position of the valve core disposed therein, it may cause gap between the fitting faces of the valve core and the valve core seat and the water leakage from the gap, to achieve the precision of fitting between the valve core seat and the side wall branch pipe, it is required to improve the manufacturing precision of the inner structure of the side wall branch pipe, which may result in a high manufacturing cost. therefore, it is necessary to provide a more reasonable fitting structure to address the above issue. summary a first aspect of the present application is to provide a pull-out faucet main body including a valve core seat assembly, with this structure, the valve core seat assembly can be firmly connected to the faucet main body without performing a high precision processing on the side wall branch pipe of the faucet main body, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs. a second aspect of the present application is to provide a pull-out faucet made with the above faucet main body. in order to achieve the first aspect of the present application, the solution of the present application is as follows. a pull-out faucet main body including a valve core seat assembly is provided, the pull-out faucet main body includes a faucet main body and a valve core seat assembly. the faucet main body is composed of a main pipe and a side wall branch pipe, the main pipe is penetrated in an axial direction, and the side wall branch pipe is obliquely arranged from a side wall of the main pipe, and the side wall branch pipe is penetrated in an axial direction. the valve core seat assembly includes a valve core seat and a main body fixing seat. the main body fixing seat includes a body and a lug, and the body is composed of a vertical section and an oblique section, an included angle formed by the vertical section and the oblique section matches an included angle formed by the main pipe and the side wall branch pipe, the body is provided with at least one lug extending outwards in a horizontal direction, and the lug is provided with a first threaded hole, and one water outlet channel and at least one water inlet channel which are independent from each other are formed inside the body. the valve core seat includes a water passing end surface and an annular flange, and the water passing end surface is fixedly arranged on an end of the oblique section of the body of the main body fixing seat, the water passing end surface is provided with a water outlet and a water inlet which are in communication with the water outlet channel and the water inlet channel of the body respectively. an annular flange extends outwardly from the water passing end surface at an end facing towards the side wall branch pipe, and forms together with an outer edge of the water passing end surface 210 a first stepped surface, and the annular flange has an outer wall provided with a threaded section. an inner wall of the main pipe is provided with a second threaded hole, and when the valve core seat assembly is installed in the main pipe, and the first threaded hole of the lug of the main body fixing seat is aligned opposite to the second threaded hole, a bolt is threadedly connected into the first threaded hole and the second threaded hole sequentially, thereby locking and fixing the main body fixing seat into the main pipe, a keeping off space is formed between the body of the main body fixing seat and the inner wall of the main pipe, the valve core seat is exactly located in the side wall branch pipe, and a gap is presented between the threaded section of the annular flange of the valve core seat and an inner wall of the side wall branch pipe. further, the lug of the main body fixing seat is provided with a positioning through hole beside its first threaded hole; and the inner wall of the main pipe is provided with a positioning blind hole beside its second threaded hole, and the positioning blind hole is aligned opposite to the positioning through hole; and when the valve core seat assembly is mounted in the main pipe, a positioning pin passes through the positioning through hole into the positioning blind hole sequentially. when the first threaded hole of the lug of the main body fixing seat and the second threaded hole in the main pipe are locked and fixed to each other by a bolt, a cap nut of the bolt abuts by its inner side against an end of the positioning pin such that the positioning pin does not fall off from the positioning through hole. further, the positioning pin has an interference fit with each of the positioning through hole and the positioning blind hole. according to the above solution, since the body of the main body fixing seat of the valve core seat assembly has an included angle matching an included angle between the main pipe and the side wall branch pipe, the first threaded hole of the body lug and the second threaded hole of the inner wall of the main pipe are sequentially locked and fixed by the bolt, such that the first threaded hole and the second threaded hole are both located in axial positions of the main pipe, which facilitates the locking and fixing by the bolt. moreover, the positioning pin is further provided to the position where the main body fixing seat and the main pipe are connected to each other; thereby significantly enhancing the firmness of connection between the valve core seat assembly and the faucet main body. in order to achieve the second aspect of the present application, a pull-out faucet is disclosed according to the present application, which includes the valve core seat fixing structure of the pull-out faucet as described above, and a water outlet channel, a first water inlet channel and a second water inlet channel which are independent from each other are formed in the body of the main body fixing seat. the water passing end surface of the valve core seat is provided with a first water outlet, a first water inlet and a second water inlet respectively, and the water outlet channel is in communication with the water outlet, the first water inlet channel is in communication with the first water inlet, and the second water inlet channel is in communication with the second water inlet. a sleeve, a valve core, and a compression ring are further provided in the side wall branch pipe. the sleeve has an inner wall provided with a threaded section, and is arranged inside the side wall branch pipe and is threadedly connected to the threaded section of the annular flange of the valve core seat. the valve core is configured to perform the adjustment of the water temperature and the switching on/off of the water flows, the valve core is provided with a water outlet end surface at an end facing towards the valve core seat, and the water outlet end surface is provided with a third water inlet, a fourth water inlet and a second water outlet respectively, and the valve core is provided at the other end with an adjusting knob. the valve core is arranged inside the sleeve, and the third water inlet, the fourth water inlet and the second water outlet of the water outlet end surface of the valve core are respectively in communication with the first water inlet, the second water inlet and the first water outlet correspondingly arranged in the water passing end surface of the valve core seat, and the compression ring is sleeved on an end, at the adjusting knob, of the valve core, and the compression ring has an outer wall provided with a threaded section, and with the compression ring and the sleeve being threadedly connected and fixed to each other, it is ensured that the valve core is firmly confined in the sleeve. a handle is rotatably arranged on an outer side of the side wall branch pipe, and is fixedly connected to the adjusting knob of the valve core. a bent pipe is provided at an upper end of the main pipe, and a pull-out water outlet head is provided at an outer end of the bent pipe, and a threaded mounting hole is provided in the inner cavity of the main pipe above the keeping off space therein. a guide tube, a first water inlet tube, a second water inlet tube and a mixed water outlet hose are arranged to be nested in the main pipe, and the guide tube passes through the keeping off space and is threadedly connected and fixed to the threaded mounting hole, and the guide tube has an inner cavity in communication with the bent pipe. the first water inlet tube, the second water inlet tube, and the mixed water outlet hose pass through the gap between an outer wall of the guide tube and the inner wall of the main pipe and are respectively in communication with the first water inlet channel, the second water inlet channel and the water outlet channel correspondingly arranged in the body of the main body fixing seat, and the other end of the mixed water outlet hose passes through the guide tube, the bent pipe sequentially and is in a sealed connection with the water outlet head. cold water flows through the first water inlet channel of the body of the main body fixing seat via the first water inlet tube, and flows from the first water inlet of the valve core seat into the third water inlet of the valve core. hot water flows through the second water inlet channel of the body of the main body fixing seat via the second water inlet tube, and flows from the second water inlet of the valve core seat into the fourth water inlet of the valve core. the cold water and the hot water converge into the valve core to form a mixed water, and the mixed water flows into the first water outlet of the valve core seat via the second water outlet of the valve core and flows into the mixed water outlet hose via the water outlet channel of the body of the main body fixing seat, and is finally sprayed out from the water outlet head. in the pull-out faucet made with the above structure, the valve core seat is arranged in the side wall branch pipe, and a valve core cavity for installing the valve core is formed by the sleeve and the valve core seat, and the fitting between the sleeve and the valve core seat is not affected by the side wall branch pipe, thus the inner wall of the side wall branch pipe does not need to be processed with high precision, which therefore facilitates industrial manufacture. moreover, the mixed water outlet hose is guided and limited by the guide tube, and the water outlet channel and the water inlet channel of the body of the main body fixing seat are utilized to physically separate the mixed water outlet hose from the multi water inlet tubes, such that the mixed water outlet hose is not susceptible to interfere with the water inlet tubes during the pulling, and thus, the user experience of the product is improved. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a schematic exploded view of the faucet main body containing the valve core seat assembly according to the present application; fig. 2 is a schematic perspective sectional view of the faucet main body and a perspective view of the valve core seat assembly according to the present application; fig. 3 is a schematic view showing the installation of the valve core seat assembly to the main pipe of the faucet main body according to the present application; fig. 4 is a schematic exploded view of the pull-out faucet according to the present application; fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the pull-out faucet according to the present application; fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view from another angle of the pull-out faucet according to the present application; fig. 7 is a schematic view of a combination of a connector and a c-type ferrule according to an embodiment of the present application. detailed description of embodiments the present application is described in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings and embodiments. as shown in figs. 1 to 3 , a pull-out faucet main body 10 including a valve core seat assembly, includes a faucet main body 1 and a valve core seat assembly 2 . the faucet main body 1 is composed of a main pipe 11 and a side wall branch pipe 12 . the main pipe 11 is penetrated in an axial direction, and the side wall branch pipe 12 is obliquely arranged from a side wall of the main pipe 11 , and the side wall branch pipe 12 is also penetrated in an axial direction, and the side wall branch pipe 12 is provided with a second stepped surface 121 at an end facing towards the main pipe 11 . the valve core seat assembly 2 includes a valve core seat 21 and a main body fixing seat 22 . the main body fixing seat 22 includes a body 220 and a lug 222 , the body 220 is composed of a vertical section 2201 and an oblique section 2202 , and the valve core seat 21 is fixedly arranged at an end of the oblique section 2202 . it is to be noted that, an included angle formed by the vertical section 2201 and the oblique section 2202 of the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 matches an included angle formed by the main pipe 11 and the side wall branch pipe 12 , the definition of the matching of the included angles is not limited to mean that the two included angles are exactly the same, but means that when the main body fixing seat 22 and the main pipe 11 are fixedly connected to each other, the valve core seat 21 can be exactly disposed inside an inner cavity of the side wall branch pipe 12 . the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 has a contour that fits against an inner wall of the main pipe 11 , and a water outlet channel 31 , a first water inlet channel 32 , and a second water inlet channel 33 which are independent from each other are formed in an inner cavity of the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 . moreover, a pair of lugs 222 with a gradually increasing distance therebetween are provided horizontally outwards on the body 220 . each of the two lugs 222 is provided with a first threaded hole 223 . the inner wall of the main pipe 11 is provided with two second threaded holes 111 . the two second threaded holes 111 are respectively aligned opposite to the two first threaded holes 223 of the main body fixing seat 22 . since the second threaded holes 111 and the first threaded holes 223 are all arranged along the axial position of the main pipe 11 , when the valve core seat assembly 2 is installed into the main pipe 11 , it is convenient for the two bolts 4 to be threadedly connected into the correspondingly arranged first threaded holes 223 and second threaded holes 111 sequentially from bottom to top of the main pipe 11 , thereby locking and fixing the main body fixing seat 22 into the main pipe 11 . further, the two lugs 222 , the inner wall of the main pipe 11 and an outer wall of the vertical section of the main body 220 enclose to form a keeping off space 221 . in this case, the valve core seat 21 is exactly located in the side wall branch pipe 12 . the valve core seat 21 includes a water passing end surface 210 and an annular flange 211 , and the water passing end surface 210 is fixedly arranged on an end of the oblique section 2202 of the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 . the water passing end surface 210 is provided with a first water outlet 2101 , a first water inlet 2102 and a second water inlet 2103 which are in communication with the water outlet channel 31 , the first water inlet channel 32 and the second water inlet channel 33 of the body 220 respectively. an annular flange 211 extends outwardly from the water passing end surface 210 at an end facing towards the side wall branch pipe 12 , and forms together with an outer edge of the water passing end surface 210 a first stepped surface, and the annular flange 211 has an outer wall provided with a threaded section. when the valve core seat 21 is disposed inside the side wall branch pipe 12 , its water passing end surface 210 abuts exactly against the second stepped surface 121 of the side wall branch pipe 12 , such that the valve core seat 21 may be stably arranged in the inner cavity of the side wall branch pipe 12 , and a gap is presented between the threaded section of the annular flange 211 of the valve core seat 21 and an inner wall of the side wall branch pipe 12 . in a more preferable design, for further ensuring firmness of connection between the valve core assembly 2 and the faucet body 1 , mainly for increasing firmness of connection between the main body fixing seat 22 and the inner wall of the main pipe 11 , each of the lugs 222 of the main body fixing seat 22 is provided with a positioning through hole 224 beside its first threaded hole 223 ; and the inner wall of the main pipe 11 is provided with a positioning blind hole 112 beside each of the second threaded holes 111 , and the positioning blind holes 112 are aligned opposite to the positioning through holes 224 respectively. when the valve core seat assembly 2 is mounted in the main pipe 11 , a positioning pin 5 passes through the positioning through hole 224 into the positioning blind hole 112 sequentially, and the positioning pin 5 has an outer diameter greater than inner diameters of the positioning through hole 224 and the positioning blind hole 112 , such that the positioning pin 5 has an interference fit with each of the positioning through hole 224 and the positioning blind hole 112 . moreover, a bolt 4 is threadedly connected into the first threaded hole 223 of the lug 222 of the main body fixing seat 22 and the second threaded hole 111 in the main pipe 11 sequentially, a cap nut 41 of the bolt 4 abuts by its inner side against an end of the positioning pin 5 such that the positioning pin 5 does not fall off from the positioning through hole 224 . since the valve core seat 21 and the main body fixing seat 22 of the valve core seat assembly 2 are preferably integrally injection molded, in assembling, it is simply required to fixedly lock the integrated component in the main pipe 11 , with its valve core seat 21 directly engaged into the side wall branch pipe 12 , the installation is convenient, and the structural strength is high. as shown in figs. 1, 4 to 7 , a pull-out faucet is further disclosed according to the present application, which includes a pull-out faucet main body 10 including a valve core seat assembly. a sleeve 96 , a valve core 6 , a compression ring 7 and a decorative ring cover 97 are further provided in the side wall branch pipe 12 . the sleeve 96 has an inner wall provided with a threaded section, and is arranged inside the side wall branch pipe 12 and is threadedly connected to the threaded section of the annular flange 211 of the valve core seat 21 , to thereby forming a valve core cavity. the valve core 6 is arranged inside the sleeve 96 and is configured to perform the adjustment of the water temperature and the switching on/off of the water paths. the valve core is provided with a water outlet end surface at an end facing towards the valve core seat 21 , and the water outlet end surface is provided with a third water inlet, a fourth water inlet and a second water outlet (not shown) respectively, and the valve core 6 is provided at the other end with an adjusting knob 61 . for facilitating the connection and communication of the third water inlet, the fourth water inlet and the second water outlet of the water outlet end surface of the valve core 6 respectively with the first water inlet 2102 , the second water inlet 2103 and the first water outlet 2101 correspondingly arranged in the water passing end surface of the valve core seat 21 , the valve core 6 is provided with two positioning protruding bits (not shown) at the bottom thereof, and the water passing end surface 210 of the valve core seat 21 is provided with two positioning holes 212 aligned opposite to the two positioning protruding bits. the compression ring 7 is sleeved on an end, at the adjusting knob 61 , of the valve core 6 . the compression ring 7 is axially penetrated, and is composed of a large diameter end 71 and a small diameter end 72 , and each of the large diameter end 71 and the small diameter end 72 is provided with external screw threads. with the large diameter end 71 of the compression ring 7 and the sleeve 96 being threadedly connected and fixed to each other, it is ensured that the valve core 6 is firmly confined within the sleeve 96 . the decorative ring cover 97 is threadedly connected to the small diameter end 72 of the compression ring 7 , to have a decorative effect. a handle 8 is disposed at an outer end of the decorative ring cover 97 , and is fixedly locked to the adjusting knob 61 of the thermostatic valve core 6 by a screw 81 , to thereby achieving the fixed connection between the handle 8 and the adjusting knob 61 . a bent pipe 9 is provided at an upper end of the main pipe 11 , and a pull-out water outlet head 91 is provided at an outer end of the bent pipe 9 . the bent pipe 9 is rotatable circumferentially about the central axis of the main pipe 11 , and an inner wall of the upper end of the main pipe 11 is provided with a circle of stepped edge 114 and internal screw threads sequentially from top to bottom, and a threaded mounting hole 113 is provided in the inner cavity of the main pipe 11 above the keeping off space 221 therein. the pull-out faucet further includes a connector 13 and a c-shaped ferrule 14 . the connector 13 is penetrated axially, and is provided at its bottom portion with external screw threads, a first annular groove 132 and a convex edge 131 sequentially from bottom to top, and a first o-ring 1331 is nested in the first annular groove 132 . the connector 13 is provided with at least one second annular groove 133 at its upper part, and a second o-ring 1332 is nested in the second annular groove 133 . the connector has a necking section arranged between the first annular groove 132 and the second annular groove 133 , and the c-shaped ferrule 14 is sleeved on the necking section, and the c-shaped ferrule 14 is rotatable circumferentially relative to the connector 13 . the bottom of the connector 13 and the internal screw threads of the upper end of the main pipe 11 are threadedly connected to each other until the convex edge 131 of the connector 13 and the stepped edge 114 of the inner wall of the upper end of the main pipe 11 abut against each other to ensure the firm connection of the connector 13 to the main pipe 11 , and the bent pipe 9 is then sleeved onto the connector 13 , the inner wall of the bent pipe 9 is in interference fit with the c-shaped ferrule 14 and, the second o-ring 1332 and the first o-ring 1331 at an upper end and a lower end of the connector 13 abut against and contact the inner wall of the bent pipe 9 , thereby, the bent pipe 9 is circumferentially rotatable with respect to the connector 13 . a guide tube 92 , a first water inlet tube 931 , a second water inlet tube 932 and a mixed water outlet hose 94 are nested inside the main pipe 11 . the guide tube 92 passes through the keeping off space 221 and is threadedly connected and fixed to the threaded mounting hole 113 . an inner cavity of the guide tube 92 is in communication with an inner cavity of the connector 13 , and the inner cavity of the connector 13 is in communication with an inner cavity of the bent pipe 9 . it is to be noted that, the guide tube 92 can be extended by connecting outwardly an extension pipe 95 (as shown in fig. 4 ), and the extension pipe 95 has an outer wall provided with a threaded section, and passes through a through hole of a fixing seat 98 , and is fixed to the bottom of a mounting table by the fixing seat 98 and a nut 99 , to thereby achieving the fixing of the faucet main body 1 . the first water inlet tube 931 , the second water inlet tube 932 , and the mixed water outlet hose 94 pass through a gap between an outer wall of the guide tube 92 and the inner wall of the main pipe 11 and are respectively in communication with the first water inlet channel 32 , the second water inlet channel 33 and the water outlet channel 31 correspondingly arranged in the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 . the other end of the mixed water outlet hose 94 passes through the guide tube 92 , the connector 13 , the bent pipe 9 sequentially and is in a sealed communication with the water outlet head 91 . apparently, it is required that the mixed water outlet hose 94 has a certain length, to meet the pulling-out requirement on length for the water outlet head 91 of the pull-out faucet, and a counterweight (not shown) is provided to be sleeved on the mixed water outlet hose 94 . in this way, cold water flows through the first water inlet channel 32 of the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 via the first water inlet tube 931 , and flows from the first water inlet 2102 of the valve core seat 21 into the third water inlet of the valve core 6 ; hot water flows through the second water inlet channel 33 of the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 via the second water inlet tube 932 , and flows from the second water inlet 2103 of the valve core seat 21 into the fourth water inlet of the valve core 6 ; and the cold water and the hot water converge into the valve core 6 to form a mixed water, and the mixed water flows into the first water outlet of the valve core seat 21 via the second water outlet of the valve core 6 and flows into the mixed water outlet hose 94 via the water outlet channel 31 of the body 220 of the main body fixing seat 22 , and is finally sprayed out from the water outlet head 91 . when to use, the handle 8 is utilized to turn on the water paths of the faucet, to realize the outflow of mixed water of the hot and cold water, and further the pull-out water outlet head 91 is taken off from the outer end of the bent pipe 9 , and is pulled outwards to a desired length, and thus it can be used. when the use finishes, the pull-out water outlet head 91 is released and subjected to the dragging and pulling of the counterweight, the mixed water outlet hose 94 is drawn backwards, to drive the pull-out water outlet head 91 to return to the outer end of the bent pipe 9 , to realize the return.
|
084-645-766-583-699
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
C07F5/02,C09K11/02,C09K11/06,H10K50/11,H10K85/30,H10K101/10,H01L51/00
| 2020-01-13T00:00:00 |
2020
|
[
"C07",
"C09",
"H10",
"H01"
] |
organic electroluminescent materials and devices
|
provided is a compound comprising a structure of wherein the variables are defined herein.
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1. a compound comprising a structure of wherein: m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, boryl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acid, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , or r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring. 2. the compound of claim 1 , wherein the bond between x 5 and x 6 is a double bond. 3. the compound of claim 1 , wherein the bond between x 5 and x 6 is a double bond with both x 5 and x 6 being cr. 4. the compound of claim 3 , wherein the two r substituents are joined together to form a fused ring. 5. the compound of claim 1 , wherein the bond between x 5 and x 6 is a single bond, and x 5 is nr with r forming a fused ring with ring a, or x 6 is cr with r forming a fused ring with ring c. 6. the compound of claim 1 , wherein r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, fluorine, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, boryl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, aryl, heteroaryl, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, and combinations thereof. 7. the compound of claim 1 , wherein m is br 1 r 2 . 8. the compound of claim 1 , wherein r 1 and r 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl and combinations thereof. 9. the compound of claim 1 , wherein m is znr 3 r 4 . 10. the compound of claim 9 , wherein r 3 and r 4 are selected from the group consisting of halogen, alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, carboxylate, acetylacetonate, and combinations thereof. 11. the compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound has a structure of 12. the compound of claim 1 , wherein the structure of formula i is selected from the group consisting of: wherein x 10 -x 23 are each independently n or cr; y a for each occurrence is independently selected from the group consisting of br e , nr e , pr e , o, s, se, c═o, s═o, so 2 , cr e r f , sir e r f , and ger e r f ; r e and r f can be fused or joined to form a ring; r e and r f are each independently hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halide, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, boryl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carbonyl, carboxylic acid, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof; and two adjacent r can be fused or joined to form a ring. 13. the compound of claim 1 , wherein la-m portion represents the structure of formula i, wherein m is the same m in formula i and l a represents the remaining structure in formula i, and the compound can be selected from the group consisting of l a -m-l a , l a -m-l c , and l a -m-l b , wherein in l a -m-l a and l a -m-l c , m is zn, and in l a -m-l b m is b, wherein l a -m portion is selected from the group consisting of: l a i-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a ii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a iii-(ri)(rj), l a iv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a v-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a vi-(ri)(rj), l a vii-(ri)(rj), l a viii-(ri)(rj), l a ix-(ri)(rj), l a x-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xii-(ri)(rj), l a xiii-(ri)(rj), l a xiv-(ri)(rj), l a xv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xviii-(ri)(rj), l a xix-(ri)(rj), l a xx-(ri)(rj), l a xxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxix-(ri)(rj), l a xxx-(ri)(rj), l a xxxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxix-(ri)(rj), l a xl-(ri)(rj), l a xli-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xlii-(ri)(rj), l a xliii-(ri)(rj), l a xliv-(ri)(rj), l a xlv-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvi-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlviii-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a xlix-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a l-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a li-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a lii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a liii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a liv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lviii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lix-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lx-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lxi-(ri)(rj)(rk), and l a lxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), wherein i, j, and k are independently an integer from 1 to 60, and l is an integer from 1 to 50, wherein l a -m portionstructurefor l a i-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a i-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a i- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a ii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a ii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a ii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a iii-(ri)(rj), l a iii-(rl)(rl) to l a iii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a iv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a iv-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a iv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a v-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a v-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a v- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a vi-(ri)(rj), l a vi-(rl)(rl) to l a vi-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a vii-(ri)(rj), l a vii-(rl)(rl) to l a vii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a viii-(ri)(rj), l a viii-(rl)(rl) to l a viii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a ix-(ri)(rj), l a ix-(rl)(rl) to l a ix-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a x-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a x-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a x- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xi-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xii-(ri)(rj), l a xii-(rl)(rl) to l a xii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xiii-(ri)(rj), l a xiii-(rl)(rl) to l a xiii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xiv-(ri)(rj), l a xiv-(rl)(rl) to l a xiv-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xv-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvi-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xvi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xvii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xviii-(ri)(rj), l a xviii-(rl)(rl) to l a xviii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xix-(ri)(rj), l a xix-(rl)(rl) to l a xix-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xx-(ri)(rj), l a xx-(rl)(rl) to l a xx-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxi-(rl)(rl) to l a xxi-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxiii-(rl)(rl) to l a xxiii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxiv-(rl)(rl) to l a xxiv- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxv-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvi-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxvi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxvii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxviii-(rl)(rl) to l a xxviii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxix-(ri)(rj), l a xxix-(rl)(rl) to l a xxix- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxx-(ri)(rj), l a xxx-(rl)(rl) to compound xxx- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxxi-(rl)(rl) to l a xxxi- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxxii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxiii-(rl)(rl) to l a xxxiii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxxiv-(rl)(rl) to l a xxxiv- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxv-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxxv-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvi-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxxvi-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xxxvii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxviii-(rl)(rl) to l a xxxviii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxix-(ri)(rj), l a xxxix-(rl)(rl) to l a i-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xl-(ri)(rj), l a xl-(rl)(rl) to l a xl-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xli-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xli-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xli- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xlii-(ri)(rj), l a xlii-(rl)(rl) to l a xlii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xliii-(ri)(rj), l a xliii-(rl)(rl) to l a xliii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xliv-(ri)(rj), l a xliv-(rl)(rl) to l a xliv- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xlv-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlv-(rl)(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xlv-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlvi-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvi-(rl)(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xlvi-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlvii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvii-(rl)(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xlvii-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlviii-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a xlviii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xlviii-(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlix-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a xlix-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a xlix- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a l-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a l-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a l- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a li-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a li-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a li- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a lii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a lii-(rl)(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lii- (r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a liii-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a liii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a liii- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a liv-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a liv-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a liv- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a lv-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a lv-(rl)(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lv- (r60)(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lvi-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a lvi-(rl)(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lvi-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lvii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lvii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lviii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lviii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lviii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lix-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lix-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lix- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lx-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lx-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lx- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lxi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lxi-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lix- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lxii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l a lxii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structure wherein m-l b portion is selected from the group consisting of: l b i, l b ii-(rx)(ry), l b iii-(rx)(ry), l b iv-(rx)(ry), l b v-(rx)(ry), l b vi-(rx)(ry), l b vii-(rx)(ry)(rz), and l b viii-(rx)(ry), wherein x and y are each independently an integer from 1 to 60, and z is an integer from 1 to 50, wherein: m-l b portionstructurel b i having the structurefor l b ii-(rx)(ry), l b ii-(rl)(rl) to l b ii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b iii-(rx)(ry), l b iii-(rl)(rl) to l b iii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b iv-(rx)(ry), l b iv-(rl)(rl) to l b iv-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b v-(rx)(ry), l b v-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l b v-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b vi-(rx)(ry), l b vi-(rl)(rl) to l b vi-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b vii-(rx)(ry)(rz), l b vii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l b vii- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l b viii-(rx)(ry), l b viii-(rl)(rl) to l b viii-(r60)(r60) having the structure wherein m-l c portion is selected from the group consisting of: l c i-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c ii-(rm)(rn), l c iii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c iv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c v-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c vi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c vii-(rm)(rn), l c viii-(rm)(rn), l c ix-(rm)(rn), l c x-(rm)(rn), l c xi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xii-(rm)(rn), l c xiii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xiv-(rm)(rn), l c xv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xvi-(rm)(rn), l c xvii-(rm)(rn)(ro), and l c xiii-(rm)(rn)(ro), wherein m, n, and o are each independently an integer from 1 to 60, wherein m-l c portionstructurefor l c i-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c i-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c i- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c ii-(rm)(rn), l c ii-(rl)(rl) to l c ii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c iii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c iii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c iii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c iv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c iv-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c iv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c v-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c v-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c v- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c vi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c vi-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c vi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c vii-(rm)(rn), l c vii-(rl)(rl) to l c vii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c viii-(rm)(rn), l c viii-(rl)(rl) to l c viii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c ix-(rm)(rn), l c ix-(rl)(rl) to l c ix-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c x-(rm)(rn), l c x-(rl)(rl) to l c x-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xi-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c xi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xii-(rm)(rn), l c xii-(rl)(rl) to l c xii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xiii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xiii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c xiii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xiv-(rm)(rn), l c xiv-(rl)(rl) to l c xiv-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xv-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c xv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xvi-(rm)(rn), l c xvi-(rl)(rl) to l c xvi-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xvii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xvii-(rl)(rl)(rl) to l c xvii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xviii-(rm)(rn), l c xviii-(rl)(rl) to l c xviii- (r60)(r60) having the structure wherein r1 to r60 have the following structures: 14. the compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound of formula i is selected from the group consisting of: 15. the compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound is selected from the group consisting of: 16. an organic light emitting device (oled) comprising: an anode; a cathode; and a first organic layer disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the first organic layer comprises a compound of wherein: m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, boryl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acid, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , or r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring. 17. the oled of claim 16 , wherein the compound is a fluorescent emitter. 18. the oled of claim 16 , wherein the first organic layer further comprises a phosphorescent sensitizer, and the compound is a fluorescent acceptor, wherein the phosphorescent sensitizer is a transition metal complex having at least one ligand or part of the ligand if the ligand is more than bidentate selected from the group consisting of: wherein: t is b, al, ga, in; each of y 1 to y 13 is independently selected from the group consisting of carbon and nitrogen; y′ is selected from the group consisting of br e , nr e , pr e , o, s, se, c═o, s═o, so 2 , cr e r f , sir e r f , and ger e r f ; r e and r f can be fused or joined to form a ring; each r a , r b , r c , and r d independently represent zero, mono, or up to a maximum allowed number of substitutions to its associated ring; each of r a1 , r b1 , r c1 , r d1 , r a , r b , r c , r d , r e and r f is independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halide, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, boryl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carbonyl, carboxylic acid, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof; the general substituents defined herein; and any two adjacent r a , r b , r c , r d , r e and r f can be fused or joined to form a ring or form a multidentate ligand. 19. the oled of claim 16 , wherein one or more organic layers, disposed between the anode and cathode, comprise a host, wherein the host comprises at least one chemical moiety selected from the group consisting of triphenylene, carbazole, indolocarbazole, dibenzothiphene, dibenzofuran, dibenzoselenophene, 5,9-dioxa-13b-boranaphtho[3,2,1-de]anthracene, aza-triphenylene, aza-carbazole, aza-indolocarbazole, aza-dibenzothiophene, aza-dibenzofuran, aza-dibenzoselenophene, and aza-(5,9-dioxa-13b-boranaphtho[3,2,1-de]anthracene). 20. a consumer product comprising an organic light-emitting device (oled) comprising: an anode; a cathode; and an organic layer disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the organic layer comprises a compound comprising a structure of wherein: m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, boryl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acid, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , or r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring.
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cross-reference to related applications this application claims priority under 35 u.s.c. § 119(e) to u.s. provisional application no. 62/960,200, filed on jan. 13, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. field the present disclosure generally relates to organoboron and organozinc compounds and formulations and their various uses including as emitters in devices such as organic light emitting diodes and related electronic devices. background opto-electronic devices that make use of organic materials are becoming increasingly desirable for various reasons. many of the materials used to make such devices are relatively inexpensive, so organic opto-electronic devices have the potential for cost advantages over inorganic devices. in addition, the inherent properties of organic materials, such as their flexibility, may make them well suited for particular applications such as fabrication on a flexible substrate. examples of organic opto-electronic devices include organic light emitting diodes/devices (oleds), organic phototransistors, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic photodetectors. for oleds, the organic materials may have performance advantages over conventional materials. oleds make use of thin organic films that emit light when voltage is applied across the device. oleds are becoming an increasingly interesting technology for use in applications such as flat panel displays, illumination, and backlighting. one application for phosphorescent emissive molecules is a full color display. industry standards for such a display call for pixels adapted to emit particular colors, referred to as “saturated” colors. in particular, these standards call for saturated red, green, and blue pixels. alternatively, the oled can be designed to emit white light. in conventional liquid crystal displays emission from a white backlight is filtered using absorption filters to produce red, green and blue emission. the same technique can also be used with oleds. the white oled can be either a single emissive layer (eml) device or a stack structure. color may be measured using cie coordinates, which are well known to the art. summary in one aspect, the present disclosure provides a compound comprising a structure of wherein m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of the general substituents defined herein; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring. in another aspect, the present disclosure provides a formulation of a compound comprising formula i as described herein. in yet another aspect, the present disclosure provides an oled having an organic layer comprising a compound of formula i as described herein. in yet another aspect, the present disclosure provides a consumer product comprising an oled with an organic layer comprising a compound of formula i as described herein. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows an organic light emitting device. fig. 2 shows an inverted organic light emitting device that does not have a separate electron transport layer. detailed description a. terminology unless otherwise specified, the below terms used herein are defined as follows: as used herein, the term “organic” includes polymeric materials as well as small molecule organic materials that may be used to fabricate organic opto-electronic devices. “small molecule” refers to any organic material that is not a polymer, and “small molecules” may actually be quite large. small molecules may include repeat units in some circumstances. for example, using a long chain alkyl group as a substituent does not remove a molecule from the “small molecule” class. small molecules may also be incorporated into polymers, for example as a pendent group on a polymer backbone or as a part of the backbone. small molecules may also serve as the core moiety of a dendrimer, which consists of a series of chemical shells built on the core moiety. the core moiety of a dendrimer may be a fluorescent or phosphorescent small molecule emitter. a dendrimer may be a “small molecule,” and it is believed that all dendrimers currently used in the field of oleds are small molecules. as used herein, “top” means furthest away from the substrate, while “bottom” means closest to the substrate. where a first layer is described as “disposed over” a second layer, the first layer is disposed further away from substrate. there may be other layers between the first and second layer, unless it is specified that the first layer is “in contact with” the second layer. for example, a cathode may be described as “disposed over” an anode, even though there are various organic layers in between. as used herein, “solution processable” means capable of being dissolved, dispersed, or transported in and/or deposited from a liquid medium, either in solution or suspension form. a ligand may be referred to as “photoactive” when it is believed that the ligand directly contributes to the photoactive properties of an emissive material. a ligand may be referred to as “ancillary” when it is believed that the ligand does not contribute to the photoactive properties of an emissive material, although an ancillary ligand may alter the properties of a photoactive ligand. as used herein, and as would be generally understood by one skilled in the art, a first “highest occupied molecular orbital” (homo) or “lowest unoccupied molecular orbital” (lumo) energy level is “greater than” or “higher than” a second homo or lumo energy level if the first energy level is closer to the vacuum energy level. since ionization potentials (ip) are measured as a negative energy relative to a vacuum level, a higher homo energy level corresponds to an ip having a smaller absolute value (an ip that is less negative). similarly, a higher lumo energy level corresponds to an electron affinity (ea) having a smaller absolute value (an ea that is less negative). on a conventional energy level diagram, with the vacuum level at the top, the lumo energy level of a material is higher than the homo energy level of the same material. a “higher” homo or lumo energy level appears closer to the top of such a diagram than a “lower” homo or lumo energy level. as used herein, and as would be generally understood by one skilled in the art, a first work function is “greater than” or “higher than” a second work function if the first work function has a higher absolute value. because work functions are generally measured as negative numbers relative to vacuum level, this means that a “higher” work function is more negative. on a conventional energy level diagram, with the vacuum level at the top, a “higher” work function is illustrated as further away from the vacuum level in the downward direction. thus, the definitions of homo and lumo energy levels follow a different convention than work functions. the terms “halo,” “halogen,” and “halide” are used interchangeably and refer to fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. the term “acyl” refers to a substituted carbonyl radical (c(o)—r s ). the term “ester” refers to a substituted oxycarbonyl (—o—c(o)—r s or —c(o)—o—r s ) radical. the term “ether” refers to an —or s radical. the terms “sulfanyl” or “thio-ether” are used interchangeably and refer to a —sr s radical. the term “sulfinyl” refers to a —s(o)—r s radical. the term “sulfonyl” refers to a —so 2 —r s radical. the term “phosphino” refers to a —p(r s ) 3 radical, wherein each r s can be same or different. the term “silyl” refers to a —si(r s ) 3 radical, wherein each r s can be same or different. the term “boryl” refers to a —b(r s ) 2 radical or its lewis adduct —b(r s ) 3 radical, wherein r s can be same or different. in each of the above, r s can be hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and combination thereof. preferred r s is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and combination thereof. the term “alkyl” refers to and includes both straight and branched chain alkyl radicals. preferred alkyl groups are those containing from one to fifteen carbon atoms and includes methyl, ethyl, propyl, 1-methylethyl, butyl, 1-methylpropyl, 2-methylpropyl, pentyl, 1-methylbutyl, 2-methylbutyl, 3-methylbutyl, 1,1-dimethylpropyl, 1,2-dimethylpropyl, 2,2-dimethylpropyl, and the like. additionally, the alkyl group may be optionally substituted. the term “cycloalkyl” refers to and includes monocyclic, polycyclic, and spiro alkyl radicals. preferred cycloalkyl groups are those containing 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms and includes cyclopropyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, bicyclo[3.1.1]heptyl, spiro[4.5]decyl, spiro[5.5]undecyl, adamantyl, and the like. additionally, the cycloalkyl group may be optionally substituted. the terms “heteroalkyl” or “heterocycloalkyl” refer to an alkyl or a cycloalkyl radical, respectively, having at least one carbon atom replaced by a heteroatom. optionally the at least one heteroatom is selected from o, s, n, p, b, si and se, preferably, o, s or n. additionally, the heteroalkyl or heterocycloalkyl group may be optionally substituted. the term “alkenyl” refers to and includes both straight and branched chain alkene radicals. alkenyl groups are essentially alkyl groups that include at least one carbon-carbon double bond in the alkyl chain. cycloalkenyl groups are essentially cycloalkyl groups that include at least one carbon-carbon double bond in the cycloalkyl ring. the term “heteroalkenyl” as used herein refers to an alkenyl radical having at least one carbon atom replaced by a heteroatom. optionally the at least one heteroatom is selected from o, s, n, p, b, si, and se, preferably, o, s, or n. preferred alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, or heteroalkenyl groups are those containing two to fifteen carbon atoms. additionally, the alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, or heteroalkenyl group may be optionally substituted. the term “alkynyl” refers to and includes both straight and branched chain alkyne radicals. alkynyl groups are essentially alkyl groups that include at least one carbon-carbon triple bond in the alkyl chain. preferred alkynyl groups are those containing two to fifteen carbon atoms. additionally, the alkynyl group may be optionally substituted. the terms “aralkyl” or “arylalkyl” are used interchangeably and refer to an alkyl group that is substituted with an aryl group. additionally, the aralkyl group may be optionally substituted. the term “heterocyclic group” refers to and includes aromatic and non-aromatic cyclic radicals containing at least one heteroatom. optionally the at least one heteroatom is selected from o, s, n, p, b, si, and se, preferably, o, s, or n. hetero-aromatic cyclic radicals may be used interchangeably with heteroaryl. preferred hetero-non-aromatic cyclic groups are those containing 3 to 7 ring atoms which includes at least one hetero atom, and includes cyclic amines such as morpholino, piperidino, pyrrolidino, and the like, and cyclic ethers/thio-ethers, such as tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydropyran, tetrahydrothiophene, and the like. additionally, the heterocyclic group may be optionally substituted. the term “aryl” refers to and includes both single-ring aromatic hydrocarbyl groups and polycyclic aromatic ring systems. the polycyclic rings may have two or more rings in which two carbons are common to two adjoining rings (the rings are “fused”) wherein at least one of the rings is an aromatic hydrocarbyl group, e.g., the other rings can be cycloalkyls, cycloalkenyls, aryl, heterocycles, and/or heteroaryls. preferred aryl groups are those containing six to thirty carbon atoms, preferably six to twenty carbon atoms, more preferably six to twelve carbon atoms. especially preferred is an aryl group having six carbons, ten carbons or twelve carbons. suitable aryl groups include phenyl, biphenyl, triphenyl, triphenylene, tetraphenylene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, pyrene, chrysene, perylene, and azulene, preferably phenyl, biphenyl, triphenyl, triphenylene, fluorene, and naphthalene. additionally, the aryl group may be optionally substituted. the term “heteroaryl” refers to and includes both single-ring aromatic groups and polycyclic aromatic ring systems that include at least one heteroatom. the heteroatoms include, but are not limited to o, s, n, p, b, si, and se. in many instances, o, s, or n are the preferred heteroatoms. hetero-single ring aromatic systems are preferably single rings with 5 or 6 ring atoms, and the ring can have from one to six heteroatoms. the hetero-polycyclic ring systems can have two or more rings in which two atoms are common to two adjoining rings (the rings are “fused”) wherein at least one of the rings is a heteroaryl, e.g., the other rings can be cycloalkyls, cycloalkenyls, aryl, heterocycles, and/or heteroaryls. the hetero-polycyclic aromatic ring systems can have from one to six heteroatoms per ring of the polycyclic aromatic ring system. preferred heteroaryl groups are those containing three to thirty carbon atoms, preferably three to twenty carbon atoms, more preferably three to twelve carbon atoms. suitable heteroaryl groups include dibenzothiophene, dibenzofuran, dibenzoselenophene, furan, thiophene, benzofuran, benzothiophene, benzoselenophene, carbazole, indolocarbazole, pyridylindole, pyrrolodipyridine, pyrazole, imidazole, triazole, oxazole, thiazole, oxadiazole, oxatriazole, dioxazole, thiadiazole, pyridine, pyridazine, pyrimidine, pyrazine, triazine, oxazine, oxathiazine, oxadiazine, indole, benzimidazole, indazole, indoxazine, benzoxazole, benzisoxazole, benzothiazole, quinoline, isoquinoline, cinnoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline, naphthyridine, phthalazine, pteridine, xanthene, acridine, phenazine, phenothiazine, phenoxazine, benzofuropyridine, furodipyridine, benzothienopyridine, thienodipyridine, benzoselenophenopyridine, and selenophenodipyridine, preferably dibenzothiophene, dibenzofuran, dibenzoselenophene, carbazole, indolocarbazole, imidazole, pyridine, triazine, benzimidazole, 1,2-azaborine, 1,3-azaborine, 1,4-azaborine, borazine, and aza-analogs thereof. additionally, the heteroaryl group may be optionally substituted. of the aryl and heteroaryl groups listed above, the groups of triphenylene, naphthalene, anthracene, dibenzothiophene, dibenzofuran, dibenzoselenophene, carbazole, indolocarbazole, imidazole, pyridine, pyrazine, pyrimidine, triazine, and benzimidazole, and the respective aza-analogs of each thereof are of particular interest. the terms alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, heterocyclic group, aryl, and heteroaryl, as used herein, are independently unsubstituted, or independently substituted, with one or more general substituents. in many instances, the general substituents are selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acid, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, boryl, and combinations thereof. in some instances, the preferred general substituents are selected from the group consisting of deuterium, fluorine, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, aryl, heteroaryl, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, boryl, and combinations thereof. in some instances, the preferred general substituents are selected from the group consisting of deuterium, fluorine, alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, aryl, heteroaryl, sulfanyl, and combinations thereof. in yet other instances, the more preferred general substituents are selected from the group consisting of deuterium, fluorine, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and combinations thereof. the terms “substituted” and “substitution” refer to a substituent other than h that is bonded to the relevant position, e.g., a carbon or nitrogen. for example, when r 1 represents mono-substitution, then one r 1 must be other than h (i.e., a substitution). similarly, when r 1 represents di-substitution, then two of r 1 must be other than h. similarly, when r 1 represents zero or no substitution, r 1 , for example, can be a hydrogen for available valencies of ring atoms, as in carbon atoms for benzene and the nitrogen atom in pyrrole, or simply represents nothing for ring atoms with fully filled valencies, e.g., the nitrogen atom in pyridine. the maximum number of substitutions possible in a ring structure will depend on the total number of available valencies in the ring atoms. as used herein, “combinations thereof” indicates that one or more members of the applicable list are combined to form a known or chemically stable arrangement that one of ordinary skill in the art can envision from the applicable list. for example, an alkyl and deuterium can be combined to form a partial or fully deuterated alkyl group; a halogen and alkyl can be combined to form a halogenated alkyl substituent; and a halogen, alkyl, and aryl can be combined to form a halogenated arylalkyl. in one instance, the term substitution includes a combination of two to four of the listed groups. in another instance, the term substitution includes a combination of two to three groups. in yet another instance, the term substitution includes a combination of two groups. preferred combinations of substituent groups are those that contain up to fifty atoms that are not hydrogen or deuterium, or those which include up to forty atoms that are not hydrogen or deuterium, or those that include up to thirty atoms that are not hydrogen or deuterium. in many instances, a preferred combination of substituent groups will include up to twenty atoms that are not hydrogen or deuterium. the “aza” designation in the fragments described herein, i.e. aza-dibenzofuran, aza-dibenzothiophene, etc. means that one or more of the c—h groups in the respective aromatic ring can be replaced by a nitrogen atom, for example, and without any limitation, azatriphenylene encompasses both dibenzo[f,h]quinoxaline and dibenzo[f,h]quinoline. one of ordinary skill in the art can readily envision other nitrogen analogs of the aza-derivatives described above, and all such analogs are intended to be encompassed by the terms as set forth herein. as used herein, “deuterium” refers to an isotope of hydrogen. deuterated compounds can be readily prepared using methods known in the art. for example, u.s. pat. no. 8,557,400, patent pub. no. wo 2006/095951, and u.s. pat. application pub. no. us 2011/0037057, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties, describe the making of deuterium-substituted organometallic complexes. further reference is made to ming yan, et al., tetrahedron 2015, 71, 1425-30 and atzrodt et al., angew. chem. int. ed . ( reviews ) 2007, 46, 7744-65, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, describe the deuteration of the methylene hydrogens in benzyl amines and efficient pathways to replace aromatic ring hydrogens with deuterium, respectively. it is to be understood that when a molecular fragment is described as being a substituent or otherwise attached to another moiety, its name may be written as if it were a fragment (e.g. phenyl, phenylene, naphthyl, dibenzofuryl) or as if it were the whole molecule (e.g. benzene, naphthalene, dibenzofuran). as used herein, these different ways of designating a substituent or attached fragment are considered to be equivalent. in some instance, a pair of adjacent substituents can be optionally joined or fused into a ring. the preferred ring is a five, six, or seven-membered carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring, includes both instances where the portion of the ring formed by the pair of substituents is saturated and where the portion of the ring formed by the pair of substituents is unsaturated. as used herein, “adjacent” means that the two substituents involved can be on the same ring next to each other, or on two neighboring rings having the two closest available substitutable positions, such as 2, 2′ positions in a biphenyl, or 1, 8 position in a naphthalene, as long as they can form a stable fused ring system. b. the compounds of the present disclosure in one aspect, the present disclosure provides a compound comprising a structure of wherein: m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of the general substituents defined herein; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , or r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring where chemically feasible. in some embodiments, the bond between x 5 and x 6 can be a double bond. in some embodiments, the bond between x 5 and x 6 can be a double bond with both x 5 and x 6 being cr. in some embodiments, the two r substituents can each be independently hydrogen or deuterium. in some embodiments, the two r substituents can be joined together to form a fused ring. in some embodiments, the fused ring can be an aromatic ring. in some embodiments, the fused ring can be a 5-membered or 6-membered aryl or heteroaryl ring. in some embodiments, the fused ring can be a benzene ring, which is further optionally fused. in some embodiments, the bond between x 5 and x 6 can be a single bond, and x 5 can be nr with r forming a fused ring with ring a. in some embodiments, x 6 can be cr with r forming a fused ring with ring c. in some embodiments, r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 can each be independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, fluorine, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, boryl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, aryl, heteroaryl, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, m can be br 1 r 2 . in some embodiments, r 1 and r 2 can each be independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, r 1 and r 2 can each be an aromatic group. in some embodiments, r 1 and r 2 can each be independently an aryl or heteroaryl group. in some embodiments, r 1 and r 2 can each be independently a 5-membered or 6-membered aryl or heteroaryl group. in some embodiments, r 1 and r 2 can each be a phenyl group. in some embodiments, r 1 and r 2 can each be fluorine. in some embodiments, m can be znr 3 r 4 . in some embodiments, r 3 and r 4 can be selected from the group consisting of halogen, alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, carboxylate, acetylacetonate, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, r 3 and r 4 can each be an aromatic group. in some embodiments, r 3 and r 4 can each be an aryl or heteroaryl group. in some embodiments, r 1 and r 2 can each be independently a 5-membered or 6-membered aryl or heteroaryl group. in some embodiments, r 3 and r 4 can be joined together to form a bidentate ligand. in some embodiments, the compound can have a structure of in some embodiments, x 1 -x 4 and x 7 -x 9 can each be independently cr. in some embodiments, two adjacent r substituents can be joined to form a fused ring. in some embodiments, r for each occurrence can be independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, deuterium, alkyl, heteroalkyl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, r for each occurrence can be independently h, d, an alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, or combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the compound of formula i can be selected from the group consisting of: wherein x 10 -x 23 are each independently n or cr; y a for each occurrence is independently selected from the group consisting of br e , nr e , pr e , o, s, se, c═o, s═o, so 2 , cr e r f , sir e r f , and ger e r f ; r e and r f can be fused or joined to form a ring; r e and r f are each independently hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of the general substituents defined herein; two adjacent r substituents can be fused or joined to form a ring; and m, x 1 -x 9 are all the same as previously defined. in some embodiments of the compound, l a -m represents the structure of formula i, where m is the same m in formula i and l a represents the remaining structure in formula i, and the compound can be l a -m-l a or l a -m-l c wherein m is zn and l c is as defined below. in some embodiments, the compound can be l a -m-l b wherein m is b and l b is as defined below. in these embodiments, l a -m can be selected from the group consisting of: l a i-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a ii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a iii-(ri)(rj), l a iv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a v-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a vi-(ri)(rj), l a vii-(ri)(rj), l a viii-(ri)(rj), l a ix-(ri)(rj), l a x-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xii-(ri)(rj), l a xiii-(ri)(rj), l a xiv-(ri)(rj), l a xv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xviii-(ri)(rj), l a xix-(ri)(rj), l a xx-(ri)(rj), l a xxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxix-(ri)(rj), l a xxx-(ri)(rj), l a xxxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxix-(ri)(rj), l a xl-(ri)(rj), l a xli-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xlii-(ri)(rj), l a xliii-(ri)(rj), l a xliv-(ri)(rj), l a xlv-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvi-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlviii-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a xlix-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a l-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a li-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a lii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a liii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a liv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lviii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lix-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lx-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lxi-(ri)(rj)(rk), and l a lxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), wherein i, j, and k are independently an integer from 1 to 60, and l is an integer from 1 to 50, wherein l a -m portionstructurefor l a i-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a i-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a i- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a ii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a ii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a ii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a iii-(ri)(rj), l a iii-(r1)(r1) to l a iii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a iv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a iv-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a iv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a v-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a v-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a v- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a vi-(ri)(rj), l a vi-(r1)(r1) to l a vi-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a vii-(ri)(rj), l a vii-(r1)(r1) to l a vii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a viii-(ri)(rj), l a viii-(r1)(r1) to l a viii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a ix-(ri)(rj), l a ix-(r1)(r1) to l a ix-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a x-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a x-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a x- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xi-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xii-(ri)(rj), l a xii-(r1)(r1) to l a xii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xiii-(ri)(rj), l a xiii-(r1)(r1) to l a xiii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xiv-(ri)(rj), l a xiv-(r1)(r1) to l a xiv-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xv-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvi-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xvi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xvii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xvii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xviii-(ri)(rj), l a xviii-(r1)(r1) to l a xviii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xix-(ri)(rj), l a xix-(r1)(r1) to l a xix-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xx-(ri)(rj), l a xx-(r1)(r1) to l a xx-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxi-(r1)(r1) to l a xxi-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxiii-(r1)(r1) to l a xxiii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxiv-(r1)(r1) to l a xxiv- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxv-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvi-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxvi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxvii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxvii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxviii-(r1)(r1) to l a xxviii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxix-(ri)(rj), l a xxix-(r1)(r1) to l a xxix- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxx-(ri)(rj), l a xxx-(r1)(r1) to compound xxx- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxi-(ri)(rj), l a xxxi-(r1)(r1) to l a xxxi- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxxii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxiii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxiii-(r1)(r1) to l a xxxiii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxiv-(ri)(rj), l a xxxiv-(r1)(r1) to l a xxxiv- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxv-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxv-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxxv-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxvi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvi-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxxvi-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xxxvii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xxxvii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxviii-(ri)(rj), l a xxxviii-(r1)(r1) to l a xxxviii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xxxix-(ri)(rj), l a xxxix-(r1)(r1) to l a i-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xl-(ri)(rj), l a xl-(r1)(r1) to l a xl-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xli-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a xli-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xli- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xlii-(ri)(rj), l a xlii-(r1)(r1) to l a xlii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xliii-(ri)(rj), l a xliii-(r1)(r1) to l a xliii- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xliv-(ri)(rj), l a xliv-(r1)(r1) to l a xliv- (r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a xlv-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlv-(r1)(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xlv-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlvi-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvi-(r1)(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xlvi-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlvii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a xlvii-(r1)(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xlvii-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlviii-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a xlviii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xlviii-(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a xlix-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a xlix-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a xlix- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a l-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a l-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a l- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a li-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a li-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a li- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a lii-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a lii-(r1)(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lii- (r60)(r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a liii-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a liii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a liii- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a liv-(ri)(rj)(rl), l a liv-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a liv- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l a lv-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a lv-(r1)(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lv- (r60)(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lvi-(ri)(rj)(rk)(rl), l a lvi-(r1)(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lvi-(r60)(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lvii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lvii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lvii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lviii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lviii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lviii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lix-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lix-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lix- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lx-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lx-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lx- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lxi-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lxi-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lix- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l a lxii-(ri)(rj)(rk), l a lxii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l a lxii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structure wherein r1 to r60 are defined in list 1 below. in the embodiments where the compound can be l a -m-l b , the m-l b portion can be selected from the group consisting of: l b i, l b ii-(rx)(ry), l b iii-(rx)(ry), l b iv-(rx)(ry), l b v-(rx)(ry), l b vi-(rx)(ry), l b vii-(rx)(ry)(rz), and l b viii-(rx)(ry), wherein x and y are each independently an integer from to 60, and z is an integer from 1 to 50, wherein m-l b portionstructurel b i having the structurefor l b ii-(rx)(ry), l b ii-(r1)(r1) to l b ii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b iii-(rx)(ry), l b iii-(r1)(r1) to l b iii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b iv-(rx)(ry), l b iv-(r1)(r1) to l b iv-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b v-(rx)(ry), l b v-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l b v-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b vi-(rx)(ry), l b vi-(r1)(r1) to l b vi-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l b vii-(rx)(ry)(rz), l b vii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l b vii- (r60)(r60)(r50) having the structurefor l b viii-(rx)(ry), l b viii-(r1)(r1) to l b viii-(r60)(r60) having the structure wherein r1 to r60 are defined in the list 1 below. in the embodiments where the compound can be l a -m-l c , the m-l c portion can be selected from the group consisting of: l c i-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c ii-(rm)(rn), l c iii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c iv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c v-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c vi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c vii-(rm)(rn), l c viii-(rm)(rn), l c ix-(rm)(rn), l c x-(rm)(rn), l c xi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xii-(rm)(rn), l c xiii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xiv-(rm)(rn), l c xv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xvi-(rm)(rn), l c xvii-(rm)(rn)(ro), and l c xiii-(rm)(rn)(ro), wherein m, n, and o are each independently an integer from 1 to 60, wherein m-l c portionstructurefor l c i-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c i-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c i- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c ii-(rm)(rn), l c ii-(r1)(r1) to l c ii-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c iii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c iii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c iii- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c iv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c iv-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c iv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c v-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c v-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c v- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c vi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c vi-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c vi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c vii-(rm)(rn), l c vii-(r1)(r1) to l c vii-( r60) (r60) having the structurefor l c viii-(rm)(rn), l c viii-(r1)(r1) to l c viii-(r60) (r60) having the structurefor l c ix-(rm)(rn), l c ix-(r1)(r1) to l c ix-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c x-(rm)(rn), l c x-(r1)(r1) to l c x-(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xi-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xi-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c xi- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xii-(rm)(rn), l c xii-(r1)(r1) to l c xii-( r60) (r60) having the structurefor l c xiii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xiii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c xiii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xiv-(rm)(rn), l c xiv-(r1)(r1) to l c xiv-(r60) (r60) having the structurefor l c xv-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xv-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c xv- (r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xvi-(rm)(rn), l c xvi-(r1)(r1) to l c xvi-(r60) (r60) having the structurefor l c xvii-(rm)(rn)(ro), l c xvii-(r1)(r1)(r1) to l c xvii-(r60)(r60)(r60) having the structurefor l c xviii-(rm)(rn), l c xviii-(r1)(r1) to l c xviii- (r60)(r60) having the structure wherein r1 to r60 have the structures defined in the following list 1: in the above embodiments, formula l a -m-l a should be understood as a combination of l a -m and m-l a with m as the same shared bonding metal. likewise, l a -m-l b should be understood as a combination of l a -m and m-l b with m as the same shared bonding metal. again, l a -m-l c should be understood as a combination of l a -m and m-l c with m as the same shared bonding metal. for example, when l a -m is l a -m-l a should be understood to be when l a -m is and m-l b is l a -m-l b should be understood to be when l a -m is and m-l c is l a -m-l c should be understood to be in some embodiments, the compound of formula i can be selected from the group consisting of: wherein m is the same as previously defined. in some embodiments, the compound can be selected from the group consisting of: in some embodiments, the compound can be selected from the group consisting of: c. the oleds and the devices of the present disclosure in another aspect, the present disclosure also provides an oled device comprising a first organic layer that contains a compound as disclosed in the above compounds section of the present disclosure. in some embodiments, the first organic layer can comprise a compound comprising a structure of wherein m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of the general substituents defined herein; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , or r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring. in some embodiments, the first organic layer may be an emissive layer and the compound as described herein may be an emissive dopant or a non-emissive dopant. in some embodiments, the compound may be a fluorescent emitter. in some embodiments, the first organic layer may further comprise a phosphorescent sensitizer, and the compound is a fluorescent acceptor. in some embodiments, the oled may comprise a second organic layer disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the second organic layer comprises a phosphorescent sensitizer, and the compound is a fluorescent acceptor. in some embodiments, the phosphorescent sensitizer may be a transition metal complex having at least one ligand or part of the ligand if the ligand is more than bidentate selected from the group consisting of: wherein: t is b, al, ga, in; each of y 1 to y 13 is independently selected from the group consisting of carbon and nitrogen; y′ is selected from the group consisting of br e , nr e , pr e , o, s, se, c═o, s═o, so 2 , cr e r f , sir e r f , and ger e r f ; r e and r f can be fused or joined to form a ring; each r a , r b , r c , and r d independently represent zero, mono, or up to the maximum allowed number of substitutions to its associated ring; each of r a1 , r b1 , r c1 , r d1 , r a , r b , r c , r d , r e and r f is independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of the general substituents defined herein; and any two adjacent r a , r b , r c , r d , r e and r f can be fused or joined to form a ring or form a multidentate ligand. in some embodiments, one or more organic layers, disposed between the anode and cathode, comprise a host, wherein the host comprises at least one chemical moiety selected from the group consisting of triphenylene, carbazole, indolocarbazole, dibenzothiphene, dibenzofuran, dibenzoselenophene, 5,9-dioxa-13b-boranaphtho[3,2,1-de]anthracene, aza-triphenylene, aza-carbazole, aza-indolocarbazole, aza-dibenzothiophene, aza-dibenzofuran, aza-dibenzoselenophene, and aza-(5,9-dioxa-13b-boranaphtho[3,2,1-de]anthracene). in some embodiments, the host may be selected from the group consisting of: and combinations thereof. in yet another aspect, the oled of the present disclosure may also comprise an emissive region containing a compound as disclosed in the above compounds section of the present disclosure. in some embodiments, the emissive region can comprise a compound comprising a structure of wherein m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of the general substituents defined herein; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring. in some embodiments, at least one of the anode, the cathode, or a new layer disposed over the organic emissive layer functions as an enhancement layer. the enhancement layer comprises a plasmonic material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance that non-radiatively couples to the emitter material and transfers excited state energy from the emitter material to non-radiative mode of surface plasmon polariton. the enhancement layer is provided no more than a threshold distance away from the organic emissive layer, wherein the emitter material has a total non-radiative decay rate constant and a total radiative decay rate constant due to the presence of the enhancement layer and the threshold distance is where the total non-radiative decay rate constant is equal to the total radiative decay rate constant. in some embodiments, the oled further comprises an outcoupling layer. in some embodiments, the outcoupling layer is disposed over the enhancement layer on the opposite side of the organic emissive layer. in some embodiments, the outcoupling layer is disposed on opposite side of the emissive layer from the enhancement layer but still outcouples energy from the surface plasmon mode of the enhancement layer. the outcoupling layer scatters the energy from the surface plasmon polaritons. in some embodiments this energy is scattered as photons to free space. in other embodiments, the energy is scattered from the surface plasmon mode into other modes of the device such as but not limited to the organic waveguide mode, the substrate mode, or another waveguiding mode. if energy is scattered to the non-free space mode of the oled other outcoupling schemes could be incorporated to extract that energy to free space. in some embodiments, one or more intervening layer can be disposed between the enhancement layer and the outcoupling layer. the examples for interventing layer(s) can be dielectric materials, including organic, inorganic, perovskites, oxides, and may include stacks and/or mixtures of these materials. the enhancement layer modifies the effective properties of the medium in which the emitter material resides resulting in any or all of the following: a decreased rate of emission, a modification of emission line-shape, a change in emission intensity with angle, a change in the stability of the emitter material, a change in the efficiency of the oled, and reduced efficiency roll-off of the oled device. placement of the enhancement layer on the cathode side, anode side, or on both sides results in oled devices which take advantage of any of the above-mentioned effects. in addition to the specific functional layers mentioned herein and illustrated in the various oled examples shown in the figures, the oleds according to the present disclosure may include any of the other functional layers often found in oleds. the enhancement layer can be comprised of plasmonic materials, optically active metamaterials, or hyperbolic metamaterials. as used herein, a plasmonic material is a material in which the real part of the dielectric constant crosses zero in the visible or ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. in some embodiments, the plasmonic material includes at least one metal. in such embodiments the metal may include at least one of ag, al, au, ir, pt, ni, cu, w, ta, fe, cr, mg, ga, rh, ti, ru, pd, in, bi, ca alloys or mixtures of these materials, and stacks of these materials. in general, a metamaterial is a medium composed of different materials where the medium as a whole acts differently than the sum of its material parts. in particular, we define optically active metamaterials as materials which have both negative permittivity and negative permeability. hyperbolic metamaterials, on the other hand, are anisotropic media in which the permittivity or permeability are of different sign for different spatial directions. optically active metamaterials and hyperbolic metamaterials are strictly distinguished from many other photonic structures such as distributed bragg reflectors (“dbrs”) in that the medium should appear uniform in the direction of propagation on the length scale of the wavelength of light. using terminology that one skilled in the art can understand: the dielectric constant of the metamaterials in the direction of propagation can be described with the effective medium approximation. plasmonic materials and metamaterials provide methods for controlling the propagation of light that can enhance oled performance in a number of ways. in some embodiments, the enhancement layer is provided as a planar layer. in other embodiments, the enhancement layer has wavelength-sized features that are arranged periodically, quasi-periodically, or randomly, or sub-wavelength-sized features that are arranged periodically, quasi-periodically, or randomly. in some embodiments, the wavelength-sized features and the sub-wavelength-sized features have sharp edges. in some embodiments, the outcoupling layer has wavelength-sized features that are arranged periodically, quasi-periodically, or randomly, or sub-wavelength-sized features that are arranged periodically, quasi-periodically, or randomly. in some embodiments, the outcoupling layer may be composed of a plurality of nanoparticles and in other embodiments the outcoupling layer is composed of a plurality of nanoparticles disposed over a material. in these embodiments the outcoupling may be tunable by at least one of varying a size of the plurality of nanoparticles, varying a shape of the plurality of nanoparticles, changing a material of the plurality of nanoparticles, adjusting a thickness of the material, changing the refractive index of the material or an additional layer disposed on the plurality of nanoparticles, varying a thickness of the enhancement layer, and/or varying the material of the enhancement layer. the plurality of nanoparticles of the device may be formed from at least one of metal, dielectric material, semiconductor materials, an alloy of metal, a mixture of dielectric materials, a stack or layering of one or more materials, and/or a core of one type of material and that is coated with a shell of a different type of material. in some embodiments, the outcoupling layer is composed of at least metal nanoparticles wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of ag, al, au, ir, pt, ni, cu, w, ta, fe, cr, mg, ga, rh, ti, ru, pd, in, bi, ca, alloys or mixtures of these materials, and stacks of these materials. the plurality of nanoparticles may have additional layer disposed over them. in some embodiments, the polarization of the emission can be tuned using the outcoupling layer. varying the dimensionality and periodicity of the outcoupling layer can select a type of polarization that is preferentially outcoupled to air. in some embodiments the outcoupling layer also acts as an electrode of the device. in yet another aspect, the present disclosure also provides a consumer product comprising an organic light-emitting device (oled) having an anode; a cathode; and an organic layer disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the organic layer may comprise a compound as disclosed in the above compounds section of the present disclosure. in some embodiments, the consumer product comprises an organic light-emitting device (oled) having an anode; a cathode; and an organic layer disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the organic layer may comprise a compound comprising a structure of wherein m is br 1 r 2 or znr 3 r 4 ; x 1 -x 4 , and x 7 -x 9 are each independently cr or n with r being the same or different; x 5 and x 6 are each independently cr, n, or nr with r being the same or different; the bond between x 5 and x 6 is either a single bond or a double bond; r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are each independently a hydrogen or a substituent selected from the group consisting of the general substituents defined herein; and any two adjacent r, r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 can be joined or fused to form a ring. in some embodiments, the consumer product can be one of a flat panel display, a computer monitor, a medical monitor, a television, a billboard, a light for interior or exterior illumination and/or signaling, a heads-up display, a fully or partially transparent display, a flexible display, a laser printer, a telephone, a cell phone, tablet, a phablet, a personal digital assistant (pda), a wearable device, a laptop computer, a digital camera, a camcorder, a viewfinder, a micro-display that is less than 2 inches diagonal, a 3-d display, a virtual reality or augmented reality display, a vehicle, a video wall comprising multiple displays tiled together, a theater or stadium screen, a light therapy device, and a sign. generally, an oled comprises at least one organic layer disposed between and electrically connected to an anode and a cathode. when a current is applied, the anode injects holes and the cathode injects electrons into the organic layer(s). the injected holes and electrons each migrate toward the oppositely charged electrode. when an electron and hole localize on the same molecule, an “exciton,” which is a localized electron-hole pair having an excited energy state, is formed. light is emitted when the exciton relaxes via a photoemissive mechanism. in some cases, the exciton may be localized on an excimer or an exciplex. non-radiative mechanisms, such as thermal relaxation, may also occur, but are generally considered undesirable. several oled materials and configurations are described in u.s. pat. nos. 5,844,363, 6,303,238, and 5,707,745, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. the initial oleds used emissive molecules that emitted light from their singlet states (“fluorescence”) as disclosed, for example, in u.s. pat. no. 4,769,292, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. fluorescent emission generally occurs in a time frame of less than 10 nanoseconds. more recently, oleds having emissive materials that emit light from triplet states (“phosphorescence”) have been demonstrated. baldo et al., “highly efficient phosphorescent emission from organic electroluminescent devices,” nature, vol. 395, 151-154, 1998; (“baldo-i”) and baldo et al., “very high-efficiency green organic light-emitting devices based on electrophosphorescence,” appl. phys. lett., vol. 75, no. 3, 4-6 (1999) (“baldo-ii”), are incorporated by reference in their entireties. phosphorescence is described in more detail in u.s. pat. no. 7,279,704 at cols. 5-6, which are incorporated by reference. fig. 1 shows an organic light emitting device 100 . the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. device 100 may include a substrate 110 , an anode 115 , a hole injection layer 120 , a hole transport layer 125 , an electron blocking layer 130 , an emissive layer 135 , a hole blocking layer 140 , an electron transport layer 145 , an electron injection layer 150 , a protective layer 155 , a cathode 160 , and a barrier layer 170 . cathode 160 is a compound cathode having a first conductive layer 162 and a second conductive layer 164 . device 100 may be fabricated by depositing the layers described, in order. the properties and functions of these various layers, as well as example materials, are described in more detail in u.s. pat. no. 7,279,704 at cols. 6-10, which are incorporated by reference. more examples for each of these layers are available. for example, a flexible and transparent substrate-anode combination is disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 5,844,363, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. an example of a p-doped hole transport layer is m-mtdata doped with f 4 -tcnq at a molar ratio of 50:1, as disclosed in u.s. patent application publication no. 2003/0230980, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. examples of emissive and host materials are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 6,303,238 to thompson et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. an example of an n-doped electron transport layer is bphen doped with li at a molar ratio of 1:1, as disclosed in u.s. patent application publication no. 2003/0230980, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. u.s. pat. nos. 5,703,436 and 5,707,745, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, disclose examples of cathodes including compound cathodes having a thin layer of metal such as mg:ag with an overlying transparent, electrically-conductive, sputter-deposited ito layer. the theory and use of blocking layers is described in more detail in u.s. pat. no. 6,097,147 and u.s. patent application publication no. 2003/0230980, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. examples of injection layers are provided in u.s. patent application publication no. 2004/0174116, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. a description of protective layers may be found in u.s. patent application publication no. 2004/0174116, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. fig. 2 shows an inverted oled 200 . the device includes a substrate 210 , a cathode 215 , an emissive layer 220 , a hole transport layer 225 , and an anode 230 . device 200 may be fabricated by depositing the layers described, in order. because the most common oled configuration has a cathode disposed over the anode, and device 200 has cathode 215 disposed under anode 230 , device 200 may be referred to as an “inverted” oled. materials similar to those described with respect to device 100 may be used in the corresponding layers of device 200 . fig. 2 provides one example of how some layers may be omitted from the structure of device 100 . the simple layered structure illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 is provided by way of non-limiting example, and it is understood that embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in connection with a wide variety of other structures. the specific materials and structures described are exemplary in nature, and other materials and structures may be used. functional oleds may be achieved by combining the various layers described in different ways, or layers may be omitted entirely, based on design, performance, and cost factors. other layers not specifically described may also be included. materials other than those specifically described may be used. although many of the examples provided herein describe various layers as comprising a single material, it is understood that combinations of materials, such as a mixture of host and dopant, or more generally a mixture, may be used. also, the layers may have various sublayers. the names given to the various layers herein are not intended to be strictly limiting. for example, in device 200 , hole transport layer 225 transports holes and injects holes into emissive layer 220 , and may be described as a hole transport layer or a hole injection layer. in one embodiment, an oled may be described as having an “organic layer” disposed between a cathode and an anode. this organic layer may comprise a single layer, or may further comprise multiple layers of different organic materials as described, for example, with respect to figs. 1 and 2 . structures and materials not specifically described may also be used, such as oleds comprised of polymeric materials (pleds) such as disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 5,247,190 to friend et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. by way of further example, oleds having a single organic layer may be used. oleds may be stacked, for example as described in u.s. pat. no. 5,707,745 to forrest et al, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. the oled structure may deviate from the simple layered structure illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 . for example, the substrate may include an angled reflective surface to improve out-coupling, such as a mesa structure as described in u.s. pat. no. 6,091,195 to forrest et al., and/or a pit structure as described in u.s. pat. no. 5,834,893 to bulovic et al., which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. unless otherwise specified, any of the layers of the various embodiments may be deposited by any suitable method. for the organic layers, preferred methods include thermal evaporation, ink-jet, such as described in u.s. pat. nos. 6,013,982 and 6,087,196, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, organic vapor phase deposition (ovpd), such as described in u.s. pat. no. 6,337,102 to forrest et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, and deposition by organic vapor jet printing (ovjp), such as described in u.s. pat. no. 7,431,968, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. other suitable deposition methods include spin coating and other solution based processes. solution based processes are preferably carried out in nitrogen or an inert atmosphere. for the other layers, preferred methods include thermal evaporation. preferred patterning methods include deposition through a mask, cold welding such as described in u.s. pat. nos. 6,294,398 and 6,468,819, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, and patterning associated with some of the deposition methods such as ink-jet and organic vapor jet printing (ovjp). other methods may also be used. the materials to be deposited may be modified to make them compatible with a particular deposition method. for example, substituents such as alkyl and aryl groups, branched or unbranched, and preferably containing at least 3 carbons, may be used in small molecules to enhance their ability to undergo solution processing. substituents having 20 carbons or more may be used, and 3-20 carbons are a preferred range. materials with asymmetric structures may have better solution processability than those having symmetric structures, because asymmetric materials may have a lower tendency to recrystallize. dendrimer substituents may be used to enhance the ability of small molecules to undergo solution processing. devices fabricated in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure may further optionally comprise a barrier layer. one purpose of the barrier layer is to protect the electrodes and organic layers from damaging exposure to harmful species in the environment including moisture, vapor and/or gases, etc. the barrier layer may be deposited over, under or next to a substrate, an electrode, or over any other parts of a device including an edge. the barrier layer may comprise a single layer, or multiple layers. the barrier layer may be formed by various known chemical vapor deposition techniques and may include compositions having a single phase as well as compositions having multiple phases. any suitable material or combination of materials may be used for the barrier layer. the barrier layer may incorporate an inorganic or an organic compound or both. the preferred barrier layer comprises a mixture of a polymeric material and a non-polymeric material as described in u.s. pat. no. 7,968,146, pct pat. application nos. pct/us2007/023098 and pct/us2009/042829, which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. to be considered a “mixture”, the aforesaid polymeric and non-polymeric materials comprising the barrier layer should be deposited under the same reaction conditions and/or at the same time. the weight ratio of polymeric to non-polymeric material may be in the range of 95:5 to 5:95. the polymeric material and the non-polymeric material may be created from the same precursor material. in one example, the mixture of a polymeric material and a non-polymeric material consists essentially of polymeric silicon and inorganic silicon. devices fabricated in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure can be incorporated into a wide variety of electronic component modules (or units) that can be incorporated into a variety of electronic products or intermediate components. examples of such electronic products or intermediate components include display screens, lighting devices such as discrete light source devices or lighting panels, etc. that can be utilized by the end-user product manufacturers. such electronic component modules can optionally include the driving electronics and/or power source(s). devices fabricated in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure can be incorporated into a wide variety of consumer products that have one or more of the electronic component modules (or units) incorporated therein. a consumer product comprising an oled that includes the compound of the present disclosure in the organic layer in the oled is disclosed. such consumer products would include any kind of products that include one or more light source(s) and/or one or more of some type of visual displays. some examples of such consumer products include flat panel displays, curved displays, computer monitors, medical monitors, televisions, billboards, lights for interior or exterior illumination and/or signaling, heads-up displays, fully or partially transparent displays, flexible displays, rollable displays, foldable displays, stretchable displays, laser printers, telephones, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, personal digital assistants (pdas), wearable devices, laptop computers, digital cameras, camcorders, viewfinders, micro-displays (displays that are less than 2 inches diagonal), 3-d displays, virtual reality or augmented reality displays, vehicles, video walls comprising multiple displays tiled together, theater or stadium screen, a light therapy device, and a sign. various control mechanisms may be used to control devices fabricated in accordance with the present disclosure, including passive matrix and active matrix. many of the devices are intended for use in a temperature range comfortable to humans, such as 18 degrees c. to 30 degrees c., and more preferably at room temperature (20-25° c.), but could be used outside this temperature range, for example, from −40 degree c. to +80° c. more details on oleds, and the definitions described above, can be found in u.s. pat. no. 7,279,704, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. the materials and structures described herein may have applications in devices other than oleds. for example, other optoelectronic devices such as organic solar cells and organic photodetectors may employ the materials and structures. more generally, organic devices, such as organic transistors, may employ the materials and structures. in some embodiments, the oled has one or more characteristics selected from the group consisting of being flexible, being rollable, being foldable, being stretchable, and being curved. in some embodiments, the oled is transparent or semi-transparent. in some embodiments, the oled further comprises a layer comprising carbon nanotubes. in some embodiments, the oled further comprises a layer comprising a delayed fluorescent emitter. in some embodiments, the oled comprises a rgb pixel arrangement or white plus color filter pixel arrangement. in some embodiments, the oled is a mobile device, a hand held device, or a wearable device. in some embodiments, the oled is a display panel having less than 10 inch diagonal or 50 square inch area. in some embodiments, the oled is a display panel having at least 10 inch diagonal or 50 square inch area. in some embodiments, the oled is a lighting panel. in some embodiments, the compound can bean emissive dopant. in some embodiments, the compound can produce emissions via phosphorescence, fluorescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence, i.e., tadf (also referred to as e-type delayed fluorescence; see, e.g., u.s. application ser. no. 15/700,352, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), triplet-triplet annihilation, or combinations of these processes. in some embodiments, the emissive dopant can be a racemic mixture, or can be enriched in one enantiomer. in some embodiments, the compound can be homoleptic (each ligand is the same). in some embodiments, the compound can be heteroleptic (at least one ligand is different from others). when there are more than one ligand coordinated to a metal, the ligands can all be the same in some embodiments. in some other embodiments, at least one ligand is different from the other ligands. in some embodiments, every ligand can be different from each other. this is also true in embodiments where a ligand being coordinated to a metal can be linked with other ligands being coordinated to that metal to form a tridentate, tetradentate, pentadentate, or hexadentate ligands. thus, where the coordinating ligands are being linked together, all of the ligands can be the same in some embodiments, and at least one of the ligands being linked can be different from the other ligand(s) in some other embodiments. in some embodiments, the compound can be used as a phosphorescent sensitizer in an oled where one or multiple layers in the oled contains an acceptor in the form of one or more fluorescent and/or delayed fluorescence emitters. in some embodiments, the compound can be used as one component of an exciplex to be used as a sensitizer. as a phosphorescent sensitizer, the compound must be capable of energy transfer to the acceptor and the acceptor will emit the energy or further transfer energy to a final emitter. the acceptor concentrations can range from 0.001% to 100%. the acceptor could be in either the same layer as the phosphorescent sensitizer or in one or more different layers. in some embodiments, the acceptor is a tadf emitter. in some embodiments, the acceptor is a fluorescent emitter. in some embodiments, the emission can arise from any or all of the sensitizer, acceptor, and final emitter. according to another aspect, a formulation comprising the compound described herein is also disclosed. the oled disclosed herein can be incorporated into one or more of a consumer product, an electronic component module, and a lighting panel. the organic layer can be an emissive layer and the compound can be an emissive dopant in some embodiments, while the compound can be a non-emissive dopant in other embodiments. in yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a formulation that comprises the novel compound disclosed herein is described. the formulation can include one or more components selected from the group consisting of a solvent, a host, a hole injection material, hole transport material, electron blocking material, hole blocking material, and an electron transport material, disclosed herein. the present disclosure encompasses any chemical structure comprising the novel compound of the present disclosure, or a monovalent or polyvalent variant thereof. in other words, the inventive compound, or a monovalent or polyvalent variant thereof, can be a part of a larger chemical structure. such chemical structure can be selected from the group consisting of a monomer, a polymer, a macromolecule, and a supramolecule (also known as supermolecule). as used herein, a “monovalent variant of a compound” refers to a moiety that is identical to the compound except that one hydrogen has been removed and replaced with a bond to the rest of the chemical structure. as used herein, a “polyvalent variant of a compound” refers to a moiety that is identical to the compound except that more than one hydrogen has been removed and replaced with a bond or bonds to the rest of the chemical structure. in the instance of a supramolecule, the inventive compound can also be incorporated into the supramolecule complex without covalent bonds. d. combination of the compounds of the present disclosure with other materials the materials described herein as useful for a particular layer in an organic light emitting device may be used in combination with a wide variety of other materials present in the device. for example, emissive dopants disclosed herein may be used in conjunction with a wide variety of hosts, transport layers, blocking layers, injection layers, electrodes and other layers that may be present. the materials described or referred to below are non-limiting examples of materials that may be useful in combination with the compounds disclosed herein, and one of skill in the art can readily consult the literature to identify other materials that may be useful in combination. a) conductivity dopants: a charge transport layer can be doped with conductivity dopants to substantially alter its density of charge carriers, which will in turn alter its conductivity. the conductivity is increased by generating charge carriers in the matrix material, and depending on the type of dopant, a change in the fermi level of the semiconductor may also be achieved. hole-transporting layer can be doped by p-type conductivity dopants and n-type conductivity dopants are used in the electron-transporting layer. non-limiting examples of the conductivity dopants that may be used in an oled in combination with materials disclosed herein are exemplified below together with references that disclose those materials: ep01617493, ep01968131, ep2020694, ep2684932, us20050139810, us20070160905, us20090167167, us2010288362, wo06081780, wo2009003455, wo2009008277, wo2009011327, wo2014009310, us2007252140, us2015060804, us20150123047, and us2012146012. b) hil/htl: a hole injecting/transporting material to be used in the present disclosure is not particularly limited, and any compound may be used as long as the compound is typically used as a hole injecting/transporting material. examples of the material include, but are not limited to: a phthalocyanine or porphyrin derivative; an aromatic amine derivative; an indolocarbazole derivative; a polymer containing fluorohydrocarbon; a polymer with conductivity dopants; a conducting polymer, such as pedot/pss; a self-assembly monomer derived from compounds such as phosphonic acid and silane derivatives; a metal oxide derivative, such as moo x ; a p-type semiconducting organic compound, such as 1,4,5,8,9,12-hexaazatriphenylenehexacarbonitrile; a metal complex, and a cross-linkable compounds. examples of aromatic amine derivatives used in hil or htl include, but not limit to the following general structures: each of ar 1 to ar 9 is selected from the group consisting of aromatic hydrocarbon cyclic compounds such as benzene, biphenyl, triphenyl, triphenylene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, pyrene, chrysene, perylene, and azulene; the group consisting of aromatic heterocyclic compounds such as dibenzothiophene, dibenzofuran, dibenzoselenophene, furan, thiophene, benzofuran, benzothiophene, benzoselenophene, carbazole, indolocarbazole, pyridylindole, pyrrolodipyridine, pyrazole, imidazole, triazole, oxazole, thiazole, oxadiazole, oxatriazole, dioxazole, thiadiazole, pyridine, pyridazine, pyrimidine, pyrazine, triazine, oxazine, oxathiazine, oxadiazine, indole, benzimidazole, indazole, indoxazine, benzoxazole, benzisoxazole, benzothiazole, quinoline, isoquinoline, cinnoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline, naphthyridine, phthalazine, pteridine, xanthene, acridine, phenazine, phenothiazine, phenoxazine, benzofuropyridine, furodipyridine, benzothienopyridine, thienodipyridine, benzoselenophenopyridine, and selenophenodipyridine; and the group consisting of 2 to 10 cyclic structural units which are groups of the same type or different types selected from the aromatic hydrocarbon cyclic group and the aromatic heterocyclic group and are bonded to each other directly or via at least one of oxygen atom, nitrogen atom, sulfur atom, silicon atom, phosphorus atom, boron atom, chain structural unit and the aliphatic cyclic group. each ar may be unsubstituted or may be substituted by a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acids, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof. in one aspect, ar 1 to ar 9 is independently selected from the group consisting of: wherein k is an integer from 1 to 20; x 101 to x 108 is c (including ch) or n; z 101 is nar 1 , o, or s; ar 1 has the same group defined above. examples of metal complexes used in hil or htl include, but are not limited to the following general formula: wherein met is a metal, which can have an atomic weight greater than 40; (y 101 -y 102 ) is a bidentate ligand, y 101 and y 102 are independently selected from c, n, o, p, and s; l 101 is an ancillary ligand; k′ is an integer value from 1 to the maximum number of ligands that may be attached to the metal; and k′+k″ is the maximum number of ligands that may be attached to the metal. in one aspect, (y 101 -y 102 ) is a 2-phenylpyridine derivative. in another aspect, (y 101 -y 102 ) is a carbene ligand. in another aspect, met is selected from ir, pt, os, and zn. in a further aspect, the metal complex has a smallest oxidation potential in solution vs. fc*/fc couple less than about 0.6 v. non-limiting examples of the hil and htl materials that may be used in an oled in combination with materials disclosed herein are exemplified below together with references that disclose those materials: cn102702075, de102012005215, ep01624500, ep01698613, ep01806334, ep01930964, ep01972613, ep01997799, ep02011790, ep02055700, ep02055701, ep1725079, ep2085382, ep2660300, ep650955, jp07-073529, jp2005112765, jp2007091719, jp2008021687, jp2014-009196, kr20110088898, kr20130077473, tw201139402, u.s. ser. no. 06/517,957, us20020158242, us20030162053, us20050123751, us20060182993, us20060240279, us20070145888, us20070181874, us20070278938, us20080014464, us20080091025, us20080106190, us20080124572, us20080145707, us20080220265, us20080233434, us20080303417, us2008107919, us20090115320, us20090167161, us2009066235, us2011007385, us20110163302, us2011240968, us2011278551, us2012205642, us2013241401, us20140117329, us2014183517, u.s. pat. nos. 5,061,569, 5,639,914, wo05075451, wo07125714, wo08023550, wo08023759, wo2009145016, wo2010061824, wo2011075644, wo2012177006, wo2013018530, wo2013039073, wo2013087142, wo2013118812, wo2013120577, wo2013157367, wo2013175747, wo2014002873, wo2014015935, wo2014015937, wo2014030872, wo2014030921, wo2014034791, wo2014104514, wo2014157018. c) ebl: an electron blocking layer (ebl) may be used to reduce the number of electrons and/or excitons that leave the emissive layer. the presence of such a blocking layer in a device may result in substantially higher efficiencies, and/or longer lifetime, as compared to a similar device lacking a blocking layer. also, a blocking layer may be used to confine emission to a desired region of an oled. in some embodiments, the ebl material has a higher lumo (closer to the vacuum level) and/or higher triplet energy than the emitter closest to the ebl interface. in some embodiments, the ebl material has a higher lumo (closer to the vacuum level) and/or higher triplet energy than one or more of the hosts closest to the ebl interface. in one aspect, the compound used in ebl contains the same molecule or the same functional groups used as one of the hosts described below. d) hosts: the light emitting layer of the organic el device of the present disclosure preferably contains at least a metal complex as light emitting material, and may contain a host material using the metal complex as a dopant material. examples of the host material are not particularly limited, and any metal complexes or organic compounds may be used as long as the triplet energy of the host is larger than that of the dopant. any host material may be used with any dopant so long as the triplet criteria is satisfied. examples of metal complexes used as host are preferred to have the following general formula: wherein met is a metal; (y 103 -y 104 ) is a bidentate ligand, y 103 and y 104 are independently selected from c, n, o, p, and s; l 101 is an another ligand; k′ is an integer value from 1 to the maximum number of ligands that may be attached to the metal; and k′+k″ is the maximum number of ligands that may be attached to the metal. in one aspect, the metal complexes are: wherein (o—n) is a bidentate ligand, having metal coordinated to atoms o and n. in another aspect, met is selected from ir and pt. in a further aspect, (y 103 -y 104 ) is a carbene ligand. in one aspect, the host compound contains at least one of the following groups selected from the group consisting of aromatic hydrocarbon cyclic compounds such as benzene, biphenyl, triphenyl, triphenylene, tetraphenylene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, pyrene, chrysene, perylene, and azulene; the group consisting of aromatic heterocyclic compounds such as dibenzothiophene, dibenzofuran, dibenzoselenophene, furan, thiophene, benzofuran, benzothiophene, benzoselenophene, carbazole, indolocarbazole, pyridylindole, pyrrolodipyridine, pyrazole, imidazole, triazole, oxazole, thiazole, oxadiazole, oxatriazole, dioxazole, thiadiazole, pyridine, pyridazine, pyrimidine, pyrazine, triazine, oxazine, oxathiazine, oxadiazine, indole, benzimidazole, indazole, indoxazine, benzoxazole, benzisoxazole, benzothiazole, quinoline, isoquinoline, cinnoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline, naphthyridine, phthalazine, pteridine, xanthene, acridine, phenazine, phenothiazine, phenoxazine, benzofuropyridine, furodipyridine, benzothienopyridine, thienodipyridine, benzoselenophenopyridine, and selenophenodipyridine; and the group consisting of 2 to 10 cyclic structural units which are groups of the same type or different types selected from the aromatic hydrocarbon cyclic group and the aromatic heterocyclic group and are bonded to each other directly or via at least one of oxygen atom, nitrogen atom, sulfur atom, silicon atom, phosphorus atom, boron atom, chain structural unit and the aliphatic cyclic group. each option within each group may be unsubstituted or may be substituted by a substituent selected from the group consisting of deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acids, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof. in one aspect, the host compound contains at least one of the following groups in the molecule: wherein r 101 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acids, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof, and when it is aryl or heteroaryl, it has the similar definition as ar's mentioned above. k is an integer from 0 to 20 or 1 to 20. x 101 to x 108 are independently selected from c (including ch) or n. z 101 and z 102 are independently selected from nr 101 , o, or s. non-limiting examples of the host materials that may be used in an oled in combination with materials disclosed herein are exemplified below together with references that disclose those materials: ep2034538, ep2034538a, ep2757608, jp2007254297, kr20100079458, kr20120088644, kr20120129733, kr20130115564, tw201329200, us20030175553, us20050238919, us20060280965, us20090017330, us20090030202, us20090167162, us20090302743, us20090309488, us20100012931, us20100084966, us20100187984, us2010187984, us2012075273, us2012126221, us2013009543, us2013105787, us2013175519, us2014001446, us20140183503, us20140225088, us2014034914, u.s. pat. no. 7,154,114, wo2001039234, wo2004093207, wo2005014551, wo2005089025, wo2006072002, wo2006114966, wo2007063754, wo2008056746, wo2009003898, wo2009021126, wo2009063833, wo2009066778, wo2009066779, wo2009086028, wo2010056066, wo2010107244, wo2011081423, wo2011081431, wo2011086863, wo2012128298, wo2012133644, wo2012133649, wo2013024872, wo2013035275, wo2013081315, wo2013191404, wo2014142472, us20170263869, us20160163995, u.s. pat. no. 9,466,803, e) additional emitters: one or more additional emitter dopants may be used in conjunction with the compound of the present disclosure. examples of the additional emitter dopants are not particularly limited, and any compounds may be used as long as the compounds are typically used as emitter materials. examples of suitable emitter materials include, but are not limited to, compounds which can produce emissions via phosphorescence, fluorescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence, i.e., tadf (also referred to as e-type delayed fluorescence), triplet-triplet annihilation, or combinations of these processes. non-limiting examples of the emitter materials that may be used in an oled in combination with materials disclosed herein are exemplified below together with references that disclose those materials: cn103694277, cn1696137, eb01238981, ep01239526, ep01961743, ep1239526, ep1244155, ep1642951, ep1647554, ep1841834, ep1841834b, ep2062907, ep2730583, jp2012074444, jp2013110263, jp4478555, kr1020090133652, kr20120032054, kr20130043460, tw201332980, u.s. ser. no. 06/699,599, u.s. ser. no. 06/916,554, us20010019782, us20020034656, us20030068526, us20030072964, us20030138657, us20050123788, us20050244673, us2005123791, us2005260449, us20060008670, us20060065890, us20060127696, us20060134459, us20060134462, us20060202194, us20060251923, us20070034863, us20070087321, us20070103060, us20070111026, us20070190359, us20070231600, us2007034863, us2007104979, us2007104980, us2007138437, us2007224450, us2007278936, us20080020237, us20080233410, us20080261076, us20080297033, us200805851, us2008161567, us2008210930, us20090039776, us20090108737, us20090115322, us20090179555, us2009085476, us2009104472, us20100090591, us20100148663, us20100244004, us20100295032, us2010102716, us2010105902, us2010244004, us2010270916, us20110057559, us20110108822, us20110204333, us2011215710, us2011227049, us2011285275, us2012292601, us20130146848, us2013033172, us2013165653, us2013181190, us2013334521, us20140246656, us2014103305, u.s. pat. nos. 6,303,238, 6,413,656, 6,653,654, 6,670,645, 6,687,266, 6,835,469, 6,921,915, 7,279,704, 7,332,232, 7,378,162, 7,534,505, 7,675,228, 7,728,137, 7,740,957, 7,759,489, 7,951,947, 8,067,099, 8,592,586, 8,871,361, wo06081973, wo06121811, wo07018067, wo07108362, wo07115970, wo07115981, wo08035571, wo2002015645, wo2003040257, wo2005019373, wo2006056418, wo2008054584, wo2008078800, wo2008096609, wo2008101842, wo2009000673, wo2009050281, wo2009100991, wo2010028151, wo2010054731, wo2010086089, wo2010118029, wo2011044988, wo2011051404, wo2011107491, wo2012020327, wo2012163471, wo2013094620, wo2013107487, wo2013174471, wo2014007565, wo2014008982, wo2014023377, wo2014024131, wo2014031977, wo2014038456, wo2014112450. f) hbl: a hole blocking layer (hbl) may be used to reduce the number of holes and/or excitons that leave the emissive layer. the presence of such a blocking layer in a device may result in substantially higher efficiencies and/or longer lifetime as compared to a similar device lacking a blocking layer. also, a blocking layer may be used to confine emission to a desired region of an oled. in some embodiments, the hbl material has a lower homo (further from the vacuum level) and/or higher triplet energy than the emitter closest to the hbl interface. in some embodiments, the hbl material has a lower homo (further from the vacuum level) and/or higher triplet energy than one or more of the hosts closest to the hbl interface. in one aspect, compound used in hbl contains the same molecule or the same functional groups used as host described above. in another aspect, compound used in hbl contains at least one of the following groups in the molecule: wherein k is an integer from 1 to 20; l 101 is another ligand, k′ is an integer from 1 to 3. g) etl: electron transport layer (etl) may include a material capable of transporting electrons. electron transport layer may be intrinsic (undoped), or doped. doping may be used to enhance conductivity. examples of the etl material are not particularly limited, and any metal complexes or organic compounds may be used as long as they are typically used to transport electrons. in one aspect, compound used in etl contains at least one of the following groups in the molecule: wherein r 101 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, deuterium, halogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, amino, silyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, heteroalkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, acyl, carboxylic acids, ether, ester, nitrile, isonitrile, sulfanyl, sulfinyl, sulfonyl, phosphino, and combinations thereof, when it is aryl or heteroaryl, it has the similar definition as ar's mentioned above. ar 1 to ar 3 has the similar definition as ar's mentioned above. k is an integer from 1 to 20. x 101 to x 108 is selected from c (including ch) or n. in another aspect, the metal complexes used in etl contains, but not limit to the following general formula: wherein (o—n) or (n—n) is a bidentate ligand, having metal coordinated to atoms o, n or n, n; l 101 is another ligand; k′ is an integer value from 1 to the maximum number of ligands that may be attached to the metal. non-limiting examples of the etl materials that may be used in an oled in combination with materials disclosed herein are exemplified below together with references that disclose those materials: cn103508940, ep01602648, ep01734038, ep01956007, jp2004-022334, jp2005149918, jp2005-268199, kr0117693, kr20130108183, us20040036077, us20070104977, us2007018155, us20090101870, us20090115316, us20090140637, us20090179554, us2009218940, us2010108990, us2011156017, us2011210320, us2012193612, us2012214993, us2014014925, us2014014927, us20140284580, u.s. pat. nos. 6,656,612, 8,415,031, wo2003060956, wo2007111263, wo2009148269, wo2010067894, wo2010072300, wo2011074770, wo2011105373, wo2013079217, wo2013145667, wo2013180376, wo2014104499, wo2014104535, h) charge generation layer (cgl) in tandem or stacked oleds, the cgl plays an essential role in the performance, which is composed of an n-doped layer and a p-doped layer for injection of electrons and holes, respectively. electrons and holes are supplied from the cgl and electrodes. the consumed electrons and holes in the cgl are refilled by the electrons and holes injected from the cathode and anode, respectively; then, the bipolar currents reach a steady state gradually. typical cgl materials include n and p conductivity dopants used in the transport layers. in any above-mentioned compounds used in each layer of the oled device, the hydrogen atoms can be partially or fully deuterated. thus, any specifically listed substituent, such as, without limitation, methyl, phenyl, pyridyl, etc. may be undeuterated, partially deuterated, and fully deuterated versions thereof. similarly, classes of substituents such as, without limitation, alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, heteroaryl, etc. also may be undeuterated, partially deuterated, and fully deuterated versions thereof. it is understood that the various embodiments described herein are by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. for example, many of the materials and structures described herein may be substituted with other materials and structures without deviating from the spirit of the invention. the present invention as claimed may therefore include variations from the particular examples and preferred embodiments described herein, as will be apparent to one of skill in the art. it is understood that various theories as to why the invention works are not intended to be limiting. e. experimental section synthesis of compound lalx-(r52)(r52)(r52)-b-lbiv-(r52)(r52) 2-(2-bromophenyl)-1h-benzo[d]imidazole (10.0 g, 36.6 mmol, 1.0 equiv), was added portionwise over a period of 15 minutes to a suspension of sodium hydride (60% dispersion in mineral oil) (2.20 g, 54.9 mmol, 1.5 equiv) in dry thf (73 ml) at 0° c. the mixture was then stirred at 0° c. for 1 hour and 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxymethyl chloride (sem-cl) (8.44 ml, 47.6 mmol, 1.3 equiv) was slowly added. the reaction mixture was gradually allowed to warm up to room temperature and stirred for 15 hours. upon complete consumption of starting material by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (lc/ms) the reaction mixture was diluted with diethyl ether (200 ml), and water (100 ml) was slowly added. the layers were separated. the organic layer was washed with water (2×100 ml), dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. the residue was purified by column chromatography to give 2-(2-bromophenyl)-1-((2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxy)methyl)-1h-benzo[d] imidazole (9.0 g, 63% yield) as a yellow oil. 0.5m pyridin-2-ylzinc(ii) bromide (44.6 ml, 22.3 mmol, 1.5 equiv) was added to a solution of 2-(2-bromophenyl)-1-((2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxy)methyl)-1h-benzo[d] imidazole (6.0 g, 14.9 mmol, 1.0 equiv) in dry thf (60 ml) and the mixture was sparged with nitrogen for 15 minutes. tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (0.43 g, 0.372 mmol, 0.03 equiv) was added with continuous sparging for an additional 5 minutes. the reaction mixture was heated at 80° c. for 3 days and monitored by lc/ms. the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and diluted with dichloromethane (100 ml). water (50 ml) was added and the layers were separated. the aqueous layer was extracted with dichloromethane (3×300 ml). the combined organic layers were dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. the residue was purified by column chromatography to give 2-(2-(pyridin-2-yl)phenyl)-1-((2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxy)methyl)-1h-benzo[d]imidazole (2.0 g, 34% yield) as an orange oil. 1m tetrabutylammonium fluoride solution in thf (29.9 ml, 29.9 mmol, 6.0 equiv) was added to a solution of 2-(2-(pyridin-2-yl)phenyl)-1-((2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxy)methyl)-1h-benzo[d]imidazole (2 g, 4.98 mmol, 1 equiv) in dry thf (35 ml) at room temperature. the mixture was stirred at 90° c. for overnight. upon complete consumption of starting material by lc/ms the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and diluted with dichloromethane (50 ml). water (50 ml) was added and the layers were separated. the organic layer was washed with water (2×100 ml), dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. the residue was purified by column chromatography to give 2-(2-(pyridin-2-yl)phenyl)-1h-benzo[d]imidazole (0.45 g, 33% yield) as a white solid. a mixture of 2-(2-(pyridin-2-yl)phenyl)-1h-benzo[d]imidazole (0.4 g, 1.47 mmol, 1 equiv) and 2,2′-bis(trifluoro-λ 4 -boraneyl)-1,1′-biphenyl, dipotassium salt (0.65 g, 1.77 mmol, 1.2 equiv) in m-xylene (8 ml) was sparged with nitrogen for 15 minutes. silicon tetrachloride (0.20 ml, 1.77 mmol, 1.2 equiv) and n,n-diisopropylethylamine (0.92 ml, 5.31 mmol, 3.6 equiv) were added with continuous sparging for an additional 5 minutes. the reaction mixture was heated at 140° c. for 15 hours at which point lc/ms analysis indicated complete consumption of starting material and the formation of 10,10-diphenyl-10h-9i 4 ,10i 4 -benzo[e]benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-c]pyrido[2,1-g][1,3,2]diazaboepine (compound l a lx-(r52)(r52)(r52)-b-l b iv-(r52)(r52)) [m/z found: 433] table 1theoretical calculationscalculatedcalculatedcalculatedt 1homolumocompoundchemical structure(nm)(ev)(ev)l a lxii-(r52)(r52)(r52)-b- l b i490−5.32−1.99l a lx-(r52)(r52)(r52)-b- l b iii-(r52)(r52)435−5.72−2.00l a lx-(r52)(r52)(r52)-b- l b iv-(r52)(r52)437−5.67−2.04l a lix-(r52)(r52)(r52)-b- l b iii-(r52)(r52)475−5.24−1.93 table 1 shows calculated triplet energies, highest occupied molecular orbital (homo) energy and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (lumo) energy for several inventive compounds. geometry optimization calculations were performed within the gaussian 09 software package using the b3lyp hybrid functional and cep-31g basis set which includes effective core potentials. all the compounds show promising high t 1 energies which are desired for host materials in oleds with blue phosphorescent emitters. the deep lumo energies also suggest these compounds will be useful as electron transporting type host materials. it should be understood that these compounds related calculations obtained with the dft functional set and basis set as identified herein are theoretical. computational composite protocols, such as gaussian with the cep-31g basis set used herein, rely on the assumption that electronic effects are additive and, therefore, larger basis sets can be used to extrapolate to the complete basis set (cbs) limit. however, when the goal of a study is to understand variations in homo, lumo, s 1 , t 1 , bond dissociation energies, etc. over a series of structurally-related compounds, the additive effects are expected to be similar. accordingly, while absolute errors from using the b3lyp may be significant compared to other computational methods, the relative differences between the homo, lumo, s 1 , t 1 , and bond dissociation energy values calculated with b3lyp protocol are expected to reproduce experiment quite well. see, e.g., hong et al., chem. mater. 2016, 28, 5791-98, 5792-93 and supplemental information (discussing the reliability of dft calculations in the context of oled materials). moreover, with respect to iridium or platinum complexes that are useful in the oled art, the data obtained from dft calculations correlates very well to actual experimental data. see tavasli et al., j. mater. chem. 2012, 22, 6419-29, 6422 (table 3) (showing dft calculations closely correlating with actual data for a variety of emissive complexes); morello, g. r., j. mol. model. 2017, 23:174 (studying of a variety of dft functional sets and basis sets and concluding the combination of b3lyp and cep-31g is particularly accurate for emissive complexes).
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086-687-858-753-390
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US
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B01D39/16,B01D39/00,B01D53/02,B01J19/00,B01D53/14,B01D15/00,B01D39/02,B01D39/04,C12P7/16,C07H21/04,C12N1/20,C12N9/00,C12N15/00,C12P7/06,B01D59/26,B01D39/14,C12M1/12,C12N5/00,B01D53/04,B82Y30/00,B01D63/00,B01J20/28,B01J19/30,B32B9/04,B01D53/26,C12M1/00,C12M1/40,C12M3/00,C12P7/08
| 2006-02-13T00:00:00 |
2006
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[
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web comprising fine fiber and reactive, adsorptive or absorptive particulate
|
the assemblies of the invention can comprise a fine fiber layer having dispersed within the fine fiber layer an active particulate material. fluid that flows through the assemblies of the invention can have any material dispersed or dissolved in the fluid react with, be absorbed by, or adsorbed onto, the active particulate within the nanofiber layer. the structures of the invention can act simply as reactive, absorptive, or adsorptive layers with no filtration properties, or the structures of the invention can be assembled into filters that can filter particulate from a mobile fluid while simultaneously reacting, absorbing, or adsorbing materials from the mobile fluid.
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1 - 77 . (canceled) 78 . a filter media comprising: a substrate; and a fine fiber web disposed on the substrate, wherein the fine fiber web comprises: a fine fiber; and an expandable spacer means. 79 . the filter media of claim 78 , wherein the expandable spacer means comprises a microsphere. 80 . the filter media of claim 78 , wherein heat treatment expands the volume of the spacer means. 81 . the filter media of claim 78 , wherein the expandable spacer means is interspersed in the fine fiber material. 82 . a filter media comprising: a substrate; and a fine fiber web disposed on the substrate, wherein the fine fiber web comprises: a fine fiber; and an expanded spacer means. 83 . the filter media of claim 82 , wherein the expanded spacer means comprises a microsphere. 84 . the filter media of claim 82 , wherein the expanded spacer means is interspersed in the fine fiber material. 85 . a filter media comprising: a substrate; a fine fiber web disposed on the substrate; and an expandable spacer means. 86 . the filter media of claim 85 , wherein the expandable spacer means comprises a microsphere. 87 . the filter media of claim 85 , wherein heat treatment expands the volume of the expandable spacer means. 88 . the filter media of claim 85 , wherein the expandable spacer means is interspersed in the fine fiber web. 89 . the filter media of claim 85 , wherein the expandable spacer means is located on a surface of the fine fiber web. 90 . the filter media of claim 85 , the filter media further comprising a second fine fiber web, wherein the fine fiber web and the second fine fiber web form separate layers, and the expandable spacer means separates the fiber web and the second fine fiber web. 91 . a filter media comprising: a substrate; a fine fiber web disposed on the substrate; and an expanded spacer means. 92 . the filter media of claim 91 , wherein the expanded spacer means comprises a microsphere. 93 . the filter media of claim 91 , wherein the expanded spacer means is interspersed in the fine fiber web. 94 . the filter media of claim 91 , wherein the expanded spacer means is located on a surface of the fine fiber web. 95 . the filter media of claim 91 , the filter media further comprising a second fine fiber web, wherein the fine fiber web and the second fine fiber web form separate layers, and the expanded spacer means separates the fiber web and the second fine fiber web. 96 . a filter media comprising: a substrate; and a fine fiber web disposed on the substrate, wherein the fine fiber web comprises: a fine fiber; and means for tunably controlling the solidity of the fine fiber layer. 97 . the filter media of claim 96 , wherein the solidity of the fine fiber layer is tunably controlled by applying heat.
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cross-reference to related application this application claims the benefit of u.s. provisional patent application ser. no. 60/773,067, filed feb. 13, 2006, which application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. field of the invention the invention relates to a web or fiber structure. the filter, element or medium structures of the invention can act as a reactive, adsorptive or absorptive layer or in a filtration mode. the structure comprises a collection fiber and a reactive, adsorptive or absorptive particulate that also acts as an active particulate, active material fiber, spacer or separation means. the particulate can act as an absorbent, adsorbent or reactant. background of the invention polymer webs can be made by extrusion, melt spinning, air laid and wet laid processing, etc. the manufacturing technology of filter structures is vast for obtaining structures that can separate the particulate load from a mobile fluid stream. such filtration media include surface loading media and depth media in which these media can be produced in a variety of geometric structures. principles relating to the use of such media are described in kahlbaugh et al., u.s. pat. nos. 5,082,476; 5,238,474; 5,364,456 and 5,672,399. in any filter structure containing any arbitrarily selected filtration medium, the filter must remove a defined particle size, and at the same time, have sufficient lifetime to be economically justifiable in its particulate removing properties. lifetime is generally considered to be the time between installation and the time a filter obtains sufficient particulate load such that the pressure drop across the filter is greater than a predetermined level. an increased pressure drop can cause filter bypass, mechanical filter failure, fluid starvation, or other operating problems. filtration efficiency is the characteristic of the filtration media that is related to the fraction of the particulate removed from the mobile stream. efficiency is typically measured by a set test protocol defined below. surface loading filter media often comprise dense mats of fiber having a non-woven structure that is placed across the path of a mobile fluid stream. while the mobile fluid stream passes through the structure of the formed non-woven fibers, the particulate is typically removed from the stream at the filter surface with a certain efficiency and remains on the surface. in contrast to surface loading structures, depth media typically include a relatively (compared to surface loading media) thick structure of fiber having a defined solidity, porosity, layer thickness and efficiency. depth media and in particular, gradient density depth media are shown in kahlbaugh et al., u.s. pat. nos. 5,082,476; 5,238,474 and 5,364,456. in general, depth media act in filtration operations by impeding the particulate loading in a mobile fluid stream within the filter layer. as the particulates impinge the depth media fibrous structure, the particulate remains within the depth media and is typically distributed onto and held with internal fibers and throughout the filter volume. in contrast, surface loading media typically accumulate particulate in a surface layer. groeger et al., u.s. pat. no. 5,486,410, teach a fibrous structure typically made from a bicomponent, core/shell fiber, containing a particulate material. the particulate comprising an immobilized functional material held in the fiber structure. the functional material is designed to interact with and modify the fluid stream. typical materials include silica, zeolite, alumina, molecular sieves, etc. that can either react with, or absorb materials, in the fluid stream. markell et al., u.s. pat. no. 5,328,758, use a melt blown thermoplastic web and a sorbative material in the web for separation processing. errede et al., u.s. pat. no. 4,460,642, teach a composite sheet of ptfe that is water swellable and contains hydrophilic absorptive particles. this sheet is useful as a wound dressing, as a material for absorbing and removing non-aqueous solvents, or as a separation chromatographic material. kolpin et al., u.s. pat. no. 4,429,001, teach a sorbent sheet comprising a melt blown fiber containing super absorbent polymer particles. deodorizing or air purifying filters are shown in, for example, mitsutoshi et al., jp 7265640 and eiichiro et al., jp 10165731. many mobile fluid phases, including both gas and liquid phases, contain undesirable components suspended, dissolved, or otherwise entrained within the mobile phase. such undesirable components may be chemically reactive or may be absorbable or absorbable through the use of absorbents or adsorbents. often these species form a phase that is fully miscible in the fluid and cannot be filtered, but can be removed only by chemical reaction absorbents or adsorbents. examples of such materials are acidic or basic reacting compounds. acid compounds include hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and other such species basic components include ammonia, amines, quaternary compounds and others. further reactive gases such as cl2, so2, cyanide, phosgene and others can pose hazards. lastly, a number of other compounds are objectionable due to odor, color or other undesirable properties. the removal of all such materials from a fluid phase, if possible, can be helpful in many end uses. the active layers of existing systems suffer from problems relating to the mechanical instability of the particulate in the layers. in many structures the particulate is not mechanically fixed in the layer and can be dislodged easily. in many structures, the amount of active materials available is limited by the nature of the substrate and the amounts of active material that can be loaded. while both surface loading media and depth media have been used in the past and have obtained certain levels of performance, a substantial need remains in the industry for fluid phase treatment and filtration media that can provide new and different performance characteristics than formerly obtained. in particular, a need for improved efficiency, low-pressure drop and excellent adsorptive, absorptive, or reactive properties are needed in a structure with high activity and robust mechanical stability. summary of the invention the web, filter, or other flow-through or flow-by structure of the invention can comprise a substantially continuous fine fiber mass or layer containing the particulate of the invention. a reactive, absorptive, or adsorptive fiber spacer or separation means in the form of a particle can be combined with, or otherwise dispersed in, the fiber mass. the web of the invention includes a fiber web or layer and a fiber separation means or fiber spacer means adhered to the fiber that can be used in the form of a reactive, absorbent, or adsorbent structure. in one aspect, the web comprises a continuous fibrous structure with a continuous fiber phase and a reactive, absorptive, or adsorptive active particulate that can treat a fluid stream. the fluid stream can be a gas, or liquid with entrained materials. the entrained materials can be soluble or insoluble in the mobile fluids and can be particulates of either liquid or solid impurities. the liquids can be exemplified by aqueous solutions, nonaqueous fluids, water, oils, and mixtures thereof. in a second aspect a similar structure can also act as a filter. the active particulate comprises a particulate phase dispersed with the fiber. the filter can be used to filter a mobile fluid such as a gaseous stream or a liquid stream. the filter can be used to remove impurities from the liquid stream or from the gaseous stream. such impurities can be entrained particulates. the flow through and flow by structures can be used in structures that need no ptfe, stretched expanded teflon® or other related porous fluoropolymer components for successful activity. by dispersed, is meant that the active particulate is adhered to the fiber, held within a void space within the web or in a pocket penetrating partially into the web creating a space in the web surface. once formed, the media comprising the fine fiber layer containing the active particulate of the invention can be combined with a media layer. that form can be used in a flow-by treatment unit or used in a flow-through filtration unit having adsorptive/absorptive or reactive properties. in a flow-by or pass-through unit, the media is simply configured in a form through which the mobile fluid can pass unimpeded by any filtration layer and simply contact the absorptive/adsorptive or reactive species formed in the fine fiber layer adjacent to the flow path of the fluid media. alternatively, the fine fiber layer containing the active particulate and media can be formed in a flow-through filtration structure that can remove particulate from the mobile fluid while in the infiltration mode, the media of the invention can, in a filtration mode, remove the entrained particulate from mobile fluid and at the same time absorb, adsorb or chemically react with unwanted materials in the fluid phase that may or may not be in a particulate form. the term filter refers to the structure that is actually used in treating a mobile fluid. a “filter” usually includes a housing with an inlet and outlet. the term “element” typically refers to a structure used in a filter assembly the includes a media layer and other parts resulting in a useful structurally stable unit that can be inserted and removed from the filter structure. elements or webs of the invention include media layer that comprises a particulate dispersed throughout a fine fiber web. the combined fine fiber and particulate can be formed on a substrate layer to form a filter medium. the particulate can comprise an amount of a single type of particulate or blend of dissimilar particles. for example, an active particulate can be blended with an inert particulate for use in such a layer. the inert particulate can comprise a single particulate or can be a blend of inert particulate that differs by composition particle size, particle morphology or some other particle aspect. similarly, the active particulate can comprise a mixture of particulates including different active particulates. for example, a carbon particulate could be blended with a zeolite particulate. alternatively, a carboxy methyl cellulose particulate can be blended with an ion exchange resin particulate in an active layer. further, such active particulate can have a blended particulate in the sense that particulates of different size, shape or methodology can be combined in the active layers of the invention. the term “entrained particulate refers to impurities in the mobile fluid while the term “dispersed particulate” refers to the particulate deliberately included within the fiber layers of the invention. the element of the invention can be used in one of two separate modes. these modes are designated as “flow-through” or “flow-by”. in the flow-through mode, the mobile fluid, liquid or gas, passes through the fine fiber layer and substrate in a filtration mode in a flow substantially normal to the plane of the fiber layer. the entrained particulate can encounter and be removed by the element and as the fluid passes through the layers in contact with the particulate, the particulate can react with absorbed or adsorbed chemical materials suspended or dissolved in the fluid. in the flow-by mode, the fluid path is generally parallel to the plane of the fine fiber layer or element surface. in the flow-by mode, the fluid contacts the surface of the 30 layer and does not substantially flow through the element. while depending on viscosity, flow rate, temperature, element configuration, the fluid can to some degree penetrate the layer and can flow from layer to layer, the primary mode of transport of the fluid is bypassing the layer in a direction substantially parallel to the layer's surface. in such a mode, the liquid can contact the surface of the layer and chemical materials dissolved and suspended in the fluid can react with, be absorbed, or adsorbed by the particulate. the flow-through and flow-by element can be used in a variety of formats. flow-through element can be used in conventional filter structures including cartridge panel in some other filter structures, with the element in a pleated or unpleated mode. similarly, the flow-by media can be included in the panel and cartridge structures. one preferred mode of use of the flow-by material is in a rolled media. rolled media are prepared by first forming the fine fiber and particulate layer by heat treating the fiber layer if needed and then rolling the element into a multi-layered roll having anywhere from 2 to 50 layers. the thickness of the roll, or a separation between the layers, determines the flow rate of fluid through the structure. the flow rates can be improved by introducing channels into the rolled media. such channels can be preformed in the substrate upon which the fine fiber is spun, or the channels can be formed into the element after the fine fiber layer is formed on the substrate and then heat treated if necessary. mechanical forms or spacers can be included with the processing steps. the forms or spacers can introduce the channel into the structure. at least one spacer portion can be included with the rolled material to inherently form a channel in one portion of the rolled structure. further, additional spacers can be placed such that each layer of the rolled structure has at least one channel portion. an arbitrary number of spacers can be used. at least one spacer per layer can be used up to 5, 10 or 20 spacers per layer. after the spacer layers form a channel in the element, the spacers can be removed. the spacers can be removed in one mode by unrolling the element and physically removing the spacers from the element. however, in another mode, the spacers can be simply washed from the rolled assembly using a solvent in which the spacer (but not the substrate fine fiber or particulate) is soluble, thus removing the spacers and leaving flow-through channel structures. the spacers can be configured in virtually any shape or structure as long as the spacer can provide a channel from the first end of the roll to the second end of the roll providing a flow through path for fluid. preferably the dimensions of the channel are greater than about 1 mm in major dimension and can range from about 1 to 500 mm in major dimension. the profile of the channels can be round, oval, circular, rectangular, square, triangular, or other cross-sectional profile. the profile can be regular, or it can be irregular and amorphous. further along the channel, the cross-sectional profile of the channel can vary from one end to the other. for example, at the intake end of the rolled structure, the channel can have a relatively large cross-sectional area, whereas at the opposite end the cross-sectional area can be smaller than the input end. additionally the input end can be smaller in cross-sectional area than the output end. any other variation in size of the spacer can increase turbulence in the flow resulting in improved contact between the fluid and the particulate. the filter or flow-through or flow-by structures of the invention are uniquely suited to provide useful properties. the flow-through structure can be used to absorb/adsorb or chemically react with mobile fluid phases that flow through the flow-through structures. the dispersed particulate within the flow-through structures can react with the mobile fluid (either liquid or gas), or absorb/adsorb, or react with intervening material within the fluid stream. the flow-through structures can act both as a filter, and as a structure that can react with, absorb, or adsorb materials in the fluid stream. accordingly, the dual function flow-through structures can remove undesired particulate that is typically an insoluble phase in the fluid stream. in addition, the flow-through structures can also react with, absorb, or adsorb insoluble and soluble components of the fluid stream. a particularly important fluid stream for the application includes air streams that can contain contaminates such as dust particulate, water, solvent residue, oil residue, mixed aqueous oil residue, harmful gases such as chlorine, benzene, sulfur dioxide, etc. other typical liquid mobile phases include fuel, oils, solvents streams, etc. such streams can be contacted with the flow-through structures of the invention to remove water, particulate contaminates, color-forming species, and minor amounts of soluble impurities. in many cases, the streams (both gaseous and liquid) can be contaminated by biological products including prions, viruses, bacteria, spores, dna segments and other potentially harmful biological products or hazardous materials. the active web or element of the invention can contain the fine fiber layer with the particulate dispersed within the fiber layer to absorb/adsorb or react with materials entrained in the mobile fluid phase. such an element or web can be combined with other active or reactive species in a variety of forms. the particulate of the invention can be discrete particles separate from the fiber or the particulate can be adhered to or on the surface of the fiber. the particulate can be embedded into the fiber and can be partially or fully surrounded by the fiber mass. in order to form these structures, the particulate can be combined with the fiber after spinning, can be added to the fiber during spinning in the time the fiber dries and solidifies, or can be added to the spinning solution before spinning such that the particulate is embedded partially or fully in the fiber. one method of forming an active layer can be by dispersing the active particulate in an aqueous or non-aqueous phase containing components, either forming the active particulate into a sheet layer, or adhering the active particulates to one or more of the components of the web or element of the invention. any of the active particulates of the invention can be incorporated into either an aqueous or non-aqueous liquid phase for such purposes. in forming the non-aqueous material, a non-aqueous solvent, preferably a volatile solvent including such materials as lower alcohols, ethers, low boiling hydrocarbon fractions, chloroform methylene chloride, dimethyl sulfoxide (dmso) and others, can be prepared by incorporating the active particulate of the material with soluble or dispersible binding materials. such a solution can be applied to a fiber particulate sheet like substrate or other materials to form a layer containing the active particulates that can act in that form to absorb/adsorb or react with materials entrained in the mobile fluid phase. alternatively, the active particulate of the invention can be dispersed in an aqueous solution or suspension of binding materials that can be similarly combined with, or coated on, fiber particulate or web sheet like substrates to form an active layer of active particulate. alternatively, the active particulate of the invention can be dispersed or suspended in a mixed aqueous organic phase that combines an aqueous phase with organic phase. the organic phase can comprise additional solvents or other organic liquids or can comprise aqueous polymeric phase such as acrylic polymers, ptfe polymers. such mixed phases can form layers containing the active particulate and additionally can contain cross-linking components that can form bonds between adjacent polymers, further curing the coatings of films. a heat treatment or thermal bonding process can be used to form a distinct layer in which there is no fully distinct fiber. the heat treatment can heat the individual fibers to a temperature at or above a fusion or melting point of the individual fibers and then cause the fibers to adhere, coalesce, or form into a fused network, membrane or membrane-like structure. depending on the temperature and pressure and time of the heat treatment, the heat treatment can convert the fibers from a randomly distributed layer of fiber of intermediate length having only surface contact into a layer where fibers are more intimately associated. at a minimum, the fiber is heated such that at the intersections of the fibers, the fibers fuse to form a fused network. with additional heat pressure, or time of heat treatment, the fibers can further melt and further coalesce into a more intimately associated web. with further temperature, time, and pressure, the fiber can more fully melt and spread into a porous membrane-like structure. the heat treatment also can alter the location of the particulate. in the instance that the fiber is simply distributed throughout, the particulate is distributed through the fine fiber. the heat treatment can fix the particulate into a structure in which the particulate is surface bonded to the heat treated fibrous, web, or membrane-like structure; however, depending again, on the temperature, time of heating, and pressure, the particulate can be incorporated into and throughout the porous membrane-like structure. such a heat treated or calendared structure can have a layer of thickness that approximates that of the original fine fiber layer, or results in a layer that is thinner than the original fine fiber layer. accordingly, if the original fine fiber layer has a thickness that ranges from about 0.5 to 200 microns, the resulting layer can have a thickness that ranges from about 0.5 to about 150 microns or smaller often up to 100 microns and sometimes up to 50 microns, depending on the amount of fiber spun, the particulate content and the degree of heat treatment, including heating, pressure, and time. one form of such a heat treatment process is the calendaring operation that can be used thermally. the calendaring process uses rollers, rollers and embossers, or embossers to form the heat treated layers. an embosser can be used with a bonding pattern that can result in a regular, intermediate, or random pattern. when a pattern is used, the pattern can occupy up to 50 percent of the surface area or more. typically, the bonded array occupies about 1 to 75 percent of the surface area, often about 10-50 percent of the surface area. depending on the nature of the fine fiber used in the various layers and the rate of manufacture of the composites, the calendaring process parameters such as time, temperature, and pressure can be varied to achieve acceptable results. the temperature of the calendared rollers can range from about 25-200° c. the pressure exerted on the layers using the calendaring rollers or combination of rollers can range up to 500 psi and the speed of the composite through the heat treatment station can range from about 1 to about 500 feet per minute. the operating parameters of the heat treatment station must be adjusted such that the appropriate amount of heat is delivered to the fiber to obtain the correct ultimate structure. the heat cannot be so little as not to soften or melt some portion of the fiber and cannot be such that the fiber is simply melted and dispersed into the substrate. the total heat delivered can be readily adjusted to bond the fiber, soften the fiber overall or fully form the fibers into a porous membrane. such minor adjustment of the operating parameters is well within the skill of the artisan. the web or element of the invention can be comprised of a variety of different layers. such layers can include both active and inactive layers. active layers typically comprise a web of fine fiber with the particulates dispersed within the fine fiber or other impregnated layers or layers containing adsorbent/absorbent or reactive particulate or other such structures. such layers can be formed into the useful element of the invention combined with protective layers, spatial layers, active layers, inactive layers, support layers, and all can be incorporated or encapsulated into conventional cartridge panel or other such protective structures. a preferred form of the active particulate comprises an adsorbent carbon particulate. brief description of the drawings figs. 1a and 1b shows an end view of an element of the invention in which the element comprises layers of active media combined with layers of inactive media to provide a flow channel to regulate efficiency and activity. fig. 2 is an end view of a spiral wound media that has a chemical filtration media wound with a plastic mesh screen for spacing the layers. such a structure is a flow by structure having little or no filtration properties but having substantial reactive adsorptive or reactive capacity. fig. 3 is a cross section of an assembly of the structures of the invention. the assembly comprises a chemical filtration media and a spacer layer. the chemical filtration media comprises a nanofiber layer with the dispersed active particulate within the nanofiber layer. the spacer media is a layer that provides sufficient open volume within the structure to ensure that fluid can flow with little impediment through the structure. figs. 4a and b are graphical representation apparatus that can be used to form the fine fiber layers of the invention by combining particle deposition with electrospinning of the fine fiber from polymer solution. figs. 5 and 6 are a test apparatus and test results for the removal of a toluene test contaminant in air using a element of the invention. fig. 7 shows the performance of a high surface area coconut shell carbon placed within the web of our fine fiber matrix in accelerated breakthrough test. detailed discussion of the invention the particulate materials of the invention have dimensions capable of improving the active properties and filtration properties of the media and layers of the invention. the materials can be made of a variety of useful materials that are inert, reactive, absorptive, or adsorptive. the materials can either be substantially inert to the mobile phase and entrained particulate load passing through the web or the materials can interact with the fluid, dissolved portions of the fluid or the particulate loading in the fluid. some or all of the particulate can be inert. preferred particulates are active, reactive, absorbent, or adsorbent materials. for the purpose of this invention, the term “inert” indicates that the material in the web does not either substantially chemically react with the fluid or particulate loading, or substantially physically absorb or adsorb a portion of the fluid or the particulate loading onto the particulate in any substantial quantity. in this “inert” mode, the particulate simply alters the physical parameters of the fiber layer and the media including one or more fiber layers. the active particulate of the invention can be added to any layer of the element of the invention using a variety of add on techniques. the particulate of the invention can be incorporated into the fine fiber layer during spinning of the fiber as discussed elsewhere in the application. in addition, the active particulate of the invention can be dissolved or dispersed into an aqueous or nonaqueous or mixed aqueous liquid and applied to any layer of a useful element of the invention. when using an active particulate that interacts with the fluid or the particulate loading, the particulate can, in addition to altering the physical properties of the media or layers, react with or absorb or adsorb a portion of either the mobile fluid or the particulate loading for the purpose of altering the material that passes through the web. the primary focus of the technology disclosed herein is to improve the treatment properties of the layers to increase the reactivity/absorbent/adsorbent capacity or lifetime of the physical structure of the media or layers, and to improve filter performance where needed. in many such applications, a combination of an inert particle and an interactive particle will then be used. the invention relates to polymeric compositions in the form of fine fiber such as microfibers, nanofibers, in the form of fiber webs, or fibrous mats used with a particulate in a unique improved filter structure. the web of the invention comprises a substantially continuous fiber phase and dispersed in the fiber mass a fiber separation means. in the various aspects of the invention, the fiber separation means can comprise a particulate phase in the web. the particulate can be found on the surface of the web, in surface products or throughout void spaces formed within the web. the fibrous phase of the web can be formed in a substantially singular continuous layer, can be contained in a variety of separate definable layers or can be formed into an amorphous mass of fiber having particulate inclusion phases throughout the web randomly forming inclusion spaces around the particulate and internal web surfaces. the particulate has a major dimension of less than about 5000 microns. for example, the particulate can have a major dimension of less than 200 microns, and can typically comprise about 0.05 to 100 microns or comprises about 0.1 to 70 microns. in the substantially continuous fine fiber layer, the layer has a layer thickness of about 0.0001 to 1 cm, 0.5 to 500 microns, about 1 to 250 microns, or about 2 to 200 microns. in the layer, dispersed in the fiber, is a means comprising a particulate with a particle size of about 0.25 to 200 microns, about 0.5 to 200 microns, about 1 to 200 microns about 10 to 200, or about 25 to 200 microns. the particulate is dispersed throughout the fiber in the layer. the particulate is present in an amount of about 0.1 to 50 vol %, about 0.5 to 50 vol %, about 1 to 50 vol %, about 5 to 50 vol % or about 10 to 50 vol %. the fiber has a diameter of about 0.001 to about 2 microns, 0.001 to about 1 micron, 0.001 to about 0.5 micron, or 0.001 to about 5 microns, and the layer having a fine fiber solidity of about 0.1 to 65%, about 0.5 to 50%; about 1 to 50%; about 1 to 30% and about 1 to 20%. the particulate is available in the layer in amount of about 1 to 1000 gm-m −2 , about 5 to 200 gm-m −2 or about 10 to 100 gm-m −2 of the layer. the invention also relates to a membrane or membrane-like layer having a structure resulting from the polymeric material in the form of fine fiber. the membrane is formed by heat treating the fine fiber and the particulate to form a porous membrane. the membrane is a substantially continuous membrane or film-like layer having the particulate adhered to the surface of the membrane, imbedded into the membrane, or fully surrounded by the membrane polymer mass. in the membrane of the invention, the particulate can have a major dimension of less than 200 microns and typically has a dimension of about 0.05 to 100 microns or about 0.1 to 70 microns. the thickness of the membrane typically ranges from about 0.5 to about 5 microns having a pore size that ranges from about 0.1 to 5 microns often about 1 to 2 microns. the preferred membrane has a thickness of less than about 20 microns, has a pore size of about 0.5 to 3 microns. the particulate is present in the membrane structure in an amount of about 0.1 to 50 vol %. lastly, in the membrane, the particulate is available in the membrane layer in an amount of up to about 10 kg-m −2 typically about 0.1 to 1,000 gm-m −2 about 0.5 to 200 gm-m 2 or about 1 to 100 gm-m 2 of the membrane. the particulate can take a variety of regular geometric shapes or amorphous structures. such shapes can include amorphous or random shapes, agglomerates, spheres, discs, ovals, extended ovals, cruciform shapes, rods, hollow rods or cylinders, bars, three dimensional cruciform shapes having multiple particulate forms extending into space, hollow spheres, non-regular shapes, cubes, solid prisms of a variety of faces, corners and internal volumes. the aspect ratio of the non-spherical particulate (the ratio of the least dimension of the particle to the major or largest dimension) of the invention can range from about 1:2 to about 1:10, preferably from about 1:2 to about 1:8. the particulate of the invention can be made from both organic and inorganic materials and hybrid. the particulate that is non-interacting with the mobile fluid or entrained particulate phase comprises organic or inorganic materials. organic particulates can be made from polystyrene or styrene copolymers expanded or otherwise, nylon or nylon copolymers, polyolefin polymers including polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene, olefin copolymers, propylene olefin copolymers, acrylic polymers and copolymers including polymethylmethacrylate, and polyacrylonitrile. further, the particulate can comprise cellulosic materials and cellulose derivative beads. such beads can be manufactured from cellulose or from cellulose derivatives such as methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, hydroxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, and others. further, the particulates can comprise a diatomaceous earth, zeolite, talc, clay, silicate, fused silicon dioxide, glass beads, ceramic beads, metal particulates, metal oxides, etc. particulates intended for use in the present invention are characterized by average size in the range of from about 0.01 to 510 microns. although submicron active particles are used, the present invention is applicable to fine particles up to 100 microns in average size. in any event, the average size of the active particles will be on the order of approximately 0.01 to 0.0001 of the average size of the particulates. therefore, a relatively larger average size of the active particles requires a larger average size of the particulate. particles include carbon particles such as activated carbon, ion exchange resins/beads, zeolite particles, diatomaceous earth, alumina particles such as activated alumina, polymeric particles including, for example, styrene monomer, and absorbent particles such as commercially available superabsorbent particles. particularly suitable absorbent/adsorbent particles are low density, porous particles, and have pores and cavities including surface cavities, ranging in diameter from about the minimum for the pore size in carbon is 0.00035 microns, which is the carbon-carbon distance to 100 microns and interconnected by smaller pores. these pores and cavities beneficially provide inner surface for deposition, in particular monolayer deposition, of fine particles having an average size in the range of about 0.01 to 10 microns, and thereafter for accessibility to the immobilized fine particles. 1 cm 3 of these particles provides in bulk approximately 75 to 1.500 m 2 of available surface. carbon particulates can be used in the form of filing divided activated carbon. such activated carbons can be combined with other reactive adsorbent or adsorbent species that can be blended with, or adsorbed onto, the carbon surface. other forms of active carbon can be used including carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, nanowires, nanocarbon ropes or larger lattices or constructs in which the individual elements comprise a carbon nanotube. such nanoparticles, such as buckyballs, smaller nanotubes (or nanotube portions thereof), nanoropes, etc. can be incorporated within the interior volume of the nanotube or incorporated into the carbon atom lattice of the nano structure. additional atoms, molecules or components can add structure or function to the nano particulate material. small molecule, oligomeric and polymeric materials can be used in the invention. small molecules typically have molecular weights of less than about 500, are typically made up of a single identifiable molecular unit and typically the units do not repeat in the molecular structure. oligomer structures typically have somewhat larger molecular weights but typically have 2 to 10 repeating molecular units in a structure. polymer units typically have substantially higher molecular weights and typically have substantially greater than 10 repeating units in a polymer structure. the differentiation between oligomeric and polymeric structures is not always clear cut; however, as the number of repeat units in the structure increases, the material tends to become more polymeric in nature. the particulate can be mono-disperse or poly-disperse. in mono-disperse particulate, the majority of the particles are similar in diameter or the major dimension. for example, one example of a mono-disperse particulate has 80% to 90% of the particulate within about 0.8±0.5 microns or about 1±0.25 micron. in a poly-disperse material, the particulate has a substantial portion of particles with different diameters. a poly-disperse material, could be a mixture of two mono-disperse materials or a material with a substantial amount of particulate material present throughout a broad range (e.g.) 0.1 to 10 or 0.01 to 100 microns. the spheres or other shapes can be in a variety of different physical forms including solid and hollow form. the particulate can have a substantially spherical or slightly oval shaped spherical structure. the spheres can be solid or can have a substantial internal void volume. the shell thickness of the sphere can range from about 0.05 to about 500 microns while the sphere can range from about 0.5 to about 5000 microns. other circular structures that can be used include simple toroidal structures, spiral or helical structures, or interlocking link type chain structures. the particulate of the invention can also comprise a reactive absorbent or adsorbent fiber-like structure having a predetermined length and diameter. the aspect ratio of such a fiber is typically about 1 to about 10:1 having a fiber diameter that is typically larger in diameter than the fine fiber of the structure. the diameter ratio of the particulate fiber to the fine fiber is typically about 0.5 to about 5000:1. a variety of other regular shapes can be used including cylindrical, hollow cylindrical, cruciform structures, three-dimensional cruciform structures, i-beam structures, and others. the particulate can also be irregular in shape such that the particulate has a relatively well-defined major and minor dimension but has an exterior surface that is substantially irregular in nature. many amorphous organic and inorganic particulates can have an irregular shape, but can have a size that can provide the spacing property of the particulate material. depending upon the physical form and chemical nature of the spheres, the dimensions of the spheres can be manipulated by a secondary process such as super absorbency, solvent swelling, heat expansion, porosity changes, etc. microspheres available from expancel® can be heat-treated to expand the volume of the microspheres tremendously. fine fiber and microsphere composite media can be produced according to this invention, and later upon a secondary treatment—not limited to heat—the structure of the composite media can be tuned in a controlled way, for example in the expancel® case, depending upon the level of applied heat and temperature, one can control the degree of expansion of the microspheres. for example, by expanding the microspheres, the thickness and loftiness of the structure can be increased and thereby filtration properties can be altered in a desired way. it should be understood that such changes in the physical nature of the microsphere should be accommodated by the elasticity of the fine fiber as they would stretch in the case of expansion of the microspheres. depending upon the reversibility of the change in microspheres, one can also create lofty structures and then collapse/shrink the structure to create dense/compact filtration structures. the web can also be used in filtration applications as a surface media or depth media having a continuous web of fine fiber modified by the presence of a reactive, absorptive or adsorptive spacer or separation means in the form of a particulate that in combination with the fiber in the media, provides figure of merit, filtration efficiency, filtration permeability, depth loading and extended useful lifetime characterized by minimal pressure drop increase. the reactive, absorptive, or adsorptive spacer or separation means causes the fiber web to attain a structure, in which the fiber mass or web portion has reduced solidity, separated fibers or separated web portions within the structure, and increased depth of fiber layer, without increasing the amount of polymer or the number of fibers in the web. the reactive, adsorptive or absorptive, portion of the fiber web can react with reactive chemical species within a mobile fluid passing through the fiber layer or such chemical components of the mobile fluid can be absorbed or adsorbed by the absorptive or adsorptive portion of the fiber layer. the active particulate can be used with an inert particulate as long as the activity or activities of the particulate is maintained. the resulting structure obtains improved filtration properties in combination with resistance to increased pressure drop, improved (figure of merit,) improved permeability, improved efficiency, and the ability to remove both a particulate non-reactive load and a reactive gaseous or particulate load from a mobile fluid stream passing through the fiber layer. the fine fiber of the invention can be in the form of a structural fiber as discussed above. the fine fiber can be spun from a reactive fiber. such reactive fibers can be made from polymers having reactive side chains such as amines, sulfonic acid, carboxylic acid, or other functional groups of side chains. such side chains can be derived from the polymer itself. for example, a polyamine can be formed with a highly functional polyamine leaving acid and amine and mean functionality on the polymer side chains of substituents. similarly, polysulfone or polyacrylic acid material can be formed having active or reactive acid groups. similarly, ion exchange resin materials can be made having, within the resin particulate, acid, strongly acid, basic, or strongly basic functional groups that can add absorbent or reactive properties to the invention. such materials can be dissolved or suspended and can be spun with the conventional fibers of the invention, or can be spun separately into the particle containing webs of the invention. the web can be spun in such a way to disperse the active particulate or active separation means into the fiber. a preferred active particulate or spacer means comprises a reactive, absorptive or adsorptive particulate. such particulate can be dispersed within the polymer containing solution. the particulate can be added to the web during formation or can be added after formation. such a web, when electrospun, is characterized by a mass of interconnected nanofiber or fine fiber with the active separation or spacer means or particulate dispersed within the fiber web on the surface of the fiber web. within the fiber web, the spacer particulate creates void spaces within the interconnected fibrous structure that reduces solidity and increases mobile fluid flow. the invention also comprises a web formed by forming a fine fiber mass with the simultaneous addition or a post spinning addition of the spacer particulate to the fiber layer. in such an embodiment, the particulate is interspersed throughout the mass of fibrous material. lastly, the invention involves forming the spun layer in a complete finished web or thickness and then adding the active particulate to the surface of the web prior to incorporating the web into a useful article. subsequent processing including lamination, calendaring, compression or other processes can incorporate the particulate into and through the fiber web. one advantage of either simultaneous addition of the particulate to the web as it is formed or to the web after formation, is obtained when the particulate is a solvent soluble particulate. dissolving the soluble particulate in the solution would result in the incorporation of the material into the fiber without maintaining the particulate as a separate phase in the web. adding the particulate to the web after formation preserves the solvent soluble material in its particulate form. the web of the material can also have a gradient structure. in this disclosure, the term “gradient” indicates that some component (density, solidity, fiber size, etc.) of the web varies from one surface of the web to the opposite surface of the web. the gradient can be characterized by a variation in amount of active particulate, varying proportions of active and inert particulate, or other variation in particulate. the gradient can also be characterized in terms of a variation in the weight or the number of fibers. the gradient is formed by forming successively more or less fibers or more or less particulates within the web as the web is formed. further, the concentration of spacer means or particulate can have a gradient aspect in which the size, weight or number of particulate materials per volume is substantially increased or reduced from one surface of the web to the other. the media of the invention can be used in the form of a single fine fiber web or a series of fine fiber webs in a filter structure. the term “fine fiber” indicates a fiber having a fiber size or diameter of 0.001 to less than 5 microns or about 0.001 to less than 2 microns and, in some instances, 0.001 to 0.5 micron diameter. a variety of methods can be utilized for the manufacture of fine fiber. chung et al., u.s. pat. no. 6,743,273; kahlbaugh et at., u.s. pat. no. 5,423,892; mclead, u.s. pat. no. 3,878,014; barris, u.s. pat. no. 4,650,506; prentice, u.s. pat. no. 3,676,242; lohkamp et al., u.s. pat. no. 3,841,953; and butin et al., u.s. pat. no. 3,849,241; all of which are incorporated by reference herein, disclose a variety of fine fiber technologies. the fine fiber of the invention is typically electrospun onto a substrate. the substrate can be a pervious or impervious material. in filtration applications non-woven filter media can be used as a substrate. in other applications the fiber can be spun onto an impervious layer and can be removed for down stream processing. in such an application, the fiber can be spun onto a metal drum or foil. the substrate can comprise an expanded ptfe layer or teflon® layer. such layers are useful in a variety of applications that can provide both filtration and activity from the active particulate. for the purpose of this patent application, the term “adsorptive” indicates a particle that is active to adsorb and accumulate material from a fluid stream on the surface of a particle. the term “absorptive” indicates that the particle has the capacity to accumulate material from a fluid stream into the interior or void space or spaces within a particle. “chemically reactive” indicates that the particulate has the capacity to react with and chemically change both the character of the particle and the chemical character of the material in the fluid stream. a “fluid stream”, in this application, indicates either a gaseous or a liquid stream that can contain a particulate. the particulate can be either filtered from the fluid stream or the particulate can be adsorbed, absorbed or reacted with the particulate material of the invention. the term “active particulate”, when used in this disclosure, refers to the absorptive, adsorptive or reactive particulate. the term “inert particulate” refers to a particulate that has no substantial absorptive, adsorptive or reactive capacity. such particles can be used as a separation means or to occupy space. for the purpose of this invention, the t-nu “media” includes a structure comprising a web comprising a substantially continuous fine fiber mass and the separation or spacer materials of the invention dispersed in the fiber. in this disclosure the term “media” indicates the web of the invention, comprising the fine fiber and dispersed particulate in combination with a substrate of some active or inert type disclosed herein. the term “element” indicates the combination of the “media” of the invention with another component including cartridge components in the form of (e.g.) cylinder or flat panel structures. in this disclosure, the term “web” includes a substantially continuous or contiguous fine fiber phase with spacer particulate phase. a continuous web is necessary to impose a barrier to the passage of a particulate contaminant loading in a mobile phase. a single web, two webs or multiple webs can be combined to make up the filter media of the invention. “figure of merit” can be thought of as a benefit to cost ratio, where efficiency is the benefit, and normalized pressure drop (ap) is the cost (ap/media velocity). the “cost” is normalized so that one can compare figures of merit from tests run at different velocities. figure of merit is simply an index to compare media. larger figure of merit values are better than small. the formula for calculating figure of merit is: figure of merit=−ln(penetration)/( ap /media face velocity) in the equation presented above, ap is the pressure drop across the media and the unit used in the equation is cm hg; media face velocity has the unit of cm/sec; ln(penetration) is the natural logarithm of penetration. and penetration is defined as: penetration=1−efficiency the standard units of measure which figure of merit is reported in are given below: 1/(cm hg)/(cm/sec) or (cm/sec)/cm hg in many applications, especially those involving relatively high flow rates, an alternative type of filter media, sometimes generally referred to as “depth” media, is used. a typical depth media comprises a relatively thick tangle of fibrous material. depth media is generally defined in terms of its porosity, density or percent solids content. for example, a 2-3% solidity media would be a depth media mat of fibers arranged such that approximately 2-3% of the overall volume comprises fibrous materials (solids), the remainder being air or gas space. the fine fiber layers formed on the substrate in the filters of the invention should be substantially uniform in particulate distribution, filtering performance and fiber distribution. by substantial uniformity, we mean that the fiber has sufficient coverage of the substrate to have at least some measurable filtration efficiency throughout the covered substrate. the media of the invention can be used in laminates with multiple webs in a filter structure. the media of the invention includes at least one web of a fine fiber structure. the substrate upon which the fine fiber and active particulate can be formed can be either active or inactive substrate. such substrates can have incorporated into the substrate layer active materials in the form of coatings, particulates, or fibers that can add adsorbent/absorbent or reactive properties to the overall structure. the overall thickness of the fiber web is about 1 to 100 times the fiber diameter or about 1 to 300 micron or about 5 to 200 microns. the web can comprise about 5 to 95 wt.-% fiber and about 95 to 5 wt.-% active particulate or about 30 to 75 wt.-% fiber and about 70 to 25 wt.-% active particulate occupies about 0.1 to 50 vol % of the layer or about 1 to 50 vol % or 2 to 50 vol % of the layer. the overall solidity (including the contribution of the active or inactive particulate) of the media is about 0.1 to about 50%, preferably about 1 to about 30%. the solidity of the web without including the contribution of the particulate in the structure is about 10 to about 80%. the filter media of the invention can attain a filtration efficiency of about 20 to about 99.9999% when measured according to astm-1215-89, with 0.78μ monodisperse polystyrene spherical particles, at 13.21 fpm (4 meters/min) as described herein. when used in hepa type application, the filter performance is about 99.97% efficiency at 10.5 fp and 0.3 micron nacl or dop particle size. efficiency numbers in respect to this type of efficiency testing (0.3 micron dop at 10.5 fpm test velocity), yield an efficiency in the range of 20 to 99.9999% m the figure of merit can range from 10 to 10 5 . the filtration web of the invention typically exhibits a frazier permeability test that would exhibit a permeability of at least about 1 meters-minutes −1 , preferably about 5 to about 50 meters-minutes 1 when used as a inactive particulate or separation means, the particulate that characterizes the particulate phase of the web of the invention is a particulate that is either inert to the mobile phase and the entrained contaminant load or has some defined activity with respect to the mobile fluid or the load. the particulate materials of the invention have dimensions capable of improving both the filtration properties of the media and the active reactive, absorbent or adsorbent character of the structures of the invention. the materials can be made of a variety of useful materials. the materials can either be substantially inert to the mobile phase and entrained particulate load passing through the web or the materials can interact with the fluid or particulate loading. in an “inert” mode, the spacer particulate simply alters the physical parameters of the fiber layer and the media including one or more fiber layers. when using a particulate that interacts with the fluid or the particulate loading, the particulate can, in addition to altering the physical properties of the media or layers, react with or absorb or adsorb a portion of either the mobile fluid or the particulate loading for the purpose of altering the material that passes through the web. the primary focus of the technology disclosed herein is to improve the physical structure and absorptive, reactive or adsorptive character of the media or layers and to improve filter performance. for that purpose, an active or an inert particle can be used. in certain applications, a substantially inert particle can be used in combination with a particulate that interacts with the mobile phase or particulate loading. in such applications, a combination of an inert particle and an interactive particle will be used. such a combination of active particulate and inert particulate can provide both improved filter property and absorption, or adsorption properties. the preferred fiber separation active, adsorptive or absorptive, means comprises a particulate. such a particulate, used in the unique filter structures of the invention, occupies space within the filter layer or mat, reduces the effective density of the fiber, increases the tortuous pathways of the fluid through the filter and absorbs, adsorbs or reacts with the fluid or materials dissolved or dispersed in the fluid. alternatively, the particulate can provide the mechanical space holding effect while additionally chemically reacting with the mobile fluid or adsorbing or absorbing gaseous, liquid or solid components in the mobile fluid. the active layer of the invention can comprise a nanofiber layer and dispersed within the nanofiber layer, the reactive, absorptive, or adsorptive particulate of the invention. the nanofiber layers of the invention typically range from about 0.5 to about 300 microns, 1 to about 250 microns or 2 to about 200 microns in thickness and contain within the layer about 0.1 to about 50 or 10 to about 50 vol % of the layer in the form of both inert (if any) and the active particulate of the invention. in this case, the active particulate of the invention can be combined with inert spacer particulate in some amount. the active particulate of the invention acting to absorb, adsorb or react with contaminants within the fluid flow while the inert particulate simply provides an excluded volume within the layer to reduce solidity, improve efficiency and other filtration properties. the creation of low pressure drop active particulate, chemically reactive, absorptive, or adsorptive substrates for the removal of gas phase contaminants from airstreams is from flat sheet rolls of absorptive/adsorptive/reactive media that are layered or rolled together with a spacer media to form an adsorptive/reactive substrate with open channels and absorptive/adsorptive/reactive walls. additionally, the spacer media can be made to be absorptive/adsorptive/reactive so as to contribute to the overall life/performance of the final chemical unit. the spacer media that creates the open channels can be created from a mesh, single lines of a polymer bead, glue dots, metal ribs, corrugated wire/polymer/paper mesh, corrugated metal/paper/polymer sheets, strips of polymer, strips of adhesive, strips of metal, strips of ceramic, strips of paper, or even from dimples placed in the media surface. these spacer media can be made absorptive/adsorptive/reactive by coating them or extruding/forming them with/from absorptive/adsorptive/reactive materials. the contaminated airflow is primarily directed along the channel created by the spacer media. this air comes into contact with the adsorptive/reactive media walls and/or spacer media and subsequently becomes adsorbed or reacted. the channel size and shape is controlled by the shape and size of the space media. examples include squares, rectangles, triangles, and obscure shapes that may be created by a dotted pattern of polymer/adhesive. the chemistry of the walls and spacer media can be made specific to adsorb acidic, basic, and organic and water vapors, as well as several specific classes of compounds including reactive carbonyl compounds, including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acetone. the reactive material can begin in many forms or functions. these forms include layers of reactive particles attached to a substrate. the reactive materials can be held together with adhesive or fibers to encapsulate, or simply hold, the particles and/or additional scrim materials are attached to hold the reactive material in place and minimize shedding of particles. the reactive material can also be sandwiched between layers of scrim. the scrim could help to produce the channels or space between the layers. this could be accomplished with a high loft scrim material that would give the proper spacing as well as ability to hold all the reactive particles in the media. the reactive or adsorptive particles can be held together or interspersed with fibers. the combination of particles and fibers (also nanofibers) results in a material that offers several advantages: increased diffusion; allowing for the use of smaller particles, thereby increasing the external surface area and hence the reaction rate; increased permeation into the reactive layer; the combination of particle and chemical filtration into a single layer; and the direct application of reactants to a filtration application without the need of a substrate or carrier (i.e. impregnated adsorbent). besides using particles that have been impregnated or coated with reactive species, it is obvious to anyone skilled in the art that these modifications can be performed after forming the fibrous web and structures. imparting reactive activity to the particles and web after forming the fibrous web and structure can be accomplished using many different coating processes. for example, spray coating, dip coating, aerosol deposition, chemical vapor deposition, kiss coating, and vacuum coating. a final step may involve a drying process that may, or may not, include thermal treatments, gas purging, or vacuum methods. specific aspects: a first aspect of the invention involves the use of a rolled substrate of an active particulate such as an activated carbon from icx industries (trade name plexx) rolled with a nylon mesh to create a low pressure drop volatile organic chemical filter. similar activated carbon substrates in flat sheets, or rolled good forms are available from other suppliers and can be applied in a similar manner. the material needs to be able to maintain the shape and flexibility to be able to form the various filter elements and minimize the shedding of particles. another aspect of the invention involves the use of nanofibers and an active particulate such as an activated carbon powder co-dispersed into an air stream, or chamber, and deposited onto a substrate that can be any thin, flexible, porous substrate (e.g. a scrim, paper, mesh, etc.). the nanofibers entrap, or hold, the adsorptive particles in a thin layer and, as such, minimize the shedding of particles. this entire combination of substrate layer and nanofiber/adsorbent layer is then rolled with a spacer layer that provides non-restrictive channels for air flow or transport. the layer can comprise a mix of particulates that each react with a different chemical species. for example, activated carbon may also contain an impregnant that is specific for acidic, basic, or reactive organic contaminants. examples include, citric acid for the removal of amines and ammonia, potassium hydroxide for the removal of sulfur dioxide and other acid gases, and 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine for the removal of carbonyl containing compounds. a third aspect of the invention is the use of nanofibers and citric acid powder, or granules, co-dispersed into an air stream, or chamber, and deposited onto a substrate that can be any thin, flexible, porous substrate (e.g. a scrim, paper, mesh, etc.). still another aspect of the invention involves the use of catalytic tio 2 particles, fibers, or layers, in the element of the invention. such catalytic layers, when irradiated with uv light, can cause a chemical reaction between the catalyst and materials entrapped in the mobile phase, and can remove the materials or change them from a noxious or harmful material into a benign material. ambient light with some proportion of uv (less than 350 nm) and visible radiation (about 350 to 700 nm) can often be the source of sufficient radiation energy to obtain the catalytic effect for the tio 2 in the element. if ambient conditions are insufficient for activity the element can be used with a separate uv source. fluorescent uv sources are known and can be used either as a separate irradiating source, or can be incorporated into the element to provide substantial amount of uv radiation onto the ti02. the nanofiber entraps, or holds the reactive particles in a thin layer, and as such, minimizes the shedding of particles. this entire combination of substrate layer and nanofiber/adsorbent layer is then rolled with a spacer layer that provides non-restrictive channels for air flow or transport. the fine fiber layer that contains the active particulate dispersed within the layer can be made from a variety of polymeric species. since polymer species include a vast array of polymer materials. the polymer can be a single polymer species or blend of polymeric species or a polymer alloy of two or more polymer species. the fibers can be made using any known fine fiber manufacturing technique that involves combining polymers, if necessary with other polymers or additives, and then using a forming technique to shape the polymer into the fine fiber polymer desired. a 48%-52 wt % blend ratio between the polymer in example 1 and the polymer in example 2 respectively was used. a further aspect of the invention is the use of nanofibers and ion-exchange resins, or granules co-dispersed into an air stream, or chamber, and deposited onto a substrate that can be any thin, flexible, porous substrate (e.g. a scrim, paper, mesh, etc.). the nanofibers entrap, or hold, the reactive particles in a thin layer and, as such, minimize the shedding of particles. this entire combination of substrate layer and nanofiber/adsorbent layer is then rolled with a spacer layer that provides non-restrictive channels for air flow or transport. polymer materials that can be used as the fiber polymer compositions of the invention include both addition polymer and condensation polymer materials such as polyolefin, polyacetal, polyamide, polyester, cellulose ether and ester, polyalkylene sulfide, polyarylene oxide, polysulfone, modified polysulfone polymers and mixtures thereof preferred materials that fall within these generic classes include polyethylene, polypropylene, poly(vinylchloride), polymethylmethacrylate (and other acrylic resins), polystyrene, and copolymers thereof (including aba type block copolymers), poly(vinylidene fluoride), poly(vinylidene chloride), polyvinylalcohol in various degrees of hydrolysis (80% to 99.5%) in crosslinked and non-crosslinked forms. preferred addition polymers tend to be glassy (a tg greater than room temperature). this is the case for polyvinylchloride and polymethylmethacrylate, polystyrene polymer compositions or alloys or low in crystallinity for polyvinylidene fluoride and polyvinylalcohol materials. one class of polyamide condensation polymers are nylon materials. the term “nylon” is a generic name for all long chain synthetic polyamides. typically, nylon nomenclature includes a series of numbers such as in nylon-6,6 which indicates that the starting materials are a co diamine and a c6 diacid (the first digit indicating a c6 diamine and the second digit indicating a c6 dicarboxylic acid compound). nylon can be made by the polycondensation of e-caprolactam in the presence of a small amount of water. this reaction forms a nylon-6 (made from a cyclic lactam—also known as e-aminocaproic acid) that is a linear polyamide. further, nylon copolymers are also contemplated. copolymers can be made by combining various diamine compounds, various diacid compounds and various cyclic lactam structures in a reaction mixture and then forming the nylon with randomly positioned monomeric materials in a polyamide structure. for example, a nylon 6,6-6,10 material is a nylon manufactured from hexamethylene diamine and a co and a c10 blend of diacids. a nylon 6,6-6,6,10 is a nylon manufactured by copolymerization of c-aminocaproic acid, hexamethylene diamine and a blend of a c6 and a c10 diacid material. block copolymers are also useful in the process of this invention. with such copolymers the choice of solvent swelling agent is important. the selected solvent is such that both blocks were soluble in the solvent. one example is a aba (styrene-ep-styrene) or ab (styrene-ep) polymer in methylene chloride solvent. if one component is not soluble in the solvent, it will form a gel. examples of such block copolymers are kraton® type of styrene-b-butadiene and styrene-b-hydrogenated butadiene(ethylene propylene), pebax® type of e-caprolactam-b-ethylene oxide, sympatex® polyester-b-ethylene oxide and polyurethanes of ethylene oxide and isocyanates. addition polymers like polyvinylidene fluoride, syndiotactic polystyrene, copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropylene, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, amorphous addition polymers, such as poly(acrylonitrile) and its copolymers with acrylic acid and methacrylates, polystyrene, poly(vinyl chloride) and its various copolymers, poly(methyl methacrylate) and its various copolymers, can be solution spun with relative ease because they are soluble at low pressures and temperatures. however, highly crystalline polymer like polyethylene and polypropylene require high temperature, high pressure solvent if they are to be solution spun. therefore, solution spinning of the polyethylene and polypropylene is very difficult. electrostatic solution spinning is one method of making nanofibers and microfiber. the polyurethane (pu) polyether used in this layer of invention can be an aliphatic or aromatic polyurethane depending on the isocyanate used and can be a polyether polyurethane or a polyester polyurethane. a polyether urethane having good physical properties can be prepared by melt polymerization of a hydroxyl-terminated polyether or polyester intermediate and a chain extender with an aliphatic or aromatic (mdi) diisocyanate. the hydroxyl-terminated polyether has alkylene oxide repeat units containing from 2 to 10 carbon atoms and has a weight average molecular weight of at least 1000. the chain extender is a substantially non-branched glycol having 2 to 20 carbon atoms. the amount of the chain extender is from 0.5 to less than 2 mole per mole of hydroxyl terminated polyether. it is preferred that the polyether polyurethane is thermoplastic and has a melting point of about 140° c. to 250° c. or greater (e.g., 150° c. to 250° c.) with 180° c. or greater being preferred. in a first mode, the polyurethane polymer of the invention can be made simply by combining a di-, tri- or higher functionality aromatic or aliphatic isocyanate compound with a polyol compound that can comprise either a polyester polyol or a polyether polyol. the reaction between the active hydrogen atoms in the polyol with the isocyanate groups forms the addition polyurethane polymer material in a straight forward fashion. the oh:nco ratio is typically about 1:1 leaving little or no unreacted isocyanate in the finished polymer. in any unreacted isocyanate compound, reactivity can be scavenged using isocyanate reactive compounds. in a second mode, the polyurethane polymer can be synthesized in a stepwise fashion from isocyanate terminated prepolymer materials. the polyurethane can be made from an isocyanate-terminated polyether or polyester. an isocyanate-capped polyol prepolymer can be chain-extended with an aromatic or aliphatic dihydroxy compound. the term “isocyanate-terminated polyether or polyurethane” refers generally to a prepolymer which comprises a polyol that has been reacted with a diisocyanate compound a compound containing at least two isocyanate (—nco) groups). in preferred form, the prepolymer has a functionality of 2.0 or greater, an average molecular weight of about 250 to 10,000 or 600-5000, and is prepared so as to contain substantially no unreacted monomeric isocyanate compound. the term “unreacted isocyanate compound” refers to free monomeric aliphatic or aromatic isocyanate-containing compound, i.e., diisocyanate compound which is employed as a starting material in connection with the preparation of the prepolymer and which remains unreacted in the prepolymer composition. the term “polyol” as used herein, generally refers to a polymeric compound having more than one hydroxy (—oh) group, preferably an aliphatic polymeric (polyether or polyester) compound which is terminated at each end with a hydroxy group. the chain-lengthening agents are difunctional and/or trifunctional compounds having molecular weights of from 62 to 500 preferably aliphatic diols having from 2 to 14 carbon atoms, such as, for example, ethanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol and, especially, 1,4-butanediol. also suitable, however, are diesters of terephthalic acid with glycols having from 2 to 4 carbon atoms, such as, for example, terephthalic acid bis-ethylene glycol or 1,4-butanediol, hydroxy alkylene ethers of hydroquinone, such as, for example, 1,4-di(b-hydroxyethyl)-hydroquinone, (cyclo)aliphatic diamines, such as, for example, isophorone-diamine, ethylenediamine, 1,2-, 1,3-propylene-diamine, n-methyl-1,3-propylene-diamine, n,n′-dimethyl-ethylenediamine, and aromatic diamines, such as, for example, 2,4- and 2,6-toluylene-diamine, 3,5-diethyl-2,4- and/or -2,6-toluylene-diamine, and primary ortho- di-, tri- and/or tetra-alkyl-substituted 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl-methanes. it is also possible to use mixtures of the above-mentioned chain-lengthening agents. preferred polyols are polyesters, polyethers, polycarbonates or a mixture thereof. a wide variety of polyol compounds is available for use in the preparation of the prepolymer. in preferred embodiments, the polyol may comprise a polymeric diol including, for example, polyether diols and polyester diols and mixtures or copolymers thereof. preferred polymeric diols are polyether diols, with polyalkylene ether diols being more preferred. exemplary polyalkylene polyether diols include, for example, polyethylene ether glycol, polypropylene ether glycol, polytetramethylene ether glycol (ptmeg) and polyhexamethylene ether glycol and mixtures or copolymers thereof. preferred among these polyalkylene ether diols is ptmeg. preferred among the polyester diols are, for example, polybutylene adipate glycol and polyethylene adipate glycol and mixtures or copolymers thereof. other polyether polyols may be prepared by reacting one or more alkylene oxides having from 2 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkylene radical with a starter molecule containing two active hydrogen atoms bonded therein. the following may be mentioned as examples of alkylene oxides:ethylene oxide, 1,2-propylene oxide, epichlorohydrin and 1,2- and 2,3-butylene oxide. preference is given to the use of ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and mixtures of 1,2-propylene oxide and ethylene oxide. the alkylene oxides may be used individually, alternately in succession, or in the form of mixtures. starter molecules include, for example: water, amino alcohols, such as n-alkyldiethanolamines, for example n-methyl-diethanolamine, and diols, such as ethylene glycol, 1,3-propylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol and 1,6-hexanediol. it is also possible to use mixtures of starter molecules. suitable polyether polyols are also the hydroxyl-group-containing polymerization products of tetrahydrofuran. suitable polyester polyols may be prepared, for example, from dicarboxylic acids having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms, preferably from 4 to 6 carbon atoms, and polyhydric alcohols. suitable dicarboxylic acids include, for example: aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, such as succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid and sebacic acid, and aromatic dicarboxylic acids, such as phthalic acid, isophthalic acid and terephthalic acid. the dicarboxylic acids may be used individually or in the form of mixtures, for example in the form of a succinic, glutaric and adipic acid mixture. it may be advantageous for the preparation of the polyester polyols to use, instead of the dicarboxylic acids, the corresponding dicarboxylic acid derivatives, such as carboxylic acid diesters having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alcohol radical, carboxylic acid anhydrides or carboxylic acid chlorides. examples of polyhydric alcohols are glycols having from 2 to 10, preferably from 2 to 6, carbon atoms, such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,10-decanediol, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol and dipropylene glycol. according to the desired properties, the polyhydric alcohols may be used alone or, optionally, in admixture with one another. also suitable are esters of carbonic acid with the mentioned diols, especially those having from 4 to 6 carbon atoms, such as 1,4-butanediol and/or 1,6-hexanediol, condensation products of (omega-hydroxycarboxylic acids, for example (omega-hydroxycaproic acid, and preferably polymerization products of lactones, for example optionally substituted (c-caprolactones. these are preferably used as polyester polyols ethanediol polyadipate, 1,4-butanediol polyadipate, ethanediol-1,4-butanediol polyadipate, 1,6-hexanediol neopentyl glycol polyadipate, 1,6-hexanediol-1,4-butanediol polyadipate and polycaprolactones. the polyester polyols have molecular weights of from 600 to 5000. the number of average molecular weight of the polyols from which the polymer or prepolymers may be derived may range from about 800 to about 3500 and all combinations and subcombinations of ranges therein. more preferably, the number of average molecular weights of the polyol may range from about 1500 to about 2500, with number average molecular weights of about 2000 being even more preferred. the polyol in the prepolymers can be capped with an isocyanate compound or can be fully reacted to the thermoplastic polyurethane (tpu). a wide variety of diisocyanate compounds is available for use in the preparation of the prepolymers of the present invention. generally speaking, the diisocyanate compound may be aromatic or aliphatic, with aromatic diisocyanate compounds being preferred. included among the suitable organic diisocyanates are, for example, aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic, heterocyclic and aromatic diisocyanates, as are described, for example, in justus liebigs annalen der chemie, 562, pages 75 to 136. examples of suitable aromatic diisocyanate compounds include diphenylmethane diisocyanate, xylene diisocyanate, toluene diisocyanate, phenylene diisocyanate, and naphthalene diisocyanate and mixtures thereof. examples of suitable aliphatic diisocyanate compounds include dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate and hexamethylene diisocyanate and mixtures thereof. preferred among the diisocyanate compounds is mdi due, at least in part, to its general commercial availability and high degree of safety, as well as its generally desirable reactivity with chain extenders (discussed more fully hereinafter). other diisocyanate compounds, in addition to those exemplified above, would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, once armed with the present disclosure. the following may be mentioned as specific examples: aliphatic diisocyanates, such as hexamethylene diisocyanate, cycloaliphatic diisocyanates, such as isophorone diisocyanate, 1,4-cyclohexane diisocyanate, 1-methyl-2,4- and -2,6-cyclohexane diisocyanate and the corresponding isomeric mixtures, 4,4′-, 2,4′- and 2,2′-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate and the corresponding isomeric mixtures, and, preferably, aromatic diisocyanates, such as 2,4-toluylene diisocyanate, mixtures of 2,4- and 2,6-toluylene diisocyanate, 4,4′-, 2,4′- and 2,2′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, mixtures of 2,4′- and 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, urethane-modified liquid 4,4′- and/or 2,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanates, 4,4′-diisocyanatodiphenylethane-(1,2) and 1,5-naphthylene diisocyanate. preference is given to the use of 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate, diphenylmethane diisocyanate isomeric mixtures having a 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate content of greater than 96 wt. %, and especially 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and 1,5-naphthylene diisocyanate. for the preparation of the tpus, the chain-extension components are reacted, optionally in the presence of catalysts, auxiliary substances and/or additives, in such amounts that the equivalence ratio of nco groups to the sum of all the nco-reactive groups, especially of the oh groups of the low molecular weight diols/triols and polyols, is from 0.9:1.0 to 1.2:1.0, preferably from 0.95:1.0 to 1.10:1.0. suitable catalysts, which in particular accelerate the reaction between the nco groups of the diisocyanates and the hydroxyl groups of the diol components, are the conventional tertiary amines known in the prior art, such as, for example, triethylamine, dimethylcyclohexylamine, n-methylmorpholine, n,n′-dimethyl-piperazine, 2-(dimethylaminoethoxy)-ethanol, diazabicyclo-(2,2,2)-octane and the like, as well as, especially, organometallic compounds such as titanic acid esters, iron compounds, tin compounds, for example tin diacetate, tin dioctate, tin dilaurate or the tindialkyl salts of aliphatic carboxylic acids, such as dibutyltin diacetate, dibutyltin dilaurate or the like. the catalysts are usually used in amounts of from 0.0005 to 0.1 part per 100 parts of polyhydroxy compound, in addition to catalysts, auxiliary substances and/or additives may also be incorporated into the chain-extension components. examples which may be mentioned are lubricants, antiblocking agents, inhibitors, stabilizers against hydrolysis, light, heat and discoloration, flameproofing agents, colorings, pigments, inorganic and/or organic fillers and reinforcing agents. reinforcing agents are especially fibrous reinforcing materials such as, for example, inorganic fibers, which are prepared according to the prior art and may also be provided with a size. further additional components that may be incorporated into the pu are thermoplastics, for example polycarbonates and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymers, especially abs. other elastomers, such as, for example, rubber, ethylene-vinyl acetate polymers, styrene-butadiene copolymers and other pus, may likewise be used. also suitable for incorporation are commercially available plasticisers such as, for example, phosphates, phthalates, adipates, sebacates. the pus according to the invention are produced continuously. either the known band process or the extruder process may be used. the components may be metered simultaneously, i.e. one shot, or in succession, i.e. by a prepolymer process. in that case, the prepolymer may be introduced either batchwise or continuously in the first part of the extruder, or it may be prepared in a separate prepolymer apparatus arranged upstream. the extruder process is preferably used, optionally in conjunction with a prepolymer reactor. fiber can be made by conventional methods and can be made by melt spinning the polyurethane pu or a mixed polyether urethane and the additive. melt spinning is a well known process in which a polymer is melted by extrusion, passed through a spinning nozzle into air, solidified by cooling, and collected by winding the fibers on a collection device. typically the fibers are melt-spun at a polymer temperature of about 150° c. to about 300° c. polymeric materials have been fabricated in non-woven and woven fabrics, fibers and microfibers. the polymeric material provides the physical properties required for product stability. these materials should not change significantly in dimension, suffer reduced molecular weight, become less flexible or subject to stress cracking, or physically deteriorate in the presence of sunlight, humidity, high temperatures or other negative environmental effects. the invention relates to an improved polymeric material that can maintain physical properties in the face of incident electromagnetic radiation such as environmental light, heat, humidity and other physical challenges. we have also found a substantial advantage to forming polymeric compositions comprising two or more polymeric materials in polymer admixture, alloy format, or in a crosslinked chemically bonded structure. we believe such polymer compositions improve physical properties by changing polymer attributes such as improving polymer chain flexibility or chain mobility, increasing overall molecular weight and providing reinforcement through the formation of networks of polymeric materials. in one embodiment of this concept, two related or unrelated polymer materials can be blended for beneficial properties. for example, a high molecular weight polyvinylchloride can be blended with a low molecular weight polyvinylchloride. similarly, a high molecular weight nylon material can be blended with a low molecular weight nylon material. further, differing species of a general polymeric genus can be blended. for example, a high molecular weight styrene material can be blended with a low molecular weight, high impact polystyrene. a nylon-6 material can be blended with a nylon copolymer such as a nylon-6,6-6,6,10 copolymer. further, a polyvinylalcohol having a low degree of hydrolysis such as an 80-87% hydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol can be blended with a fully or superhydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol having a degree of hydrolysis between 98 and 99.9% and higher. all of these materials in admixture can be crosslinked using appropriate crosslinking mechanisms. nylons can be crosslinked using crosslinking agents that are reactive with the nitrogen atom in the amide linkage. polyvinylalcohol materials can be crosslinked using hydroxyl reactive materials such as monoaldehydes, such as formaldehyde, ureas, melamine-formaldehyde resin and its analogues, boric acids and other inorganic compounds, dialdehydes, diacids, urethanes, epoxies and other known crosslinking agents. crosslinking technology is a well known and understood phenomenon in which a crosslinking reagent reacts and forms covalent bonds between polymer chains to substantially improve molecular weight, chemical resistance, overall strength and resistance to mechanical degradation. we have found that additive materials can significantly improve the properties of the polymer materials in the form of a fine fiber. the resistance to the effects of heat, humidity, impact, mechanical stress and other negative environmental effect can be substantially improved by the presence of additive materials. we have found that while processing the microfiber materials of the invention, the additive materials can improve the oleophobic character, the hydrophobic character, and can appear to aid in improving the chemical stability of the materials. we believe that the fine fibers of the invention in the form of a microfiber are improved by the presence of these oleophobic and hydrophobic additives as these additives form a protective layer coating, ablative surface or penetrate the surface to some depth to improve the nature of the polymeric material. we believe the important characteristics of these materials are the presence of a strongly hydrophobic group that can preferably also have oleophobic character. strongly hydrophobic groups include fluorocarbon groups, hydrophobic hydrocarbon surfactants or blocks and substantially hydrocarbon oligomeric compositions. these materials are manufactured in compositions that have a portion of the molecule that tends to be compatible with the polymer material affording typically a physical bond or association with the polymer while the strongly hydrophobic or oleophobic group, as a result of the association of the additive with the polymer, forms a protective surface layer that resides on the surface or becomes alloyed with or mixed with the polymer surface layers. for 0.2-micron fiber with 10% additive level, the surface thickness is calculated to be around 50 a, if the additive has migrated toward the surface. migration is believed to occur due to the incompatible nature of the oleophobic or hydrophobic groups in the bulk material. a 50 a thickness appears to be reasonable thickness for protective coating. for 0.05-micron diameter fiber, 50 a thickness corresponds to 20% mass. for 2 microns thickness fiber, 50 a thickness corresponds to 2% mass. preferably the additive materials are used at an amount of about 2 to 25 wt. %. oligomeric additives that can be used in combination with the polymer materials of the invention include oligomers having a molecular weight of about 500 to about 5000, preferably about 500 to about 3000 including fluoro-chemicals, nonionic surfactants and low molecular weight resins or oligomers. examples of useful phenolic additive materials include enzo-bpa, enzo-bpa/phenol, enzo-tbp, enzo-cop and other related phenolics were obtained from enzymol international inc., columbus, ohio. an extremely wide variety of fibrous filter media exist for different applications. 30 the durable nanofibers and microfibers described in this invention can be added to any of the media. the fibers described in this invention can also be used to substitute for fiber components of these existing media giving the significant advantage of improved performance (improved efficiency and/or reduced pressure drop) due to their small diameter, while exhibiting greater durability. polymer nanofibers and microfibers are known; however, their use has been very limited due to their fragility to mechanical stresses, and their susceptibility to chemical degradation due to their very high surface area to volume ratio. the fibers described in this invention address these limitations and will therefore be usable in a very wide variety of filtration, textile, membrane, and other diverse applications. a media construction according to the present invention includes a first layer of permeable coarse fibrous media or substrate having a first surface. a first layer of fine fiber media is secured to the first surface of the first layer of permeable coarse fibrous media. preferably the first layer of permeable coarse fibrous material comprises fibers having an average diameter of at least 10 microns, typically and preferably about 12 (or 14) to 30 microns. also preferably the first layer of permeable coarse fibrous material comprises a media having a basis weight of no greater than about 200 grams/meter 2 , preferably about 0.50 to 150 g/m 2 , and most preferably at least 8 g/m 2 . preferably the first layer of permeable coarse fibrous media is at least 0.0005 inch (12 microns) thick, and typically and preferably is about 0.001 to 0.030 inch (25-800 microns) thick. the element of the invention, including the fine fiber and dispersed particulate layer can be combined with a variety of other layers as discussed elsewhere in the specification. the layers can be made as a flat or coplanar sheet version of the layers of the invention or can be pleated, corrugated or formed into virtually any other cross-sectional shape needed to form the low pressure drop flow through element of the invention. the substrate can comprise an expanded poly ptfe layer or teflon layer. the substrate can also be substantially free of a teflon, an expanded poly ptfe layer, or stretched ptfe fiber or layer. such layers are useful in a variety of in use applications that can provide both filtration and activity from the active particulate. such layers can also aid in confining the particulate into the element. in preferred arrangements, the first layer of permeable coarse fibrous material comprises a material which, if evaluated separately from a remainder of the construction by the frazier permeability test, would exhibit a permeability of at least 1 meter(s)/min, and typically and preferably about 2-900 meters/min. herein when reference is made to efficiency, unless otherwise specified, reference is made to efficiency when measured according to astm-1215-89, with 0.78μ monodisperse polystyrene spherical particles, at 20 fpm (6.1 meters/min) as described herein. preferably the layer of fine fiber material secured to the first surface of the layer of permeable coarse fibrous media is a layer of nano- and microfiber media wherein the fibers have average fiber diameters of no greater than about 2 microns, generally and preferably no greater than about 1 micron, and typically and preferably have fiber diameters smaller than 0.5 micron and within the range of about 0.05 to 0.5 micron. also, preferably the first layer of fine fiber material secured to the first surface of the first layer of permeable coarse fibrous material has an overall thickness that is no greater than about 30 microns, more preferably no more than 20 microns, most preferably no greater than about 10 microns, and typically and preferably that is within a thickness of about 1-8 times (and more preferably no more than 5 times) the fine fiber average diameter of the layer. the electrostatic spinning process can form the microfiber or nanofiber of the unit. a suitable apparatus for forming the fiber is illustrated in barris u.s. pat. no. 4,650,506. this apparatus includes a reservoir in which the fine fiber forming polymer solution is contained, a pump and a rotary type emitting device or emitter to which the polymeric solution is pumped. the emitter generally consists of a rotating union, a rotating portion including a plurality of offset holes and a shaft connecting the forward facing portion and the rotating union. the rotating union provides for introduction of the polymer solution to the forward facing portion through the hollow shaft. alternatively, the rotating portion can be immersed into a reservoir of polymer fed by reservoir and pump. the rotating portion then obtains polymer solution from the reservoir and as it rotates in the electrostatic field, the electrostatic field aligned toward the collecting media accelerates a droplet of the solution as discussed below. facing the emitter, but spaced apart therefrom, is a substantially planar grid 60 upon which the collecting media (i.e. substrate or combined substrate is positioned. air can be drawn through the grid. the collecting media is passed around rollers which are positioned adjacent opposite ends of grid. a high voltage electrostatic potential is maintained between emitter and grid by means of a suitable electrostatic voltage source and connections and which connect respectively to the grid and emitter. in use, the polymer solution is pumped to the rotating union or reservoir from reservoir. the forward facing portion rotates while liquid exits from holes, or is picked up from a reservoir, and moves from the outer edge of the emitter toward collecting media positioned on the grid. specifically, the electrostatic potential between grid and the emitter imparts a charge to the material that cause liquid to be emitted there from as thin fibers which are drawn toward grid where they arrive and are collected on substrate or an efficiency layer. in the case of the polymer in solution, solvent is evaporated from the fibers during their flight to the grid; therefore, the fibers arrive at the substrate or efficiency layer without substantial solvent. the fine fibers bond to the substrate fibers first encountered at the grid. electrostatic field strength is selected to ensure that as the polymer material it is accelerated from the emitter to the collecting media, the acceleration is sufficient to render the material into a very thin microfiber or nanofiber structure. increasing or slowing the advance rate of the collecting media can deposit more or less emitted fibers on the forming media, thereby allowing control of the thickness of each layer deposited thereon. the rotating portion can have a variety of beneficial positions. the rotating portion can be placed in a plane of rotation such that the plane is perpendicular to the surface of the collecting media or positioned at any arbitrary angle. the rotating media can be positioned parallel to or slightly offset from parallel orientation. a sheet-like substrate is unwound at a station. the sheet-like substrate is then directed to a splicing station wherein multiple lengths of the substrate can be spliced for continuous operation. the continuous length of sheet-like substrate is directed to a fine fiber technology station comprising the spinning technology discussed above, wherein a spinning device forms the fine fiber and lays the fine fiber in a filtering layer on the sheet-like substrate. after the fine fiber layer is formed on the sheet-like substrate in the formation zone, the fine fiber layer and substrate are directed to a heat treatment station for appropriate processing. the sheet-like substrate and fine fiber layer is then tested in an efficiency monitor and nipped if necessary at a nip station. the sheet-like substrate and fiber layer is then steered to the appropriate winding station to be wound onto the appropriate spindle for further processing. the element of the invention when used in a filtration mode should have a minimal pressure drop for acceptable function as a filter and to obtain the activity of the active particle(s). such pressure drop information is known for the types of filtration devices of the invention. such pressure drop parameters define the useful life of the filtration element of the invention. the element of the invention, when used in a flow through mode with no intervening filter layer, should provide little or no resistance to the flow of the mobile fluid through the element (e.g.; less 0.1 inches or less than 1-5 inches of water). flow should not be constrained but the residence time, however, of the fluid within the element must be sufficient to obtain sufficient contact and absorbance/adsorbance/reaction needed in the element to obtain the desired activity form the active particulate within the element. a useful residence time, depending on active particulate can be from about 0.01 to as long as it is necessary to obtain some removal of entrained materials. the residence time can be 0.02 second to as much as 5 minutes and typically ranges from about 0.01 to 60 seconds 0.01 to 1 second or as little as 0.02 to 0.5 second. the lifetime of such a unit is defined by the load of active particulate and the residual amount of activity in the unit. some small amount of pressure drop can be designed into the element to slow the flow and extend residence time without substantially impeding flow. the media, web, layers or elements of the invention can be regenerated. in the case of a reactive particulate in the invention, the particulate can be regenerated by chemically treating the particulate. in the case of absorptive or adsorptive particulate, the particulate can be generated by heating the element to a temperature sufficient to drive the absorbed or adsorbed material from the particulate surface or internal structure. the element can also be evacuated such that the effects of reduced pressure can remove the volatile material from the surface of the adsorptive particle or from the interior of the absorptive particle. the reactive species can be regenerated by first removing any reaction byproducts from the reaction from the active species with the entering material in the fluid phase. in one such reaction, byproducts are removed, the particulate remaining within the element enhanced by passing a solution or suspension of the active material through the element, causing the interior structure including the fine fiber layer to accumulate additional amounts of reactive material. exemplary section example 1 a thermoplastic aliphatic polyurethane compound manufactured by noveon®, tecophilic sp-80a-150 tpu was used. the polymer is a polyether polyurethane made by reacting dicyclohexylmethane 4,4′-diisocyanate with a polyol. polymer example 2 a copolymer of nylon 6,6,6-6,10 nylon copolymer resin (svp-651) was analyzed for molecular weight by the end group titration. (j. e. walz and g. b. taylor, determination of the molecular weight of nylon, anal. chem. vol. 19, number 7, pp 448-450 (1947). the number of average molecular weight was between 21.500 and 24,800. the composition was estimated by the phase diagram of melt temperature of three component nylon, nylon 6 about 45%, nylon 66 about 20% and nylon 610 about 25%. (page 286, nylon plastics handbook, melvin kohan ed. hamer publisher, new york (1995)). reported physical properties of svp 651 resin are: propertyastm methodunitstypical valuespecific gravityd-7921.08water absorptiond-5702.5(24 hr immersion)hardnessd-240shore d65melting pointdsc° c. (″f)154 (309)tensile strengthd-638mpa (kpsi)50 (7.3)@ yieldelongation at breakd-638oh350flexural modulusd-790mpa (kpsi)180 (26)volume resistivityd-257ohm-cm10 12 polymer example 3 copolyamide (nylon 6,6-6,6,10) described earlier in polymer example 2 was mixed with phenolic resin, identified as georgia pacific 5137. nylon:phenolic resin ratio and its melt temperature of blends are shown here: compositionmelting temperature (f. °)polyamide:phenolic = 100:0150polyamide:phenolic = 80:20110polyamide:phenolic = 65:3594polyamide:phenolic = 50:5065 the elasticity benefit of this new fiber chemistry comes from the blend of a polymer with a polyurethane. the polyurethane used in this invention is polymer ex. 1 obtained from noveon, inc. and is identified as tecophilic sp-80a-150 thermoplastic polyurethane. this is an alcohol-soluble polymer and was dissolved in ethyl alcohol at 60° c. by rigorously stirring for 4 hours. after the end of 4 hours, the solution was cooled down to room temperature, typically overnight. the solids content of the polymer solution was around 13% wt, although it is reasonable to suggest that different polymer solids content can be used as well. upon cooling down to room temperature, the viscosity was measured at 25° c. and was found to be around 340 cp. this solution was electrospun under varying conditions successfully. figs. 1a and 1b show a series of scanning electron microscope (sem) images showing the as-spun fibers along with some functional particles (sem image). in the field of chemical filtration, the particles displayed in the sem image 1 ( fig. 1 ) provided above, are activated carbon particles intended for removal of certain chemicals in the gas phase. the adsorption capacity of these particles has a strong relationship with their post-process conditions. in electrospinning, the solvent vapor coming off from the electrospun fibers as they form and dry can be readily adsorbed by the carbon particles hence limiting their overall capacity. in order to “flush” the solvent molecules from the activated carbon particles, it is therefore necessary to heat the structure at a temperature beyond the boiling point of solvent, in this case 78-79° c., for an extended duration of time, to get any residual solvent off from the carbon particles. consequently, these fibers should withstand these extreme temperatures during the post-treatment process in this example presented above. to improve the temperature resistance of these fibers and at the same time to benefit from their high elasticity and tackiness (desired for attachment of active and/or non-active particles etc.), we have blended the polyurethane based polymer solution with a polymer solution polymer example 2 that is a polyamide-based solution ultimately, we have used the 48/52% wt blend ratio between polymer example 1 and polymer example 2, respectively; the resulting solution had a viscosity of about 210 cp. the mixing was carried out at room temperature by simply stirring the blend vigorously for several minutes. electrospinning of the blend was carried out using typically process. the as-spun fibers were then subjected to heating; in this case heating was carried out at 110° c. for 2 minutes. the fibers electrospun from this polymer solution blend polymer example 1 and polymer example 2 have excellent temperature stability and good elasticity and tackiness, which are not possible to find all-in-one in any component of the solution, polymer example 1 and polymer example 2. the fibers have an average diameter about two to three times that of the average fiber diameter of polymer example 2 fibers (polymer example 2 average fiber diameter is in the range of 0.25 microns). while this polyurethane has excellent elasticity, it is rather preferred to have temperature resistance as well. this is particularly important if there are subsequent downstream processes that require high temperature processing. the polymer solution was as follows: the polymer had a melt flow index of 18.1 g/10 min measured at 180° c. the solution viscosity was measured as 210 cp at 25° c. using a viscometer. reemay 2011 polyester substrate was used to deposit the nanofiber/activated carbon particle composite. the substrate is very open, substrate fibers are laid down flat with no protrusion of fibers from the web and has a very low basis weight, 25 g/m 2 . there can be a wide selection of different substrate materials suitable for the production of this nanofiber/activated carbon composite. activate carbon particles were dispersed to the nanofiber matrix using a deflocculator system, where the particles were fed to the deflocculator using a dry particle feeder (screw feeder) with electronic controls over the particle output rate. the substrate was mounted on a continuous belt ( figs. 4a and 4b ) and as such the composite was generated using a pilot machine with limited fiber spinning capability. the following table summarizes the run cycle: example0 secstart of the electrospinning of the polymer solution20 secstart of the particle deposition1260 secamount of particle discharged is 60 g/particle depositionstopped1290 seconly electrospinning of fibers from 1260 to 1290 sec/electrospinning stopped description of the run cycle used for generating the nanofiber/activated carbon particle composite. quantification of the accurate amount of carbon inside the composite was carried out. to do that, the same polymer solution was electrospun for the same duration of time (1290 sec) onto the same reemay 2011 substrate at the same processing parameters. later, by cutting the same sample sizes (4 inch diameter), both samples (one with particles and the other one without) were weighed, and the difference between the two weighing provided us the activated carbon loading in the given surface area of the sample (1 m 2 ), we have calculated that the amount of activated carbon inside the composite was 56.04 g/m 2 . in other words, out of 60 g of particle discharged from the feeder, 56 g was able to make it to the composite, whereas 4 g was lost in various ways including deposition to the inner surface of the nozzle that was used to deflect the particle trajectory. overall, the nanofiber/activated carbon particle composite was composed of 91.4 wt % of carbon particles and 8.6 wt % of polymeric nanofibers. by applying the particles in this dry method, we have utilized a large portion of particles inside the composite, and furthermore the dry method of application allowed us to not block the particle surface area to the extent that it would effect the diffusion of the challenge gas into them. there are two distinct mechanisms of capture of activated carbon particles in the nanofiber matrix: mechanical entanglement of the particles inside the nanofiber matrix that inhibit the particles from moving freely inside the composite. the result is a nanofiber network that acts much like a spider web, capturing and holding the particles on itself. as more layers are deposited, the network turns into a nanofibrous matrix of nanofiber and particles. adhesion between the particles and nanofibers as a direct result of solution spinning of the nanofibers. because nanofibers were created from a polymer solution using electrospinning process, as the nanofibers land on the target, they may retain a very small amount of the solvent in their structure and hence they have the ability to fuse onto the activated carbon particles. because the fibers have very small fiber diameter, and there are only a handful of nanofibers in contact with the particle, the available surface area of the activated carbon for chemical adsorption is dramatically high, enough to affect the performance of the media in a positive way. the heat treatment at 230° f. for 5 minutes is carried out because during electrospinning of almost any polymer solution there could be a very small amount of residual solvent remaining in the nanofiber structure. in an attempt to eliminate any residual solvent, which could affect the adsorptive capacity of the activated carbon particles, we heated the composite beyond the boiling point of the solvent used to prepare the polymer solution. in this case, the boiling point of the solvent was around 176° f. at 760 mmhg. and thus heating at 230° f. for 5 minutes ensured the complete removal of any residual solvent from the nanofibers and/or the activated carbon particles. below is a table that outlines the results of the particulate efficiency testing conducted using tsi 3160 fractional efficiency test bench with dioctyl-phthalate particles in the 0.02-0.4 micron diameter range, at 10.5 ft/min face velocity. efficiency, penetration and resistance are the outputs of the testing. this sample was tested after heating it at 230° f. for 5 minutes in a lab oven. particle sized (microns)eff. %)pen. (%)res. —h 2 0)fom0.0299.810.1913.983260.0399.610.3913.962890.0499.300.7013.972580.0598.061.9413.982050.0697.532.4713.981920.0797.003.0013.981820.0896.473.5313.971740.0996.043.9613.991680.1095.504.5013.971610.2095.294.7113.981590.3097.062.9413.991830.4098.371.6313.98214 carbon loading56.04carbon concentration91.40total fiber and carbon composite61.31 fom (figure of merit) is calculated using these outputs and the face velocity of the test by the following formula: figure of merit=−ln(penetration)/(delta p /media face velocity) the standard unit of measure of fom is 1/(cm hg)/(cm/sec) or (cm/sec)/cm hg the higher the fom, the better the quality of the media is; in other words, higher fom means either higher efficiency for the same pressure drop, or lower pressure drop for the same efficiency. from the table presented above, one can see that the particulate efficiency of this sample is in the high 90% range. it is very straightforward to generate composites with even higher particulate efficiency by several means: increasing the thickness of the overall compositekeeping the thickness of the overall composite the same, however, adding high efficiency layer made of very fine (around 0.25 micron) nanofibers coated on the bottom and top of the nanofiber/activated carbon particle composite the second method is preferable, simply because it would allow keeping the chemi-adsorptive properties of the composite the same, while the particulate efficiency can be adjusted independently. the application of this invention is to purify fluid streams, including liquid streams and gaseous streams. the filter element of the invention is placed in a location or environment suitable for a particular application, such that a contaminate-laded fluid stream can pass through or pass by the element, and contaminates can be removed. fluid streams for the application include liquid or gaseous streams that can contain contaminates such as dust particulate, water, solvent residue, oil residue, mixed aqueous oil residue, harmful gases. mobile liquid streams include fuels, oils, solvent streams, etc. the streams are contacted with the flow-through or flow-by structures of the invention to remove liquid or particulate contaminants, color forming species, and soluble impurities. the contaminates to be removed by application of the invention also include biological products such as, for example, prions, viruses, bacteria, spores, nucleic acids, other potentially harmful biological products or hazardous materials. in aspects, the invention can be used to purify fluid streams, with some further addition of liquid filtration including fuel and lubes, water filtration, air streams in any application that requires airborne acidic, basic and volatile organic gaseous filtration at relatively low gas concentrations (<100 ppm). the application environments may consist of either a stagnant or flowing gas stream that is either dry or contains significant amounts of water. one of the primary applications for this invention is to have a light weight, low pressure drop adsorbent media for semiconductor applications that require purified air to be provided to a process, tool, test, or enclosure. this may include other applications that require purified air, nitrogen, or other process gas stream. the adsorbent media is capable of removing gaseous contamination within clean rooms, semiconductor industry or sub-fabrication system, process tools, and enclosures through single pass, recirculation, or static filtration. additionally, the media can purify air that is taken from one location to another. such air transfer can be from a sub-fabrication to the main fabrication, or from the external atmosphere to an emission test system. in one aspect, the filter element of the invention can be placed in a vent for an enclosure, such that the interior of the enclosure is maintained at a substantially reduced moisture content with respect to the exterior of the enclosure, because the adsorbent media removes moisture from the interior of the enclosure. the enclosure in which the filter element is placed includes an enclosure containing an electronic circuit or device, wherein the electronic circuit or device includes, without limitation, an organic light emitting diode, a hard drive, a display, or some combination thereof. for example, the filter element of the invention can be used as a moisture-absorbing flexible display for an electronic device. the flexible display comprises a lighted display (including displays formed using light emitting diodes) combined with the filter element, which absorbs moisture from the environment or enclosure in which the flexible display is used. depending on the amount of performance necessary, this media could be used in various applications and in various forms including particle filtration and chemical filtration in the same layer or confined space, combination particle filter and chemical filter for use in a gas turbine application, chemical filter as the only option for gas turbine systems, high flow applications in the semiconductor industry for fan assemblies, point of use, and full filter fabrication locations or labs, applications that require a “gettering” type filter, point of use filtration for semiconductor within clean rooms with minimal space and maximum efficiency, tool mount filter for semiconductor applications within clean rooms with minimal space and maximum efficiency, high flow applications in ceiling grids for clean rooms applications, applications that require a reduced weight but similar efficiencies, applications that require a reduced pressure drop but similar efficiencies, locations requiring low particle shedding, or layers of chemical filters can be used. respirators, dust masks, surgical masks and gowns, surgical drapes, hepa replacement including filters for semiconductor processing equipment and clean rooms, sir filtration for gasoline, natural gas or diesel powered engine, inlet filtration for air compressors, inlet filtration for dust collection equipment, vacuum cleaner filters, acid gas removal from air, cartridges for dryers, cbrn protection materials, wound care, hvac applications, cabin air filtration, room air cleaner, fuel filter, lube filter, oil filters, liquid filters, air filter for fuel cell application, process filters, insulation material, filters for disk drives, filters for electronics enclosures, chromatographic separations, bio-separations can all be made with the materials of the application. by alternately stacking flat sheet chemical filtration with a spacing media, this can create flow channels within the element. these channels allow the gas fluid to be filtered to pass across the media in such a manner as to perform the desired reactions, while, at the same time, maintaining a lower pressure drop than the chemical filtration media would allow by itself. the spacing media may be chemically treated to assist in filtration or may be inert. similarly, flow channels in a filter element can be created by co-rolling the spacing media and chemical filtration media around a chemically active or inert core. this can be seen in the ( fig. 3 ). once the fine fiber layer containing the active or active inert particulate of the invention is prepared, the layer must be mechanically assembled into a useful active or adsorbent or absorbent structure. nanofiber layers are typically spun onto a substrate material which can be a scrim, a cellulosic substrate, a mixed synthetic cellulosic substrate or a purely cellulosic substrate. the nanofiber layers containing the active or inert particulate are electrospun onto said substrates and the substrate can then be rolled into an absorbent structure. alternatively, the layer can be cut into similar portions and stacked to form an absorbent layer. it is important that the internal structure of any assembly of the nanofiber layers has sufficient air flow to ensure that the air can pass easily through the assembly. in this case, the assembly would act, not as a filter, but purely as an absorbent assembly structure. in an alternative structure, the layers of fine fiber and reactive or active particulate can be assembled into a structure that filters and reacts, adsorbs, or absorbs. such varying structures have applications in a variety of end uses. the former structure has little or no filtration properties and can remove reactive contaminant materials from fluid streams such as air streams or liquid streams simply using a flow-through mechanism. the latter structure can remove particulate, and can remove chemical species from a fluid such as air, simultaneously with the filtration operations. in certain preferred arrangements of the wound or stacked layers of the invention, the media can be configured for a straight through flow either in a flow without filtration properties or a flow including passage through a filter layer. in such a fluid flow, the fluid will enter in one direction through a first flow face and exit moving in the same direction from a second flow face. within the filter structure, the fluid may not interact with a surface that acts as a filter or it may interact with a flow, may contact a surface that obtains filtration properties. generally, one preferred filter construction is a wound construction including a layer of media that is turned repeatedly about a center point forming a coil such that the filter media will be rolled, wound or coiled. one preferred useful structure is a corrugated structure in which the material has a fluted construction. such flutes can be formed and combined with a face sheet. once the corrugated media is combined with the uncorrugated media in the form of a face sheet, the resulting structure can be coiled and formed into a useful assembly. when using this type of media construction, the flutes form alternating peaks and troughs in the corrugated structure. in certain constructions, the upper flutes form flute chambers which can be closed at a downstream and while the flute chambers have upstream ends that are closed to form other rows of flutes. in such a structure, the opened and closed areas cause the fluid to pass through at least one corrugated wall to obtain filtration properties from the corrugated layer. in use, such corrugated media in a coiled assembly provides an intake area for a fluid stream such as air. air enters a flute chamber in an open upstream end, the unfiltered fluid flow is not permitted to pass through a closed down stream end but is forced to proceed through a corrugated layer or fluted sheet to contact either the fiber of the corrugated layer or the active particulate to either filter particulate from the fluid stream, or to ensure that the material dispersed or dissolved in the fluid stream is reacted with, absorbed, or adsorbed onto the active particulate. experiment for breakthrough bench system organic gas breakthrough tests were performed on all elements with contaminate of toluene at 50 ppm. a general block diagram of our breakthrough test bench design is given in fig. 5 . breakthrough tests with a residence time of 0.12 sec were carried out to test adsorbent toluene capacities. the carbon media of the examples was conditioned inside the column (1.5 inch id) until the relative humidity reached 50% and temperature arrived at 25° c. then the air containing toluene (generated from a solvent generation system) flowed through the sample bed with a flow rate of 30 lpm to begin the breakthrough test. contaminants were generated from certified gas standards delivered into the test air stream through mass flow controllers (aalborg; orangeburg, n.y.; or brooks/emerson process management, hatfield, pa.). the relative humidity was controlled using a flow-temperature-humidity controller (miller-nelson research, inc.; monterey, calif.); model hcs-401. a relative humidity of 50% rh was used for the studies presented herein. the temperature and relative humidity of the air stream upstream and downstream of the adsorbent bed were measured using calibrated temperature and humidity sensors (vaisala; woburn, mass.; model hmp233). the temperature of the adsorbent bed was controlled at 25° c. using a water-jacketed sample holder and a water bath. detection of the upstream and downstream contaminant concentration was monitored using a jum flame ionization detector (fid). fig. 6 is a breakthrough curves for all fine fiber entrapment elements tested. non-impregnated and impregnated activated carbons have excellent removal efficiency and life for certain organic gases. since particle and fiber deposition are independent from each other, we can generate composites that have varying ratios of particles to fibers. we've generated composites that had nanofiber loading of 8-15% wt in the past, although no theoretical limit exists on these amounts. consequently, on such structures, activated carbon loading was in 92-85% wt range. typically, the process involves deposition of a very light layer of nanofibers on a scrim for handling and integrity purposes, followed by the application of nanofiber/activated carbon composite, which constitutes the bulk of the overall composite. in the final stage, another layer of nanofiber-only layer is deposited to the top of the composite. this nanofiber only layer on the top and bottom surfaces help keep particle shedding to almost none, as we have not seen evidence of that in the past. they also help boost the particulate efficiency of the composite. the structure of the invention includes, a nanofiber layer, a nanofiber/carbon composite layer, a nanofiber-only layer, and a scrim. particulate efficiency is one of the key parameters that bring an edge-formed for this type of media. below are particulate efficiency data for two nanofiber/activated carbon composites, with the difference being their basis weights. measurements are recorded using tsi 3160 automated filter tester, operated using dop particles of varying size at 10.5 ft/min face velocity on flat sheet samples. media amedia bparticle sizeresistanceresistanced (um)efficiency %penetration %mmh20efficiency %penetration %mmh200.0299.120.887.7799.990.0125.130.0398.281.727.7799.990.0125.180.0497.042.967.7799.980.0225.170.0593.806.207.7799.900.1025.200.0697.457.557.7899.870.1325.200.0791.168.847.8099.830.1725.210.0890.099.917.7899.790.2125.220.0989.1410.867.7899.780.2525.240.1087.9412.067.7899.670.3325.270.2086.6513.357.8199.640.3625.240.3089.0910.917.7999.820.1825.280.4091.768.247.8099.930.0725.28carbong/m226.38g/m277.48loadingcarbon%85.52%84.63concentrationtotalg/m230.85g/m291.55carbon + fiber this table shows particulate efficiencies of two nanofiber composites with different thicknesses. as one can see from the table above, by varying the composite thickness we have successfully changed the particulate efficiency of the composite. it is also possible to modify the particulate efficiency by varying the amount of nanofiber layer on the top and bottom surfaces of the composite without affecting the nanofiber/carbon composite in the middle. furthermore, it is possible to introduce one or more nanofiber-only layer inside the middle composite in an attempt to boost the particulate efficiency to the desired target level. another structure can include a nanofiber layer, a nanofiber/carbon composite layer, a nanofiber-only layer and a scrim. this nanofiber composite similar to that above, the difference is a nanofiber-only layer in the middle of the nanofiber-carbon composite functioning as a particulate efficiency enhancement stage. while particulate efficiency is one aspect unique to this invention, another aspect is chemical adsorption and removal of contaminants from gas phase. in an attempt to understand the effects of different levels of carbon loading, media a and media b, which were tested for particulate efficiency were also tested for chemical adsorption capacity. in this case, these media were challenged against toluene. results show that varying the degree of carbon loading affected the breakthrough time and overall capacity of these media as shown in fig. 6 . note that these media were tested not in a pleated form but rather in a spirally-winded form and hence the curve should be taken into consideration only for what it is intended to be presented for, and not for an actual performance in a respirator application. since particle and fiber deposition are independent from each other, we can generate composites that have varying ratios of particles to fibers. we've generated composites that had nanofiber loading of 8-15% wt in the past, although no theoretical limit exists on these amounts. consequently, on such structures, activated carbon loading was in 92-85% wt range. typically, the process involves deposition of a very light layer of nanofibers on a scrim for handling and integrity purposes, followed by the application of nanofiber/activated carbon composite, which constitutes the bulk of the overall composite. in the final stage, another layer of nanofiber-only layer is deposited to the top of the composite. this nanofiber only layer on the top and bottom surfaces help keep particle shedding to almost none, as we have not seen evidence of that in the past. they also help boost the particulate efficiency of the composite. the structure of the invention includes, a nanofiber layer, a nanofiber/carbon composite layer, a nanofiber-only layer, and a scrim. particulate efficiency is one of the key parameters that bring an edge-formed for this type of media. below are particulate efficiency data for two nanofiber/activated carbon composites, with the difference being their basis weights. measurements are recorded using tsi 3160 automated filter tester, operated using dop particles of varying size at 10.5 ft/min face velocity on flat sheet samples. media amedia bparticle sizeresistanceresistanced (um)efficiency %penetration %mmh20efficiency %penetration %mmh200.0299.120.887.7799.990.0125.130.0398.281.727.7799.990.0125.180.0497.042.967.7799.980.0225.170.0593.806.207.7799.900.1025.200.0692.457.557.7899.870.1325.200.0791.168.847.8099.830.1725.210.0890.099.917.7899.790.2125.220.0989.1410.867.7899.780.2525.240.1087.9412.067.7899.670.3325.270.2086.6513.357.8199.640.3625.240.3089.0910.917.7999.820.1825.280.4091.768.247.8099.930.0725.28carbong/m226.38g,/m277.48loadingcarbon%85.52%84.63concentrationtotalg/m230.85g/m291.55carbon + fiber this table shows particulate efficiencies of two nanofiber composites with different thicknesses. as one can see from the table above, by varying the composite thickness we have successfully changed the particulate efficiency of the composite. it is also possible to modify the particulate efficiency by varying the amount of nanofiber layer on the top and bottom surfaces of the composite without affecting the nanofiber/carbon composite in the middle. furthermore, it is possible to introduce one or more nanofiber-only layer inside the middle composite in an attempt to boost the particulate efficiency to the desired target level. another structure can include a nanofiber layer, a nanofiber/carbon composite layer, a nanofiber-only layer and a scrim. this nanofiber composite similar to that above, the difference is a nanofiber-only layer in the middle of the nanofiber-carbon composite functioning as a particulate efficiency enhancement stage. while particulate efficiency is one aspect unique to this invention, another aspect is chemical adsorption and removal of contaminants from gas phase. in an attempt to understand the effects of different levels of carbon loading, media a and media b, which were tested for particulate efficiency were also tested for chemical adsorption capacity. in this case, these media were challenged against toluene. results show that varying the degree of carbon loading affected the breakthrough time and overall capacity of these media as shown in fig. 6 . note that these media were tested not in a pleated form but rather in a spirally-winded form and hence the curve should be taken into consideration only for what it is intended to be presented for, and not for an actual performance in a respirator application. fig. 7 shows the performance of a high surface area coconut shell carbon placed within the web of our fine fiber matrix in accelerated breakthrough test for toluene. although the efficiency breakthrough curve for 50 ppm toluene for this material indicates it has some initial efficiency and life problems; we believe we can overcome this issue through increasing the overall length of the channel as well as new designs. the above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.
|
087-769-121-256-045
|
JP
|
[
"JP",
"US"
] |
G06F11/00,B41J29/38,G06F13/00,H04N1/00,G06F9/45,G06F9/44
| 2008-06-18T00:00:00 |
2008
|
[
"G06",
"B41",
"H04"
] |
image forming apparatus and method for controlling image forming apparatus
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<p>problem to be solved: to shorten an updating time of a control program as the whole system when controlling programs for a plurality of attached devices connected to an image forming apparatus are updated. <p>solution: the updating control programs corresponding to a plurality of the attached devices are stored in an hdd 327 (s500). next, by comparing the updating times of the control programs stored in the hdd 327 with each other (s501), the control program that has the longest time required for updating the control program when updating is performed in the attached device is determined (s502). then, the determined control program is transmitted to the corresponding attached device in preference to the other control program (s503). <p>copyright: (c)2010,jpo&inpit
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1. an image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of accessory devices, the image forming apparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store a plurality of control programs to be updated corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices; and a control unit configured to send a control program whose update time is the longest among the plurality of control programs to be updated which are stored in the storage unit, to the accessory device in priority to other control programs, wherein the storage unit stores the control programs to be updated together with information about update speeds of the control programs and information about sizes of the control programs, and the control unit calculates update time of the control programs based on the information about the update speeds and the information about the sizes of the control programs stored in the storage unit, and determines a transmission order of the control programs based on the update time. 2. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit determines a transmission order so as to send control programs in an order of update time thereof from the longest to the shortest. 3. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the storage unit stores the control programs to be updated together with information about update time of the control programs, and the control unit determines a transmission order of the control programs based on the information about the update time stored in the storage unit. 4. an image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of accessory devices, the image forming apparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store a plurality of control programs to be updated corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices together with information about sizes of the control programs; a collection unit configured to collect information about update speeds corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices therefrom; and a control unit configured to calculate update time of control programs based on the information about the sizes of the control program stored in the storage unit and the information about the update speeds collected by the collection unit, and to send a control program of which the calculated update time is the longest, to the accessory device in priority to other control programs. 5. an image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of accessory devices, the image forming apparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store a plurality of control programs to be updated corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices in a compressed status, and to store information about update time of the control programs and information about decompression time required in decompressing the control programs that are previously compressed; and a control unit configured to calculate total time of the update time and the decompression time stored in the storage unit, and to send a control program of which the calculated total time is the longest, to the accessory device in priority to other control programs.
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background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of accessory devices (e.g., a sheet feeding device and a post-processing device). 2. description of the related art in recent years, many control programs (firmware) installed in electronic equipment are stored in electrically rewritable non-volatile memory (flash read-only memory (rom)) thus, opportunities to upgrade control programs such as corrections of bugs and additions of functions have increased. in the case of version upgrade of control programs, various techniques for reducing time and task required for updating the control programs have been discussed. for example, a technique for dividing a control program into predetermined units to be rewritten and changing only portions to be updated rather than changing the whole program, when the control program is updated is discussed (for example, refer to japanese patent application laid-open no. 2002-014833). by the technique, time required for updating one control program can be shortened. in a high-speed model optimized for mass printing, an image forming system commonly has a configuration in which a number of sheet feeding devices for storing a larger amount of various sheets and post-processing devices for accomplishing extensive bookbinding functions are connected to the system. generally, in such an image forming system, an image forming apparatus and accessory devices such as a document reading device, a sheet feeding device, and a post-processing device which constitute a system, each has individual central processing unit (cpu) and control program. the system implements a series of image forming control via communication between each of the accessory devices. according to the invention discussed in the above-described japanese patent application laid-open no. 2002-014833, time required for updating one control program can be shortened. however, when control programs for a plurality of accessory devices each having individual cpu and control program are updated, it is necessary to consider update time of the control program in each accessory device. a specific example of such consideration will be described below. fig. 11 illustrates a comparison of lengths of time required to complete updating control programs, when a transmission order of the control programs to each accessory device is changed. the image forming apparatus manages data of control programs of each accessory devices acc 1 , acc 2 , and acc 3 connected thereto. the accessory devices include, for example, a paper deck for feeding sheets to the image forming apparatus, a stacker for storing a large amount of output products, a case bookbinding device for performing case bookbinding, a finisher having stapling and saddle stitch bookbinding functions. when control programs of each accessory device are upgraded, the image forming apparatus sends the latest version of the control program to each of the accessory devices. at this time, the control programs need to be sent one by one to each accessory device. since after the data is sent, the control program is updated by an accessory device which receives the data, the image forming apparatus can send a control program to next accessory device while the accessory device updates the program. for this reason, when transmission orders of the control programs to each of the accessory devices acc 1 , acc 2 , and acc 3 are changed, for example, from an order (a) to an order (f), the lengths of time required to complete updating the control programs are varied. more specifically, as illustrated in the order (a), if the transmission order to accessory devices is determined without considering the update time of control programs, the length of time required to complete updating the control programs becomes longer by δt compared with the case of the order (f). summary of the invention the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which can shorten update times of control programs as the whole system when control programs of a plurality of accessory devices connected to the image forming apparatus are updated. according to an aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of accessory devices includes a storage unit configured to store a plurality of control programs to be updated corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices, and a control unit configured to send a control program whose update time is the longest among the plurality of control programs to be updated which are stored in the storage unit, to the accessory device in priority to other control programs. according to another aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of accessory devices includes a storage unit configured to store a plurality of control programs to be updated corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices together with information about sizes of control programs, a collection unit configured to collect information about update speeds corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices therefrom, and a control unit configured to calculate update time of control programs based on the information about the sizes of the control program stored in the storage unit and the information about the update speeds collected by the collection unit, and to send a control program of which the calculated update time is the longest, to the accessory device in priority to other control programs. according to yet another aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of accessory devices includes a storage unit configured to store a plurality of control programs to be updated corresponding to each of the plurality of accessory devices in a compressed status, and to store information about update time of the control programs and information about decompression time required in decompressing the control programs that are previously compressed, and a control unit configured to calculate total time of the update time and the decompression time stored in the storage unit, and to send a control program of which the calculated total time is the longest, to the accessory device in priority to other control programs. further features and aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. brief description of the drawings the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. fig. 1 illustrates an example of the overall configuration of an image forming system. fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating control units of respective accessory devices including an image forming apparatus. fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus control unit in detail. fig. 4 illustrates an example of additional information added to a control program in a first exemplary embodiment. fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating transmission control of a control program in the first exemplary embodiment. fig. 6 illustrates an example of additional information added to a control program in the first exemplary embodiment. fig. 7 illustrates an example of additional information added to a control program in a second exemplary embodiment. fig. 8 illustrates exchange of information among control units in the second exemplary embodiment. figs. 9a , 9 b, and 9 c illustrate examples of additional information added to control programs in a third exemplary embodiment. fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating transmission control of a control program in the third exemplary embodiment. fig. 11 illustrates comparison of time required to complete the updates of control programs, when a transmission order of the control programs to each accessory device is changed. detailed description of the embodiments various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. fig. 1 illustrates an example of the overall configuration of an image forming system according to a first exemplary embodiment. an image forming apparatus 100 forms images on sheets. a sheet feeding accessory unit 110 stores sheets to be fed to the image forming apparatus 100 . a sheet discharge accessory unit 120 binds sheets on which images are formed by the image forming apparatus 100 in various forms. the sheet feeding accessory unit 110 can store a greater amount of sheets by connecting a plurality of paper decks to the unit. fig. 1 illustrates a case where two paper decks 111 and 112 are connected each other as an example. the sheet discharge accessory unit 120 is configured with various accessory devices such as a stacker for storing a large amount of output products, a case bookbinding device for performing case bookbinding, a finisher having stapling and saddle stitch bookbinding functions. the accessory devices are connected together according to workflow of a user. the sheet discharge accessory unit 120 may include a puncher for punching holes in sheets, a folding device for performing z-folding, and a trimmer for trimming output products in addition to the above-described devices. fig. 1 illustrates a case where a stacker 121 , a case bookbinding device 122 , and a finisher 123 are connected each other as an example. fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating control units of respective accessory devices including the image forming apparatus 100 . as illustrated in fig. 2 , the image forming apparatus 100 , the paper decks 111 and 112 , the stacker 121 , the case bookbinding device 122 , and the finisher 123 are controlled by control units 200 , 211 , 212 , 221 , 222 and 223 , respectively. the control units 200 , 211 , 212 , 221 , 222 and 223 are connected via an intra-device network 250 , such as a controller area network (can). then, various information such as information about a conveyance status of sheets, and sheet feeding information (e.g., a sheet feed stage designated by a user), sheet discharge information (e.g., a bookbinding mode designated by a user) are sent and received between each of the control units. the control units 211 , 212 , 221 , 222 , and 223 of the accessory devices each have a cpu for controlling the respective accessory devices. a read only memory (rom) for storing control programs and a random access memory (ram) for storing work data of the control programs are connected to the cpu. fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus control unit in detail. an image forming apparatus control unit 200 serving as a control unit of the image forming apparatus 100 includes a reader control unit 300 , a data processing unit 320 , and a printer control unit 340 . a cpu 301 of the reader control unit 300 and a cpu 321 of the data processing unit 320 are serially connected. further, the cpu 321 of the data processing unit 320 and a cpu 341 of the printer control unit 340 are also serially connected. by serially connecting the cpu 301 , the cpu 321 , and the cpu 341 , data such as a document size and a print sheet size, and color information, and instructions such as an image reading request, and an image forming request can be sent and received between each cpus. in the present exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit 320 is configured to determine a transmission order of control programs to be updated, to each accessory device. when the control programs of each accessory device are updated, the control programs of each accessory device are transferred from external apparatuses such as a computer via an external network 240 . then, the cpu 321 in the data processing unit 320 receives the control programs via a network interface (i/f) 328 . the cpu 321 causes a hard disk drive (hdd) 327 to store received data. the hdd 327 can store control programs for a plurality of accessory devices. in the present exemplary embodiment, a network i/f for sending and receiving data to/from external apparatuses is configured by ethernet, although other communication methods such as recommended standard (rs)-232c and universal serial bus (usb) may be used. the control programs of each accessory device stored in the hdd 327 are sent from the data processing unit 320 to the printer control unit 340 , and is further sent to each accessory devices therefrom via a network interface (i/f) 348 . the network i/f 348 is connected to the intra-device network 250 in fig. 2 , and the control programs are sent to the respective accessory devices via the intra-device network 250 . fig. 4 illustrates an example of additional information added to a control program in the first exemplary embodiment. as illustrated in fig. 4 , time required for updating a control program in each accessory device is recorded in additional information corresponding to the control program. additional information 400 includes a unit identification (id) 401 assigned to each accessory device, and a file name 402 , a check sum 403 , and update time 404 of the control program. the additional information 400 is added to control programs that are distributed as a file to a user or service engineer. then, the user or service engineer sends the control programs and additional information of each accessory device to the data processing unit 320 via the network i/f 328 using external apparatuses (a computer, an external memory and so forth). for example, the user or service engineer receives control programs and additional information of each accessory device from a computer connected with the image forming apparatus 100 , and can incorporate them into the image forming apparatus 100 . the user or service engineer may connect to the image forming apparatus 100 an external memory that has stored the control programs and the additional information of each accessory device, and incorporate the control programs and the additional information thereinto. the control programs and the additional information 400 received from external apparatuses such as the computer and the external memory are stored in the hdd 327 inside the data processing unit 320 . the cpu 321 inside the data processing unit 320 determines the transmission order of the control programs based on time (update time) required for updating the control program stored in the hdd 327 . more specifically, the cpu 321 determines a control program that requires longest time for update thereof by referring to the update time 404 of the additional information 400 corresponding to the control programs of each accessory device. then, the cpu 321 sends control programs to corresponding accessory devices in the order of update time that the control program requires, from the longest to the shortest. fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating transmission control of control programs in the first exemplary embodiment. a control program for executing processes of the flowchart is stored in the rom 322 in the data processing unit 320 and is executed by the cpu 321 . first, in step s 500 , the cpu 321 receives the control program and the additional information 400 of each accessory device from external apparatuses and stores them in the hdd 327 . in step s 501 , the cpu 321 reads out and compares update time 404 corresponding to a control program not yet sent of each accessory device stored in the hdd 327 . in step s 502 , the cpu 321 determines a program whose update time 404 is the longest among the control programs not yet sent based on a comparison result. in step s 503 , the cpu 321 sends the control program which is determined that the update time 404 thereof is the longest among the control programs not yet sent, to the accessory device corresponding to the control program. in other words, the cpu 321 sends the control program determined in step s 502 to a corresponding accessory device in priority to other control programs. then, in step s 504 , the cpu 321 determines whether there are any other control programs not yet sent. if there is a control program not yet sent (yes in step s 504 ), then the process returns to step s 501 and the cpu 321 repeats the above-described processes until no data to be sent is left. according to the control program which is in the second place or later in the transmission order, the cpu 321 sends the one which requires longer time for update (update time) in priority to the other. on the other hand, in step s 504 , if there is no control program not yet sent (no in step s 504 ), the cpu 321 terminates the transmission control according to the flowchart. the additional information needs not take a format such as the one illustrated in fig. 4 , and any format may be used as long as it can determine update time of the control program. fig. 6 illustrates another example of the additional information added to the control program in the first exemplary embodiment. additional information 600 illustrated in fig. 6 includes a unit id 601 , a file name 602 , a size 603 , a check sum 604 , and an update speed (size of data that can be updated per unit time) 605 that are assigned uniquely to each accessory device. in the present exemplary embodiment, the data processing unit 320 can determine the update time of the control program by dividing the size 603 by the update speed 605 of control program based on the additional information 600 . according to the present exemplary embodiment, by sending control programs in the order of update time thereof from the longest to the shortest, the update time of the control programs as the whole system can be shortened compared with a case where the transmission order is determined without considering update time of the control programs. fig. 7 illustrates an example of additional information added to a control program in a second exemplary embodiment. in the present exemplary embodiment, a unit id 701 and an update speed 702 of the control program that are uniquely assigned to each accessory device are stored in the control program of each accessory device as additional information 700 . fig. 8 illustrates exchange of information among the control units in the second exemplary embodiment. as illustrated in fig. 8 , the image forming apparatus control unit 200 sends a signal requesting for the additional information to control units 223 , 221 and 211 of the respective accessory devices via the intra-device network 250 (dotted lines a in fig. 8 ). next, the control units 223 , 221 and 211 of the respective accessory devices that received the request send the additional information stored in the respective control programs to the image forming apparatus control unit 200 (dotted lines b in fig. 8 ). the data processing unit 320 in the image forming apparatus control unit 200 collects the additional information sent from the control units 223 , 221 and 211 of respective accessory devices. then, the data processing unit 320 in the image forming apparatus control unit 200 calculates update time from the update speeds 702 included in the additional information collected from the control units 223 , 221 and 211 of the respective accessory devices, and sizes of respective control programs received from external apparatuses. according to the present exemplary embodiment, by storing the update speed 702 of the control program in the control programs of respective accessory devices as additional information, a task to distribute the additional information together with the control programs as a file to a user or service engineer can be saved. figs. 9a to 9c illustrate examples of additional information added to control programs in a third exemplary embodiment. when control programs is compressed, and the compressed programs are decompressed by each accessory device, it is necessary to consider not only update time of the control programs, but also decompression time of the compressed data. in the present exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in figs. 9a to 9c , decompression time is separately added as additional information for decompressing data. in fig. 9a , decompression time 905 is added to the above described fig. 4 . in fig. 9b , decompression speed 916 is added to the above described fig. 6 . in fig. 9c , decompression speed 923 is added to the above described fig. 7 . in the present exemplary embodiment, when update time is compared in step s 501 of fig. 5 , decompression time added to the additional information is also compared. more specifically, the cpu 321 in the data processing unit 320 calculates total time of the update time and the decompression time from the additional information corresponding to the control programs not yet sent, and compare the total time. fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating transmission control of control programs in the third exemplary embodiment. a control program for executing processes of the flowchart is stored in the rom 322 in the data processing unit 320 , and executed by the cpu 321 . first, in step s 1000 , the cpu 321 receives the control programs of each accessory device in a compressed status and the additional information corresponding to the control program from external apparatuses, and stores them in the hdd 327 . in step s 1001 , the cpu 321 calculates total time of update time and decompression time corresponding to a control program not yet sent of each accessory device. in step s 1002 , the cpu 321 compares the calculated total time. in step s 1003 , the cpu 321 determines a program whose total time is the longest among the control programs not yet sent based on a comparison result. in step s 1004 , the cpu 321 sends the control program which is determined that the total time thereof is the longest among the control programs not yet sent to the accessory device corresponding to the control program. in other words, the cpu 321 sends the control program determined in step s 1003 to corresponding accessory device in priority to other control programs. then in step s 1005 , the cpu 321 determines whether there are any other control programs not yet sent. if there is a control program not yet sent (yes in step s 1005 ), the process returns to step s 1001 and the cpu 321 repeats the above-described processes until no data to be sent is left. according to the control program which is in the second place or later in the transmission order, the cpu 321 sends the one whose total time is longer in priority to the other. on the other hand, in step s 1005 , if there is no control program not yet sent (no in step s 1005 ), the cpu 321 terminates the transmission control according to the flowchart. according to the present exemplary embodiment, if the control program is compressed, the update time of the control program as the whole system can be shortened by taking time required for decompressing the compressed control programs into account. while the present invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. the scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all modifications, equivalent structures, and functions. this application claims priority from japanese patent application no. 2008-159667 filed jun. 18, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
|
088-454-401-788-011
|
US
|
[
"EP",
"US",
"WO"
] |
B01D61/00,C12Q1/24,G01N1/02,G01N1/22,C12Q1/06,C12Q1/68,G01N33/569,C12Q1/6888,C12Q1/689
| 2014-07-22T00:00:00 |
2014
|
[
"B01",
"C12",
"G01"
] |
air flow system and method for collecting an airborne agent
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air flow systems, devices and methods for monitoring airborne agents include airborne agent collectors. airborne agent collectors for collecting and detecting the presence and/or identification of an airborne agent(s) include a soluble and hydrophilic polycaprolactone (pcl) that has been treated with a base (e.g., a base having a ph greater than 8 (e.g., naoh, nahco 3 , koh, na 2 co 3 , and ca(oh) 2 ) and in some embodiments, also treated with a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity. detection and identification of airborne agents captured by an airborne agent collector can be performed using any suitable analytical protocols. such protocols are well known in the art, and include nucleic acid assays, protein assays (e.g., mass spectrometry), and bioassays (e.g., in vitro and in vivo assays). the airborne agent collectors can be used for the detection and identification of nucleic acid from cells or organisms of any type (e.g., viruses, bacteria, fungi) in fixed structures (e.g., homes, sports arenas, theaters, buildings such as offices, laboratories, hospitals, schools, airports, train stations, bus stations, etc.) and in mobile, portable devices or machines (e.g., aircraft, automobiles, air-freshener, air-purifier, air re-circulator, vacuum cleaner, etc.).
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an air flow system comprising at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) for collecting an airborne agent selected from the group consisting of: pathogen, virus, bacterium, fungus, toxin, and radioactive agent, the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) comprising at least one sheet of soluble and hydrophilic polycaprolactone, pcl, wherein at least a portion of the pcl solubilizes when exposed to an airborne agent extraction reagent, wherein each at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) further comprises at least one particle size separation filter configured to filter particles by size, characterized in that the pcl has been treated with a base having a ph greater than 8 and a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity. the air flow system of claim 1, further comprising at least one filter for filtering particulate matter, wherein the air flow system is an air filtration system. the air flow system of claim 2, wherein the at least one filter for filtering particulate matter is a membrane filter, an activated carbon filter, a fiberglass filter, or a high-efficiency particulate air, hepa, filter. the air flow system of claim 1, wherein the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) comprises an identifying label. the air flow system of claim 1, wherein the airborne agent is a bacterium selected from the group consisting of: bacillus anthracis, streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus, yersinia pestis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, legionella pneumophila, brucella abortus, francisella tularensis, clostridium botulinum, rickettsial agents of rocky mountain spotted fever and q fever, coxiella burnetii, and genetically engineered or genetically modified bacterium, or a virus selected from the group consisting of: variola, rift valley fever, machupo, ebola, yellow fever, marburg, hantaan, dengue fever, lassa fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, rsv, pathogenic corona viruses, and genetically engineered or genetically modified virus. the air flow system of claim 1, wherein the air flow system is disposed within a home, laboratory, medical facility, office, theater, sports arena, airport, train station, bus station, animal housing facility, or manned or unmanned aircraft or automobile. the air flow system of claim 1, wherein the air flow system is disposed within a free-standing and portable device. the air flow system of claim 2, wherein the at least one filter for filtering particulate matter traps particles larger than about 5 microns and the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) is an agent collection filter that traps particles larger than about 2 microns. a method for collecting an airborne agent selected from the group consisting of : pathogen, virus, bacterium, fungus, toxin, and radioactive agent, the method comprising the steps of: i) removing at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) for collecting an airborne agent from an air flow system according to claim 1 through which air has flowed; and ii) subjecting the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) or a portion of the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) to an analysis for determining the airborne agent's identification or presence. the method of claim 9, wherein the airborne agent is an organism and nucleic acid from the organism is to be analyzed, and subjecting the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) or a portion of the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) to an analysis comprises contacting the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) or a portion thereof with at least one nucleic acid extraction reagent under conditions such that the pcl is solubilized or dissolved, resulting in a preparation comprising nucleic acid separated from the at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) or a portion thereof; and extracting the nucleic acid from the preparation. the method of claim 10, further comprising analyzing the extracted nucleic acid. the method of claim 10, wherein the nucleic acid is rna, genomic dna, cdna, or mitochondrial dna. the method of claim 9, wherein the analysis is at least one selected from the group consisting of: pcr-based assays, nucleic acid sequencing, protein expression assays, immunoassays, mass spectrometry, in vivo or in vitro bioassays, chemical analyses, atp assays, microarray analyses, scintillation counting, and use of a geiger counter. the method of claim 9, wherein the airborne agent is a bacterium selected from the group consisting of: bacillus anthracis, streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus, yersinia pestis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, legionella pneumophila , brucella abortus, francisella tularensis, clostridium botulinum, rickettsial agents of rocky mountain spotted fever and q fever, coxiella burnetii, and genetically engineered or genetically modified bacterium, or a virus selected from the group consisting of: variola, rift valley fever, machupo, ebola, yellow fever, marburg, hantaan, dengue fever, lassa fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, rsv, pathogenic corona viruses, and genetically engineered or genetically modified virus. the method of claim 9, further comprising: replacing the removed at least one airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) with at least one replacement airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16); or wherein the air flow system is disposed within a home, laboratory, medical facility, office, theater, sports arena, airport, train station, bus station, animal housing facility, or manned or unmanned aircraft or automobile; or wherein the air flow system is disposed within a free-standing and portable device; or wherein the airborne agent is an organism and nucleic acid from the organism is to be analyzed and step ii) comprises generating a preparation comprising a nucleic acid, and analyzing the nucleic acid from the preparation; and preferably wherein the airborne agent is a bacterium selected from the group consisting of: bacillus anthracis, streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus, yersinia pestis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, legionella pneumophila, brucella abortus, francisella tularensis, clostridium botulinum, rickettsial agents of rocky mountain spotted fever and q fever, coxiella burnetii, and genetically engineered or genetically modified bacterium, or a virus selected from the group consisting of: variola, rift valley fever, machupo, ebola, yellow fever, marburg, hantaan, dengue fever, lassa fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, rsv, pathogenic corona viruses, and genetically engineered or genetically modified virus; or wherein the air flow system comprises an air filtration system, and the airborne agent collector (1, 8, 12, 16) is an agent collection filter that traps particles larger than about 2 microns.
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field of the invention the invention relates generally to the fields of microbiology, pathology and air handling. air flow systems, methods, and devices related to monitoring airborne agents include an airborne agent collector for collecting and analyzing an airborne agent in an air flow. background the spread of disease-causing agents occurs through a variety of pathways. a particularly infectious class of disease spread is by airborne agents. the ability to spread among individuals via the respiratory tract can lead to pandemic events. the influenza epidemic of 1917-1918 is credited with tens of millions of deaths, many resulting from the mustering of troops for the first world war. the facility with which the common cold viruses are passed among individuals in relatively close contact, while usually not fatal, gives indication of the power of airborne infection. in recent experience, several events involving emerging or re- emerging disease such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) outbreak in 2002, the recent spread of middle east respiratory syndrome (mers) coronavirus, and the several occurrences of influenza in animals passing to human populations reveal the problem with airborne disease infection. a frightening event involving accidental release of anthrax spores at sverdlosk and the deliberate dissemination of these in the us postal service shows how airborne agents can be adapted and used for biowarfare or bioterrorism. modem buildings intended for personnel occupancy routinely use closed systems for heating, air conditioning and ventilation (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (hvac)). ventilation includes both the exchange of air to the outside as well as circulation of air within the building. in most instances it is not possible to open windows for ventilation, as this would disturb air balance within. in special cases such as ultra-clean manufacturing facilities, hospital isolation areas, and laboratories handling certain pathogens, the air handling systems may utilize high efficiency filtration devices to assure that circulated air does not contain particulate matter and/or that no such matter is discharged into the environment. the need for additional air filtration may be met by the use of filters removing particulate matter in the intake or exhaust systems or in both. commonly used are hepa (high efficiency particulate air) filters that remove small matter, often as small as 2 microns in diameter, from the air. while the use of closed systems for hvac makes engineering and economic sense, it exposes occupants and facilities to the possibility that the circulated air may be contaminated by the introduction of harmful agents. deleterious agents may propagate within the hvac system (certain molds for example), may be environmentally introduced via the intake air, or may be deliberately placed in the systems to cause harm and panic to the occupants. closed circulation systems are particularly susceptible to various agents of bioterrorism that have been used and that can cause widespread disruption and death. the anthrax spores that were mailed to several congressional offices and to newsmen had been treated to readily aerosolize and they spread throughout mail centers and offices that received the letters containing them. had this agent been introduced into the air handling system of the office buildings, an exponential increase in illness would have resulted. reports concerning agents of bioterrorism list a number of pathogenic agents that may be similarly spread and that will cause high mortality. some have been manufactured in large quantities in government facilities for potential use against enemies. in addition to anthrax (bacillus anthracis), these include bacteria that cause pneumonic plague, tularemia, botulism and the rickettsia agent causing q fever. viruses such as smallpox, yellow fever, west nile, ebola, rift valley, ranta, influenza and several encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever viruses all may be adapted for use as agents of aerosol infection. several fungal and parasitic organisms may be adaptable to airborne spread as well, especially under dry and dusty conditions. while the ebola virus is not strictly an airborne pathogen, the mode of transmission through infected droplets of body fluids gives rise to areas of high infectious risk through inhalation. certain organisms may be made airborne. an example is the so-called weaponized anthrax spores sent via the us mail and causing disease in those handling the deliberately contaminated letters. the existence of large quantities of weaponized forms of several highly pathogenic agents is known, including tularemia, anthrax, q fever, smallpox, brucellosis and plague - all adapted to aerosol forms. airborne zoonotic agents pose a particular threat in that they can be devastating to commercial food raising enterprises and can mutate and adapt to cause human infection. recent examples include avian influenza infection of tens of millions of chickens requiring their euthanasia and threatening the human population that come in contact with them. epidemics arising from swine influenza occur periodically. bovines are a reservoir of tuberculosis, a perennial airborne threat, especially the multi-drug resistant strains. the worldwide sars epidemic of 2002 arose in guandong province from a virus arising in civet cats with a mutation to give affinity for a human cell receptor. person to person infection with the causative corona virus, which is similar to that causing the common cold, spread in hotels, emergency rooms and other areas where infected people gathered. more recently another corona virus originating in camels has caused a disease, mers, with a 35% fatality rate. this disease was carried to south korea by a single individual and spread rapidly through hospitals where he and other infected patients went for treatment. these and numerous other examples of zoonotic origins give strong impetus to monitor domestic, and in some cases, wild (influenza in migratory birds for example) animal populations for harmful airborne pathogens. accordingly, there exists a threat from infection by airborne pathogens used as agents of bioterrorism or by naturally occurring pathogens and contaminants in buildings such as hospitals, schools, and offices, as well as public facilities and spaces. while multiple analytical systems to detect and characterize infectious agents exist and are being improved continually, improved means to capture these agents for analysis are needed. air filtration systems for modern buildings usually contain filters that trap particulate matter but these systems are not routinely amenable to analysis of material trapped within them or escaping from them. the commonly used hepa filters are constructed of durable material such as fiberglass, which is not easily used for the types of analyses needed to detect airborne infectious agents. effective methods, collectors (e.g., filters), and devices for detecting the presence of and determining the identity of airborne pathogens in air handling systems are needed. in us 2012/045752 a1 a nanofiber filter or collection surface is described that collects bioaerosols, and/or has a collection surface to preserve bioorganism viability. in us 2014/0017676 a1 it is described a hydrophilic swab matrix of modified polycaprolactione. summary the present invention is directed to an airflow system and a method of collecting an airborne agent as defined in the claims. described herein are air flow systems, devices and methods for monitoring airborne agents (e.g., microorganisms, radioactivity, chemical toxins). these systems, devices, and methods include airborne agent collectors for collecting (e.g., trapping) and detecting an airborne agent(s), and typically also identifying the airborne agent(s). an airborne agent collector includes a soluble and hydrophilic polycaprolactone (pcl) that has been treated with a base having a ph greater than 8 (e.g., naoh, nahco 3 , koh, na 2 co 3 , and ca(oh) 2 ) and also treated with a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity. one example of such an airborne agent collector is one made from diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca), a material whose properties make it ideal for use in air flow systems (e.g., air monitoring systems, air purifying systems, air conditioning systems, etc.) for airborne agent monitoring. detection and identification of airborne agents captured by airborne agent collectors as described herein (e.g., diomat™ diomics corp. san diego, ca) can be performed using any suitable analytical protocols. such protocols are well known in the art, and include nucleic acid assays, protein assays (e.g., mass spectrometry), and bioassays (e.g., in vitro and in vivo assays). the airborne agent collectors described herein can be used for the detection and identification of nucleic acid from cells or organisms (e.g., microorganisms) of any type (e.g., viruses, bacteria, fungi). the airborne agent collectors provide for chemical analyses of extracts with little interference from the material itself, and due to their nontoxic nature, are suitable for use in bioassays that may include growth in bacterial, fungal or mammalian cell culture media or exposure of test animals. the efficient, flexible and rapid monitoring methods, airborne agent collectors, systems and devices described herein can be used in fixed structures and public spaces (e.g., homes, sports arenas, theaters, buildings such as offices, laboratories, hospitals, schools, airports, train stations, bus stations, etc.) and in mobile, portable devices or machines (e.g., aircraft, automobiles, air-freshener, air-purifier, air re-circulator, vacuum cleaner, etc.). unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. as used herein, the term "airborne agent collector" means a material made of soluble and hydrophilic pcl that has been treated with a base having a ph greater than 8 (e.g., naoh, nahco 3 , koh, na 2 co 3 , and ca(oh) 2 ) and also treated with a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity as described in u.s. patent no. 8,759,075 ,that can be used to collect an airborne agent(s) from an air flow. a typical example of an airborne agent collector is a material made from the soluble and hydrophilic pcl described in u.s. patent no. 8,759,075 and commercialized as diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca). another example of an airborne agent collector as described herein is one made from synthetic polymer pcl modified and formulated as a thin film as described in u.s. patent application no. 14/603,755, filed january 23, 2015 . an airborne agent collector can be a filter (e.g., an "agent collection filter") or other substrate. by the phrase "air flow system" is meant any system or apparatus through which air flows from higher pressure (e.g., a higher pressure side) to lower pressure (e.g., a lower pressure side). a nonlimiting list of examples of air flow systems include hvac systems and other air-conditioning apparatuses, and air-purification apparatuses that are free-standing, not free-standing and within a building air conditioning/ventilation system, or within a vehicle air conditioning/ventilation system. as used herein, a "nucleic acid" or a "nucleic acid molecule" means a chain of two or more nucleotides such as rna (ribonucleic acid) and dna (deoxyribonucleic acid). examples of dna include eukaryotic or prokaryotic genomic dna, oligonucleotides, mitochondrial dna, cdna, specific gene sequences, short tandem repeats (strs), bacterial plasmids, bacteriophage dna etc. viral agents may carry genetic information as rna or dna and are detectable by a variety of assays. as used herein, "protein" and "polypeptide" are used synonymously to mean any peptide-linked chain of amino acids, regardless of length or post-translational modification, e.g., glycosylation or phosphorylation. the term "sample" is used herein in its broadest sense. a sample that is collected on an airborne agent collector is any material to be analyzed for the detection of (e.g., identification of) an airborne agent. examples of samples include bacteria, or bacterial spores, viruses, molds or fungi, parasites or any components of these organisms, etc. for example, a sample may be or include a genetically-engineered organism having qualities that enhance its use as a bioterrorism or biowarfare agent, e.g., ebola virus engineered with influenza qualities making an airborne agent. as another example, a sample may be or include a highly toxic substance such as ricin. by the phrase "modified pcl" is meant any pcl that has been treated or modified such that the hydrophilicity of the pcl is increased and/or such that one or more surface features of the pcl have been modified (e.g., chemical and/or physical modifications). examples of surface features include texture (e.g., roughness, smoothness), holes, dimples, channels, protrusions and other irregularities. any suitable treatment methods, including chemical or physical treatments, for increasing hydrophilicity and/or modifying surface features of pcl can be used. for example, pcl can be subjected to (treated with) a base (e.g. having a ph above 8). examples of bases include nahc0 3 and naoh. modified pcl for use in the airborne agent collectors described herein may be produced in multiple shapes and forms including but not limited to, sheets of varying thickness, thin films, pillows, threads, etc., and may be attached to other materials as carriers or backing. as used herein, the phrase "soluble and hydrophilic pcl" means pcl that has been treated in some manner to make it absorb water and to become soluble in an airborne agent extraction reagent such as, for example, a nucleic acid extraction reagent (e.g., dna extraction solution). as used herein, the term "copolymerized" refers to using two or more monomeric units to form a polymer with inclusion of both m some random (e.g., aababbbaabaaabbbba) or defined order (such as, e.g., aaabaaabaaab or abababab or abaabaabaabaabaaba). for example, when referring to pcl that is copolymerized with at least one agent such as, e.g., l-lactic acid, the copolymer formed is a poly caprolactide called poly-l-lactic-co-ε-caprolactone. by the term "pathogen" is meant a specific causative agent of disease. as used herein, the term "airborne agent" means any molecule, cell, compound, protein, nucleic acid, spore, or organism carried or transported by the air. the term "airborne agent" also includes any molecule, cell, compound, protein, nucleic acid, spore, or organism (e.g., a virus) that is transmitted through droplets of body fluids giving rise to risk through inhalation, as well as organisms that have been produced or modified (genetically engineered or genetically modified) to be made airborne (e.g., aerosolized). by the phrase "airborne agent extraction reagent" is meant any reagent (e.g., solution) that can be used to extract or separate an airborne agent or components thereof from an airborne agent collector or other substrate. if the airborne agent is an organism (e.g., a microorganism) and a nucleic acid from the organism is to be analyzed, the extraction reagent is any reagent (e.g., nucleic acid extraction reagent or solution) that can be used to obtain a nucleic acid (e.g., dna, rna, cdna, mitochondrial dna, genomic dna) from biological materials such as spores, microorganisms, cells, tissues, bodily fluids, etc. an extraction reagent used for nucleic acid extraction can be, for example, a solution containing one or more of: a detergent to disrupt cell and nuclear membranes, a proteolytic enzyme(s) to degrade proteins, an agent to inhibit nuclease activity, a buffering compound to maintain neutral ph, and chaotropic salts to facilitate disaggregation of molecular complexes. if protein assays are to be used for agent detection, extraction solutions will not include proteolytic enzymes and may utilize organic solvents. if bioassays are indicated in the analyses, the extraction will utilize neutral (probably isotonic) extraction solutions; it is possible that airborne agent collectors may be placed directly into media specific for the growth of suspected microorganisms. accordingly, described herein is an air flow system including at least one airborne agent collector for collecting an airborne agent (e.g., pathogen, virus, bacterium, fungus, radioactive agent, chemical toxin, etc.), the at least one airborne agent collector including soluble and hydrophilic pcl that has been treated with a base having a ph greater than 8 and a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity, wherein at least a portion of the pcl solubilizes when exposed to an airborne agent extraction reagent. the air flow system further includes at least one filter for filtering particulate matter and therefore, the air flow system is an air filtration system. the at least one filter for filtering particulate matter can be, for example, a membrane filter, an activated carbon filter, a fiberglass filter, or a high-efficiency particulate air (hepa) filter. the at least one airborne agent collector can include an identifying label. the airborne agent can be a bacterium such as bacillus anthracis, streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus, yersinia pestis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, legionella pneumophila, brucella abortus, francisella tularensis, clostridium botulinum, rickettsial agents of rocky mountain spotted fever and q fever (coxiella bumetii), and genetically engineered or genetically modified bacterium, or a virus such as variola, rift valley fever, machupo, ebola, yellow fever, marburg, hantaan, dengue fever, lassa fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (rsv), pathogenic corona viruses, and genetically engineered or genetically modified virus. the air flow system can be in any setting, e.g., disposed within a home, laboratory, medical facility, office, theater, sports arena, airport, train station, bus station, animal housing facility, or manned or unmanned aircraft or automobile. in some embodiments, the air flow system is disposed within a free-standing and portable device. in an air filtration system, a filter for trapping particulate matter typically traps particles larger than about 5 (e.g., 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 7.0, 8.0, etc.) microns and the at least one airborne agent collector typically traps particles larger than about 2 (e.g., 1.9,2.0, 2.1, 2.2., 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 4.0, etc.) microns. also described herein is a method including the steps of: i) removing at least one airborne agent collector for collecting an airborne agent from an air flow system through which air has flowed, the at least one airborne agent collector including soluble and hydrophilic pcl that has been treated with a base having a ph greater than 8 and a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity, wherein at least a portion of the pcl solubilizes when exposed to an airborne agent extraction reagent; and ii) subjecting the at least one airborne agent collector or a portion of the at least one airborne agent collector to an analysis for determining the identification or presence of the airborne agent. in one example of the method, the airborne agent is an organism and nucleic acid (e.g., rna, genomic dna, cdna, or mitochondrial dna) from the organism is to be analyzed, and subjecting the at least one airborne agent collector or a portion of the at least one airborne agent collector to an analysis includes contacting the at least one airborne agent collector or a portion thereof with at least one nucleic acid extraction reagent under conditions such that the pcl is solubilized or dissolved, resulting in a preparation including nucleic acid separated from the at least one airborne agent collector or a portion thereof; and extracting the nucleic acid from the preparation. this method can further include analyzing the extracted nucleic acid (e.g., sequencing the nucleic acid). typically, about 50% to about 95% of the nucleic acid from the organism is extracted. in another embodiment, the airborne agent is an organism and nucleic acid from the organism is to be analyzed and step ii) includes generating a preparation including a nucleic acid and analyzing the nucleic acid from the preparation. in these and other embodiments, the analysis can be, for example, one or more of: pcr-based assays, nucleic acid sequencing, protein expression assays, immunoassays, mass spectrometry, in vivo or in vitro bioassays, chemical analyses, atp assays, and microarray analyses, scintillation counting and use of a geiger counter. the airborne agent can be, for example, a bacterium such as bacillus anthracis, streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus, yersinia pestis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, legionella pneumophila, brucella abortus, francisella tularensis, clostridium botulinum, rickettsial agents of rocky mountain spotted fever and q fever (coxiella burnetii), and genetically engineered or genetically modified bacterium, or a virus such as variola, rift valley fever, machupo, ebola, yellow fever, marburg, hantaan, dengue fever, lassa fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (rsv), pathogenic corona viruses, and genetically engineered or genetically modified virus. in some embodiments, two or more airborne agents (e.g., a bacterium and a virus, two different bacteria, two different viruses) can be monitored (e.g., detected and identified). the method can further include replacing the removed at least one airborne agent collector with at least one replacement airborne agent collector (e.g., a new and/or unused airborne agent collector). in the method, the air flow system can be in any setting, e.g., disposed within a home, laboratory, medical facility, office, theater, sports arena, airport, train station, bus station, animal housing facility, or manned or unmanned aircraft or automobile. in some embodiments, the air flow system is disposed within a free-standing and portable device. other features will become more apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains and from the following description and claims. although airborne agent collectors, air flow systems, devices, kits and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, suitable airborne agent collectors, air flow systems, devices, kits and methods are described below. the particular embodiments discussed below are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an airborne agent collector for collecting (e.g., trapping) an airborne agent, a schematic side elevation of the airborne agent collector disposed within a support, and a schematic side elevation of the airborne agent collector and support disposed within a duct of an air flow system (e.g., an hvac system). fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a vacuum apparatus. fig. 3 is a schematic cross section of a portion of an air flow system. fig. 4 is a schematic cross section of a duct in an air flow system. detailed description described herein are airborne agent collectors, air flow systems including airborne agent collectors, and methods for monitoring airborne agents. an airborne agent collector is used for trapping (collecting) an airborne agent (a pathogen, radioactivity, chemical toxin), and includes soluble and hydrophilic pcl that has been treated with a base having a ph greater than 8 and a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity, such that at least a portion of the pcl solubilizes when exposed to an airborne agent extraction reagent (e.g., a nucleic acid extraction reagent). a typical air flow system that includes at least one airborne agent collector for collecting an airborne agent can further include a filter for trapping particulate matter (e.g., a hepa filter). the airborne agent collectors, air flow systems, and methods for monitoring airborne agents described herein can be used to detect and identify one or more (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 50, 100, etc.) airborne agents. the airborne agent collectors described herein acquire sufficient sample and yield sufficient nucleic acid (e.g., dna) to allow standard analyses (e.g., nucleic acid sequencing, genotyping) to be performed. an important factor in obtaining a high yield of dna, for example, from biological samples (e.g., an airborne agent) is the ability of the collection material to release the material and the extracted dna into extraction reagent solutions. the fact that the hydrophilic, soluble pcl airborne agent collectors described herein dissolve (are solubilized) in most of the commonly used extraction solutions facilitates high yields of dna. the airborne agent collectors described herein are designed to capture sufficient sample (e.g., an airborne agent such as a virus) and to yield a high percentage of the nucleic acid contained within it (e.g., viral dna) thus allowing standard analyses to be performed directly upon extraction of the nucleic acid. these airborne agent collectors are many times more efficient in terms of nucleic acid yield from acquired samples than existing devices and materials. a typical airborne agent collector is made of diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca). amounts of dna recovery from samples collected using diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) are described in u.s. patent no. 8,759,075 and u.s. patent application no. 14/603,755 . in these studies, the ability of diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) to collect a sample and release nucleic acid for analysis was compared to commercially available sample collection materials and the diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) yielded superior nucleic acid recovery results, collecting and releasing, particularly from low quantity samples, significantly more nucleic acid (dna) than the other materials. results from these studies showed that the diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) consistently yielded over 60% of the nucleic acid from a sample and as high as 90% of the nucleic acid from the sample, and enhanced the yield of pcr products following nucleic acid extraction from the sample. air flow systems described herein are air flow systems that include at least one airborne agent collector disposed therein or operably coupled to, and also include at least one filter for trapping particulate matter (e.g., hepa or other type of purifying filter). an air flow system can be an air filtration system, for example. by "air filtration system" is meant any device, apparatus or system that includes at least one filter and through which air flows from higher pressure to lower pressure. examples of air flow systems include hvac systems and other air-conditioning apparatuses and air-purification apparatuses, and that are free-standing, within a building alf conditioning/ventilation system, or within a vehicle alf conditioning/ventilation system. particular examples include hvac systems in buildings and vehicles, air-fresheners, air-purifiers, air re-circulators, vacuum cleaners, etc. for example, the hvac system in a vehicle (e.g., air conditioning system in a car) or a building can be modified to include an airborne agent collector as described herein. in this example, the air flow system includes the hvac system and the airborne agent collector (and optionally, a housing or support for supporting and/or positioning the airborne agent collector). in another example, an air flow system as described herein can include a vacuum cleaner that has been built to include or modified to include an airborne agent collector (and optionally a support for supporting and/or positioning the airborne agent collector within the vacuum cleaner). in yet another example, an air filtration system as described herein can be a free-standing air purifier that includes an airborne agent collector (and in some embodiments a housing or support for supporting and/or positioning the airborne agent collector). it is to be understood that an air flow system as described herein can include any additional components suitable or required for handling, treating, purifying, or filtering air and monitoring an airborne agent(s). airborne agent collectors and devices an airborne agent collector for trapping (collecting) and detecting the presence and/or identification of an airborne agent includes soluble and hydrophilic pcl as described herein and is typically coupled to or disposed within a substrate, support, housing, holder or carrier. one or more (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) airborne agent collectors disposed within or attached to (operably coupled to) a support (or holder), for example, can be used and tested alone, or added to (adapted to) or incorporated within an air flow system (e.g., air handling and/or conditioning and/or filtration system) having one or more existing air filters (also referred to herein as "other filters" and "filters for trapping particulate matter"). in other embodiments, an airborne agent collector disposed within or attached to (operably coupled to) a support or holder, for example, can be used in an existing hvac system to replace one or more existing air filters (e.g., air purification filter, hepa filter). typically, an airborne agent collector collects (e.g., traps) particles larger than about 2 microns (e.g., 1.9, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 4.0, etc.). after an airborne agent collector has been subjected to air flow, it can be subjected to analysis for determining the presence and additionally the identification of an airborne agent. in a typical method, the analysis includes contacting the airborne agent collector or a portion thereof with a nucleic acid extraction reagent. at least a portion of the pcl solubilizes when exposed to an airborne agent extraction reagent. the pcl can be copolymerized with an acrylamide or a polyester other than pcl. the pcl can be treated with a base having a ph greater than 8 and a neutralizing agent for increasing hydrophilicity. the airborne agent collector can further include an identifying label, bar code, or a radio-frequency identification (rfid) tag, or a combination thereof (e.g., the label, bar code, or rfid can be adhered to, or otherwise attached to the airborne agent collector). in some embodiments, the airborne agent collector is coupled to or disposed within a substrate, support, housing, holder or carrier, and a label, bar code, or rfid is adhered to, disposed within, or otherwise attached to the substrate, support, housing, holder or carrier. the airborne agent collector is typically disposable. an airborne agent collector (e.g., agent collection filter) for trapping (collecting) at least one airborne agent and detecting the presence and/or identification of the at least one airborne agent as described herein can be prepared by any suitable method. in a typical method, the airborne agent collector is diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) material, and methods of making, testing and using diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) materials and devices are described in detail in u.s. patent no. 8,759,075 . any suitable variations, permutations or derivatives of diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) can be used in the airborne agent collectors described herein. an airborne agent collector can have any suitable dimensions (e.g., thickness, diameter, pore size); generally the dimensions are such that they allow facile air passage but trapping of particles within the size range for anticipated or suspected airborne agents. sizes of airborne agents (e.g., viruses, bacterium, etc.) are known in the art. a typical infectious agent, for example, to be captured and detected (e.g., identified) will fall within the range of about 2 to about 10 microns in diameter. the airborne agent collector dimensions may be dependent upon the particular airborne agent(s) to be detected and/or the particular air flow system (e.g., air filtration system), and in some cases may be determined by experimentation. in some embodiments, the airborne agent collector can be disposed (e.g., "sandwiched") between filters with known ability to capture particles of a given size. examples of such filters include membrane filters, activated carbon filters, fiberglass filters, and hepa filters. filters with known ability to capture particles of a given size may be referred to herein as "other filters." airborne agent collectors (e.g., agent collection filters) can be used with (e.g., housed in, disposed within, operably connected to, attached to, coupled to, etc.) holders or supports that allow handling without direct contact or touching of the airborne agent collector (e.g., to avoid contamination of the airborne agent collector). such holders can be made of any suitable material, including, for example, plastic, wood, paper, metal, ceramic, rubber, and composites thereof. figure 1 shows an airborne agent collector disposed within a support, and the combination thereof disposed within an air flow system (e.g., an air filtration system, an hvac system) or a portion of an air flow system. in this embodiment, the airborne agent collector 1 (e.g., diomat™ diomics corp. san diego, ca) is placed into a support or holder 2, and both are inserted into a duct of an air flow system. in figure 1 , the airborne agent collector 1 and support or holder 2 are shown positioned between a first section 3 of the duct and a second section 4 of the duct. referring to figure 2 , a schematic illustration of a vacuum apparatus that includes an airborne agent collector 12 is shown. in this embodiment, the vacuum apparatus includes an intake 10 and a collection chamber 14 with a conduit between the intake 10 and the collection chamber 14. an airborne agent collector 12 is positioned within the conduit such that at least a portion of the air flowing into the intake 10 passes through the airborne agent collector 12 before passing into the collection chamber 14 (passing from higher pressure to lower pressure). an airborne agent present within the at least a portion of the air flowing is collected or trapped on the airborne agent collector 12. within the conduit, the airborne agent collector 12 may be positioned within (supported by) a support or holder. such a vacuum apparatus can be, for example, a hand-held device for collecting (e.g., sampling) air in a room or other space, e.g., a room or other space suspected of having an airborne agent present. in some embodiments, the vacuum apparatus may be a vacuum cleaner. in such an embodiment, an individual who is cleaning a floor or other surface can simultaneously test for the presence of an airborne agent(s). when it is desired to analyze the airborne agent collector 12 for the presence of an airborne agent(s), the airborne agent collector 12 can be removed from the vacuum apparatus (and typically replaced with a replacement airborne agent collector) and analyzed. referring to figure 3 , a schematic cross section of a portion of an hvac system that is positioned within an opening of a ceiling and that includes an airborne agent collector is shown. in one embodiment of the schematic illustration shown in figure 3 , a portion of an hvac system that is positioned within an opening of a ceiling in a room within a building has a grate 7 through which air flows from a duct into the room (from a higher pressure side of the grate 7 within the duct to a lower pressure side of the grate 7). in this embodiment, the airborne agent collector 8 is positioned within support or holder 6, and both the airborne agent collector 8 and the support or holder 6 are positioned in the duct between the flow of air and the grate 7 such that air flows past the airborne agent collector 8 and through the grate 7 into the room (from the higher pressure side of grate 7 in the duct to the lower pressure side of grate 7) and if an airborne agent is present in the air flow, the airborne agent is collected or trapped on the airborne agent collector 8. when it is desired to analyze the airborne agent collector 8 for the presence of an airborne agent(s), the grate 7 can be opened or removed from within the room for access to the airborne agent collector 8 such that the airborne agent collector 8 can be removed (and typically replaced with a replacement airborne agent collector) and analyzed. referring to figure 4 , a schematic cross section of a duct in an air flow system shows airborne agent collectors 16 attached to support 18. in one example of this embodiment, support 18 includes a plurality of cross members, and each airborne agent collector 16 is a portion of soluble and hydrophilic pcl as described herein (e.g., a portion of diomat™ (diomics corp. san diego, ca) as prepared in u.s. patent no. 8,759,075 ). in this embodiment, as air flows past the airborne agent collectors, an airborne agent(s) within the air flow is collected (trapped) by one or more of the airborne agent collectors 16. each airborne agent collector 16 is attached (e.g., reversibly coupled) to support 18 such that the airborne agent collector 16 can be removed for analysis (and typically replaced with a replacement airborne agent collector). attachment of the airborne agent collectors 16 to the support 18 can be done by any suitable methods. in a similar embodiment as that shown in figure 4 , in a duct in an air flow system (e.g., hvac system), a support can be a rod or member that is disposed within the interior space of the duct, the rod or member having a first end that is attached to an interior surface of the duct and a second end to which is attached (e.g., reversibly coupled to) at least one airborne agent collector. in such an embodiment, the support and attached airborne agent collector are positioned such that at least a portion of the air flowing through the duct contacts the airborne agent collector, and one or more airborne agents present in the air flow is collected by the airborne agent collector. in a typical embodiment, a section or sheet of airborne agent collector (e.g., diomat™ material - diomics corp., san diego, ca) is cut to an appropriate size, i.e., it is sized to fit within (operably couple to) a support or holder, which is sized to fit within the particular air flow system (e.g., hvac system in a building or vehicle, vacuum apparatus). the support or holder can be, for example, an inert material screen. the support or holder (having the airborne agent collector disposed within) can be inserted into the air flow system by, for example, threaded ends or overlap joint. the support or holder having the airborne agent collector disposed therein can be removed from the air flow system at any appropriate or desired time point so that the airborne agent collector can be removed and analyzed. the airborne agent collector can be removed, for example, for periodic (e.g., scheduled) analysis, and the removed (used) airborne agent collector can be replaced with a replacement (e.g., new, unused) airborne agent collector. in other embodiments, the airborne agent collector may be removed and analyzed after a particular or suspicious event. an airborne agent collector (e.g., one or more) as described herein (e.g., diomat™ diomics corp. san diego, ca) may be inserted into an air flow system having an existing filter (an air filtration system) for trapping particular matter (e.g., adjacent to the existing filter for trapping matter). alternatively, an airborne agent collector may be inserted into an air flow system having an existing filter (an air filtration system) for trapping particular matter in place of the existing filter for trapping particulate matter, i.e., the airborne agent collector can replace the existing filter for trapping particulate matter. in any of these embodiments, the airborne agent collector can be left within the air flow system for any suitable or desired length of time. for example, the agent collection filter can be left within the air flow system for a predetermined length of time. as another example, the airborne agent collector can be left within the air flow system until there is a reason (e.g., a suspicious event, a pathogenic airborne agent is suspected, illness of occupants, etc.) to carry out an analysis of the airborne agent collector to detect a pathogenic agent(s). upon removal, the airborne agent collector(s) will in most cases be replaced with a replacement (e.g., unused, new) airborne agent collector(s). the used airborne agent collector(s) can be subjected to any suitable analysis or analyses to detect the presence of (and identity of) a suspected pathogen(s). the analysis or analyses performed generally depends upon the specific user, location, pathogen(s) of interest (e.g., suspected pathogen), etc. in some embodiments, an air flow system may include multiple airborne agent collectors that when removed for analysis, are analyzed (e.g., simultaneously) for different airborne agents. in other words, one airborne agent collector can be analyzed for a first airborne agent, a second airborne agent collector can be analyzed for a second airborne agent, and so on. in this way, multiple airborne agents collected in an air flow system can be detected and identified. the airborne agent collectors, systems, devices and methods described herein can involve pass-through air samples (e.g., passive air flow, air movement based on motion of a vehicle, etc.) or may involve active air flow, e.g., using a fan or pump to push/pull air through an air monitoring, conditioning or filtering system for trapping (collection of) airborne agents. in such embodiments, the air flow through the air flow system is under pressure or is driven by a centrifugal force. the airborne agent collectors, systems and devices may include a means for concentrating airborne agents to achieve a higher efficiency of collection or capture by concentrating particulate matter. one example of a means for concentrating airborne agents is a cyclone type air handler where the samples of air are subjected to centrifugal forces that concentrate particulate matter on an outer wall of the device that can be lined with an airborne agent collector (e.g., a diomat™ filter - diomics corp. san diego, ca). also, other filters such as particle size separation filters, may be used with airborne agent collectors formed as sheets (e.g., sheets of diomat™ - diomics corp. san diego, ca) interspersed with multiple particle size separation filters with the ability to capture particles of decreasing size. one embodiment includes filter sandwiches in which an agent collection filter (e.g., a diomat™ filter - diomics corp. san diego, ca) is positioned in between two or more other filters (e.g., hepa filters or other fiberglass filters) having different pore sizes (also known as pass-through size) that provides a selection process. in this embodiment, the two or more (e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.) other filters may have different cutoff ranges such that the first other filter has the largest pore size or pass through, followed by other filters having increasingly smaller pore size or pass through, typically in the range of about 2 microns to about 10 microns. for example, having multiple adjacent other filters with different size pass through can allow a desired or particular airborne agent of a known size to pass through one or more of the other filters yet be collected on the agent collection filter. such an embodiment is particularly useful when one is interested in removing particles (e.g., contamination) that may interfere with analysis of the agent collection filter. applications for airborne agent collectors, devices, and methods of monitoring airborne agents the airborne agent collectors, devices, and methods of monitoring airborne agents find use in many applications. as one example, an airborne agent collector(s) can be used in combination with the air handling (filtration, conditioning) system of an airplane to monitor cabin air for the presence of a toxin or pathogen (e.g., an infectious agent, radioactivity, a toxin, etc.). airplane passengers can be retroactively screened by the monitoring of cabin air using airborne agent collectors. as another example, air within animal housing facilities can be sampled and analyzed for infectious agents that infect livestock, e.g., avian or swine influenza, using the airborne agent collectors, device and methods described herein. in yet another example, in a military application, airborne agent collectors can be used in and/or with unmanned vehicles or aircraft (e.g., drones) for surveillance of selected battle areas to detect bioterrorism agents. in such embodiments, the airborne agent collectors can be incorporated within an existing system or structure of the vehicle or aircraft, or they can be attached to the vehicle or aircraft. in another example, airborne agent collectors as described herein can be incorporated within or added to biosafety gear such as mechanical filter respirators or powered air purifying respirators (paprs) such as those worn by health care personnel in high containment situations. in this example, the airborne agent collector can be used to monitor and detect airborne agents the wearer (user) may be exposed to. in a further example, an airborne agent collector may be used to collect insect vectors, such as fleas or ticks, to enable extraction and analysis of the insect vectors for detection and identification of pathogens carried by them. as described above, airborne agent collector (e.g., agent collection filters) can be used in fixed structures such as buildings, as well as portable or mobile devices, machines and vehicles. in one embodiment of use of airborne agent collectors as described herein in a freestanding air sampling (handling) instrument, device or machine, one or more airborne agent collectors (e.g., a diomat™ filter - diomics corp. san diego, ca) are added to an existing air sampling instrument, device or machine, or are included in the manufacture of a new air sampling instrument, device or machine. such an instrument, device or machine could be used as a readily portable device that continuously samples air, for example, until a preset air volume or run time is reached. such an instrument, device or machine could be an air purifier that is used to remove allergens, dust or odors from the air (many air purifiers are commercially available). many commercially available air purifiers utilize hepa filters to remove small particles from the air, and to such commercially available air purifiers, one or more airborne agent collectors (e.g., agent collection filters) could be added. for example, the holmes hepa air purifier (sunbeam corporation limited botany, australia) is capable of removing particles as small as 2 microns and fits on a desktop. other similar instruments are available from whirlpool, honeywell and hamilton beach. combinations of filters are used in most of these, allowing for the addition or substitution of one or more agent collection filters as described herein (e.g., diomat™ filters - diomics corp. san diego, ca) to obtain air samples from any location desired and analyze the samples for the presence of one or more airborne agents. as another example of an application involving a portable freestanding air sampling (handling) instrument, device or machine, a vacuum cleaner-like instrument constructed with or modified to include one or more airborne agent collectors as described herein can be used to detect and identify one or more airborne agents in sampled air. in some embodiments, portable free-standing air sampling (handling) instruments, devices or machines are battery powered or have an independent power source to allow unrestricted field (or remote) use. in one such embodiment, the portable free-standing air sampling (handling) instrument, device or machine is a handheld unit used to capture and analyze samples at any location (e.g., remotely) with no need for transport of the sample to a laboratory for analysis. analysis of airborne agent collectors and airborne agents described herein are methods for analyzing an airborne agent collector(s) and determining the identification or presence of an airborne agent(s). in a typical method, an airborne agent collector for collecting (e.g., trapping) an airborne agent(s) is removed from an air flow system through which air has flowed and the airborne agent collector or a portion thereof is subjected to an analysis for determining the identification and/or presence of the airborne agent(s). any suitable analysis can be performed. examples of suitable analyses include pcr-based assays, nucleic acid sequencing, protein expression assays, immunoassays, mass spectrometry, in vivo or in vitro bioassays, chemical analyses, atp assays, and microarray analyses, scintillation counting and use of a geiger counter. any airborne agent can be detected and identified in these methods. the airborne agent can be, for example, a pathogen (e.g., infectious agent or toxin), virus, bacteria, fungus, mold, or radioactive agent. an infectious agent is typically a bacterium (e.g., a gram-positive bacteria) or virus or some form or component thereof (bacterial spore). examples of bacteria include bacillus anthracis, streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus, yersinia pestis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, legionella pneumophila, brucella abortus, francisella tularensis, clostridium botulinum, rickettsial agents of rocky mountain spotted fever and q fever (coxiella burnetii), and genetically engineered or genetically modified bacteria. examples of viruses include variola, rift valley fever, machupo, ebola, yellow fever, marburg, hantaan, dengue fever, lassa fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (rsv), pathogenic corona viruses (agents of sars or mers for example), and genetically engineered or genetically modified viruses. airborne agent collectors can be included within or added to air flow systems in any setting. for example, the air flow system can be within a home, laboratory, medical facility, office, theater, sports arena, airport, train station, bus station, animal housing facility, manned or unmanned aircraft (drones) or vehicles (robotic vehicles, automobiles), free-standing device, portable device, handheld device (e.g., an air-freshener, air-purifier, air re-circulator or vacuum cleaner), etc. an airborne agent collector can be disposed within an air-purification apparatus or an air-conditioning apparatus that is within a building ventilation system. in some embodiments, the airborne agent is an organism and nucleic acid from the organism is to be analyzed, and subjecting the airborne agent collector or a portion thereof to an analysis includes contacting the airborne agent collector or a portion thereof with at least one nucleic acid extraction reagent (e.g., submersing the airborne agent collector or a portion thereof in the at least one nucleic acid extraction reagent) under conditions such that the pcl is solubilized or dissolved, resulting in a preparation that includes nucleic acid separated from the airborne agent collector or a portion thereof, and extracting the nucleic acid from the preparation. this method typically further includes analyzing the extracted nucleic acid. methods of extracting nucleic acid from soluble and hydrophilic pcl and analyzing the extracted nucleic acid are described in u.s. patent no. 8,759,075 . generally, about 50% to about 95% of the nucleic acid from the organism is extracted. the airborne agent collectors, systems, devices and methods described herein result in sufficiently high yields of nucleic acid for extensive sequence studies and other nucleic acid analyses. any type of nucleic acid can be extracted, e.g., dna, rna, genomic dna, cdna, and mitochondrial dna. because most detector devices and analytical processes require a liquid sample, in a typical embodiment, contacting the airborne agent collector or a portion of the airborne agent collector to an airborne agent extraction reagent yields a liquid or solution containing the desired agent(s) or analyte(s). in some embodiments, an airborne agent collector may include one or more detection systems to indicate the general or specific presence of a pathogen such as an infectious agent(s). by 'detection system' is meant any reagent or set of reagents for analyzing a sample and/or a biological process. for example, general biologic activity may be indicated by the presence of atp, which is readily detected with a number of sensing techniques such as phosphorescence using the enzyme luciferase. in such embodiments, a detection system such as an atp detection system, for example, may be included in the airborne agent collector or otherwise operably coupled to the airborne agent collector to indicate the presence of a live organism. in some embodiments, one may also couple a reagent, e.g., an antibody or receptor protein, that binds specifically to a particular airborne agent. similarly, chemical analyses (such as mass spectrometry) of extracted materials to ascertain chemical signatures of captured (collected) agents will have little or no interference from an airborne agent collector (or portion thereof) as described herein. for example, the diomat™ material (diomics corp. san diego, ca) is a simple monopolymer. nucleic acid extraction and other extraction (e.g., extraction of protein, lipid and carbohydrate, etc.) processes may depend upon the system requirements but the materials extracted from the airborne agent collector are easy to remove or simple to subtract from in most analytic systems because of the nature of the pcl making up the airborne agent collector. typically in agent identification, the test material mass spectrogram is compared to a library of spectrograms obtained from suspected agents. the signature of material obtained from extraction of the airborne agent collector (e.g., diomat™ filter - diomics corp. san diego, ca) may be added to the library and is relatively simple because of the chemical composition of the pcl making up the airborne agent collector. bioassays for all or a portion of a used airborne agent collector(s) as described herein (e.g., a diomat™ filter - diomics corp. san diego, ca) may be used to determine the identification or presence of an airborne agent(s). in the simplest type of bioassay, a piece (portion) of airborne agent collector as described herein can be placed on an agar medium in a pertri dish to observe growth. the inert quality of the airborne agent collector (e.g., a diomat™ filter - diomics corp. san diego, ca) allows the material to be placed in more complex growth media or in cell cultures to check for cytopathic viruses, for example. extracts of the airborne agent collector may be taken in neutral, isotonic medium and subjected to procedures to concentrate organisms based on size by differential filtration or may be dispensed into several types of growth media to monitor for different types of microorganisms. because of its nontoxic nature, airborne agent collector (e.g., diomat™ filter - diomics corp. san diego, ca) extracts may be injected into test animals or can be inserted subcutaneously into a test animal. in some embodiments, the airborne agent may be radioactivity. in such an embodiment, an airborne agent collector used for monitoring radioactivity can be scanned with a geiger counter, or analyzed by a scintillation counter. an airborne agent collector (or portion thereof) subjected to radioactivity or suspected of trapping (collecting) radioactivity may be analyzed by any suitable method. methods of analyzing filters and similar materials for the presence of radioactivity are well known in the art. analysis of airborne agent collectors that have been subjected to air flow for monitoring and collecting airborne agents (sometimes referred to as "used airborne agent collectors") is typically specific to their deployment and to the user's needs. for example, airborne agent collectors that monitor (sample) air in a laboratory handling a specific pathogen such as anthrax may be analyzed solely for anthrax. as another example, a hospital with pathogenic streptococcus (those causing necrotizing fasciitis) patients or with mrsa (antibiotic resistant staphylococcus aureus) patients may use the airborne agent collectors, devices, systems and methods described herein to test only for gram-positive organisms. by contrast, a building that is a suspected target of bioterrorists, or one in which occupants have an unidentified illness, will likely use the broadest possible screening methods for airborne agent collectors. these may include systems to detect a variety of agents that may be introduced by bioterrorists. as mentioned above, an airborne agent collector can be used to detect multiple airborne agents (e.g., simultaneous detection and optionally identification of two or more airborne agents). examples the present invention is further illustrated by the following specific examples. the examples are provided for illustration only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any way. example 1 - air flow systems at least one (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, etc.) airborne agent collector as described herein (diomat™ diomics corp. san diego, ca) can be inserted into an existing air filtration system that includes an hepa (or other type of) purifying filter. an airborne agent collector(s) can be placed into an existing hvac system to monitor (e.g., detect the presence of, determine the identification of) one or more airborne agents. in one example of such an air filtration system, the system includes at least one filter for filtering (e.g., trapping) particulate matter (e.g., a first filter); and at least one agent collection filter (e.g., a second filter) for trapping an airborne agent (e.g., a diomat™ filter - diomics corp., san diego, ca). the agent collection filter(s) includes soluble and hydrophilic pcl, such that at least a portion of the pcl solubilizes when exposed to an airborne agent extraction reagent. the at least one filter for trapping particulate matter can be, for example, a membrane filter, a fiberglass filter, an activated carbon filter, or a hepa filter. a plurality of filters for trapping particulate matter can be interspersed within a plurality of agent collection filters (e.g., a filter "sandwich"). one or both of the at least one filter for filtering particulate matter and the at least one agent collection filter can be disposable. an air filtration system can include a supply of replacement agent collection filters (e.g., diomat™ filters - diomics corp., san diego, ca), and optionally, a supply of replacement filters for filtering particulate matter. such an air filtration system can be within a home, laboratory, medical facility, office, manned or unmanned aircraft, manned or unmanned vehicle, animal housing area, building, or any public facility or space. an air filtration system can be within or a part of a free-standing and portable device (e.g., an air-freshener, air-purifier, air re-circulator or vacuum cleaner). an air filtration system can be within an air-purification apparatus or an air-conditioning apparatus, that is, for example, within a building ventilation system. in an air filtration system, the at least one filter for filtering particulate matter (e.g., a first filter for filtering particulate matter) typically traps (collects) particles larger than about 5 (e.g., 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 7.0, 8.0, etc.) microns, and the agent collection filter (e.g., a second filter for collecting an airborne agent) typically traps (collects) particles larger than about 2 (e.g., 1.9, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 4.0, etc.) microns. the manner in which airflow is maintained to provide material contacting the filter system may involve use of intake fans, pumps, vacuum systems or centrifugal motion. these are considered to be active sampling methods. alternatively, the sampling from a moving vehicle or aircraft (manned or unmanned in either case) or in a selected location indoors or outdoors can be due to air movement based on motion of the vehicle or ambient air currents and this is passive sampling. of considerable value to any airborne monitoring system will be a rapid and efficient method to analyze the filter to detect and identify the captured agents. in some embodiments, the used agent collection filter(s) is removed from the air filtration system and taken to a laboratory for analysis. as mentioned above, this can involve any of a number of tests for live agents, nucleic acid or other biochemical constituents of suspect organisms and may require large equipment and special containment areas. in other embodiments, there may be a need for very rapid analyses and in such embodiments, the agent collection filter(s) can be analyzed at, or near (e.g., close enough to take immediate measures if a threat is found, within walking distance, etc.) the site of collection, e.g., remotely. in these embodiments, data (e.g., identity of a pathogenic airborne agent) can be quickly generated so that safety measures may be taken before the pathogen further disseminates or to allow infected individuals to obtain treatment and to isolate them before further spread of disease. for example, nucleic acid (e.g., dna) extraction devices requiring no bulky laboratory equipment can be used in conjunction with an agent collection filter (e.g., diomat™ diomics corp. san diego, ca) and air filtration system as described herein to rapidly detect and/or identify the airborne agent (e.g., pathogen). in a typical embodiment, such a device is used to yield a clean (purified, isolated) nucleic acid (e.g., dna) preparation within minutes. in this embodiment, the at least one agent collection filter or a fragment thereof is added to the device with an extraction reagent (e.g., extraction buffer) and the mixture is subjected to an appropriate extraction process in order to yield a suitably isolated or purified nucleic acid sample. in general, this process involves dissolution of the at least one agent collection filter (or portion thereof) and disruption (e.g., lysis) of the organisms contained (trapped) on it followed by a step to solubilize nucleic acid from the organisms and optionally, the digestion of proteins with a protease. the nucleic acid may be collected by any suitable means, for example, on a solid absorbent(s), and washed and eluted from the absorbent(s). the nucleic acid preparation can then be used for any of a variety of analyses to determine the nature of the sample and identify its biologic source (e.g., identify the airborne agent). the exact steps following nucleic acid extraction typically depends upon the organism(s) suspected to be present. methods and reagents for isolating nucleic acids (e.g., dna) are well known in the art and are described in u.s. patent no. 8,759,075 . various commercial kits and devices for nucleic acid isolation and purification are available. in some embodiments, a method of monitoring (e.g., identifying) at least one airborne agent in an air flow that can be accomplished outside of (without the need for) a laboratory, e.g., at the site of organism or sample collection, is particularly useful. for specific applications, such nucleic acid preparations can be used for rapid colorimetric or fluorimetric assays indicating the presence or absence of a particular (e.g., suspected) airborne agent. adaptation to systems for detecting any of a number of organisms or to detect differences in collected materials over time will be obvious to persons with skill in the art who will appreciate that the availability of a clean (sufficiently purified, isolated) nucleic acid sample is required for detection and differentiation of a variety of infectious agents. other embodiments any improvement may be made in part or all of the airborne agent collectors, air flow systems, devices and method steps. the use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein, is intended to illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. any statement herein as to the nature or benefits of the invention or of the preferred embodiments is not intended to be limiting, and the appended claims should not be deemed to be limited by such statements. more generally, no language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as being essential to the practice of the invention. this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contraindicated by context.
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088-597-597-929-653
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US
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G06Q40/08,G01S19/13,G07C5/08,H04W4/40,B60W40/09,G01C21/36,G06Q10/06,G06Q10/08,G06Q30/02,G06Q40/04,G07C5/00,H04L29/08,G06Q40/00
| 2011-06-29T00:00:00 |
2011
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systems and methods using a mobile device to collect data for insurance premiums
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a system and method for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, the system comprising: a mobile device, comprising: one or more sensors associated with the mobile device and configured to automatically collect vehicle operation data during a data collection session; a processor; a non-transitory storage medium; a display; a transmitter; and a set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium and when executed by the processor configured to allow the mobile device to collect vehicle operation data and transmit the collected vehicle operation data; and a remote processing computer, comprising: a server that receives collected vehicle operation data; a database that stores collected vehicle operation data; and a rating engine that determines a vehicle insurance premium based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data.
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1 - 24 . (canceled) 25 . a computer-implemented method for collecting and processing vehicle operation data by a mobile device of a user, the method comprising: during a driving session and while collecting vehicle operation data, monitoring, by the mobile device, changes in an orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle by: analyzing at least one of gps (global position system) data and mobile device position data collected during the driving session by one or more integrated sensors or devices located in the mobile device; based on the analysis of the at least one of gps data and mobile device position data collected by the one or more integrated sensors or devices, automatically determining, by the mobile device, changes in the orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle during the driving session and while the vehicle operation data is being collected; and automatically adjusting, by the mobile device, via execution of a compensation algorithm, at least a portion of the collected vehicle operation data based on the determined changes in the orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle during the driving session and while the vehicle operation data is being collected to enhance vehicle operation data quality. 26 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , the method comprising: processing, by the mobile device, the automatically adjusted vehicle operation data; and wirelessly transmitting the processed vehicle operation data, by the mobile device, to a remote computer for calculating an insurance premium or otherwise adjusting an insurance policy based on the transmitted data. 27 . the computer-implemented method of claim 26 , wherein: processing, by the mobile device, the automatically adjusted vehicle operation data comprises calculating, by the mobile device, one or more driving behavior metrics; and wirelessly transmitting, by the mobile device, the processed vehicle operation data to the remote computer comprises wirelessly transmitting, by the mobile device, the calculated one or more driving behavior metrics to the remote computer. 28 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein the mobile device is a device selected from the group consisting of a smartphone, a cell phone, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (pda), a laptop computer, and a tablet-style computer. 29 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein collecting vehicle operation data by the mobile device comprises sensing, by at least one of the integrated sensors or devices located in the mobile device, a characteristic of the mobile device selected from distance traveled, location, time, and g-force dynamics. 30 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein collecting vehicle operation data by the mobile device comprises: detecting, by the mobile device, the orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle prior to the collection of the vehicle operation data by the mobile device; determining, by the mobile device, whether the detected orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle prior to the collection of the vehicle operation data is suitable for vehicle data collection; and initiating, by the mobile device, the collection of the vehicle operation data by the mobile device only if it is determined that the detected orientation of the mobile device is suitable for vehicle data collection. 31 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein collecting vehicle operation data by the mobile device comprises collecting vehicle operation data periodically during the driving session. 32 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein wirelessly transmitting the processed vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote computer comprises wirelessly transmitting periodically. 33 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , further comprising loading the driving analysis application onto the mobile device prior to collecting the vehicle operation data by executing a driving analysis application. 34 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein collecting, by the mobile device, vehicle operation data associated with operation of a vehicle while the vehicle is operating comprises beginning to collect the vehicle operation data in response to a triggering event selected from vehicle engine start, threshold vehicle engine rpm, and vehicle mobility. 35 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein collecting, by the mobile device, vehicle operation data associated with operation of a vehicle while the vehicle is operating comprises stopping collection of the vehicle operation data in response to a triggering event selected from vehicle engine stop, threshold vehicle engine rpm, and vehicle immobility. 36 . the computer-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein processing, by the mobile device, the automatically adjusted vehicle operation data comprises preparing, by the mobile device, the automatically adjusted vehicle operation data for transmission to the remote computer. 37 . a handheld mobile device configured to collect and process vehicle operation data, the handheld mobile device comprising: a processor configured to: monitor changes in an orientation of the mobile device relative to a vehicle during a driving session and while vehicle operation data is being collected by one or more integrated sensors or devices mounted within the mobile device; analyze at least one of gps (global positioning system) data and mobile device position data collected by the one or more integrated sensors or devices during the driving session; based on the analysis of the at least one of gps data and mobile device position data collected by the one or more integrated sensors or devices, automatically determine changes in the orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle during the driving session and while the vehicle operation data is being collected; automatically adjust, via execution of a compensation algorithm, at least a portion of the collected vehicle operation data based on the determined changes in the orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle during the driving session and while the vehicle operation data is being collected; process the automatically adjusted vehicle operation data; and direct wireless transmission of the processed vehicle operation data to a remote computer for calculating an insurance premium based on the transmitted data. 38 . the handheld mobile device of claim 37 , wherein the handheld mobile device is selected from the group consisting of a smartphone, a cell phone, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (pda), a laptop computer, and a tablet-style computer. 39 . the handheld mobile device of claim 37 , wherein the one or more data collection devices configured to collect at least one of distance traveled data and geographic location data. 40 . the handheld mobile device of claim 37 , wherein the processor is further configured to: detect the orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle prior to the collection of the vehicle operation data during the driving session by the mobile device; determine whether the detected orientation of the mobile device relative to the vehicle prior to the collection of the vehicle operation data is suitable for vehicle data collection; and initiate the collection of the vehicle operation data by the mobile device only if it is determined that the detected orientation of the mobile device is suitable for vehicle data collection. 41 . the handheld mobile device of claim 37 , wherein the one or more data collection devices are configured to collect vehicle operation data periodically during the driving session. 42 . the handheld mobile device of claim 37 , wherein the wireless transmitter is configured to wirelessly transmit the processed vehicle operation data to the remote computer periodically during the driving session. 43 . the handheld mobile device of claim 37 , wherein the processor is further configured to: calculate one or more driving behavior metrics; and cause the wireless transmission of the calculated one or more driving behavior metrics to the remote computer. 44 . the handheld mobile device of claim 37 , wherein the processor is further configured to prepare the automatically adjusted vehicle operation data for transmission to the remote computer.
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cross-reference to related applications this application is a continuation of u.s. application ser. no. 13/477,793 filed may 22, 2012, which is a continuation-in-part of u.s. application ser. no. 13/172,240 filed jun. 29, 2011, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. technical field the present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for collecting and evaluating driving behavior data and/or driving environment data, and using such data to calculate insurance premiums. aspects of the data collection, evaluation, and/or premium calculation may be provided by a mobile device, e.g., a smart phone. background improvements in roadway and automobile designs have steadily reduced injury and death rates in developed countries. nevertheless, auto collisions are still the leading cause of injury-related deaths, an estimated total of 1.2 million worldwide in 2004, or 25% of the total from all causes. further, driving safety is particularly important for higher-risk drivers such as teens and elderly drivers, as well as higher-risk passengers such as infant and elderly passengers. for example, motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for american teens. thus, driving safety remains a critical issue in today's society. various efforts and programs have been initiated to improve driving safety over the years. for example, driving instruction courses (often referred to as “drivers ed”) are intended to teach new drivers not only how to drive, but how to drive safely. typically, an instructor rides as a passenger and provides instruction to the learning driver, and evaluates the driver's performance. as another example, “defensive driving” courses aim to reduce the driving risks by anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the mistakes of others. this can be achieved through adherence to a variety of general rules, as well as the practice of specific driving techniques. defensive driving course provide a variety of benefits. for example, in many states, a defensive driving course can be taken as a way to dismiss traffic tickets, or to qualify the driver for a discount on car insurance premiums. from the perspective of an automobile insurance provider, the provider seeks to assess the risk level associated with a driver and price an insurance policy to protect against that risk. the process of determining the proper cost of an insurance policy, based on the assessed risk level, is often referred to as “rating.” the rating process may include a number of input variables, including experience data for the specific driver, experience data for a class of drivers, capital investment predictions, profit margin targets, and a wide variety of other data useful for predicting the occurrence of accidents as well as the amount of damage likely to result from such accidents. in the industry today, driving behavior data for insurance rating purposes is collected by specialized devices that plug into vehicle data ports. for example, u.s. pat. no. 6,832,141, issued to skeen et al., discloses an onboard diagnostic memory module that is configured to plug into the obd ii port. the memory module is preprogrammed with data collection parameters through microprocessor firmware by connection to a pc having programming software for the module firmware. data is recorded on a trip basis. intelligent interrogation occurs by interpretive software from an interrogating pc to retrieve a trip-based and organized data set including hard and extreme acceleration and deceleration, velocity (in discrete bands), distance traveled, as well as the required sae-mandated operating parameters. summary in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, a mobile device, such as a smartphone, is used to collect and transmit vehicle operation data, rather than a specialized device that plugs into a vehicle data port. according to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, the system comprising: a mobile device, comprising: one or more sensors associated with the mobile device and configured to automatically collect vehicle operation data during a data collection session; a processor; a non-transitory storage medium; a display; a transmitter; and a set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium and when executed by the processor configured to allow the mobile device to collect vehicle operation data and transmit the collected vehicle operation data; and a remote processing computer, comprising: a server that receives collected vehicle operation data; a database that stores collected vehicle operation data; and a rating engine that determines a vehicle insurance premium based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data. a further aspect of the invention provides a system for a method for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, the method comprising: collecting vehicle operation data via a mobile device while the mobile device is associated with an operating vehicle; transmitting the collected vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote computer; and calculating an insurance premium based at least in part on the collected vehicle operation data. still another aspect of the invention provides for a method for providing vehicle operation data to a remote computer for calculation of a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, the method comprising: collecting vehicle operation data via a mobile device while the mobile device is associated with an operating vehicle; and transmitting the collected vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote computer. according to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, the method comprising: receiving at a remote computer the collected vehicle operation data from a mobile device; and calculating an insurance premium based at least in part on the collected vehicle operation data. another aspect of the invention provides a tangible computer readable storage medium containing instructions that, when executed on by a processor, perform the following steps: collecting vehicle operation data via a mobile device while the mobile device is associated with an operating vehicle; and transmitting the collected vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote processing computer. according to still a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a mobile device comprising: at least one sensor that detects a characteristic of the mobile device selected from distance traveled, location, time, and g-force dynamics; a processor; a tangible computer readable storage medium containing instructions that, when executed on by the processor, perform the following steps: collecting vehicle operation data via the at least one sensor while the mobile device is associated with a vehicle in operation; and transmitting the collected vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote processing computer. brief description of the drawings a more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein: fig. 1 illustrates an example mobile device located in a vehicle, the mobile device including a driving analysis system, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure; fig. 2 illustrates example components of the mobile device relevant to the driving analysis system, according to certain embodiments; fig. 3 illustrates an example method of collecting and processing driving data, according to certain embodiments; fig. 4 illustrates an example method of collecting and processing driving data using example algorithms, according to certain embodiments; fig. 5 illustrates an example system for sharing driving data between a mobile device including a driving analysis system and other external devices, according to certain embodiments; figs. 6a-6g illustrate example screen shots generated by an example driving analysis application on a mobile device, according to certain embodiments; fig. 7 is a flow chart of an illustrative algorithm for determining severity levels of notable driving events (nde) identified during data collection sessions; fig. 8 is a flow chart of an illustrative algorithm for determining severity levels of notable driving events (nde) identified during data collection sessions; fig. 9 is schematic illustration of an infrastructure for collecting vehicle operation data, transmitting vehicle operation data, receiving vehicle operation data and calculating insurance premiums based on vehicle operation data, wherein the infrastructure comprises a remote data storage system and a property and casualty system; fig. 10 is a flowchart of a driving analysis application that may be downloaded onto a mobile device; fig. 11a is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a create account screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11b is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of an account creation complete screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11c is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a settings screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11d is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a bluetooth setup screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11e is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a vehicle screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11f is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a main menu (landing page) screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11g is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a daily report screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11h is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a speed interval screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11i is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a time interval screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11j is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a trip details screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11k is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a trip map screen of a driving analysis application; fig. 11l is a screen shot of a graphic user interface of a odometer update screen of a driving analysis application; and fig. 12 is a flowchart of a process for collection and analysis of vehicle operation data. detailed description preferred embodiments and their advantages over the prior art are best understood by reference to figs. 1-12 below. the present disclosure may be more easily understood in the context of a high level description of certain embodiments. according to certain embodiments of the invention, a smartphone based telematics technology solution may be implemented that requires no additional hardware or sensing equipment in an insured's vehicle. a mobile device equipped with software may capture and transmit the miles driven and vehicle dynamics (g-force events such as hard stops, sharp turns, fast accelerations, etc.) in an automated fashion. thus, individual driver's may collect and transmit driving behavior and use information to their insurance company via their mobile device. insurance companies may receive, store and use the collected driving behavior and use information to calculate and charge insurance premiums. software programs operating on insurance company servers may provide a telematics data infrastructure to receive, process, present and transform telematics data for insurance rating purposes. insurance customers may be incentivized to provide driving behavior and use information to their insurance company via their mobile device by subsidization of consumers' smartphones and/or smartphone data plan fees through business relationships between insurance providers and wireless data carriers. a software application (“app”) may be provided for operating systems such as those employed by iphone, ipad and android systems. once the app is downloaded to the smartphone and launched for initial set up, no additional start/stop activities by the user may be required. the app may collect data using sensors in the smartphone to determine miles driven, location, time, and vehicle dynamics (g-force events such as hard stops, sharp turns, fast accelerations, etc.). computing infrastructure may be provided for receiving telematics data from customer smartphones in real time. the infrastructure may be a cloud computing infrastructure. in one embodiment of the invention, the app may utilize sensors in a smartphone to automatically start and stop the application once initially setup on the smartphone. automated tracking may use algorithms to use the smartphone/server architecture to determine driving, mileage, etc. the app may turn itself “on” as soon as the smartphone detects that it is in an automobile with its engine running the smartphone may communicate with the vehicle via bluetooth to determine that the smartphone is inside the vehicle and that the engine is running once detected, the app may then turn itself on and begin tracking miles driven, location, time, and vehicle dynamics (g-force data). the app may be configured so that interaction with a driver is limited, such that the app will run automatically on the smartphone after initial setup, wherein automatic start and stop capabilities may be accomplished using smartphone sensors. fig. 1 illustrates an example mobile device 10 located in a vehicle 12 , according to certain embodiments or implementations of the present disclosure. mobile device 10 may comprise any type of portable or mobile electronics device, such as for example a smartphone, a cell phone, a mobile telephone, personal digital assistant (pda), laptop computer, tablet-style computer, or any other portable electronics device. for example, in some embodiments, mobile device 10 may be a smart phone, such as an iphone by apple inc., a blackberry phone by rim, a palm phone, or a phone using an android, microsoft, or symbian operating system (os), for example. in some embodiments, mobile device 10 may be a tablet, such as an ipad by apple, inc., a galaxy by samsung, or eee pad transformer by asus, and latitude st tablet pc by dell, for example. in some embodiments, mobile device 10 may be configured to provide one or more features of a driving analysis system, such as (a) collection of driving data (e.g., data regarding driving behavior and/or the respective driving environment), (b) processing of collected driving data, and/or (c) providing collected driving data and/or processed driving data to a server or database via telecommunication or telematics. accordingly, mobile device 10 may include one or more sensors, a driving analysis application, a display, and transmitters. the sensor(s) may collect one or more types of data regarding driving behavior and/or the driving environment. for example, mobile device 10 may include a built-in accelerometer configured to detect acceleration in one or more directions (e.g., in the x, y, and z directions). as another example, mobile device 10 may include a gps (global positioning system) device or any other device for tracking the geographic location of the mobile device. as another example, mobile device 10 may include sensors, systems, or applications for collecting data regarding the driving environment, e.g., traffic congestion, weather conditions, roadway conditions, or driving infrastructure data. in addition or alternatively, mobile device 10 may collect certain driving data (e.g., driving behavior data and/or driving environment data) from sensors and/or devices external to mobile device 10 (e.g., speed sensors, blind spot information sensors, seat belt sensors, gps device, etc.). the driving analysis application (“app”) on mobile device 10 may process any or all of this driving data collected by mobile device 10 and/or data received at mobile device 10 from external sources to calculate one or more driving behavior metrics and/or scores based on such collected driving data. for example, driving analysis application may calculate acceleration, braking, and cornering metrics based on driving behavior data collected by the built-in accelerometer (and/or other collected data). driving analysis application may further calculate scores based on such calculated metrics, e.g., an overall driving score. as another example, driving analysis application may identify “notable driving events,” such as instances of notable acceleration, braking, and/or cornering, as well as the severity of such events. in some embodiments, the driving analysis application may account for environmental factors, based on collected driving environment data corresponding to the analyzed driving session(s). for example, the identification of notable driving events may depend in part on environmental conditions such as the weather, traffic conditions, road conditions, etc. thus, for instance, a particular level of braking may be identified as a notable driving event in the rain, but not in dry conditions. the driving analysis application may display the processed data, e.g., driving behavior metrics and/or driving scores. in embodiments in which mobile device 10 includes a gps or other geographic location tracking device, the application may also display a map showing the route of a trip, and indicating the location of each notable driving event. the application may also display tips to help drivers improve their driving behavior. the driving analysis application may display some or all of such data on the mobile device 10 itself. in addition or alternatively, the driving analysis application may communicate some or all of such data via a network or other communication link for display by one or more other computer devices (e.g., smart phones, personal computers, etc.). thus, for example, a parent or driving instructor may monitor the driving behavior of a teen or student driver without having to access the mobile device 10 . as another example, an insurance company may access driving behavior data collected/processed by mobile device 10 and use such data for risk analysis of a driver and determining appropriate insurance products or premiums for the driver according to such risk analysis (i.e., performing rating functions based on the driving behavior data collected/processed by mobile device 10 ). fig. 2 illustrates example components of mobile device 10 relevant to the driving analysis system discussed herein, according to certain embodiments. as shown, mobile device 10 may include a memory 30 , processor 32 , one or more sensors 34 , a display 36 , and input/output devices 38 . memory 30 may store a driving analysis application 50 and historical driving data 46 , as discussed below. in some embodiments, memory 30 may also store one or more environmental data applications 58 , as discussed below. memory 30 may comprise any one or more devices suitable for storing electronic data, e.g., ram, dram, rom, internal flash memory, external flash memory cards (e.g., multi media card (mmc), reduced-size mmc (rs-mmc), secure digital (sd), minisd, microsd, compact flash, ultra compact flash, sony memory stick, etc.), sim memory, and/or any other type of volatile or non-volatile memory or storage device. driving analysis application 50 may be embodied in any combination of software, firmware, and/or any other type of computer-readable instructions. application 50 and/or any related, required, or useful applications, plug-ins, readers, viewers, updates, patches, or other code for executing application 50 may be downloaded via the internet or installed on mobile device 10 in any other known manner. processor 32 may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (dsp), an application specific integrated controller (asic), electrically-programmable read-only memory (eprom), or a field-programmable gate array (fpga), or any other suitable processor(s), and may be generally operable to execute driving analysis application 50 , as well as providing any other functions of mobile device 10 . sensors 34 may include any one or more devices for detecting information regarding a driver's driving behavior and/or the driving environment. for example, as discussed above, sensors 34 may include an accelerometer 54 configured to detect acceleration of the mobile device 10 (and thus, the acceleration of a vehicle in which mobile device 10 is located) in one or more directions, e.g., the x, y, and z directions. as another example, mobile device 10 may include a location tracking system 56 , such as a gps tracking system or any other system or device for tracking the geographic location of the mobile device. a solid state compass, with two or three magnetic field sensors, may provide data to a microprocessor to calculate direction using trigonometry. the mobile device 10 may also include proximity sensors, a camera or ambient light. display 36 may comprise any type of display device for displaying information related to driving analysis application 50 , such as for example, an lcd screen (e.g., thin film transistor (tft) lcd or super twisted nematic (stn) lcd), an organic light-emitting diode (oled) display, or any other suitable type of display. in some embodiments, display 36 may be an interactive display (e.g., a touch screen) that allows a user to interact with driving analysis application 50 . in other embodiments, display 36 may be strictly a display device, such that all user input is received via other input/output devices 38 . input/output devices 38 may include any suitable interfaces allowing a user to interact with mobile device 10 , and in particular, with driving analysis application 50 . for example, input/output devices 38 may include a touch screen, physical buttons, sliders, switches, data ports, keyboard, mouse, voice activated interfaces, or any other suitable devices. as discussed above, driving analysis application 50 may be stored in memory 30 . driving analysis application 50 may be described in terms of functional modules, each embodied in a set of logic instructions (e.g., software code). for example, as shown in fig. 2 , driving analysis application 50 may include a data collection module 40 , a data processing module 42 , and a feedback module 44 . data collection module 40 may be operable to manage the collection of driving data, including driving behavior data and/or the driving environment data. data collection module 40 may collect such data from any number and types of data sources, including (a) data sources provided by mobile device 10 (e.g., sensors 34 , environmental data application 58 ), (b) data sources in vehicle 12 but external to mobile device 10 (e.g., on-board vehicle computer, seat belt sensors, gps system, etc.), and/or (c) data sources external to vehicle 12 (e.g., data sources accessible to mobile device 100 by a satellite network or other telecommunication links). in certain embodiments, the mobile device 10 may communicate with data source in vehicle 12 but external to mobile device 10 via a hardwire connection, bluetooth® or other wireless means, optical signal transmission, or any other known manner. sources in vehicle 12 but extended to mobile device 10 may include: engine rpm, speedometer, fuel usage rate, exhaust components or other combination indications, suspension system monitors, seat belt use indicators, tracking systems for other vehicles in vicinity, blind spot indicators. in some embodiments, data collection module 40 may control the start and stop of driving data collection, e.g., from sources such as accelerometer 54 , location tracking system 56 , other sensor(s) 34 provided by mobile device 10 , or other sensors or sources of driving data external to mobile device 10 . in some embodiments or situations, driving data collection is manually started and stopped by the driver or other user, e.g., by interacting with a physical or virtual object (e.g., pressing a virtual “start recording” button) on mobile device 10 . in other embodiments or situations, data collection module 40 may automatically start and/or stop collection of driving data in response to triggering signals received by mobile device 10 from one or more triggering devices 15 associated with vehicle 12 (see fig. 1 ). for example, triggering device 15 may include a vehicle on-board computer, ignition system, car stereo, gps system, a key, key fob, or any other device that may be configured to communicate signals to mobile device 10 . triggering signals may include any signals that may indicate the start or stop of a driving trip. for example, triggering signals may include signals indicating the key has been inserted into or removed from the ignition, signals indicating the ignition has been powered on/off, signals indicating whether the engine is running, signals indicating the radio has been powered on/off, etc. or signals indicating the transmission has been set in a forward gear position. such triggering device(s) may communicate with mobile device 10 in any suitable manner, via any suitable wired or wireless communications link. as another example, data collection module 40 may automatically start and/or stop collection of driving data in response to determining that the mobile device 10 is likely travelling in an automobile, e.g., based on a real time analysis of data received from accelerometer 54 , location tracking system 56 , or other sensors 34 provided by mobile device 10 . for example, data collection module 40 may include algorithms for determining whether mobile device 10 is likely travelling in an automobile based on data from accelerometer 54 and/or location tracking system 56 , e.g., by analyzing one or more of (a) the current acceleration of mobile device 10 from accelerometer 54 , (b) the current location of mobile device 10 from location tracking system 56 (e.g., whether mobile device 10 is located on/near a roadway), (c) the velocity of mobile device 10 from location tracking system 56 , (d) any other suitable data, or (e) any combination of the preceding. in some embodiments or situations, data collection module 40 may allow or trigger the start and stop (including interrupting and re-starting) of driving data collection based on the orientation of mobile device 10 (relative to vehicle 12 ), e.g., based on whether the orientation is suitable for collecting driving data. for example, data collection module 40 may allow driving data collection to be manually or automatically started (or re-started after an interruption). further, during driving data collection, module 40 may automatically stop or interrupt the driving data collection if mobile device 10 is moved such that it is no longer suitably able to collect driving data. in some embodiments, data collection module 40 may manage the physical orientation of mobile device 10 relative to the vehicle 12 . module 40 may determine the orientation of mobile device 10 within the vehicle 12 by comparing gps and position information for the mobile device 10 with gps and position information for the vehicle 12 . this comparison of data may allow the user to adjust the mobile device 10 such that the orientation of mobile device 10 is suitable for collecting driving data. for example, data collection module 40 may determine the orientation of mobile device 10 ; determine whether the orientation is suitable for collecting driving data; if so, allow data collection to begin or continue; and if not, instruct or notify the user to adjust the orientation of mobile device 10 (e.g., by indicating the direction and/or extent of the desired adjustment). once mobile device 10 has been adjusted to a suitable orientation for collecting driving data, module 40 may notify the user and allow data collection to begin or continue. module 40 may continue to monitor the orientation of mobile device 10 relative to the vehicle during the driving data collection session, and if a change in the orientation is detected, interact with the user to instruct a correction of the orientation. in other embodiments, mobile device 10 is capable of automatically compensating for the orientation of mobile device 10 for the purposes of processing collected driving data (e.g., by data processing module 42 ), such that data collection may start and continue despite the orientation of mobile device 10 , or changes to the orientation of the mobile device 10 relative to the vehicle 12 . module 40 may continue to monitor the orientation of mobile device 10 relative to the vehicle during the driving data collection session, and if a change in the orientation is detected, automatically compensate for the changed orientation of mobile device 10 for processing driving data collected from that point forward. in such embodiments, data processing module 42 may include any suitable algorithms for compensating for the orientation of mobile device 10 (relative to automobile 12 ) determined by data collection module 40 . such aspects of the invention allow the mobile device to collect accurate g-force data from the sensors of the mobile device regardless of the position of the mobile device in the vehicle. the quality of this data is improved by adjusting the data based on the orientation of the mobile device in the vehicle such as upside down, sideways, in a pocket or in a purse. as used herein, the term “user” refers to the driver or other person interacting with driving analysis application 50 on mobile device 10 . data collection module 40 may collect data over one or more data collection sessions corresponding to one or more driving sessions. as used herein, a “driving session” may refer to any period of driving, which may comprise a single uninterrupted trip, a portion of a trip, or a series of multiple distinct trips. a “data collection session” may generally correspond to one driving session, a portion of a driving session, or multiple distinct driving sessions. further, a data collection session may comprise an uninterrupted period of data collection or may include one or more interruptions (e.g., in some embodiments, if mobile device 10 is moved out of proper orientation for data collection). thus, in some embodiments, each interruption of data collection initiates a new data collection session; in other embodiments, e.g., where a data collection session generally corresponds to a driving trip, an interrupted data collection session may reconvene after the interruption. thus, based on the above, data collection module 40 may trigger or control the start and stop of data collection sessions and/or start and the stop of interruptions within a data collection session. any or all data collected by data collection module 40 may be time stamped (e.g., time and date), either by data collection module 40 itself or by another device that collected or processed particular data before sending the data to data collection module 40 . the time stamping may allow for data from different sources (e.g., data from accelerometer 54 , location tracking system 56 , a seat belt sensor, etc.) to be synchronized for analyzing the different data together as a whole (e.g., to provide the driving context for a particular reading of accelerometer 54 , as discussed below). data collection module 40 may collect data corresponding to physical parameters or characteristics of the vehicle. data processing module 42 may be operable to process or analyze any of the driving data (e.g., driving behavior data and/or the driving environment data) collected by mobile device 10 itself and/or collected by external devices and communicated to mobile device 10 , and based on such collected driving data, calculate one or more driving behavior metrics and/or scores. for example, data processing module 42 may calculate the driving behavior metrics of acceleration, braking, and/or cornering metrics based on driving behavior data collected by an accelerometer 54 , location tracking system 56 , and/or other collected data. further, data processing module 42 may calculate one or more driving scores based on the calculated driving behavior metrics (e.g., acceleration, braking, cornering, etc.) and/or based on additional collected data, e.g., driving environment data collected by environmental data applications 58 . for example, data processing module 42 may apply algorithms that calculate a driving score based on weighted values for each respective driving behavior metric, and environmental correction values based on the relevant driving environment data, such as weather, traffic conditions, road conditions, etc. data processing module 42 may calculate individual driving behavior metrics (e.g., acceleration, braking, cornering, etc.) and/or driving scores for individual data collection sessions. similarly, data processing module 42 may calculate driving behavior metrics and/or driving scores corresponding to a group of data collection sessions, which may be referred to as group-session metrics/scores. data processing module 42 may calculate group-session metrics/scores may using averaging, filtering, weighting, and/or any other suitable algorithms for determining representative metrics/scores corresponding to a group of data collection sessions. a “group” of data collection sessions may be specified in any suitable manner, for example: the n most recent data collection sessions;the n most recent data collection sessions corresponding to one or more specific driving conditions or other preset conditions, such as for example: nighttime driving, daytime driving, driving within specific times of day (e.g., specific hours), weekend driving, weekday driving, highway driving, city driving, rush-hour driving, good-weather driving, bad-weather driving, driving in specific weather conditions (e.g., rain, snow, etc.), trips of specified distances (e.g., trips shorter than a threshold distance, longer than a threshold distance, or within any present range of distances, trips associated with a certain geographic area (e.g., trips within or near a specific city), trips between specific points (e.g., trips between the driver's home and work, which may be determined for example by gps data or entered into application 50 by the driver), trips following a specific route (e.g., which may be determined for example by gps data or entered into application 50 by the driver), driving alone (e.g., which status may be entered into application 50 by the driver), driving with passengers (e.g., which status may be entered into application 50 by the driver),all data collection sessions within a specified time period, e.g., all data collection sessions in the last day, week, 30 days, 90 days, year, or any other specified time period.all data collection sessions within a specified time period that also correspond to one or more specific driving conditions or other preset conditions, e.g., any of the conditions listed above.all data collection sessions after a particular starting point, e.g., all data collection sessions after a user initiates application 50 , or after a user resets a particular average or filtered metric/score (or all average or filtered metrics/scores).all data collection sessions within a specified time period that also correspond to one or more specific driving conditions or other preset conditions, e.g., any of the conditions listed above.all data collection sessions related to a particular driver.any combination or variation of any of the above. the number n may be any multiple number (2, 3, 4, 5, etc.), which may be automatically determined by application 50 , selected by a user, or otherwise determined or selected. further, as mentioned briefly above, data processing module 42 may identify “notable driving events,” such as instances of notable acceleration, braking, and cornering, as well as the severity of such events. data processing module 42 may identify notable driving events using any suitable algorithms. for example, an algorithm may compare acceleration data from accelerometer 54 (raw or filtered) to one or more predefined thresholds for notable acceleration, braking, or cornering. in some embodiments, data processing module 42 may analyze the acceleration data in combination with contextual data, which may provide a context for the acceleration data, and analyze the acceleration data based on the context data. thus, for example, particular acceleration data may or may not indicate “notable acceleration” depending on the contextual data corresponding (e.g., based on time stamp data) to the particular acceleration data being analyzed. data processing module 42 may utilize algorithms that analyze the acceleration data together with the relevant contextual data. contextual data may include, for example, location data and/or driving environment data. module 42 may use location data (e.g., from location tracking system 56 ) in this context to determine, for example, the type of road the vehicle is travelling on, the speed limit, the location of the vehicle relative to intersections, traffic signs/light (e.g., stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights), school zones, railroad tracts, traffic density, or any other features or aspects accessible from location tracking system 56 that may influence driving behavior. module 42 may use driving environment data (e.g., from environmental data applications 58 ) in this context to determine, for example, the relevant weather, traffic conditions, road conditions, etc. in some embodiments, data processing module 42 may apply different thresholds for determining certain notable driving events. for example, for determining instances of “notable cornering” based on acceleration data from accelerometer 54 and weather condition data (e.g., from sensors on the vehicle, sensors on mobile device 10 , data from an online weather application (e.g., www.weather.com), or any other suitable source), module 42 may apply different thresholds for identifying notable cornering in dry weather conditions, rainy weather conditions, and icy weather conditions. as another example, for determining instances of “notable braking” based on acceleration data from accelerometer 54 and location data (e.g., from a gps system), module 42 may apply different thresholds for identifying notable braking for highway driving, non-highway driving, low-traffic driving, high-traffic driving, approaching a stop sign intersection, approaching a stop light intersection, etc. further, in some embodiments, data processing module 42 may define multiple levels of severity for each type (or certain types) of notable driving events. for example, module 42 may define the following levels of notable braking: (1) significant braking, and (2) extreme braking. as another example, module 42 may define the following three progressively severe levels of particular notable driving events: (1) caution, (2) warning, and (3) extreme. each level of severity may have corresponding thresholds, such that the algorithms applied by module 42 may determine (a) whether a notable event (e.g., notable braking event) has occurred, and (b) if so, the severity level of the event. each type of notable driving event may have any number of severity levels (e.g., 1, 2, 3, or more). in some embodiments, data processing module 42 may calculate the number of each type of notable driving events (and/or the number of each severity level of each type of notable driving event) for a particular time period, for individual data collection sessions, or for a group of data collection sessions (e.g., using any of the data collection session “groups” discussed above). environmental data applications 58 may comprise any applications or interfaces for collecting driving environment data regarding the driving environment corresponding to a driving data collection session. for example, environmental data applications 58 may comprise any applications or interfaces operable to collect data from one or more sensors on vehicle 12 or from one or more devices external to vehicle 12 (via a network or communication links) regarding the relevant driving environment. for example, such driving environment data may include any of (a) traffic environment characteristics, e.g., congestion, calmness, or excitability of traffic, quantity and type of pedestrian traffic, etc., (b) weather environment characteristics, e.g., ambient temperature, precipitation, sun glare, darkness, etc., (c) roadway environment characteristics, e.g., curvature, skid resistance, elevation, gradient and material components, etc., (d) infrastructure environment characteristics, e.g., lighting, signage, type of road, quantity and type of intersections, lane merges, lane markings, quantity and timing of traffic lights, etc., and/or (e) any other type of driving environment data. according to some embodiments of the invention, data collection module 40 collects information and data sufficient to enable the data processing module 42 to analyze how driving has impacted fuel efficiency. the feedback module 44 may report notable driving events that had positive or negative impact on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle 12 . for example, if the vehicle 12 has a normal transmission and the driver allows the engine to reach excessive rpms before shifting to a higher gear, each occurrence may be reported as a notable driving event that impacts fuel efficiency. the feedback may assist the driver to develop driving habits that enable more fuel efficient vehicle operation. feedback module 44 may be operable to display any data associated with application 50 , including raw or filtered data collected by data collection module 40 and/or any of the metrics, scores, or other data calculated or proceed by data processing module 42 . for the purposes of this description, unless otherwise specified, “displaying” data may include (a) displaying data on display device 36 of mobile device 10 , (b) providing audible feedback via a speaker of mobile device 10 , providing visual, audible, or other sensory feedback to the driver via another device in the vehicle (e.g., through the vehicle's radio or speakers, displayed via the dashboard, displayed on the windshield (e.g., using semi-transparent images), or using any other known techniques for providing sensory feedback to a driver of a vehicle, (d) communicating data (via a network or other wired or wireless communication link or links) for display by one or more other computer devices (e.g., smart phones, personal computers, etc.), or (e) any combination of the preceding. to provide feedback to the driver visual, audible, or other sensory feedback to the driver via a feedback device in the vehicle other than mobile device 10 , mobile device 10 may include any suitable communication system for wired or wireless communication of feedback signals from mobile device 10 to such feedback device. further, feedback module 44 may also initiate and/or manage the storage of any data associated with application 50 , including raw or filtered data collected by data collection module 40 and/or any of the metrics, scores, or other data calculated or proceed by data processing module 42 , such that the data may be subsequently accessed, e.g., for display or further processing. for example, feedback module 44 may manage short-term storage of certain data (e.g., in volatile memory of mobile device 10 ), and may further manage long-term storage of certain data as historical driving data 46 (e.g., in non-volatile memory of mobile device 10 ). as another example, feedback module 44 may communicate data associated with application 50 via a network or other communication link(s) to one or more other computer devices, e.g., for display by remote computers 150 and/or for storage in a remote data storage system 152 , as discussed in greater detail below with reference to fig. 5 . feedback module 44 may be operable to display metrics, scores, or other data in any suitable manner, e.g., as values, sliders, icons (e.g., representing different magnitudes of a particular metric/score value using different icons or using different colors or sizes of the same icon), graphs, charts, etc. further, in embodiments in which mobile device 10 includes a gps or other location tracking system 56 , feedback module 44 may display one or more maps showing the route travelled during one or more data collection sessions or driving sessions, and indicating the location of “notable driving events.” notable driving events may be identified on the map in any suitable manner, e.g., using representative icons. as an example only, different types of notable driving events (e.g., notable acceleration, notable braking, and notable cornering) may be represented on the map with different icons, and the severity level of each notable driving event may be indicated by the color and/or size of each respective icon. feedback module 44 may also display tips to help drivers improve their driving behavior. for example, feedback module 44 may analyze the driver's driving behavior metrics and/or driving scores to identify one or more areas of needed improvement (e.g., braking or cornering) and display driving tips specific to the areas of needed improvement. in some embodiments, feedback module 44 may provide the driver real time feedback regarding notable driving events, via any suitable form of feedback, e.g., as listed above. for example, feedback module 44 may provide audible feedback (e.g., buzzers or other sound effects, or by human recorded or computer-automated spoken feedback) through a speaker of mobile device 10 or the vehicle's speakers, or visual feedback via display 36 of mobile device 10 or other display device of the vehicle. such real-time audible or visual feedback may distinguish between different types of notable driving events and/or between the severity level of each notable driving event, in any suitable manner. for example, spoken feedback may indicate the type and severity of a notable driving event in real time. non-spoken audible feedback may indicate the different types and severity of notable driving events by different sounds and/or different volume levels. feedback module 44 may manage user interactions with application 50 via input/output devices 38 (e.g., a touch screen display 36 , keys, buttons, and/or other user interfaces). for example, feedback module 44 may host a set or hierarchy of displayable objects (e.g., screens, windows, menus, images etc.) and facilitate user navigation among the various objects. an example set of displayable objects, in the form of screens, is shown and discussed with reference to figs. 6a-6g . in some embodiments, feedback module 44 may generate a series of user-navigable screens, windows, or other objects for display on display device 36 on mobile device 10 . figs. 6a-6g illustrate example screen shots generated by driving analysis application 50 on an example mobile device 10 , according to certain embodiments. fig. 6a illustrates an example screenshot of a screen 200 of a device orientation feature provided by application 50 for assisting a user with the proper alignment or orientation of mobile device 10 within the automobile or vehicle. in this example, an alignment image 202 may indicate the physical orientation (e.g., angular orientation) of mobile device 10 relative to the automobile. for example, alignment image 202 may rotate relative to the rest of the display as mobile device 10 is reoriented. alignment image 202 may include arrows or other indicators to assist the use in orienting mobile device 10 . an indicator 204 (e.g., a lighted icon) may indicate when mobile device 10 is suitably oriented for data collection, e.g., with the front of mobile device 10 facing toward the front of the automobile or vehicle. in embodiments requiring manual starting of data recording (i.e., starting a data collection session), a screen or image for starting data recording may appear upon the mobile device 10 being properly oriented. thus, data collection module 40 may then start (or re-start) collection of driving data upon a manual instruction (e.g., a user pressing a “start recording” button that is displayed on display 36 once mobile device 10 is properly oriented). in embodiments that provide for automatic starting of data recording (i.e., starting a data collection session), data collection module 40 may start (or re-start) driving data collection automatically upon the proper orientation of mobile device 10 , or automatically in response to an automatically generated triggering signal (assuming mobile device 10 is properly oriented). fig. 6b illustrates an example screenshot of a screen 210 during a data collection session. the display may indicate that driving data is being recorded (image 212 ) and may provide a selectable image 214 for stopping the recording of driving data (i.e., ending the data collection session). fig. 6c illustrates an example screenshot of a summary screen 218 for a single data collection session, including three driving behavior metrics (acceleration, braking, and cornering) and a driving score (“224”) calculated by data processing module 42 for the single data collection session. for the illustrated data collection session, the driving score 224 calculated to be “82.” the metrics and score may be displayed in real time (e.g., evaluating the driving behavior during an ongoing trip), after conclusion of a trip (e.g., evaluating the completed trip or a group of trips), or at any other time. as shown, screen 218 includes values 220 and corresponding bar graphs 222 indicating the acceleration, braking, and cornering metrics, as well a visual representation 224 of the driving score (“82”) calculated by data processing module 42 . the driving score may be calculated based on the acceleration, braking, and cornering metrics using any suitable algorithm. for example, the driving score may be a straight or weighted average of the metrics, a sum or weighted sum of the metrics, or any other representation. the algorithm for calculating the driving score may also account for data other than the metrics, such as the identity of the driver, the time, duration, and/or distance of the data collection session, the weather conditions, traffic conditions, and/or any other relevant data accessible to data processing module 42 . fig. 6d illustrates an example screenshot of a summary screen 230 for a group of multiple data collection sessions, including three multi-session driving behavior metrics (acceleration, braking, and cornering) and a multi-session driving score (“78”) calculated by data processing module 42 for the group of data collection sessions. each multi-session driving behavior metric, as well as the driving score, for the group of sessions may be calculated based on any number of data collection sessions, and using any suitable algorithm. for example, each multi-session metric/score may be an average (e.g., straight or weighted average) of the respective metrics/scores determined for the n most recent data collection sessions. further, the multi-session metric/score may be filtered according to preset or user-selected criteria. for example, each multi-session metric/score may be an average (e.g., straight or weighted average) of the respective metrics/scores determined for the n most recent data collection sessions that meet one or more preset or user-selected criteria regarding the respective data collection session, e.g., the particular driver, time of day, trip distance, trip duration, geographic area of travel, weather conditions, traffic conditions, or any other relevant data accessible to data processing module 42 . thus, for instance, module 42 may calculate multi-session driving behavior metrics and driving scores for the five most recent trips by bob, which were further than 3 miles, within the geographic limits of a particular city, and during good weather conditions. the number of data collection sessions included in a particular multi-session driving metric/score may be automatically or manually selected in any suitable manner, e.g., a predetermined number of sessions, a number automatically determined by module 42 (e.g., all sessions occurring within a predetermined time period), a number manually selected by a user, or determined in any other manner. in embodiments in which particular multi-session driving metrics/scores represent weighted averages, each individual-session metric (e.g., each individual-session braking metric) to be averaged into a weighted average may be weighted based on recentness (e.g., based on the elapsed time since that session, or the sequential order position of that session (e.g., the 3 rd most recent session)), trip duration, trip distance, or any other relevant criteria accessible to data processing module 42 . thus, for instance, the weighting of each individual-session metric to be averaged into a weighted average may be weighted proportionally according to the number of days since each respective session, such that a trip that occurred 20 days ago is weighted twice as much as a trip that occurred 20 days ago. as another example, the 1 st most recent, 2 nd most recent, 3 rd most recent, and 4 th most recent sessions may be assigned predefined weighting factors of 0.50, 0.30, 0.15, 0.05, respectively. as another example, a 6 -mile trip may be weighted the same as, or twice as much, as a 3-mile trip, depending on the specific embodiment. as another example, a 30-minte trip may be weighted the same as, or three times as much, a 10-minute trip, depending on the specific embodiment. alternatively, instead of displaying the average of the metrics/scores determined for a group of data collection sessions, summary screen 230 may display the median value for particular metrics/scores. thus, for example, summary screen 230 may display for each metric the median value for that metric over the last seven trips. as another alternative, summary screen 230 may display the lowest or highest value for particular metrics/scores. thus, for example, summary screen 230 may display for each metric the lowest value for that metric over the last seven trips. it should be understood that multi-session driving metrics/scores may be determined using any combination of techniques or algorithms discussed above, or using any other suitable techniques or algorithms. fig. 6e illustrates an example screenshot of a screen 240 summarizing various data for each of multiple data collection sessions. in this example, screen 240 indicates for each data collection session for a particular driver: a trip description (manually entered by a user or automatically determined by module 42 , e.g., based on gps data), trip date, trip time (e.g., session start time, end time, or midpoint), and driving score (indicated by a bar graph and numerical value). in addition to or instead of displaying the driving score for each session, screen 240 may display one or more driving behavior metrics for each session, and/or other data relevant to each session (e.g., weather conditions, traffic conditions, trip distance, trip duration, etc.). any number of sessions may be displayed, and the particular sessions that are displayed may be filtered, e.g., according to any of the criteria discussed above. in the illustrated example, the user may scroll down on screen 240 to view data for additional sessions. fig. 6f illustrates an example screenshot of a screen 250 in which multiple trips can be compared. in this example, two trips by the same driver are compared. however, trips by different drivers may similarly be compared. the trips being compared may be selected by a user, or automatically selected by module 42 based on any suitable criteria. the compare function may be used to test drivers against a particular test course. for example, a driver education instructor could collect driving behavior metrics for himself by driving a test course. later, students could collect driving behavior metrics while driving the same test course as previously driven by the instructor. the driving behavior metrics of the instructor could then be used as a standard against which to compare the driving behavior metrics of the students. fig. 6g illustrates an example screenshot of a map screen 260 , indicating the path 262 of a recorded trip, which may be generated based on data collected by location tracking system 56 (e.g., gps data). screen 260 may also display icons 264 indicating the locations of notable driving events (ndes). such icons 264 may indicate the type and/or severity level of each nde. in the illustrated example, the type of nde (e.g., type “l”, “r”, “a”, or “d”) is indicated by the shape of the respective icon 264 , and the severity level of the nde is indicated by the color of the icon 264 , indicated in fig. 6g by different shading. in some embodiments, the user may select a particular icon 264 to display (e.g., via a pop-up window or new screen) additional details regarding the respective nde. it should be understood that driving analysis application 50 may generate any number of additional screens for displaying the various information collected or processed by application 50 . fig. 3 illustrates an example method 80 of providing driver feedback, according to certain embodiments. any or all of the steps of method 80 may be performed by the various modules of driving analysis application 50 . at step 82 , data collection module 40 may collect driving data during a data collection session (which may correspond to a driving trip, a portion of a driving trip, or multiple driving trips). the collected driving data may include, e.g., driving behavior data collected by accelerometer 54 , location tracking system 56 , etc. and/or driving environment data collected by environmental data applications 58 . the collected driving data may also include driving behavior data and/or driving environment data collected by external devices and communicated to mobile device 10 . data collection module 40 may control the start and stop of the data collection session either manually or automatically, as discussed above. in some embodiments, this may include interacting with the user (driver or other person) to manage the physical orientation of mobile device 10 in order to allow the driving data collection to begin (or re-start after an interruption), as discussed above. at step 84 , data processing module 42 may process or analyze any or all of the driving data collected at step 82 , and calculate one or more driving behavior metrics and/or scores corresponding to the data collection session, e.g., as discussed above. in addition, data processing module 42 may identify “notable driving events” (ndes) and determine the severity of such events, e.g., as discussed above. in some embodiments, data processing module 42 may process the collected data in real time or substantially in real time. in other embodiments, data processing module 42 may process the collected data after some delay period, upon the end of the data collection session, in response to a request by a user (e.g., a user of mobile device 10 , a user at remote computer 150 , or other user), upon collection of data for a preset number of data collection session, or at any other suitable time or in response to any other suitable event. in some embodiments, data processing module 42 may calculate one or more individual driving behavior metrics (e.g., acceleration, braking, cornering, etc.) and/or driving scores for the current or most recent data collection session. further, data processing module 42 may calculate one or more individual driving behavior metrics and/or driving scores for multiple data collection sessions. for example, data processing module 42 may calculate filtered or averaged driving behavior metrics and/or driving scores for a group of data collection sessions (e.g., as discussed above), including the current or most recent data collection session. at step 86 , feedback module 44 may display any of the data collected by data collection module 40 at step 82 (e.g., raw data or filtered raw data) and/or any of the metrics, scores, or other data calculated or proceed by data processing module 42 at step 84 . this may include any manner of “displaying” data as discussed above, e.g., displaying data on display device 36 , providing visual, audible, or other sensory feedback to the driver via mobile device 10 or other device in the vehicle, communicating data to remote computer devices for remote display, etc. in some embodiments, feedback module 44 may facilitate user interaction with application 50 (e.g., via a touch screen display 36 or other input devices 38 ) allowing the user to view any of the data discussed above, e.g., by user selection or navigation of displayed objects). at step 88 , feedback module 44 may initiate and/or manage the storage of any of the data collected by data collection module 40 at step 82 (e.g., raw data or filtered raw data) and/or any of the metrics, scores, or other data calculated or proceed by data processing module 42 at step 84 , such that the stored data may be subsequently accessed, e.g., for display or further processing. for example, feedback module 44 may store data in local volatile memory for display, in local non-volatile memory as historical driving data 46 , and/or in remote memory as historical driving data 152 . as shown in fig. 3 , method 80 may then return to step 82 for the collection of new driving data. it should be understood that the steps shown in fig. 3 may be performed in any suitable order, and additional steps may be included in the process. further, certain steps may be performed continuously (e.g., the data collection step 82 may continue throughout the data collection process). further, multiple steps may be performed partially or fully simultaneously. in some embodiments, steps 82 - 88 (or at least portions of such steps) may be executed in real time or substantially in real time such that steps 82 - 88 are continuously performed, or repeated, during a particular data collection session. in such embodiments, at step 86 data may be prepared for subsequent display rather than being displayed in real time, while the process continues to collect, process, and store new driving data. however, as discussed above, certain feedback may be provided at step 86 in real time, e.g., real time feedback indicating the occurrence of notable driving events. in other embodiments, one or more steps may not be performed in real time. for example, some or all of the processing, display, and storage steps may be performed after the completion of the data collection session, e.g., when more processing resources may be available. for instance, collected raw data may be stored in first memory (e.g., cache or other volatile memory) during the data collection session; and then after the end of the data collection session, the collected data may be processed, displayed, stored in second memory (e.g., stored in non-volatile memory as historical driving data 46 ), and/or communicated to remote entities for storage, processing, and/or display. as discussed above, in some embodiments, driving data collected by application 50 may be used by various third parties for various purposes. thus, for example, at step 90 , an insurance provider may receive or access driving behavior metrics and/or driving scores collected by application 50 (e.g., by receiving or accessing historical driving data 46 directly from mobile device 10 and/or by receiving or accessing historical driving data 152 from external storage), and analyze such data for performing risk analysis of the respective driver. the insurance provider may determine appropriate insurance products or premiums for the driver according to such risk analysis. fig. 4 illustrates an example method 100 of providing driver feedback using example algorithms, according to certain embodiments. any or all of the steps of method 100 may be performed by the various modules of driving analysis application 50 . at step 102 , data collection module 40 may interact with the user to adjust the mobile device 10 such that the orientation of mobile device 10 is suitable for collecting driving data. for example, data collection module 40 may instruct the user to position the mobile device 10 towards the front of the vehicle and with the top end of the mobile device 10 facing the front of the vehicle. once data collection module 40 determines that mobile device 10 is properly oriented, data collection module 40 may begin collecting driving data, i.e., start a data collection session, at step 104 . for example, data collection module 40 may begin collecting raw g-force data (i.e., acceleration data) from built-in accelerometer 54 . the collected g-force data may provide data for multiple different acceleration directions, e.g., lateral g-force data regarding lateral acceleration and longitudinal g-force data regarding longitudinal acceleration. module 40 may time stamp the collected data. further, module 40 may filter or truncate the beginning and end of the data collection session, the extent of which filtering or truncation may depend on the length of the data collection session. for example, if the data collection session exceeds 4 minutes, module 40 may erase data collected during the first and last 60 seconds of the data collection session; whereas if the data collection session does not exceed 4 minutes, module 40 may erase data collected during the first and last 3 seconds of the data collection session. the particular values of 4 minutes, 60 seconds, and 3 seconds are example values only; any other suitable values may be used. at step 106 , data processing module 42 may process the collected driving data. for example, module 42 may calculate a one-second moving average of the g-force. thus, if the data collection is for instance 5 hz, the 5-step moving average may be calculated. module 42 may then calculate the “jerk” at each time stamp t i , wherein jerk at a particular time stamp t j is defined as follows: jerk=abs(moving averaged g -force at time stamp t j −moving averaged g -force at time stamp t j−1 )/unit_time(1 second) (alternatively, jerk may be calculated using raw g-forces data instead of averaged g-force data.) module 42 may then calculate the one-second moving average of the jerk. module 42 may then determine one or more driving behavior metrics based on the moving averaged jerk and g-force data. for example, module 42 may determine a g-force percentile and a jerk percentile at each time stamp t i by accessing look-up tables corresponding to one or more relevant parameters. for instance, a portion of an example look-up table for an example set of relevant parameters is provided below: relevant parameters: vehicle: impalavehicle type: sedanacceleration direction (lateral or longitudinal): lateraltype of data (g-force or jerk): g-forcespeed range: 0-100 mph table 1g-force percentile look-up tableg-force rangepercentile0.0000.01200.0130.02510.0260.03820.0390.05130.0520.06440.0650.07750.0780.0906 module 42 may store or have access to any number of such look-up tables for various combinations of relevant parameters. for example, module 42 may store a look-up table (similar to table 1) for determining the jerk percentile. as another example, module 42 may store similar look-up tables for determining g-force and jerk percentiles for different combinations of vehicles, vehicle types, speed ranges, acceleration direction (lateral or longitudinal), etc. at step 108 , data processing module 42 may calculate a base driving score for the data collection session, according to the following equation: base driving score=(avg — g -force_percentile)* w 1+(avg_jerk_percentile)* w 2 wherein: avg_g-force_percentile is the average of the g-force percentiles for all time stamps t i during the data collection session;avg jerk_percentile is the average of the jerk percentiles for all time stamps t i during the data collection session; andw 1 and w 2 are weighting constants used to weight the relative significance of g-force data and jerk data as desired. as another example, the base driving score may be calculated according to the following equations: t i driving score=min(100,250−(2 *t i percentile)) base driving score=average of all t i driving scores in which max g-force(lateral,longitudinal)<predefined minimal value. wherein: t i percentile is a percentile determined for each time stamp t i (e.g., g-force percentile, jerk percentile, or a weighted average of g-force percentile and jerk percentile for the time stamp t i ); t i driving score is a driving score for each time stamp t i ; and t i driving scores in which max g-force (lateral, longitudinal)<predefined minimal value indicates that data from time stamps in which the max (lateral, longitudinal) g-force is less than some predefined minimal value (e.g., 0.01) is excluded from the calculations. for example, due to the fact that g-forces may be less than some predefined minimal value (e.g., 0.01) at some or many time stamps (e.g., during highway cruise driving), as well as the issue of unstable g-force reading (below) a predefined minimal value, module 42 may ignore data from time stamps in which the max (lateral, longitudinal) g-force is less than the predefined minimal value. at step 110 , data processing module 42 may identify and analyze any notable driving events during the data collection session, based on the collected/processed g-force data and jerk data. for example, module 42 may compare the lateral and longitudinal g-force data to corresponding threshold values to identify the occurrence of notable driving events. for example, module 42 may execute the following example algorithms to identify the occurrence and type of a notable driving event (nde) for a chevrolet impala: lat_magnitude_gf=max(0, abs(latg)−0.40);lon_magnitude_gf=max(0, abs(long)−0.30);magnitude_gf=max(lat_magnitude_gf, lon_magnitude_gf);if magnitude_gf=lat_magnitude_gf and latg.>0 then nde_type=“l”;else if magnitude_gf=lat_magnitude_gf and latg.<=0 then nde_type=“r”;else if magnitude_gf=lon_magnitude_gf and long<0 then nde_type=“a”;else if magnitude_gf=lon_magnitude_gf and long>=0 then nde_type=“d”;else no nde identified. wherein: latg=lateral g-forces detected by the accelerometer;long=longitudinal g-forces detected by the accelerometer;nde_type “l”=left corneringnde_type “r”=right corneringnde_type “a”=accelerationnde_type “d”=deceleration the threshold values used in such algorithms (e.g., the latg and long threshold values 0.40 and 0.30 shown above) may be specific to one or more parameters, such that module 42 applies appropriate thresholds based on the parameter(s) relevant to the data being analyzed. for example, module 42 may store different threshold values for different types of vehicles. to illustrate an example, module 42 may store the following threshold values for three different vehicles: impala, camaro, and fordvan: impala (shown above) latg threshold=0.40long threshold=0.30camaro latg threshold=0.60long threshold=0.40ford van latg threshold=0.30long threshold=0.30 it should be understood that the threshold values shown above are examples only, and that any other suitable values may be used. data processing module 42 may further determine the severity level of each notable driving event (nde) identified during the data collection session. for example, fig. 7 provides an illustrative flow chart wherein module 42 may execute the following algorithm to determine the severity level (e.g., caution, warning, or extreme) of each nde: start 701 the algorithmidentify 702 the g-force magnitude peak associated with the nde;if the g-force magnitude peak is at least 0.2 above the relevant latg/long threshold 703 , the nde severity level is “extreme” 704 ;else if the g-force magnitude peak is at least 0.1 above the relevant latg/long threshold 705 , the nde severity level is “warning” 706 ;else if the g-force magnitude peak is above the caution threshold 707 , the nde severity level is “caution” 708 ; andreturn 709 to the algorithm for detecting ndes. it should be understood that the threshold values shown above (0.2 and 0.1) are examples only, and that any other suitable values may be used. fig. 8 is a flow chart of an alternative illustrative algorithm for determining severity levels of notable driving events (nde) identified during data collection sessions. in this embodiment, the output severity levels are “severe,” “medium” and “low.” data processing module 42 may further “de-dupe” identified ndes, i.e., eliminate or attempt to eliminate double counting (or more) of the same nde. for example, module 42 may apply an algorithm that applies a 30 second rule for de-duping the same type of nde (e.g., l, r, a, or d), and a 4 second rule for de-duping different types of ndes. thus, if multiple ndes of the same type (e.g., two l-type events) are identified within a 30 second window, module 42 assumes that the same nde is being counted multiple times, and thus treats the multiple identified ndes as a single nde. further, if multiple ndes of different types (e.g., one l-type event and one r-type event) are identified within a 4 second window, module 42 assumes that the same nde is being counted multiple times, and thus treats the multiple identified ndes as a single nde, and applies any suitable rule to determine the nde_type that the nde will be treated as (e.g., the type of the first identified nde controls, or a set of rules defining that particular nde types control over other nde types). it should be understood that the de-duping time limits shown above (30 seconds and 4 seconds) are examples only, and that any other suitable time limits may be used. referring again to fig. 4 , at step 116 feedback module 44 may initiate and/or manage the storage of any of the data collected by data collection module 40 at step 104 (e.g., raw data or filtered raw data) and/or any of the metrics, scores, or other data calculated or processed by data processing module 42 at steps 106 - 112 , such that the stored data may be subsequently accessed, e.g., for display or further processing. for example, feedback module 44 may store data in local volatile memory for display, in local non-volatile memory as historical driving data 46 , and/or communicate data to remote devices 150 and/or remote driving data storage 152 . as discussed above, in some embodiments, driving data collected by application 50 may be used by various third parties for various purposes. thus, for example, at step 118 , an insurance provider may receive or access driving behavior metrics and/or driving scores collected by application 50 (e.g., by receiving or accessing historical driving data 46 directly from mobile device 10 and/or by receiving or accessing historical driving data 152 from external storage), and analyze such data for performing risk analysis of the respective driver. the insurance provider may determine appropriate insurance products or premiums for the driver according to such risk analysis. at step 112 (see fig. 4 ), data processing module 42 may calculate an adjusted driving score for the data collection session, by adjusting the base driving score certain values calculated at step 108 based on ndes determined at step 110 . for example, module 42 may deduct from the base driving score based on the number, type, and/or severity level of ndes determined at step 110 . in some embodiments, only certain types and/or severity levels of ndes are deducted from the base driving score. for example, module 42 may execute the following algorithm, in which only “warning” and “extreme” level ndes (but not “caution” level ndes) are deducted from the base driving score: nde penalty for each nde=50*(g-force−g-force_warning_threshold);adjusted driving score=base driving score−sum (nde penalties) it should be understood that this algorithm is an example only, and that any other suitable algorithms for determining an adjusted driving score may be used. at step 114 , feedback module 44 may display any of the data collected by data collection module 40 at step 104 (e.g., raw data or filtered raw data) and/or any of the metrics, scores, or other data calculated or processed by data processing module 42 at steps 106 - 112 . this may include any manner of “displaying” data as discussed above, e.g., displaying data on display device 36 on mobile device 10 , providing visual, audible, or other sensory feedback to the driver via mobile device 10 or other device in the vehicle, communicating data to remote computer devices for remote display, etc. in some embodiments, feedback module 44 may facilitate user interaction with application 50 (e.g., via a touch screen display 36 or other input devices 38 ) allowing the user to view any of the data discussed above, e.g., by user selection or navigation of displayed objects). fig. 5 illustrates an example system 140 for sharing driving data between a mobile device 10 including driving analysis application 50 and other external systems or devices, according to certain embodiments. as shown, mobile device 10 may be communicatively connected to one or more remote computers 150 and/or remote data storage systems 152 via one or more networks 144 . computers 150 may include any one or more devices operable to receive driving data from mobile device 10 and further process and/or display such data, e.g., mobile telephones, personal digital assistants (pda), laptop computers, desktop computers, servers, or any other device. in some embodiments, a computer 150 may include any suitable application(s) for interfacing with application 50 on mobile device 10 , e.g., which application(s) may be downloaded via the internet or otherwise installed on computer 150 . in some embodiments, one or more computers 150 may be configured to perform some or all of the data processing discussed above with respect to data processing module 42 on mobile device 10 . such a computer may be referred to herein as a remote processing computer. for example, mobile device 10 may communicate some or all data collected by data collection module 40 (raw data, filtered data, or otherwise partially processed data) to a remote processing computer 150 , which may process (or further process) the received data, e.g., by performing any or all of the driver data processing discussed above with respect to data processing module 42 , and/or additional data processing. after processing the data, computer 150 may then communicate the processed data back to mobile device 10 (e.g., for storage and/or display), to other remote computers 150 (e.g., for storage and/or display), and/or to remote data storage 152 . the data processing and communication of data by computer 150 may be performed in real time or at any other suitable time. in some embodiments, computer 150 may process driving data from mobile device 10 and communicate the processed data back to mobile device 10 such that the data may be displayed by mobile device 10 substantially in real time, or alternatively at or shortly after (e.g., within seconds of) the completion of a driving data collection session. using one or more computers 150 to perform some or all of the processing of the driving data may allow for more processing resources to be applied to the data processing (e.g., thus providing for faster or additional levels of data processing), as compared to processing the data by mobile device 10 itself. further, using computer(s) 150 to perform some or all of the data processing may free up processing resources of mobile device 10 , which may be advantageous. remote data storage devices 152 may include any one or more data storage devices for storing driving data received from mobile device 10 and/or computers 150 . remote data storage 152 may comprise any one or more devices suitable for storing electronic data, e.g., ram, dram, rom, flash memory, and/or any other type of volatile or non-volatile memory or storage device. a remote data storage device 152 may include any suitable application(s) for interfacing with application 50 on mobile device 10 and/or with relevant applications on computers 150 . network(s) 144 may be implemented as, or may be a part of, a storage area network (san), personal area network (pan), local area network (lan), a metropolitan area network (man), a wide area network (wan), a wireless local area network (wlan), a virtual private network (vpn), an intranet, the internet or any other appropriate architecture or system that facilitates the communication of signals, data and/or messages (generally referred to as data) via any one or more wired and/or wireless communication links. the network(s) 144 may include any communication link known to persons of skill, including for example, cloud, cellular or satellite transmission, magnetic or optical media, radio frequency transmission, microwave or fiber optic transmission, or communications via internet, cable, or satellite providers. referring to fig. 9 , an example of an architectural design for an infrastructure according to embodiments of the invention. an infrastructure 151 according to one embodiment comprises a remote data storage system 152 and a property and casualty system 153 . data may be transmitted via a network 144 from a mobile device 10 in a vehicle 12 to a remote data storage system 152 . the remote data storage system 152 comprises a server 154 and a database 155 . the database 155 stores various data and information transmitted to it via the server 154 , including: data received from a mobile device 156 , data calculated by a mobile device prior to receiving 157 , and captured and available data for property and casualty rating 158 . data received from a mobile device 156 may comprise: device identification; bluetooth mac address; trip number; location—latitude; location—longitude; location—coarse/fine indicator; speed; acceleration −x; acceleration −y; acceleration −z; gps date and time; turn indicator and/or gps accuracy. prior to sending, the mobile device 10 may also calculate information. data calculated by a mobile device prior to receiving 157 may include: turn indicator; lateral g force; longitudinal g force; turn radius; average lateral g force; average longitudinal g force; average turn radius; x midpoint; x now; x back 1; x back 2; y midpoint; y now; y back 1; y back 2; tangent calculation for radius 1; tangent calculation for radius 2; time change between locations; longitude g with local gravity; lateral g with local gravity; lateral g calculated; lateral g second derivative; and/or parallel g slope. examples of captured and available data for property and casualty rating 158 may include: vehicle information (age, manufacturer, model, value), driver information (age, sex, marital status, driving record, accident history, residence), and insurance information (liability, uninsured motorists, comprehensive, collision, liability limits, deductibles, rebates, discounts). the property and casualty system 153 comprises a server 140 , a storage application 141 , a staging telematics database 142 and an operational telematics data base 143 . the property and casualty system 153 uses the data captured by the remote data storage system 152 to calculate property and casualty premiums for the operators of vehicles. threshold metrics may be established for driving behaviors so that property and casualty premiums may be identified to correspond to the driving behaviors. this system may be automated so that the property and casualty premiums may be charge to the operators of vehicles in real time depending on their driving behaviors. fig. 10 provides a flow chart for a driving analysis application 50 . the application launches 160 on a mobile device 10 (see fig. 1 ) and splashes 161 an introductory page publishing the name of the application and appropriate logos to identify the application. the application queries the user 162 to determine whether the user is registered. if the user is not registered, the application 50 will prompt the user to create an account 163 . when the user is registering for the first time, the user may enter details like: username; password; vehicle make; vehicle year; vehicle model; and/or vehicle odometer reading. the application 50 may then determine if an account is successfully created 167 , and if not again prompt the user to create an account 163 . if an account is successfully created 167 , the user may be directed to a main menu (landing page) 164 that may have options: (1) a bluetooth pairing setup 165 for completing the registration or modifying the car which is being used; (2) a daily summary 168 giving details regarding the trips of the user; (3) an odometer option 169 for updating the odometer reading of the paired vehicle; and (4) a help section 170 for the user to report technical difficulties with the application 50 or to answer questions that the user may have. from the main menu (landing page) 164 , the user may select a bluetooth pairing setup 165 for completing the registration or modifying the vehicle which is being operated by completing a bluetooth pairing. if the user exits the application prior to bluetooth pairing, then the user may not able to access the daily summary and odometer details. if the bluetooth pairing 165 is successful, then the data 166 (bluetooth pairing; vehicle year; vehicle model; and/or vehicle odometer reading) may be transmitted to a server 154 . if the bluetooth pairing 165 is unsuccessful, the application 50 may return to the main menu (landing page) 164 . once as user has successfully created an account 163 and bluetooth paired 165 the mobile device 10 with the vehicle 12 , the application 50 always runs in the background for collection of data. as soon as the user starts the vehicle, the data logging starts to take place. collected data is automatically transmitted to the server 154 , described more fully below. during the whole process certain data is sent to the server 154 from the mobile device 10 , and similarly after calculations are made, data may be received by the mobile device 10 from the server 154 . data sent to the server 154 may include: username; password; vehicle make; vehicle year; vehicle model; odometer reading; and bluetooth mac address. data received from the server 154 may include: date selection; vehicle details; total miles driven; number of stops; number of trips; maximum speed; odometer reading; time specific details; speed specific details; and trip list. in alternative embodiments of the invention, any trigger may be used to tell the application 50 to begin logging data. for example, a threshold engine speed (rpm) may trigger data logging. as a further example, movement of the vehicle 12 may trigger data logging. fig. 10 further shows that, from the main menu (landing page) 164 , the user may select a daily summary 168 giving details regarding the trips of the user. based on the trips for that particular day a daily report is available to the user. the daily report includes vehicle use data 171 , which may be transmitted from the remote data storage device 152 to the mobile device 10 . the vehicle use data 171 may include: 1) “date selection” for the user to select the date of which he wants the details; 2) “vehicle details” that were entered by the user at the start; 3) “total miles driven” are recorded by the application 50 once the user has registered; 4) “number of stops” provides information about the vehicle not moving, i.e., idling or being at 0 mph; 5) “number of trips” provides the total trips on that particular day; 6) “maximum speed” is the max speed reached on that particular day; and 7) “odometer reading” is the total odometer reading (user entered value+total miles driven). the daily report may also allow the user to view: time specific details 172 ; speed specific details 173 ; and trip specific details 174 . time specific details (time interval) 172 may include time in blocks of 2 hours displayed on the left hand side, which is helpful for the user to know in which times he has driven the most. time specific details may be relevant to insurance providers to know whether the user is driving in high, moderate or low traffic times. time specific details (time interval) 172 may also include trip percentages, so the user can see what percent of total daily driving each trip comprised. speed specific details (speed interval) 173 may include time in blocks of 10, with a separate section for idling displayed on the left hand side, which may be helpful for the user to know the speed range he has driven the most. it may be relevant to insurance providers to know whether the user is driving at high, moderate or low speeds to determine risks of potential accidents. speed specific details (speed interval) 173 may also include percentages in which the user drove at particular speed ranges, wherein the percentages add up to a total of 100% for that day. different trip details 174 may contain a list of trips by the user on that particular day. when the user selects a particular trip, the application 50 may provide the user the route that was traversed on the trip, which is similar to a gps plot on a map. turning to figs. 11a-11k , example screen shots of the application user interface are provided. fig. 11a illustrates an user interface for prompting the user to create an account 163 , wherein fields are provided for a user id, password, and zip code. if the user successfully creates an account, the application 50 prompts the user to select setting to complete registration as shown in fig. 11b . a settings tab (see fig. 11c ) allows the user to navigate to a bluetooth setup window as shown in fig. 11d . from this window, the user may select a bluetooth settings tab, which will enable the application 50 to cause the mobile device 10 to search for a signal from a vehicle 12 and pair the mobile device 10 to the vehicle 12 . after pairing, a vehicle screen is displayed to the user so that the user is prompted to enter the year, make, model and odometer of the paired vehicle 12 , as shown in fig. 11e . once paired with the vehicle, registration is complete. fig. 11f shows a screen shot for a main menu (landing page) 164 . the user is provided tabs for drive data, odometer, settings, and help. the drive data tab allows the user to navigate to a daily report screen as shown in fig. 11g . for any given day selectable by the user, the daily report identifies the vehicle, provides the total miles driven (moving time), the number of stops, the number of trips, the maximum speed, and the odometer. the daily report screen also provides the user three tabs: speed, time, and trip. the speed tab navigates to a screen as shown in fig. 11h , which shows speed ranges in increments of 10 miles per hour, for example, and the percent of time the vehicle was operated within each speed range during the day. in this illustration for a vehicle operated on dec. 22, 2011, the vehicle idled for 22% of the time, was operated between 1-9 mph for 6% of the time, was operated between 10-19 mph for 9% of the time, was operated between 20-29 mph for 9% of the time, was operated between 30-39 mph for 20% of the time, was operated between 40-49 mph for 31% of the time, and was operated between 50-59 mph for 4% of the time. the time tab shown in fig. 11g navigates to a screen as shown in fig. 11i , which provides periods of time during the day and the percent of operation during each time period. in this illustration for a vehicle operated on dec. 22, 2011, 100% of the operation was between 6:00-7:59 am. the trip tab shown in fig. 11g navigates to a screen as shown in fig. 11j , which provides a listing of trips for the selected date. in this example, only one trip (6:06 am 6.5 miles) was recorded on the selected day. if the user selects a trip displayed on the screen of fig. 11j , the application 50 navigates to a map with the trip plotted thereon, as shown in fig. 11k . referring again to fig. 11f , if the user selects the odometer tab from the main menu (landing page) 164 , the application navigates to an odometer update screen as shown in fig. 11l . this screen prompts the user to enter the actual vehicle odometer reading. fig. 12 illustrates a flow chart for the collection and analysis of vehicle use data according to certain embodiments of the invention. when the user starts 180 the engine of the vehicle, a bluetooth connection is made 181 between the mobile device 10 and the vehicle 12 . if the bluetooth connection is unsuccessful, the application 50 does not start logging data 182 . if the bluetooth connection is successful, the application 50 does start logging data 183 . the application 50 will log vehicle use data until the vehicle engine is turned off. the status of the engine is monitored 184 and if the engine is turned off, the application 50 stops logging data 185 . any data collected on the mobile device when the engine is turned off is sent to the server 154 of the remote data storage system 152 . as long as the vehicle engine is not turned off, data is collected 186 every second on the mobile device 10 . data collected every second 187 may include: (1) acceleration data from accelerometer or sensor used for determining speed, stops, acceleration, and turns; (2) g-force data for very high speed brakes, hard brakes, smooth brakes, very high speed turns, hard turns, smooth turns, very high speed acceleration, hard acceleration, or smooth acceleration; (3) gps/location coordinate data used for plotting the route and speed; and (4) time based information for telling time periods of operation. data is transmitted 188 from the mobile device 10 to the server 154 of the remote data storage system 152 via a network 144 . every 1 minute of data is sent 189 to the server for backend calculations if the network is readily available. in the case of non availability of network or intermittent availability the data is stored 191 on the mobile device 10 until that batch is sent to the server. it is sent as soon as the network is available on the user's mobile device 10 . data is sent back 190 from the server after calculations for the users daily report and also to allow the user to see the data in the terms of the time, trip and speed. when the vehicle is turned off, the application stops logging the data 185 , and the remaining data is then sent to the server for calculations at the point of disconnection of the bluetooth. while some embodiments of the invention use a bluetooth pairing between the mobile device 10 and the vehicle 12 , any pairing methodology known to persons of skill may be employed. for example, an audio signal may fingerprint the vehicle 12 for the mobile device 10 . radio frequency signals may also be used. according to different aspects of the invention, software may reside on the mobile device 10 in the application 50 to perform various calculations and manipulation of data, or software may reside on a remote processing computer 150 or a remote data storage system 152 to perform these functions. depending on the storage and communication capabilities of the mobile device 10 , it may be more efficient to perform functions on the mobile device 10 or on the on a remote processing computer 150 or a remote data storage system 152 . a rating engine according to embodiments of the present invention may be used to generate or calculate use-based insurance premiums, which may be applied prospectively or retrospectively. based on the collected data, a previously paid insurance premium may be adjusted by providing a rebate for low risk driving behaviors or charging a surcharge for high risk driving behaviors. in this retrospective case, the cost of insurance may be the sum of a base premium and the surcharge or rebate. in a prospective case, use data may be collected for a given month and used as a basis to set an insurance premium for a subsequent month. a rating engine may be used to calculate an insurance premium based on the data collected from the mobile device 10 . from the data collected from the mobile device 10 , individual factors tending to have predictive power may be isolated and fed into the automated rating engine. the individual factors may be placed in context with other known information about the insured user to increase the predictive power of the automated rating engine to set an appropriate insurance premium for the particular insured user. insurance premiums are typically calculated based on actuarial classifications, which may be required for underwriting. these classifications may include: vehicle type, vehicle age, user age, user sex, driving history, place of residence, place of employment, traffic violations, vehicle equipment (airbags, antilock breaks, theft control), etc. data collected from the mobile device 10 may be used to supplement these actuarial classifications to calculate an insurance premium. the rating engine may employ use-based information from many drivers to identify factors that have greater or less predictive power. as more data is collected on a larger number of vehicle users, over time, the rating engine may be improved to place greater weight on those use factors that tend to have greater predictive power. the use data collected from vehicles may be inserted into an insurance company's normal data streams to allow the rating engine to calculate insurance premiums based on all available information. normal billing cycles and processes for communicating premium information to insured users may proceed without disruption as the rating engine proceeds as normal, except that it now incorporates use-based information into the premium calculation. to encourage vehicle users to register their mobile devices 10 and download the application 50 so as to take advantage of use-based insurance products, wireless service providers may discount service provider premiums in exchange for users registering their mobile devices 10 for use-based insurance. wireless service providers and carriers currently offer a number of discounts and/or subsidizing programs for phone and data plans. participants in use-based insurance programs may be offered discounts or subsidized programs relative to their phone or data plans. embodiments of the invention may be used in a variety of applications. for example, a driver feedback mobile device could be used to proctor a driver's test for a candidate to obtain a driver's license. it may be used to educate drivers about how to drive in ways that promote better fuel efficiency. the invention may be used to leverage mobile devices to quantify and differentiate an individual's insurance risk base on actual driving behaviors and/or driving environment. the invention may be used to provide data that could be used as a basis to provide a potential customer a quote for insurance. embodiments of the invention may be used by driver education instructors and systems to educate drivers about safe driving behaviors. although the disclosed embodiments are described in detail in the present disclosure, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from their spirit and scope.
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089-181-480-954-019
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US
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[
"US"
] |
C11D3/20,C11D3/02,C11D3/16,C11D3/50,C11D3/60
| 2007-03-30T00:00:00 |
2007
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[
"C11"
] |
enzymatic detergent
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a non-toxic enzymatic detergent for use in cleaning surgical instruments and the l like which have a large build-up of bio-residue thereon and which need specialty cleaning in order to avoid both hardened bio-residue and certain fluid traces from the instruments for both operating accuracy as well as sterilization requirements.
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1 . a non-toxic and environmentally safe enzymatic base cleanser for cleaning of medical equipment and instruments which have bio-residue thereon, said non-toxic cleanser consisting of the following components, water, sodium tripolyphosphate, propylparaben methylparaben alkoxylated nonionic surfactant ls 54 sxs as 48 r131 organo-silicone 2 . a cleanser as in claim 1 wherein said water component is from 80% to 96% by weight. 3 . a cleanser as in claim 1 wherein said propylparaben component is from 0.002-0.004% by weight. 4 . a cleanser as in claim 1 wherein said sodium tripolyphosphate component is from 0.5% to 1.5% by weight. 5 . a cleanser as in claim 1 wherein said methylparaben component is from 0.002-0.004% by weight. 6 . a cleanser as in claim 1 wherein said ls 54 component is from 1.0% to 3.0% by weight. 7 . a cleanser as in claim 1 wherein said sxs component is from 0.1 to 1.0% by weight. 8 . a cleanser as in claim 1 and also comprising a fragrance. 9 . a cleanser as in claim 8 wherein said as 48 component is from 1.0- to 2.5% by weight. 10 . a cleanser as in claim 1 wherein said r131 component is from 0.5 to 1.5% by weight. 11 . a cleanser as in claim 1 and wherein said organo-silicone component is from 0.005 to 0.02 by weight. 12 . a non-toxic and environmentally safe enzymatic cleanser for cleaning equipment and instruments which have bio-residue such as blood and other body fluids adhered thereto in a dried state, said non-toxic cleanser consisting of the following components: water sodium formate sodium tripolyphosphate sodium borate ls 54 sxs protease (660) amylase (l-340) methyl paraben propyl paraben hre 40 dehyphon e124-90 fragrance propylene glycol nf 5 as 48 rs 131 organo-silicone 13 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said water is present from 53 to 65% by weight. 14 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said sodium formate is present from 0.1 to 1.5% by weight. 15 . a cleanser as in claim 12 where said sodium tripolyphosphate is present from 0.4 to 2.0% by weight. 16 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said sodium borate is present from 1 to 2% by weight. 17 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said ls-54 is present from 3 to 7% by weight. 18 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said sxs is present from 0.1 to 2.0% by weight. 19 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said protease (660) is 1.5 to 4% by weight. 20 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said amylase (l340) is present from 0.5 to 2.5% by weight. 21 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said composition also contains a fragrance. 22 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said methyl paraben is from 0.03 to 0.1% by weight. 23 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said propyl paraben is from 0.03 to 0.1% by weight. 24 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said hre 40 is from 10 to 15% by weight. 25 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said dehypon e 124-90 is from 1 to 4% by weight. 26 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said propylene glycol is from 5 to 12% by weight. 27 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said nf 5 is from 1 to 2% by weight. 28 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said as 48 is from 1 to 4% by weight. 29 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said r131 is from 1 to 4% by weight. 30 . a cleanser as in claim 12 wherein said organo-silicone is from 0.02 to 0.05% by weight. 31 . a method of making a non-toxic cleanser for equipment and instruments which have bio-residue attached thereto, said method comprising, adding and mixing the following ingredients as phase i water from 38 to 62% sodium borate sodium formate during phase ii the hot water content is from 55 to 62% and combined with the sodium tripolyphosphate (sttp) until dissolved. the following ingredients are then added. nonionic surfactant solubilizer alkoxylate fatty alcohol alkoxylated nonionic surfactant (dehypon ls 54) alkyl poly glucoside nonionic surfactant (simulsol as 48) alkoxylated nonionic surfactant (pluronic 31r1) alcohol alkoxylate (dephypon e124-90) sodium alkaline sulfonate (sxs) fragrance defoamer (organo-silicone) the following ingredients are then added together as phase 3 protease enzyme amylase enzyme polypropylene glycol propylparaben methylparaben phase 1 is then cooled and the phase 3 mix is added to it. phase 2 is cooled and the combined phase 1 and 3 mixes are added to it. 32 . a method of cleaning instruments and equipment which have a bio residue thereon, said method comprising, immersing in and/or applying a non-toxic and environmentally safe composition having the following components to said equipment and instruments, said cleanser consisting of water sodium formate sodium tripolyphosphate sodium borate ls 54 sxs protease (660) amylase (l-340) methyl paraben propyl paraben hre 40 dehyphon e 124-90 polypropylene glycol nf 5 as 48 r131 organo-silicone rinsing said equipment and instruments after cleaning. 33 . a method as in claim 32 wherein said composition also includes a fragrance.
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this application is a continuation-in-part of u.s. application ser. no. 11/731,403 filed on mar. 30, 2007, in the united states patent & trademark office. the new sections of this application are underlined for clarity's sake and to afford the examiner an efficient method in reviewing the new material. a copy of this specification without the underlining is provided as well for pto compliance purposes. this invention relates to a new and improved enzymatic detergent which is designed for cleaning surgical instruments and the like. the detergent contains elements specifically designed to remove certain fluid traces from surgical instruments such as blood, lipids, etc. the invention is for use on orthopaedic, laparoscopic, neurological and microsurgical instrumentation as well as for rigid and flexible scopes and other instruments. background surgical instruments and equipment, when used, inevitably pick up amounts of bio-burden on them after being employed in operations on humans or animals. the definition of instruments includes ridged and flexible scopes, laparoscopic instruments, trays and anything that gets soiled with body fluids which result in them having varying amounts of bio-burden on them after being so used. the body fluids, such as blood, lipids and synovial fluids from joints, form an adhesive like bond to the items used during surgeries and animal processing or operations. as these fluids dry, the adhesive like bonds get stronger and the fluids get harder to dissolve using ordinary cleaning methods. the adhesive like bond becomes too strong to break for normal detergents which contain only surfactants and inorganic reagents because routine detergents are chemically and physically unable to dissolve or react with many body fluids. the chemical structures of these detergents do not allow them to react with body fluids without the body fluids first being changed by other chemicals like enzymes. enzymes like protease and amylase break these body fluids down by the chemical reaction called hydrolysis which also breaks down their adhesive bond to the items the fluids are adhered to. when broken down in this manner, body fluids become more soluble in surfactants and can then be washed away. existing cleansers all of the currently used cleansers or detergents employed to clean body fluids and soil off surgical, medical and animal processing or operative items react very slowly and require multiple steps and processes. it is not unusual for these cleansers to take up to 10 or 20 minutes to clean. such multiple steps and processes include: 1. pretreatment immediately after use, as in the operating room, with gels to keep the items moist.2. sonicating the items with high frequency sound waves in an enzymatic solution to help dissolve and speed up the cleaning process.3. soaking in an enzymatic solution 10 to 20 minutes to help remove the body fluids and soil, and4. scrubbing with a metal brush to remove the body fluids still left on the items even after completing steps 1 through 3. current enzymatic cleansers require these steps and processes as they do not have appropriate builders to increase surfactant and enzyme cleaning ability. in addition, they don't have correct buffers for stabilizing the ph at the high level, approximately 9 to 11, required for optimum enzyme activity, other enzyme enhancers and metal cleaning compounds in a single cleanser. all of the current enzymatic cleansers used to clean these items can only remove body fluids and soil and only after going through some or all of the steps and processes outlined above as they do not contain the compounds to remove bonded inorganic material from metals. none of them remove the metallic oxides, carbonates and sulfides that get bonded to these items, especially metals, from exposure to elements in body fluids, soil and air that leaves these compounds on them as white and gray film or spots. the current enzymatic cleansers cannot remove this film and/or spots as they do not contain the chemicals that bond to and solubilize these ions, like sequestering agents. many of the enzymatic cleansers currently available on the market can only be used on certain types of materials as they contain corrosives like hydroxides and strong organic solvents like alcohol, that corrode aluminum, steel and plastics. none of the currently available cleansers will clean the inside of a laparoscopic instrument tube without putting a tube brush through them initially to unblock the residue in them because these cleaners do not contain enhancers that increase the enzymatic activity and surfactant strength. since they do not contain these enhancers, the cleaners require a usage rate of a minimum of one ounce per gallon of water to accomplish what little they do. some of these current enzymatic cleansers also contain toxic chemicals like ethylene glycol which is an auto antifreeze and flammable solvents such as ethyl and/or isopropyl alcohol. prior patents and publications the prior art patents do not disclose the current invention. u.s. pat. no. 4,456,544, to lupova et al, discusses a detergent composition for treating surgical instruments and equipment which contains seven proteolytic enzymes (proteases) to ensure hydrolysis of various protein contaminations. the lupova preparation is used in a presterilization treatment of medical instruments. it does not have all the compounds of the instant invention. u.s. pat. no. 5,124,066, to russel (assigned to lever brothers co.) shows a liquid detergent which includes a glycerol ether, an enzyme and boric acid but is not designed for cleaning medical instruments. the patent to hessel, et al, u.s. pat. no. 5,073,292, discloses a cleaning composition having from 5 to 85% by weight of a surfactant, an enzyme and protein to stabilize the enzyme. again, the patent fails to disclose the unique combination of compounds of the instant invention. desenna, u.s. pat. no. 5,529,788, discloses a tablet containing an enzyme for use in ultrasonic cleaning equipment. it fails to show the compounds of the instant invention. u.s. pat. no. 5,510,052, to mccandlish, discloses a pretreatment sterilant for dishware which removes baked-on, dried-on and cooked on food wastes. there is no discussion of the problem that the instant invention solves. miller et al, u.s. pat. no. 5,567,385, discloses an sterilant for use in alkaline oxidation of medical waste during shredding of the product. again, there is no disclosure of the unique compounds of applicant nor discussion of the problems confronted by him. u.s. pat. no. 5,589,507, to hall, discusses a composition for sterilizing medical devices using formic acid, an oxidizer, performic acid and water but which works totally differently from that shown by applicant. smithowski et al, u.s. pat. no. 5,810,944, shows a cleansing concentrate for cleaning surgical instruments which incorporates sulphate salt together with other aids. however, this cleanser requires many steps as discussed above and does not contain the unique combination of compounds shown by applicant. the u.s. patent to scoville, u.s. pat. no. 6,235,692, discusses a foaming enzyme composition for cleaning instruments which contains antimicrobial agents and a corrosion inhibitor. it works differently than the instant invention. u.s. pat. no. 6,387,858, to shah et al, discusses the same problem that applicant is solving but, as stated above, treats the instruments with a gel to prevent the residue from hardening. simpson, u.s. pat. no. 6,420,332, shows a blood and stain remover, which includes a protease, an amylase, an enzyme having calcium, alcohol and an alkanolamine, a non-ionic detergent and water. while this solution may include some of the compounds disclosed by applicant, it is very different in addition, there are the references cited in the co-pending application of the same inventor, ser. no. 10/813,966 which are discussed and argued therein and are listed as follows: u.s. pat. no. 6-239,089cala et alu.s. pat. no. 5,451,342desai, s. g.u.s. pat. no. 3,829,563barry et alus h0,001,818potgeister et al patent application publications the application by kott et al, no 2002,0103096, discloses a cleaning surfactant composition comprising an alkylarylsulfonate surfactant system having two isomers, different from that disclosed by applicant. statutory invention registrations registration no. h1467, to prieto et al, relates to a detergent containing an active surface composition with nonionic surfactant components and an alkyl sulfate anionic surfactant component. this is used as a general cleaning detergent for heavy duty use and does not address the problem addressed by applicant. registration h1513, to murch et al, discloses a detergent composition having olecoyl sarcosinate and polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactants for improved cleaning function for general laundry cleaning. registration h1776, to linard, shows an enzyme containing detergent having a ph of 9.5 or greater. thus it is shown that none of the prior art patents, publications or registrations disclose treating the problem of body fluid waste and metallic ion residue adhering to medical instruments and items with the same unique detergent composition. general description the new instant enzymatic cleanser is formulated to remove all types of bio-burden, soil, body fluids and the metallic oxidescarbonates, and sulfides previously mentioned. tests have shown that all of these specific unwanted adherents are removed by the cleanser. the new enzymatic cleansers are formulated to remove all types of bio-burden, soil, body fluids and the metallic oxides (except aluminum oxide) carbonates and sulfides previously mentioned. aluminum oxide is the dull protective coating on aluminum and anodized oxide coating. the instant composition will not hurt the protective aluminum oxide coating on aluminum items as it does not contain the hydroxides or any other chemical that will react with aluminum oxide. it can remove all the residues mentioned previously as it contains enzymes for the body fluids not soluble in surfactants, such as soaps, and surfactants for oils and soil. it has inorganic and organic metallic ion binders, sequestering agents, for removing the metallic oxides, carbonates and sulfides, and it has enzyme activity enhancers and surfactant builders. these ingredients also make all of the items soaked in this cleanser residue free and the metals shiny with no white or gray film or spots. this is so due to the fact that the metallic ions are kept bonded to the sequestering agents that are soluble in water and the surfactants hold these and all of the other residue in suspension until the residue can be washed away with a simple water rinse, unlike all the existing cleansers and the ones discussed in the prior patents, publications and registrations. since this new formula cleans so thoroughly by stripping away all residue, including metallic ion film, and since it has a ph between 8 and 9 or 7 and 8.5 when diluted as directed (this depends on the hardness of the water it is diluted in) all the items are free of microbial contamination when cleaned in this new enzymatic cleanser. independent testing has shown that all items washed in these cleansers are microscopically clean after rinsing. the formula can produce a clear cleaning liquid. this formula is safe to use on all types of materials these items are typically constructed of, including plastic, glass and all metals, including aluminum. it works in this safe manner as it has no hydroxides, acids or corrosives and it has no strong, toxic or corrosive organic solvents. however, this cleanser is strong enough to even clean the inside of laparoscopes without using a tube scrubber either before or after soaking in an aqueous dilution of this formula for only a few minutes (2 to 5). the reason for this is that the activity of the enzymes and surfactants are greatly increased by the surfactant builders and enzyme enhancers in this formula. with this new cleanser all items can be cleaned with no pretreatment to keep them moist, no sonicating and no scrubbing either before or after soaking. it cleans all items from 2 to 5 minutes using a dilution rate of one half of the rate of all other similar cleansers. the dilution rate is one half ounce per gallon of water for all but extreme cases like synovial fluid from joint surgeries and body fluid clogged laparoscopes, where one ounce per gallon of water is recommended. this new cleanser works faster, cleans better, with less product and with only soaking because of its surfactant builders and enzyme enhancers. it is low-foaming as none of the ingredients will support sustained foaming in water when used as directed. all ingredients are biodegradable according to the manufacturers product specification and chemical reference books like the merck index. this cleanser/detergent is non-toxic and environmentally safe when used as directed (one ounce per gallon of water maximum) and all individual ingredient concentrations are below city water out-flow limits in most instances. this is based on the typical amount of hospital out-flow (over 1000 gallons) and typical city out-flow concentration limits (112.5 parts per million maximum per the city of roanoke, va., water treatment facility, for instance) of the regulated ingredients (sodium tripolyphosphate). it is nontoxic, when used as directed, based on each ingredients material safety sheet. with the improved cleaning product the technique of cleaning involves the soiled instruments (usually stained with body fluids) are either sprayed with an enzymatic detergent to keep the soil from drying out and the cleaning process is started or the instruments are put into a tray. the technicians handling the cleaning process will fill a deep sink or sonicator with fairly warm tap water (100 to 110° f.) and then add the improved detergent at a ratio of from ¼ to 1 oz. detergent per gallon of water in the sink or sonicator, depending on the particular hospitals cleaning procedure, which concentration is used and how soiled the instruments are. it is recommended to add the detergent after the water is put into the sink or sonicator and then stirring the mix to obtain a uniform consistency. some prefer to add the detergent first which produces more sudsing action. either way is acceptable because of this improved formulation. the tray of instruments is then added to the water/detergent mix and let soak for some 2 to 5 minutes depending on the amount of body fluids that are on the instruments and how long they have been sitting after being soiled. if the soil is allowed to dry on the instruments it may take more than 2 minutes soaking time. the instruments are then rinsed with tap or deionized water and if clean enough they will be prepared for sterilization. using the instant detergent they are ready to be sterilized but most hospitals still perform a further washing. the instruments are then put into an automatic washer, which is specially designed for washing instruments. the automatic washers are usually set up to do a soaking cycle, a washing cycle and a rinsing, cycle. the soaking cycle will have an enzymatic detergent added as the water is being added. with the new improved detergent usually one-eighth to one oz. per gallon of water is added. the washing cycle will have an enzymatic detergent or non-enzymatic detergent added, at the same ratio of one eighth to one oz., and the rinsing cycle is usually de-ionized water. then the instruments are prepared for sterilizing. the instant detergent without enzymes is used for the automatic washers. the normal concentrated version (with enzymes) is used for the spray, in the soaking process, sonic baths and, on occasion, in the automatic washers. there is one enzymatic detergent and one non-enzymatic detergent used and the latter one is only used in the automatic washer. objects of the invention accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new improved cleansing composition for medical instruments and items, and it is another object of this invention to provide a medical instrument cleanser that requires no pretreatment to keep them moist, nor any pretreatment with gels, and it is still another object of this invention to provide an improved medical instrument cleanser that does not require any sonicating, and it is a further object of this invention to provide a medical instrument cleanser which does not require any scrubbing of the instruments before or after cleaning, and a still further object of the invention is to provide a cleanser for medical and animal operative instruments and items that will remove all body-fluid residue and metallic oxides, carbonates and sulfides therefrom in an efficient manner, and another object of this invention is to provide a biodegradable, low-foaming non-toxic, cleansing agent for medical instruments and items, and a further object of this invention is to provide a superior low-foaming cleansing agent for medical instruments with a balanced ratio of ingredients to produce superior cleansing, and a yet further object of this invention is to provide an improved medical instrument and item cleanser having calcium chloride, sodium formate, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium xylene sulfonate, anionic and nonionic surfactants, a protease enzyme and a amylase enzyme. these and other objects will become clear when reference is had to the accompanying specific description and examples. specific description when used as directed (one ounce per gallon of water maximum) all individual ingredient concentrations are below city water out flow limits. this is based on the usage rate of this cleanser of one half ounce per gallon of water (0.2 grams total phosphate) and the typical city limit of an average of 3.75 pounds total phosphate per day (1701 grams) maximum per the roanoke, va. water treatment facility) of the regulated ingredients (sodium tripolyphosphate). it is nontoxic, when used as directed, based on each ingredient material safety data sheet. it is also odorless and the instruments need no lubricant when used as directed. the first preferred embodiment of the invention is as follows in phase i the following are mixed together. the composition of the cleanser includes 64 to 68%, by weight, of water as the main solvent. one to two percent, by weight, of sodium formate is employed as an enzyme stabilizer, buffering agent and to solubilize trivalent metallic ions which help remove the white and gray film from the instruments and items being cleaned. from 0.1 to 0.3%, by weight, of calcium chloride. from 0.1 to 0.3%, by weight, of calcium chloride to help activate and stabilize the enzymes, calcium for protease and chlorine for amylase. the chloride is also a source of chloride ion which helps activate amylase enzymes. it is a surfactant builder that greatly increases the cleaning ability of the surfactants. sodium tripolyphosphate, 4 to 6% by weight, is used to work as a buffer which greatly increases the cleaning ability of surfactants. it is a sequestering agent for removing metallic ions like calcium and magnesium carbonates, other oxides and sulfides. it also acts as a rust inhibitor and therefore, keeps the instruments from needing a lubricant. from 9 to 11%, by weight, of sodium xylene sulfonate as a hydrotropic nonionic surfactant to improve the solubility properties of water. all of the foregoing ingredients are mixed together until all the solids are dissolved. in phase 2, the following are mixed with the mixture of phase i. three to five percent, by weight, of protease enzyme to remove protein based materials, such a blood, by hydrolysis. amylase enzyme, from 1 to 3%, by weight, to remove carbohydrate based materials (sugars, starches, celluloses) by hydrolysis. this also increases the rate of protease enzyme hydrolysis reaction. these enzymes are then added to the mixture of phase 1. in phase 3, the following are added together and then added to phase i after the enzymes are added. alkoxylated isopropanolamide, from 9 to 11%, by weight, a nonionic surfactant, used as a wetting agent with no foaming and high metallic cleaning capacity. it is also compatable with high ph solutions and enzymes. from 0.5 to 1.5% of a sodium alkane sulfonate, sodium capryl sulfonate mixture. this is an anionic surfactant to augment the nonionic surfactants, improving the wetting and cleaning capacities. this is also hydrotropic, low foaming and aids in stability. approximately 0.1%, by weight, of a fragrance to give the mixture a pleasant odor. these ingredients are combined and then added to the combined phase 1 and phase 2 mixture. the second preferred embodiment 1. initially, 50 to 58% water is used as the main solvent. 2. 0.5 to 2% sodium formate are added as an enzyme stabilizer, buffering agent which solubilizes trivalent metallic ions which helps remove the white and gray film from the items being cleaned. 3. 0.1 to 0.3% calcium chloride is added as a source of calcium to help activate and stabilize the enzymes, calcium for protease and chlorine for amylase. it is also a source of chloride ion which helps activate amylase enzymes. 4. 0.5 to 2.5% sodium tripolyphosphate to work as a buffer to keep the ph near 1 10 which stabilizes the enzymes. it acts as a builder which greatly increases the c cleaning ability of surfactants. it is also a sequestering agent for removing metallic ions like calcium and magnesium carbonates, other oxides and sulfides. 5. 15 to 20% hydrotropic surfactant (sodium xylene sulfonate or sodium-octy sulfate) to improve the solubility properties of water. 6. 2 to 5% protease enzyme to remove protein based materials (i.e., blood) by hydrolysis. 7. 0.9 to 2.5% amylase enzyme to remove carbohydrate based materials (i.e., sugars, starches and celluloses) by hydrolysis. this action also increases the rate of the protease enzyme hydrolysis reaction. 8. 4 to 5% (alkoxylated isopropanolamide or dehypon ls 54) nonionic surfactant to be used as a cleaning and wetting agent with no foaming and high metallic cleaning action. it is also compatible with high ph solutions and enzymes. 9. 3 to 5% lauryl alcohol alkoxylate to adjust the hlb upward to improve the solubility properties of the lipophilic organics. 10. 0.4 to 0.8% of a sodium alkane sulfonate, mixture as an organic solubilizer it is an anionic surfactant to augment the nonionic surfactants, improving the wetting and cleaning action. it is also hydrotropic, low foaming and aids in stability. 11. 1 to 2% sodium borate decahydrate to improve the enzyme long term stability. 12. 3 to 10% propylene glycol to improve the enzyme long term stability and lower the freezing point. 13. approximately 0.1% propylparaben as a preservative. 14. approximately 0.1% methylparaben as a preservative. 15. approximately 0.1% of a fragrance to give the mixture a pleasant odor. in preparing the product, phase i equals half of the water (hot) combined with ingredients 2 and 3. phase 2 involves mixing the other half of the water (hot) with ingredients 4 and 5. ingredients 8, 9, 10, 13, and 20% of ingredient 11 are combined separately and then added to make up the rest of phase 2. phase 3 involves mixing ingredients 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 and the remaining 80% of ingredient 11. cool phase 1 and then add phase 3 to it. cool phase 2 and slowly add to it the combined phases 1 and 3. improved embodiment it has been found that some adjustment in the ratios and proportions lead to improved results. the alkoxylates and their ratio changes and the addition of a defoamer were needed to reduce the sudsing (foaming) in the sink, sonicator and automatic washers. this allows the user to be able to add the water in the sink during and after the detergent without having too much foam. it also reduced the foaming in the automatic washers so that the instant detergents could be used in all brands of washers without excessive foaming causing drainage problems in some cases. simultaneously it increased the cloud point (the temperature at which oil and water or water based chemicals separate into different layers). it needed to be above 105° f. for warm storage spaces and now they are stable above 105° f. it was found that after several months some of the minerals would start to precipitate or come out of solution and collect on the bottom of the container. this was accomplished by reducing certain of the least soluble minerals (sodium and sodium tripolyphosphate), eliminating the calcium chloride and without hurting the performance characteristics of the detergents. use of a better alkoxylate solubilizer (namely hre 40 and as 48) also helped. these changes actually improved the performance of the detergents. now only one enzymatic and one base detergent are needed. the two detergents which are used in this process are as follows: the base detergent raw material%%water94.980-96sodium tripolyphosphate1.20.5-1.5propylparaben0.0020.002-0.004methylparaben0.0020.002-0.004ls 541.21-3sxs0.70.1-1.0aas481.21-2.5r1310.80.5-1.5organo-silicone0.010.005-0.02 eco-zyme (auto) raw material%% rangesodium formate0.170.1-0.5sodium tripolyphosphate1.260.4-2.0sodium borate1.141-2ls 544.03-7sxs1.140.1-2protease (660)2.51.5-4amylase (l-340)1.50.5-2.5methyl paraben0.040.03-0.1propyl paraben0.040.03-0.1hre 4013.8210-15dehypon e 124-901.941-4fragrance0.020.005-1water61.5855-65propylene glycol6.105-12nf 51.361-2as482.01.0-4.0r1312.741.0-4.0organo-silicone0.040.02-0.06 the specific ingredient, range and purpose of each ingredient (in the enzymatic formulation ecozyme is as follows water (55 to 65%) water is present in this formulations from 55 to 65% depending on the specific formulation. water is the main or base solvent in this formulation. it is the main ingredient that holds everything together and keeps the solution in a liquid form. too little water and the preservatives and minerals (sodium formate, sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium borate) will fall out of solution collecting on the bottom as a hard solid. too much water and the enzymes are activated and destroy one another. sodium formate (0.1 to 0.5%) this ingredient helps keep the enzymes from activating until the solution is diluted with more water. it constitutes a buffering agent to keep the ph stable as a slightly alkaline or basic solution. it also reacts with trivalent metal ions found in hard water (tap water) and can collect on or bond to ion based (stainless steel) instruments. this keeps those metal ions in the tap water from interfering with the enzymes ability to react with body fluids and takes those already on the instruments off of them giving them more of a shine. sodium tripolyphosphate or stpp (0.4 to 2.0%) this is a stronger buffer than the sodium formate making sure the ph stays alkaline or basic. the enzymes we use need to be in an alkaline solution to keep them from breaking down during storage. the stpp is also a very good sequestering agent in that it bonds to and removes the metal ions in hard water not removed by the sodium formate (like the hard water deposits found on faucets and bathroom walls and other metal oxides) keeping them off of the cleaning equipment and instruments. it also removes those water deposits and other staining oxides that have already stuck to the cleaning equipment and instruments. it is also a builder for the surfactants in that it helps the surfactants work faster by removing the metal oxides that can bond to surfactants reducing their ability to make oils soluble in water. when put into warm or hot water stpp will partially change into a mild form of phosphoric acid which is used to remove rust and rustproof iron based metals like stainless steel. nonionic surfactant solubilizer alkoxylate (hre 40 or polyethylene glycol 40) (10 to 15%) this ingredient is used to increase the capacity of water to hold more of the inorganic salts in solution (items 2, 4, 13 and 14). it does this by opening up the water molecule to a wider angle between the hydrogen atoms. this makes the water molecule more linear and less v shaped. this allows water and oil mixtures to stay together better instead of separating over time. this particular surfactant also increases the cloud point or temperature where the oil and water elements separate into different layers. protease enzyme (1.5 to 4.0%). this ingredient digests protein molecules like blood and most body fluids. they start working when diluted with water to approximately 65% depending on the temperature and what stabilizers are used. calcium, found in all tap water, acts as a catalyst by helping it break down the proteins. amylase enzyme (0.5 to 2.5%) amylase breaks down certain carbohydrates like starches and celluloses into sugars which dissolve better in water making them easier to wash away. it does this by hydrolysis. hydrolysis is the reaction of water with other substances to make a different substance. the amylase makes the water react with the starches and celluloses. fatty alcohol alkoxylated nonionic surfactant (dehypon ls 54) (3.0% to 7.0%) this ingredient is an environmentally safe, non-toxic defoamer and wetting agent. this one is slightly more attracted to oil than water, thus the low foaming. it is, however, temperature sensitive such that it works better at higher temperatures. this means that by adjusting the ratio, the temperature of least foaming will be adjusted as well. this is used to make the maximum defoaming action occur at between 110° f. and 125° f. so it can be used in the soaking process at a lower temperature and in the automatic washing machine at a higher temperature. this also affects the “as is” or undiluted detergent cloud point as recited above so that ratio must be controlled. alkyl poly glucoside nonionic surfactant (simulsol as48) (1% to 4%) this is another environmentally safe non-toxic low foaming solubilizing agent. this one is also slightly more attracted to oil than water, thus the low foaming. it is, however, similar to the hre 40 in that it is a solubilizer. this is used to keep the organic ingredients in solution with the water without taking away the solubility properties of the water for the sodium based inorganic salts (sodium borate, sodium formate and sodium tripolyphosphate) alkoxylated nonionic surfactant (puronic 31r1) (1-4%) this ingredient is a surfactant that is much more attracted to oil than water which helps to control the foaming action when diluted but must be used in small amounts or it will separate out of solution. it is a very strong wetting agent used for fast acting metallic cleaning action which is therefore a booster or helps the enzymes work faster and more thoroughly. it will lower the hlb or the ability of the water and oils staying together which is where the two next described ingredients are helpful. alcohol alkoxylate (dephypon e 124-90) (1.5 to 9%) this ingredient allows the alkoxylated pluronic 31r1 nonionic surfactant to work without coming out of solution. as with the hre 40 it opens up the water molecule so it can hold more inorganic salts, this is attracted to both water and oil more equally. it has a higher but not too high hbl which allows the lower hlb surfactants, like the alkoxylated pluronic 31r1 nonionic surfactant to stay in solution by making a stable emulsion keeping the hlb surfactant from separating. emulsions are substances mixed together that cannot become a true solution and will, over time, separate into different layers. sodium alkane sulfonate (sodium xylene sulfonate or sxs) (0.05% to 2.0%) this is an anionic surfactant that acts as a solubilizer. it is needed to help the water hold the cationic ions in solution better. at too high a concentration it can hurt the protease but at low levels it is compatible. it also aids in wetting surfaces and speeds up the cleaning action of other surfactants. it is low foaming and helps keep the oil/water mixture together by giving the water more strength to hold onto the less water soluble ingredients. sodium borate decahydrate (borax) (1 to 2%) this ingredient's main use is to bond with the propylene glycol creating a propylene diol that weakly bonds to the enzymes. this weak bond keeps the enzymes from breaking down or activating which keeps the enzymes in a dormant like state until diluted with enough water to make a solution that is greater than about 70% water. more water and heat or hot water and the bond breaks faster. this keeps the enzymes stable for about 18 months. the enzyme used in the present invention was tested to determine the dapu level based on a control and a alkaline protease unit and found that the enzymes were stable for 18 months. in addition, field testing in hospitals was carried out. sodium borate is a fungicide preservative and cleaning booster. as a booster it has some cleaning properties of its own so it helps the surfactants work better. propylene glycol (5 to 12%) this ingredient bonds strongly to water so it keeps the water away from the enzymes which protects the enzymes from being activated by water. it also bonds with the sodium borate to create a diol that weakly bonds with the enzymes giving even more stability to the enzymes. propylene glycol also lowers the solutions freezing point and in this case keeps it from freezing at temperatures below minus 10° f. it also helps keep the other less water soluble ingredients, the parabens and sodium borate, in solution. propylparaben (0.03 to 0.1%) this ingredient is used as a preservative in many household detergents and some foods to prevent the growth of fungi. because each type of paraben is affective on a particular type of fungi it is used in conjunction with other parabens such as methylparaben, described below, to kill more types of fungi. methylparaben (0.03 to 0.1%) this is a preservative used in many household detergents and some foods to prevent the growth of fungi. because each type of paraben is affective on a specific type of fungi it is used in conjunction with other parabens such as propylparaben as described above to kill more types of fungi. fragrance (0.005 to 1%) a fragrance is used to hide or cover the unpleasant odor that comes from the enzymes. since enzymes are produced from bacteria they have a bacteria or protein (urea) odor which is not harmful but unpleasant. a mild, pleasing fragrance was developed to cover up this odor without adding odor of its own. organo-silicone (0.03 to 0.06%) this is an organic base silicone that is soluble in water in small amounts and biodegradable. when the detergent is diluted in water, it lowers the surface tension so that suds cannot form. steps in the blending of the ingredients during phase 1 of the process, water in the range of 38 to 45% is added to the ingredients sodium formate and sodium borate. during phase 2, the hot water content is from 55 to 62% and combined with the sodium tripolyphosphate (stpp) until dissolved. the following ingredients are then added and mixed: nonionic surfactant solubilizer alkoxylate fatty alcohol alkoxylated nonionic surfactant (dehypon ls 54) alkyl poly glucoside nonionic surfactant (simulsol as48) alkoxylated nonionic surfactant (pluronic 31r1) alcohol alkoxylate (dehypon e124-90) sodium alkane sulfonate (sodium xylene sulfonate or sxs) fragrance defoamer (organo-silicone) next the following ingredients are added together as phase 3: protease enzyme amylase enzyme polypropylene glycol propylparaben methylparaben phase i is then cooled and the phase 3 mix is added to it. phase 2 mix is cooled and the combined phase 1 and 3 mixes are added to it. the alkoxylates from the parent case have been changed to other alkoxylates to reduct foaming and adjust the cloud point (the temperature of the solution turns cloudy or phase separation begins). to remedy this the percentages of the alkoxylates were adjusted to get the same solution temperature stability and cleansing properties that were desired. the reasons for adjusting the percentages from the parent case were as follows: 55 to 65% water. stability testing over several months showed that more water was needed along with solubilizers to keep the inorganic salts in solution and to keep the solution from separating into two layers and to improve the shelf life any more water would tend to reduce the life of the protease enzyme. 0.1 to 0.5% sodium formate a reduction in the sodium formate was made to accommodate the need for a reduced concentrated formula for automatic washers after soaking. also to reduce sodium content to improve solubility and increase shelf life. 0.4 to 2.0% sodium tripolyphosphate (stpp) the same excellent cleaning results were obtainable with less sodium tripolyphosphate. by lessening this ingredient it was found that it did not require more solubilizers and water to keep it in solution. 10 to 15% nonionic surfactant solubilizer alkoxylate (hre 40) or polyethylene glycol 40) the stability studies showed that more of a solubilizer with a higher cloud point was needed so that the product would tolerate higher storage and shipping temperatures for a longer time period. this also improved the solubility properties for the inorganic salts. a nonionic surfactant, hre 40, from cognis, was found to be the best choice and most compatible. it also allowed us to reduce the percentage of sxs or sodium alkane sulfonate. 1.5 to 4.0% protease enzyme as with the sodium formate, the automatic washers did not need as much protease enzyme to finish the cleaning process after the soaking process. while some customers wished a more concentrated form so that they could use less at a time. it was found that only one enzymatic formula was needed but used at different amounts per gallon of water depending on where is was used (sink or automatic washer). 0.5 to 2.5% amylase enzyme. the range of from 1 to 3% of amylase enzyme is fine but more than is needed, so a slight reduction to 0.5 to 2.5% was used. 3.0% to 7.0% fatty alcohol alkoxylated nonionic surfactant (dehypon ls 54); 1-4% alkyl poly glucoside nonionic surfactant (simulsol as48) 1.0 to 4% alcohol alkoxylate (dehypon e 124-90) it was found through field testing that the foaming needed to be reduced and to decrease the amount of hot water cloud point to stop excess foaming in the automatic washer. consequently, the alkoxylate surfactant ratios were adjusted and two other surfactants from cognis, dehypon e124-90, was added and the bioterg from stepan from the parent case was eliminated. the dehypon ls54 helped reduce the foaming and provided a higher cloud point to keep it from separating at higher temperatures during storage. the simulsol as48 gave less foaming by adjusting the diluted cloud point down when in hot water and improved overall solubility properties. the dehypon e 124-90 helped reduce foaming overall when used for soaking and automatic dishwashers. 1.0% to 4.0% alkoxylated isopropanolamide nonionic surfactant (pluronic 312r1) through stability studies it was found that the alkoxylate isopropanolamide had to be replaced to keep it from separating. it was replaced with pluronic 31r1 to reduce foaming and it is an excellent wetting agent for use on soiled metals. it is also more compatible with the formulation therefore stopped the separation and improved wetting properties. 0.1 to 2.0% sodium alkane sulfonate (sodium xylene sulfonate or sxs) field tests and stability testing showed that the sxs (sodium xylene sulfonate) was better for reducing the foam than nf 12 from stepan which added to the foaming problems. when sxs was used in conjunction with the hre 40 it improved the solubility and protease stability over time by reducing the amount of water. 1 to 2% sodium borate decahydrate (borax) the sodium borate decahydrate concentration did not need to be changed. it is still keeping the enzymes stable at this level. 5 to 12% propylene glycol stability testing showed that the percent of propylene glycol should be reduced to avoid separation issues. separation occurred after several months if there was too much propylene glycol. 0.03 to 0.1% propylparaben 0.03 to 0.1% methylparaben stability testing showed that the percent parabens was slightly too high for the solubility properties of the parabens. only half as much was needed to preserve the product. 0.005 to 1% fragrance the new and different ratios of the alkoxylates reduced the unpleasant odor so much that the amount of fragrance was also reduced. 0.02 to 0.04% organo-silicone a very small amount of this water soluble defoamer was needed to reduce excessive foaming with strong agitation as in automatic washers. having described a first preferred embodiment of the invention followed by a description of a second preferred embodiment it will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art to come up with other modifications and changes that are covered by the scope of the appended claims.
|
091-126-065-456-477
|
JP
|
[
"JP",
"EP",
"US"
] |
G02B21/00,H04N5/232,G02B21/36,G06K9/20,G06T3/40,G06T7/20,G06T11/60,G02B21/26
| 2016-09-26T00:00:00 |
2016
|
[
"G02",
"H04",
"G06"
] |
microscope imaging system
|
problem to be solved: to simultaneously grasp bonded images at a wide angle and a current field-of-view range under observation without using an electrically driven stage or a stage attached with an encoder.solution: a microscope imaging system 1 is provided that comprises: a stage 5 that loads a sample x and is movable in a direction orthogonal to an observation axis; an imaging unit 6 that shoots the sample x loaded in the stage 5 at a time interval; a motion vector calculation unit 9 that calculates a motion vector between two pieces of images acquired by the imaging unit 6; and an image creation unit 10 that bonds the image acquired by the imaging unit 6 at a current position where the motion vector is accumulated to create the bonded image, and creates a synthesis image having a display of the current position synthesized.selected drawing: figure 1
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a microscope imaging system comprising: a stage on which a sample is placed and that is movable in a direction intersecting an observation optical axis; an imaging unit that acquires an image of the sample placed on the stage at time intervals; a motion vector calculating unit that calculates a motion vector between two images acquired by the imaging unit; and an image generating unit that generates an overlapped image by overlapping the image acquired by the imaging unit with a current position where the motion vector is cumulatively added, and that also generates a composite image by combining display of the current position with the overlapped image. the microscope imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the motion vector calculating unit calculates a reliability of the calculated motion vector, wherein the microscope imaging system further comprises a control unit that controls the image generating unit to generate the overlapped image and the composite image if the calculated reliability exceeds a predetermined threshold value. the microscope imaging system according to claim 2, further comprising: a position searching unit that searches for a position of the image acquired by the imaging unit in the overlapped image generated by the image generating unit, wherein if the calculated reliability of the motion vector is smaller than or equal to the threshold value, the control unit stops the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image and causes the position searching unit to start searching, and wherein when the position of the image is detected by the position searching unit, the control unit controls the image generating unit to resume the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image using the detected position of the image as the current position. the microscope imaging system according to claim 3, wherein the position searching unit calculates a reliability of the detected position of the image, and wherein if the calculated reliability exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the control unit controls the image generating unit to resume the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image using the detected position of the image as the current position. the microscope imaging system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: a magnifying-power acquiring unit that acquires an optical magnifying power on the observation optical axis; and an image scale unit that adjusts a size of the image acquired by the imaging unit in accordance with the optical magnifying power acquired by the magnifying-power acquiring unit, wherein the image generating unit generates the overlapped image and the composite image by using the image adjusted by the image scale unit. the microscope imaging system according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising: a magnifying-power acquiring unit that acquires an optical magnifying power on the observation optical axis; and an image scale unit that adjusts a size of the image acquired by the imaging unit in accordance with the optical magnifying power acquired by the magnifying-power acquiring unit, wherein the position searching unit searches for the position by using the image adjusted by the image scale unit.
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{technical field} the present invention relates to microscope imaging systems. {background art} when observing a sample by using a microscope, the visual field that can be observed at one time is mainly determined by the magnifying power of an objective lens. as the magnifying power of the objective lens increases, the sample can be observed more finely, but the observation range becomes smaller. for the purpose of, for example, preventing an observation site of the sample from being overlooked, it is demanded that the entire image of the sample and the currently-observed visual field range be ascertained simultaneously. a known microscope imaging system, that is, a so-called virtual slide system, is equipped with an electrically-driven stage or an encoder-equipped stage and generates a wide-field-angle overlapped image by overlapping a plurality of still images acquired while shifting the visual field of the sample (for example, see patent literatures 1 and 2). by using positional information instructed to the electrically-driven stage or positional information detected by the encoder of the encoder-equipped stage, this microscope imaging system can display the currently-observed visual field range over the entire image of the sample according to the wide-field-angle overlapped image. {citation list} {patent literature} {ptl 1} japanese unexamined patent application, publication no. 2009-14939 {ptl 2} japanese unexamined patent application, publication no. 2010-134374 {summary of invention} {technical problem} however, the microscope imaging system according to patent literature 1 or 2 has a large-scale configuration since it uses the positional information instructed to the electrically-driven stage or the positional information detected by the encoder equipped in the stage and is thus problematic in terms of high cost. on the other hand, a microscope having a manually-driven stage is problematic in that a position detector, such as an encoder, which detects the current position of the stage, needs to be added. the present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to provide a microscope imaging system with which a wide-field-angle overlapped image and a currently-observed visual field range can be simultaneously ascertained without using an electrically-driven stage or an encoder-equipped stage. {solution to problem} in order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides the following solutions. according to an aspect of the present invention, a microscope imaging system includes: a stage on which a sample is placed and that is movable in a direction intersecting an observation optical axis; an imaging unit that acquires an image of the sample placed on the stage at time intervals; a motion vector calculating unit that calculates a motion vector between two images acquired by the imaging unit; and an image generating unit that generates an overlapped image by overlapping the image acquired by the imaging unit with a current position where the motion vector is cumulatively added, and that also generates a composite image by combining display of the current position with the overlapped image. according to this aspect, by placing the sample on the stage and using the imaging unit to acquire the image of the sample at time intervals while using the stage to move the sample in the direction orthogonal to the observation optical axis, a motion vector between two acquired images is calculated by the motion vector calculating unit every time two images are acquired. then, by cumulatively adding the calculated motion vector, the current position is determined. the image generating unit subsequently generates an overlapped image by overlapping the acquired image with the determined current position, and also generates a composite image by combining the display of the current position with the overlapped image. accordingly, the current position of the stage can be calculated on the basis of the image acquired by the imaging unit without using an electrically-driven stage or an encoder-equipped stage. therefore, even with a manually-driven stage, a large-scale device for detecting the position is not necessary, and a wider-range sample image and a currently-observed visual field range can be simultaneously ascertained in accordance with the overlapped image combined with the display of the current position. in the above aspect, the motion vector calculating unit may calculate a reliability of the calculated motion vector, and the microscope imaging system may further include a control unit that controls the image generating unit to generate the overlapped image and the composite image if the calculated reliability exceeds a predetermined threshold value. accordingly, if the reliability of the motion vector is low, such as when the motion vector is not accurately calculated due to a large movement of the stage while two images are being acquired, it is not possible to accurately generate the overlapped image or calculate the current position. therefore, the control unit causes the image generating unit to generate an overlapped image and a composite image only when the reliability of the motion vector is high, thereby enabling more accurate observation. furthermore, in the above aspect, the microscope imaging system may further include a position searching unit that searches for a position of the image acquired by the imaging unit in the overlapped image generated by the image generating unit. if the calculated reliability of the motion vector is smaller than or equal to the threshold value, the control unit may stop the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image and may cause the position searching unit to start searching. when the position of the image is detected by the position searching unit, the control unit may control the image generating unit to resume the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image using the detected position of the image as the current position. accordingly, if the reliability of the motion vector is low and the current position is lost, the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image based on an inaccurate current position are stopped. then, the position searching unit searches for the position of the acquired image in the previously-generated overlapped image. subsequently, the generating process of the overlapped image, the calculating process of the current position, and the generating process of the composite image are performed using the detected position of the image as the proper current position, thereby enabling more accurate observation. furthermore, in the above aspect, the position searching unit may calculate a reliability of the detected position of the image. if the calculated reliability exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the control unit may control the image generating unit to resume the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image using the detected position of the image as the current position. accordingly, the generating processes of the overlapped image and the composite image are resumed only if a proper current position is detected in the searching process of the current position performed by the position searching unit, thereby enabling more accurate observation. furthermore, in the above aspect, the microscope imaging system may further include a magnifying-power acquiring unit that acquires an optical magnifying power on the observation optical axis and an image scale unit that adjusts a size of the image acquired by the imaging unit in accordance with the optical magnifying power acquired by the magnifying-power acquiring unit. the image generating unit may generate the overlapped image and the composite image by using the image adjusted by the image scale unit. accordingly, even when the visual field changes as a result of a change in the optical magnifying power on the observation optical axis due to, for example, replacement of the observation lens, the image scale unit adjusts the size of the image in accordance with the optical magnifying power acquired by the magnifying-power acquiring unit, so that the generating process of the overlapped image, the calculating process of the motion vector, and the generating process of the composite image can be performed by using the image adjusted to the proper size. furthermore, in the above aspect, the microscope imaging system may further include a magnifying-power acquiring unit that acquires an optical magnifying power on the observation optical axis and an image scale unit that adjusts a size of the image acquired by the imaging unit in accordance with the optical magnifying power acquired by the magnifying-power acquiring unit. the position searching unit may search for the position by using the image adjusted by the image scale unit. accordingly, even when the visual field changes as a result of a change in the optical magnifying power on the observation optical axis due to, for example, replacement of the observation lens, the image scale unit adjusts the size of the image in accordance with the optical magnifying power acquired by the magnifying-power acquiring unit, so that it is possible to accurately search for the current position by using the image adjusted to the proper size. {advantageous effects of invention} the present invention is advantageous in that a wide-field-angle overlapped image and a currently-observed visual field range can be simultaneously ascertained without using an electrically-driven stage or an encoder-equipped stage. {brief description of drawings} { fig. 1} fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a microscope imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. { fig. 2} fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the microscope imaging system in fig. 1 . { fig. 3a} fig. 3a illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process in fig. 2 . { fig. 3b} fig. 3b illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process in fig. 2 . { fig. 3c} fig. 3c illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process in fig. 2 . { fig. 3d} fig. 3d illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process in fig. 2 . { fig. 3e} fig. 3e illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process in fig. 2 . { fig. 3f} fig. 3f illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process in fig. 2 . { fig. 3g} fig. 3g illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process in fig. 2 . { fig. 4} fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a modification of the microscope imaging system in fig. 1 . { fig. 5a} fig. 5a illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with a process performed by the microscope imaging system in fig. 4 . { fig. 5b} fig. 5b illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process performed by the microscope imaging system in fig. 4 . { fig. 5c} fig. 5c illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process performed by the microscope imaging system in fig. 4 . { fig. 5d} fig. 5d illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process performed by the microscope imaging system in fig. 4 . { fig. 5e} fig. 5e illustrates an example of an image updated in accordance with the process performed by the microscope imaging system in fig. 4 . {description of embodiments} a microscope imaging system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. as shown in fig. 1 , the microscope imaging system 1 according to this embodiment includes a microscope 2, an image processing unit 3 that processes an image acquired by the microscope 2, and a display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display) 4 that displays a composite image generated by the image processing unit 3 and a live image acquired by the microscope 2. the microscope 2 includes a stage 5 capable of three-dimensionally moving a sample x placed thereon, an imaging unit 6 that acquires an image of the sample x placed on the stage 5, and an objective lens 7 an observation optical axis of which is disposed in the vertical direction. the imaging unit 6 includes a camera 8 that acquires an image of light collected by the objective lens 7 from the sample x. the camera 8 acquires a live image by acquiring images of the sample x at a predetermined frame rate and sends frame images constituting the live image to the image processing unit 3. a live image is a moving image constituted of a plurality of consecutive frame images for display. the image processing unit 3 is a calculator using, for example, a general-purpose personal computer, a workstation, a built-in processor, a field programmable gate array (fpga), a digital signal processor (dsp), or a general-purpose computing-on-graphics processing unit (gpgpu). the image processing unit 3 includes: a motion vector calculating unit 9 that calculates a motion vector from the relative position between two consecutive frame images in the time-axis direction, among the images sent from the camera 8; an image generating unit 10 that generates an overlapped image by sequentially overlapping the images sent from the camera 8 and also generates a composite image by combining the display of the current position with the overlapped image; a storage unit 11 that stores the overlapped image; a position searching unit 12 that searches for the position of the last image sent from the camera 8 in the overlapped image; and a navigation unit (control unit) 13 that controls the position searching unit 12 and the image generating unit 10. the motion vector calculating unit 9 calculates a motion vector extending from an image one frame before the last frame image to the last frame image by using a known technique, such as a phase-only correlation method based on spatial frequency or template matching, as typified by the sum-of-absolute difference (sad) or normalized cross-correlation (ncc). as an alternative to this embodiment in which the motion vector calculating unit 9 calculates a motion vector extending from one frame image before the last frame image to the last frame image, for example, the motion vector calculating unit 9 may temporarily store a plurality of frame images in a memory device in the image processing unit 3 and calculate a motion vector extending from an image four frames before to an image three frames before. in other words, the motion vector calculating unit 9 may calculate a motion vector extending between consecutive frames in the entire range of frames from the first frame to the last frame. in addition to calculating a motion vector, the motion vector calculating unit 9 calculates the reliability of the calculated motion vector. as the reliability, for example, an ncc correlation coefficient or a peak value of the phase-only correlation method may be used. the calculated motion vector and the calculated reliability value are output to the navigation unit 13. the image generating unit 10 generates a new overlapped image by overlapping the last frame image sent from the camera 8 with the overlapped image stored in the storage unit 11 in accordance with the motion vector calculated by the motion vector calculating unit 9. the generated new overlapped image is sent to the storage unit 11 so that the stored overlapped image is updated. the storage unit 11 is a freely-chosen storage device, such as a memory device, a hard disk drive (hdd), or a solid state drive (ssd). furthermore, the image generating unit 10 generates, for example, a rectangular box (rectangular in this embodiment) indicated by a bold line in fig. 3a and displaying the current position of the stage 5 calculated by the navigation unit 13, which will be described later, generates a composite image by combining the generated box with the overlapped image, and outputs the composite image to the display unit 4. moreover, the image generating unit 10 controls execution and stoppage of the overlapped-image generating process and the composite-image combining process in accordance with a command from the navigation unit 13. the position searching unit 12 searches for a position that matches the last frame image sent from the camera 8 in the overlapped image stored in the storage unit 11 by performing template matching. with regard to the template matching performed in the position searching unit 12, a known technique, such as sad or ncc, is used, as in the motion vector calculating unit 9. the position searching unit 12 performs a position searching process and also calculates the reliability of the detected position. as the reliability, for example, an ncc correlation value may be used. the navigation unit 13 executes a cumulative navigation process and a search navigation process. the cumulative navigation process involves stopping the process performed by the position searching unit 12 and causing the image generating unit 10 to operate. the search navigation process involves temporarily stopping the process performed by the image generating unit 10 and causing the position searching unit 12 to operate. the cumulative navigation process involves calculating the current position of the stage 5, that is, the position of the visual field currently being imaged, by cumulatively adding motion vectors input from the motion vector calculating unit 9. because a motion vector calculated by the motion vector calculating unit 9 extends from one frame image before the last frame image to the last frame image, which are acquired at a predetermined frame rate and are consecutive in the time-axis direction, and thus indicates the moving direction and the moving distance, the movement path of the stage 5 can be sequentially determined by cumulatively adding motion vectors obtained with respect to all sequentially-acquired frame images. the navigation unit 13 outputs the calculated current position of the stage 5 to the image generating unit 10, commands the image generating unit 10 to overlap the last frame image acquired by the camera 8 with the calculated current position of the stage 5 in the overlapped image stored in the storage unit 11 and also to generate a composite image in which a box indicating the current position of the stage 5 is combined with the overlapped image, and commands the image generating unit 10 to output the composite image to the display unit 4. in the search navigation process, the position searching unit 12 reads the overlapped image stored in the storage unit 11, searches for a position of an image in the overlapped image that matches the last frame image sent from the camera 8, and outputs the detected position in the overlapped image as the current position of the stage 5 to the navigation unit 13. the navigation unit 13 switches between the cumulative navigation process and the search navigation process on the basis of the reliability values output from the motion vector calculating unit 9 and the position searching unit 12. specifically, if the first reliability value output from the motion vector calculating unit 9 exceeds a first threshold value, the navigation unit 13 executes the cumulative navigation process. if the first reliability value is smaller than or equal to the first threshold value, the navigation unit 13 executes the search navigation process. if the second reliability value output from the position searching unit 12 exceeds a second threshold value, the navigation unit 13 stops the search navigation process and switches to the cumulative navigation process. if the second reliability value is smaller than or equal to the second threshold value, the navigation unit 13 continues with the search navigation process. the operation of the microscope imaging system 1 according to this embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described below. in order to observe the sample x in accordance with this embodiment, the sample x is placed on the stage 5, the stage 5 is manually operated to move the sample x to a position where the observation optical axis is aligned with a part of the sample x, and an imaging process is started by using the camera 8. when the imaging process using the camera 8 commences, the camera 8 continuously acquires a live image at a predetermined frame rate, and the live image is continuously displayed on the display unit 4. as shown in fig. 2 , when a start command for acquiring an overlapped image is made, the coordinates of the current position of the stage 5 are initialized, and the image generating unit 10 overlaps the first frame image sent from the camera 8 with the initialized coordinates of the current position so as to generate a first overlapped image (step s1). in this case, the generated overlapped image is sent to and stored in the storage unit 11. moreover, a composite image is generated by combining the overlapped image generated by the image generating unit 10 with a box indicating the current position of the stage 5 and is output to the display unit 4 so as to be displayed thereon, as shown in fig. 3a . when the user operates the microscope 2 to move the stage 5 in the horizontal direction, the sample image on the image sent from the camera 8 also moves. the image sent from the camera 8 is input to the motion vector calculating unit 9. the motion vector calculating unit 9 calculates a motion vector indicating the moving direction and the moving distance from an image one frame before (step s2), calculates a first reliability value indicating the reliability of the motion vector (step s3), and outputs the motion vector and the first reliability value to the navigation unit 13. the navigation unit 13 determines whether or not the first reliability value sent from the motion vector calculating unit 9 exceeds the first threshold value (step s4). if the first reliability value exceeds the first threshold value, the navigation unit 13 determines that the calculation result of the motion vector is reliable and executes the cumulative navigation process. in the cumulative navigation process, the motion vector calculated by the motion vector calculating unit 9 is cumulatively added to the coordinates of the latest current position so as to update the coordinates of the current position of the stage 5 (step s5). the navigation unit 13 sends the updated current position of the stage 5 to the image generating unit 10 and also commands the image generating unit 10 to execute an image overlapping process. the image generating unit 10 reads the overlapped image stored in the storage unit 11, overlaps the last frame image sent from the camera 8 with the coordinates of the current position input from the navigation unit 13 so as to generate a new overlapped image (step s6), and sends the generated overlapped image to the storage unit 11 so as to update the overlapped image (step s7). furthermore, the image generating unit 10 generates a composite image by combining the generated overlapped image with a box indicating the current position sent from the navigation unit 13 (step s8). the generated composite image is output to the display unit 4 so as to be displayed thereon, as shown in fig. 3b . then, it is determined whether or not the process is completed (step s9). if not completed, the process from step s2 is repeated. the process from step s2 to step s8 is the cumulative navigation process and is executed for each frame image sent from the camera 8 so that the composite image displayed on the display unit 4 is sequentially updated in accordance with an operation performed on the stage 5 by the user, as shown in figs. 3c and 3d . for example, if the first reliability value of the motion vector calculated by the motion vector calculating unit 9 becomes smaller than or equal to the first threshold value as a result of the user rapidly moving the stage 5 when the composite image displayed on the display unit 4 is in the state shown in fig. 3d , the navigation unit 13 determines in step s4 that the calculation result of the motion vector is not reliable and executes the search navigation process. in the search navigation process, the navigation unit 13 commands the image generating unit 10 to temporarily stop the process and the position searching unit 12 to commence a process. thus, new overlapped images are not generated. the position searching unit 12 reads the overlapped image stored in the storage unit 11, searches for a position in the overlapped image that matches the last frame image sent from the camera 8 (step s10), and calculates a second reliability value indicating the reliability of the search result (step s11). the navigation unit 13 determines whether or not the second reliability value calculated by the position searching unit 12 exceeds the second threshold value (step s12). if the second reliability value is smaller than or equal to the second threshold value, the navigation unit 13 determines that the search result is not reliable and causes the image generating unit 10 to output an overlapped image not combined with a box indicating the current position, as shown in fig. 3e , so as not to display a box and to inform the user that the position searching process is unsuccessful (step s13). then, the process from step s10 is repeated. if the second reliability value calculated by the position searching unit 12 exceeds the second threshold value in step s12, the navigation unit 13 determines that the search result is reliable, sends the position of the image detected by the position searching unit 12 as the current position of the stage 5 to the image generating unit 10, and causes the image generating unit 10 to resume the process (step s14). the process from step s10 to step s14 is the search navigation process. when the search navigation process is successful, the overlapped image and the box are displayed on the display unit 4, and the position of the box is updated in accordance with the position search result. if the position searching process is unsuccessful, the box is not displayed. the navigation unit 13 determines in step s15 whether or not the position searching process by the position searching unit 12 has been successful successively for a predetermined number of times (step s15), and determines that the restoration is successful if the position searching process has been successful. if it is determined that the restoration is not successful, the process from step s10 is repeated. if it is determined that the restoration is successful, it is determined whether or not the process is completed (step s16). if it is determined that the process is not completed, the process from step s1 for initializing the position of the image detected by the position searching unit 12 as the initial coordinates of the stage 5 is repeated. as a result, a composite image constituted of an overlapped image and a box is updated in accordance with an operation performed on the stage 5 by the user, as shown in figs. 3f and 3g . accordingly, the microscope imaging system 1 according to this embodiment is advantageous in that, since the current position of the stage 5 is calculated in accordance with an acquired image, a special device for detecting the current position of the stage 5, as in an electrically-driven stage or an encoder-equipped stage, is not necessary, thereby achieving a compact and low-cost configuration. it is also advantageous in that, with an overlapped image constituted of a plurality of images overlapped with each other, a relatively wider range of the sample x can be observed and the entire sample x can be observed without being overlooked since the position currently being imaged by the camera 8 is displayed in a box. in this embodiment, when the objective lens 7 disposed in the observation optical axis of the microscope 2 is to be switched to another one, a magnifying-power detecting unit (magnifying-power acquiring unit) 14 that detects the magnifying power of the objective lens 7 and an image scale unit 15 that adjusts the size of an image sent from the camera 8 on the basis of the magnifying power of the objective lens 7 may be provided, as shown in fig. 4 . for example, the magnifying-power detecting unit 14 is an encoder provided in a revolver 16 used for replacing the objective lens 7. the magnifying-power detecting unit 14 calculates the ratio (scale) between the magnifying power ms of the objective lens 7 when commencing an imaging process of an overlapped image and the current magnifying power mc of the objective lens 7 in accordance with the following expression: the image scale unit 15 uses a scale k sent from the magnifying-power detecting unit 14 to adjust the size of an image sent from the camera 8 to the scale k. in this image-size adjusting process, a common interpolation method, such as a bilinear or bicubic method, may be used. by using the scale k output from the magnifying-power detecting unit 14, the navigation unit 13 calculates the current position of the stage 5 by cumulatively adding a value obtained by multiplying the motion vector calculated by the motion vector calculating unit 9 by the scale k. moreover, the size of the box to be combined with the overlapped image is also changed by being multiplied by the scale k. the operation performed in a case where the objective lens 7 is changed while an overlapped image is being generated in the microscope imaging system 1 having this configuration will now be described. in the initial state, the objective lens 7 disposed in the observation optical axis has an optical magnifying power ms of 10×. when the navigation unit 13 commences a navigation process, the magnifying-power detecting unit 14 stores the magnifying power ms, and the scale k becomes equal to 1. in this case, the image scale unit 15 sends an image sent from the camera 8 directly to the image generating unit 10 and the position searching unit 12 without changing the size of the image, and a process similar to that described above is performed, as shown in figs. 5a to 5c . in a case where the user changes the objective lens 7 to another one having an optical magnifying power mc of 20× in fig. 5c , the scale k becomes equal to 0.5. thus, as shown in fig. 5d , the image scale unit 15 reduces the size of the image sent from the camera 8 to 1/2 and sends the image to the image generating unit 10, and the navigation unit 13 reduces the size of the motion vector sent from the motion vector calculating unit 9 to 1/2 and updates the current position of the stage 5. thus, even after the optical magnifying power of the objective lens 7 is switched from 10× to 20×, the overlapped image is updated in accordance with the image having the reduced size, and a box indicating the current position of the stage 5 is displayed in accordance with the box having the reduced size, as shown in fig. 5e . in the search navigation process, an image whose size is adjusted by the image scale unit 15 in accordance with the magnifying power of the objective lens 7 is input to the position searching unit 12 so that it is possible to search for a position that matches the image acquired by the camera 8 in the overlapped image stored in the storage unit 11. in a case where the objective lens 7 is switched to another one, there is a possibility of displacement in the position of the stage 5 in the overlapped image due to a deviation between the centers of the objective lenses 7. in this case, the navigation unit 13 may cause the position searching unit 12 to execute a searching process at the timing at which the objective lens 7 is switched to another one so as to temporarily execute the search navigation process, thereby determining the current position of the stage 5 after the objective lens 7 is switched to another one. the switching of the magnifying power of the objective lens 7 is described above as an example of changing of the optical magnifying power of the imaging unit 6. alternatively, in a case where the optical magnifying power is to be changed by, for example, another optical unit, such as an intermediate variable magnifying power device, the process can be similarly performed by using the magnifying-power detecting unit 14 to detect the magnifying power. moreover, although the magnifying-power detecting unit 14 that detects the magnifying power is described as an example of a magnifying-power acquiring unit, an input unit to which the user inputs the magnifying power may be used as an alternative. furthermore, although the current position of the stage 5 is displayed by using a rectangular box indicating the visual field, the current position of the stage 5 may alternatively be displayed by using a freely-chosen method, such as using an arrow. {reference signs list} 1 microscope imaging system 5 stage 6 imaging unit 9 motion vector calculating unit 10 image generating unit 12 position searching unit 13 navigation unit (control unit) 14 magnifying-power detecting unit (magnifying-power acquiring unit) 15 image scale unit x sample
|
091-345-328-320-994
|
KR
|
[
"KR",
"US"
] |
G06F3/044,G06F3/041,G06F3/045
| 2014-02-05T00:00:00 |
2014
|
[
"G06"
] |
touch panel
|
according to the present invention, a touch panel includes: a cover window where an effective area and a non-effective area are defined; and a printing layer disposed in the non-effective area. the printing layer includes a first printing layer and a second printing layer on the first printing layer. the second printing layer is spaced apart from the first printing layer.
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1. a touch panel comprising: a cover substrate on which an active area and an unactive area are defined; a printing layer on the unactive area of the cover substrate; a substrate disposed on the active area and the unactive area of the cover substrate; and a sensing electrode and a wire electrode disposed on the substrate, wherein the sensing electrode and the wire electrode directly contact the substrate, wherein an optical transparent adhesive material is interposed between the cover substrate and the substrate, wherein the printing layer includes: a first printing layer that directly contacts the cover substrate; and a second printing layer provided on the substrate and the second printing layer is spaced apart from the first printing layer and the cover substrate, wherein a first side of the second printing layer is disposed in the unactive area, and a second side of the second printing layer is disposed in the active area, wherein the optical transparent adhesive material is disposed between the first printing layer and the wire electrode, wherein the sensing electrode is disposed in the active area, wherein the sensing electrode extends from the active area to the unactive area, wherein the wire electrode is disposed in the unactive area, wherein the wire electrode covers one side of the sensing electrode, wherein the second printing layer is partially disposed on the sensing electrode, and wherein the second printing layer is disposed on a boundary line between the active area and the unactive area. 2. the touch panel of claim 1 , wherein the second printing layer has a color different from a color of the first printing layer. 3. the touch panel of claim 1 , wherein the sensing electrode is provided on the substrate to sense a position. 4. the touch panel of claim 3 , wherein the second printing layer is provided on the sensing electrode. 5. the touch panel of claim 3 , wherein the second printing layer is provided on one surface of the substrate opposite a surface of the substrate where the sensing electrode is provided. 6. the touch panel of claim 1 , wherein the first printing layer includes a white layer, and the second printing layer includes a black layer. 7. the touch panel of claim 1 , further comprising a third layer on the first printing layer. 8. the touch panel of claim 7 , wherein the third printing layer has a same color as a color of the second printing layer. 9. the touch panel of claim 7 , wherein the third printing layer is provided in the unactive area of the cover substrate. 10. the touch panel of claim 7 , wherein the third printing layer contacts the first printing layer and is spaced apart from the second printing layer. 11. the touch panel of claim 7 , wherein a thickness of the third printing layer is less than a thickness of the first printing layer. 12. the touch panel of claim 7 , wherein the third printing layer has a color different from a color of the first printing layer. 13. the touch panel of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes a first substrate and a second substrate, and the sensing electrode includes a first sensing electrode on the first substrate, and a second sensing electrode on the second substrate. 14. the touch panel of claim 9 , wherein the second printing layer is provided on at least one of the first and second substrates. 15. the touch panel of claim 9 , wherein the second printing layer includes a fourth printing layer on the first substrate; and a fifth printing layer on the second substrate.
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cross-reference to related application this application claims priority under 35 u.s.c. §119 to korean application no. 10-2014-0012998 filed on feb. 5, 2014, whose entire disclosure is incorporated herein by reference. background 1. field the embodiment relates to a touch panel. 2. background recently, a touch panel, which performs an input function through the touch of an image displayed on a display device by an input device, such as a stylus pen or a finger, has been applied to various electronic appliances. such a touch panel may be typically classified into a resistive touch panel and a capacitive touch panel. in the resistive touch panel, glass is shorted with an electrode due to the pressure of the input device so that a touch point is detected. in the capacitive touch panel, the position of the touch point is detected by detecting the variation in capacitance between electrodes when a finger of the user is touched on the capacitive touch panel. in the resistive type touch panel, the repeated use thereof may degrade the performance thereof, and cause scratches. the interest on the capacitive type touch panel representing superior endurance and having a long lifespan is increased. the touch panel includes a cover substrate and/or substrate in which an active area to sense a touch point and an unactive area disposed at a peripheral portion of the active area are defined. the unactive area may be printed with a material having a predetermined color to prevent a printed circuit board, through which a wire is connected to an external circuit, from being viewed from an outside. in this case, the printing layer may be formed by using color ink and may be formed by using two colors or more according to a color. however, bubbles may be generated due to the step difference between the printing layers when a cover substrate and a substrate are laminated. for this reason, an error generation rate may be increased and the reliability may be deteriorated. brief description of the drawings the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein: fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a touch panel according to one embodiment. fig. 2 is a plane view showing a touch panel according to one embodiment. fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line a-a′ of fig. 2 . figs. 4 to 10 are sectional views showing a touch panel according to another embodiment. fig. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing a touch panel according to another embodiment. fig. 12 is a sectional view taken along line b-b′ of fig. 11 . figs. 12 to 19 are sectional views showing a touch panel according to another embodiment. fig. 20 is a view showing one example of a display to which a touch panel according to an embodiment is applied. detailed description referring to figs. 1 to 3 , a touch panel according to an embodiment may include a cover substrate 100 and a substrate 500 . the cover substrate 100 may include an active area aa and an unactive area ua. the active area aa refers to an area through which a touch instruction may be input by a user. unlike the active area aa, the unactive area ua refers to an area to which the touch instruction is not input because the unactive area ua is not activated even if the touch of the user is input thereto. the cover substrate 100 may include glass or plastic. for example, the cover substrate 100 may include tempered glass, half-tempered glass, sodalime glass, reinforced plastic, or flexible plastic. the substrate 500 is disposed on the cover substrate 100 . the substrate 500 may include plastic. for example, the substrate 500 may include polyethylene terephthalate (pet). the cover substrate 100 and the substrate 500 may adhere to each other by using transparent adhesive 600 such as optical transparent adhesive (oca). the substrate 500 may include an active area aa and an unactive area ua. the active area aa and the unactive area ua may be the same as those described above. sensing and wire electrodes 300 and 400 may be disposed on the substrate 500 . the sensing electrode 300 may be disposed in the active area aa and the wire electrode 400 may be disposed in the unactive area ua. the sensing electrode 300 may include a conductive material. in detail, the sensing electrode 300 may include a transparent conductive material. for example, the sensing electrode 300 may include a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ito). the sensing electrode 300 may include first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 and a bridge electrode 330 . the first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 and the bridge electrode 330 may include the same material or different materials. in addition, the first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 and the bridge electrode 330 may be disposed on the same one surface of the substrate 500 . the bridge electrode 330 may be provided, for example, in a bar shape. in detail, the bridge electrodes 330 may be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval while being provided in the bar shape. the bridge electrode 330 may perform a function of connecting first or second sensing electrodes 310 or 320 , which will be described below, to each other. an insulating layer 350 may be disposed on the bridge electrode 330 . in detail, the insulating layer 350 may be partially disposed on the bridge electrode 330 . for example, when the bridge electrode 330 is formed in a bar shape, the insulating layer 350 may be disposed in an area except for one end and the opposite end of the bridge electrode 330 , that is, both end portions. the first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 disposed on the active area aa may perform a sensor function of sensing a touch. the first sensing electrode 310 extending in one direction and the second sensing electrode 320 extending in another direction different from the one direction may be disposed on the active area aa. one of the first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 may transmit a signal and the other may receive a touch signal. one of the first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 may be disposed on the insulating layer 350 and the other may be connected to both ends of the bridge electrode 330 . for example, as shown in fig. 2 , the first sensing electrodes 310 may be disposed on the insulating layer 350 and may be electrically connected to each other through connection parts 340 . the sensing electrodes 320 may be connected to both ends of the bridge electrode 330 so that the first sensing electrodes 310 may be electrically connected to each other. the first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 may be electrically connected to each other without being short-circuited with each other due to the bridge electrode and the insulating material. although it is described in the above description that the bridge electrode, the insulating material and the sensing electrode are stacked in the sequence of the bridge electrode, the insulating material and the sensing electrode, the embodiment is not limited thereto and they may be stacked in the sequence of the sensing electrode, the insulating material and the bridge electrode. the first wire electrode 410 connecting with the first sensing electrode 310 may be disposed in the unactive area ua of the substrate 500 . the second wire electrode 420 connecting with the second sensing electrode 320 may be disposed in the unactive area ua of the substrate 500 . the first and second wire electrodes 410 and 420 may be electrically connected to a printed circuit board 700 , respectively. the first and second wire electrodes 410 and 420 may transmit the touch signal sensed by the first and second electrodes 310 and 320 to the printed circuit board 700 on which the driving chip 710 is mounted, so that a touch operation is performed. for example, the printed circuit board 700 may include a flexible printed circuit board (fpcb). the first and second wire electrodes 410 and 420 may include a conductive material. the first and second wire electrodes 410 and 420 may include a metallic material such as ag or cu. referring to fig. 3 , printing layers 210 , 220 and 230 may be disposed on the unactive area ua. the printing layers 210 , 220 and 230 may be disposed on the unactive area ua of the cover substrate 100 and the unactive area ua of the substrate 500 , respectively. first and third printing layers 210 and 230 may be disposed in the unactive area ua of the cover substrate 100 . a second printing layer 220 may be disposed in the unactive area ua of the substrate 500 . the second printing layer 220 may be spaced apart from the first printing layer 210 . the second printing layer 220 may be spaced apart from the third printing layer 230 . the first printing layer 210 may make contact with the cover substrate 100 . the first printing layer 210 may extend from one end of the unactive area ua toward a boundary line g between the unactive area ua and the active area aa. the first printing layer 210 may be formed with 2 colors or more. that is, as shown in the drawings, the first printing layer 210 may include a first color printing layer 211 and a second color printing layer 212 . the third printing layer 230 is disposed on the unactive area ua such that electrodes may not be seen from an outside. thus, the third printing layer 230 may formed by coating black or white ink on the first printing layer 210 in the unactive area ua of the cover substrate 100 and hardening the ink. the third printing layer 230 may be formed in a color different from that of the first printing layer 210 . for example, the first printing layer 210 may include a white printing layer formed by using white ink and the third printing layer 230 may include a black printing layer formed by using black ink. the second printing layer 220 may make contact with the substrate 500 . the second printing layer 220 may make contact with the sensing electrode 300 disposed on the substrate 500 . the second printing layer 220 may be disposed in a band shape while surrounding an edge region of the substrate 500 , that is, the boundary line g between the active area aa and the unactive area ua. although it is described in the embodiment as an example that the second printing layer 220 and the sensing electrode 300 all are provided on one surface of the substrate 500 facing the cover substrate 100 , the embodiment is not limited thereto and the second printing layer 220 and the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on mutually opposite surfaces of the substrate 500 . for example, the second printing layer 220 may be formed on one surface of the surface 500 facing the cover substrate 100 and the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on another surface of the substrate 500 , which is opposite to the one surface. light may be prevented from being leaked at the boundary line g between the active area aa and the unactive area ua from an lcd due to the second printing layer 220 . the second printing layer 220 may be formed in a color different from that of the first printing layer 210 . the second printing layer 220 may be formed in the same color as that of the third printing layer 230 . the second printing layer 220 may be disposed on the substrate 500 and may be formed in the same color as that of a case for receiving an led. when the color of the case is black, the color of the second printing layer 220 may be black. when the case has another color, the second printing layer 220 may also have a color equal or similar to that of the case. the first to third printing layers 210 to 230 may be formed at constant thicknesses. the third printing layer 230 may be formed at a thickness less than that of the first printing layer 210 . for example, the third printing layer 230 may be formed at a thickness in the range of 3 μm to 5 μm. the first printing layer 210 may be formed at a thickness in the range of about 5 μm to about 8 μm. when the thickness of the first printing layer 210 is less than about 5 μm, the wire electrode may be seen from an outside so that the visibility may be deteriorated. if the thickness of the first printing layer 210 exceeds about 8 μm, the printing layer is thickened so that the thickness of the touch panel may be increased. when the thickness of the second printing layer 220 is less than about 3 μm, a light leakage phenomenon may occur in the active area aa by the lcd. if the thickness of the second printing layer 220 exceeds about 5 μm, the thickness may be increased. according to the embodiment, the second printing layer 220 is spaced apart from the first printing layer 210 , so that the thickness of the printing layer formed on the cover substrate 100 may be reduced. when the cover substrate 100 and the substrate 500 are laminated, a foam rate may be reduced due to the thickness of the printing layer so that the reliability may be improved. according to the related art, since the number of printing colors of the printing layer 210 is greater than that of the second printing layer 220 , when the substrate is laminated on the cover substrate, the foam rate is increased so that an error rate is increased. however, according to the embodiment, since the second printing layer 220 is disposed on the substrate 500 , a lamination error due to a step difference between the printing layers may be reduced. since the second printing layer 220 is spaced apart from the cover substrate 100 , the visibility may be improved. according to the related art, the second printing layer 220 having a dark color is formed on the cover substrate 100 , so that the outer appearance is deteriorated when viewed from the top. however, according to the embodiment, the printing layer 220 is disposed on the substrate 500 so that a black band is prevented from being revealed. as described above, although the first to third printing layers have been just described, the embodiment is not limited to the above and in addition, the touch panel according to the embodiment may further include additional printing layers on the third printing layer, which has a width less than that of the third printing layer, according to the color and thickness of the printing layer. referring to fig. 4 , according to the touch panel of another embodiment, the second printing layer 220 may be formed on one surface of the substrate 500 facing the cover substrate 100 , and the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on an opposite surface to the one surface of the substrate 500 . referring to fig. 5 , according to the touch panel of another embodiment, the first printing layer 210 is disposed on the cover substrate 100 and the second printing layer 240 is disposed on the substrate 500 . the second printing layer 240 may extend from one end of the unactive area ua toward the boundary line g between the unactive area ua and the active area aa. the third printing layer (see reference numeral 230 of fig. 3 ) of fig. 3 described in the above embodiment may be omitted through the second printing layer 240 . the thicknesses of the printing layers disposed on the cover substrate 100 may be reduced. when the cover substrate 100 is combined with the substrate 500 , the foam rate and the error rate may be reduced. the wire 400 disposed in the unactive area ua may be also prevented from being revealed and the light leakage by an lcd may be prevented due to the second printing layer 240 . the above two functions may be achieved through only one printing layer. referring to fig. 6 , according to the touch panel of another embodiment, the second printing layer 240 may be formed on one surface of the substrate 500 facing the cover substrate 100 , and the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on an opposite surface to the one surface of the substrate 500 . referring to fig. 7 , the second printing layer 220 may be formed on a surface of the substrate 500 in opposition to the surface of the substrate 500 where the sensing electrode 300 is disposed. the sensing electrode 300 is formed on one surface of the substrate 500 facing the cover substrate 100 and the second printing layer 220 may be formed on an opposite surface to the one surface of the substrate 500 . the second printing layer 220 may be directly formed on the substrate 500 and the printability may be improved. referring to fig. 8 , the second printing layer 240 may extend from one end of the unactive area ua toward the boundary line g between the unactive area ua and the active area aa. thus, the wire 400 may be effectively prevented from being revealed. referring to fig. 9 , according to a touch panel of another embodiment, the second printing layer 220 may be formed on one surface of the surface 500 facing the cover substrate 100 and the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on another surface of the substrate 500 , which is opposite to the one surface. referring to fig. 10 , the second printing layer 240 , which extends from one end of the unactive area ua toward the boundary line g between the unactive area ua and the active area aa, may be formed on a surface of the substrate 500 in opposition to the surface of the substrate 500 where the sensing electrode 300 is disposed. in detail, the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on one surface of the substrate 500 facing the cover substrate 100 , and the second printing layer 220 may be formed on an opposite surface to the one surface of the substrate 500 . the embodiment is not limited to the above, but the second printing layer 220 and the sensing electrode 300 may be placed on one surface of the substrate 500 and an opposite surface to the one surface, respectively. the second printing layer 240 may be directly formed on the substrate 500 , so that the printability is improved. referring to figs. 11 and 12 , the first and second substrates 510 and 520 may be further provided on the cover substrate 100 . the first and second substrates 510 and 520 include plastic. for example, the first and second substrates 510 and 520 may include polyethylene terephthalate (pet). the cover substrate 100 , the first substrate 510 and the second substrate 520 may adhere to each other by using transparent adhesive 610 and 620 such as optical transparent adhesive (oca). the cover substrate 100 and the first and second substrates 510 and 520 may include an active area aa and an unactive area ua. the active area aa and the unactive area ua may be the same as those described above. the first sensing electrode may be disposed in the active area aa of the first substrate 510 . the first wire electrode 410 connected to the first sensing electrode 310 may be disposed in the unactive area ua of the first substrate 510 . the second sensing electrode 320 may be disposed in the active area aa of the second substrate 520 . the second wire electrode 420 connected to the second sensing electrode 320 may be disposed in the unactive area ua of the second substrate 520 . the first and second wire electrodes 410 and 420 may be electrically connected to a printed circuit board 700 , respectively. referring to fig. 12 , the second printing layer 220 may include the fourth printing layer 221 disposed on the first substrate 510 and the fifth printing layer 222 disposed on the second substrate. the printing layers are disposed on each substrate, so that lcd light shielding effect may be increased. although it is described in the embodiment as one example that the fourth printing layer 221 and the sensing electrode 300 all are disposed on one surface of the first substrate 510 facing the cover substrate 100 , the embodiment is not limited thereto and the fourth printing layer 221 and the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on mutually opposite surfaces of the first substrate 510 , respectively. for example, the fourth printing layer 221 may be formed on one surface of the first surface 510 facing the cover substrate 100 and the sensing electrode 300 may be formed on another surface of the substrate 500 , which is opposite to the one surface. although it is described in the embodiment as one example that the fifth printing layer 222 is disposed on one surface of the second substrate 520 facing the first substrate 510 , the embodiment is not limited thereto and the fifth printing layer 222 may be also formed on the opposite surface of the second substrate 520 . referring to fig. 13 , the fourth printing layer 221 may be disposed only on the first substrate 510 . referring to fig. 14 , the fifth printing layer 222 may be disposed only on the second substrate 520 . referring to fig. 15 , the fourth and fifth printing layers 241 and 242 may extend from one end of the unactive area ua toward the boundary line g between the unactive area ua and the active area aa. the third printing layer (see reference numeral 230 of fig. 5 ) of fig. 6 described in the above embodiment may be omitted through the fourth and fifth printing layers 241 and 242 . the thicknesses of the printing layers disposed on the cover substrate 100 may be reduced. when the cover substrate 100 is combined with the substrate 510 and 520 , the foam rate and the error generation rate may be reduced. the wire electrode 400 disposed in the unactive area ua may be prevented from being revealed and the light leakage by an lcd may be prevented due to the fourth and fifth printing layers 241 and 242 . the above two functions may be achieved through only one printing layer. the fourth and fifth printing layers 241 and 242 may be formed on the other surfaces of the first and second substrates 510 and 520 , respectively, in opposition to the surfaces where the first and second sensing electrodes 310 and 320 are formed. referring to fig. 16 , the fourth printing layer 241 may be disposed only on the first substrate 510 . referring to fig. 17 , the fifth printing layer 242 may be disposed only on the second substrate 520 . referring to fig. 18 , the fourth printing layer 221 disposed on the first substrate 510 , may extend from one end of the unactive area ua toward the boundary line g between the unactive area ua and the active area aa. the wire electrode 400 may be effectively prevented from being revealed. referring to fig. 19 , the fifth printing layer 242 disposed on the second substrate 520 , may extend from one end of the unactive area ua toward the boundary line g between the unactive area ua and the active area aa. the fifth printing layer 242 may be directly formed on the second substrate 520 so that the printability may be improved. fig. 20 is a view showing a mobile terminal including a touch panel described above. the mobile terminal 1000 may include an active area aa and an unactive area ua. the active area may sense a touch signal when a finger touches the active area aa, and an instruction icon pattern part and a logo may be formed in the unactive area ua. although the mobile terminal is shown in fig. 20 as one example, the electrode member and the touch panel described above may be applied to various electronic appliances, such as vehicles or home appliances, employing a display, as well as the mobile terminal. the embodiment provides a touch panel having improved visibility reliability. according to the embodiment, there is provided a touch panel which includes: a cover substrate on which an active area and an unactive area are defined; and a printing layer on the unactive area, wherein the printing layer includes: a first printing layer; and a second printing layer on the first printing layer, and wherein the second printing layer is spaced apart from the first printing layer. according to the embodiment, the second printing layer is spaced apart from the first printing layer, so that the thickness of the printing layer formed on the cover substrate may be reduced. thus, when the cover substrate and the substrate are laminated, a foam rate may be reduced due to the thickness of the printing layer so that the reliability may be improved. that is, according to the related art, since the number of printing colors of the printing layer is greater than that of the second printing layer, when the substrate is laminated on the cover substrate, the foam rate is increased so that an error rate is increased. however, according to the embodiment, since the second printing layer is disposed on the substrate, a lamination error due to a step difference between the printing layers may be reduced. since the second printing layer is spaced apart from the cover substrate, the visibility may be improved. according to the related art, the second printing layer having a dark color is formed on the cover substrate, so that the outer appearance is deteriorated when viewing it from the top. however, according to the embodiment, the printing layer is disposed on the substrate so that a black band is prevented from being revealed. it will be understood that, when a layer (film), a region, a pattern or a structure is referred to as being “on” or “under” a substrate, another layer (film), region, pad or patterns, it can be “directly” or “indirectly” on the other layer (film), region, pattern or structure, or one or more intervening layers may also be present. such a position of each layer described with reference to the drawings. any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. the appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments. although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. more particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. in addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.
|
091-540-933-395-955
|
JP
|
[
"EP",
"DE",
"US",
"JP"
] |
B41J2/525,H04N1/387,H04N1/46,H04N1/58
| 1990-11-06T00:00:00 |
1990
|
[
"B41",
"H04"
] |
method of and apparatus for producing overlapping image area
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an overlapping image area is produced on the border between adjacent image areas by processing of image data so as to eliminate a dropout due to registering mismatch. a target image area cr2, specified by an operator, is expanded by a predetermined width d to produce overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5. the color of the overlapping image area cr4 or cr5 is determined based on the color of the target area cr2 and the original color of the overlapping image area cr4 or cr5. for example, the larger value between each color component of the original color of the overlapping image area and that of the color of the target area is selected as the new color component of the overlapping image area.
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a method of producing an overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) on a boundary between adjacent image areas (cr1, cr2, cr3) by processing image data of an original image including said image areas, characterised by the steps of: (a) selecting one image area in said original image as a target area (cr2); (b) expanding said target area (cr2) to produce said overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) having a predetermined width (d) along the contour of said target area; and (c) assigning a color to each pixel in said overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) based on the original color of the pixel before said step (b) and the color of said target area (cr2). a method in accordance with claim 1, wherein said step (a) comprises the steps of: (a-1) preparing an original image data representing a black-and-white original image (bc); and (a-2) performing color allocation on said original image on the basis of said original image data by dividing said black-and-white original image (bc) into plural image areas (r1, r2, r3) which are separate connected-components, and by allocating different colors to said respective plural image areas. a method in accordance with claim 2, wherein said step (b) comprises the steps of: (b-1) positioning a pixel mask (mp) for detecting a boundary between image areas at each pixel in an area including said target area (cr2), and adding a particular pixel in said mask when detected to be at a boundary of said target area, to thereby expand said target area by a width of one pixel; and (b-2) repeating said step (b-1) n times, where n is an integer, to thereby expand said target area (cr2) by a width of n pixels. a method in accordance with claim 2, wherein said step (b) comprises the steps of: (b-1) preparing a first contour vector representing a contour of said target area (cr2); and (b-2) obtaining a second contour vector representing a contour of an expanded area, said contour of said expanded area being distanced from said contour of said target area by said predetermined width (d). a method in accordance with claim 3 or 4, wherein said step (c) comprises the step of: (c-1) determining the density of each color component of said color for each pixel in said overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) by selecting the larger value of the densities of the pixel before said step (b) and of said target area (cr2) with respect to each color component. a method in accordance with claim 3 or 4, wherein said step (c) comprises the step of: (c-2) determining the density of each color component of said color for each pixel in said overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) by averaging the densities of the pixel before said step (b) and of said target area (cr2) with respect to each color component. an apparatus for producing an overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) on a boundary between adjacent image areas (cr1-cr3) by processing image data of an original image including said image areas, characterised by: selecting means (8) for selecting one image area (cr2) in said original image as a target area; expanding means (6) for expanding said target area (cr2) to produce said overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) having a predetermined width (d) along the contour of said target area (cr2); and color assigning means (6) for assigning a color to each pixel in said overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) based on the original color of the pixel before said expanding and the color of said target area (cr2). an apparatus in accordance with claim 7, further comprising: means (2) for storing original image data representing a black-and-white original image (bc); and means (6) for performing color allocation on said original image (bc) on the basis of said original image data by dividing said black-and-white original image into plural image areas (r1, r2, r3) which are separate connected-components, and by allocating different colors to said respective plural image areas. an apparatus in accordance with claim 8, wherein said expanding means (6) comprises: means for positioning a pixel mask (mp) for detecting a boundary between image areas at each pixel in an area including said target area (cr2), and adding a particular pixel in said pixel mask when detected to be at a boundary of said target area, to thereby expand said target area by a width of one pixel; and repeating the one-pixel-width expanding n times, where n is an integer, to thereby expand said target area by a width of n pixels. an apparatus in accordance with claim 8, wherein said expanding means (6) comprises: means for preparing a first contour vector representing a contour of said target area (cr2); and means for obtaining a second contour vector representing a contour of an expanded area, said contour of said expanded area distanced from said contour of said target area (cr2) by said predetermined width (d). an apparatus in accordance with claim 9 or 10, wherein said color assigning means (6) comprises: means for determining the density of each color component of said color for each pixel in said overlapping image area by selecting the larger value of the densities of the pixel before said expanding and of said target area (cr2) with respect to each color component. an apparatus in accordance with claim 9 or 10, wherein said color assigning means (6) comprises: means for determining the density of each color component of said color for each pixel in said overlapping image area (cr4, cr5) by averaging the densities of the pixel before said expanding and of said target area (cr2) with respect to each color component.
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background of the invention field of the invention the present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for producing an overlapping image area so as to eliminate a dropout due to registering mismatch in printing. description of related art four printing plates for yellow (y), magenta (m), cyan (c), and black (k) inks are generally used for color printing. although color printing machines are highly accurate and precise, high-speed rotary press may cause registering mismatch of approximately +0.05mm between the four printing plates. various methods have been proposed in preparation of printing plates to eliminate such registering mismatch and maintain the quality of printed matter. fig. 1a is a conceptive view illustrating an image including two color areas ca1 and ca2 adjacent to each other. now the color of each area, shown by c[color area id], is defined by dot% hy, hm, hc, and hk of yellow (y), magenta (m), cyan (c), and black (k) as follows: c[color area id] = (hy, hm, hc, hk). the colors of the color areas ca1 and ca2, shown in fig. 1a, are expressed by: c[ca1] = ( 0, 80, 0, 0); and c[ca2] = ( 0, 0, 80, 0). fig. 1b shows an example of a defective image due to registering mismatch. in the image of fig. 1b, the m plate is shifted in x direction by -0.05mm and the c plate by +0.05mm. the image includes two shift areas sa1 and sa2 in addition to the two color areas ca1 and ca2. the colors of the shift areas sa1 and sa2 are expressed by: c[sa1] = ( 0, 0, 0, 0); and c[sa2] = ( 0, 80, 80, 0). the shift area sa1 is a so-called dropout where no inks are applied, and which is conspicuous and deteriorates printed matter. overlapping process is generally performed in prepress to prevent such deterioration. the overlapping process is to modify the shapes of two adjacent areas at their boundary to thereby make part of these areas overlap each other. figs. 2a through 2c are explanatory views illustrating the overlapping process for the image of fig. 1a. fig. 2a shows a first color area ca1a after the shape modification. the modified color area ca1a surrounds a white area which is smaller than that of the original color area ca1 shown by a broken line. fig. 2b shows a second color area ca2a after the shape modification. the modified color area ca2a is larger than the original color area ca2 shown by a broken line. fig. 2c shows a resultant image printed by overlaying the modified color areas ca1a and ca2a one upon the other; thus an overlapping area la is produced therein. the width of the overlapping image area la is determined such that a dropout can be prevented due to registering mismatch. for example, when the registering mismatch is in the range of -0.05mm to +0.05mm, the overlaid area la has a width of approximately 0.1mm. the overlaid area la acts as a margin between the corrected color areas ca1a and ca2a and effectively prevents a dropout due to registering mismatch. the overlapping image area la is thin across and has a color similar to both of the adjacent color areas ca1a and ca2a, thus being unobtrusive and preventing deterioration of the resultant image as empirically proved. there are two methods generally applied to the overlapping process. the first is an optical overlapping method. an image area of a uniform color, called a tint, is prepared with a mask and a tint sheet, and an overlapping image area is created by adjusting the size of the masked area. this method, however, requires some materials like a mask and a tint sheet and is thus costly. the second method, which was recently proposed, is processing of image data with an image processor such as a page make-up system. in the conventional overlapping process with the image processor, however, an operator needs to specify the width and the color of an overlapping image area for each image element such figures and characters. when an image includes a large number of image areas, such specification of the width and the color is both labor and time consuming. summary of the invention an object of the invention is to facilitate the production of an overlapping image area. the present invention is directed to a method of producing an overlapping image area on a boundary between adjacent image areas by processing image data of an original image including the image areas. the method comprises the steps of: (a) selecting one image area in the original image as a target area; (b) expanding the target area to produce the overlapping image area having a predetermined width along the contour of the target area; and (c) assigning a color to each pixel in the overlapping image area based on the original color of the pixel before the step (b) and the color of the target area. according to an aspect of the present invention, the step (a) comprises the steps of: (a-1) preparing an original image data representing a black-and-white original image; and (a-2) performing color allocation on the original image on the basis of the original image data by dividing the black-and-white original image into plural image areas which are separate connected-components, and by allocating different colors to the respective plural image areas. according to another aspect of the present invention, the step (b) comprises the steps of: (b-1) positioning a pixel mask for detecting a boundary between image areas at each pixel in an area including the target area, and adding a particular pixel in the pixel mask when detected to be at a boundary of the target area, to thereby expand the target area by a width of one pixel ; and (b-2) repeating the step (b-1) n times, where n is an integer, to thereby expand the target area by a width of n pixels. alternatively, the step (b) comprises the steps of: (b-1) preparing a first contour vector representing a contour of the target area; and (b-2) obtaining a second contour vector representing a contour of an expanded area, the contour of the expanded area distanced from the contour of the target area by the predetermined width. preferably, the step (c) comprises the step of: (c-1) determining density of each color component of the color for each pixel in the overlapping image area by selecting the larger value of densities of the pixel before the step (b) and of the target area with respect to each color component. alternatively, the step (c) comprises the step of: (c-2) determining density of each color component of the color for each pixel in the overlapping image area by averaging densities of the pixel before the step (b) and of the target area with respect to each color component. the present invention is also directed to an apparatus for producing an overlapping image area on a boundary between adjacent image areas by processing image data of an original image including the image areas, comprising: selecting means for selecting one image area in the original image as a target area; expanding means for expanding the target area to produce the overlapping image area having a predetermined width along the contour of the target area; and color assigning means for assigning a color to each pixel in the overlapping image area based on the original color of the pixel before the expanding and the color of the target area. these and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawings figs. 1a and 1b are explanatory views showing the change of an image due to registering mismatch; figs. 2a through 2c are explanatory views showing overlapping process; fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an image processor for producing an overlapping image area embodying the invention; fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the whole routine of overlapping process; figs. 5a through 5c are conceptive views illustrating a target image to be processed; fig. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the overlapping process; fig. 7 is a flowchart showing details of expansion processing; fig. 8a is an explanatory view illustrating a 3 x 3 mask used for the expansion processing; fig. 8b is an explanatory view illustrating pixel coordinates of the target image and the 3 x 3 mask on the target image; figs. 10a through 10d are explanatory views illustrating distributions of pixel color numbers allocated in the overlapping process; fig. 10 is a flowchart showing details of color allocation to the overlapping image area; fig. 11 is an explanatory view illustrating a temporary memory table tt created by the process of fig. 10; fig. 12 is a view showing a window w used for region segmentation process; figs. 13a through 13d are explanatory views showing the region segmentation process; and fig. 14 is an explanatory view illustrating an identical system color table ist used for the region segmentation process. description of the preferred embodiment a. structure of apparatus fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an image processor for producing an overlapping image area embodying the invention. the image processor includes the following elements: (a) image reading unit 1 for reading a block copy image and creating a binary image thereof; for example, a flat-bed type scanner; (b) image memory 2 for storing image data of a target image to be processed as bit map data and overlap information for each pixel; the overlap information includes color numbers, flags, and reference color numbers (described below); (c) display memory 3 for storing bit map data of an image to be displayed on a color monitor 5; the image data includes a color number assigned to each pixel and is renewed each time when the display is changed; (d) color palette 4 for converting the color numbers input from the display memory 3 to color data of r (red), g (green), and b (blue); (e) color monitor 5 for displaying the target image and the image after the overlapping process; (f) arithmetic and control unit 6 for controlling the other elements of the image processor and executing various processings such as expansion, control of a color number table 9, and determination of the color of each overlapping image area; (g) display controller 7 for controlling display of an image on the color monitor 5 and moving the cursor on the color monitor 5 in response to the movement of a mouse 8; (h) mouse 8 for specifying a target area in an image displayed on the color monitor 5; (i) color number table 9 for storing dot%, or halftone dot area rate, of each color component y, m, c, and k with respect to each color number; (j) auxiliary memory 10 for storing the maximum width of registering mismatch and temporary information required for each processing; and (k) image recording unit 11 for recording the image with an overlapping area on a recording medium such as a photosensitive film. b. processing procedure fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the overlapping process. at step s1 a block copy is prepared by arranging characters and figures on a layout sheet. fig. 5a is a plan view illustrating a block copy image bc to be processed, which includes a black open circle c, black segments l1 and l2 drawn above and below the circle c, and white background. at step s2, the image reading unit 1 reads binary image data db of the block copy image bc, which represents the color of each pixel, black or white, in the block copy image bc. the whole block copy image bc is filled with colors at step s3. namely, the block copy image bc is divided into separate areas, which are distinguished from one another by border lines, and a color number nc is allocated to each separate area. the block copy cage bc of fig. 5a is divided into four separate areas: a black keyline area including the circle c and the segments l1 and l2, a white area r1 inside the circle c, and two white areas r2 and r3 surrounding the circle c. this division processing, or region segmentation processing, is performed by the arithmetic and control unit 6, and the color of each separate area is specified by the operator. details of the region segmentation are described later. at step s4, the black keylines c, l1, and l2 are thinned to be eliminated, so that only colored areas are left. line thinning is executed, for example, according to methods described in united states patent no. 4,931,861 and no. 4,922,332, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. fig. 5b shows a resultant image consisting of color areas cr1 through cr3, which are directly in contact with one another. the colors of the areas cr1 through cr3 are specified, for example, as: c[cr1] = (80, 0, 0, 0), c[cr2] = ( 0, 80, 0, 0), and c[cr3] = ( 0, 0, 80, 0). the following data are assigned to the color areas cr1 through cr3 as seen in fig. 5b: a. color number nc: a numeral, for example, a ten-bit data, representing a color. numerals one through three are allocated to the color areas cr1 through cr3, respectively. b. flag fp: a flag, for example, a one-bit data, showing whether an area is produced by overlapping process. since the overlapping process is not executed yet to the image of fig. 5b, the flags of the color areas cr1 through cr3 are all "off". c. reference color number nr: a color number, for example, a ten-bit data, which is allocated to an overlapping image area and which expresses the color of the overlapping image area before the overlapping process. the reference numbers are not yet allocated to the areas in the image of fig. 5b. the image of fig. 5b is displayed on the color monitor 5 at step s4. at step s5, the operator specifies a target area for the overlapping process in the image displayed on the color monitor 5 with the mouse 8. here the color area cr2 is selected. at step s6, the overlapping process is executed to the target area (the color area cr2) to produce the image of fig. 5c. as seen in fig. 5c, the overlapping process produces color areas or overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 of a predetermined width d on the circumference of the target area cr2. the width d is determined to be equal to the maximum width of registering mismatch in the printing machine, and the value of the width d is previously stored in the auxiliary memory 10. the flag fp is "on" in the overlapping areas cr4 and cr5, and the reference color numbers are 'one' and 'three', respectively. the dot% of the overlapping area for each color component y, m, c, and k is determined by selecting the larger of the dot% of the target area cr2 and the dot% of the color represented by the reference color number nr. in the embodiment, the colors of the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 are determined as follows: c[cr4] = (80, 80, 0, 0), and c[cr5] = ( 0, 80, 80, 0). details of the overlapping process are described later. the resultant overlapping image is displayed on the color monitor 5, which is checked by the operator at step s7. when the displayed image needs some correction, the operator executes image correction including brushing and partial color change at step s8. at step s9 it is determined whether another color area exists for the overlapping process. when the answer is yes, the program returns to step s5 and repeats steps s5 through s8. at step s10, the processed image is recorded on a photosensitive film or a printing plate by the image recording unit 11. in the embodiment described above, the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 of a predetermined width are produced on the circumference of the target area cr2. the colors of the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 are determined based on the color of the target area cr2 and the original colors of the areas cr4 and cr5 before the overlapping process. these processings are performed automatically, and hence the overlapping process is readily executed even for an image including a large number of image areas. c. details of overlapping process fig. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the overlapping process executed at step s6 of fig. 4. at step s61, a number of pixels m is determined corresponding to the width d of the overlapping image area by the arithmetic and control unit 6. in the embodiment, the width d is set to be equal to the maximum registering mismatch in the printing machine and previously stored in the auxiliary memory 10 as described before. the number of pixels corresponding to the width d is determined by dividing the value of d by the reading resolution of the image reading unit 1; the reading resolution is equal to the width of a pixel. for example, when the width d is 0.1mm and the reading resolution is 0.05mm, the number of pixels m is equal to 2. at step s62, the target area cr2 is expanded by the number of pixels m . fig. 7 is a flowchart showing details of the expansion process of step s62. fig. 8a shows a 3 x 3 mask mp used for the expansion, and fig. 8b shows a typical arrangement of pixel coordinates of a target image for the overlapping process. the value of a coordinate j in the main scanning direction ranges from 1 to j while that of a coordinate i in the subscanning direction ranges from 1 to i in fig. 8b. fig. 9a is a conceptive view showing the color number nc allocated to each pixel in the image of fig. 5b. the size of each pixel is exaggerated for clarity. the following data are stored as image memory information of each pixel p(i,j) in the auxiliary memory 10 prior to the expansion: a. color number nc(i,j); b. flag fp(i,j); and c. reference color number nr(i,j). at step s201, the 3 x 3 mask mp is placed at the starting position on the image; that is, the end of the pixel coordinates of fig. 8b. an area of one pixel wide is produced on the circumference of the target area cr2 and pixel memory information is updated for each pixel in the area of one pixel width through the following steps s202 to s208. at step s202, it is judged whether the flag fp is on for a central pixel p of the 3 x 3 mask mp. when the flag fp is on, the program skips steps s203 through s208 and proceeds to step s209. when the answer is no at step s202, on the other hand, the program proceeds to step s203. at step s203, it is judged whether the central pixel p exists in the target area cr2. the color number nc(p) of the central pixel p is compared with the color number nc(cr2) of the target area cr2. when the color number nc(p) is equal to nc(cr2), the program proceeds to step s204, at which the value of a pointer n is initialized to one. the pointer n is related to coordinates (i,j) of the eight peripheral pixels in the 3 x 3 mask mp when the coordinate of the central pixel p is (pi,pj), as follows: n =1; (i,j) = (pi-1,pj-1) n =2; (i,j) = (pi-1,pj ) n =3; (i,j) = (pi-1,pj+1) n =4; (i,j) = (pi ,pj+1) n =5; (i,j) = (pi+1,pj+1) n =6; (i,j) = (pi+1,pj ) n =7; (i,j) = (pi+1,pj-1) n =8; (i,j) = (pi ,pj-1) in fig. 8a, the coordinates of the central pixel are (2,2), and the relation is shows as: n =1; (i,j) = (1,1) n =2; (i,j) = (1,2) n =3; (i,j) = (1,3) n =4; (i,j) = (2,3) n =5; (i,j) = (3,3) n =6; (i,j) = (3,2) n =7; (i,j) = (3,1) n =8; (i,j) = (2,1) at step s205, it is judged whether a peripheral pixel an ( n =1 to 8) specified by the pointer n in the 3 x 3 mask mp exists in the target area cr2. the color number nc(an) of the peripheral pixel an is compared with the color number nc(cr2) of the target area cr2. when the color number nc(an) is equal to nc(cr2), the program proceeds to step s206a at which the color number nc(i,j) of the pixel an(i,j) is stored as temporary data nc0(i,j) prior to update of image memory information including nc, fp and nr. at step s206b, the image memory information of the peripheral pixel an(i,j) is updated as follows: color number: nc(i,j) = nc(cr2); flag: fp(i,j) = 'on'; and reference color number: nr(i,j) = nc0(i,j). although the color number of the peripheral pixel an(i,j) is stored as temporary data nc0(i,j) at step s206a in the embodiment, step s206a can be omitted by modifying the order of rewriting in step s206b as follows: nr(i,j) = nc(i,j); fp(i,j) = 'on'; and nc(i,j) = nc(cr2). when the color number of the peripheral pixel an(i,j) is different from that of the target area cr2 at step s205, the program skips steps s206a and s206b and proceeds to step s207. the value of the pointer n is increased by one at step s207. when the value of the pointer n is less than eight, the program returns to step s205 and repeats steps s205 through s208 for all the eight peripheral pixels a1 through a8. when the flag fp of the central pixel p is on at step s202 or when the color number nc(p) of the central pixel p is not equal to the color number nc(cr2) of the target area cr2 at step s203, the program proceeds to step s209. steps s209 and s210 means that the 3 x 3 mask mp is proceeded by one pixel in the main scanning direction, or downward in fig. 8b, when the 3 x 3 mask mp is not positioned at the end of the last scanning line on the target image. step s209 includes the process that the 3 x 3 mask mp is transferred to the start of a next scanning line when the 3 x 3 mask mp is positioned at the end of a scanning line. steps s202 through s208 are repeated at each position in the image while the 3 x 3 mask mp is proceeded according to steps s209 and s210 until the 3 x 3 mask mp is positioned at the end of the last scanning line. as a result, an area of one pixel width is produced on the circumference of the target area cr2. at step s211, the number of pixels m in the overlapping area is decreased by one. in the embodiment, the initial value of m is set equal to two at step s61 of fig. 6, and hence the number of pixels m becomes equal to 1 at step s211. when the number of pixels m is not equal to zero at step s212, the program returns to step s201, and the whole routine is executed again. the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 having a width of the pixel number m are produced on the circumference of the target area cr2 consequently. in other words, the target area cr2 is expanded by the number of pixels m . fig. 9b shows distribution of the color numbers of the image including the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 thus produced. fig. 9c shows distribution of the reference color numbers of the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5. although the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 actually have a width of 2 pixels, the areas cr4 and cr5 of one pixel width are shown in fig. 9c for convenience of illustration. after the expansion of the target area cr2 is completed, the program proceeds to step s63 of fig. 6 at which a new color number is allocated to each of the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 produced at step s62. fig. 10 is a flowchart showing details of the processing of step s63. at step s301, a maximum value nmax (nmax =3 in the embodiment) of the color number nc plus one is set as a new color number nnew (=4). the coordinates (i,j) of the target pixel and a new color number pointer k are initialized to one. the following two data tables used for the processing of fig. 10 are stored in the auxiliary memory 10: new color number table tcol for storing new color numbers allocated to overlapping image areas; and reference number table tkbs for storing reference color numbers corresponding to the new color numbers of the overlapping image areas. at step s302, a pixel with the flag fp 'on' is selected. the image memory information of the selected pixel is updated through the following steps s303 to s306. at step s303, it is judged whether the reference color number nr(i,j) of the pixel (i,j) is registered in the reference number table tkbs. when the answer is yes, the program proceeds to step s306 and when the answer is no, the program executes steps s304 and s305. at step s304, the reference color number nr(i,j) of the target pixel (i,j) is registered in the reference number table tkbs(k), and the new color number nnew obtained at step s301 is registered in the new color number table tcol(k) and set as the color number nc of the pixel (i,j). consequently, the new color number is allocated to the pixel (i,j) of the overlapping image area produced by the expansion of step s62. for example, a color number nc=4 is allocated to the pixels of the overlapping image area cr4 as shown in fig. 9d. at step s305, the new color number nnew and the new color number pointer k are increased by one, respectively. in the embodiment, nnew becomes equal to five, and k becomes equal to two. when the reference color number nr has been registered as data tkbs(kk) of the pointer kk in the reference number table tkbs by execution of step s304 in the previous routine, the answer at step s303 is yes and the program proceeds to step s306. the color number of the pointer kk is read out of the new color number table tcol(kk) and set as the color number nc(i,j) of the pixel (i,j) at step s306. at the following step s307, the coordinates (i,j) of the target pixel are increased by one, and thereby the target pixel is moved by one pixel in the main scanning direction. when the target pixel (i,j) is not over the end of a scanning line at step s308, the program returns to step s302 and repeats the processing of steps s302 through s307. on the other hand, when the pixel (i,j) is over the end of a scanning line at step s308, the program proceeds to step s309 at which it is judged whether the processing is completed for all pixels, and to step s310 at which the target pixel is moved to the start of a next main scanning line. when the target pixel (i,j) is at the end of the last scanning line at step s309, the program exits the routine. fig. 9d shows distribution of the color number nc in the target image as a result of the above processing. a color number 4 is allocated to the first overlapping image area cr4 and another color number 5 to the second overlapping image area cr5. after the allocation of new color numbers at step s63 of fig. 6, the program proceeds to step s64 at which a color number table is created for each of the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5. the color number table stores dot% of color components y, m, c, and k corresponding to the color number nc (=4 or 5) of the overlapping image area cr4 or cr5. fig. 11 shows a temporary memory table tt stored in the auxiliary memory 10 on completion of step s63. in the temporary memory table tt, a number of color areas k0 in the target image is calculated by subtracting one from the new color number pointer k determined at the end of processing of step s63 (or steps s301 through s310): at step s64, the dot percents(%) of color components y, m, c, and k corresponding to the color number nc(=4 or 5) of each overlapping image area (cr4 or cr5) are determined according to the temporary memory table tt. where: k is a pointer, used in the flow of fig. 10, for specifying each overlapping image area; in the embodiment, k is equal to one for the first overlapping image area cr4, and is equal to two for the second overlapping image area cr5; y(cr2) is a dot% of the yellow component in the target area cr2; and y(tkbs(k)) is a dot% of the yellow component represented by the reference color number tkbs(k) in the overlapping image area specified by the pointer k . the operator max selects the larger value out of two values in the parenthesis. the same definition is applied to the other color components magenta (m), cyan (c), and black(k). in the embodiment described above, the overlapping image areas cr4 and cr5 have a predetermined width d , and the dot% of each color component in the overlapping image area cr4 or cr5 is set equal to the larger value between the dot% of the target area cr2 and the original dot% of the image area which is converted to the overlapping image area cr4 or cr5. all an operator has to do is to specify the target area; the shape and the color of the overlapping image area are automatically determined in the specified target area. accordingly, the overlapping process is readily executed even for an image including a large number of target areas and for an image including target areas in complicated shapes. d.procedure of region segmentation the region segmentation is performed in the following manner, for example. fig. 12 is a view showing a window w used in the region segmentation process. the shaded pixel pa is a pixel-to-be-processed, and peripheral pixels pb through pe are in contact with the pixel pa. the window w is successively moved in the main scanning direction y in such an order that a scanning line at smaller subscanning coordinate x is scanned earlier. when only the pixel pa is black and none of the other pixels pb through pe is black, a new system color number ns is allocated to the pixel pa. on the other hand, when the pixel pa and any one of the peripheral pixels pb through pe are black, the system color number ns allocated to the black peripheral pixel is given to the pixel pa as its system color number ns. the pixel pa in white is processed in a similar manner. that is, a new system color number ns is allocated to the pixel pa when all of the peripheral pixels are black, and the same system color number ns is allocated to the pixel pa as that of a white peripheral pixel when any one of the peripheral pixels is white. but when the target pixel pa and the pixels pc and pe each obliquely in contact with pa are white, and the other pixels pb and pd are black, a different system color number ns is allocated to the pixel pa from that of the pixels pc and pe. this makes these white pixels only obliquely contacting each other to be separate regions. as a result, a black separate region and a white separate region which obliquely intersect each other are prevented. while the window w is moved, different system color numbers ns are successively allocated to independent regions. in such processing, there are some cases that two or more system color numbers ns are allocated to one region. figs. 13a through 13d are explanatory views showing processes in such a case. suppose, as shown in fig. 13a, a block copy image includes a black region ra and three independent white regions rb, rc, and rd separated by the region ra. while the window w is successively moved in the main scanning direction y in such an order that a scanning line at smaller subscanning coordinate x is scanned earlier, different system color numbers ns are allocated to the respective regions ra through rd. numerals on pixels denote the system color numbers ns allocated to the pixels in fig. 13b. pixels without numerals do not have the system color numbers ns yet. as seen in fig. 13b, the black region ra includes pixels to which a numeral 2 is allocated as the system color number ns and those with a numeral 4. when the window is on the position shown in fig. 13b, the system color number ns on the pixel pb in contact with the target pixel pa is equal to 2, and those on the peripheral pixels pd and pe are equal to 4. information representing that ns=2 and ns=4 denote the same system color is temporarily stored in the auxiliary memory 62, and the smaller system color number ns=2 is allocated to the target pixel pa. fig. 13c shows a system color image or an image filled with respective system colors, and fig. 14 shows an identical system color table ist, both obtained as a result of such processing for all the pixels of fig. 13a. the table ist indicates that the system color numbers ns=2 and ns=4 denote an identical system color; that is, they are allocated to the same image region. the table ist also indicates that the numbers ns=5 and ns=6 also denote an identical system color. the table ist is stored in the auxiliary memory 10. the arithmetic and control unit 6 then reallocates a common system color number (for example, the smallest system color number) to pixels with different system color numbers in the same image region for the image of fig. 13c based on the table ist. the result of such processing is shown as an image of fig. 13d, in which each of the regions ra through rd has one system color number ns which is different from those of the other regions. an operator can assign desired colors as display colors to respective image regions after different system colors are allocated to them. in this case, the overlapping process is performed while using either of the color numbers representing the display color and the system color. the invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but there can be many modifications and changes without departing the scope of the invention. some examples of such modification are shown below. in the embodiment, the dot% of each color component in the overlapping image area is set equal to the larger value of the dot% of the target area and the original dot% of the overlapping image area, which is specified by the reference color number. the dot% of the overlapping image area can, however, be determined by averaging the dot% of the target area and the original dot% of the overlapping image area according to a predetermined calculation; for example, simple averaging or averaging after a predetermined factor of factors are applied. the expansion of the target area is performed on the basis of bit map data, and whether to expand or not is judged for each pixel with the 3 x 3 mask mp in the above embodiment. alternatively, the expansion can be performed by preparing a contour vector of the target area, and producing an expanded contour vector of the expanded target area expanded by a predetermined width d . concentration of each color component or any other value quantitatively representing each color component can be used instead of dot%. according to the present invention, an overlapping image area of a predetermined width is produced along the contour of a target area, and a color is allocated to each pixel in the overlapping image area based on the original color of the pixel and the color of the target area. the method of the invention automatically determines width and color of the overlapping image area, and therefore has an advantage of the ease with which the overlapping process is performed for the image including a large number of image areas. colors of overlapping image areas can be determined by averaging color components of the original color of the pixel in the overlapping area and those of the color of the target area according to a predetermined averaging calculation. such averaging process makes the color of the overlapping image area similar to that of the target area and its adjacent image area, thus making the overlapping image area unobtrusive. although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims. the features disclosed in the foregoing description, in the claims and/or in the accompanying drawings may, both, separately and in any combination thereof, be material for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.
|
091-760-514-323-628
|
JP
|
[
"CN",
"US",
"JP",
"WO"
] |
B25J15/08,B25J9/14,B25J15/00,B25J15/10,B25J15/12,B66C1/42,B25J17/00
| 2003-06-27T00:00:00 |
2003
|
[
"B25",
"B66"
] |
laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism and manufacturing method therefor, grasping hand and robot arm provided with the same
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a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism includes a bone member having at least two elastic deformation portions, a laminated-type pneumatic tube member having at least twoline-tubes which are stacked on the bone member and which are connected to a pneumatic drive source, and a planar-type joint-portion deformation member which is stacked on the laminated-type pneumatic tube member and has pneumatic operation chambers which are placed at joint portions confronting the deformation portions, respectively, and which are connected to the tubes, wherein when pneumatic pressure is applied to one of the pneumatic operation chambers, the joint portion corresponding to the pneumatic operation chamber to which the pneumatic pressure is applied is deformable.
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1. a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism comprising: a pneumatic drive source for providing pneumatic pressure; a bone member having at least two elastically-deformable elastic deformation portions; a laminated-type pneumatic tube member fixed on said bone member, said laminated-type pneumatic tube member having line-tubes separately connected to said pneumatic drive source; and a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member fixed on said laminated-type pneumatic tube member, said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member having joint portions and pneumatic operation chambers at said joint portions, separately and respectively, with said joint portions being aligned with said at least two elastic deformation portions, respectively, and said pneumatic operation chambers being separately connected to said line-tubes, respectively, such that when pneumatic pressure is applied to one of said pneumatic operation chambers, a corresponding one of said joint portions is deformed. 2. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 1 , further comprising: a control section for causing pneumatic pressure to be independently applied to said pneumatic operation chambers via said line-tubes, respectively. 3. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said at least two elastic deformation portions comprise elastic hinge portions, respectively. 4. a grasping hand having two members facing one another, with each of the two members including a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 3 such that the two members can cooperate with each other to grasp an object. 5. a robot arm having at an end thereof the grasping hand according to claim 4 . 6. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 3 , wherein said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member includes a constrained layer for imparting a directivity of expandability and contractibility to said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member along a longitudinal direction such that when said joint portions are expanded a flexural operation is performed by guidance of said bone member, with said constrained layer comprising a flexible organic film material in which is knit reticulate fiber. 7. a robot arm including the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 3 . 8. a grasping hand having two members facing one another, with each of the two members including a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 1 such that the two members can cooperate with each other to grasp an object. 9. a robot arm having at an end thereof the grasping hand according to claim 8 . 10. a robot arm including the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 1 . 11. a method for manufacturing the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 1 , comprising: integrally molding said bone member; stacking said laminated-type pneumatic tube member on said bone member, and bonding said laminated-type pneumatic tube member to said bone member; and stacking said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member on said laminated-type pneumatic tube member, and bonding said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member to said laminated-type pneumatic tube member. 12. a robot comprising: a robot arm including the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 1 ; and a grasping hand having two members facing one another, with each of the two members including a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 1 such that the two members can cooperate with each other to grasp an object. 13. a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism comprising: a pneumatic drive source for providing pneumatic pressure; a bone member having at least two elastically-deformable elastic deformation portions; a laminated-type pneumatic tube member fixed on said bone member, said laminated-type pneumatic tube member having line-tubes connected to said pneumatic drive source; and a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member fixed on said laminated-type pneumatic tube member, said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member having joint portions and pneumatic operation chambers at said joint portions, respectively, with said joint portions being aligned with said at least two elastic deformation portions, respectively, and said pneumatic operation chambers being connected to said line-tubes, respectively, wherein said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member includes a constrained layer for imparting a directivity of expandability and contractibility to said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member along a longitudinal direction, such that when pneumatic pressure is applied to one of said pneumatic operation chambers a corresponding one of said joint portions is expanded so as to perform a flexural operation by guidance of said bone member. 14. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 13 , wherein said at least two elastic deformation portions comprise elastic hinge portions, respectively. 15. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 14 , wherein said constrained layer comprises a flexible organic film material in which is knit reticulate fiber. 16. a grasping hand having two members facing one another, with each of the two members including a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 14 such that the two members can cooperate with each other to grasp an object. 17. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 13 , wherein said constrained layer comprises a flexible organic film material in which is knit reticulate fiber. 18. a grasping hand having two members facing one another, with each of the two members including a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 17 such that the two members can cooperate with each other to grasp an object. 19. a grasping hand having two members facing one another, with each of the two members including a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 13 such that the two members can cooperate with each other to grasp an object. 20. a robot arm having at an end thereof the grasping hand according to claim 19 . 21. a robot arm including the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to claim 13 . 22. a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism comprising: a pneumatic drive source for providing pneumatic pressure; a bone member having at least two elastically-deformable elastic deformation portions; molded organic films stacked one on another so as to form a laminated-type pneumatic tube member, said laminated-type pneumatic tube member being fixed on said bone member and having line-tubes, with said line-tubes being connected to said pneumatic drive source; and a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member fixed on said laminated-type pneumatic tube member, said planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member having joint portions and pneumatic operation chambers at said joint portions, respectively, with said joint portions being aligned with said at least two elastic deformation portions, respectively, and said pneumatic operation chambers being connected to said line-tubes, respectively, such that when pneumatic pressure is applied to one of said pneumatic operation chambers, a corresponding one of said joint portions is deformed.
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this is a continuation application of international application no. pct/jp2004/009257, filed jun. 24, 2004. technical field the present invention relates to a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism having a multi-joint portion and a manufacturing method therefor, a grasping hand and a robot arm provided with the same, as well as a robot provided with the grasping hand and the robot arm. in particular, the present invention relates to a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism and a manufacturing method therefor, as well as a grasping hand and a robot arm provided with the same, which mechanism fulfills grasping of various kinds of and diverse objects, safety for persons who use the mechanism, and flexible operation, and which mechanism is easily manufacturable with low cost. background art conventionally, a grasping hand with a multi-joint portion drive mechanism has been used for grasping of particular components in a limited working environment of a factory interior primarily as a hand of industrial robots, and has been under discussions and contrivance in view of higher precision, higher speed, and the like for specialized operations. in recent years, in contrast to this, there has been brisk development pertaining to robot introduction in household aid and work aid, care aid for aged or physically challenged, and the like in home, hospitals, and the like, giving rise to a desire for a grasping hand which satisfies such conditions as grasping of various and diverse objects, which could not be implemented by industrial robots, and safety to persons who use the grasping hand and which is capable of fulfilling flexible operations. for grasping of diverse objects, there has been known a robot hand described in japanese patent no. 3245095. this robot hand has five fingers consisting of a 4-degree-of-freedom thumb having one 4-joint-portion and four 3-degree-of-freedom fingers each having a 4-joint-portion, where miniature servomotors are contained at joint portions other than a finger-tip first joint portion, respectively, to drive the joint portions. however, this robot hand, involving large numbers of component parts, requiring assembly and being high-priced, is still limited to research use at the present time. with regard to a grasping hand capable of fulfilling flexible operations, a pneumatic actuator, which is one constituent element, is known as described in japanese patent no. 3226219. this actuator is so designed that a plurality of partition walls are provided in a cylindrical elastic member to define pressure chambers, wherein each of the pressure chambers is to be pressurized to flex the elastic member. this actuator is combined in a plurality to form a grasping hand, thus being enabled to grasp objects. however, since there is provided no constituent element equivalent to a human bone, there would arise an issue in that it may become hard for the actuator to continue grasping an object depending on its configuration and weight. also, in order to drive each actuator, there would arise a need for drive tubes of a number corresponding to a number of internal pressure chambers of cylindrical elastic members. in this case, the number of tubes would increase, causing a load more than a flexural operation force of the actuators to be involved depending on rigidity of the tubes, thereby posing a possibility that the actuators might no longer sufficiently flex. with regard to these already reported grasping hands, there has been disclosed no grasping hand which comprises pneumatic pressure as a drive source and which includes a laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member, a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member and a bone member having a joint portion according to the present invention. for introduction of robots for performing various kinds of aid into human living space, there is a need for a multi-joint portion drive mechanism for fulfilling a grasping hand that serves as a main part for aid operation. also, the grasping hand provided with the multi-joint portion drive mechanism is required to have a grasping performance for grasping various and diverse objects and to be safe, simple in structure, and implementable with low cost. an object of the present invention is to provide a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism, as well as a manufacturing method therefor, and further to provide a grasping hand and a robot arm provided with the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as well as a robot provided with the grasping hand and the robot arm each of which solves the foregoing issues and each of which is capable of implementing a grasping hand having a grasping performance for various and diverse objects, and which is safe and simple in terms of structure and implementable with low cost. summary of the invention in accomplishing the above object, the present invention has the following constitution. according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism comprising: a pneumatic drive source for providing pneumatic pressure; a bone member having at least two elastically-deformable elastic deformation portions; a laminated-type pneumatic tube member having at least two line-tubes which are fixed so as to be laid on the bone member and which are connected to the pneumatic drive source; and a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member which is fixed so as to be laid on the laminated-type pneumatic tube member and which has pneumatic operation chambers placed at joint portions confronting the elastic deformation portions of the bone member, respectively, and connected to the tubes, respectively, wherein with pneumatic pressure applied to one of the pneumatic operation chambers, the joint portion corresponding to the pneumatic operation chamber to which the pneumatic pressure is applied is deformable. according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first aspect, the method comprising: integrally molding the bone member having elastic hinges at least the elastic deformation portions; and stacking and bonding the laminated-type pneumatic tube member and the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member on the bone member. according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grasping hand having the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first aspect which is arranged face to face to be capable of grasping an object. according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first aspect. according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first aspect, and providing the grasping hand at an end of the robot arm. according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot comprising: a robot arm as described below and the grasping hand at an end of the robot arm. brief description of drawings these and other aspects and features of the present invention will become clear from the following description taken in conjunction with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a sectional view of a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention; figs. 2a , 2 b, 2 c are a perspective view, a side view and an explanatory view, respectively, of a bone member in which an elastic hinge portion is provided at each joint portion of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to the first embodiment; figs. 3a and 3b are an exploded perspective view of constituent elements of a laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to the first embodiment, and a schematic enlarged sectional view of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member, respectively; figs. 4a , 4 b, 4 c, 4 d, 4 e and 4 f are sectional views, respectively, of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member for explaining fabrication processes of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to the first embodiment; figs. 5a and 5b are an exploded perspective view of constituent elements of a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to the first embodiment, and an enlarged partial sectional view of a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member, respectively; figs. 6a and 6b are a sectional view of a model for explaining a drive state of a joint portion in a case where a constrained layer of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to the first embodiment is not restricted to any particular direction for its direction of expansion and contraction, and a sectional view of a model for explaining a drive state of a joint portion in a case where the constrained layer is restricted to a particular direction for its direction of expansion and contraction, respectively; figs. 7a and 7b are plan views of a constrained layer in which fiber is knitted, and a model representing expansion and contraction in a case where pneumatic pressure is applied to the constrained layer, respectively; fig. 8 is a sectional view of a model for explaining a drive state of a joint portion in a case where the constrained layer of a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to the first embodiment is restricted to a particular direction for its direction of expansion and contraction; fig. 9 is a block diagram for explaining a control operation of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to the first embodiment; fig. 10 is a perspective view of a model in a case where a constrained layer of each planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member of a grasping hand provided with a pair of planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation members according to a second embodiment of the present invention is restricted to a particular direction for its direction of expansion and contraction and where a bone member having an elastic hinge at each joint portion is provided; fig. 11 is a block diagram for explaining a control operation of the grasping hand of fig. 10 ; fig. 12 is a perspective view of a model in a case where a constrained layer of each planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member of a grasping hand provided with two pairs of planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation members according to a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention is restricted to a particular direction for its direction of expansion and contraction and where a bone member having an elastic hinge at each joint portion is provided; fig. 13 is a block diagram for explaining a control operation of the grasping hand of fig. 12 ; fig. 14 is a perspective view of a model of a grasping hand in which laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are provided left-and-right asymmetrically according to another modification of the second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 15 is a perspective view of a grasping hand in which a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism having a sensor on a grasping surface side according to yet another modification of the second embodiment of the present invention is provided; fig. 16 is a block diagram showing a grasping operation of the grasping hand of fig. 15 ; fig. 17 is a plan view showing a neutral state of the grasping hand of fig. 15 ; figs. 18a and 18b are a plan view showing a neutral state of the grasping hand of fig. 15 before its grasping an object, and a plan view showing the grasping hand of fig. 15 that is grasping an object, respectively; figs. 19a and 19b are a plan view showing a neutral state of the grasping hand of fig. 15 before its grasping an object, and a plan view showing the grasping hand of fig. 15 that is grasping an object, respectively; figs. 20a and 20b are a plan view showing a neutral state of the grasping hand of fig. 15 , and a plan view showing a state of the grasping hand of fig. 15 that has broadened an opening distance more than in the neutral state, respectively; fig. 21 is a plan view showing the grasping hand of fig. 15 that is grasping an object in fig. 20b ; and fig. 22 is a perspective view of a robot which uses a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to a third embodiment of the present invention and in which the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of fig. 1 is provided with the grasping hand of fig. 12 according to the second embodiment. detailed description of the preferred embodiments before description of the present invention proceeds, it is to be noted that like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the accompanying drawings. hereinbelow, a first embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. before the embodiment is described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, various aspects of the present invention are first described. according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism comprising: a pneumatic drive source for providing pneumatic pressure; a bone member having at least two elastically-deformable elastic deformation portions; a laminated-type pneumatic tube member having at least two line-tubes which are fixed so as to be laid on the bone member and which are connected to the pneumatic drive source; and a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member which is fixed so as to be laid on the laminated-type pneumatic tube member and which has pneumatic operation chambers placed at joint portions confronting the elastic deformation portions of the bone member, respectively, and connected to the tubes, respectively, wherein with pneumatic pressure applied to one of the pneumatic operation chambers, the joint portion corresponding to the pneumatic operation chamber to which the pneumatic pressure is applied is deformable. with this constitution, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism has a function of, by taking advantage of flexible drive that is an advantage of conventional pneumatic actuators, and by overcoming complexities of tubing, making it possible to realize a joint-portion drive mechanism which is smaller-size, more lightweight, and easier to manufacture as compared with actuators typified by motors, and achieving an improvement in grasping rigidity by virtue of its having the bone member. according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first aspect, wherein the laminated-type pneumatic tube member is so formed that a plurality of molded organic films are stacked one on another to form the tubes. with this constitution, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism has a function of making it easier to manufacture the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism and making it possible to achieve a cost reduction by virtue of its adopting a laminated structure of tubes which otherwise might affect drive of the joint portions because of their complications in making up a drive mechanism using pneumatic pressure. according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first or second aspect, wherein the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member comprises a constrained layer for imparting a directivity of expandability and contractibility to the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member along its longitudinal direction, wherein when the joint portions of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member are expanded, a flexural operation is performed by guidance of the bone member. with this constitution, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism has a function of making it possible to transform energy, which is supplied to the joint-portion drive mechanism utilizing pneumatic pressure, into flexural operation of the joint portions with high efficiency. according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the plurality of elastic deformation portions of the bone member are elastic hinge portions, respectively. with this constitution, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism has a function of making it possible to integrally manufacture the multi-joint portions, or even a multi-finger configuration, by machining the joint portions alone into an elastic-hinge configuration, other than individually manufacturing respective joint portions of the bone member that has a plurality of joint portions. according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the constrained layer of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member is a flexible organic film material in which reticulate fiber is knitted. with this constitution, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism has a function of making it possible to transform energy, which is supplied to the pneumatic pressure source, into flexural operation of the joint portions with high efficiency by restricting a direction of expansion and contraction of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member to a particular direction by use of reticulate fiber. according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the method comprising: integrally molding the bone member having elastic hinges at least the elastic deformation portions; and stacking and bonding the laminated-type pneumatic tube member and the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member on the bone member. with this constitution, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is manufactured through processes of molding layers layer by layer, and tightly bonding together the layers. therefore, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism has a function of making it possible to manufacture the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism with low cost by virtue of suppressing component parts count to a minimum. according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grasping hand having the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in any one of the first to fifth aspects which is arranged face to face to be capable of grasping an object. with this constitution, the grasping hand has a function of making it possible to achieve grasping of various and diverse objects, and provide safety to persons who use the grasping hand in a flexible operation. according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in any one of the first to fifth aspects. with this constitution, the robot arm is enabled to provide safety to persons who use the robot arm as well as a flexible positioning operation. according to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in any one of the first to fifth aspects, and providing the grasping hand as defined in the seventh aspect at an end of the robot arm. with this constitution, since the grasping hand, in which the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is arranged face to face, is provided at an end of the robot arm, the robot arm is enabled to safely position the grasping hand against a grasping object located within a movable range, thus making it possible to provide safety to persons who use the robot arm as well as a flexible positioning operation. according to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grasping hand having the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first or second aspect which is arranged face to face to be capable of grasping an object. according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grasping hand having the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the third aspect which is arranged face to face to be capable of grasping an object. according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grasping hand having the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the fourth aspect which is arranged face to face to be capable of grasping an object. according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grasping hand having the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the fifth aspect which is arranged face to face to be capable of grasping an object. according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grasping hand having the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the sixth aspect which is arranged face to face to be capable of grasping an object. according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first or second aspect. according to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the third aspect. according to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the fourth aspect. according to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm providing the grasping hand as defined in the tenth aspect at an end of the arm. according to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm providing the grasping hand as defined in the eleventh aspect at an end of the arm. according to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot arm providing the grasping hand as defined in the twelfth aspect at an end of the arm. according to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot comprising: the robot arm which comprises the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as defined in the first or second aspect; and the grasping hand as defined in the tenth aspect provided at an end of the robot arm. hereinbelow, embodiments of the present invention are explained with reference to figs. 1 to 22 . first embodiment fig. 1 is a sectional view of a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism shown in fig. 1 is formed through steps of stacking a plate-shaped laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 and a planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 on a bone member 1 having elastic hinge portions 1 a provided at a plurality of joint portions, respectively, and then tightly joining these members by adhesively bonding them together with an adhesive such as polyimide-based adhesive. this multi-joint portion drive mechanism includes a pneumatic drive source 4 such as an air cylinder for feeding compressed air or the like, a pneumatic pressure introduction tube 5 for implementing a pneumatic introductory tube connected to the pneumatic drive source 4 , the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 having gas passage through holes 2 g , 2 h , 2 i connected to the pneumatic pressure introduction tube 5 via a plurality of tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c having solenoid valves 17 a , 17 b , 17 c , respectively, and the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 tightly joined with the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 , where pneumatic pressure is applied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to the gas passage through holes 2 g , 2 h , 2 i of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 so that the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 is expanded, thus achieving flexure of the joint portions flexed with the elastic hinge portions 1 a of the bone member 1 serving as flexure points. referring to figs. 1 and 2c , the bone member 1 includes a first bone member body portion 1 b- 1 , a first elastic hinge portion 1 a- 1 , a second bone member body portion 1 b- 2 , a second elastic hinge portion 1 a- 2 , a third bone member body portion 1 b- 3 , a third elastic hinge portion 1 a- 3 , and a fourth bone member body portion 1 b- 4 , with these members being arranged and connected in adjacency to one another from a base end portion side of the bone member 1 toward a fore end portion side thereof. in the following description, when a description is common to the first to fourth bone member body portions 1 b- 1 to 1 b- 4 , the description is made with representation by the bone member body portions 1 b, and likewise when a description is common to the first to third elastic hinge portions 1 a- 1 to 1 a- 3 , the description is made with representation by the elastic hinge portions 1 a. the elastic hinge portions 1 a are formed thinner and thus elastically deformable, as compared with the bone member body portions 1 b. in the bone member 1 , although the elastic hinge portions 1 a are provided three in number so that a number of joint portions of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is set as three, the number of joint portions may be changed depending on an environment and objects with which this laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is put into use. also, a width of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism or a length of individual member portions may also be changed likewise. the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is explained in terms of its structure with reference to its manufacturing procedure. figs. 2a and 2b are a perspective view and a sectional view, respectively, of the bone member 1 in which an elastic hinge portion 1 a is provided at each joint portion of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism. the bone member 1 is characterized by using high-rigidity, lightweight organic material (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate or polypropylene) and integrally molding its external configuration, the elastic hinge portions 1 a, and the bone member body portions 1 b. it is noted that the elastic hinge portion 1 a refers to a portion of the bone member 1 which serves for flexure of the bone member 1 and which is molded so as to be about ½ to ¼ as thick as the bone member body portion 1 b. in this embodiment of the present invention, whereas use of a single material for integral molding of the bone member 1 makes the elastic hinge portions 1 a and the bone member body portions 1 b equal in terms of modulus of elasticity to each other, it is possible to make the elastic hinge portions 1 a preferentially flexed relative to the bone member body portions 1 b due to a thickness difference therebetween. an example of material of the bone member 1 is polypropylene. polypropylene can be considered to be capable of improving reliability of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism that requires iterative operations because polypropylene itself has a hinge property and high reiterative flexural strength. an example of the integral molding of the bone member 1 is a molding using a metal mold. molding a large-width plate material and thereafter cutting and separating the material at desired widths allows a multiplicity of bone members 1 to be molded and manufactured with ease. as another manufacturing method for the bone member 1 , there is provided a thermal processing of plate material, where material texture of the elastic hinge portions 1 a becomes dense by forming the elastic hinge portions 1 a by heating and compression, thereby providing a possibility that reiterative flexural strength of the joint portions can also be improved. fig. 2c is a perspective view showing dynamic characteristics of the elastic hinge portions 1 a. the bone member 1 is so configured with individual bone member body portions 1 b being connected to one another with the elastic hinge portions 1 a serving as joint portions, such that a force 6 in a z-axis direction applied to the bone member 1 can be supported as a moment force 7 on a base end side of the bone member 1 . properties of this moment force 7 are effective regardless of a flexural angle of the elastic hinge portions 1 a under a condition of high torsional rigidity of the elastic hinge portions 1 a and moreover independent of a force generated by the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 . as a result of these characteristics, as shown in fig. 10 , when a pair of laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are arranged face to face like a hand, a force generated along a gravity drop direction (the z-axis direction of fig. 2c ) of a grasping object which is vertical to a grasping direction (a direction perpendicular to both z-axis direction and x-axis direction of fig. 2c , i.e., a thicknesswise direction of the bone member 1 ) can be supported by a structural strength of the bone member 1 , so that energy supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 can efficiently be transformed into grasping force. figs. 3a and 3b show an exploded perspective view of organic films 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, which are constituent elements of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism, and a sectional view of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 after stacking of the organic films 2 a, 2 b, 2 c. the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 , as shown in fig. 3a , is formed from the organic films 2 a, 2 b, 2 c which are identical in terms of external configuration to the bone member 1 and identical in terms of external configuration to each other, and which are tightly stacked one on another. that is, on a first organic film 2 a that serves as a base material, a second organic film 2 b in which a tube is to be provided is tightly joined, then a tube shaping process is performed by photolithography or the like, and a third organic film 2 c is tightly joined thereon, followed by forming through holes for introduction of pneumatic pressure into the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 . thus, the second organic film 2 b has three tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c which extend parallel to one another and along a longitudinal direction of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 so as to penetrate in its thicknesswise direction. the first laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 a is shortest, where a first circular gas supply hole 2 d which has a diameter larger than a tube width and which penetrates in a thicknesswise direction is formed at a distal end of the tube. the second laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 b is longer than the first laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 a , where a circular gas supply hole 2 e which has a diameter larger than the tube width and which penetrates in the thicknesswise direction is formed at a distal end of this tube. the third laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 c is longer than the second laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 b , where a circular gas supply hole 2 f which has a diameter larger than the tube width and which penetrates in the thicknesswise direction is formed at a distal end of this tube. also, the first organic film 2 a is formed into a plate shape in which through holes are not formed at all. meanwhile, near a base end portion of the third organic film 2 c is formed a first circular gas passage through hole 2 g which communicates with the first circular gas supply hole 2 d of the second organic film 2 b and which is larger in diameter than the first circular gas supply hole 2 d and which penetrates in the thicknesswise direction. at an intermediate portion between the base end portion and a distal end portion is formed a second circular gas passage through hole 2 h which communicates with the second circular gas supply hole 2 e of the second organic film 2 b and which is larger in diameter than the second circular gas supply hole 2 e and which penetrates in the thicknesswise direction. at an intermediate portion between the base end portion and the distal end portion is formed a third circular gas passage through hole 2 i which communicates with the third circular gas supply hole 2 f of the second organic film 2 b and which is larger in diameter than the third circular gas supply hole 2 f and which penetrates in the thicknesswise direction. accordingly, individual tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c of the second organic film 2 b are formed as passages between the third organic film 2 c and the first organic film 2 a. as an example of fabrication of this laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 , a fabrication flow with polyimide film and photosensitive polyimide used as the material is shown in figs. 4a to 4f . first, a polyimide film (see fig. 4a ), which is to form the first organic film 2 a, as a base material, is coated with photosensitive polyimide, which is to form the second organic film 2 b (see fig. 4b ). this coating is followed by pre-baking, and thereafter the photosensitive polyimide is exposed to light with a photomask 8 having a tube pattern corresponding to the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c (see fig. 4c ), then, development and post-baking are performed to form the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c (see fig. 4d ). on this resulting film, a polyimide film with an adhesive thereon which is to form the third organic film 2 c is bonded in an airtight state (see fig. 4e ), and a formation process for the first circular gas passage through hole 2 g , the second circular gas passage through hole 2 h , and the third circular gas passage through hole 2 i , by which the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c and the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 are connected to each other, is performed by laser beam machining with a laser beam 9 to form the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 (see fig. 4f ). alternatively, the third organic film 2 c, which is a polyimide film with adhesive attached and in which the first circular gas passage through hole 2 g , the second circular gas passage through hole 2 h , and the third circular gas passage through hole 2 i have previously been formed, may be aligned and bonded in an airtight state on the second organic film 2 b and the first organic film 2 a, in which the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c have been formed. by arranging and forming the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c on a plane in such a manner, it becomes possible to integrally mold the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c for allowing individual joint portions of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism to be operated independently of one another. between the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c and the pneumatic pressure introduction tube 5 are arranged solenoid valves, respectively, so that air supply into the tubes 2 a , 2 b , 2 c can be made and halted independently and individually depending on opening and closing of the solenoid valves. figs. 5a and 5b show an exploded perspective view of a base member 3 a, an elastic layer 3 b, and a constrained layer 3 c, which are constituent elements of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 , and a sectional view of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 after stacking of the base member 3 a, the elastic layer 3 b, and the constrained layer 3 c. the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 is so formed that elastic layer 3 b, formed of an elastic material and having a rectangular first pneumatic operation hole 3 g , a rectangular second pneumatic operation hole 3 h , and a rectangular third pneumatic operation hole 3 i formed therein so as to extend through the elastic layer 3 b and to serve as voids that form pneumatic operation chambers 16 , is hermetically bonded and joined on the base member 3 a having a first circular gas supply hole 3 d , a second circular gas supply hole 3 e , and a third circular gas supply hole 3 f which communicate with the first pneumatic operation hole 3 g , the second pneumatic operation hole 3 h , and the third pneumatic operation hole 3 i , respectively and independently, and which are smaller in diameter than those, respectively, and further which extend through the base member 3 a; and moreover, the constrained layer 3 c which is shaped into a flat plate with no through holes and which imparts a directivity to expansion and contraction of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is hermetically bonded and joined thereon. in this case, fig. 6a is a sectional view of a model of joint portion drive in a case where the constrained layer 3 c is not restricted in its direction of expansion and contraction thereof, thereby representing a configuration resulting when the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 is expanded upward, as viewed in fig. 6a , by application of pneumatic pressure under that condition. in this case, the constrained layer 3 c itself would preferentially expand due to application of pneumatic pressure, thereby inhibiting a flexural operation of an intended joint portion. in contrast to this, fig. 6b is a sectional view of a model of joint portion drive in a case where an expansion-and-contraction direction of the constrained layer 3 c is restricted to one direction (i.e., a longitudinal direction of the constrained layer 3 c), thereby representing a configuration resulting when the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 is expanded by application of pneumatic pressure under that condition. accordingly, by the constrained layer 3 c being expanded and contracted in one direction, it becomes possible to efficiently transform energy supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 into flexural operation of the joint portion. in order to restrict the expansion-and-contraction direction of the constrained layer 3 c to one direction, i.e., the longitudinal direction of the constrained layer 3 c, it is effective to mold the constrained layer 3 c with a flexible organic material in which fiber 10 has been knitted along a direction perpendicular to the expansion-and-contraction direction of the constrained layer 3 c as shown in fig. 7a . fig. 7b shows a plan view of a model representing an expanded state of the constrained layer 3 c in which the fiber 10 has been knitted along a direction perpendicular to the expansion-and-contraction direction in a case where pneumatic pressure is applied to the constrained layer 3 c. the constrained layer 3 c is expanded and contracted by elasticity of the organic material in a direction (the left-and-right direction in figs. 7a and 7b , i.e., the longitudinal direction of the constrained layer 3 c) perpendicular to the fiber 10 oriented along the up-and-down direction as viewed in figs. 7a and 7b , while an expansion-and-contraction restrictive force due to a length of the fiber 10 acts along a direction parallel to the fiber 10 (the up-and-down direction in figs. 7a and 7b , i.e., a widthwise direction of the constrained layer 3 c) so that the constrained layer 3 c can be restricted in its expansion and contraction. fig. 8 is a sectional view of a model in a case where the constrained layer 3 c is restricted to a particular direction of its expansion and contraction (i.e., the longitudinal direction of the constrained layer 3 c) and where a bone member 1 having elastic hinges 1 a at its joint portions is provided, with this figure representing a configuration resulting when the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 is expanded by application of pneumatic pressure under that condition. by virtue of provision of the bone member 1 having the elastic hinges 1 a at individual joint portions, respectively, in addition to the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 that is driven by application of pneumatic pressure, portions other than the joint portions are further constrained, thus producing an effect that energy supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 can be transformed into flexural operation of the joint portions more efficiently. this flexural operation is described in detail. the first circular gas supply hole 2 d and the first circular gas passage through hole 2 g of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 , and the first circular gas supply hole 3 d and the first pneumatic operation hole 3 g of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 , are connected together and arranged so as to confront an inner surface side of the first elastic hinge portion 1 a- 1 . then, pneumatic pressure, i.e., compressed air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to the first pneumatic operation hole 3 g (first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a) via the first laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 a , the first circular gas supply hole 2 d , the first circular gas passage through hole 2 g , and the first circular gas supply hole 3 d , by which a first joint portion 3 a of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 near the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a is elastically deformed to extend along the longitudinal direction, so that the first bone member body portion 1 b- 1 and the second bone member body portion 1 b- 2 cause the first elastic hinge portion 1 a- 1 to be flexed so as to be positioned inward. similarly, the second circular gas supply hole 2 e and the second circular gas passage through hole 2 h of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 , and the second circular gas supply hole 3 e and the second pneumatic operation hole 3 h of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 , are connected together and arranged so as to confront an inner surface side of the second elastic hinge portion 1 a- 2 . then, pneumatic pressure, i.e., compressed air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to the second pneumatic operation hole 3 h (second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b) via the second laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 b , the second circular gas supply hole 2 e , the second circular gas passage through hole 2 h , and the second circular gas supply hole 3 e , by which a second joint portion 3 b of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 near the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b is elastically deformed to extend along the longitudinal direction, so that the second bone member body portion 1 b- 2 and the third bone member body portion 1 b- 3 cause the second elastic hinge portion 1 a- 2 to be flexed so as to be positioned inward. similarly, the third circular gas supply hole 2 f and the third circular gas passage through hole 2 i of the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 , and the third circular gas supply hole 3 f and the third pneumatic operation hole 3 i of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 , are connected together and arranged so as to confront an inner surface side of the third elastic hinge portion 1 a- 3 . then, pneumatic pressure, i.e., compressed air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to the third pneumatic operation hole 3 i (third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c) via the third laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 c , the third circular gas supply hole 2 f , the third circular gas passage through hole 2 i , and the third circular gas supply hole 3 f , by which a third joint portion 3 c of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 near the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c is elastically deformed to extend along the longitudinal direction, so that the third bone member body portion 1 b- 3 and the fourth bone member body portion 1 b- 4 cause the third elastic hinge portion 1 a- 3 to be flexed so as to be positioned inward. the bone member 1 , the laminated-type pneumatic tube formation member 2 , and the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 , which are constituent elements, are bonded and joined together into a hermetic state, by which the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of the first embodiment is fabricated. a further description is given below for a case where the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of the above construction is controlled for its drive by a control section 12 . as shown in fig. 9 , the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is placed and fixed to a fixing portion 11 with a root of the bone member 1 serving as a junction portion. the control section 12 controls drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 , and also controls opening and closing of a first solenoid valve 17 a interposed in the first laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 a , opening and closing of a second solenoid valve 17 b interposed in the second laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 b , and opening and closing of a third solenoid valve 17 c interposed in the third laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 c . further, the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a for driving the first joint portion 3 a is provided by the first pneumatic operation hole 3 g , wherein with air supplied to the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a, the first joint portion 3 a is flexed about the first elastic hinge portion 1 a- 1 by guidance of the first bone member body portion 1 b- 1 and the second bone member body portion 1 b- 2 provided on both sides of the first elastic hinge portion 1 a- 1 as shown in fig. 8 . also, the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b for driving the second joint portion 3 b is provided by the second pneumatic operation hole 3 h , wherein with air supplied to the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b, the second joint portion 3 b is flexed about the second elastic hinge portion 1 a- 2 by guidance of the second bone member body portion 1 b- 2 and the third bone member body portion 1 b- 3 provided on both sides of the second elastic hinge portion 1 a- 2 as shown in fig. 8 . also, the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c for driving the third joint portion 3 c is provided by the third pneumatic operation hole 3 i , wherein with air supplied to the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c, the third joint portion 3 c is flexed about the third elastic hinge portion 1 a- 3 by guidance of the third bone member body portion 1 b- 3 and the fourth bone member body portion 1 b- 4 provided on both sides of the third elastic hinge portion 1 a- 3 as shown in fig. 8 . referring to operation of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism, first, the control section 12 acts to generate a signal for applying pneumatic pressure to the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a located at the first joint portion of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism, and the pneumatic drive source 4 is driven and the first solenoid valve 17 a is opened by the control section 12 . as a result of this, air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to the first pneumatic operation hole 3 g , i.e. the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a, via the first laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 a , the first circular gas supply hole 2 d , and the first circular gas supply hole 3 d , so that air pressure, i.e., pneumatic pressure is applied to the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a. along with this application of pneumatic pressure, the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a is expanded, causing the first joint portion to be flexed. to undo flexure of the first joint portion, drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 by the control section 12 is halted and the first solenoid valve 17 a is opened, by which expansion at the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a due to pneumatic pressure is released, so that the first joint portion is returned to a stretched state. also, independent of flexure of the first joint portion, the control section 12 acts to generate a signal for applying pneumatic pressure to the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b located at the second joint portion of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism, and the pneumatic drive source 4 is driven and the second solenoid valve 17 b is opened by the control section 12 . as a result of this, air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to the second pneumatic operation hole 3 h , i.e. the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b, via the second laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 b , the second circular gas supply hole 2 e , and the second circular gas supply hole 3 e , so that air pressure, i.e., pneumatic pressure is applied to the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b. along with this application of pneumatic pressure, the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b is expanded, thereby causing the second joint portion to be flexed. to undo flexure of the second joint portion, drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 by the control section 12 is halted and the second solenoid valve 17 b is opened, by which expansion at the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b due to pneumatic pressure is released, so that the second joint portion is returned to a stretched state. further, independent of flexure of the second joint portion, the control section 12 acts to generate a signal for applying pneumatic pressure to the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c located at the third joint portion of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism, and the pneumatic drive source 4 is driven and the third solenoid valve 17 c is opened by the control section 12 . as a result of this, air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to the third pneumatic operation hole 3 i , i.e. the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c, via the third laminated-type pneumatic tube 2 c , the third circular gas supply hole 2 f , and the third circular gas supply hole 3 f , so that air pressure, i.e., pneumatic pressure is applied to the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c. along with this application of pneumatic pressure, the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c is expanded, thereby causing the third joint portion to be flexed. to undo flexure of the third joint portion, drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 by the control section 12 is halted and the third solenoid valve 17 c is opened, by which expansion at the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c due to pneumatic pressure is released, so that the third joint portion is returned to a stretched state. according to the first embodiment, any arbitrary joint portion can be flexed securely by opening-and-closing control of the solenoid valves 17 a , 17 b , 17 c by the control section 12 . second embodiment figs. 10 and 11 are a perspective view and a block diagram, respectively, of a grasping hand provided with the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of the first embodiment, where a grasping function is given by providing a plurality, e.g., one pair of laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms face to face and left-and-right symmetrical. with a root of each bone member 1 serving as a junction portion, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are placed and fixed at a fixing portion 11 so as to confront each other. the control section 12 controls drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 , and also controls opening and closing of first solenoid valves 17 a , 17 a interposed on left-and-right first laminated-type pneumatic tubes 2 a , 2 a , opening and closing of second solenoid valves 17 b , 17 b interposed on left-and-right second laminated-type pneumatic tubes 2 b , 2 b , and opening and closing of third solenoid valves 17 c , 17 c interposed on left-and-right third laminated-type pneumatic tubes 2 c , 2 c , respectively and independently. further, first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a for driving the left-and-right first joint portions 3 a , respectively, are provided by first pneumatic operation holes 3 g , where with air supplied to the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, each first joint portion 3 a is flexed about first elastic hinge portion 1 a- 1 by guidance of the first bone member body portion 1 b- 1 and second bone member body portion 1 b- 2 provided on both sides of the first elastic hinge portion 1 a- 1 as shown in fig. 8 . also, second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b for driving left-and-right second joint portions 3 b are provided by second pneumatic operation holes 3 h , wherein with air supplied to the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, each second joint portion 3 b is flexed about its second elastic hinge portion 1 a- 2 by guidance of the second bone member body portion 1 b- 2 and the third bone member body portion 1 b- 3 provided on both sides of the second elastic hinge portion 1 a- 2 as shown in fig. 8 . also, third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c for driving left-and-right third joint portions 3 c are provided by third pneumatic operation holes 3 i , where with air supplied to the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c, each third joint portion 3 c is flexed about its third elastic hinge portion 1 a- 3 by guidance of the third bone member body portion 1 b- 3 and the fourth bone member body portion 1 b- 4 provided on both sides of the third elastic hinge portion 1 a- 3 as shown in fig. 8 . referring to operation of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism, first, control section 12 acts to generate signals for applying pneumatic pressure, for example synchronously, to the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, 16 a located at left-and-right first joint portions of planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation members 3 , 3 of the left-and-right multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, and, by the control section 12 , the pneumatic drive source 4 is driven and left-and-right first solenoid valves 17 a , 17 a are synchronously opened. as a result of this, air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to left-and-right first pneumatic operation holes 3 g , 3 g , i.e. left-and-right first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, 16 a, via left-and-right first laminated-type pneumatic tubes 2 a , 2 a , left-and-right first circular gas supply holes 2 d , 2 d , and left-and-right first circular gas supply holes 3 d , 3 d , respectively and synchronously, so that air pressure, i.e., pneumatic pressure is applied to the left-and-right first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, 16 a, respectively and synchronously. along with this left-and-right synchronized application of pneumatic pressure, the left-and-right first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, 16 a are expanded respectively and synchronously, causing the left-and-right first joint portions to be flexed synchronously. to undo flexure of the left-and-right first joint portions, drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 by the control section 12 is halted and the first solenoid valves 17 a , 17 a are opened, by which expansion at the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, 16 a due to pneumatic pressure is released, so that the left-and-right first joint portions are returned to a stretched state. also, independent of flexure of the left-and-right first joint portions, the control section 12 acts to generate signals for applying pneumatic pressure, for example synchronously, to second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, 16 b located at left-and-right second joint portions of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation members 3 , 3 of left-and-right multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, and, by the control section 12 , the pneumatic drive source 4 is driven and left-and-right second solenoid valves 17 b , 17 b are synchronously opened. as a result of this, air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to left-and-right second pneumatic operation holes 3 h , 3 h , i.e. the left-and-right second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, 16 b, via left-and-right second laminated-type pneumatic tubes 2 b , 2 b , left-and-right second circular gas supply holes 2 e , 2 e , and left-and-right second circular gas supply holes 3 e , 3 e , respectively and synchronously, so that air pressure, i.e., pneumatic pressure is applied to the left-and-right second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, 16 b synchronously. along with this left-and-right synchronized application of pneumatic pressure, the left-and-right second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, 16 b are expanded synchronously, causing the left-and-right second joint portions to be flexed synchronously. to undo flexure of the left-and-right second joint portions, the drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 by the control section 12 is halted and the second solenoid valves 17 b , 17 b are opened, by which expansion at the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, 16 b due to pneumatic pressure is released, so that the left-and-right second joint portions are returned to a stretched state. further, independent of flexure of the left-and-right second joint portions, the control section 12 acts to generate signals for applying pneumatic pressure, for example synchronously, to third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c, 16 c located at left-and-right third joint portions of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation members 3 , 3 of the left-and-right multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, and, by the control section 12 , the pneumatic drive source 4 is driven and left-and-right third solenoid valves 17 c , 17 c are synchronously opened. as a result of this, air is supplied from the pneumatic drive source 4 to left-and-right third pneumatic operation holes 3 i , 3 i , i.e. left-and-right third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c, 16 c, via left-and-right third laminated-type pneumatic tubes 2 c , 2 c , left-and-right third circular gas supply holes 2 f , 2 f , and left-and-right third circular gas supply holes 3 f , 3 f , respectively and synchronously, so that air pressure, i.e., pneumatic pressure is applied to the left-and-right third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c, 16 c synchronously. along with this left-and-right synchronized application of pneumatic pressure, the left-and-right third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c, 16 c are expanded synchronously, thereby causing the left-and-right third joint portions to be flexed. to undo flexure of the left-and-right third joint portions, drive of the pneumatic drive source 4 by the control section 12 is halted and the third solenoid valves 17 c , 17 c are opened, by which expansion at the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c, 16 c due to pneumatic pressure is released, so that the left-and-right third joint portions are returned to a stretched state. according to the second embodiment, a grasping operation can be performed by reliably flexing arbitrary left-and-right joint portions by virtue of opening-and-closing control of the left-and-right solenoid valves 17 a , 17 b , 17 c by the control section 12 . as a modification of the second embodiment, figs. 12 and 13 are a perspective view and a block diagram, respectively, of a grasping hand provided with the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of the first embodiment, where a grasping function is given by providing two pairs of laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms face to face and left-and-right symmetrical. with a root of each bone member 1 serving as a junction portion, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are placed and fixed at fixing portion 11 so as to confront each other. operation of each laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is the same as in the foregoing second embodiment of fig. 10 and therefore its description is omitted. although an even number, e.g. two, of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are arranged left-and-right symmetrically in figs. 12 and 13 , yet it is also possible that two left-hand laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms and one right-hand laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism are provided left-and-right asymmetrically as shown in a perspective view of fig. 14 , as another modification of the second embodiment of the present invention, depending on a configuration of objects to be grasped. operation of each laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is the same as in the foregoing second embodiment of fig. 10 and therefore its description is omitted. moreover, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms to be provided in a plurality may also be set with their length and width changed in response to their working objects. as yet another modification of the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in a perspective view and a block diagram of figs. 15 and 16 , four laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are set left-and-right symmetrically, i.e. two on each of left and right sides, so that their base end portions are fixed to fixing portion 11 , and pneumatic drive sources 4 are connected to the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms via their respective pneumatic pressure introduction tubes 5 , respectively, and these four pneumatic drive sources 4 , . . . , 4 are controlled for their drive by the control section 12 . further, on a grasping surface side of each bone member 1 are placed a contact sensor 13 which is connected to control section 12 to detect contact with an object, a pressure-sensitive sensor 14 which is connected to the control section 12 to detect a pressure upon contact with the object, a friction sensor 15 which is connected to the control section 12 to detect a frictional force upon contact with the object, or the like. then, grasping information as to an object detected by each of the sensors 13 , 14 , 15 , respectively, is fed back to the control section 12 , and the four pneumatic drive sources 4 , . . . , 4 are controlled independently of one another by the control section 12 to control pneumatic pressure supplied to their respective pneumatic operation chambers so that a flexural operation of their respective joint portions are controlled. thus, it becomes possible to perform a grasping operation more effectively. further, by covering at least part of a grasping surface of each bone member 1 with a flexible material having a large frictional resistance, it becomes possible to improve grasping power. as shown above, according to the foregoing embodiments, the grasping hand is light in weight and small in size by virtue of use of the above-described laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism, and moreover high in compliance by virtue of use of a driving source with pneumatic pressure used as the pneumatic drive source 4 for expansion of an elastic member, so that the grasping hand can be maintained sufficiently safe in event of contact and collisions with persons by virtue of the above characteristics. further, since electrical connections are not needed except for sensor portions, there is an advantage in that only with waterproof treatment of the sensor portions, the grasping hand becomes usable even under working environments in which water is used. next, with reference to figs. 17 to 22 , for example, a concrete grasping operation of a grasping hand according to still another modification of the second embodiment shown in figs. 15 and 16 is explained. the operation of the grasping hand proceeds as follows, where a grasping operation of an object with individual bone members 1 used as grasping surfaces is performed by flexural operation. first, in a neutral state of the grasping hand shown in fig. 17 , there are generated signals for applying pneumatic pressure from the control section 12 to the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a, the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b, and the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c located at individual joint portions of the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member 3 of each multi-joint portion drive mechanism. by these signals, the four pneumatic drive sources 4 , . . . , 4 are controlled for drive independently of one another to perform opening and closing of solenoid valves 17 provided halfway in their respective pneumatic pressure introduction tubes 5 , so that pneumatic pressure is applied from the pneumatic drive sources 4 to the first pneumatic operation chamber 16 a, the second pneumatic operation chamber 16 b, and the third pneumatic operation chamber 16 c through their respective pneumatic pressure introduction tubes 5 and laminated-type pneumatic tube formation members 2 , synchronously or successively. along with application of pneumatic pressure, the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, and the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c are expanded, respectively, so that the joint portions are flexed, respectively. as a result of this flexural operation, a grasping operation of an object 18 is performed with individual bone members 1 serving as grasping surfaces. fig. 17 is a plan view showing a state of the grasping hand in a neutral state that pneumatic pressure is not applied to these multi-joint portion drive mechanisms (a state that the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are straightly stretched). these laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms have a function that when pneumatic pressure is applied from their pneumatic drive sources 4 to their pneumatic operation chambers under control by the control section 12 , those multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are displaced toward a grasping direction, i.e. mutually approaching direction, and that when drive of their respective pneumatic drive sources 4 is halted to stop pneumatic pressure application under control by the control section 12 , the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are restored to their original positions by elasticity of the elastic hinges 1 a of the respective multi-joint portion drive mechanisms; thus, the grasping hand maintains a neutral state. in this neutral state, applying to the individual joint portions a pneumatic pressure corresponding to the grasping object under control by the control section 12 allows the grasping operation to be fulfilled. figs. 18a and 18b are plan views showing a model in a case where an object to be grasped is, for example, a cylindrical or columnar shaped object 18 whose size (diameter or width) is nearly equal to an opening distance of each multi-joint portion drive mechanism in a neutral state of the grasping hand. as shown in fig. 18a , first, the grasping hand is moved by an unshown carrier vehicle or the like on which the grasping hand is placed until the object 18 comes close to a proximity to fixing portion 11 . thereafter, under control by control section 12 , pneumatic pressure is applied from respective pneumatic drive sources 4 to the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, which are the closer to the fixing portion 11 , of the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, respectively, as shown in fig. 18b , so that the first joint portions are flexed inward, i.e., toward a grasping direction. at a point in time when respective grasping surfaces have come into contact with the object 18 (e.g., a point in time when contact sensors provided at the grasping surfaces of the individual multi-joint portion drive mechanisms have each inputted to the control section 12 signals representing contact with the object 18 ), pneumatic pressure is applied from the pneumatic drive sources 4 to the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, respectively, under control by the control section 12 , by which the respective second joint portions are flexed so that the object 18 is embraced by the four multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, whereby grasping is achieved. for releasing the grasping, as described above, drive of the respective pneumatic drive sources 4 is halted to stop pneumatic pressure application under control by the control section 12 , so that the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are restored to their original positions, not being flexed but being straightly stretched, by elasticity of the elastic hinges 1 a of the respective multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, thus the grasping hand comes into a neutral state, i.e., a grasping-released state. figs. 19a and 19b are plan views showing a model in a case where an object to be grasped is, for example, a cylindrical or columnar shaped object 19 whose diameter or width is smaller than an opening distance of each multi-joint portion drive mechanism in a neutral state of the grasping hand. as shown in fig. 19a , first, the grasping hand is moved by an unshown carrier vehicle or the like with the grasping hand placed thereon until the object 19 comes close to an end portion of each multi-joint portion drive mechanism. thereafter, under control by the control section 12 , pneumatic pressure is applied from the respective pneumatic drive sources 4 to the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, and the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c of the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, successively in an order of increasing distance to the fixing portion 11 , as shown in fig. 19b , so that the joint portions are flexed inward, i.e., toward a grasping direction. at a point in time when respective grasping surfaces have come into contact with the object 19 (e.g., a point in time when contact sensors provided at the grasping surfaces of the respective multi-joint portion drive mechanisms have each inputted to the control section 12 signals representing contact with the object 19 ), pneumatic pressure is further applied from the pneumatic drive sources 4 to the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, respectively, under control by the control section 12 , by which respective second joint portions are flexed so that the object 19 is pinched by the four multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, whereby grasping is achieved. for releasing the grasping, as described above, drive of the respective pneumatic drive sources 4 is halted to stop pneumatic pressure application under the control by the control section 12 , so that the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are restored to their original positions, not being flexed but being straightly stretched, by elasticity of the elastic hinges 1 a of the respective multi-joint portion drive mechanisms; thus, the grasping hand comes into a neutral state, i.e., a grasping-released state. figs. 20a , 20 b, and 21 are plan views showing a model in a case where an object to be grasped is, for example, a cylindrical or columnar shaped object 20 whose diameter or width is larger than the opening distance of each multi-joint portion drive mechanism in a neutral state of the grasping hand. in this example, the pneumatic drive sources 4 connected to the respective laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanisms have a reverse drive (evacuative drive) controllability or forced evacuative function of pressure reducing pumps or the like in addition to the pneumatic pressure application function. by the respective pneumatic drive sources 4 being driven into evacuation under control by the control section 12 , in a neutral state of fig. 20a , air is forcedly discharged from the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, and the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c of each laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism as shown in fig. 20b , by which each laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is broadened in its opening distance even more than that of the neutral state in which pneumatic pressure is not applied; thus, making it easier to put the object 20 into the grasping hand. thereafter, the grasping hand is moved by an unshown carrier vehicle or the like with the grasping hand placed thereon until the object 20 comes close to an end portion of each multi-joint portion drive mechanism. thereafter, under control by the control section 12 , pneumatic pressure is applied from the respective pneumatic drive sources 4 to the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, and the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c of the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, successively in an order of increasing distance to the fixing portion 11 , as shown in fig. 21 , so that the joint portions are flexed inward, i.e., toward a grasping direction. at a point in time when respective grasping surfaces have come into contact with the object 20 (e.g., a point in time when contact sensors provided at the grasping surfaces of the individual multi-joint portion drive mechanisms have each inputted to the control section 12 signals representing contact with the grasping object 20 ), pneumatic pressure is further applied from the pneumatic drive sources 4 to the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c, respectively, under control by the control section 12 , by which the respective second joint portions are flexed so that the object 20 is pinched by the four multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, whereby grasping is achieved. for releasing the grasping, as described above, drive of the respective pneumatic drive sources 4 is halted to stop pneumatic pressure application under control by the control section 12 , so that the multi-joint portion drive mechanisms are restored to their original positions, not being flexed but being straightly stretched, by elasticity of the elastic hinges 1 a of the respective multi-joint portion drive mechanisms, whereby the grasping hand comes into a neutral state, i.e., a grasping-released state. further, for more reliable releasing of the grasping, by forcedly discharging air from the first pneumatic operation chambers 16 a, the second pneumatic operation chambers 16 b, and the third pneumatic operation chambers 16 c of each laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is broadened in its opening distance even more than that of the neutral state in which pneumatic pressure is not applied; thus, making the object 20 more easily disengaged from the grasping hand. as shown above, the grasping hand having at least one pair of multi-joint portion drive mechanisms has a characteristic of making it possible to grasp various and diverse objects. third embodiment fig. 22 is a perspective view of a robot which uses a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism according to a third embodiment of the present invention and in which the grasping hand of fig. 12 according to the second embodiment is provided at an end of the robot arm of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of fig. 1 . robot arm 21 of fig. 22 is constructed by using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism shown in fig. 1 according to the first embodiment, with its drive principle being as described in the first embodiment. the robot arm 21 is connected to a robot arm prop 22 having a pneumatic drive source via a rolling mechanism 23 , and further a grasping hand 24 shown in fig. 12 according to the second embodiment is connected to an end portion of the robot arm 21 . by drive of the robot arm 21 , the grasping hand 24 is positioned to an arbitrary position within a movable range to grasp an object. this robot arm 21 , which uses the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of the present invention, makes it possible to achieve a flexible positioning that ensures safety to persons who use the robot arm as described above. furthermore, in a case where the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is applied to the robot arm 21 , it is more desirable to set its laminated surfaces along a vertical direction as in the third embodiment of fig. 22 . with such a construction, since bone members 1 are high in in-plane rigidity, it becomes possible to support heavyweight objects with the bone members 1 ; thus, enabling the robot arm to treat heavyweight objects. the third embodiment of fig. 22 has been described above for a construction in which the robot arm 21 is connected to the robot arm prop 22 via the rolling mechanism 23 . however, without being limited to this, the construction may be given in other ways, for example, one in which such a uniaxial or multiaxial rolling mechanism is provided at a root portion of the robot arm prop 22 or between the robot arm 21 and the grasping hand 24 . in combinations with such a multiaxial rolling mechanism, it becomes possible to make the grasping hand more flexibly postured. by properly combining arbitrary embodiments of the aforementioned various embodiments, effects possessed by the embodiments can be produced. as described hereinabove, according to the present invention, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism includes a bone member having at least two elastically-deformable elastic deformation portions, a laminated-type pneumatic tube member having at least twoline-tubes which are fixed so as to be laid on the bone member and which are connected to the pneumatic drive source, and a planar-type joint-portion deformation member which is fixed so as to be laid on the laminated-type pneumatic tube member and which has pneumatic operation chambers placed at joint portions confronting the elastic deformation portions of the bone member, respectively, and connected to the tubes, respectively, wherein with pneumatic pressure applied to the pneumatic operation chambers, the joint portion(s) corresponding to the pneumatic operation chamber(s) to which the pneumatic pressure is applied is deformable, and wherein with pneumatic pressure applied to the pneumatic operation chamber(s) corresponding to the joint portion(s) which need to be driven, the joint portions become deformable. with this constitution, there can be provided a laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism which is capable of realizing a grasping hand having a grasping performance for grasping of various and diverse objects, and which is safe and simple in terms of structure, and moreover which can be realized with low cost. the grasping hand in which this laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism is arranged face to face can be realized with a simple structure and low cost as a grasping hand which has a grasping performance for grasping of various and diverse objects, and which is safe, and which has multi-joint portions. also, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism can be manufactured simply and with low cost by integrally molding the bone member having elastic hinges at least the elastic deformation portions, and stacking and bonding the laminated-type pneumatic tube member and the planar-type joint-portion flexural deformation member together on the bone member in manufacture of the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism. further, when the bone member forming a part of the multi-joint portion drive mechanism has elastic hinges at its joint portions, the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of the present invention is enabled to improve grasping rigidity by constraining a degree of freedom of the joint portions to one degree of freedom, so that the above working effects can be achieved more effectively. furthermore, the robot arm using the laminated-type multi-joint portion drive mechanism of the present invention, when provided with the grasping hand at its distal end, is enabled to fulfill a safe positioning of the grasping hand against an object located within its movable range. although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom.
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095-564-624-405-808
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US
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[
"US"
] |
E02B3/04,E02B3/12
| 1982-09-29T00:00:00 |
1982
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[
"E02"
] |
retaining wall system
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each disc of a plurality of strings of concrete discs is pinned at opposite edges to a connecting link, a link between adjacent discs to form a chain. alternate discs in the string lie substantially in the same plane, adjacent discs lying in intersecting planes. the discs stand on edge to prevent substantial erosion of soil from one side of the string to the other.
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1. a retaining wall system for minimizing soil and sand erosion comprising: a plurality of first elements each having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane thereof; at least one second element having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane thereof; and connector means for connecting said first and second elements into a string so that said first elements are interposed with said at least one second element and adjacent first and second elements are spaced from each other, with adjacent first and second elements having their center planes disposed transversely relative to each other and so that, when said string is placed on a flat surface, the first spaced apart surface of one of said first elements is at an angle acute to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of said one of said first elements is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface, while the first spaced apart surface of said adjacent at least one second element is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of said at least one second element is at an angle acute to said flat surface, wherein said connector means comprises a plurality of link devices each including a first member configured to be pivotally secured to one of said first or second elements, and a second member configured to be pivotally secured to an adjacent said element, said first member and the associated said second member of each of said link devices being fixedly secured together. 2. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of said first members and each of said second members pivot about associated pivot axes which are substantially perpendicular to said center planes of the associated said first and second elements. 3. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 2, wherein said pivot axes associated with adjacent said first elements and second elements are disposed transversely to each other. 4. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first members and said second members are each substantially u-shaped and each include substantially parallel spaced apart portions connected by an intermediate portion, said intermediate portions of said first and said second members associated together in each of said link devices being fixedly secured together. 5. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 3, wherein said substantially parallel spaced apart portions of each of said first members individually and each of said second members individually have disposed therethrough a pair of aligned apertures, said link devices each further comprising a bearing pin for disposition in and retention in the aligned apertures of said first member thereof and a bearing pin for disposition in and retention in the aligned apertures of said second member thereof, each of said first and second elements having apertures disposed therethrough to accommodate therein said bearing pins of associated said link devices. 6. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 5, wherein said apertures disposed through each of said first elements and said apertures disposed through each of said second elements are substantially perpendicular to said center plane of the associated said elements. 7. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 6, wherein said first and said second spaced apart surfaces of each of said elements of said first elements and said second elements are substantially parallel to each other and said center plane thereof. 8. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 6, wherein said substantially parallel spaced apart portions of each of said first members and each of said second members are sized so as to closely receive therein a selected portion of an associated said element of said first elements and said second elements so as to maintain said center planes of adjacent said elements in a constant angular relationship regardless of said pivoting of said elements about said pivot axes. 9. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 8, wherein said apertures disposed through each of said elements of said first elements and said apertures disposed through each of said elements of said second elements are positioned so as to permit said pivoting only through a preselected angle. 10. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 9, wherein said first or second elements at the ends of said string have only one of said connector means associated therewith. 11. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 9, wherein said first elements and said second elements alternate in said string. 12. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 11, wherein said center planes of adjacent said first and second elements are at right angles to each other. 13. a retaining wall system for minimizing soil and sand erosion comprising: a plurality of first substantially planar elements each having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane thereof; a plurality of second substantially planar elements having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane thereof; and connector means for connecting said first and second elements into a string so that said first elements are interposed with said second elements and adjacent first and second elements are spaced from each other, with adjacent first and second elements having their center planes disposed transversely relative to each other and so that, when said string is placed on a flat surface, the first spaced apart surface of one of said first elements is at an angle acute to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of said one of said first elements is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface, while the first spaced apart surface of said adjacent one of said second elements is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of said one of said second elements is at an angle acute to said flat surface, whereby a fluid can flow in a first direction across said substantially planar surface of said first spaced apart surface of said second elements, and said fluid can flow in a second direction opposite to said first direction between said adjacent first and second elements. 14. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 13, wherein said first elements and said second elements are substantially disc shaped. 15. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 13, wherein said first elements and said second elements are constructed of concrete. 16. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 13, wherein said adjacent said elements of said first elements and said second elements are disposed so as to have their center planes substantially at right angles relative to each other. 17. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 13, wherein said elements of said first elements and said second elements are solid. 18. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 13, comprising a plurality of said strings. 19. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 18, wherein said strings are disposed at right angles relative to each other. 20. a retaining wall system in accordance with claim 41, wherein said strings overlie each other at selected locations. 21. a method for minimizing sand and soil erosion on beaches adjacent to a body of water comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of first substantially planar elements each having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane thereof; providing a plurality of second elements each having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane; and connecting said elements to form a string so that said first elements are interposed with said second elements and adjacent first and second elements are spaced from each other, with adjacent first elements and second elements having their center planes disposed transversely relative to each other and so that, when said string is placed on a flat surface, the first spaced apart surface of one of said first elements is at an angle acute to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of said one of said first elements is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface, while the first spaced apart surface of said adjacent one of said second elements is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of said one of said second elements is at an angle acute to said flat surface, whereby a fluid can flow in a first direction across said substantially planar surface of said first spaced apart surface of said second elements, and said fluid can flow in a second direction opposite to said first direction between said adjacent first and second elements. 22. a method in accordance with claim 21, wherein said first elements and said second elements are connected in an alternating relationship. 23. a method in accordance with claim 21, wherein each of said first elements and each of said second elements comprise a disc shaped member. 24. a method in accordance with claim 21, further comprising the step of burying selected ones of said first elements and said second elements. 25. a method in accordance with claim 21, wherein said adjacent said first and second elements are disposed so as to have their center planes substantially at right angles relative to each other. 26. a method for minimizing sand and soil erosion on beaches adjacent to a body of water comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of first elements each having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane thereof; providing at least one second element having first and second spaced apart surfaces relative to a center plane; and connecting said elements to form a string so that said first elements are interposed with said second elements and adjacent first and second elements are spaced from each other, with adjacent first and second elements having their center planes disposed transversely relative to each other and so that, when said string is placed on a flat surface, the first spaced apart surface of one of said first elements is at an angle acute to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of one of said first elements is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface, while the first spaced apart surface of said adjacent at lease one said element is at an angle obtuse to said flat surface and the second spaced apart surface of said at least one second element is at an angle acute to said flat surface, wherein said connecting is accomplished by a plurality of link devices each including a first member configured to be pivotally secured to one of said first or second elements, and a second member configured to be pivotally secured to an adjacent said element, said first member and the associated said second member of each of said link devices being fixedly secured together. 27. a method in accordance with claim 26, wherein said first members and said second members are each substantially u-shaped and each include substantially parallel spaced apart portions connected by an intermediate portion, said intermediate portions of said first and said second members associated together in each of said link devices being fixedly secured together. 28. a method in accordance with claim 27, wherein said substantially parallel spaced apart portions of each of said first members individually and each of said second members individually have disposed therethrough a pair of aligned apertures, said link devices each further comprising a bearing pin for disposition in and retention in the aligned apertures of said first member thereof and a bearing pin for disposition in and retention in the aligned apertures of said second member thereof, each of said first and second elements having apertures disposed therethrough to accommodate therein said bearing pins of associated said link devices. 29. a method in accordance with claim 28, wherein said apertures disposed through each of said elements and said apertures disposed through each of said second elements are substantially perpendicular to said center plane of the associated said elements. 30. a method in accordance with claim 29, wherein said substantially parallel spaced apart portions of each of said first members and each of said second members are sized so as to closely receive therein a selected portion of an associated said element of said first plurality of elements and said second plurality of elements so as to maintain said center planes of adjacent said elements in a constant angular relationship regardless of said pivoting of said elements about said pivot axes. 31. a method in accordance with claim 30, wherein said apertures disposed through each of said elements of said first plurality of elements and said apertures disposed through each of said elements of said second plurality of elements are positioned so as to permit said pivoting only through a preselected angle.
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the present invention relates to soil erosion retaining walls. soil erosion retaining walls are widely used to minimize beach erosion during storms. waves on ocean facing beaches during storms wash over sandy beach areas producing runoffs which carry substantial quantities of soil and sand away. one solution to erosion is to erect sand dunes parallel to the shore line several feet in height and covered with grass. this is not always satisfactory as the roots of the grass are not sufficiently deep. severe storms produce powerful waves which can sometimes undermine the roots and wash the dunes away. another solution is to erect walls of mortared cement blocks. these are not entirely satisfactory, as erosion eventually tends to undermine the structure causing it to sag. once it sags, it tends to fracture and break apart. another solution is to pile many large rocks to form a retaining wall. the rocks tend to be individually washed away, or individually undermined so they sink. once sunk, soil can be washed away over that rock. further, automobile tires are also employed for this purpose. the tires may be randomly tied together with rope or chains. the tires tend to lay flat and are relatively ineffective. according to the present invention in a retaining wall system for minimizing soil erosion a plurality of soil erosion inhibiting elements are included, each element comprising a body for interfering with the flow of water bearing eroded soil. a link device connects a first element to a second element. the link device includes a first means for pivotally securing the first element thereto for rotation about a first axis and second means for pivotally securing the second element thereto about a second axis nonparallel to the first axis. in the drawing fig. 1 is a side elevation view partially in section of an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a plan view partially in section of the embodiment of fig. 1, fig. 3 is an isometric view of a connecting link used in the embodiment of figs. 1 and 2, fig. 4 is an end sectional elevation view of the embodiment of fig. 2 taken along lines 4-4, fig. 5 is an end elevation view of the link of fig. 3, fig. 6 is an elevation view of the connecting portion of a link assembly employed in the embodiment of figs. 1 and 2, fig. 7 is an isometric view of a soil retaining element used in the embodiment of figs. 1 and 2, and fig. 8 is a fragmented side elevation view of a portion of the embodiment of fig. 6 used to illustrate some of the principals of the present invention. in figs. 1 and 2 a body of water 10 which, for example, may be an ocean, abuts a sand filled beach 12 at shore line 20. a retaining wall system 14 is deployed on beach 12 to minimize soil erosion into the ocean generally in direction 16. by way of example, direction 17 points to the northeast, which is assumed to be one direction from which major soil eroding storms originate. such storms tend to create waves in the water 10 which wash over the beach 12 in direction 19. the waves are of such magnitude and force that they tend to erode away soil and sand from the beach in direction 16. the waves create after their dissipation on the beach a back flow of relatively strong currents in direction 16 which tend to carry the loosened sand and soil to the bottom 15 of the ocean under water 10. the waves and resulting backflow can cause significant erosion. this erosion is usually random and non-uniform. thus one portion of the beach, for example at 22, can experience greater erosion than an adjacent portion, for example at 24, fig. 2. the wall system 14 is one which when set in place easily follows the contour of the terrain. for example, beach 12 includes a dune 18 which is a hill of sand or soil that is generally parallel to the shore line 20. the dune 18 comprises a pile of soil and sand generally in the range of four or more feet in height. the crest of the dune 18 is covered with grass 28. as shown in figs. 1 and 2, the wall system 14 overlies the beach 12 and the dune 18 and is constructed as will be described below to follow the uneven surface contour of the beach and dune 18 as the system is emplaced. further the system 14 can readily sink at its end portions 30, 32 in response to erosion beneath those end portions. the portions 30 and 32 can sink without damage to the remaining portions of the system 14. this sinking is important because the flow of back-flow current generally in direction 16 tends to cause more significant erosion closest to the shore line 20. this is because portions 30, 32 usually being closest to line 20, receive the most frequent and harmful exposure to back-flow currents. all of this will become clearer below after the system 14 is explained in more detail. in figs. 1 and 2, system 14 includes a plurality of similar strings 34, 36, 38, 40 of interconnected soil and sand retaining elements or bodies. the number of strings shown is by way of example, as in practice more or fewer strings may be employed depending on the extent of the area to be protected. the bodies in each string may comprise concrete discs such as discs 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 and so forth, in string 34. the discs are shown as a solid block of material. other materials may be wood, metal, stone, for example. while the discs are shown solid, they may also be hollow such as automobile tires. in any case, the discs interfere with the back-flow of water bearing eroded soil. this interference causes eddy currents which permit the eroded soil in the back-flow water to settle. thus an element which can interfere with such back-flow currents may be employed. what is important is that the element remain secured together as will be described and also present some measure of height above the soil surface to provide the desired flow interference. the discs described below achieve this aim. the disc are interconnected by links 52. each string comprises a series of discs similar to discs 42, 44, 46 and 48. a string such as string 34 may comprise as many discs as necessary for a given implementation. that is, the length of the string may include as many discs as necessary to provide desired coverage of a given beach area. by way of example, string 34 may be formed of twenty connected discs, although more or fewer may also be used. the discs in all of the strings may be identical. the strings may be of the same or different lengths. strings 36 and 40 are generally in respective parallel lines 54, 56 which are at an angle 55 which may be approximately 45.degree., with the directions 66 of shore line 20. the strings 34 and 38 are at an angle 53 with the shore line 20 directions 66. the angles 55 and 53 may be the same or different. in the present case these angles are the same. thus the string pairs 38, 40; 36, 38; 34, 36 and so forth are at an angle 59, which may be 90.degree.. the angles 55 and 53 may be at any desired value depending upon a given implementation, for example, in a range of about 15.degree. to 75.degree.. the angles 55, 53 are set with a number of factors in mind such as type of soil, wave severity, depth of soil to be protected, the breadth of the beach area to be protected, dimensions of the discs 42, 44 and so forth. these factors have complex relationships whose effects can be determined empirically. strings 36 and 40 are buried in the soil to a depth where they are completely covered. that portion of these strings extending over dune 18 follow the contour of dune 18. the tops of the discs of strings 36, 40 may be covered with soil to a depth of a few inches. string 34 overlies and crosses string 36 adjacent region 60 in portion 30. disc 44 of strings 34 may overlie disc 44' of string 36. string 38 overlies string 36 in string region 62. disc 62' of string 38 may overlie disc 62" of string 36 at region 62. string 38 also overlies burried string 40 in region 64 of portion 32, so that disc 64' is over disc 64". this arrangement of strings and their spaced overlying relationship continues along the beach in directions 66 including as many strings 34, 36, 38 and 40 as desired. the line of parallel strings are either buried or over the buried strings. the overlying strings may rest on top of the soil or may be set into the soil. while one group of strings is shown buried and the other on top of the soil, this is not essential. the crossing of the strings is also not essential. these latter arrangements are by way of example. all of the strings 34, 36, 38, 40 are constructed similarly. therefore the construction of disc 44 and its interconnecting links 52 will be described by way of example as representative of the construction of the remainder of the interconnected discs of retaining wall system 14. disc 44, fig. 7, is by way of example, a circular cylindrical body formed with diametrically opposite holes 68, 70 near edge 72. holes 68, 70 have the same diameter and pass through normal to the broad surfaces 77, 79 of the disc 44. the holes 68, 70 may, for example be formed of tubular material molded in place during the molding of disc 44. the disc 44 may be formed in a mold of the desired shape. holes 68, 70 are parallel and may be spaced equally from the disc 44 circular edge 72. the disc broad surfaces 77, 79 are flat and parallel. by way of example, disc 44 may be 8 inches thick and 30 inches in diameter. when made of concrete, the disc may weigh about 400 pounds. this is sufficiently heavy to resist the forces of most expected water currents. in figs. 3 and 5, link 52 comprises a rigid structure 73 and two pins 76, 78 (dashed lines) secured to the respective discs by cotter pins 98 (fig. 6). structure 73 may be formed from two mirror image members 80, 82. member 82 is u shaped and may be a bent bar of flat steel. member 80 has two parallel legs 84, 86 extending from the ends of base leg 88. holes 90, 92 are in respective legs 84, 86 and aligned parallel to leg 88. pin 76 is closely received in holes 90, 92 and can rotate in holes 90, 92 about axis 94 parallel to leg 88. pin 78 can rotate about axis 95 which is normal to and spaced from axis 94, parallel to leg 88'. member 82 is identical to member 80 with its base leg 88' welded or otherwise secured to leg 88. member 82 legs 84', 86' are similar to legs 84, 86 and extend in the opposite direction as legs 84, 86. base leg 88' has its length dimension normal to the length dimension of leg 88. this is best seen in fig. 5. however, depending upon a particular implementation, legs 88, 88' can be at other angles as well. in fig. 6, a typical connection of a link 52 to adjacent discs, such as discs 42, 44 is illustrated in more detail. in this figure only member 80 is shown for simplicity of explanation. disc 42 is attached to a link 52 by pin 76 passing through holes 90, 92 (fig. 3) in legs 84, 86, respectively, and hole 56 in disc 42. two cotter pins 98 pass through corresponding mating holes in pin 76. one cotter pin 98 is adjacent leg 84 and the other adjacent leg 86 (only one being shown in fig. 6). pins 98 lock pin 76 to legs 84, 86. the disc 42 hole 56 closely receives pin 76 permitting the pin 76 to rotate about axis 94, fig. 3, and permits negligible tilting of the pin 76 in hole 56. legs 84, 86 straddle the disc 42 so that the disc 42 can only rotate about axis 94, fig. 3, directions 99, with respect to link 52. a clearance c is between the outer edge 100 of disc 42 and the inner surface 101 of leg 88 sufficient to permit link 52 to rotate in directions 99 with respect to disc 42 a desired angle determined by a given implementation. for example, in fig. 8, the clearance c between surface 100 and leg 88 determines the angle 103 that disc 42 can rotate about pin 76 before disc 42 abuts leg 88 of link 52. that angle 103 is important for that determines in practice the angle at which one disc can rotate with respect to its adjoining links 52 and thus the magnitude one disc such as disc 42, can move in a direction parallel to its plane with respect to an adjoining disc. this will be explained more fully below. the angle 103 can be the same or different for the different discs, depending upon a given implementation determined by the erosion and expected settling and erosion characteristics of the terrain. unless otherwise required, the angle 103 is generally uniform throughout the retaining wall system. by way of example, angle 103 may be about 15.degree.-90.degree.. in fig. 6, disc 44 is secured between legs 84', 86' by pin 78 passing through hole 68. pin 78 is secured in place by cotter pins 98 through mating holes in pin 78. the clearance between the outer surface 77 of disc 44 and inner surface 102 of leg 88' is as discussed above in connection with disc 42 and surface 101. thus each disc can swing with respect to an adjacent disc through angle 103, fig. 8. this means disc 42 can swing by way of link 52 with respect to disc 44 through angle 103 (fig. 8) about axis 95 in a plane normal to the drawing. also disc 44 can swing about axis 94 in a plane parallel to the plane of the drawing fig. 6, assuming the link 52 and disc 42 remaining fixed in place. disc 44 can also move about axis 95. as a result, their relative motions permit the disc to follow the terrain during emplacement. it is also important that disc 42 does not twist with respect to disc 44. this could cause the disc to drop flat onto the soil rather than remain standing on edge. that is, it is not desirable that discs 42, 44 twist (rotate) about an axis normal to legs 88, 88' relative to each other. therefore the link 52 members 80, 82 must be constructed sturdily to withstand the forces tending to induce such twisting. as seen in fig. 4 adjacent discs such as discs 46, 48 are in respective different intersecting planes 49, 51. in this case the planes 49, 51 are at right angles. these planes are determined by the orientation of pins 76, 78 in link 52, as best seen in fig. 5. alternate discs such as discs 42, 46; or 44, 48, and so forth lie generally in the same plane such as planes 49, 51 respectively. however, this relative relationship of the discs may change somewhat as one or more discs settle in response to soil erosion beneath the system or a portion of it. in fig. 1, the discs of strings 34, 38 are set on edge such that lower edges 110, 112 rest on the soil. the buried discs of strings 36, 40 are oriented similarly to the discs of strings 34, 38, fig. 4, as shown by representative discs 46, 48. the discs of upper strings 34, 38 may be partially or entirely buried. when partially buried a relatively large surface area of a disc is adjacent the soil surface and faces oncoming waves and back-flow currents. the lines 54-57 of the different strings are all at an angle to the direction 19 of oncoming waves, and the discs of upper strings 34, 38 tend to break up the waves. this is because in direction 19 along the length of shore line 20 a wave, if it proceeds sufficiently far over the beach, will reach one of the upper strings 34, 38, these strings overlapping in direction 19. for example, the end disc 121 of string 38 can overlap the first disc 42 in string 34 closest to shore line 20 in direction 19 along dashed line 123. these upper discs also tend to minimize soil erosion by limiting back-flow to areas between the discs and between adjacent upper strings 34, 38 in direction 120. the flow of water in direction 120 tends to be dammed by strings 36, 40 as the soil between strings 34, 36 is eroded exposing the lower strings 36, 40 to the flow slowing down the flow in direction 120. this action tends to slow the back-flow currents toward water 10 an amount sufficient to allow the suspended soil in the back-flow to settle prior to being washed away. in the event soil erosion occurs beneath one or more discs different effects can take place depending upon the location in the string that is being undermined and how many adjacent discs are undermined. assume a single disc 48 string 34 is undermined, i.e., soil is eroded beneath that disc. disc 48 has a string of discs 42, 44, 46 on one side and the remaining of the string 34 on the other side. assume in fig. 4 that soil 126 (above dashed line 128) is eroded only beneath disc 48. disc 48 would tend to rotate due to its weight about an axis parallel to the ground normal to the drawing sheet at links 52 in direction 130. but as explained above, link 52 does not readily permit such rotation. thus disc 48 would remain suspended by links 52. another possible motion is movement of disc 48 with respect to adjacent discs 46, 50 fig. 2, about an axis such as axis 95, fig. 6, through one of the pins 78. this movement would tend to be in direction 132, in the plane 51 of disc 48, fig. 4. disc 48 would want to rotate with respect to both links 52 at opposite edges of disc 48. however, that movement in direction 132, fig. 4, does not take place as the disc 44 is pinned at opposite sides. that movement would tend to foreshorten the distance between pins 76, 78 of links 52 securing disc 48 in place. the foreshortening does not occur here as the weight of disc 48 is insufficient to drag the discs of the rest of that string via pins 76, 78 in an attempt at that foreshortening action. that is, in order for disc 48 to drop in direction 132, fig. 4, with respect to the remaining discs, the space between the adjacent discs would tend to be shortened along the string line 55, fig. 2. as a result, disc 48 would tend to drag the adjacent discs toward it. the combined weight of discs 42, 44 and 46 on one side of disc 48 and the discs 50 and so forth on the other side is such that the pull by disc 48 in a direction along line 55 as disc 48 tends to drop is insufficient to drag the discs on either side of disc 48. the result is that disc 48 tends to remain in place, suspended above the ground by adjacent discs 46, 50. the links 52 maintain the integrity of a string during this action and the string behaves somewhat as a rigid wall. the suspension of a disc is desirable as this tends to maintain the central portion of the line of the string 34 above ground and alleviates erosion action over that disc in response to back-flow. if disc 48 were to sink below the level of adjoining discs, then back-flow would tend to wash over the sunken disc and erosion would tend to increase in intensity. if a series of discs such as discs 46, 48, 50 were to be undermined with erosion therebeneath such as to the dashed line 128, fig. 4, then in this case the string of discs 46, 48, 50 would tend to sink due their combined weight dragging end discs 42, 44 in a manner to close the foreshortened space between the adjacent discs 44, 50', fig. 2. also the combined weight of discs 46, 50 could tend to rotate the end string of discs 42, 44 about an axis parallel to the line 55 due to the vertical dropping of discs 46-50 with respect to that axis and due to the possible misalignment of their combined mass with respect to that axis creating a rotating torque on discs 42, 44. in any case, due to the pinned relationship of the discs to links 52, there is some flexibility in a string which would permit movement of a large portion of the string with respect to the remaining portion depending on the forces involved. an important feature is when the strings tend to be undermined at their ends near portions 30, 32 at end regions 60, 64, fig. 2. the end disc 42, because it is pinned only at one edge, is free to drop should erosion occur beneath it. this dropping would permit disc 44 to drop, and thus the next disc 46 and so forth. since it is believed significant erosion occurs closest to shore line 20, the relative flexibility of the ends of a string is important to respond to that erosion. this action would tend to alleviate stress on the system which stress would occur with a central disc suspended between adjacent discs. thus the sinking action of the string ends tends to maintain the system integrity by alleviating stress in the system. however, even the sinking of the string 34 end at 60 can be postponed by the overlapped relation to string 36. thus even if discs 42, 44, 46 were undermined by erosion, the underlying discs of buried string 36 are not undermined due to their deeper position below the erosion level. the lower string 36 tends to hold up the upper string 34 in region 60. the pinned connection of links 52 to the discs tends to permit the overlying discs to drape, that is, move with respect to each other so that the discs 42, 44, 46 remain supported by underlying disc structure or soil. the pinned connections would permit the string 34 end at region 60 to possibly displace from line 55. the draping orientation could be somewhat similar to the relative orientation of the discs over dune 18, fig. 1. even if erosion were to occur so as to lower the strings 34, 38, the lower elevation of buried strings 36, 40 tends to lengthen the time duration in which the eroding back-flow currents in direction 16 are confronted with non-undermined discs. since back-flow would tend to increase as the erosion becomes severe in which more open space beneath and around discs becomes available for the currents to reach shore line 20, the buried discs tend to slow the erosion even if increased erosion occurs around strings 34, 38. the overlapped angular relation of the strings 34, 36, 38, 40 at angles 55, 53 and 59 is important as it presents a continuous retaining wall system in directions 66 to back-flow currents in direction 16, figs. 1 and 2. the number, size, shape, spacing and so forth of the discs can be different from that shown in accordance with a given implementation. for example, the discs could be straight sided polygons and the angular relationships may be different than the right angle described between the planes 49, 51 of adjacent discs. to install the system 14 the discs are pinned to links 52 insitu. the pinned relationship permits adjacent discs to be at different levels, for example, to overlap sand dunes, such as dune 18, figs. 1 and 2, during installation. thus system 14 can be installed over relatively rough terrain and yet remains a flexible, but integral system, capable of withstanding severe erosion conditions.
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096-676-784-085-033
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KR
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[
"US"
] |
H01L27/115
| 2015-03-10T00:00:00 |
2015
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[
"H01"
] |
vertical memory devices
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a vertical memory device includes a substrate, gate lines, channels, contacts and contact spacers. the gate lines are stacked on top of each other on the substrate. the gate lines are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction with respect to a top surface of the substrate. the gate lines include step portions that extend in a parallel direction with respect to the top surface of the substrate. the channels extend through the gate lines in the vertical direction. the contacts are on the step portions of the gate lines. the contact spacers are selectively formed along sidewalls of a portion of the contacts.
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1 . a vertical memory device, comprising: a substrate; gate lines stacked on top of each other on the substrate, the gate lines being spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction with respect to a top surface of the substrate, the gate lines including step portions that extend in a parallel direction with respect to the top surface of the substrate, the gate lines including first gate lines and second gate lines, wherein the first gate lines are either on top of the second gate lines or the first gate lines are alternately stacked with the second gate lines; channels extending through the gate lines in the vertical direction; contacts on the step portions of the gate lines, the contacts including first contacts connected to the first gate lines and second contacts connected to the second gate lines; and contact spacers formed along sidewalls of a portion of the first contacts, the contact spacers not being formed along sidewalls of the second contacts. 2 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , wherein the contact spacers include one of silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride. 3 . the vertical memory device of claim 2 , further comprising: a mold protection layer covering top and lateral surfaces of the step portions, wherein the mold protection layer includes silicon oxide. 4 . the vertical memory device of claim 3 , wherein the contact spacers surround the sidewalls of the first contacts, the contact spacers extend through the mold protection layer, the second contacts are in contact with the mold protection layer, and the second contacts extend through the mold protection layer. 5 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes a channel region, a first region, and a second region, the channels are on the channel region, the first region and the second region are sequentially positioned from the channel region in the parallel direction, and the first contacts are on the step portions included in the first region and the second contacts are on the step portions included in the second region. 6 . (canceled) 7 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , wherein the first gate lines are on top of the second gate lines, the first gate lines include a string selection lines (ssl) and upper word lines, the second gate lines include a ground selection line (gsl) and lower word lines the gsl, the lower word lines, the upper word lines, and the ssl are sequentially stacked from the top surface of the substrate, and the first contacts are electrically connected to the ssl and the upper word lines. 8 . the vertical memory device of claim 7 , wherein the second contacts are electrically connected to the lower word lines and the gsl. 9 . the vertical memory device of claim 5 , wherein the first gate lines are on the second gate lines, the substrate further includes a third region between the first region and the second region in the parallel direction, the gate lines include third gate line between the first gate lines and the second gate lines, and the contacts further include third contacts on the step portions of the third gate lines. 10 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , wherein the first gate lines are on the second gate lines, the gate lines include third gate lines between the first gate lines and the second gate lines in the vertical direction, the contact spacers further include second contact spacers along sidewalls of the third contacts. 11 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , further comprising: a peripheral circuit on a peripheral portion of the substrate; a mold protection layer covering top and lateral surfaces of the step portions, and the peripheral circuit; and a peripheral circuit contact extending through the mold protection layer to the peripheral circuit, wherein the peripheral circuit contact is electrically connected to the peripheral circuit, and the peripheral circuit contact is in contact with the mold protection layer. 12 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , wherein the contacts are arranged in a zigzag arrangement along the parallel direction. 13 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , wherein the first gate lines are alternately stacked with the second gate lines such that the contact spacers are formed along the sidewalls of the first gate contacts on the step portions of either odd levels or even levels of the gate lines. 14 . a vertical memory device, comprising: a substrate including a channel region, a contact region, and a peripheral circuit region; a gate line structure on the substrate, the gate line structure including, gate lines on the channel region and the contact region, and stacked vertically from the substrate, the gate lines including step portions that extend to the contact region, insulating interlayer patterns between the gate lines, and channels extending vertically through the gate lines and the insulating interlayer patterns; gate line contacts electrically connected to the gate lines on the contact region; a peripheral circuit contact on the peripheral circuit region; and contact spacers selectively formed along sidewalls of a portion of the gate line contacts, wherein the contact spacers are not formed along a sidewall of the peripheral circuit contact. 15 . (canceled) 16 . a vertical memory device, comprising: a substrate; vertical channel structures spaced apart from each other on the substrate, gate lines surrounding the vertical channel structures, the gate lines being spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction, the gate lines including step portions that extend different extension lengths in a horizontal direction from a same one of the vertical channel structures, the extension lengths of the step portions increasing from top to bottom, the gate lines including first gate lines and second gate lines, wherein the first gate lines are either on top of the second gate lines or the first gate lines are alternately stacked with the second gate lines; contacts that extend vertically and connect to corresponding ones of the step portions, the contacts including first contacts connected to the first gate lines and second contacts connected to the second gate lines; and contact spacers surrounding one of the first contacts, the contact spacers not surrounding and the second contacts. 17 . the vertical memory device of claim 16 , wherein the first gate lines are on top of second gate lines, the first contacts are connected to the step portions of the first gate lines, and the second contacts are connected to the step portions of the second gate lines. 18 . the vertical memory device of claim 16 , wherein the contact spacers include one of silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride. 19 . the vertical memory device of claim 16 , further comprising: a mold protection layer on the step portions, wherein the mold protection layer and the contact spacers are formed of different insulating materials. 20 . the vertical memory device of claim 19 , further comprising: a peripheral circuit on the substrate; and at least one peripheral circuit contact that extends through the mold protection layer and connects to the peripheral circuit, wherein the peripheral circuit is spaced apart from the gate lines. 21 . the vertical memory device of claim 1 , further comprising: a peripheral circuit contact on a peripheral portion of the substrate, wherein the contact spacers are not formed along a sidewall of the peripheral circuit contact. 22 . the vertical memory device of claim 14 , wherein the gate lines include first gate lines and second gate lines, the first gate lines are either on top of the second gate lines or the first gate lines are alternately stacked with the second gate lines, the insulating interlayer patterns are between the first gate lines and second gate lines, the gate line contacts include first gate line contacts connected to the first gate lines and second gate line contacts connected to the second gate lines on the contact region, and the contact spacers surround the first gate line contacts but not the second gate line contacts.
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cross-reference to related application this u.s. non-provisional application is a continuation of u.s. application ser. no. 14/988,178, filed on jan. 5, 2016, which claims priority under 35 usc §119 to u.s. provisional application no. 62/130,697 filed on mar. 10, 2015 in the uspto, and korean patent applications no. 10-2015-0033070 filed on mar. 10, 2015 and no. 10-2015-0067286 filed on may 14, 2015 in the korean intellectual property office (kipo), the entire contents of each of the above-referenced applications are hereby incorporated by reference. background 1. field example embodiments relate to vertical memory devices. more particularly, example embodiments relate to vertical memory devices including vertically stacked gate lines. 2. description of related art recently, a vertical memory device including a plurality of memory cells stacked vertically with respect to a surface of a substrate has been developed for achieving a high degree of integration. in the vertical memory device, a channel having a pillar shape or a cylindrical shape may protrude vertically from the surface of the substrate, and gate lines and insulation layers surrounding the channel may be repeatedly stacked. as the degree of integration of the vertical memory device becomes greater, the stacked number of the gate lines and the insulation layers may be increased, and thus higher process reliability may be needed. summary example embodiments provide a vertical memory device having improved structural and mechanical reliability. example embodiments provide a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device having improved structural and mechanical reliability. according to example embodiments, a vertical memory device includes a substrate, gate lines, channels, contacts, and contact spacers. the gate lines may be stacked on top of each other on the substrate. the gate lines may be spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction with respect to a top surface of the substrate. the gate lines may include step portions that extend in a parallel direction with respect to the top surface of the substrate. the channels may extend through the gate lines in the vertical direction. the contacts may be arranged on the step portions of the gate lines. the contact spacers may be selectively formed along sidewalls of a portion of the contacts. in example embodiments, the contact spacers may include one of silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride. in example embodiments, the vertical memory device may further include a mold protection layer covering top and lateral surfaces of the step portions. the mold protection layer may include silicon oxide. in example embodiments, the contact spacers may surround the portion of the contacts and the contact spacers may extend through the mold protection layer. remaining contacts except the portion of the contacts may be in contact with the mold protection layer and the remaining contacts may extend through the mold protection layer. in example embodiments, the substrate may include a channel region, a first region, and a second region. the channels may be on the channel region. the first region and the second region may be sequentially positioned from the channel region in the parallel direction. the contacts may include first contacts on the step portions included in the first region, and second contacts on the step portions included in the second region. in example embodiments, the contact spacers may include first contact spacers along sidewalls of the first contacts. in example embodiments, the gate lines may include a ground selection line (gsl), word lines and a string selection line (ssl) sequentially stacked from the top surface of the substrate. the first contacts may be electrically connected to the ssl, and upper word lines adjacent to the ssl among the word lines. in example embodiments, the second contacts may be electrically connected to remaining word lines except for the upper word lines, and the gsl. the contact spacers may not be formed along sidewalls of the second contacts. in example embodiments, the substrate may further include a third region extended from the second region in the parallel direction. the contacts may further include third contacts on the step portions included in the third region. in example embodiments, the first region, the second region and the third region may be allotted based on an order of a photo process. the contact spacers may further include second contact spacers along sidewalls of the second contacts. the contact spacers may not be formed along sidewalls of the third contacts. in example embodiments, the vertical memory device may further include a peripheral circuit on a peripheral portion of the substrate, a mold protection layer covering top and lateral surfaces of the step portions and the peripheral circuit, and a peripheral circuit contact extending through the mold protection layer to the peripheral circuit. the peripheral circuit contact may be electrically connected to the peripheral circuit. the peripheral circuit contact may be in contact with the mold protection layer. in example embodiments, the contacts may be arranged in a zigzag arrangement along the parallel direction. in example embodiments, the portion of contacts on which the contact spacers may be formed along may be selectively arranged on the step portions of either odd levels or even levels. according to example embodiments, there is provided a vertical memory device. the vertical memory device includes a substrate, a gate line structure on the substrate, gate line contacts, a peripheral circuit contact, and contact spacers. the substrate may include a channel region, a contact region, and a peripheral circuit region. the gate line structure may include gate lines on the channel region and the contact region, and stacked vertically from the substrate. the gate lines may include step portions that extend to the contact region. the gate line structure may include insulating interlayer patterns between the gate lines, and channels extending vertically through the gate lines and the insulating interlayer patterns. the gate line contacts may be electrically connected to the gate lines on the contact region. the peripheral circuit contact may be on the peripheral circuit region. the contact spacers may be selectively formed along sidewalls of a portion of the gate line contacts. in example embodiments, the contact spacers may not be formed along a sidewall of the peripheral circuit contact. in example embodiments, the contact spacers may be selectively formed on sidewalls of upper gate line contacts at desired (and/or alternatively predetermined) levels among the gate line contacts. according to example embodiments, there is provided a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device. in the method, a stepped mold structure including a plurality of layers may be formed on a substrate. channels extending through the stepped mold structure may be formed. a mold protection layer at least partially covering the stepped mold structure may be formed. a portion of layers among the plurality of layers may be replaced with gate lines to form a gate line structure. a plurality of photo processes may be formed to form contact holes extending through the mold protection layer and exposing the gate lines. contact spacers may be formed on sidewalls of the contact holes which may be formed by a specific photo process of the plurality of photo processes. contacts may be formed in the contact holes. in example embodiments, the specific photo process may include an initial photo process among the plurality of photo processes. in example embodiments, the plurality of photo processes may include a first photo process, a second photo process and a third photo process. the specific photo process may include the first and second processes. in example embodiments, a peripheral circuit may be formed before forming the stepped mold structure. a peripheral circuit contact hole may be formed through the mold protection layer such that the peripheral circuit may be exposed. a peripheral circuit contact may be formed in the peripheral circuit contact hole. according to example embodiments, a vertical memory device includes a substrate, vertical channel structures spaced apart from each other on the substrate, gate lines surrounding the vertical channel structures, contacts, and contact spacers. the gate lines are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction. the gate lines include step portions that extend different extension lengths in a horizontal direction from a same one of the channel structures. the extension lengths of the step portions increase from top to bottom. the contacts extend vertically and connect to corresponding ones of the step portions. the contacts include first contacts and second contacts. the contact spacers surround one of the first contacts and the second contacts. in example embodiments, the one of the first and second contacts may be the first contacts. the gate lines may include first gate lines on top of second gate lines. the first contacts may be connected the step portions of the first gate lines. the second contacts may be connected to the step portions of the second gate lines. the contact spacers may not surround the second contacts. in example embodiments, the contact spacers may include one of silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride. in example embodiments, the vertical memory device may further include a mold protection layer on the step portions. the mold protection layer and the contact spacers may be formed of different insulating materials. in example embodiments, the vertical memory device may further include a peripheral circuit on the substrate and at least one peripheral circuit contact that extends through the mold protection layer and connects to the peripheral circuit. the peripheral circuit may be spaced apart from the gate lines. brief description of the drawings example embodiments will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of non-limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of inventive concepts. in the drawings: figs. 1 and 2 are a cross-sectional view and a top plan view, respectively, illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; figs. 3 to 29 are cross-sectional views and top plan views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; figs. 30 and 31 are a cross-sectional view and a top plan view, respectively, illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; figs. 32 to 38 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; fig. 39 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; figs. 40 to 46 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; figs. 47 to 49 are a top plan view and cross-sectional views illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; figs. 50 to 52 are a top plan view and cross-sectional views illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments; and figs. 53 to 61 are top plan views and cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. description of example embodiments various example embodiments will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some example embodiments are shown. example embodiments of inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. rather, these example embodiments are provided so that this description will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. in the drawings, the sizes and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. it will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or layer or intervening elements or layers may be present. in contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. like numerals refer to like elements throughout. other words used to describe the relationship between elements or layers should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” “on” versus “directly on”). as used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. it will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, fourth etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. these terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of inventive concepts. spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. it will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. for example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. the device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of inventive concepts. as used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. it will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list. example embodiments are described herein with reference to cross-sectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized example embodiments (and intermediate structures). as such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. thus, example embodiments should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. for example, an implanted region illustrated as a rectangle will, typically, have rounded or curved features and/or a gradient of implant concentration at its edges rather than a binary change from implanted to non-implanted region. likewise, a buried region formed by implantation may result in some implantation in the region between the buried region and the surface through which the implantation takes place. thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of a region of a device and are not intended to limit the scope of inventive concepts. unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments of inventive concepts belongs. it will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. although corresponding plan views and/or perspective views of some cross-sectional view(s) may not be shown, the cross-sectional view(s) of device structures illustrated herein provide support for a plurality of device structures that extend along two different directions as would be illustrated in a plan view, and/or in three different directions as would be illustrated in a perspective view. the two different directions may or may not be orthogonal to each other. the three different directions may include a third direction that may be orthogonal to the two different directions. the plurality of device structures may be integrated in a same electronic device. for example, when a device structure (e.g., a memory cell structure or a transistor structure) is illustrated in a cross-sectional view, an electronic device may include a plurality of the device structures (e.g., memory cell structures or transistor structures), as would be illustrated by a plan view of the electronic device. the plurality of device structures may be arranged in an array and/or in a two-dimensional pattern. figs. 1 and 2 are a cross-sectional view and a top plan view, respectively, illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. for example, fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line i-i′ indicated in fig. 2 . in figs. 1 and 2 , a direction substantially vertical to a top surface of a substrate is referred to as a first direction, and two directions substantially parallel to the top surface of the substrate and substantially crossing each other are referred to as a second direction and a third direction. for example, the second direction and the third direction are substantially perpendicular to each other. additionally, a direction indicated by an arrow and a reverse direction thereof are considered as the same direction. the above mentioned definitions of the directions are the same throughout all the figures in this specification. referring to figs. 1 and 2 , the vertical memory device may include a vertical channel structure including a channel 123 , a dielectric layer structure 120 and a first filling pattern 125 and extending in a first direction from a top surface of a substrate 100 , gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 a through 150 k ) surrounding the vertical channel structure 123 and being stacked in a stepped structure or a pyramidal structure, and contacts 190 and 195 electrically connected to the gate lines 150 . the substrate 100 may include a semiconductor material, e.g., silicon and/or germanium. in example embodiments, the substrate 100 may include single crystalline silicon. for example, the substrate 100 may serve as a p-type well of the vertical memory device. alternatively, the substrate 100 may include a semiconductor-on-insulator structure such as silicon or germanium on an insulator (e.g., silicon oxide). in example embodiments, the substrate 100 may include a channel region c, a first region i and a second region ii. in example embodiments, the vertical channel structure may be disposed in the channel region c. first contacts 190 may be disposed in the first region i. second contacts 195 may be disposed in the second region ii. the first region i and the second region ii may be a first contact region and a second contact region, respectively, allotted for a formation of the contacts 190 and 195 . the first region i and the second region ii may be a first photo region and a second photo region, respectively, allotted for the formation of the contacts 190 and 195 . the first region i and the second region ii may be arranged sequentially from the channel region c along the third direction. in example embodiments, the first region i and the second region ii may be arranged symmetrically with respect to the channel region c. for example, a central portion of the substrate 100 may be allotted as the channel region c, and both lateral portions of the channel region c may be allotted as the first region i and the second region ii. the channel 123 may be in contact with the top surface of the substrate 100 in the channel region i. the channel 123 may have a hollow cylindrical shape or a cup shape. the channel 123 may include polysilicon or single crystalline silicon, and may include p-type impurities such as boron (b) in a portion thereof. the first filling pattern 125 may fill an inner space of the channel 123 , and may have a solid cylindrical shape or a pillar shape. the first filling pattern 125 may include an insulation material such as silicon oxide. in example embodiments, the channel 123 may have a pillar shape or a solid cylindrical shape, and the first filling pattern 125 may be omitted. the dielectric layer structure 120 may be formed on an outer sidewall of the channel 123 . the dielectric layer structure 120 may have a straw shape or a cup shape of which a central bottom is opened. the dielectric layer structure 120 may include a tunnel insulation layer, a charge storage layer and a blocking layer which may be sequentially stacked from the outer sidewall of the channel 123 . the blocking layer may include silicon oxide or a metal oxide such as hafnium oxide or aluminum oxide. the charge storage layer may include a nitride such as silicon nitride or a metal oxide, and the tunnel insulation layer pattern may include an oxide such as silicon oxide. for example, the dielectric layer structure 120 may have an oxide-nitride-oxide (ono) layered structure. in example embodiments, a semiconductor pattern (not illustrated) may be further disposed between the top surface of the substrate 100 and a bottom of the channel 123 . in this case, the channel 123 may be disposed on a top surface of the semiconductor pattern, and the dielectric layer structure 120 may be disposed on a peripheral portion of the top surface of the semiconductor pattern. the semiconductor pattern may include, e.g., a single crystalline silicon or polysilicon. a pad 130 may be formed on the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling pattern 125 . for example, upper portions of the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling pattern 125 may be capped by the pad 130 . the pad 130 may be electrically connected to, e.g., a bit line 199 , and may serve as a source/drain region through which charges may be moved or transferred to the channel 123 . the pad 130 may include polysilicon or single crystalline silicon, and may be optionally doped with n-type impurities such as phosphorus (p) or arsenic (as). a plurality of the pads 130 may be arranged along the third direction on the channel region c such that a pad row may be defined, and a plurality of the pad rows may be arranged in the second direction. the vertical channel structure including the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling layer pattern 125 may be also arranged according to an arrangement of the pads 130 . for example, a plurality of the vertical channel structures may be arranged along the third direction in the channel region c to form a channel row, and a plurality of the channel rows may be arranged in the second direction. the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 a through 150 k ) may be formed on an outer sidewall of the dielectric structure 120 , and may be spaced apart from each other along the first direction. in example embodiments, each of the gate line 150 may partially surround the channels 123 or the vertical channel structures included in the plurality of the channel rows and may extend in the third direction. in example embodiments, each of the gate line 150 may surround the channel rows corresponding to four pad rows. in this case, a gate line structure may be defined by 4 channel rows and the gate lines 150 surrounding the 4 channel rows. a plurality of the gate line structures may be arranged along the second direction. in example embodiments, widths or length of the gate lines 150 in the third direction may be reduced along the first direction from the top surface of the substrate 100 . for example, as illustrated in fig. 1 , a plurality of the gate lines 150 may be stacked in a pyramidal shape or a stepped shape. accordingly, the gate line 150 of each level may include a step portion protruding in the third direction from an upper gate line 150 , and the step portion of each gate line 150 may serve as a pad for landing the contact 190 and 195 . the gate lines 150 may include a ground selection line (gsl), a word line and a string selection line (ssl). for example, a lowermost gate line 150 a may serve as the gsl. two uppermost gate lines 150 j and 150 k may serve as the ssls. the gate lines 150 b to 150 i between the gsl and the ssl may serve as the word lines. as illustrated in fig. 1 , the gate lines 150 of 8 levels may serve as the word lines in each gate line structure. however, the word lines may be formed at increased levels in consideration of a circuit design and a degree of integration of the vertical memory device, e.g. 16 levels, 24 levels, 48 levels, etc. the gate line 150 may include a metal having a low electrical resistance or a nitride thereof. for example, the gate line 150 may include tungsten (w), tungsten nitride, titanium (ti), titanium nitride, tantalum (ta), tantalum nitride, platinum (pt), or the like. in example embodiments, the gate line 150 may have a multi-layered structure including a barrier layer formed of a metal nitride and a metal layer. insulating interlayer patterns 106 (e.g., 106 a through 106 l ) may be disposed between the gate lines 150 neighboring in the first direction. the insulating interlayer pattern 106 may include a silicon oxide-based material, e.g., silicon dioxide (sio 2 ), silicon oxycarbide (sioc) or silicon oxyfluoride (siof). the gate lines 150 included in one gate line structure may be insulated from each other by the insulating interlayer patterns 106 . in example embodiments, the insulating interlayer patterns 106 may be stacked along the first direction in a pyramidal shape or a stepped shape substantially the same as or similar to that of the gate lines 150 . a mold protection layer 110 may be formed on a lateral portion of the gate line structure. the mold protection layer 110 may be in contact with the step portions of the gate lines 150 . the mold protection layer 110 may include an insulation material such as silicon oxide. a second filling pattern 160 may be interposed between the gate line structures neighboring each other. for example, the second filling pattern 160 may intersect the gate lines 150 , the insulating interlayer patterns 106 and the mold protection layer 110 , and may extend in the third direction. the second filling pattern 160 may serve as a gate line cut pattern defining the gate line structure. an impurity region 101 (see fig. 18 ) may be formed at an upper portion of the substrate 100 under the second filling pattern 160 . the impurity region 101 may extend in the third direction, and may serve as a common source line (csl) of the vertical memory device. the first contacts 190 and the second contacts 195 may be arranged in the first region i and the second region ii, respectively, of the substrate 100 . the first contacts 190 may extend through an uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l or the mold protection layer 110 to be in contact with or electrically connected to the step portions of the gate lines 150 . in example embodiments, the step portions of upper gate lines 150 included in the gate line structure may be included in the first region i. accordingly, the first contacts 190 may be landed on the step portions included in the desired (and/or alternatively predetermined) number of the upper gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 f through 150 k ). for example, the first contacts 190 may be landed on the ssl and some of the word lines. in example embodiments, a first contact spacer 182 may be formed on a sidewall of each first contact 190 . in this case, a first contact spacer 182 may extend through an upper insulating interlayer pattern 106 l or the mold protection layer 110 , and may have a straw shape surrounding the first contact 190 . for example, the first contact spacer 182 may include an insulating material such as silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride. a material of the first contact spacer 182 may be different than a material of the mold protection layer 110 and/or insulating interlayer patterns 106 . the step portions of remaining gate lines 150 except for the gate lines 150 covered by the first region i may be included in the second region ii. for example, the second contacts 195 may extend through the mold protection layer 110 to be electrically connected to or in contact with the step portions of lower gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 a to 150 e ) included in the gate line structure. for example, the second contacts 195 may be landed on the remaining word lines and the gsl. in example embodiments, contact spacers may not be formed on sidewalls of the second contacts 195 . in example embodiments, the sidewalls of the second contacts 195 may be in contact with the mold protection layer 110 . as illustrated in fig. 2 , wirings 197 , each of which may electrically connect the contacts 190 and 195 landed on the gate lines 150 of the same level, and included in the different gate line structures may be disposed on the mold protection layer 110 . for example, each wiring 197 may extend in the second direction and may be electrically connected to a plurality of the contacts 190 and 195 . the bit line 199 may be disposed on the channel region c of the substrate 100 , and may electrically connect a plurality of the pads 130 . for example, the bit line 199 may extend in the second direction on the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , and may electrically connect the pads 130 included in the different channel rows. in example embodiments, a bit line contact may be interposed between the pad 130 and the bit line 199 . the first and second contacts 190 and 195 , the wirings 197 and the bit line 199 may include a conductive material such as a metal, a metal nitride, a metal silicide or the like. according to example embodiments as described above, the contact spacers may be formed selectively on sidewalls of some of the contacts electrically connected to the gate lines 150 . for example, the first contact spacer 182 may be formed selectively on sidewalls of the first contacts 190 landed on the upper gate lines 150 included in the first region i. in example embodiments, as the stacked number of the gate lines 150 becomes greater, the contact spacers may be provided on only some contacts that may be vulnerable to a failure and may be selected in consideration of a manufacturing process. figs. 3 to 29 are cross-sectional views and top plan views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. for example, figs. 3 to 29 illustrate a method of manufacturing the vertical memory device of figs. 1 and 2 . specifically, figs. 6, 10, 11, 17, 19, 22, 24, 27 and 29 are top plan views illustrating the method. figs. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26 and 28 are cross-sectional views taken along lines i-i′ indicated in the top plan views. figs. 12, 14, 16 and 18 are cross-sectional views taken along lines ii-ii′ indicated in figs. 11, 17 and 19 . referring to fig. 3 , insulating interlayers 102 (e.g., 102 a through 102 l ) and sacrificial layers 104 a through 104 k may be alternately and repeatedly formed on a substrate 100 to form a mold structure. a semiconductor substrate including, e.g., single crystalline silicon or germanium may be used as the substrate 100 . the substrate 100 may be divided into a channel region c, a first region i and a second region ii. a channel 123 (see fig. 8 ), a first contact 190 (see fig. 28 ) and a second contact 195 (see fig. 28 ) may be formed in the channel region c, the first region i and the second region ii, respectively, by subsequent processes. in example embodiments, the insulating interlayer 102 may be formed of an oxide-based material, e.g., silicon dioxide, silicon oxycarbide and/or silicon oxyfluoride. the sacrificial layer 104 may be formed of a material that may have an etching selectivity with respect to the insulating interlayer 102 and may be easily removed by a wet etching process. for example, the sacrificial layer 104 may be formed of a nitride-based material, e.g., silicon nitride and/or silicon boronitride. the insulating interlayer 102 and the sacrificial layer 104 may be formed by a deposition process, such as at least one of a chemical vapor deposition (cvd) process, a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (pecvd) process, a high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (hdp-cvd) process, an atomic layer deposition (ald) process and a sputtering process. in example embodiments, a lowermost insulating interlayer 102 a may be formed by a different process than the process used to form the other insulating layers 102 b to 102 l . for example, the insulating interlayer 102 a may be formed using a thermal oxidation process on a top surface of the substrate 100 . in example embodiments, an uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l may have a relatively large thickness compared to the insulating interlayers 102 a to 102 k. the sacrificial layers 104 may be removed in a subsequent process to provide spaces for a gsl, a word line and an ssl. thus, the number of the insulating interlayers 102 and the sacrificial layers 104 may be determined in consideration of the number of the gsl, the word line and the ssl. fig. 3 illustrates that the sacrificial layers 104 and the insulating interlayers 102 are formed at 11 levels and 12 levels, respectively. however, the number of the insulating interlayers 102 and the sacrificial layers 104 may be increased according to a degree of integration of the vertical memory device. referring to fig. 4 , a lateral portion of the mold structure may be partially etched in, e.g., a stepwise manner to form a stepped mold structure. for example, a photoresist pattern (not illustrated) may be formed on an uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l to cover the channel region c and the first region i, and partially cover the second region ii. both ends of the insulating interlayers 102 (e.g., 102 l to 102 a ) and the sacrificial layers 104 (e.g., 104 k to 104 a ) may be etched using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask. both ends of the photoresist pattern may then be removed so that a width of the photoresist pattern may be reduced. next, both ends of the insulating interlayers 102 (e.g., 102 l to 102 b ) and the sacrificial layers 104 (e.g., 104 k to 104 b ) may be etched using the photoresist pattern as the etching mask again. etching processes may be repeated in a similar manner as described above to obtain the stepped mold structure illustrated in fig. 4 . after the formation of the stepped mold structure, a mold protection layer 110 covering lateral portions or steps of the stepped mold structure may be formed. for example, an insulation layer covering the stepped mold structure may be formed on the substrate 100 using, e.g., silicon oxide by a cvd process or a spin coating process. an upper portion of the insulation layer may be planarized until the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l is exposed to form the mold protection layer 110 . the planarization process may include a chemical mechanical polish (cmp) process and/or an etch-back process. referring to figs. 5 and 6 , a channel hole 115 may be formed through the stepped mold structure in the channel region c. for example, a hard mask (not illustrated) may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l and the mold protection layer 110 . the insulating interlayers 102 and the sacrificial layers 104 of the stepped mold structure may be partially etched by performing, e.g., a dry etching process. the hard mask may be used as an etching mask to form the channel hole 115 . a top surface of the substrate 100 may be partially exposed by the channel hole 115 . the channel hole 115 may extend in the first direction from the top surface of the substrate 100 . the hard mask may be formed of silicon-based or carbon-based spin-on hardmask (soh) materials, and/or a photoresist material. in example embodiments, a plurality of the channel holes 115 may be formed in the third direction to form a channel hole row. a plurality of the channel hole rows may be formed in the second direction. the channel hole rows may be arranged such that the channel holes 115 may be formed in a zigzag arrangement along the second direction. for convenience of descriptions, only one channel hole 115 is illustrated per each channel hole row in fig. 6 . the hard mask may be removed by an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the channel holes 115 . referring to fig. 7 , a dielectric layer structure 120 may be formed on a sidewall of each channel hole 115 . in example embodiments, a dielectric layer may be formed on sidewalls and bottoms of the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l and the mold protection layer 110 , and on the sidewall and bottoms of the channel holes 115 . the dielectric layer may be formed by sequentially forming a blocking layer, a charge storage layer and a tunnel insulation layer. for example, the blocking layer may be formed using an oxide, e.g., silicon oxide, the charge storage layer may be formed using silicon nitride or a metal oxide, and the tunnel insulation layer may be formed using an oxide, e.g., silicon oxide. in example embodiments, the dielectric layer may be formed as an oxide-nitride-oxide (ono) layered structure. the blocking layer, the charge storage layer and the tunnel insulation layer may be formed by a cvd process, a pecvd process, an ald process, etc. for example, a portion of the dielectric layer formed on the bottoms of the channel holes 115 may be removed by, e.g., an etch-back process. thus, the top surface of the substrate 100 may be exposed again. a portion of the dielectric layer formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l and the mold protection layer 110 may be also removed by the etch-back process and/or a cmp process. accordingly, the dielectric layer structure 120 having, e.g., a straw shape may be formed on the sidewall of each channel hole 115 . referring to fig. 8 , a channel 123 and a first filling pattern 125 may be formed in a remaining portion of the each channel hole 115 . in example embodiments, a channel layer may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l , the mold protection layer, sidewalls of the dielectric layer structure 120 and the bottoms of the channel holes 115 . a first filling layer filling remaining portions of the channel holes 115 may be formed on the channel layer. the channel layer may be formed of polysilicon or amorphous silicon which is optionally doped with impurities. in example embodiments, a heat treatment or a laser beam irradiation may be further performed on the channel layer. in this case, the channel layer may be transformed to include single crystalline silicon. the first filling layer may be formed using an insulation material, e.g., silicon oxide or silicon nitride. the channel layer and the first filling layer may be formed by a cvd process, a pecvd process, an ald process, a pvd process, a sputtering process, etc. upper portions of the channel layer and the first filling layer may be planarized by, e.g., a cmp process until the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l or the mold protection layer 110 is exposed to form the channel 123 and the first filling pattern 125 in the each channel hole 115 . the channel 123 may be formed on the sidewall of the dielectric layer structure 120 and may be in contact with the top surface of the substrate 100 . for example, the channel may have a substantially cup shape, and the first filling pattern 125 may have a substantially pillar shape inserted in the channel 123 . after performing the above-mentioned processes, a vertical channel structure including the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling layer pattern 125 sequentially formed on the sidewall of the channel hole 115 may be formed in the each channel hole 115 . according to the arrangement of the channel holes 115 as described above, a plurality of the vertical channel structures may be arranged along the third direction to define a channel row, and a plurality of the channel rows may be arranged along the second direction. in example embodiments, a semiconductor pattern may be further formed at a lower portion of the channel hole 115 before forming the dielectric layer structure 120 . the semiconductor pattern may be formed by a selective epitaxial growth (seg) process using the top surface of the substrate 100 exposed through the channel hole 115 as a seed. the semiconductor pattern may include polysilicon or single crystalline silicon. alternatively, an amorphous silicon layer filling the lower portion of the channel hole 115 may be formed, and then a laser epitaxial growth (leg) process or a solid phase epitaxi (spe) process may be performed on the amorphous silicon layer to form the semiconductor pattern. in this case, the dielectric layer structure 120 and the channel 123 may be formed on a top surface of the semiconductor pattern. referring to figs. 9 and 10 , a pad 130 filling an upper portion of the channel hole 115 may be formed. for example, upper portions of the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling pattern 125 may be partially removed by, e.g., an etch-back process to form a recess. a pad layer may be formed on the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 , the first filling pattern 125 , the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l and the mold protection layer 110 to sufficiently fill the recess. an upper portion of the pad layer may be planarized by, e.g., a cmp process until top surfaces of the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l and/or the mold protection layer 110 may be exposed to form the pad 130 from a remaining portion of the pad layer. in example embodiments, the pad layer may be formed using polysilicon optionally doped with n-type impurities. in example embodiments, a preliminary pad layer including amorphous silicon may be formed, and then a crystallization process may be performed thereon to form the pad layer. the planarization process may include a cmp process. according to the arrangement of the channel row, a plurality of the pads 130 may define a pad row in the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l. referring to figs. 11 and 12 , an opening 135 extending through the stepped mold structure may be formed. for example, a hard mask (not illustrated) covering the pads 130 and partially exposing the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l and the mold protection layer 110 between some of the channel rows may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l and the mold protection layer 110 . the mold protection layer 110 , the insulating interlayers 102 and the sacrificial layers 104 may be partially etched by, e.g., a dry etching process using the hard mask as an etching mask to form the opening 135 . the hard mask may be formed using a photoresist material or an soh material. the hard mask may be removed by an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the opening 135 . in example embodiments, the opening 135 may extend in the third direction, and a plurality of the openings 135 may be formed along the second direction. the desired (and/or alternatively predetermined) number of the channel rows may be arranged between the openings 135 neighboring in the second direction. for example, as illustrated in fig. 11 , four channel rows may be included between the neighboring openings 135 . however, the number of the channel rows between the openings 135 may be properly adjusted in consideration of a circuit design or a degree of integration of the vertical memory device. as illustrated in fig. 12 , after the formation of the opening 135 , the insulating interlayers 102 and the sacrificial layers 104 may be changed into insulating interlayer patterns 106 (e.g., 106 a through 106 l ) and sacrificial patterns 108 (e.g., 108 a through 108 k ). the insulating interlayer pattern 106 and the sacrificial pattern 108 at each level may have a plate shape extending in the third direction. the top surface of the substrate 100 , and sidewalls of the insulating interlayer patterns 106 and the sacrificial patterns 108 may be exposed through the opening 135 . referring to figs. 13 and 14 , the sacrificial patterns 108 , the sidewalls of which are exposed by the opening 135 may be removed. in example embodiments, the sacrificial patterns 108 may be removed by a wet etching process using, e.g., phosphoric acid and/or sulfuric acid as an etchant solution. a gap 140 may be defined by a space from which the sacrificial pattern 108 is removed. a plurality of the gaps 160 may be formed along the first direction. each gap 140 may be formed between the adjacent insulating interlayer patterns 106 . outer sidewalls of the dielectric layer structure 120 may be partially exposed by the gap 140 . referring to figs. 15 to 17 , gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 a through 150 k ) may be formed in the gaps 140 . accordingly, the sacrificial layer 104 or the sacrificial pattern 108 of each level may be replaced with the gate line 150 . in example embodiments, a gate electrode layer may be formed on the exposed outer sidewalls of the dielectric layer structure 120 , surfaces of the insulating interlayer patterns 106 , the exposed top surface of the substrate 100 and top surfaces of the pads 130 . the gate electrode layer may sufficiently fill the gaps 140 and at least partially fill the opening 135 . the gate electrode layer may also cover the top surface of the mold protection layer 110 . the gate electrode layer may be formed using a metal or a metal nitride having low electrical resistance and work function. for example, the gate electrode layer may be formed of tungsten, tungsten nitride, titanium, titanium nitride, tantalum, tantalum nitride, platinum, etc. in example embodiments, the gate electrode layer may be formed as a multi-layered structure including a barrier layer formed of a metal nitride, and a metal layer. the gate electrode layer may be formed by a cvd process, a pecvd process, an ald process, a pvd process, a pvd process, a sputtering process, etc. in example embodiments, an additional blocking layer may be formed along inner walls of the gaps 140 and the surfaces of the insulating interlayer patterns 106 prior to the formation of the gate electrode layer. the additional blocking layer may be formed of silicon oxide or a metal oxide. subsequently, the gate electrode layer may be partially removed to form the gate line 150 in the gap 140 at each level for example, an upper portion of the gate electrode layer may be planarized by a cmp process until an uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and/or the mold protection layer 110 may be exposed. portions of the gate electrode layer formed in the opening 135 and on the top surface of the substrate 100 may be etched to obtain the gate lines 150 . the gate electrode layer may be partially etched by a wet etching process using, e.g., a hydrogen peroxide-containing solution. the gate lines 150 may include the gsl, the word line and the ssl sequentially stacked and spaced apart from one another in the first direction. for example, a lowermost gate line 150 a may serve as the gsl. the gate lines 150 b to 150 i on the gsl may serve as the word lines. the gate lines 150 j and 150 k at two levels on the word line may serve as the ssl. the gate line 150 at each level may surround the desired (and/or alternatively predetermined) number of the channel rows, e.g., four channel rows. accordingly, a gate line structure may be defined by the gate lines 150 that are stacked in the first direction, surround the desired (and/or alternatively predetermined) number of the channel rows and extend in the third direction. a plurality of the gate line structures may be defined by the opening 135 , and may be arranged along the second direction in example embodiments, the gate line structure may have a pyramidal shape or a stepped shape substantially the same as or similar to the shape of the stepped mold structure. for example, the gate line 150 at each level may include a step portion protruding in the third direction from an upper gate structure 150 thereof. referring to figs. 18 and 19 , an impurity region 101 may be formed at an upper portion of the substrate 100 exposed through the opening 135 , and a second filling pattern 160 may be formed in the opening 135 . for example, n-type impurities such as p or as may be implanted through the opening 135 to form the impurity region 101 . the impurity region 101 may serve as a csl extending in the third direction. in example embodiments, a metal silicide pattern (not illustrated) including, e.g., nickel silicide or cobalt silicide may be further formed on the impurity region 101 to reduce a resistance of the csl. an insulation layer sufficiently filling the opening 135 may be formed on the impurity region 101 , the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the pad 130 and the mold protection layer 110 . an upper portion of the insulation layer may be planarized by a cmp process or an etch-back process until the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l is exposed to form the second filling pattern 160 . the insulation layer may be formed of, e.g., silicon oxide. referring to fig. 20 , a first mask layer 170 may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and the pads 130 , and a first photoresist layer 172 may be formed on the first mask layer 170 . the first mask layer 170 may include, e.g., an amorphous carbon film. the first mask layer 170 and the first photoresist layer 172 may be formed on the plurality of the gate line structures 150 , and may extend continuously on the channel region c, the first region i and the second region ii. referring to figs. 21 and 22 , exposure and developing processes may be performed to partially remove a portion of the first photoresist layer 172 formed on the first region i such that a first photoresist pattern 174 may be formed. the first mask layer 170 may be partially removed using the first photoresist pattern 174 as an etching mask, and then the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and the mold layer 110 may be partially removed to form first contact holes 180 . in example embodiments, top surfaces of the step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 k to 150 f ) included in the first region i may be exposed through the first contact holes 180 . referring to figs. 23 and 24 , the first photoresist pattern 174 and the first mask layer 170 may be removed by, e.g., an ashing process and/or a strip process. subsequently, a first contact spacer 182 may be formed on a sidewall of each first contact hole 180 . for example, a first spacer layer may be formed conformally on top surfaces of the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and the pads 130 , and on the sidewalls and bottoms of the first contact holes 180 . the first spacer layer may be formed of silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride by a cvd process, a pecvd process, a sputtering process or an ald process. portions of the first spacer layer formed on the top surfaces of the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and the pads 130 , and on the bottoms of the first contact holes 180 may be removed by an etch-back process. thus, the first contact spacer 182 may be defined on the sidewall of the each first contact hole 180 from remaining portions of the first spacer layer. further, the top surfaces of the step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 k to 150 f ) may be exposed again. referring to fig. 25 , a second mask layer 171 capping the first contact holes 180 may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and the pads 130 . a second photoresist layer 173 may be formed on the second mask layer 171 . the second mask layer 171 may include an amorphous carbon film substantially the same as or similar to that of the first mask layer 170 . the second mask layer 171 may be formed in a low step coverage-condition to overhang the first contact holes 180 . in some embodiments, the second mask layer 171 may at least partially fill the first contact holes 180 . referring to figs. 26 and 27 , a portion of the second photoresist layer 173 formed on the second region ii may be partially removed by, e.g., exposure and developing processes to form a second photoresist pattern. the second mask layer 171 and the mold protection layer 110 may be partially removed using the second photoresist pattern as an etching mask to form second contact holes 183 . in example embodiments, top surfaces of the step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 e to 150 a ) included in the second region ii may be exposed through the second contact holes 183 . the second photoresist pattern and the second mask layer 171 may be removed by an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the second contact holes 183 . according to example embodiments as described above, contact holes formed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 may be formed by, e.g., a 2-step photo process. for example, the first contact holes 180 may be formed by a first photo process, and the second contact holes 183 may be formed by a second photo process. in a comparative example where contact holes are formed by a single photo process simultaneously, the contact holes having different heights due to a stepped structure may not be easily formed. for example, while forming the contact hole on a lowermost gate line 150 a , an uppermost gate line 150 k may be damaged from an excessive exposure to an etching process, and profiles of upper contact holes may be also damaged or degraded. as the number of levels of the gate line structure becomes greater, the above-mentioned problems from the single photo-process may be exacerbated. however, according to example embodiments, a process for forming the contact holes may be divided by at least two photo processes, so that the contact holes having a regular sidewall profile may be achieved without damaging the gate lines 150 . in example embodiments, the first contact spacer 182 may be formed on the sidewall of the first contact hole 180 . thus, a diffusion of an etching residue such as an etching gas generated when the first contact hole 180 is formed may be blocked by the first contact spacer 182 . accordingly, damages of, e.g., the second mask layer 171 and the second photoresist layer 173 by the etching residue may be avoided during an etching process for the formation of the second contact hole 183 . therefore, the sidewall profile of the first contact hole 180 may be uniformly maintained. in a comparative example, forming contact spacers simultaneously on sidewalls of entire contact holes may be considered. however, while performing an etch-back process on a spacer layer for the formation of the contact spacers, upper gate lines 150 may be damaged, and the spacer layer may not be removed uniformly because of height differences of the contact holes 180 and 183 . however, according to example embodiments, the first contact spacers 182 may be formed selectively on the first contact holes 180 which may be formed by the first photo process in consideration of the number and an order of entire etching processes. therefore, structural and mechanical reliability of the gate lines 150 and the contact holes 180 and 183 may be improved through the plurality of the photo processes. referring to figs. 28 and 29 , a first contact 190 and a second contact 195 may be formed in the first contact hole 180 and the second contact hole 183 , respectively. for example, a conductive layer filling the first and second contact holes 180 and 183 may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and the pads 130 . the conductive layer may be formed of a metal, a metal nitride and/or doped polysilicon by a sputtering process or an ald process. an upper portion of the conductive layer may be planarized by a cmp process until the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and/or the pads 130 are exposed to form the first and second contacts 190 and 195 . in example embodiments, as illustrated in fig. 2 , wirings 197 electrically connected to the first contacts 190 and the second contacts 195 may be further formed on the first region i and the second region ii. a bit line 199 electrically connected to a plurality of the pads 130 may be further formed on the channel region c. figs. 30 and 31 are a cross-sectional view and a top plan view, respectively, illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. for example, fig. 31 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line i-i′ of fig. 30 . detailed descriptions on elements and/or structures substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 1 and 2 are omitted herein, and like reference numerals are used to designate like elements. for convenience of descriptions, figs. 30 and 31 illustrate that a gate line structure has the number of levels the same as that of the gate line structure illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 . however, the gate line structure of figs. 30 and 31 may have the number of levels greater than that of the gate line structure illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 . referring to figs. 30 and 31 , a substrate 100 of the vertical memory device may include a channel region c, a first region i, a second region ii and a third region iii. step portions of gate lines 150 may be distributed in the first to third regions i, ii and iii. for example, some step portions of upper levels may be included in the first region i, some step portions of middle levels may be included in the second region ii, and some step portions of lower levels may be included in the third region iii. first contacts 192 and second contacts 194 may be landed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 included in the first region i and the second region ii, respectively. a first contact spacer 181 and a second contact spacer 185 may be formed on sidewalls of the first contact 192 and the second contact 194 , respectively. third contacts 196 may be landed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 included in the third region iii. in example embodiments, a contact spacer may not be formed on a sidewall of the third contact 196 . in this case, the third contact 196 may be in contact with the mold protection layer 110 . as described above, as the number of levels included in the vertical memory device or the gate line structure becomes higher, the substrate 100 may be divided into more specific regions, and regions for the formation of the contact spacers may be selected in consideration of a process order and the number of photo processes. figs. 30 and 31 illustrate that the step portions are distributed throughout 3 regions. however, the step portions may be distributed throughout at least 4 regions in consideration of the number of levels of the vertical memory device. figs. 32 to 38 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. for example, figs. 32 to 38 illustrate a method of manufacturing the vertical memory device of figs. 30 and 31 . detailed descriptions on processes and materials substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 3 to 29 . referring to fig. 32 , process substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 3 to 20 may be performed. in example embodiments, a gate line structure may be formed on a substrate 100 including a channel region c, a first region i, a second region ii and a third region iii. the gate line structure may include insulating interlayer patterns 106 and gate lines 150 stacked in a stepped structure, and may include a vertical channel structure extending in the first direction through the insulating interlayer patterns 106 and the gate lines 150 . the vertical channel structure may include a dielectric layer structure 120 , a channel 123 and a first filling pattern 125 . a pad 130 capping upper portions of the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling pattern 125 may be formed. a first mask layer 170 a may be formed on an uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the pads 130 and a mold protection layer 110 , and a first photoresist layer 172 a may be formed on the first mask layer 170 a. referring to fig. 33 , a process substantially the same as or similar to that illustrated with reference to fig. 21 may be performed. for example, the first photoresist layer 172 a of the first region i may be partially removed to form a first photoresist pattern 174 a . the first mask layer 170 a may be etched through the first photoresist pattern 174 a , and then the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l or the mold protection layer 110 may be etched to form first contact holes 180 a. step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 k through 150 h ) which may be included in the first region i may be exposed through the first contact holes 180 a . the first photoresist pattern 174 a and the first mask layer 170 a may be removed by an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the first contact holes 180 a. referring to fig. 34 , a process substantially the same as or similar to that illustrated with reference to fig. 23 may be performed to form a first contact spacer 181 on a sidewall of each first contact hole 180 a. a second mask layer 170 b capping the first contact holes 172 b may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the pads 130 and the mold protection layer 110 . a second photoresist layer 172 b may be formed on the second mask layer 170 b. referring to fig. 35 , a process substantially the same as or similar to that illustrated with reference to fig. 33 may be performed on the second region ii. accordingly, a portion of the second photoresist layer 172 b on the second region ii may be partially etched to form a second photoresist pattern 174 b . the second mask layer 170 b and the mold protection layer 110 may be partially removed using the second photoresist pattern 174 b as an etching mask to form second contact holes 180 b. step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 g , 150 f and 150 e ) included in the second region ii may be exposed through the second contact holes 180 b. referring to fig. 36 , a second contact spacer 185 may be formed on a sidewall of each second contact hole 180 b . in example embodiments, a spacer layer may be formed along surfaces of the second photoresist pattern 174 b and the second mask layer 170 b , and along the sidewalls and bottoms of the second contact holes 180 b . the spacer layer may be partially removed by an etch-back process to form the second contact spacers 185 . the second photoresist pattern 174 b and the second mask layer 170 b may be removed by a cmp process, an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the second contact spacer 185 . in example embodiments, the first and second contact spacers 181 and 185 may be formed simultaneously. for example, the second contact hole 180 b may be formed after forming the first contact hole 180 a . a spacer layer extending commonly and continuously on the sidewalls and bottoms of the first and second contact holes 180 a and 180 b . the spacer layer may be partially removed by an etch-back process to form the first and second contact spacers 181 and 185 . after the formation of the second contact hole 180 b and the second contact spacer 185 , a third mask layer 170 c capping the first and second contact holes 180 a and 180 b may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the pads 130 and the mold protection layer 110 . a third photoresist layer 172 c may be formed on the third mask layer 170 c. referring to fig. 37 , a process substantially the same as or similar to that illustrated with reference to fig. 33 may be repeated on the third region iii. in example embodiments, a portion of the third photoresist layer 172 c formed on the third region iii may be partially etched to form a third photoresist pattern 174 c . the third mask layer 170 c and the mold protection layer 110 may be partially etched using the third photoresist pattern 174 c as an etching mask to form third contact holes 180 c. step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 d through 150 a ) included in the third region iii may be exposed through the third contact holes 180 c . the third photoresist pattern 174 c and the third mask layer 170 c may be removed by an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the third contact holes 180 c. referring to fig. 38 , processes substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 28 and 29 may be performed to form contacts. for example, a conductive layer filling the first to third contact holes 180 a , 180 b and 180 c may be formed on the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and the pads 130 . an upper portion of the conductive layer may be planarized by a cmp process until top surfaces of the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l , the mold protection layer 110 and/or the pads 130 may be exposed. accordingly, a first contact 192 , a second contact 194 and a third contact 196 may be formed in the first contact hole 180 a , the second contact hole 180 b and the third contact hole 180 c , respectively. in example embodiments, as illustrated in fig. 2 , wirings electrically connected to the first, second and third contacts 192 , 194 and 196 may be formed on the first, second and third regions i, ii and iii. a bit line electrically connected to the pads 130 may be formed on the channel region c. according to example embodiments as described above, as the number of levels in the vertical memory device or the gate line structure becomes higher, a photo process for the formation of the contact holes (or the contacts) on the step portions of the gate lines may be additionally divided. for example, as illustrated with reference to figs. 32 to 38 , the first, second and third contact holes 180 a , 180 b and 180 c may be formed through first, second and third photo processes, respectively. in example embodiments, the contact spacers may be formed selectively in the contact holes (e.g., the first contact hole 180 a and the second contact hole 180 b ) which may be exposed to a plurality of the divided photo processes, so that structural and mechanical reliability of the contact holes and the gate lines may be improved. if the photo process is divided into at least four photo processes, the contact spacers may be selectively formed in consideration of a process order and the number of the divided processes. fig. 39 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. the vertical memory device of fig. 39 may have elements and/or constructions substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 1 and 2 except that a peripheral circuit region or a peripheral circuit is included. thus, detailed descriptions on repeated elements and/or structures are omitted herein, and like reference numerals are used to designate like elements. referring to fig. 39 , the substrate 100 may include a channel region c, a first region i, a second region ii and a peripheral circuit region p. a gate line structure substantially the same as or similar to that illustrated with reference to figs. 1 and 2 may be disposed on the channel region c, the first region i and the second region ii of the substrate 100 . a vertical channel structure including a dielectric layer structure 120 , a channel 123 and a first filling pattern 125 may extend through gate lines 150 and insulating interlayer patterns 106 on the channel region c. step portions of the gate lines 150 may be disposed on the first region i and the second region ii. first contacts 190 and second contacts 195 may be landed on the step portions of the first region i and the second region ii, respectively. in example embodiments, first contact spacers 182 may be formed only on sidewalls of the first contacts 190 . the peripheral circuit region p may be allotted at an edge portion of the substrate 100 . a peripheral circuit of the vertical memory device may be disposed on the peripheral circuit region p. the peripheral circuit may include a transistor. the peripheral circuit may be covered by a peripheral circuit protection layer 250 . for example, a gate structure 240 including a gate insulation pattern 215 , a gate electrode 225 and a gate mask 235 may be disposed on the peripheral circuit region p of the substrate 100 . source/drain regions 205 may be formed at upper portions of the substrate 100 adjacent to the gate structure 240 . the transistor may be defined by the gate structure 240 and the source/drain regions 205 . a gate spacer may be further formed on a sidewall of the gate structure 240 . the peripheral circuit protection layer 205 may be formed on the peripheral circuit region p to cover the gate structure 240 , the gate spacer 245 and the source/drain regions 205 . a peripheral circuit contact 260 may extend through the mold protection layer 110 and the peripheral circuit protection layer 250 on the peripheral circuit region p, and may be electrically connected to the peripheral circuit. for example, the peripheral circuit contact 260 may be in contact with or electrically connected to the source/drain regions 205 . in example embodiments, a contact spacer may be excluded on a sidewall of the peripheral circuit contact 260 . accordingly, the sidewall of the peripheral circuit contact 260 may be in contact with the mold protection layer 110 . figs. 40 to 46 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. detailed descriptions on processes and/or materials substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 3 to 29 are omitted herein. referring to fig. 40 , a peripheral circuit may be formed on a peripheral circuit region p of a substrate 100 . for example, a gate insulation layer, a gate electrode layer and a gate mask layer may be sequentially formed on the substrate 100 . the gate mask layer may be partially etched to form a gate mask 235 , and then the gate electrode layer and the gate insulation layer may be etched using the gate mask 235 as an etching mask to form a gate electrode 225 and a gate insulation pattern 215 . accordingly, a gate structure 240 including the gate insulation pattern 215 , the gate electrode 225 and the gate mask 235 sequentially stacked on the substrate 100 may be formed. the gate insulation layer may be formed of silicon oxide or a metal oxide. the gate electrode layer may be formed of a metal, a metal nitride and/or doped polysilicon. the gate mask layer may be formed of silicon nitride. the gate insulation layer, the gate electrode layer and the gate mask layer may be formed by at least one of a cvd process, a pecvd process, a hdp-cvd process, an ald process and a sputtering process. in example embodiments, the gate insulation layer may be formed by performing a thermal oxidation process on the substrate 100 . an ion-implantation process may be performed using the gate structure 240 as an implantation mask to form source/drain regions 205 at upper portions of the substrate 100 . thus, a transistor including the gate structure 240 and source/drain regions 205 may be formed on the peripheral circuit region p. in example embodiments, a spacer layer covering the gate structure 240 may be formed on the substrate 100 . the spacer layer may be anisotropically etched to form a gate spacer 245 covering a sidewall of the gate structure 240 . a peripheral circuit protection layer 250 may be further formed so that the transistor may be protected during subsequent processes. for example, a protection layer covering the source/drain region 205 , the gate structure 240 and the gate spacer 245 may be formed on the substrate 100 . a portion of the protection layer formed on a channel region c, a first region i and a second region ii may be removed to form the peripheral circuit protection layer 250 . the protection layer may be formed of an insulation material such as silicon oxide. referring to fig. 41 , a process substantially the same as or similar to that illustrated with reference to fig. 3 may be performed. in example embodiments, insulating interlayers 102 and sacrificial layers 104 may be alternately and repeatedly formed to obtain a mold structure. the insulating interlayers 102 and the sacrificial layers 104 may extend commonly and continuously on the channel region c, the first region i, the second region ii and the peripheral circuit region p. the mold structure may protrude on the peripheral circuit region p and a portion of the second region ii due to a height difference from the peripheral circuit protection layer 250 . referring to fig. 42 , a process substantially the same as or similar to that illustrated with reference to fig. 4 may be performed to form a stepped mold structure. the mold structure may be substantially removed from the peripheral circuit region p. an uppermost insulating interlayer 102 l may be exposed on the channel region c. step portions of the stepped mold structure may be exposed on the first and second regions i and ii. a mold protection layer 110 covering a lateral portion of the stepped mold structure and covering the peripheral circuit protection layer 250 may be formed. referring to fig. 43 , processes substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 5 to 20 may be performed. in example embodiments, a vertical structure including a dielectric layer structure 120 , a channel 123 and a first filling pattern 125 may be formed through the stepped mold structure on the channel region c. a pad 130 capping the vertical channel structure may be formed on the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling pattern 125 . subsequently, the sacrificial layers 104 may be replaced with gate lines such that a gate line structure in which insulating interlayer patterns 106 and the gate lines 150 may be alternately stacked in a stepped construction or a pyramidal construction may be formed. a first mask layer 170 may be formed on the gate line structure and the mold protection layer 110 , and a first photoresist layer 172 may be formed on the first mask layer 170 . the first mask layer 170 and the first photoresist layer 172 may be formed commonly on the channel region c, the first region i, the second region ii and the peripheral circuit region p. referring to fig. 44 , processes substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 21 to 25 may be performed. accordingly, first contact holes 180 exposing the step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 k through 150 f ) included in the first region i may be formed, and a first contact spacer 182 may be formed on a sidewall of each first contact hole 180 . the first photoresist layer 172 and the first mask layer 170 may be removed by an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the firs contact hole 180 and/or the first contact spacer 182 . a second mask layer 171 capping the first contact holes 180 may be formed on an upper insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and the mold protection layer 110 . a second photoresist layer 173 may be formed on the second mask layer 171 . referring to fig. 45 , processes substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 26 and 27 may be performed. in example embodiments, portions of the second photoresist layer 173 on the second region ii and the peripheral circuit region p may be partially removed to form a second photoresist pattern 173 a . the second mask layer 171 and the mold protection layer 110 may be partially removed using the second photoresist pattern 173 a as an etching mask to form second contact holes 183 and a peripheral circuit contact hole 255 . the step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 e through 150 a ) included in the second region ii may be exposed through the second contact hole 183 . the source/drain regions 205 may be exposed through the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 . the second photoresist pattern 173 a and the second mask layer 171 may be removed by an ashing process and/or a strip process after the formation of the second contact hole 183 and the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 . in example embodiments, the second contact hole 183 and the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 may be formed by substantially the same photo process, and may be formed simultaneously. for example, a contact hole through which a gsl is exposed, and the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 may be simultaneously formed by the same photo process. in example embodiments, after forming the second contact hole 183 , the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 may be formed by an additional photo process. referring to fig. 46 , processes substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 28 and 29 may be performed. for example, a conductive layer sufficiently filling the first contact hole 180 , the second contact hole 183 and the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 may be formed. an upper portion of the conductive layer may be planarized until the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and/or the mold protection layer 110 may be exposed such that a first contact 190 , a second contact 195 and a peripheral circuit contact 260 may be formed in the first contact hole 180 , the second contact hole 183 and the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 , respectively. in example embodiments, wirings electrically connected to the first contacts 190 and the second contacts 195 may be formed on the first region i and the second region ii. a peripheral circuit wiring electrically connected to the peripheral circuit contacts 260 may be formed on the peripheral circuit region p. a bit line electrically connected to the pads 130 may be formed on the channel region c. according to example embodiments as described above, the contact spacers 182 may be formed selectively on sidewalls of some contacts in consideration of photo processes for the contact holes and the peripheral circuit contact hole 255 . figs. 47 to 49 are a top plan view and cross-sectional views illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. specifically, fig. 47 is a top plan view of the vertical memory device. figs. 48 and 49 are cross-sectional views taken along lines i-i′ and ii-ii′ of fig. 47 , respectively. the vertical memory device of figs. 47 to 49 may have elements and/or constructions substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 1 and 2 except for an arrangement of contacts. thus, detailed descriptions on repeated elements and/or structures are omitted herein, and like reference numerals are used to designate like elements. referring to figs. 47 to 49 , as also described in figs. 1 and 2 , a plurality of gate line structures divided by a second filling pattern 160 may be disposed on a substrate 100 . the gate line structure may include insulating interlayer patterns 106 and gate lines 150 stacked in a pyramidal construction or a stepped construction. a plurality of vertical channel structures, each of which may include a dielectric layer structure 120 , a channel 123 and a first filling layer pattern 125 , may be formed on a channel region c of the substrate 100 , and a pad 130 capping the vertical channel structure may be formed. step portions of the gate lines may be distributed on a first region i and a second region ii of the substrate 100 . in example embodiments, contacts 310 and 320 may be disposed along the third direction in a zigzag arrangement in a planar view. in example embodiments, the contacts 310 and 320 may be arranged on every other step portions in a vertical cross-sectional view. for example, as illustrated in fig. 48 , the contacts 310 and 320 may be landed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 at odd levels (e.g., 150 a , 150 c , 150 e , 150 g , 150 i and 150 k ) in the cross-sectional view taken along the line i-i′. as illustrated in fig. 49 , the contacts 310 and 320 may be landed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 at even levels (e.g., 150 b , 150 d , 150 f , 150 h and 150 j ) in the cross-sectional view taken along the line ii-ii′. as described above, the contacts 310 and 320 may be dispersed in the zigzag arrangement so that a distance between the neighboring contacts 310 and 320 may be increased. thus, an alignment margin in a photo process may be additionally achieved. the contacts 310 and 320 may be divided into first contacts 310 landed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 k through 150 f ) included in the first region i, and second contacts 320 landed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 (e.g., 150 e through 150 a ) included in the second region ii. the first and second contacts 310 and 320 may be in the zigzag arrangement in a planar view. in example embodiments, first contact spacers 305 may be selectively formed on sidewalls of the first contacts 310 . according to example embodiment as described above, the contacts 310 and 320 may be formed in the zigzag arrangement to increase the alignment margin of the photo process. further, the contact spacers may be provided only on the first contacts 310 so that defects due to an etching residue may be prevented. figs. 50 to 52 are a top plan view and cross-sectional views illustrating a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. specifically, fig. 50 is a top plan view of the vertical memory device. figs. 51 and 52 are cross-sectional views taken along lines i-i′ and ii-ii′ of fig. 50 , respectively. the vertical memory device of figs. 50 to 52 may have elements and/or constructions substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 47 to 49 except for an arrangement of contact spacers. thus, detailed descriptions on repeated elements and/or structures are omitted herein, and like reference numerals are used to designate like elements. referring to figs. 50 to 52 , as also illustrated with reference to figs. 47 to 49 , the contacts may be formed in a zigzag arrangement along the third direction. the contacts may include first contacts 410 and second contacts 420 . the first contacts 410 may be arranged along the third direction to form a first contact row. the second contacts 420 may be arranged along the third direction to form a second contact row. the first contact row and the second contact row may be included in different vertical cross-sectional views, and the contacts included in the first and second contact rows may be in the zigzag arrangement in a planar view as illustrated in fig. 50 . as illustrated in fig. 51 , the first contacts 410 included in the first contact row may be arranged in the cross-sectional view taken along the line i-i′. for example, the first contacts 410 may be landed on step portions of gate lines 150 at odd levels (e.g., 150 a , 150 c , 150 e , 150 g , 150 i and 150 k ). in example embodiments, first contact spacers 405 may be formed on sidewalls of the first contacts 410 . as illustrated in fig. 52 , the second contacts 420 included in the second contact row may be arranged in the cross-sectional view taken along the line ii-ii′. for example, the second contacts 420 may be landed on step portions of gate lines 150 at even levels (e.g., 150 b , 150 d , 150 f , 150 h and 150 j ). in example embodiments, contact spacers may be excluded on sidewalls of the second contacts 420 . figs. 53 to 61 are top plan views and cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a vertical memory device in accordance with example embodiments. for example, figs. 53 to 61 illustrate a method of manufacturing the vertical memory device of figs. 50 to 52 . specifically, figs. 53, 55, 57, 59 and 61 are top plan views illustrating the method. fig. 54 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the method. figs. 56 and 58 are cross-sectional views taken along a line i-i′ indicated in figs. 55 and 57 . fig. 60 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line ii-ii′ indicated in fig. 59 . detailed descriptions on processes and/or materials substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 3 to 29 are omitted herein. referring to figs. 53 and 54 , process substantially the same as or similar to those illustrated with reference to figs. 3 to 19 may be performed. in example embodiments, a plurality of gate line structures divided by a second filling pattern 160 may be formed on a substrate 100 . the gate line structure may include insulating interlayer patterns 106 and gate lines 150 stacked in a stepped structure, and may include a plurality of vertical channel structures extending through the insulating interlayer patterns 106 and the gate lines 150 in the first direction. the vertical channel structure may include a dielectric layer structure 120 , a channel 123 and a first filling pattern 125 , and a pad 130 capping the vertical channel structure may be formed on the dielectric layer structure 120 , the channel 123 and the first filling pattern 125 . a mold protection layer 110 may be formed on a lateral portion of the gate line structure. referring to figs. 55 and 56 , an uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and the mold protection layer 110 may be partially removed by, e.g., a first photo process to form contact holes 400 . in example embodiments, the first contact holes 400 may be formed along the third direction to define a first contact hole row. the first contact holes 400 may be formed on every other level along the first direction. for example, step portions of the gate lines 150 at odd levels (e.g., 150 a , 150 c , 150 e , 150 g , 150 i and 150 k ) may be exposed through the first contact holes 400 . referring to figs. 57 and 58 , a first contact spacer 405 may be formed on a sidewall of each first contact hole 400 . for example, a spacer layer including silicon nitride may be formed on top surfaces of the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and the mold protection layer 110 , and on the sidewalls and bottoms of the first contact holes 400 . upper and lower portions of the spacer layer may be removed by an etch-back process to form the first contact spacers 405 . referring to figs. 59 and 60 , the mold protection layer 110 may be partially removed by, e.g., a second photo process to form second contact holes 415 . in example embodiments, the second contact holes 415 may be formed along the third direction to define a second contact hole row. the second contact holes 415 may be formed on every other level along the first direction. for example, step portions of the gate lines 150 at even levels (e.g., 150 b , 150 d , 150 f , 150 h and 150 j ) may be exposed through the second contact holes 415 . as described above, the first contact holes 405 and the second contact holes 415 may be formed by the first photo process and the second photo process, respectively, which may be divided based on the contact hole rows. the first and second contact holes 405 and 415 may be arranged alternately along the first direction in a zigzag arrangement. thus, an alignment margin for the photo processes may be additionally achieved. in example embodiments, the contact spacer may be formed only on the sidewalls of the first contact holes 405 that may be formed by the first photo process and may be included in the first contact hole row. thus, defects from an etching residue while performing the second photo process may be prevented. referring to fig. 61 , first contacts 410 and second contacts 420 may be formed in the first contact holes 405 and the second contact holes 415 , respectively. for example, a conductive layer sufficiently filling the first and second contact holes 405 and 415 may be formed on the top surfaces of the uppermost insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and the mold protection layer 110 . an upper portion of the conductive layer may be planarized by a cmp process until the top surfaces of the upper most insulating interlayer pattern 106 l and/or the mold protection layer 110 may be exposed to form the first contacts 410 and the second contacts 420 . the first and second contacts 410 and 420 may be formed simultaneously. the first and second contacts 410 and 420 may be formed along the first direction in a zigzag arrangement according to the arrangement of the first and second contact holes 405 and 415 , and may be landed on the step portions of the gate lines 150 . in example embodiments, as illustrated with reference to fig. 2 , wirings electrically connected to the first and second contacts 410 and 420 may be further formed. a bit line electrically connected to a plurality of the pads 130 may be also formed. according to example embodiments, contact spacers may be selectively formed on sidewalls of some contacts among contacts electrically connected to step portions of gate lines included in a vertical memory device. for example, first contact holes exposing the step portions of upper gate lines may be formed by a first photo process, and then the contact spacers may be formed on sidewalls of the first contact holes. therefore, while performing subsequent photo processes, an etching gas from the first contact holes may be blocked to prevent a profile damage of the contacts. in example embodiments, a nonvolatile memory may be embodied to include a three dimensional (3d) memory array. the 3d memory array may be monolithically formed on a substrate (e.g., semiconductor substrate such as silicon, or semiconductor-on-insulator substrate). the 3d memory array may include two or more physical levels of memory cells having an active area disposed above the substrate and circuitry associated with the operation of those memory cells, whether such associated circuitry is above or within such substrate. the layers of each level of the array may be directly deposited on the layers of each underlying level of the array. in example embodiments, the 3d memory array may include vertical nand strings that are vertically oriented such that at least one memory cell is located over another memory cell. the at least one memory cell may comprise a charge trap layer. the following patent documents, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, describe suitable configurations for three-dimensional memory arrays, in which the three-dimensional memory array is configured as a plurality of levels, with word lines and/or bit lines shared between levels: u.s. pat. nos. 7,679,133; 8,553,466; 8,654,587; 8,559,235; and us pat. pub. no. 2011/0233648. the foregoing is illustrative of example embodiments and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. although a few example embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the example embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the present inventive concept. accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present inventive concept as defined in the claims. in the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures. therefore, it is to be understood that the foregoing is illustrative of various example embodiments and is not to be construed as limited to the specific example embodiments disclosed, and that modifications to the disclosed example embodiments, as well as other example embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
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097-731-432-976-524
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EP
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[
"WO"
] |
C08G18/10,C08G18/48,C08G18/76,C08G18/79,C08K3/22
| 2022-04-13T00:00:00 |
2022
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[
"C08"
] |
coating compositions of isocyanates and basic metal compounds
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the present invention relates to a composition comprising at least one polyisocyanate, particles of at least one basic metal compound, and at least one first additive which is a chelating agent comprising at least two functional groups capable of binding to a cation of said metal. furthermore, a kit comprising said composition and a second composition containing water, the use of the composition for creating a coating and a process related thereto are provided.
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1. composition comprising (a) at least one polyisocyanate, (b) particles of at least one basic metal compound independently selected from the group consisting of basic metal oxide compounds and basic metal hydroxide compounds, and (c) at least one first additive which is a chelating agent comprising at least two functional groups capable of binding to a cation of said metal. 2. composition according to claim 1, wherein the at least one polyisocyanate (a.l) has from 2 to 6 free isocyanate groups, and/or (a.2) is independently selected from the group consisting of aliphatic and aromatic polyisocyanates. 3. composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one polyisocyanate is a prepolymer formed of at least one polyol and at least one polyisocyanate. 4. composition according to claim 3, wherein the at least one polyol (i) is independently selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polyester polyols, polyols of fatty acid esters, polyols of modified fatty acid esters, polyols of fatty alcohols, polyols of modified fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric modified fatty alcohols, polyols of trimeric fatty alcohols, polyols of trimeric modified fatty alcohols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, and/or (ii) has from 2 to 6 free hydroxy groups, and (iii) optionally comprises at least one further polyol which is a chain extender and has from 2 to 6 free hydroxy groups. 5. composition according to claim 4, wherein the at least one polyol (i) is independently selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polyester polyols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, and/or (ii) has from 2 to 6 free hydroxy groups, and/or (iii) has from 4 to 150 repeating units. 6. composition according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the at least one polyol (i) is a polyether polyol independently selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneoxide polyol, polypropyleneoxide polyol and polybutyleneoxide polyol, and/or (ii) has from 2 to 6 free hydroxy groups, and/or (iii) has from 4 to 150 repeating units. 7. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the metal of the at least one basic metal compound is independently selected from the group consisting of alkaline metals, alkaline earth metals, metals of the 2 nd transition metal group and metals of the 3 rd transition metal group. 8. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the metal of the at least one basic metal compound is independently selected from the group consisting of alkaline earth metals. 9. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 8, in which the at least one basic metal compound comprises cement. 10. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the at least one chelating agent (i) comprises at least one functional group being independently selected from the group consisting of acid groups and their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters, and optionally (ii) comprises at least one sterically hindering group. 11. composition according to claim 10, wherein (i) the at least one functional group is independently selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, phosphonic acid and phosphoric acid, their corresponding acid anions and acid salts, carboxamide, carboxylic esters and carboxylic anhydrides, and/or (ii) the at least one sterically hindering group is independently selected from the group consisting of a c4- to cioo-hydrocarbon tail and /or a polyether, preferably a c4- to c22- hydrocarbon tail and a polyether, more preferably a ce- to cis-hydrocarbon tail and a polyether having from 3 to 60 repeating units. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the chain between the functional groups binding to the metal cation is a c2- to cio-hydrocarbon backbone, and wherein at least one methylene group of said c2- to cio-hydrocarbon backbone optionally (i) is substituted by a heteroatom independently selected from the group consisting of n, p, 0 and s, or (ii) carries a functional group independently selected from the group consisting of acid groups and their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters, and amino and hydroxy. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 12 further comprising (d) at least one second additive independently selected from the group consisting of alkoxysilanes. composition according to claim 13, wherein the alkoxysilanes are of formula si(o-x) m y n z4-m+n , wherein x is a ci- to ce-alkyl group, preferably a ci- to cs-alkyl group, most preferably methyl, y is a ci- to c2o-alkyl or a c5- to cio-aryl group, z is a ci- to ce-alkyl group, which optionally carries a functional group, m is an integer from 1 to 4, preferably m is 3, and n is an integer from 0 to 3. 15. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising at least one low volatile organic liquid, preferably at least one low volatile organic liquid having a boiling point of 250°c or higher, more preferably at least one low volatile organic liquid having a boiling point of 250°c or higher and independently selected from the group consisting of plasticizers, flame retardants, monomethacrylates and polymethacrylates. 16. composition according to claim 15, wherein (i) the plasticizers are selected from the group consisting of phthalates and adipates, preferably phthalates, and/or (ii) the flame retardants are selected from the group consisting of phosphoric esters, and/or (iii) the polymethacrylates are selected from the group consisting of dimethacrylates, preferably polyether dimethacrylates, most preferably alkyl dimethacrylates. 17. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising at least one inorganic compound independently selected from the group consisting of mica, talc, precipitated silica and fumed silica. 18. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 17, further comprising at least one catalyst catalysing the isocyanate water reaction, preferably independently selected from the group consisting of organotin compounds, bismuth carboxylates, zinc carboxylates, trialkylamines and alkylimidazoles, more preferably bisdialkylaminoethyl ethers, most preferably 2,2'-dimorpholinyldiethylether. 19. composition according to any one of claims 1 to 18, further comprising at least one ingredient independently selected from the group consisting of inorganic pigments, organic pigments and dye stuffs, preferably inorganic pigments and organic pigments, most preferably inorganic pigments. kit comprising the composition as defined in any one of claims 1 to 19 and a second composition which is a liquid comprising water for reaction with the at least one polyisocyanate and/or prepolymer and optionally for reaction with the at least one basic metal compound. kit according to claim 20, wherein the second composition further comprises at least one polyol. use of the composition as defined in any one of claims 1 to 19 for creating a coating by reaction with ambient moisture. use of the composition as defined in any one of claims 1 to 19 for creating a coating after mixing said composition with a second composition which is as defined in claim 20 or 21. the use of claim 20 or 21, wherein a sufficient amount of the carbon dioxide released from the reacting at least one polyisocyanate and/or prepolymer is chemically captured by way of forming a bicarbonate and/or carbonate of the at least one metal in the composition, said amount of the carbon dioxide captured being sufficient so as to prevent foaming of the coating. process for creating a coating on a surface, comprising the steps of (i) providing a composition as defined in any one of claims 1 to 19, (ii) allowing the presence of ambient moisture, (iii) applying the composition onto the surface, and (iv) allowing the composition as applied in step (iii) to cure while it is in contact with the ambient moisture. process for creating a coating on a surface, comprising the steps of (i) providing a first composition as defined in any one of claims 1 to 19, (ii) providing a second composition which is as defined in claim 20 or 21, (hi) mixing the first and second composition, (iv) applying the mixture obtained in step (iii) onto the surface, and (v) allowing the mixture as applied in step (iv) to cure. 27. the process according to claim 25 or 26, further comprising the step of chemically capturing a sufficient amount of the carbon dioxide released from the reacting at least one polyisocyanate and/or prepolymer by way of forming a bicarbonate and/or carbonate of the at least one metal in the composition, said amount of the carbon dioxide captured being sufficient so as to prevent foaming of the coating.
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coating compositions of isocyanates and basic metal compounds the present invention relates to a composition comprising at least one polyisocyanate, particles of at least one basic metal compound, and at least one first additive which is a chelating agent comprising at least two functional groups capable of binding to a cation of said metal. furthermore, a kit comprising said composition and a second composition containing water, the use of the composition for creating a coating and a process related thereto are provided. background of the invention coatings are an important and rapidly growing application providing added value. a coating often has a decorative and a protective function. coating compositions for construction purposes, in particular for applications in flooring and waterproofing, are mostly based on epoxy resins or polyurethane resins (polyurethane polymers). epoxy resin based coating compositions provide aesthetically pleasing and glossy surfaces, but suffer from certain disadvantages, such as undesired blushing effects, especially at lower temperatures, temperature dependence of the gloss intensity, which may decrease in cold environments, and hazardous chemicals (i.e. epoxides and amines) involved. polyurethanes (pus) consist of polymers composed of a chain of organic (monomer) units joined by carbamate (urethane) links resulting from the reaction between a hydroxyl group and an isocyanate group. the polymer chains may be branched depending on the monomers used and/or further (side) reactions such as the allophanate reaction and biuret reaction. industrially, a polyurethane polymer is usually formed by reacting an isocyanate with a polyol. both the isocyanate and the polyol each contain, on average, two or more functional groups per molecule. pus can be produced in many different forms from very low-density foams to high performance composites and can thus be used in a multitude of applications. examples of applications include flexible high-resilience seating foams, rigid foam insulation panels, electrical potting compounds, high performance adhesives, surface coatings, packaging materials, surface sealants and synthetic fibres. pu coatings are valued particularly for their durability, abrasion resistance, aesthetics, and flexibility in formulation. in addition, like pu adhesives, pu coatings can be delivered in numerous formats to meet the process requirements of almost every operation. for producing polyurethane-type polymers in principle two different systems can be distinguished. for construction purposes, particularly for applications in flooring and waterproofing, the polyurethane based coating compositions often additionally contain polyureas formed from the isocyanates with amines. the amine can be formed either in situ by reaction of water with isocyanate and/or an accordingly blocked amine (latent hardener). the polyureas increase bonding to the surface coated, such as in particular cement and concrete surfaces. polyureas consist of polymers composed of a chain of organic (monomer) units joined by urea links resulting from the reaction between an amine group and an isocyanate group. in the so-called one-component system (ik system), an isocyanate prepolymer (urethane prepolymer) or its solution is crosslinked and cured with moisture present in the ambient air. an isocyanate prepolymer or polyurethane prepolymer is one in which all of the polyol hydroxyl end groups have been reacted with isocyanate groups leaving isocyanate functionality at the termini instead of hydroxyl groups. in some formulations so-called latent hardeners are used, i.e. a hydrolysissensitive component that liberates a polyol and/or an amine upon reaction with water. common examples for latent hardeners are imines or oxazolidines; however, they liberate a leaving group that evaporates and releases volatile organic compounds (vocs) and intensive odours (for instance amines often have an unpleasant smell) or remains in the system and acts as a plasticizer. in the so-called two-component system (2k system), an isocyanate component is reacted and cured with an amine and/or a polyol component. however, polymeric coatings obtained according to the above methods tend to foam or to trap gas bubbles during the polymerization process, particularly when applied in a thicker layer, e.g. to a thickness of more than 1 mm. the cause of foaming is carbon dioxide which inevitably forms during the reaction of isocyanate with water. water is added as a curing agent, or is often contained in the starting material, i.e. the polyol component, and in materials to be added to the starting material, e.g. pigments and fillers. when the urethane-type polymers are to be used for coatings, adhesives or sealants, the polymers are required to be non-foaming, i.e. not to be in the form of a foam after their curing process has ended. such non-foaming urethane-type polymers can be prepared by adding basic materials to the isocyanate reactive mixture. the basic materials capture the carbon dioxide, acting as carbon dioxide scavengers. two-component polyurethane coating systems, sometimes called two-package coatings or 2k polyurethane systems, are probably the most commonly known of all the polyurethane coating systems. "two-component" describes a process or system in which two resin packages (often referred to as part a and part b) are mixed immediately prior to the application of the coating. one package (often called "part a") contains a resin having functional groups (e.g. hydroxy or amino groups) which are reactive towards isocyanate groups; the other package (often called "part b") contains an isocyanate which is capable of reacting with said functional groups in part a. key advantages of the two- component coating system are the much longer storage stability or shelf life of the isocyanate containing component (part b) compared to an isocyanate alone or the isocyanate prepolymer of the ik system, a rapid curing reaction once the two resins have been mixed and a simple mixing process before application (wo 2019/137859 proposes such a 2k system). two-component polyurethanes using sufficiently slow curing amines and three- component polyurethanes using water and a coz-scavenger have been known for a long time. however, three-component packages are error prone in practical use and hence not popular in the market: the need to add a further component e.g. to the two-component system adds further packaging costs and complexity to the coating process. a high degree of component metering accuracy is required because polyurethane resins require precisely balanced mixing ratios and thorough mixing for good results. the amines used in the two-component polyurea compositions are relatively expensive and often unpleasantly smelly and hazardous. thus, a one-component system (ik system) using a prepolymer of an isocyanate and a polyol and having an improved shelf live is still desirable for its simplicity, while a two-component system (2k system) free of added amines is also desirable. the latter requires the in situ generation of amines from isocyanate and water, which generates co2 that to some extent can escape from the coating composition, but to a certain amount remains trapped therein as a gas, forming gas bubbles or pockets which cause unwanted foaming of the coating. the use of metal oxides and hydroxides has been proposed to chemically capture such trapped co2 and preventing any gas bubbles or pockets from forming in order to suppress foaming (de 1271978, ep 0161479 and wo 2019/137859). still, dispersions of e.g. calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide in water and polyol are difficult to stabilize in order to obtain storage-stable compositions with a sufficient shelf live, and it limits the range of suitable polyols, fillers, and pigments due to the highly alkaline environment in the composition or dispersion. in order to avoid such unstable dispersions with a relatively short shelf life it appears desirable to pre-disperse the carbon dioxide scavenger not in the polyol component, as in wo 2019/137859, but instead in the isocyanate component, thereby also eliminating the need for incorporating the carbon dioxide scavenger during mixing of the components or immediately before the application of the reactive system. however, the main problem for realizing a storage stable dispersion of basic ("basic" meaning chemically reacting as a base, e.g. causing an alkaline ph in contact with water) metal oxide and hydroxide particles, such as calcium oxide in isocyanate compounds, is posed by basic substances catalyzing the trimerization of isocyanates which in turn leads to a significant increase in viscosity in a relatively short period of time. also, the alkaline ph of such dispersions is detrimental to many further ingredients, such as e.g. pigments in dispersions for those applications for which colour matters; the alkaline environment often causes a change and/or fading of the colours. therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide storage-stable compositions, particularly dispersions, of a carbon dioxide scavenger and an isocyanate compound. the viscosity of said composition, particularly the viscosity of the isocyanate compound therein should not rise significantly upon storage under normal conditions such as room temperature. moreover, the functionality of other ingredients should not be impaired over time and during storage. brief description of the invention it has surprisingly been found that shielding of the external surfaces of basic metal oxide and hydroxide particles with certain additives can prevent the problem of uncontrolled viscosity increase and unwanted effects on other ingredients, without impairing their carbon dioxide scavenging efficacy. to the contrary, those metal oxide and hydroxide particles modified with certain additives are sufficiently reactive or surprisingly even more reactive than the unmodified particles in capturing the co2 by formation of metal carbonate. less amount of the inorganic particles is necessary than with unmodified particles in the formulation of bubble-free coatings. particularly, an additive which is a chelating agent comprising at least two functional groups capable of binding to a cation of the metal of the basic metal oxide or hydroxide provides sufficient shielding. this stabilizes the isocyanate or the isocyanate prepolymer in the composition, other ingredients and thus the composition as a whole. the invention thus provides (1) a composition comprising (a) at least one polyisocyanate, (b) particles of at least one basic metal compound independently selected from the group consisting of basic metal oxide compounds and basic metal hydroxide compounds, and (c) at least one first additive which is a chelating agent comprising at least two functional groups capable of binding to a cation of said metal; (2) a composition according to item (1), wherein the at least one polyisocyanate is a prepolymer formed of at least one polyol and at least one polyisocyanate; (3) a kit comprising the composition as defined hereinbefore at item (1) and a second composition which is a liquid comprising water for reaction with the at least one polyisocyanate and/or prepolymer and optionally for reaction with the at least one basic metal compound; (4) a use of the composition as defined hereinbefore at item (1) for creating a coating by reaction with ambient moisture; (5) a use of the composition as defined hereinbefore at item (1) for creating a coating after mixing said composition with a second composition which is as defined hereinbefore at item (3); (6) a process for creating a coating on a surface, comprising the steps of (i) providing a composition as defined hereinbefore at item (1), (ii) allowing the presence of ambient moisture, (iii) applying the composition onto the surface, and (iv) allowing the composition as applied in step (iii) to cure while it is in contact with the ambient moisture; (7) a process for creating a coating on a surface, comprising the steps of (i) providing a first composition as defined hereinbefore at item (1), (ii) providing a second composition which is as defined hereinbefore at item (3), (iii) mixing the first and second composition, (iv) applying the mixture obtained in step (iii) onto the surface, and (v) allowing the mixture as applied in step (iv) to cure. detailed description of the invention compound names beginning with "poly" designate substances, which formally contain per molecule two or more of the respective functional group or monomer or repeating unit referred to. in case of functional groups, the compound itself can be a monomeric, oligomeric or polymeric compound. for instance, a polyol is a compound having two or more hydroxy groups, a polyisocyanate is a compound having two or more isocyanate groups. a polyurethane is a polymeric compound resulting from the polyaddition between a polyisocyanate and a polyol. polybutadiene is a polymer resulting from the polymerization of 1,3- butadiene. the term "average functionality" denotes the average number of functional groups on a given molecule. "m w " represents the weight average molecular weight and is determined according to din 55672-1 and referred to polystyrene calibration standard. "% by weight" as used in the present invention is with respect to the total weight of the composition if not indicated otherwise, "wt.%", "wt. %" or "wt%" as used herein means weight percent (%) or percent (%) by weight, in each case with respect to the total weight of the composition if not indicated otherwise. the expressions "ci4 to c22", "ci6 to cis", "ci6 to cis", "cis" and the like, such as in "c14 to c22 fatty acid esters", "ci6 to cis fatty acid esters", "ci6 to cis fatty acid esters", "cis fatty acid esters", "c14 to c22 fatty alcohols", "ci6 to cis fatty alcohols", "ci6 to cis fatty alcohols" and "cis fatty alcohols" and the like refer to the length of the main hydrocarbon chain or hydrocarbon backbone of the fatty acid and fatty alcohol, respectively, and functional groups, such as e.g. ethers or esters, if attached thereto, do not count towards the length of the hydrocarbon backbone. the expressions "ci to c&" alkyl, "ci to c10" alkyl and "ci to c100" alkyl and the like refer to alkyl residues having from 1 to 6, from 1 to 10 and from 1 to 100 carbon atoms, respectively, and the like. likewise, the terms "c4- to cioo-hydrocarbon tail", "c4- to c22-hydrocarbon tail" and "ce- to cis-hydrocarbon tail" denote a hydrocarbon tail having from 4 to 100, from 4 to 22 and from 6 to 18 carbon atoms, respectively. the term "alkyl" implies a fully saturated hydrocarbon chain with no c-c- double or triple bonds, whereas the terms "hydrocarbon backbone" or "hydrocarbon tail" embrace saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated hydrocarbon chains, such as alkyl, alkene and alkyne residues, unless otherwise indicated, e.g. by expressions such as "saturated", "unsaturated" or "polyunsaturated". the term "repeating unit" or "repeat unit" refers to an elementary structural unit which periodically repeats itself along the polymeric chain and is also defined as a monomer or monomeric unit. the repeating unit or monomer is thus a low molecular weight compound from which the polymer is obtained through synthetic chemical reaction(s). for instance, a poly-1, 2-propyleneether diol can be represented by the formula h-[och 2 ch(ch3)-]noh with n being an integer of usually 4 or greater and the isopropoxy (isopropyleneoxide) (isopropylene oxide) residue [och 2 ch(ch3)-] as the repeating unit. the term "oligomer" denotes a molecule that consists of 2-10 monomers without having necessarily a molecular mass distribution. the term "prepolymer" refers to a monomer or system of monomers that have been reacted to an intermediate molecular mass state. this material is capable of further polymerization by reactive groups to a fully cured high molecular weight state. an isocyanate prepolymer or polyurethane prepolymer is one in which all of the polyol hydroxyl end groups have been reacted with isocyanate groups leaving isocyanate functionality at the termini instead of hydroxyl groups. it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular compositions and formulations described, since such compositions and formulations may, of course, vary. it is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is not intended to be limiting, since the scope of the present invention will be limited only by the appended claims. "independently selected" from a list or group of items means that the items selected may be the same or may be different from each other, particularly in case "at least one" item being selected, which includes the options of one or more items, such as two, three, four or more items being selected, which should thus be selected independently from each other, i.e. the items can all be the same or different. if hereinafter a group is defined to comprise at least a certain number of embodiments, this is meant to also encompass a group which preferably consists of these embodiments only. furthermore, the terms "first", "second", "third" etc., (i), (ii), (iii) etc., "(a)", "(b)", "(c)", "(d)" etc. and the like, as or if used in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar or different elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order. it is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in other sequences than described or illustrated herein. in case the terms "first", "second", "third", or "(a)", "(b)" and "(c)", or "(a)", "(b)", "(c)", "(d)", or "i", "ii", "iii" etc. relate to steps of a method or use or assay, there is no time or time interval coherence between the steps, that is, the steps may be carried out simultaneously or there may be time intervals of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or even years between such steps, unless otherwise indicated in the application as set forth herein above or below. in the following passages, different aspects of the invention are defined in more detail. each aspect so defined may be combined with any other aspect or aspects unless clearly indicated to the contrary or against the gist of the invention. in particular, any feature indicated as being preferred or advantageous may be combined with any other feature or features, be it preferred or advantageous or not. reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment but may. furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments. furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some, but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. for example, in the appended claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination. the term "polyisocyanate" or "polyisocyanate compound", as used interchangeably herein, denotes an isocyanate compound which has at least two isocyanate groups, particularly at least two free isocyanate groups. a "free isocyanate group" is a functional isocyanate group that is not blocked or protected and thus is capable of undergoing a chemical reaction, for instance a reaction with water or the hydroxy group of an alcohol, particularly with one of the hydroxy groups of a polyol. particularly, the polyisocyanate of the invention can have from 2 to 6 (free) isocyanate groups, preferably 2 or 3 (free) isocyanate groups. the isocyanate may be selected from the group consisting of aliphatic and aromatic isocyanate compounds. polyisocyanate includes aliphatic polyisocyanate, cycloaliphatic polyisocyanate, aromatic polyisocyanate, modified polyisocyanate containing for example uretonimine groups, allophanate groups, isocyanurate groups, urethane groups or biuret groups. in one aspect, the polyisocyanate is a diisocyanate of the abovementioned aliphatic polyisocyanate, cycloaliphatic polyisocyanate, aromatic polyisocyanate and modified polyisocyanate. suitable cycloaliphatic polyisocyanates include those in which two or more of the isocyanato groups are attached directly and/or indirectly to the cycloaliphatic ring. aromatic polyisocyanates include those in which two or more of the isocyanato groups are attached directly and/or indirectly to the aromatic ring. the aliphatic polyisocyanates and cycloaliphatic polyisocyanates can comprise from 4 to 100 carbon atoms linked in a straight chain or cyclized. suitable polyisocyanates are selected from the group consisting of pentamethylene diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate(hdi), isophorone diisocyanate (ipdi), 2,2,4- and 2,4,4-trimethyl-l,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate, tetramethoxybutane 1,4-diisocyanate, butane-l,4-diisocyanate, dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate, cyclohexane 1,3- and 1,4-diisocyanate, 1,12-dodecamethylene diisocyanate, diisocyanates of dimeric fatty acids; lysine methyl ester diisocyanate, l-isocyanato-3,3,5-trimethyl-5- isocyanatomethylcyclohexane, hydrogenated diphenylmethane diisocyanate (h12mdi), hydrogenated 2,4-tolylene diisocyanate, hydrogenated 2,6-tolylene diisocyanate, methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (mdi), 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (2,4-tdi), 2,6-toluene diisocyanate (2,6-tdi), naphthalene diisocyanate(ndi), tetramethylxylylene diisocyanate (tmxdi), p-xylylene diisocyanate, and mixtures of these compounds, polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, carbodiimide-modified methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, tris- (isocyanatohexyl)-isocyanurate and mixtures with the higher homologues thereof, tris-(isocyanatohexyl)-biuret or mixtures with the higher homologues. methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (mdi) is available in three different isomeric forms, namely 2,2'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (2,2'-mdi), 2,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (2,4'-mdi) and 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (4,4'-mdi). mdi can be classified into monomeric mdi (also designated mmdi) and polymeric mdi (pmdi) referred to as technical mdi. for the present invention, polymeric mdi is the preferred one. polymeric mdi includes oligomeric species and mdi isomers. thus, polymeric mdi may contain a single mdi isomer or isomer mixtures of two or three mdi isomers, the balance being oligomeric species. polymeric mdi tends to have isocyanate functionalities of higher than 2. the isomeric ratio as well as the amount of oligomeric species can vary in wide ranges in these products. for instance, polymeric mdi may typically contain about 20 to 80 wt. % of monomeric mdi isomers, the balance being said oligomeric species. the mdi isomers are often a mixture of 4,4'-mdi, 2,4'-mdi and low levels of 2,2'-mdi. preferably, the polyisocyanate is selected from the group consisting of oligomers and/or prepolymers of hexamethylene diisocyanate (hdi), methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (mdi) or a derivative of mdi, such as polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, carbodiimide-modified methylene diphenyl diisocyanate. more preferably, the polyisocyanate is selected from the group consisting of hexamethylene diisocyanate (hdi), methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (mdi), isophorone diisocyanate (ipdi) and toluene diisocyanate (tdi), yet more preferably selected from the group consisting of ipdi, tdi and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (mdi). the polyisocyanate may also be selected from oligomers and/or prepolymers of the aforementioned polyisocyanates. polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate and carbodiimide-modified methylene diphenyl diisocyanate are commercially available, for e.g. lupranat® m, lupranat® mi and lupranat® mm from basf se or desmodur mdi-types from covestro and polyisocyanate resin based on hexamethylene diisocyanate (hdi) is commercially available, for e.g. desmodur n types® from covestro, tolonate™ x flo from vencorex. the polyisocyanate can be in any physical state. preferably the polyisocyanate is in a liquid state. preferably, the at least one polyisocyanate is present in an amount in the range of > 10 wt. % to < 90 wt. %, more preferably in the range of > 20 wt. % to < 90 wt. %, more preferably in the range of > 20 wt. % to < 80 wt. %, most preferably in the range of > 30 wt. % to < 80 wt.%, based on the total weight of the composition. the polyisocyanate may be a prepolymer formed of a polyol and a polyisocyanate. in this aspect the polyisocyanate reacted with the polyol preferably has at least two free isocyanate groups. this advantageously results in the presence of at least two (free) isocyanate groups in the prepolymer. the polyisocyanate of the invention preferably does not contain any ionic groups. basic metal compound "basic" in this context means capable of chemically reacting as a base, e.g. causing an alkaline ph in contact with water. thus, any basic metal compound in that sense and selected from the group consisting of basic metal oxide compounds, more briefly referred to a basic metal oxides, and basic metal hydroxide compounds, more briefly referred to a basic metal hydroxides, is suitable. thus, the basic metal compound may particularly be selected from the group consisting of basic metal oxide compounds, from the group consisting of basic metal hydroxide compounds or from the group consisting of a combination of both of said groups. in one aspect the basic metal compound may be a combination of one or two basic metal oxides with one or two basic metal hydroxides. in a further aspect the basic metal compound may be a combination of exactly two basic metal oxides with exactly two basic metal hydroxides. in a further aspect the basic metal compound may be a combination of exactly one basic metal oxide with exactly one basic metal hydroxide. preferably the metal or metals of the said combinations of oxide(s) and hydroxide(s) are the same, for instance calcium oxide (cao) and magnesium oxide (mgo) are combined with calcium hydroxide (ca(oh)2) and magnesium hydroxide (mg(oh)2), or mgo is combined with mg(oh)2, or cao is combined with ca(oh)2, and the like. the selection of the basic metal compound may be such that it results in two or more basic metal compounds being selected, e.g. two oxides, or two hydroxides, or one oxide with one hydroxide, or two oxides with one hydroxide. the presence of at least one basic metal oxide in the selection made and in the composition of the invention is preferred. compounds, i.e. oxides and/or hydroxides of those metals which at standard conditions predominantly occur in one of the oxidation states of +1, +11 and +iii are preferred, with +11 being more preferred. the basic metal compound can advantageously be selected from the oxides and hydroxides of the metal elements of group 1 (ia; alkaline metals), group 2 (iia; alkaline earth metals), group 3 (iiib; 3 rd transition metal group) and group 12 (ii b; 2 nd transition metal group) in the periodic table of the elements, preferably is selected from the oxides and hydroxides of the alkaline metals, alkaline earth metals, scandium and zinc, more preferably is selected from the oxides and hydroxides of the alkaline metals and alkaline earth metals, yet more preferably is selected from the oxides and hydroxides of the alkaline earth metals. the basic metal compound may also be selected from the oxides and hydroxides of the group consisting of beryllium, magnesium, calcium, barium, zinc and scandium, preferably selected from the oxides and hydroxides of the group consisting of magnesium, calcium and zinc, more preferably magnesium, and calcium, most preferably calcium. the basic metal compound may also be selected from the group consisting of calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide, preferably calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide, most preferably calcium oxide. it is understood that in one aspect, depending on the source material for the basic metal compound(s), such as e.g. cement, the basic metal oxides and hydroxides of the invention may in practice and with respect to purity be of technical grade and/or contain a certain residual amount of water, although higher grades of purity such as a purity of at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99% would also work. likewise, magnesium oxide and/or magnesium hydroxide, particularly magnesium oxide, may be present in the compositions of the invention in - compared to calcium oxide and/or calcium hydroxide - relatively small amounts only, such as of up to 5 wt.%, preferably of up to 3 wt.%, more preferably of up to 2 wt.%, yet more preferably of up to 1 wt.%, most preferably of up to 0.5 wt.%, based on the total weight of the composition. in this context, alkaline metal oxides, such as e.g. sodium oxide (nazo) and/or potassium oxide (k 2 o), may be present in even smaller amounts such as of up to 0.5 wt.%, preferably of up to 0.2 wt.%, more preferably of up to 0.1 wt.%, yet more preferably of up to 0.05 wt.%, most preferably of up to 0.01 wt.%, based on the total weight of the composition. thus, in one aspect the basic metal compound can comprise cement, preferably tricalcium silicate (white cement) or calcium aluminate cement, more preferably calcium aluminate cement. particularly in case the basic metal compound is selected from the group consisting of calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide, preferably calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide, most preferably calcium oxide, the basic metal compound may be sourced from cement, preferably tricalcium silicate (white cement) or calcium aluminate cement, more preferably calcium aluminate cement. thus, in one aspect the basic metal compound may comprise cement, preferably tricalcium silicate (white cement) or calcium aluminate cement, more preferably calcium aluminate cement. the presence of the basic metal compound prevents the formation of bubbles or blisters in the cured coating composition, particularly on its surface, by capturing or quenching the co2 which is generated by the reaction of the isocyanate compounds with water. the dispersion of the particles of the basic metal compound, i.e. the basic metal oxide and/or hydroxide compound in the one- or two-component (coating) composition of the invention needs to be stabilized or else the particles tend to form a sediment, which is not re-dispersible, within a few days of time. the first additive according to the invention helps stabilizing the compositions as dispersions. the use of a plasticizer provides additional stabilization in this regard. the particle size of the basic metal compound particles is preferably in the range of from 2 pm to 200 pm. the amount of the basic metal compound particles in one of the compositions according to the invention can be in the range of from 1 wt.% to 75 wt.%, preferably of from 5 wt.% to 75 wt.%, more preferably of from 10 wt.% to 75 wt.%, most preferably of from 10 wt.% to 45 wt.%, based on the weight of the polyisocyanate compound. however, depending on the composition, the amount of the basic metal compound particles can also be in the range of from 1 wt.% to 40 wt.% or from 10 wt.% to 35 wt.%, based on the weight of the poly isocyanate compound ("wt.%", "wt. %" or "wt%" means weight percent or percent by weight). first additive the first additive in the compositions of the invention is a chelating agent, particularly an organic chelating agent, and is also called a chelating ligand. "organic chelating agent" denotes a chelating agent which constitutes an organic compound or molecule. organic compounds usually contain, with few exceptions such as urea, at least one carbon-hydrogen bond. therefore, inorganic chelating agents such as zn 2+ -ions are excluded and not within the meaning of the term "chelating agent" according to the present invention. chelating agents according to the invention are those which comprise at least two functional groups capable of binding to a cation of the metal (m) of the basic metal compound according to the invention, particularly cations carrying one (m + ), two (m 2+ ) or three positive (m 3+ ) charges, preferably one or two positive charges, more preferably two positive charges. to this end it is preferred that at least one of the at least two functional groups capable of binding to a cation of the metal (m) is an acid group- containing functional group, i.e. a functional group containing an acid group or one of its derivatives; said functional group may contain at least one acid group, but usually contains exactly one acid group. however, an acid anhydride may be considered to contain two acid groups as it is the anhydride of two free acids. such acid group-containing functional groups according to the invention are the acids themselves, also called "free acids", and their derivatives, i.e. their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters, particularly the free carboxylic acid, free sulfonic acid, free phosphonic acid and free phosphoric acid, and their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters. for instance, a carboxylic ester, a carboxylic anhydride and a carboxamide each is a carboxylic acid group-containing functional group, a sulfonate and a sulfonic acid sodium salt each is a sulfonic acid group-containing functional group, and a phosphonate ester is a phosphonic acid group-containing functional group. the chelating agent can comprise one or more sterically hindering groups, preferably one sterically hindering group. a sterically hindering group is a sterically more demanding organic group containing at least four carbon atoms. thus, in one aspect the sterically hindering groups of the invention are independently selected from the group consisting of a c4- to cioo-hydrocarbon tail and a polyether, preferably a c4- to c22- hydrocarbon tail and a polyether, more preferably a ce- to cis-hydrocarbon tail and a polyether having from 3 to 50 repeating units. the hydrocarbon tail can be a linear or branched hydrocarbon chain. the hydrocarbon chain can be saturated, (partially) unsaturated or polyunsaturated. the chain between the functional groups binding to the metal cation is a c2- to cio-hydrocarbon backbone, preferably a c2- to c4-hydrocarbon backbone. one or more methylene groups of the aforementioned hydrocarbon backbone may be substituted by a heteroatom independently selected from the group consisting of n, p, 0 and s. one or more methylene groups of the c2- to cio-hydrocarbon backbone or c2- to c4- hydrocarbon backbone may carry functional groups being independently selected from the group consisting of acid groups and their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters, and amino and hydroxy, preferably consisting of acid groups selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, phosphonic acid and phosphoric acid and their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters, and amino and hydroxy, or consisting of amino, carboxylate, carboxamide, carboxylic ester, carboxylic anhydride, hydroxy, sulfonate, phosphonate and phosphate. the hydrocarbon backbone can be a linear or branched hydrocarbon backbone. the hydrocarbon backbone can be saturated, (partially) unsaturated or polyunsaturated. chelating agents according to the invention preferably comprise at least two functional groups each of which carries at least one heteroatom selected from the group consisting of oxygen and nitrogen. the at least two functional groups may be the same or different. the presence of at least one acid group containing functional group is preferred. the said acid group-containing functional group is preferably selected from the group consisting of acid groups and their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters. the acid group(s) may be selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, phosphonic acid and phosphoric acid. thus, the at least two functional groups may be selected from the group consisting of acid group containing functional groups being selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, phosphonic acid and phosphoric acid and their corresponding acid anions, salts, amides, anhydrides and esters, and amino and hydroxy. also, the acid group-containing functional group may be selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, phosphonic acid and phosphoric acid, their corresponding acid anions and acid salts, carboxamide, carboxylic esters and carboxylic anhydrides. thus, the at least two functional groups may be selected from the group consisting of acid group containing functional group being selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, phosphonic acid and phosphoric acid, their corresponding acid anions and acid salts, carboxamide, carboxylic esters and carboxylic anhydrides, and amino and hydroxy. more particularly, amino may include primary, secondary and tertiary amino., acid anions may be carboxylate, phosphonate, phosphate and sulfonate. it is understood that chelating agents containing one or more of a functional group selected from phosphonate, phosphate and sulfonate are also employed as their corresponding salts, e.g. salts with alkaline metals or ammonium. in one aspect the chelating agent carries (in the same molecule) two or more functional groups of the same kind or of two or three kinds as listed before. preferably one chelating agent carries two or more functional groups of the same kind or of two kinds as listed before. suitable combinations in this regard are for instance: one or more hydroxy groups with one or more carboxylate groups or carboxyl groups, such as in hydroxy carboxylic acids, such as citric acid; one or more amino groups with one or more carboxyl groups, such as in amino acids; one or more amino, particularly tertiary amino groups with one or more carboxylate groups, such as in ethylenediamine tetraacetate (edta); one or more amino groups, particularly tertiary amino groups, with one or more phosphonate groups; two or more carboxyl groups, such as in di- and tricarboxylic acids. in one aspect the chelating agent is selected from a.l) amino acids, particularly naturally occurring amino acids, more preferably proteinogenic amino acids, such as e.g. lysine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and serine a.2) polyphosphonic acids, such as e.g. diphosphonic acids, such as e.g. [[(hydroxyethyl)imino]bis(methylene)]bisphosphonic acid (hempa) and those of formula a wherein r is h or ch3, m + n is an integer from 3 to 60, preferably from 4 to 45, more preferably from 10 to 45, most preferably from 35 to 45, and m is selected from the group consisting of h, na, k and n 4 (r is selected from the group consisting of h, ci to c4 alkyl, benzyl and oleyl; in case of all r being selected as h, 4n+ is ammonium); triphosphonic acids, such as e.g. 2-phosphonobutane-l,2,4-tricarboxylic acid (pbtc); tetraphosphonic acids, such as e.g. hexylene-l,6-diamine-tetrakis(methylphosphonic acid) (hdtmp) and ethylene-1, 2-diamine-tetrakis(methylenephosphonic acid); and pentaphosphonic acids, such as e.g. diethylenetriamine- pentakis(methylenephosphonic acid) (dtpmpa; [[(phosphonomethyl)imino]bis[ethane-2,l- diylnitrilobis(methylene)]]tetrakisphosphonic acid) and bis(hexamethylene)triamine-pentakis(methylenephosphonic acid) (bhmtmp) a.3) phosphoric acids and phosphonic acids, such as e.g. p-[(tetrahydro-2- hydroxy-2-oxido-4h-l,4,2-oxazaphosphorin-4-yl)methyl]phosphonic acid a.4) sulfonic acids including monosulfonic acids, such as e.g. aminoalkylsulfonic acids, e.g. aminoethylsulfonic acid and aminopropylsulfonic acid, aminoethyl-aminopropanesulfonic acid and its sodium salt, cyclohexylaminopropanesulfonic acid and its sodium salt, and arylsulfonic acids, e.g. orthanilic acid (2-aminobenzenesulfonic acid), and disulfonic acids, such as e.g. dihydroxybenzenedisulfonic acids, e.g. 4,5-dihydroxybenzene-l,3-disulfonic acid and its salts, anilinedisulfonic acid, e.g. aniline-2,5-disulfonic acid and its salts, 4- amino-5-hydroxy-2,7-naphthalenedisulfonic acid, and polysulfonic acids, such as e.g. poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-l-propanesulfonic acid) (polyamps), melamine sulfonate condensates (sulfonated melamine formaldehyde condensates) and lignosulfonate including lignosulfonate sodium salt a.5) superplasticizers, particularly melamine derivatives, such as sulfonated melamine formaldehyde condensate a.6) carboxylic esters, such as e.g. acetylacetonemethacrylate and 2-[2-[(2-methyl-l-oxo-2-propene-l-yl)oxy]ethyl]-3-oxobutanoic acid a.7) carboxylic anhydrides, such as e.g. (2-dodecene-l-yl)-succinic anhydride, dihydro-3-(octadecenyl)furan-2, 5-dione and dihydro-3- (hexadecenyl)furan-2, 5-dione a.8) polyhydroxy carboxylic acids, particularly monocarboxylic acids carrying from 2 to 6, preferably from 2 to 5, more preferably from 2 to 4 or from 3 to 5, most preferably 5 hydroxy groups, such as e.g. gluconic acid a.9) carboxylic acids, such as e.g. acetoacetic acid, and a.10) polycarboxylic acids, such as e.g. di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexacarboxylic acids, particularly dicarboxylic acids, such as e.g. oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid and 2-[2-[(2-methyl-l-oxo-2-propene-l-yl)oxy]ethyl]-propanedioic acid, tetra-carboxyl ic acids, such as e.g. ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (h4- edta), and polycarboxylic acids, such as e.g. polyacrylic acids (paa), polymethacrylic acids (pmaa) and co-polymers of polyacrylic acid and methacrylic acid (collectively referred to as "poly(meth)acrylic acids" or "p(m)aa"), which optionally carry side chains selected from the group consisting of poly-ci to c4-alkylene glycol, such as e.g. polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol, each terminated by a methoxy or ethoxy group, all of which may be (further) substituted by ci to ce alkyl or ci to ce alkoxy, which may be linear or branched, and saturated or unsaturated. in a further aspect, in combination with or separately to the previous aspect, the chelating agent is selected from b.l) amino acids, particularly naturally occurring amino acids, more preferably proteinogenic amino acids b.2) polyphosphonic acids including diphosphonic acids, triphosphonic acids, tetraphosphonic acids and pentaphosphonic acids b.3) phosphoric acids and phosphonic acids b.4) sulfonic acids including monosulfonic acids having at least one further functional group selected from the group consisting of amino and hydroxy, disulfonic acids and polysulfonic acids b.5) superplasticizers b.6) carboxylic esters b.7) carboxylic anhydrides b.8) polyhydroxy carboxylic acids a.9) carboxylic acids, and b.10) polycarboxylic acids, such as e.g. dicarboxylic acids, tricarboxylic acids, tetracarboxylic acids and polycarboxylic acids, all of which may be (further) substituted by ci to ce alkyl or ci to ce alkoxy, which may be linear or branched, and saturated or unsaturated. the chelating agents of the invention can be employed as free acids, part- neutralized acids or neutralized acids. in case of part-neutralized acids the chelating agents can be employed as hydrogen salts, in case of neutralized acids the chelating agents can be employed as salts. the counterions m + in those salts and hydrogen salts may be selected from the group consisting of na + , k + and r4n + with r being selected from the group consisting of h, ci to c4 alkyl, benzyl and oleyl; in case of all r being selected as h, r4n + is ammonium. the salts and hydrogen salts may be mixed salts containing at least two different kinds of counterion. in a further aspect the chelating agent is additionally, in combination with or separately to the previous aspects selected from the group consisting of c.l) bidentate chelating agents, such as e.g. acetylacetone (acac), ethylenediamine (en), oxalate (ox), tartrate (tart), dimethylglyoxime (dmg), 8-hydroxychinoline (oxin), 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy), 1,10- phenanthroline (phen), dimercaptosuccinic acid (dmsa) and 1,2- bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane c.2) tridentate chelating agents, such as e.g. 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol (aeea), diethylenetriamine (dien), iminodiacetate (ida) and citrate (cit) c.3) tetradentate chelating agents, such as e.g. triethylenetetramine (trien, teta), triaminotriethylamin (tren), nitrilotriacetate (nta), bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine (salen) c.4) pentadentate chelating agents, such as e.g. ethylenediaminetriacetate (ted) c.5) hexadentate chelating agents, such as e.g. ethylenediaminetetraacetate (edta) c.6) octadentate chelating agents, such as e.g. diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (dtpa) and 1,4,7,10- tetraazacyclododecane-l,4,7,10-tetraacetate (dota), and c.7) decadentate chelating agents, such as e.g. triethylenetetraminehexaacetate (ttha). the amount of first additive (chelating agent) usually is in the range of from 0.1 wt.% to 10 wt.%, preferably of from 0.3 wt.% to 6 wt.%, based on the weight of the basic metal compound particles. the first additive can also be pre-dissolved in water, for example by employing the first additive in admixture (emulsion) with or as a solution in water. in this aspect the amount of water used preferably is from 5 wt.% to 80 wt.%, more preferably from 5 wt.% to 75 wt.%, yet more preferably from 10 wt.% to 75 wt.%, yet more preferably from 35 wt.% to 60 wt.%, most preferably from 40 wt.% to 55 wt.%, based on the weight of the admixture or solution containing the first additive and water. in one aspect of the invention, two or more first additives (chelating agents), preferably two first additives may be mixed. in a further aspect of the invention, a first additive may be mixed with another first additive, both of which are pure, i.e. not pre-dissolved in water. in yet a further aspect of the invention, a first additive which is pure, i.e. not pre-dissolved in water, may be mixed with another first additive which is pre-dissolved in water. in another aspect of the invention, two different first additives, both of which are pre-dissolved in water, may be mixed. the chelating agent appears to shield the basic metal compound to an extent that its reactivity is moderated, suppressing its contribution to trimerization of the isocyanate and any other reactions thereof, which would otherwise lead to a significant increase in viscosity of the compositions of the present invention in a relatively short period of time, thereby reducing their workability and effectively shortening their shelf life. surprisingly, the activity of the basic metal compound as a carbon dioxide scavenger is not noticeably impaired. as a result, the chelating agent stabilizes the compositions of the present invention and maintains their workability or even improves the workability, thereby increasing their shelf life. second additive falkoxysilanes) the compositions according to the invention can optionally comprise a second additive, which is sometimes useful in assisting the first additive in its effect of stabilizing the compositions of the present invention and maintaining their workability, thereby increasing their shelf life. the second additive is selected from the group consisting of alkoxysilanes. in one aspect the alkoxysilanes are of the formula si(o-x) m y n z4-m-n wherein each x is a ci- to ce-alkyl group, preferably a ci- to cs-alkyl group, most preferably methyl or ethyl, each y is a ci- to czo-alkyl or a cs- to cio-aryl group, each z is a ci- to ce-alkyl group, particularly a saturated ci- to ce-alkyl group or an unsaturated ci- to ce-alkyl group, such as e.g. vinyl, and which optionally carries a functional group, preferably a functional group selected from the group consisting of glycidyloxy, acryloyloxy, methacryloyloxy, amino and hydroxy, preferably glycidyloxy, acryloyloxy, methacryloyloxy and amino, more preferably glycidyloxy, acryloyloxy and methacryloyloxy, m is an integer from 1 to 4, preferably m is 3, and n is an integer from 0 to 3. each x can be selected independently from or identically to all other x if occurring at least twice, preferably is selected identically to all other x. each y can be selected independently from or identically to all other y if occurring at least twice, preferably is selected identically to all other y. each z can be selected independently from or identically to all other z if occurring at least twice, preferably is selected identically to all other z. the alkoxysilanes can react as silane coupling agents owing to the presence of at least one alkoxy group (o-x in the above general formula for the alkoxysilanes) as a hydrolysable group bonded to the silicon atom and at least one organic group (y and/or z in the above general formula for the alkoxysilanes) bonded to the same silicon atom. although it has been reported that epoxides are able to react with isocyanates to form oxazolidones, it has been found that the presence of an epoxy group in the organic group (in case of the organic group being represented by z in the above general formula) of the silane coupling agent is not detrimental to the stability of the isocyanate composition. in the present invention, the type of alkoxysilane is not particularly limited, as long as the alkoxysilane does not contain active hydrogens. suitable alkoxysilane are e.g. selected from the group consisting of methyltrimethoxysilane, ethyltrimethoxysilane, propyltrimethoxysilane (particularly n-propyltrimethoxysilane and iso-propyltrimethoxysilane), butyltrimethoxysilane (particularly n-butyltrimethoxysilane, secbutyltrimethoxysilane and tert-butyltrimethoxysilane), pentyltrimethoxysilane, hexyltrimethoxysilane (particularly n-hexyltrimethoxysilane, 2-hexyltrimethoxysilane and 3- hexyltri methoxysilane), heptyltrimethoxysilane, octyltrimethoxysilane (particularly n-octyltrimethoxysilane, 2-octyltrimethoxysilane, 3- octyltrimethoxysilane and 4-octyltrimethoxysilane), vinyltrimethoxysilane, vinyltriethoxysilane, vinyltris (p-methoxyethoxy) silane, y- glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, y-glycidoxypropyltrimethyldiethoxysilane, y-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane, y-methacryloxypropyl methyldi methoxysilane, y-methacryloxypropyltri methoxysilane, y-methacryloxypropyl methyldiethoxysilane, y-methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane, preferably selected from the group consisting of methyltrimethoxysilane, ethyltrimethoxysilane, propyltrimethoxysilane, butyltrimethoxysilane, octyltrimethoxysilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane and y-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, more preferably selected from the group consisting of methyltrimethoxysilane, ethyltri methoxysilane, propyltri methoxysilane, butyltrimethoxysilane, octyltrimethoxysilane and y-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilanemore, most preferably methyltrimethoxysilane, octyltri methoxysilane and y- glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane. the "polyol" or "polyol compound", as used interchangeably herein, is a polyhydroxy compound. the "polyol" or "polyhydroxy compound" contains at least two free hydroxy groups. the term "free hydroxy group" denotes an unprotected and reactive hydroxy group, reactive for instance towards an isocyanate group. the polyol which is reacted with a polyisocyanate to form a prepolymer (in the ik system or in "part b" of the 2k system) may be selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polyester polyols, polyols of fatty acid esters, polyols of modified fatty acid esters, polyols of fatty alcohols, polyols of modified fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric modified fatty alcohols, polyols of trimeric fatty alcohols, polyols of trimeric modified fatty alcohols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of fatty acid esters, polyols of modified fatty acid esters, polyols of fatty alcohols, polyols of modified fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric modified fatty alcohols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, more preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of fatty acid esters, polyols of modified fatty acid esters, polyols of fatty alcohols, polyols of modified fatty alcohols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, yet more preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of fatty acid esters, polyols of fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric fatty alcohols, polyols of trimeric fatty alcohols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, yet more preferably selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polyester polyols, polyols of fatty acid esters, polyols of fatty alcohols, polyols of dimeric fatty alcohols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, yet more preferably selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polyester polyols, polyols of fatty acid esters, polyols of fatty alcohols, polycarbonate polyols, polybutadiene polyols and polyacrylate polyols, most preferably selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols. the fatty acid esters, fatty alcohols, dimeric fatty alcohols and trimeric fatty alcohols independently from each other may be modified or not. the polyols of fatty acid esters are preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of ci4 to c22 fatty acid esters, preferably polyols of ci6 to cis fatty acid esters, more preferably polyols of ci6 to cis fatty acid esters, most preferably polyols of cis fatty acid esters. the polyols of fatty alcohols are preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of c14 to c22 fatty alcohols, preferably polyols of ci6 to cis fatty alcohols, more preferably polyols of ci6 to cis fatty alcohols, most preferably polyols of cis fatty alcohols. the polyols of dimeric fatty alcohols are preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of dimeric c14 to c22 fatty alcohols, preferably polyols of dimeric ci6 to cis fatty alcohols, more preferably polyols of dimeric ci6 to cis fatty alcohols, most preferably polyols of dimeric cis fatty alcohols. the polyols of trimeric fatty alcohols are preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of trimeric c14 to c22 fatty alcohols, preferably polyols of trimeric ci6 to cis fatty alcohols, more preferably polyols of trimeric ci6 to cis fatty alcohols, most preferably polyols of trimeric cis fatty alcohols. a fatty alcohol denotes an alcohol derived from its corresponding fatty acid ester, i.e. obtainable from its corresponding fatty acid ester e.g. by ester hydrolysis and (chemical) reduction of the free carboxyl group to a (primary) hydroxy group, or e.g. obtainable by (chemical) reduction directly to the corresponding fatty alcohol and the other (ester) alcohol, such as e.g. glycerol (out of a fatty acid glyceride) or methanol (out of a fatty acid methyl ester). a dimeric fatty alcohol denotes a fatty alcohol which results from the (formal) dimerization of two fatty alcohols. in practice a dimeric fatty alcohol is obtainable e.g. from dimerization of two unsaturated fatty acid ester molecules by reaction between a c-c-double bond in one unsaturated fatty acid ester molecule with a c-c-double bond of another unsaturated fatty acid ester molecule, e.g. by olefin metathesis reaction, followed by ester hydrolysis and reduction of the free carboxyl groups to (primary) hydroxy groups, or followed by reduction of the ester groups directly to (primary) hydroxy groups. the same applies mutatis mutandis to the trimeric fatty alcohols. a dimeric ci4 to c22, dimeric ci6 to cis, dimeric ci6 to cis or dimeric cis fatty alcohol denotes a fatty alcohol having two c14 to c22 fatty alcohol moieties, two ci6 to cis fatty alcohol moieties, two ci6 to cis fatty alcohol moieties or two cis fatty alcohol moieties, respectively, covalently bonded to each other in a dimer, i.e. in a single molecule; for instance, a dimeric cis fatty alcohol has two cis fatty alcohol moieties covalently bonded to each other in a single molecule. the same applies mutatis mutandis to the trimeric fatty alcohols. the polyols of dimeric fatty alcohols are preferably selected from the group consisting of polyols of dimeric c14 to c22 fatty alcohols, preferably polyols of dimeric cis to cis fatty alcohols, more preferably polyols of dimeric cis to cis fatty alcohols, most preferably polyols of dimeric cis fatty alcohols. a modified fatty acid ester is a fatty acid ester in which one or more c-c- double bonds have been subjected to a chemical reaction such as in particular epoxidation, or epoxidation followed by opening of the epoxide by acid or base catalysed hydrolysis, or epoxidation followed by catalysed ring opening in the presence of a diol, e.g. diethylene glycol, resulting in a dihydroxy diether moiety, or hydroformylation. the same applies mutatis mutandis to a modified fatty alcohol, a modified dimeric fatty alcohol and a modified trimeric fatty alcohol. a fatty acid ester as used herein is usually and in practice a naturally occurring fatty acid ester, such as e.g. a glycerol ester of fatty acids, such as e.g. castor oil. preferred as fatty acid esters in this invention are unsaturated fatty acid esters having at least one c-c-double bond, particularly for making dimeric fatty alcohols and modified fatty esters. preferred polyols of fatty acid esters are selected from castor oil and other glycerol esters of hydroxylated fatty acids. related materials which can be used include hydrogenated castor oil, glycerol monoricinoleate, glycerol diricinoleate and the blown drying oils such as_blown soya, tung, poppy seed, hemp seed or linseed oils, and partial esters of glycerol with blown drying oil fatty acids. preferred polyols of modified fatty acid esters are selected from modified castor oils, e.g. castor oils blended with ketone resin. modified castor oils are obtainable e.g. by subjecting one or more c-c-double bonds of castor oil to a chemical reaction such as in particular epoxidation, or epoxidation followed by opening of the epoxide by acid or base catalysed hydrolysis, or epoxidation followed by catalysed ring opening in the presence of a diol, e.g. diethylene glycol, resulting in a dihydroxy diether moiety, or hydroformylation, or are obtainable by blending with a ketone resin. the polyol of the invention typically has from 2 to 6 free hydroxy groups, preferably from 2 to 4 free hydroxy groups, more preferably 2 or 3 free hydroxy groups. if the polyol is a polyether polyol the polyether polyol is preferably selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneoxide polyol (poly(ethylene oxide) polyol), polypropyleneoxide polyol (polypropylene oxide) polyol) and polybutyleneoxide polyol (poly(butylene oxide) polyol). preferably the polyol is a polyether polyol selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneoxide polyol, polypropyleneoxide polyol and polybutyleneoxide polyol, and it has from 2 to 6 free hydroxy groups. in a further aspect the polyol forming the prepolymer is a polyether polyol selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneoxide polyol, polypropyleneoxide polyol and polybutyleneoxide polyol. the polypropylene polyols may be poly-1, 2-propyleneoxide (poly(l,2-propylene oxide)) or poly- 1,3-propyleneoxide (poly(l,3-propylene oxide)) polyols. the polybutyleneoxide polyols can be selected from the group consisting of poly- 1,2-butyleneoxide polyols (poly(l,2-butylene oxide) polyols), poly-1, 3- butyleneoxide polyols (poly(l,3-butylene oxide) polyols) and poly-1, 4- butyleneoxide polyols (poly(l,4-butylene oxide) polyols) (also called "poly- thf"), preferably are poly-1, 4-butyleneoxide polyols ("poly-thf"). the polyol can have from 2 to 6 free hydroxy groups, preferably from 2 to 4 free hydroxy groups, more preferably 2 or 3 free hydroxy groups. the aforementioned polyols may have from 4 to 150, preferably from 4 to 100, more preferably from 4 to 75, most preferably from 9 to 75 repeating units. in one aspect the polyol is selected from polyethylene glycols having from 4 to 150, preferably from 4 to 100, more preferably from 4 to 75, most preferably from 9 to 75 repeating units. chain extenders are often additionally used in the formation of prepolymers. thus, at least one chain extender is advantageously additionally employed in the formation of a prepolymer from a polyol and a polyisocyanate, more preferably one or two different chain extenders, most preferably one single chain extender. a preferred chain extender is selected from the group consisting of c2 to c10 alkyl polyols, more preferably selected from the group consisting of 1,2-ethanediol (ethylene glycol), 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 2-ethylhexane-l,3-diol, 2,4,4-trimethylhexane-l,6-diol, 2,2,4-trimethylhexane-l,6-diol, 2-ethyl- hexan-l,3-diol, 1,10-decanediol, 2,2-dimethyl-l,3-propanediol, 2-methyl-l,3- propanediol, 1,2-propanediol, 3-methyl-l,5-pentanediol, dialkylene ether glycols such as diethylene glycol and dipropylene glycol. the chain extender preferably has from 2 to 6, more preferably from 2 to 4, yet more preferably 2 or 3 free hydroxy groups, most preferably two free hydroxy groups. the second composition (also called "curing agent" or "part a" in the 2k system; the 2k system is also called "two-component system", as it comprises the composition of the invention and the second composition of the invention) of the invention can include - besides water - polyols as well, such as selected from the group consisting of the following items: (1) castor oil and other glycerol esters of hydroxylated fatty acids or fatty alcohol-di-and/or trimers. related materials which are operative include hydrogenated castor oil, glycerole monoricinolate, glycerine diricinoleate and the blown drying oils such as_blown soya, tung, poppy seed, hemp seed or linseed oils, and partial esters of glycerol with blown drying oil fatty acids. (2) polyester polyols prepared by copolymerizing low molecular weight polyols and polycarboxylic acids. these materials are prepared by reacting a mixture containing the polycarboxylic acids and polyols in proportions such that a stoichiometric excess of polyol is present to ensure that the resulting polyester will have a preponderance of terminal hydroxyl groups over terminal carboxyl groups preferably the low molecular weight polyols are predominantly diols, e.g. mono-, di- or tri-ethylene or propylene glycols, 1,4-butanediol and diethanolamine. advantageously, a minor amount of a triol such as glycerol, hexane triol, trimethylol ethane or trimethylol propane may be included. suitable acids include adipic, succinic, maleic, isophthalic and terephthalic, acids. (3) polyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycols, polypropylene glycols or mixed polyethylene-polypropylene glycols, polytetramethylene glycol (poly- thf). (4) isocyanate-modified polyols which are obtained by reacting said isocyanates and said polyols in excess of the theoretical amounts. (5) polyols derived from dimeric fatty alcohols, as obtained by hydrogenation of dimeric fatty acids. preferred dimer fatty acids are dimers of cio to a c30, more preferably c12 to c25, particularly c14 to c22 fatty acids. suitable dimer fatty acids include the dimerisation products of oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, palmitoleic acid and elaidic acid. the dimerisation products of the unsaturated fatty acid mixtures obtained in the hydrolysis of natural fats and oils, e.g., sunflower oil, soybean oil, olive oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil and tall oil may also be used. castor oil and other glycerol esters of hydroxyl functionalized fatty acids are preferred components of the curing agent because they facilitate the mixing and homogeneous incorporation of the curing agent into the isocyanate composition and improve the uniform miscibility and fluidity of the mixture. (6) the polyols as defined above for the prepolymer (used in the ik system or in "part b" of the 2k system). (7) a short-chain polyol selected from the group consisting of c2 to cio alkyl polyols, more preferably selected from the group consisting of c2 to cs alkyl polyols, yet more preferably selected from the group consisting of c2 to ce alkyl polyols, or selected from the group consisting of 1,2-ethanediol (ethylene glycol), 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 1,6- hexanediol, 2-ethylhexane-l,3-diol, 2,4,4-trimethylhexane-l,6-diol, 2,2,4- trimethylhexane-l,6-diol, 2-ethyl-hexan-l,3-diol, 1,10-decanediol, 2,2- dimethyl-l,3-propanediol, 2-methyl-l,3-propanediol, 1,2-propanediol, 3- methyl-l,5-pentanediol, dialkylene ether glycols such as diethylene glycol and dipropylene glycol, glycerol (1,2,3-propanetriol), sugar alcohols, such as e.g. erythritol, threitol, 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)l,3-propanediol (pentaerythritol), arabitol, xylitol, ribitol, mannitol, sorbitol, galactitol, fucitol, iditol, inositol and volemitol, and trimethylolpropane. the short-chain polyol preferably has from 2 to 6, more preferably from 2 to 4, most preferably 2 or 3 free hydroxy groups. the second composition preferably comprises water and what is defined at item (6) above, i.e. the polyols as defined herein for the prepolymer. in a further aspect the second composition comprises water, a short-chain polyol as defined above at item (7) and a polyol selected from the group consisting of items (1) to (6) hereinbefore, preferably selected from item (6) hereinbefore. water water might be introduced into the system with the application of at least one of the additives of the invention. an additional amount of water may be part of the second composition of the invention. when using the first composition alone (ik system) it is sufficient to have water present in the form of ambient moisture. ambient moisture refers to a water content in the ambient atmosphere of at least 25% relative humidity (rel. h.) at 20°c. the composition according to the invention (first composition; part b; ik system) may contain water in the amount of from 0 wt.% to 6 wt.%, preferably from 0 wt.% to 5 wt.%, more preferably from 0 wt.% to 4 wt.%, yet more preferably from 0 wt.% to 3.6 wt.%, yet more preferably from 0 wt.% to 3.5 wt.%, yet more preferably from 0 wt.% to 3 wt.%, most preferably from 0 wt.% to 2.5 wt.%, based on the total weight of the composition. thereby the amount of water present in the two-component coating composition (2k-system; the composition of the invention (part b) as one component and the second composition of the invention (part a) as the other component) may be in the range of from 1 wt.% to 50 wt.%, preferably in the range of from 5 wt.% to 40 wt.%, more preferably in the range of from 10 wt.% to 40 wt.%, yet more preferably of from 15 wt.% to 30 wt.%, most preferably of from 20 wt.% to 30 wt.%, based on the total weight of the two-component composition. alternatively, the amount of water present in the said two-component coating composition may be in the range of from 0.1 wt.% to 50 wt.%, preferably from 0.5 wt.% to 30 wt.%, more preferably from 0.5 wt.% to 20 wt.%, most preferably from 1 wt.% to 10 wt.%, based on the total weight of the two- component composition. further i depending on the particular coating applications it will be easily understood that these may require further ingredients to be added to the compositions according to the invention. thus, the compositions according to the invention may further comprise at least one low volatile organic liquid, preferably at least one low volatile organic liquid having a boiling point of 250°c or higher, more preferably at least one low volatile organic liquid having a boiling point of 250°c or higher and selected from the group consisting of plasticizers, flame retardants, monomethacrylates and polymethacrylates. the plasticizers are preferably selected from the group consisting of phthalates and adipates, more preferably phthalates, such as e.g., dialkyl phthalate. the flame retardants are preferably selected from the group consisting of phosphoric esters. suitable flame retardants include, for example, tricresyl phosphate, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate, tris(2-chloropropyl) phosphate, tris(l,3-dichloropropyl) phosphate, tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate and tetrakis(2-chloroethyl) ethylene diphosphate. the polymethacrylates are selected from the group consisting of dimethacrylates, preferably polyether dimethacrylates, most preferably alkyl dimethacrylates. the compositions according to the invention can further comprise at least one inorganic compound selected from the group consisting of mica, talc, precipitated silica and fumed silica. the compositions according to this invention may further comprise one or more catalysts catalysing the isocyanate water reaction, preferably selected from the group consisting of organotin compounds, bismuth carboxylates, zinc carboxylates, trialkylamines and alkylimidazoles, more preferably bisdialkylaminoethyl ethers, most preferably 2,2'-dimorpholinyldiethylether (dmdee). in another aspect the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of amines, alkanolamines and metal catalysts, preferably tertiary aliphatic amines. the tertiary aliphatic amine catalyst can be further selected from the group consisting of triethylenediamine, pentamethyldiethylenetriamine, dimethylcyclohexylamine, 2,2'-dimorpholinodiethyl ether, 2-(2-dimethyl- aminoethoxy) ethanol, 2-dimethylaminoethyl 3-dimethyl aminopropyl ether, bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl)ether, n,n-dimethylpiperazine, n-(2- hydroxyethoxyethyl)-2-aza-norboranes, jeffcat™, n,n,n,n-tetramethylbutane- 1,3-diamine, n,n,n,n-tetra-methylpropane-l,3-diamine and n,n,n,n- tetramethylhexane-l,6-diamine, preferably 2,2'-dimorpholinodiethylether. the alkanolamine catalyst can be selected from the group consisting of dimethylethanolamine, triethanolamine and their mixture. the metal catalyst can be selected from the group consisting of mercury, lead, tin, bismuth, potassium, lithium, titanium, zirconium and zinc catalyst and mixture thereof, and can be further selected from the group consisting of dibutyltin dilaurate (dbtl), stannous octoate, potassium octoate, bismuth neodecanoate and zinc neodecanoate and mixtures thereof. in a preferred embodiment, the amount of the catalyst is from 0.05 wt.% to 5.0 wt.%, preferably from 0.1 wt.% to 5.0 wt.%, based on the total weight of the composition. the compositions according to this invention may further comprise at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of inorganic pigments, organic pigments and dye stuffs, preferably inorganic pigments and organic pigments, most preferably inorganic pigments. the term "pigment" should be understood as meaning white or coloured, mineral or organic particle which is intended to colour and/or opacify the composition containing it. the pigment may be white or coloured, and mineral and/or organic. suitable mineral pigments include, but are not restricted to, titanium oxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium oxide, zirconium dioxide, cerium oxide, cerium dioxide, zinc oxide, iron oxide, chromium oxide, ferric blue, manganese violet, ultramarine blue and chromium hydrate, and mixtures thereof. examples of commercially available pigments are bayferrox® from lanxess, germany and heucosin® from heubach. the compositions of the present invention may also require in some cases including a rheology modifier, as needed. the rheology modifier may be selected from the group consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate, hydrophobic pyrogenic silica, ground barium sulfate (baryte), bentonite, layered double hydroxides, pvc, polyvinylbutyral, substituted and/or oligomeric ureas (e.g. byk 7410), and amides. the compositions of the present invention may also require in some cases including a defoamer in their preparation, as needed. the use of the composition according to the invention for creating a coating is preferably also directed to chemically capturing a sufficient amount of the carbon dioxide released from the reacting polyisocyanate and/or prepolymer by way of forming a bicarbonate and/or carbonate of the metal in the composition, said amount of the carbon dioxide captured being sufficient so as to prevent foaming of the coating. likewise, the process according to the invention for creating a coating on a surface, preferably further comprises the step of chemically capturing a sufficient amount of the carbon dioxide released from the reacting polyisocyanate and/or prepolymer by way of forming a bicarbonate and/or carbonate of the metal in the composition, said amount of the carbon dioxide captured being sufficient so as to prevent foaming of the coating. the composition according to the invention is preferably used for creating a sealing (usually a single-layer coating) or coating in applications selected from flooring and waterproofing. the entire coating may consist of one, two, three or more layers, preferably one or two layers, i.e. on the respective substrate (e.g., concrete or screed) one, two, three or more coating layers may be applied. a typical one-layer coating may be employed as a sealing. a typical two-layer coating, particularly in flooring applications, may consist of a base coat or scratch coat applied to the substrate and a topcoat or body coat subsequently applied on top of the base coat or scratch coat. there may also be a primer applied to the substrate (e.g., concrete or screed) before coating, i.e. before the composition according to the invention is applied. the thickness of one coating or coating layer according to the invention, particularly as a topcoat or sealing, may be at least 0.05 mm, preferably at least 0.08 mm, more preferably at least 0.09 mm, most preferably at least 0.1 mm. the thickness of one coating or coating layer according to the invention, particularly as a topcoat or sealing, may not exceed 2.0 mm, preferably not exceed 1.5 mm, more preferably not exceed 1.0 mm, yet more preferably not exceed 0.5 mm, most preferably not exceed 0.3 mm. the thickness of one coating layer, particularly as a topcoat or sealing, may thus range from 0.05 mm to 2.0 mm, preferably from 0.08 mm to 1.5 mm, more preferably from 0.09 mm to 1.0 mm, yet more preferably from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm, most preferably from 0.05 mm to 0.3 mm or from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm. the overall thickness of the coating - including all coating layers if not a single layer is applied alone - may be at least 0.3 mm, preferably at least 1 mm, more preferably at least 2 mm. the overall thickness of the coating - including all coating layers if not a single layer is applied alone - may not exceed 20 mm, preferably not exceed 15 mm, more preferably not exceed 10 mm, yet more preferably not exceed 5 mm, yet more preferably not exceed 3 mm, most preferably not exceed 2 mm. the overall thickness of the coating - including all coating layers if not a single layer is applied alone - may thus range from 0.3 mm to 20 mm, preferably from 0.3 mm to 15 mm, more preferably from 0.3 mm to 10 mm or from 1 mm to 10 mm, yet more preferably from 0.3 mm to 5 mm or from 1 mm to 5 mm, yet more preferably from 0.3 mm to 3 mm or from 1 mm to 3 mm, most preferably from 0.3 mm to 2 mm or from 1 mm to 2 mm. the composition, two-component composition or coating according to the invention is preferably substantially free of any fibre, fibre reinforcement and/or fibrous reinforcement, more preferably free of any fibre, fibre reinforcement and/or fibrous reinforcement. "substantially free" in this context means that the amount of any fibre, fibre reinforcement and/or fibrous reinforcement is less than 1 wt.%, preferably less than 0.1 wt. %, more preferably less than 0.01 wt.%, most preferably less than 0.001 wt.%, based on the total weight of the composition, two-component composition or coating, respectively. description of figure figure 1 shows a composition according to the invention after curing in reactivity test b. as a result, no foaming and a nice and smooth surface is visible. examples materials used and their sources: dispersion medium: palatinol® n (basf) - diisononyl phthalate calcium oxide: ground white fine quicklime, burnt or based on natural limestone (sieve analysis: mesh 0.045 mm, residue 0.2%) desmodur® n 3600 - hdi trimerisate of low viscosity vestanat® h12-mdi (evonik) aromatic i lupranat® m20 s (basf) - 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (mdi) containing oligomers of high functionality and isomers (average functionality of 2.7) lupranat® mi (basf) - mixture of 2,4'- and4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (mdi) re of an i in the form of a prepolymer based on h12mdi for examples 24 and 25: 220 g vestanat® h12-mdi and 379.5 g acclaim® 4200 are heated in an oilbath under stirring to 40°c. the oil-bath is removed and 0.5g dotl are added. after the temperature in the flask does not rise anymore the mixture is heated under stirring to 60 - 70°c until the target nco-value (9.5 - 10.3%) is reached (about 2h). polyols: acclaim® polyol 4200 (covestro) - polypropylenglycol arcol® polyol 1104 (covestro) - trifunctional polyether polyol modifiers: microtalc it extra (elementis) - hydrated magnesium silicate aerosil® r 202 (evonik) - hydrophobic pyrogenic silica "barytmehl n" (sachtleben minerals) - ground natural barium sulfate (baryte), d50 3 pm defoamer: byk-088 (byk) additives (surface modification): cublen® r60 (zschimmer & schwarz) - 60 wt.% solution of a mixture of [[(hydroxyethyl)imino]bis(methylen)]bisphosphonic acid and p-[(tetrahydro- 2-hydroxy-2-oxido-4h-l,4,2-oxazaphosphorin-4-yl)methyl]phosphonic acid (hempa) in water (corresponding to 40 wt.% water); melment® f15 (basf) - melaminsulfonate condensate, spray-dried version; sokalan® pa 25 cl (basf) - polyacrylic acid 4000 g/mol); trisize 68 (trigon chemie) - mixture of dihydro-3-(octadecenyl)furan-2,5- dione and dihydro-3-(hexadecenyl)furan-2, 5-dione (as carboxylic anhydrides); modified imino-bis(methylphosphonic acid) of the following formula a wherein r is h or ch3, with h/ch3 = 3: 1 (random), n is 35, m is 6 and m is h and/or na (part-neutralized solution at ca. ph 4), ca. 55 wt.% solution thereof in water (corresponding to ca. 45 wt.% water); hdtmpa (sigma-aldrich) - diethylenetriamine-pentakis- (methylphosphonic acid), 50 wt.% solution in water (corresponding to 50 wt.% water); 4,5-dihydroxybenzene-l,3-disulfonic acid disodium salt (sigma-aldrich); anilin-2, 5-disulfonic acid (alfa-aesar); gluconic acid (merck); lysin (merck-sigma-aldrich); glutamic acid (merck-sigma-aldrich); adipic acid (merck-sigma-aldrich); dynasylan® glymo (evonik) - (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane; ethylene glycol (bernd kraft); peceflux® 2500 l/45% n.d. (mbcc group) - 45 wt.% solution of a polycarboxylate ether (pce) in water (corresponding to 55 wt.% water). re for com containino i nd 1 to 23: calcium oxide is dispersed in palatinol® n (basf) and no additive or corresponding additive or additive mixture is added and dispersed with a speedmixer (30 s, 3500 rpm). after 1 h in some examples a rheology modifier is added and dispersed (speedmixer, lmin, 3500 rpm) and left for 15 min. the dispersion is mixed with isocyanate component in a speedmixer (1 min, 3500 rpm). 24 and 25: calcium oxide is dispersed in palatinol® n (basf) and the respective additive (example 24: cublen® r.60 (hempa); example 25: trisize 68) is added and dispersed with a speedmixer (30 s, 3500 rpm). 32.7g of the dispersion obtained are mixed with 67.3g of the isocyanate prepolymer (prepared as described hereinbefore) in a speedmixer (1 min, 3500 rpm). isocyanate containing compositions (corresponding to part b for the storage stability tests and reactivity tests): storage stability tests: part b (iscocyanate containing composition) is stored at 40°c. the storage stability is checked after 1 d, 14 d and 28 d. part b is called storage stable if a significant increase in viscosity, tested by manually stirring with a spatula, is not observed and the sediment is easily re-dispersible. the sample is not stable anymore if a sediment of cao is not re-dispersible or the viscosity is significantly increased. viscosity is measured using a rheometer (from anton paar) at 50 1/s after 1 min. n.m.: not measurable storage at 50°c (isocyanate prepolymer based on h12 mdi): reactivity tests: the reactivity tests serve to assess whether cao is still sufficiently reactive towards water to form ca(oh) 2 in order to then scavenge co 2 formed by the reaction of isocyanate with water. to this end the mixtures of part a with the various forms of part b are poured onto plates and checked for any foaming. reactive towards the i 20.7 g of water are mixed with 2.6 g of peceflux® 2500 l/45% n. d., 22.6 g of ethylene glycol and 4.8 g of ground baryte n. 45.9 g of arcol® polyol 1104 and 2.4 g of byk-088 are added and mixed thoroughly. calcium oxide (29.5 g) is dispersed in palatinol® n (14.4 g) and no additive or corresponding additives (melment® f15 (1.33 g), or cublen® r.60 (hempa) (0.21 g) or (0.44 g) or mixture of trisize 68 (1.48 g) and dynasylan® glymo (0.35 g) is added. after 1 h the dispersion is mixed with lupranat® m20s (65.4 g). mixing of part a (pta) with part b (ptb): part a is added to part b in the ratios as listed in the following table, depending on the kind of modification of cao, and mixed thoroughly for 1 min at 3500 rpm in a speedmixer. then 65 g of the mixture is poured onto a plate (20 cm in diameter (jokey)). the surface is visually examined after curing as to whether there is a smooth surface or a rough and uneven surface with waves and/or bubble holes indicating foaming. if there is foaming, the amount of cao in percentage (weight ratio cao [g]/ isocyanate [g]) is increased in 5% steps until no foaming is observed; this final %-amount of cao at which no foaming is observed anymore is stated in the following table, last column. *meanings: ++ storage stability of more than 12 weeks at 40°c + storage stability of 4 to 10 weeks at 40°c -- no storage stability (less than 1 week)
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098-445-672-440-074
|
CZ
|
[
"WO",
"CZ"
] |
D01D5/00,D01D5/06,D01D5/08,D01D5/11
| 2022-06-09T00:00:00 |
2022
|
[
"D01"
] |
a method of producing a linear nanofibrous structure in an alternating electric field, a device for performing this method and a device for producing a nanofibrous thread
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the invention relates to a method of producing a linear fibrous structure in an alternating electric field by spinning of a polymer solution or polymer melt on a spinning electrode (1 ), in which nanofibers (5) are formed from the polymer solution or melt in a spinning area (10) created on the spinning electrode (1 ) and are carried away from it by the action of the electric wind. in the spinning area (10), a narrow flat linear structure of polymer solution is formed which has a finite length and is open in the spinning direction and in the central part of the spinning area (10) and supercritical electric field intensity (e) is created along the length of the spinning area (10) at which nanofibers are formed (5) and move away from the spinning area (10) in a flat structure in which they gradually lose their kinetic energy and in a place with zero kinetic energy, nanofibers (5) form a linear virtual collector (7) in which nanofibers (5) stop, collect and compact into a linear nanofibrous structure, the so-called ribbon (6) of nanofibers, which is drawn off. in addition, the invention relates to a device for performing the method and to a device for producing a nanofibrous thread.
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patent claims 1 . a method of producing a linear nanofibrous structure in an alternating electric field on a spinning electrode (1 ) from a polymer solution (z) or polymer melt, in which on the spinning electrode (1 ) is formed a spinning area (10, 110, 120, 140) with a supercritical intensity (e) of the alternating electric field in which nanofibers (5) are formed and are carried away from the spinning electrode (1 ) by the electric wind in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field, characterized in that on the spinning electrode (1 ) is created at least one linear spinning area (10, 110, 120, 140) with supercritical intensity (e) of the alternating electric field and a final length from which the emerging nanofibers (5) are carried away from the spinning area (10, 110, 120, 140) by the effect of the electric wind in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient in a flat structure whose initial width is the same as the width of the linear spinning area (10, 110, 120, 140), wherein with the decreasing gradient of the electric field, the nanofibers (5) lose their kinetic energy until, after losing their kinetic energy, they stop, gather and are compacted into a linear nanofibrous of the structure that is drawn off, with the gradual increase in the linear mass of the linear nanofibrous structure, and during the drawing off, the nanofibers (5) are at least partially parallelized and form a ribbon (6) of nanofibers. 2. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 1 , characterized in that at the point of the loss of kinetic energy of nanofibers, a force balance of all electric and gravitational forces acting on the formed nanofibers (5) is created, thereby creating a virtual collector (7). 3. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the spinning area (120) of the belt spinning electrode (12) and the spinning area (140) of the linear spinning electrode (14) is straight and the nanofibers (5) that emerge from it move in a planar flat structure. 4. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the spinning area (110) of the rotating disk electrode (11 ) is formed by a part of a circle on the circumference of the disk spinning electrode (11 ) and the nanofibers (5) emerging from it move in a planar flat structure perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the disk spinning electrode (11 ), wherein the linear virtual collector (7) is formed by a part of a circle. 5. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 3, characterized in that two spinning areas (140) are created near the edges of the linear spinning electrode (14) formed by a strip (143) in which nanofibers (5) are formed in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient, wherein the nanofibers (5) emerging from the two spinning areas (120) move in planar flat structures which move away from each other in the direction of movement of the nanofibers (5). 6. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 4, characterized in that two spinning areas (110) are created near the edges of the circumferential surface of the disk spinning electrode (11 ), in which nanofibers (5) are formed in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient, wherein the nanofibers (5) emerging from the two spinning areas (110) move in conical flat structures which move away from each other in the direction of movement of the nanofibers (5). 7. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drawn-off ribbon (6) of nanofibers is wound on a bobbin in a winding device (96). 8. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 7, characterized in that before winding, a twist is imparted to the drawn-off ribbon (6) of nanofibers. 9. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 8, characterized in that a false twist is imparted to the drawn-off ribbon (6) of nanofibers. 10. the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to claim 8, characterized in that a permanent twist is imparted to the drawn-off ribbon (6) of nanofibers. 11 . a device for producing a linear nanofibrous structure in an alternating electric field from a polymer solution (z) or polymer melt by the method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 10 on a spinning electrode (1 , 11 , 12, 13, 14), mounted in a spinning chamber (4) and connected to a high ac voltage source and coupled to means for applying the polymer solution or melt to the surface of the spinning electrode (1 , 11 , 12, 13, 14), thereby forming a spinning area (10, 110, 120, 130, 140) on the spinning electrode (1 ) with supercritical intensity (e) of the alternating electric field, characterized in that by setting supercritical intensity (e) of the alternating electric field, at least one linear spinning area (10, 110, 120, 130, 140) is created on the surface of the spinning electrode (1 , 11 , 12, 13, 14) and above it, in the direction of the maximum values of the gradient of the electric field, a virtual collector (7) is created at the point of the force balance of the electric and gravitational forces acting on the formed nanofibers (5), for stopping, collecting and compacting the nanofibers into a linear fibrous structure to which the draw-off mechanism and a winding device for winding a ribbon of nanofibers is assigned. 2. the device according to claim 11 , characterized in that the spinning area (120, 140) of the spinning electrode (12, 14) is straight. 13. the device according to claim 12, characterized in that the spinning electrode is formed by a belt spinning electrode (12) and the maximum gradient of the electric filed is directed vertically upwards. 14. the device according to claim 12, characterized in that the spinning electrode is formed by a linear spinning electrode (14) consisting of a linear flexible structure. 15. the device according to claim 14, characterized in that the linear flexible structure is a cable, or a thin strip or a thin strap. 16. the device according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the linear flexible structure forming the linear spinning electrode (14) a structure composed of several mutually intertwined or interlaced parts, wherein a shield bar (142) is arranged below the spinning area (140). 17. the device according to claims 12 to 14, characterized in that on the spinning electrode (1 , 12, 14), two spinning areas (10, 120, 140) are formed in the vicinity of the edges of the spinning electrode (1 ,12,14). 18. the device according to claim 17, characterized in that the spinning areas (10, 120, 140) are formed on the edges of the linear flexible structure formed by a belt and these spinning areas (10, 120, 140) are formed by protrusions (1432) on which the maximum gradient of the electric field is concentrated. 19. the device according to claim 18, characterized in that the linear flexible structure is a flat strip (144) and the spinning areas (140) are formed on its edges, wherein the maximum gradient of the electric field is directed from the edges of the strip to the sides in a horizontal direction. 20. the device according to claim 11 , characterized in that the spinning electrode is formed by a narrow rotating disk spinning electrode (11 ), which extends with the lower part of its circumference into polymer solution (z) or melt in the reservoir (2) and the spinning area (110) is formed on the free part of the circumference of the disk spinning electrode (11 ), which is formed by a part of a circle, wherein the maximum gradient of the electric field s directed from the spinning area (110) in the radial direction, and the nanofibers (5) are carried in a planar surface structure from which a ribbon (6) of nanofibers is formed in the virtual collector (7). 21. the device according to claim 20, characterized in that the rotating disk spinning electrode (11 ) is mounted on a common shaft together with at least one other rotating disk spinning electrode (11 ). 22. the device according to claim 21 , characterized in that for each of the rotating disk spinning electrodes (11 ), there is a solution of a different polymer in the reservoir (2) of the polymer solution. 23. the device according to claim 20, characterized in that at least one other disk spinning electrode (11 ) is arranged downstream of the first rotating disk spinning electrode (11 ) in the direction of creating and withdrawal of the ribbon (6) of nanofibers. 24. the device according to claim 11 , characterized in that the rotating disk spinning electrode (11 ) has a greater width, and so on its edges are formed two spinning areas (110) which are formed by a part of a circle and the maximum gradient of the electric field creates on both edges of the disk spinning electrode (11 ) conical flat structures in which nanofibers (5) are carried into virtual collectors (7) in which a ribbon (6) of nanofibers is formed, wherein the conical flat structures of nanofibers (5) move away from each other and form the letter “v“ in cross-section 25. the device according to claim 11 , characterized in that the spinning electrode is formed by an overflow spinning electrode (13), wherein the device comprises a reservoir (2) of a polymer solution (z), in which the inlet (131 ) of the polymer solution (z) is placed vertically, at the upper end of which an overflow electrode (13) is arranged, wherein the inlet (131 ) is opened on its upper face and an overflow area (132) is formed around its mouth, sloping slightly from the inlet (131 ) of the polymer solution to the edge of the overflow electrode (13) and ending with a circumferential edge (133), which forms the spinning area (130) of the overflow spinning electrode (13), on which the nanofibers (5) are elongated and are carried by the spinning space (41 ) in the radial direction from the circumferential edge (133) of the overflow electrodes (13) and gather in the region of the virtual collector (7), where they are compacted into a mass forming a ribbon (6) of nanofibers, which is drawn off from the virtual collector (7) in a tangential direction with respect to the virtual collector (7) and further wound on a bobbin or processed into a thread. 26. the device for producing nanofibrous thread on the device according to claims 11 to 25, characterized in that to the device for producing a linear nanofibrous structure drawn off in the form of a ribbon (6) of nanofibers, a twisting device is assigned for creating a false or permanent twist, the winding device being arranged downstream of the twisting device.
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a method of producing a linear nanofibrous structure in an alternating electric field, a device for performing this method and a device for producing a nanofibrous thread technical field the invention relates to a method of producing a linear nanofibrous structure in an alternating electric field on a spinning electrode from a polymer solution or melt, in which on the spinning electrode, a spinning area is formed with a supercritical alternating electric field intensity, in which are formed nanofibers which are carried away from the spinning electrode by the action of the electric wind in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient. the invention also relates to a device for producing a linear nanofibrous structure in an alternating electric field from a polymer solution or melt on a spinning electrode mounted in a spinning chamber and connected to an ac voltage source of and coupled to a means for applying the polymer solution or polymer melt to the surface of the spinning electrode, wherein a spinning area with the supercritical intensity of the alternating electric field is formed on the spinning electrode. in addition, the invention relates to a device for producing a nanofibrous thread. background art in the preparation of a nanofibrous threads, oriented and twisted nanofibers are the basis for their construction. currently, numerous methods have been developed in the field of electrospinning to obtain oriented and twisted nanofiber bundles. this development can be attributed to two main aspects, that is, to obtaining highly ordered nanofibers by improving a collecting device or by adding an auxiliary electrode. cn111118677 discloses production of nanofibrous yarn by electrostatic spinning. the device comprises a cylindrical collector, which consists of a cavity and a throat which is rotatable about its axis, wherein the diameter of the upper opening of the throat is smaller than the diameter of the lower opening of the cavity. inside the lower opening of the cavity is mounted an electrostatic rotating spinning electrode connected to a high voltage source into which a solution to be subjected to electrospinning is fed. in the upper part of the collector cavity, pressurized air inlets open into the inner space of the collector and above them is arranged a counter electrode which can be grounded or connected to a voltage source of opposite polarity to the rotating spinning electrode. nanofibers formed on the rotating spinning electrode are carried by the action of the electrostatic field to the counter electrode and by the action of air flow, they are carried up into the throat of the cylindrical collector, which rotates, and due to its rotation and the supplied air flow, an air vortex is created, which twists the nanofibers into yarn, which is further withdrawn and wound on a bobbin. the nanofibers are twisted immediately after their formation due to the rotation of the spinning electrode and the subsequent action of the air vortex, so there is no parallelization of the nanofibers before twisting, the twisting is uneven and, as a result, their strength and appearance is variable. cn1 11286792 describes a horizontal arrangement of an electrostatic spinning device comprising a rotating jet spinning electrode and a coaxially arranged collecting electrode formed by a hollow cylinder and arranged against the jet spinning electrode, wherein a dc electric field is formed between the spinning and collecting electrodes. at least two air jets directed towards the axis of the collecting electrode are arranged around the rotating jet spinning electrode. the nanofibers produced by the rotating jet spinning electrode are carried by the electric wind to the hollow cylinder forming the collecting electrode, wherein due to the rotation of the jet spinning electrode and air flows from the jets, they are twisted into yam which, after passing through the cavity of the collecting electrode, is drawn off and wound on a bobbin. in this solution, too, the aim is to twist the nanofibers as soon as possible after they are formed without achieving their parallelization. the disadvantages of electrostatic production of nanofibrous yarn are in both cases low yarn cohesion, irregular twist and poor orientation of the nanofibers. currently, a method of continuous preparation of nanofibrous yarns is also known, for example from cn110644080, in which nanofibers are formed from a polymer solution in a jet head from which the nanofibers are drawn off by the action of high-speed air flow created in a venturi tube and, through a funnel- shaped collection tube, enter a venturi collection system, where they are straightened and oriented into oriented bundles of nanofibers using vacuum adsorption in the venturi collection system. the oriented bundles of nanofibers are subsequently twisted and agglomerate by the action of the twisting device into a nanofibrous yam, which is in the next step wound on a bobbin. the twisting device comprises air jets for supplying the air flow in the tangential direction towards the yarn to be twisted. from the point of view of the subsequent processing and use of nanofibrous yarns, it is not enough to only obtain oriented fibers in order to meet the current requirements for their preparation, but it is necessary to be able to obtain oriented fibers or fiber bundles continuously and to impart evenly a certain degree of twist to them in order to ensure the length and degree of orientation of the fibers in the nanofibrous yam. existing electrospinning technologies for the continuous production of nanofibrous yams have a low yield and poor quality of the produced nanofibrous yams. ep2931951 b1 discloses a method of producing polymeric nanofibers, in which polymeric nanofibers are formed by applying an electric field to a polymer solution or melt located on the surface of a spinning electrode, wherein the electric field for spinning is alternately formed between the spinning electrode to which an ac voltage is applied and the air and/or gas ions generated and/or supplied to the vicinity of the spinning electrode, without a collecting electrode, whereby, depending on the phase of the ac voltage on the spinning electrode, polymeric nanofibers with opposite electrical charge and/or with sections with opposite electrical charge are formed, which, after their formation due to the action of electrostatic forces, aggregate into a linear structure in the form of a cable or strip which moves freely in space away from the spinning electrode in the direction of the gradient of the electric fields. spinning by the alternating high electrical voltage method is another way of producing nanofibers, alternative to electrostatic spinning. however, its yield is not yet at a level to produce purely nanofiber yarns by this method. therefore, ep3303666 proposed a method of producing a core yam with a coating of polymer nanofibers enveloping a supporting linear structure forming the core during its passage through a spinning chamber. in this method, a spinning electrode connected to the inlet of a polymer solution and powered by alternating high voltage is arranged below the supporting linear structure on the face of which nanofibers are formed in a spinning space in the immediate vicinity of the face of the spinning electrode and above it, wherein the supporting linear structure rotates in the spinning space about its own axis. nanofibers are formed around the circumference of the face of the spinning electrode and in the spinning space. they are formed into a hollow electrically neutral nanofibrous plume in which the nanofibers are arranged in an irregular lattice structure in which nanofibers in short sections change their direction, wherein the hollow electrically neutral nanofibrous plume is carried by the electric wind towards the supporting linear structure and change into a flat strip which is brought to the circumference of the supporting linear structure, wherein the strip created from a hollow electrically neutral nanofibrous plume wraps around the rotating and/or ballooning supporting linear structure in the shape of a helix, creating a nanofiber coating on it, in which the nanofibers are arranged in an irregular lattice structure, in which the individual nanofibers in short sections change their direction. the nanofibrous plume represents an ideal material for the coating of the core yam, because due to its electrical neutrality and irregular lattice structure, in which the individual nanofibers in short sections change their direction, it is capable of forming a solid coating enveloping the yam core, whereby the coating is inert to its surroundings when wound on a bobbin and during subsequent unwinding during processing. however, if a pure nanofiber yam were to be produced from the nanofiber plume, there would be a problem both with an insufficient quantity of the nanofibers as well as with the lattice structure of the plume, which does not allow parallelization of the nanofibers. at present, there is no satisfactory method of producing nanofibrous yam with potential for industrial applications. current methods of preparing nanofibrous yarns are hampered by low productivity, low reliability and limited choice of materials. their production is realized only on a laboratory scale as part of research work. classic yam with a permanent twist is produced, for example, on ring or rotor spinning machines, where at first, a ribbon of parallel fibers is formed and subsequently the ribbon is twisted, creating yam with high tensile strength and uniform twist. however, it is not yet possible to create yam from nanofibers in this way. the object of the invention is to propose a method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning of a polymer solution or melt, in which nanofibers would be produced in sufficient quantity and carried away from the spinning area so as to form a ribbon of nanofibers at a certain location, in which the nanofibers would be at least partially parallelized, wherein the nanofibers would have sufficient strength allowing them to be drawn off and wound on a bobbin for subsequent use or processing into textile structures using known textile technologies. in addition, the object of the invention is to provide a device for performing this method and a device for producing nanofibrous yam. summary of the invention the object of the invention is achieved by a method of producing a linear nanofibrous structure from a polymer solution or melt in an alternating electric field on a spinning electrode, in which nanofibers are formed from the polymer solution or melt in a spinning area created on the spinning electrode and are carried away from it by the action of the electric wind, wherein the principle of the invention consists in that on the spinning electrode is formed at least one spinning area with a supercritical ac electric field intensity and a final length, from which the emerging nanofibers are carried away by the effect of the electric wind in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient from the spinning area in a flat structure whose initial width is the same as the width of the linear spinning area, wherein as the electric field gradient decreases, the nanofibers lose their kinetic energy until, after losing their kinetic energy, they stop, gather and are compacted into a linear nanofibrous structure which is drawn off, with the linear weight of the linear nanofiber structure gradually increasing, while the nanofibers are at least partially parallelized and a ribbon of nanofibers is formed. due to the high specific surface area of the nanofibers and the binding forces between the individual nanofibers, the nanofiber ribbon created in this way has sufficient cohesion, which enables it to be wound on a bobbin for subsequent technological operations, such as twisting, elongation, heat fixation, etc. by being imparted a twist, the nanofiber ribbon is formed into a nanofibrous thread. at the point of the loss of kinetic energy of the nanofibers, a force balance of electric and gravitational forces acting on the formed nanofibers is created, thereby creating a virtual collector. gravitational forces are caused by the mass of nanofibers and electric forces represent the sum of all electric forces acting on the nanofibers, i.e., the force of the electric wind from the spinning electrode, the force of the electric wind from other charged parts of the spinning device, the force from ionized air ions and the force from oppositely charged parts of nanofibers formed in the previous half-wave of the alternating electric field. according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the spinning area of the belt and linear spinning electrode is straight and the nanofibers emerging therefrom move in a planar flat structure whose thickness corresponds to the width of the spinning area and whose length corresponds to the length of the spinning area. to produce large quantities of nanofibers, in another alternative of this embodiment, a double spinning area can be formed by increasing the width of the spinning electrode, wherein nanofibers emerging from both spinning areas move in planar flat structures which move away from each other in the direction of movement of the nanofibers. in this manner, two ribbons of nanofibers are formed on one spinning electrode, which can be further processed separately, or combined before processing. in another alternative embodiment of the invention, the spinning area is formed by a part of a circle on the circumference of a disk spinning electrode nanofibers emerging from it move in a planar flat structure which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the disk spinning electrode, wherein the linear virtual collector is formed by a part of a circle. also in this embodiment, to produce a larger number of nanofibers, it is possible to increase the width of the spinning electrode and form a double spinning area, wherein nanofibers emerging from the two spinning areas move in conical flat structures which move away from each other in the direction of the movement of the nanofibers until the formation of virtual collectors, where they form two ribbons of nanofibers which can be further processed separately or combined before further processing. in all the embodiments described, the created ribbon of nanofibers is wound on a bobbin, being capable of unwinding and further processing. in order to speed up the production process, according to another alternative embodiment of the invention, a twist can be imparted to the ribbon of nanofibers before it is wound, thereby creating a nanofibrous thread. the twist imparted can be false or permanent. the principle of the device for producing a linear nanofibrous structure in an alternating electric field from a polymer solution or polymer melt is that by setting the supercritical intensity of the alternating electric field, at least one linear spinning area is created on the surface of the spinning electrode, and above it, in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient, a virtual collector is created in the area of force balance of electric and gravitational forces acting on the formed nanofibers, for stopping, collecting and compacting the nanofibers into a linear fibrous structure, to which a draw-off mechanism and winding device for winding the ribbon of nanofibers are assigned. according to one alternative embodiment, the spinning area may be straight, with the maximum electric field gradient directed vertically upwards so that the formed nanofibers are carried vertically upwards as far as to the virtual collector. furthermore, the spinning electrode can be formed by a strip spinning electrode, or a linear spinning electrode formed by a linear flexible structure, for example a string, a thin tape, or a thin strap, on which the polymer solution is only on the spinning area. if the linear flexible structure forming the spinning electrode is composed of several interlaced or intertwined parts, a shielding bar is placed under the spinning area, which can also cover the edges of the linear flexible structure, so that spinning takes place only on its upper side, open in the spinning direction. by increasing the width of the linear flexible structure forming the linear spinning electrode and by suitably setting the intensity of the electric field, the creation of two spinning areas near the edges of the linear flexible structure is achieved. these spinning areas can be formed by protrusions on the edges of the strip, or on the edge of this strip. in another alternative device, the spinning electrode is formed by a narrow rotating disk spinning electrode, which with the lower part of its circumference extends into the polymer solution or the melt in a reservoir, and on the free part of the circumference of the disk spinning electrode, a spinning area is formed, which is formed by part of a circle, wherein the maximum gradient of the electric field is directed from the spinning area in the radial direction and the nanofibers are carried in a planar flat structure from which a ribbon of nanofibers is formed in a virtual collector. to increase the quantity of the nanofibers produced, the rotating disk spinning electrode is mounted on a common shaft with at least one other rotating disk spinning electrode. an increase in the quantity of the nanofibers produced can also be achieved by arranging several rotating disk spinning electrodes one behind the other. in another embodiment, the rotating disk spinning electrode has a larger disk width, and so two spinning areas are formed on its edges, which are formed by a part of a circle, and the maximum gradient of the electric field creates conical surface structures on the edges of the disk spinning electrode. the nanofibers in the conical surface structures are carried into virtual collectors, in which a ribbon of nanofibers is formed, wherein the conical surface structures of nanofibers move away from each other and create the letter "v" in cross-section. according to another alternative embodiment, the spinning electrode is formed by an overflow spinning electrode, wherein the device comprises a reservoir of a polymer solution, in which the inlet of the polymer solution is placed vertically. at the upper end of the inlet, an overflow electrode is arranged, wherein the inlet is opened on its upper face and an overflow area is formed around its mouth, sloping slightly from the mouth of the inlet of the polymer solution to the edge of the overflow electrode and is terminated with a circumferential edge which forms the spinning area of the overflow spinning electrode on which nanofibers are elongated. the elongated nanofibers are carried by the action of the electric wind in the direction of the maximum electric field gradient through the spinning space in the radial direction from the circumferential edge of the overflow electrode and collected in the area of the virtual collector, where they are compacted into a material structure forming a ribbon of nanofibers, which is drawn off from the virtual collector in the tangential direction with respect to the virtual collector and further wound onto a bobbin or processed into a thread. the created ribbon of nanofibers is taken from any of the above- mentioned spinning devices to a device for producing a nanofibrous thread which comprises a twisting means for creating a false or permanent twist and is then guided to the winding device and wound onto a bobbin. brief description of drawings the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein fig. 1a illustrates the distribution of the electric field intensity around the circumferential part of a narrow rotating disk electrode for the formation of nanofibers for conventional spinning, fig. 1b shows the distribution of the electric field intensity around the circumferential part of the narrow rotating disk electrode for the formation of nanofibers for producing a ribbon of nanofibers, fig. 1c shows the distribution of the electric field intensity on the narrow rotating disk electrode with a recess in the middle of its circumference, fig. 2a shows a diagram of the effect of the maximum electric field gradient on the circumference of the narrow rotating spinning electrode, fig. 2b, shows a diagram of the effect of the maximum electric field gradient on a wider rotating spinning electrode, fig. 2c shows a diagram of the effect of the maximum electric field gradient on the rotating spinning electrode with a circumferential recess, fig. 3 shows a diagram of the production of nanofibers on the narrow rotating spinning electrode for producing a ribbon of nanofibers, fig. 4 shows a diagram of the production of nanofibers a wider rotating spinning electrode for producing two ribbons of nanofibers from one circumferential surface, fig. 5 shows a diagram of the production of nanofibers on a pair of narrow rotating disk spinning electrodes for producing two ribbons of nanofibers, fig. 6a represents a diagram of the arrangement of three disk spinning electrodes one behind the other in front view, fig. 6b shows a diagram of the arrangement of three disk spinning electrodes in ground view, fig. 7a represents a diagram of the production of nanofibers for a ribbon of nanofibers on a strip spinning electrode in side view, fig. 7b shows a diagram of the production of nanofibers for a ribbon of nanofibers on the strip spinning electrode in ground view, fig. 8a represents a diagram of the production of nanofibers for producing a ribbon of nanofibers on an overflow electrode in cross-section, fig. 8b shows a view of the production of nanofibers on the overflow electrode according to fig. 8a, fig. 9a shows a diagram of the production of nanofibers for producing a ribbon of nanofibers on a linear spinning electrode in cross-section a-a of fig. 9b, which represents this arrangement in front view, fig. 9c shows detail a of fig. 9a, which shows the linear spinning electrode with applied polymer solution and a shielding bar, figs. 10a, 10b show a diagram of the production of nanofibers according to figs. 9a, 9b with one reservoir of polymer solution, fig. 11 shows a cross-section of the linear spinning electrode formed by a strip with a recess in the central part, fig. 12 shows a cross-section of a linear spinning electrode formed by a strip and fig. 13 shows a diagram of a device for producing a nanofibrous thread from a ribbon of nanofibers. of embodiment the method of producing nanofibers by spinning a polymer solution or polymer melt in an alternating electric field will be described hereinafter. since the spinning of a polymer melt proceeds in the same manner as the spinning of a polymer solution, it is only the spinning of a polymer solution that will be described further on. in the production of nanofibers from a polymer solution to create a linear nanofiber formation, the technology of spinning in the alternating electric field is used, which is created by an alternating voltage with an amplitude of, for example, 25 to 50 kv, depending on the geometry and arrangement of the spinning electrode 1_at a frequency of, for example, 10 to 1000 hz. the polymer solution usually consists of a solution of pvb, pcl, pva, or other spinnable solutions. in conventional spinning in an alternating electric field, the aim is to produce per unit of time the largest possible quantity of nanofibers, which are created over the entire working surface of a spinning electrode and are carried away from the spinning electrode by the electric wind, or possibly also by auxiliary air currents, to a collector which is neither grounded nor connected to an electric voltage source and which can be, for example, a flat textile or a linear fibrous structure which, after being coated with a nanofibrous plume, forms core composite nanofibrous yam. the formation of nanofibers begins at a critical value of the electric field intensity, which varies depending on the type of polymer solution being spun, voltage value, gas quality in the spinning chamber and other parameters. at a lower value of the electric field intensity than the critical one, nanofibers are not formed, or their formation ceases. therefore, in conventional spinning in an alternating electric field, using a specific design of the spinning electrode, a higher electric field intensity than the critical one, i.e. supercritical, is used, which creates an alternating electric field of high intensity on the spinning electrode, in order to eliminate the risk of interruption of the spinning process, as well as to ensure sufficient evaporation of the solvent and a sufficiently strong electric wind to transport the nanofibers to the collector. the distribution of supercritical intensity e of the electric field for the above-mentioned conventional spinning of polymer solution z on a narrow rotating disk spinning electrode 11 is shown in fig. 1a for a disk diameter of 300 mm, a disk thickness of 1 mm, a polymer solution layer thickness of 0.2 mm, and a voltage amplitude of 50 kv. the supercritical value of the intensity e of the electric field for pvb polymer solution is equal to or greater than 3000 v/mm 2 it is clear from the figure that the supercritical value of the intensity e of the electric field is achieved in a wide area around the circumferential part of the disk. spinning of polymer solution z therefore takes place on the entire circumferential surface of the disk and on the part of the disk faces near the disk circumference, and the created nanofibers are carried through the spinning space to the surface of an unillustrated collector. in order to achieve the formation of nanofibers 5 in the alternating electric field by spinning polymer solution z to produce a ribbon 6 of nanofibers according to the invention, it is necessary to create a linear spinning area with supercritical intensity e on the spinning electrode 1. covered with polymer solution z, which has a finite length and is open in the spinning direction. the spinning area 10 can be straight, for example in the case of a belt, strip or cable spinning electrode, or it can be formed by a part of a circle, for example in the case of a rotating disk spinning electrode 11. at the same time, it is necessary to set the alternating electric power supply of the spinning electrode to a value at which supercritical intensity e of the electric field on the linear spinning area 10 of the respective spinning electrode 1. is created especially above its central part, so that spinning takes place predominantly in the central part of the above- mentioned spinning area 10. this is achieved in an exemplary embodiment by distributing supercritical intensity e of the electric field for spinning polymer solution z on the narrow rotating disk spinning electrode 11 shown in fig. 1 b for a disk diameter of 300 mm, a disk thickness of 1 mm, a polymer solution layer thickness of 0.2 mm, and a voltage amplitude of 30 kv. compared to the previous embodiment intended for conventional spinning, due to reduction in the voltage amplitude, the area of supercritical intensity e has significantly decreased and is only above the central part of the circumferential surface of the disk. all the nanofibers 5 being formed emerge above the central part of the circumferential surface of the disk and are carried away from the rotating disk spinning electrode 11 in a planar flat structure, which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the disk. the nanofibers 5 stop at the same distance from the spinning electrode 11 in the region of the so-called virtual collector 7 and are not carried further. this generally means that taylor cones begin to form on the surface of polymer solution z in the linear spinning area 10 of the spinning electrode 1_, from which, due to the effect of a sufficiently strong alternating electric field, nanofibers 5 begin to elongate and are carried away from the spinning area of the spinning electrode in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient, i.e. in the plane of the greatest density of electric field lines, in one flat structure, whereas in the area in which the repeated natural slowing down to stopping of the nanofibers occurs, a virtual collector 7 is formed, i.e. a area where the nanofibers gather and are compacted to form a ribbon_6 of nanofibers and this ribbon 6 is drawn off. as a result of the periodic change of polarity of the power supply of the spinning electrode 1_, the formed nanofibers 5 in the region of the virtual collector 7 are compacted into a material structure due to the loss of speed. since these nanofibers 5 are formed in one flat structure, a linear nanofiber structure called a ribbon 6 of nanofibers is created due to this compaction. the flat structure of nanofibers has a thickness corresponding to the width of the spinning area, which is narrow and its width varies in the interval of up to 5 mm. the length of the virtual collector 7 corresponds to the length of the spinning area 10 on the spinning electrode 1_. if the spinning process takes place in a vertical plane as described above, the flat structure of nanofibers 5 is planar, because all the forces acting on it act in the vertical direction. if the spinning process takes place in a plane inclined from the vertical plane, for example on both edges of belt or strip electrodes, nanofibers 5 are created in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient, i.e. in a plane inclined from the vertical plane, but by the action of gravitational forces and mutual repulsive forces of nanofibers with the same charge, the nanofibers 5 are deflected and, consequently, a virtual collector 7 is formed under the surface of the electric field gradient. if the spinning process takes place by way of forming nanofibers in a conical surface, for example, on both edges of a wide rotating disk spinning electrode 11 , nanofibers 5 are formed in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient. the distribution of regions of electric field intensity e is shown in fig. 1c on the wide rotating disk spinning electrode 11 , with a width of, for example, 6 mm, on the circumference of which a recess 111 is formed in the middle, whereby protrusions 112 are formed on the edges of the disk spinning electrode circumference, on which supercritical intensity e of the electric field is concentrated. as a result, two spinning areas 110 are created, one on each protrusion 112. due to the distribution of supercritical intensity e, the nanofibers 5 in this embodiment are carried in two conical flat structures that move away from each other in the direction of movement of the nanofibers 5. the movement of the nanofibers from each other is also aided by the fact that the nanofibers 5 formed on both protrusions 112 of one disk spinning electrode 11 have the same residual electric potential at a specific time, and so they repel each other. in addition, a gravitational force acts on the nanofibers, deforming the conical flat structures, and so a virtual collector 7 is formed under the surface of the electric field gradient. for a rotating disk spinning electrode 11 without a circumferential recess, supercritical intensity e of the electric field will be concentrated on the edges of the circumferential surface of the disk, and so the nanofibers 5 will be formed as described above. it will only be necessary to set the voltage amplitude more accurately so as to create an electric field with the supercritical intensity e in the area of the edges of the circumferential surface of the disk. the virtual collector 7, i.e., the area with a concentration of density of nanofibers 5, is formed at the point of force balance of all electric and gravitational forces acting on the formed nanofibers 5. electric forces represent the sum of all electric forces acting on the nanofibers 5, i.e., the force of the electric wind from the spinning electrode 1_, the force of the electric wind from other charged parts of the spinning device, the force from ionized air ions and the force from oppositely charged parts of the nanofibers 5 formed in the previous half-wave of the alternating electric field and the repulsive force from consensually charged parts of nanofibers 5. by the virtual collector 7 is meant a narrow region terminating the planar structure of the nanofibers 5, being formed, where the nanofibers 5 being formed lose their movement speed when moving from the spinning area 10 of the spinning electrode 1_. the reason for their slowing down is the re-polarization of the spinning electrode 1. in the second half of the period of the supplied ac voltage. the already formed nanofibers 5 carried towards the virtual collector 7 or the nanofibers 5 collected in the virtual collector 7 are left with a residual electric charge of the polarity of the previous half-wave of electric voltage, and so they are now reversed charged relative to the current polarity of the spinning electrode 1_. thus, the electric potential difference required for the initialization and progress of the spinning process in the alternating electric field is created. when starting the spinning process, an electric potential is created between polymer solution z in the spinning area 10 of the spinning electrode 1_ and the air ions in the vicinity of the spinning electrode 1_. the nanofibers slowing down to stopping in the region of the virtual collector 7 is due to the change in polarity of the supplied electrical voltage, wherein the distance of the virtual collector 7 from the spinning area 10 of the spinning electrode 1_ is determined by the frequency of the supplied electrical voltage. a suitable configuration of the spinning electrode 1_ and suitable setting of the amplitude, frequency and shape of the supplied electrical signal enables to create of a linear ribbon 6 of nanofibers and to ensure its uniform continuous withdrawal outside the spinning space 41 for further operations. the position of the virtual collector 7, i.e. , the area where the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is formed, is mainly determined by the frequency and amplitude of the supplied electric voltage. stable formation of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is ensured by the creation of a force balance of all electric, mechanical and gravitational forces acting on the ribbon 6 of nanofibers in the alternating electric field. the quantity of the nanofibers 5 formed and thus the weight of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers depends on the configuration of the spinning electrode 1_, the value of the electric field intensity e and the size of the spinning area 10, i.e., the surface of the spinning electrode 1. on which the above-mentioned the supercritical intensity e is achieved, i.e., on the value of the amplitude of the supplied alternating electric voltage. with the balance of electric, gravitational and mechanical forces, the weight of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is ensured by the drawing-off speed, which can be regulated according to technological requirements. an important element in the formation of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is the waveform of the applied ac electrical voltage. for a more stable formation of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, it is advantageous to shorten the time of the transition region between the positive and negative half-wave of the electric voltage, so it is most advantageous to use a rectangular or at least a trapezoidal waveform of the electric voltage, when the transition regions are shorter and the production process is therefore more stable. in the case of a rectangular waveform of the electric voltage, the magnitude of the intensity e of the electric field in the respective half-wave is constant, in the case of a sinusoidal waveform it changes. a major advantage of the proposed method of producing nanofibers for forming the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is the homogeneity of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, because the formation of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers in the virtual collector 7 is not influenced by any frictional forces which would affect the homogeneity. the homogeneity of the formed ribbon 6 of nanofibers is ensured by the invariability in time and an adequate amount of taylor cones on the surface of the polymer solution in the spinning area 10 of the spinning electrode 1, from which nanofibers 5 are formed by the action of the alternating electric field. when maintaining a constant supply of the polymer solution to the surface of the spinning electrode 1_ in the spinning area, the number of taylor cones is constant, which leads to the formation of a constant quantity of nanofibers 5 and thus to obtaining a uniform ribbon 6_of nanofibers. the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is held together due to the high specific surface area of the nanofibers 5 and the intermolecular binding forces between the individual contacting nanofibers 5. another reason is the natural entanglement of the positively and negatively charged sections of nanofibers 5 in the area of the virtual collector 7. the cohesion of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers allows it to be wound on a bobbin for further technological operations, such as imparting a twist, stretching, heat fixation, etc. by imparting a twist, a nanofiber thread is formed from the ribbon 6 of nanofibers. in a close-up view, the ribbon 6 of nanofibers in the virtual collector 7 area oscillates due to changes in the polarity of the ac electric voltage, electric field changes induced by changes in the electric wind and gravity. during each such movement, possibly uncompacted, i.e., insufficiently fixed or insufficiently entangled, nanofibers 5 stick to the surface of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, from where they will not separate due to the high specific surface area, mutual entanglement and intermolecular binding forces between the individual nanofibers 5. the weight of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers increases along its length, and thus the ratio of electric and gravitational forces changes. therefore, for long spinning areas, or for several spinning areas which are repeated in succession and through which one ribbon 6 of nanofibers passes, a variable electric field is generated by one of the known methods, for example, by shielding the surroundings above the ribbon 6 of nanofibers being formed, or by shielding the spinning electrode 1_, or by the variable shielding of the surroundings above the ribbon 6 of nanofibers being formed. the goal is to adapt the intensity of the electric field to the variable weight of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers. so, for example, in places with a higher weight of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, increase the intensity of the electric field. the method of producing nanofibrous thread consists in twisting the prepared ribbon 6 of nanofibers either imparting a false twist to it or a permanent twist. when being imparted with a false twist, the ribbon 6 of nanofibers passes between two clamping points, between which a twisting device is arranged, consisting of, for example, a twisting tube. the twisting device imparts the ribbon 6 of nanofibers a false twist which is untwisted downstream of the twisting device, wherein due to the high specific surface of the nanofibers 5 and the binding forces between the individual nanofibers 5, a relatively high degree of twist is preserved on the nanofibrous thread as a residual twist. the ribbon of nanofibers can also be subjected to a permanent twist. imparting a twist to the ribbon 6 of nanofibers can be performed before winding it onto the bobbin, following the formation of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, or additionally by conventional methods, when a greater twist can be imparted to the ribbon 6 of nanofibers so as to achieve a higher strength of the produced thread, which will be even better processable into textile products by classic textile technologies on textile products. nanofibrous threads and textile products made from them can serve as carriers of drugs or other biologically active substances for use in medicine and biomedicine, for example in the form of biological probes, skin covers, grafts, tissue carriers, the so-called scaffolds, bandages, surgical and oral threads, etc. in addition, nanofibrous threads/yarns can be used for filter media, for example for producing coil filters. the device for performing the method described above, i.e., for producing nanofibers 5 by ac electrospinning of polymer solution z for producing a ribbon 6 of nanofibers, comprises a spinning electrode 1., which in the first exemplary embodiment is formed by a thin rotating disk spinning electrode 11 with a horizontal axis of rotation. the rotating disk spinning electrode 11 is mounted with the lower part of its circumference in a reservoir 2 of the polymer solution and is coupled to a known rotary drive (not shown). furthermore, in the exemplary embodiment described hereinafter, the disk spinning electrode 11 rotates about a horizontal axis and is connected to a high ac voltage source 3 which has, for example, an effective voltage of 35 kv and a frequency of 50 hz and which carries the polymer solution onto its circumference as it rotates. however, neither the effective voltage or frequency is limiting and other suitable values may be used. the surroundings of the free part of the circumference of the disk spinning electrode 11 in a spinning chamber 4 is called a spinning space 41 , in which a spinning area 110 is formed on the spinning electrode 11. after delivering polymer solution z to be spun to the spinning area 110 on the free part of the circumference of the disk spinning electrode 1_1_, during the spinning by ac voltage, taylor cones are formed on the surface of the polymer solution in the central part of the spinning area 110, from which nanofibers are elongated by the action of a strong electric field. the nanofibers rise radially from the spinning area 110 from the circumference of the disk spinning electrode 11 and are carried by the electric wind in one planar structure away from the free part of its circumference in the direction of the maximum gradient of the generated electric fields, wherein in the area in which repeated natural slowing down to stopping of nanofibers occurs, a virtual collector 7 is formed above the spinning area 110 around the circumference of the disk spinning electrode 11 , i.e. , the area where the nanofibers 5 gather, are compacted into a mass and are drawn off in the form of a ribbon 6 of nanofibers. the virtual collector 7 is formed at the point of balance of the electric and gravitational forces acting on the formed nanofibers 5. the virtual collector 7 is the area around the disk spinning electrode 1_1_, where the formed nanofibers 5 lose their kinetic energy when moving from the surface of the disk spinning electrode 11 . the reason for their stopping is the polarity reversal of the disk spinning electrode 11 in every other half of the period of the supplied ac voltage. the formed nanofibers 5 are left with a residual electric charge of the polarity of the previous half-wave of electric voltage, so that they are now oppositely charged with respect to the current polarity of the disk spinning electrode 11 . in this manner, the electric potential difference required for the initialization and progress of the ac electrospinning process is created. for a specific spinning solution, with a constant diameter of the disk spinning electrode 11 and a constant speed of its rotation, the place of creation of the virtual collector 7 can be influenced by the frequency of the supplied ac voltage and its magnitude. according to the technological requirements for the spinning of the processed polymer solution and the weight of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, the intensity e of the electric field can be varied by configuring the disk spinning electrode 11 , i.e., by changing the diameter of the disk, the thickness of the disk, the relief of the surface of the circumferential part of the disk, by changing the speed and direction of rotation of the disk and the speed of drawing off the ribbon 6 of nanofibers from the virtual collector 7. however, care must be taken to ensure that polymer solution z does not dry on the circumference of the disk spinning electrode 11 . in the illustrated embodiment, the disk spinning electrode 11 rotates against the direction of drawing off the ribbon 6 of nanofibers. in this embodiment, there is a longitudinal orientation of the nanofibers 5 in the ribbon 6_and their partial parallelization, whereby by changing the ratio of the speed of rotation of the disk spinning electrode 11 and the withdrawal speed of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, these properties can be changed according to the requirements for further use of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers. the disk spinning electrode 11 can also be rotated in the same direction as the drawing-off direction of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, in this case the parallelization of nanofibers 5 in the ribbon 6 of nanofibers will be smaller and the nanofibers 5 will not be so oriented longitudinally. as part of the verification of production possibilities, disk spinning electrodes with diameters of up to 500 mm and thickness of up to 5 mm were tested at rotation speeds from 10 to 30 min’ 1 . the alternating electric field was formed by ac voltage with an amplitude of 20 to 50 kv depending on the geometry and arrangement of the spinning electrode 1 at frequencies ranging from 10 to 100 hz. polymer solution z usually consists of a solution of pvb, pcl, pva, or other polymer solutions spinnable in an alternating electric field. the thin rotating disk spinning electrode 11 is shown in cross-section in figs. 1b and 2a, and in a view in fig. 3, from which it can be seen that the nanofibers 5 formed on the circumference of the electrode 11 are carried away from the electrode 11 in a radial direction, that is, perpendicularly to its axis of rotation in the direction of the maximum gradient of electric forces, which is indicated by an arrow. fig. 2b shows a cross-section of a rotating disk spinning electrode 11 with a greater thickness, for example 6 mm, where one spinning area 110, is formed on each edge of the disk spinning electrode 11 in which taylor cones are formed. in view, this electrode is shown in fig. 4. nanofibers 5 are formed at both edges and are carried away from them by the electric wind in the direction of the maximum values of the electric field gradient, which are indicated by arrows, and form two conical flat structures that move away from each other, as shown in fig. 4. in addition, the nanofibers 5 produced on both edges of the disk spinning electrode 11 have the same residual electric potential, so they tend to repel each other and not connect to each other, further aiding the movement of the two conical flat structures away from each other. it is evident from the cross-section of fig. 2b and the view of fig. 4 that the nanofibers 5 are carried in a "v" shape away from the disk spinning electrode 11 , their path being perpendicular to the surface of the polymer solution in the nanofiber forming region. thus, the nanofibers 5 are not carried away from the surface of the disk spinning electrode 11 in flat planar structures, but in two conical flat structures which move away from the surface of the disk spinning electrode 11.. consequently, the mutual distance of the virtual collectors 7 is greater than the thickness of the disk spinning electrode 11 , as shown in fig. 4. in addition, the gravitational force acts on the nanofibers 5 and deforms the conical flat structures. as a result, the virtual collector 7 is formed below the surface of the electric field gradient. both ribbons 6 of nanofibers produced in virtual collectors_7 have the same properties as described above and can be further wound separately, or combined and wound together, or brought to a device for producing a nanofibrous yarn which will be described further on. the wide disk spinning electrode 11 can be further improved by a recess 111 formed in the middle of the circumferential surface, so that the edges of the circumferential surface adjacent to the faces form protrusions 112 on which the intensity e of the electric field is concentrated, thereby creating two spinning areas 110. since the intensity e of the electric field is concentrated at the protrusions 112, the spinning areas 110 with the supercritical electric field intensity are narrowed compared to the previous embodiment of the wide disk spinning electrode 11 . also in this embodiment, the nanofibers 5 are carried away from the surface of the disk spinning electrode 11 in two conical flat structures in the direction of the maximum gradients of electric forces, which are indicated by arrows. the conical flat structures move away from the surface of the disk spinning electrode 11 , so consequently, the mutual distance of the virtual collectors 7 is greater than the thickness of the disk spinning electrode 11 . this is also aided by the repulsive forces between the equally charged nanofibers 5. in addition, the gravitational force acts on the nanofibers 5, deforming the conical flat structures, and so the virtual collector 7 is formed below the surface of the electric field gradient. both ribbons 6 of nanofibers have the same properties as described above and can be further wound separately, or combined and wound together, or brought to the device for producing nanofibrous yarn, which will be described hereinafter. another alternative arrangement of the device for producing a ribbon 6 of nanofibers is shown in fig. 5, where two disk spinning electrodes 11 are arranged on a common shaft. each of the disk spinning electrodes 11 works in the same way as a separate disk spinning electrodel 1 , as is shown in fig. 1 and described above. the device produces two ribbons 6 of nanofibers that can be wound separately or combined and wound together. from the illustrated arrangement, it is apparent that the number of disk spinning electrodes 11 can be greater. in this embodiment, a different polymer solution may be used for each disk spinning electrode 1_1_, so that when the fabricated ribbons 6 of nanofibers are combined, a composite of nanofibers is formed from the nanofibers 5 from two or more different polymers. to produce one ribbon 6 of nanofibers with a higher specific gravity, the disk spinning electrodes 11 can be arranged one behind the other, as shown in fig. 6a in front view and in fig. 6b in a plan view, showing three disk spinning electrodes 11a, 11 b, 11c, each of which operates in the same way as a separate disk spinning electrode 11 as shown in fig. 1 b, 2a and fig. 3 and described above. in particular, due to the shortening of the length of the spinning device, the disk spinning electrodes 11a, 11 b, 11c are partially offset from each other, so that in the front view, the second disk spinning electrode 11 b overlaps the front part of its circumference with the rear part of the circumference of the first disk spinning electrode 11a and with its rear part it overlaps the front part of the circumference of the third disk spinning electrodes 11c. by the mutual offset of the disk spinning electrodes 11a, 11b, 11c, the sagging of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers between the disk spinning electrodes 11a, 11 b, 11c is reduced. spinning takes place in the upper part of the individual disk spinning electrodes 11a, 11 b, 11c, wherein the ribbon_6 of nanofibers is drawn off from the first disk spinning electrode 11a over the second disk spinning electrode 11 b and the third disk spinning electrode 11c to be wound on a bobbin or to be processed subsequently. increasing the electric field intensity along the length of the unwound ribbon 6 of nanofibers is achieved, for example, by reducing the thickness of successive disk spinning electrodes 11a, 11 b, 11c, or by adjusting the high ac voltage on the individual disk spinning electrodes. another alternative of the device for producing a ribbon 6 of nanofibers by ac electrospinning is a device with a belt spinning electrode 12 shown in figs. 7a, 7b. the device comprises a reservoir 2 of the polymer solution, into which extends a rewinding shaft 8 by the lower part of its circumference, the rewinding shaft 8 being coupled to a drive 81 . above the rewinding shaft 81_, in the spinning chamber 4 on the frame of the device, a blade 121 is fixedly mounted for example by means of struts 82. the rewinding shaft 81 , together with the blade 121 , is wrapped by an endless belt 122 which emerges from the polymer solution 21 and bends over the rewinding shaft 8 over the blade 121. the belt 122 carries polymer solution z from the reservoir 2, wherein the bending of the belt 122 forms the spinning area 120 of the belt spinning electrode 12, which is connected to an ac voltage source. an ac voltage can be supplied to polymer solution z in the reservoir 2 or to the blade 121 . taylor cones are formed on the spinning area 120 of the belt spinning electrode 12, from which nanofibers 5 are elongated, which are carried upwards to the virtual collector by the electric wind 7, moving through the spinning space 41 in one planar flat structure. in the place of the virtual collector 7, the nanofibers 5 gather and are compacted into a material formation forming a ribbon 6 of nanofibers, which is drawn from the virtual collector 7 in a known manner, not shown in detail, and wound on a bobbin, or is brought to the device for producing a nanofiber thread, which will be described below. similar to the disk spinning electrode 11 , the width of the edge 122 can be greater, so that on the wide strip spinning electrode 12, two spinning areas 120 on both of its edges, on which taylor cones are formed, and the nanofibers 5_are carried away from the spinning areas 120 in the direction of the maximum gradient of the electric fields, in two planar flat structures that form the letter "v" in cross-section, to the regions of virtual collectors 7, the mutual distance of which is greater than the width of the edge 122 of the belt spinning electrode 12. in this device, two ribbons 6 of nanofibers are formed, which have the same properties and can be further wound separately or can be combined and wound together or can be fed to a device for producing a thread. this embodiment is not shown. the conical surfaces will be deformed by the action of gravity as in the previous cases. another alternative of the device for producing a ribbon 6 of nanofibers by ac electrospinning is a device with an overflow spinning electrode 13 shown in figs. 8a, 8b. the device comprises a reservoir 2 of polymer solution z, in which an inlet 131 of polymer solution z is vertically arranged. an overflow electrode 13 is arranged at the upper end of the inlet 131 of the polymer solution, and the inlet 131 opens into the upper face of the overflow electrode 13. around the mouth of the inlet 131 of the polymer solution, an overflow surface 132 is formed, sloping slightly from the mouth of the inlet 131 of the polymer solution to the edge of the overflow electrode 13 and ending in a circumferential edge 133 on which are formed taylor cones from which the nanofibers 5 are elongated. the elongated nanofibers 5 are carried by the electric wind through the spinning space 41 in the radial direction away from the circumferential edge 133 of the overflow electrode 13 and gather in the region of the virtual collector 7, where they are compacted into a material structure forming a ribbon 6 of nanofibers, which is drawn off from the virtual collector 7 in the tangential direction and further wound onto an unillustrated bobbin or processed into a thread. in fact, the virtual collector 7 is formed at a point of balance of electric and gravitational forces, wherein the electric wind force from the inlet 131 of polymer solution z acts in an upward direction, so that a conical flat structure directed upwards is formed. this structure is further deformed by the action of the gravitational force. another alternative of the device for producing a ribbon 6 of nanofibers by ac electrospinning is a device in which the linear spinning electrode 14 is formed by an infinite linear flexible structure which, in the first embodiment, is mounted on two rotatably mounted bobbins 141 coupled to an unillustrated drive. at least one of the bobbins 141 extends with a part of its circumference into the reservoir 2 of polymer solution z. in the illustrated embodiment, each bobbin 141 has its own reservoir 2 of the polymer solution. the linear flexible structure which constitutes the linear spinning electrode 14 can be formed, for example, by a string, a strip, a strap, or a structure with a more fragmented surface composed of several mutually intertwined or interlaced parts, such as a cable, a cord, a multi-core structure, etc. as in previous embodiments, on the linear spinning electrode 14 is formed a spinning area 140 having a finite length, which is open in the spinning direction. in the central part of the spinning area 140, a narrow flat structure of polymer solution z is formed, and the intensity e of the electric field is set to a supercritical value at which nanofibers 5_are formed. the nanofibers 5 move from the spinning area 140 in a flat structure in the direction of the maximum gradient of electric forces, that is, in the illustrated embodiment, in a vertical plane. the nanofibers 5 gradually lose their kinetic energy and at the point of zero kinetic energy the nanofibers 5 form a linear virtual collector 7 in which the nanofibers 5_stop, gather and are compacted into a ribbon 6_of nanofibers. the linear flexible structure forming the linear spinning electrode 14 is endless and, in the embodiment according to fig. 9, it is arranged on two bobbins 141 which are provided with grooves for the temporary mounting of the linear spinning electrode 14, wherein the dimensions and shape of the cross-section of the groove corresponds to the dimension and shape of the linear spinning electrode 14. the bobbins 141 are mounted with a part of their circumference in polymer solution z. the section of the linear spinning electrode 14 between the bobbins 141 forms the spinning area 140. in an embodiment of the linear spinning electrode 14 in which polymer solution z is in the spinning area 140 on the entire circumference of the linear spinning electrode 14, as shown in fig. 9c, a shielding bar 142 is arranged below the spinning area 140. the shielding bar 142 prevents the creation of supercritical value e of the electric field outside the upper part of the linear spinning electrode 14, so that in some cases the shielding bar 142 also surrounds the side parts of the linear spinning electrode 14. all the formed nanofibers 5 then arise especially in the middle of the spinning area 140, which is straight, and are carried upwards from the spinning area 140 in the direction of the maximum gradient of the electric field in a planar flat structure in the vertical direction, wherein they gradually lose their kinetic energy and at a point with zero kinetic energy, the nanofibers 5 form a linear virtual collector 7, in which the nanofibers 5 stop, gather and are compacted into a linear ribbon 6 of nanofibers, which is drawn off. in figs. 10a, 10b, the linear spinning electrode 14 is also formed by an endless linear flexible structure. in this embodiment, one common reservoir_2 of the polymer solution is used, into which both pulleys 141 extend with a part of their circumference. the linear spinning electrode 14 moves in one direction and at the end of the spinning area 140 wraps around a return pulley 141 , returns to the reservoir 2 of the polymer solution and re-enters the spinning area 140 through a delivery pulley 141 . in this embodiment, too, the shielding bar 142 can be used for some linear flexible structures. the part described above applies to linear spinning electrodes 14 formed by narrow linear flexible structures to which polymer solution z is applied to their entire circumference. in the embodiment according to fig. 11 , the linear spinning electrode 14 is formed by a wide strip 143 in the central part of which is formed a recess 1431 which creates protrusions 1432 on the edges of the strip. on the protrusions 1432, similarly to the embodiment according to fig. 2c, spinning areas are formed. from both spinning areas 140, the nanofibers are entrained in the direction of the maximum gradient of the electric fields, in two flat planar structures that form the letter "v" in cross-section, to the areas of virtual collectors 7, the mutual distance of which is greater than the distance of the protrusions 1432. in this device, two ribbons 6 of nanofibers are created, which have the same properties and can be further wound separately, or they can be combined and wound together, or they can be fed to the device for producing thread. in the embodiment according to fig.12, the linear spinning electrode 14 is formed by a flat strip 144, in which the spinning areas are formed on its edges 1441 . since the thickness of the strip 144 is small in comparison to its width, the maximum electric field gradient is directed from the edges of the strip to the sides. another reason is the fact that the environment above and below the flat strip 144 is the same, so there is no deviation of the maximum electric field gradient. thus, two planar flat structures are formed from the produced nanofibers which end in the corresponding virtual collectors (not shown), where two ribbons of nanofibers are formed and drawn off as in the previous embodiments. due to the action of gravitational forces, the planar flat structures will be deformed by these forces, as in the other embodiments. the device for continuous production of a nanofibrous thread 60 from a ribbon 6 of nanofibers will be explained and described in combination with a rotating disk spinning electrode 11 for producing a ribbon of 6 nanofibers, as shown in fig. 13. the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is conveyed from the virtual collector 7 of the disk spinning electrode 11 to the device 9 for producing a nanofibrous thread 60, which in the illustrated embodiment comprises a transfer pulley 91 downstream of which a first draw-off mechanism of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is arranged in the direction of movement of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers. a twisting device 93 for creating a false twist is arranged downstream of a first draw-off mechanism of the ribbon 6 of nanofibers, downstream of which is arranged a second draw-off mechanism 94, downstream of which a drying and/or fixing unit 95 is included, downstream of which there is a third draw-off mechanism 96, downstream of which a winding device 97 is arranged. the ribbon 6 of nanofibers is drawn off from the virtual collector 7 of the disk spinning electrode 11 through the transfer pulley 91 by the first draw-off mechanism 92 and enters the twisting device 93, in which it passes through a twisting member 931 , for example, through a twisting pipe by which a false twist is imparted to it. from the twisting device 93, the twisted ribbon 6 of nanofibers is drawn off by the second draw-off mechanism 94. the twist is imparted to the ribbon 6 of nanofibers by the twisting member 931 of the twisting device 93 between two clamping points, formed by the first draw-off mechanism 92 and the second draw-off mechanism 94. between the first draw-off mechanism 92 and the twisting device 93 the twist is formed and between the twisting device 93 and the second draw-off mechanism 94 the twist is untwisted, wherein due to the high specific surface area of the nanofibers 5 and the binding forces between the nanofibers 5, even after untwisting, a relatively high degree of twist is retained as a residual twist, thereby forming a nanofibrous thread 60. the nanofibrous thread 60 is withdrawn from the second draw-off mechanism 94 by the third draw-off mechanism 96 through the drying and/or fixing unit 95, in which the remaining solvent is evaporated and, if necessary, the nanofibrous thread 60 is thermally fixed. from the third draw-off mechanism 96, the nanofibrous thread 60 is led to the winding device 97, in which it is wound onto a bobbin by some of the known methods. the ribbon of nanofibers may be produced on any of the abovedescribed devices. the device 9 for producing a nanofibrous thread 60 from a ribbon 6 of nanofibers may be configured also in another suitable manner, for example, it may comprise a device for forming a permanent twist. alternatively, the production of a nanofibrous thread from a ribbon of nanofibers may be performed on a special device from a ribbon of nanofibers wound on a bobbin in the subsequent operation. industrial applicability using the method of producing nanofibers by ac electrospinning according to the invention it is possible to produce a sufficient quantity of nanofibers and create a ribbon of nanofibers from them, which is capable of being drawn off and wound onto a bobbin, wherein it is also capable of being unwound from the bobbin for the purpose of its use or further processing. list of references 1 spinning electrode 10 spinning area of the spinning electrode 11 rotating disk spinning electrode 110 spinning area of the rotating disk spinning electrode 111 recess on the circumference of the disk spinning electrode 112 protrusions on the edges of the circumference of the disk spinning electrode 11 a first disk spinning electrode 11 b second disk spinning electrode 11 c third disk spinning electrode 12 belt spinning electrode 120 spinning area of the strip spinning electrode 121 edge of the strip spinning electrode 122 strip of the strip spinning electrode 13 overflow spinning electrode 131 inlet of the polymer solution 132 overflow surface 133 circumferential edge of the overflow spinning electrode 14 linear spinning electrode 140 spinning area of the linear spinning electrode 141 pulley 142 shielding bar 143 wide strip 1431 recess in the strip 1432 protrusions on the strip 144 flat strip 1441 edges of the flat strip 2 polymer solution reservoir 3 ac high voltage source 4 spinning chamber 41 spinning space 5 nanofibers 6 ribbon of nanofibers 60 nanofibrous thread 7 virtual collector 8 rewinding shaft 81 drive of the rewinding shaft 82 strut 9 device for producing nanofibrous yam 91 transfer pulley 92 first draw-off mechanism 93 twisting device 931 twisting member 94 second draw-off mechanism 95 third draw-off mechanism 96 winding device e electric field intensity z polymer solution
|
102-228-116-671-439
|
US
|
[
"US",
"JP",
"KR",
"EP"
] |
B24B37/30,B24B37/32,H01L21/304,B24B5/00,B24B7/22
| 1995-06-09T00:00:00 |
1995
|
[
"B24",
"H01"
] |
fluid-pressure regulated wafer polishing head
|
a wafer polishing head utilizes a wafer backing member having a wafer facing pocket which is sealed against the wafer and is pressurized with air or other fluid to provide a uniform force distribution pattern across the width of the wafer inside an edge seal feature at the perimeter of the wafer to urge (or press) the wafer uniformly toward a polishing pad. wafer polishing is carried out uniformly without variations in the amount of wafer material across the usable area of the wafer. a frictional force between the seal feature of the backing member and the surface of the wafer transfers rotational movement of the head to the wafer during polishing. a pressure controlled bellows supports and presses the wafer backing member toward the polishing pad and accommodates any dimensional variation between the polishing head and the polishing pad as the polishing head is moved relative to the polishing pad. an integral, but independently retractable and extendable retaining ring assembly is provided around the wafer backing member and wafer to uniformly and independently control the pressure of a wafer perimeter retaining ring on the polishing ad of a wafer polishing bed.
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1 . a polishing head, comprising: a housing; a backing member to hold a substrate against a polishing pad, the backing member including an opening therein for fluid to flow into contact with the substrate and press the substrate against a polishing pad; and a retainer surrounding the backing member. 2 . the polishing head of claim 1 , wherein the backing member is movable relative to the housing. 3 . the polishing head of claim 2 , wherein the retainer is movable relative to the housing independently of the backing member. 4 . the polishing head of claim 1 , wherein the backing member includes an edge portion configured to contact a perimeter portion of the back surface of the substrate. 5 . the polishing head of claim 4 , wherein the edge portion surrounds a pressurizable recess open to and facing a back surface of the substrate. 6 . the polishing head of claim 5 , wherein the recess covers substantially the entire back surface of the substrate. 7 . the polishing head of claim 4 , wherein the edge portion includes a seal surrounding the recess to contact the substrate. 8 . the polishing head of claim 7 , wherein the seal comprises a lip seal. 9 . the polishing head of claim 7 , wherein the seal comprises an o-ring. 10 . the polishing head of claim 1 , further comprising a first chamber to provide a first downward force on the backing member. 11 . the polishing head of claim 10 , wherein the first chamber is positioned between the housing and the backing member. 12 . the polishing head of claim 10 , further comprising a second chamber to provide a second downward force on the retaining ring. 13 . the polishing head of claim 12 , further comprising an elastic member to urge the retainer away from the polishing pad. 14 . the polishing head of claim 1 , wherein the retainer is configured to contact said polishing pad. 15 . a method of polishing, comprising: holding a substrate against a backing member in a carrier head; positioning the substrate against a polishing surface; directing a fluid through an opening in the backing member to press the substrate against a polishing pad; creating relative motion between the substrate and the polishing surface; and restraining the substrate from escaping the backing member with a retainer. 16 . the method of claim 15 , wherein holding the substrate includes applying a vacuum to the opening to chuck a substrate to the backing member. 17 . the method of claim 15 , wherein directing fluid includes directing fluid into a recess in the backing member that is open to and facing a back surface of the substrate. 18 . the method of claim 17 , further comprising sealing a perimeter portion of the substrate against the backing member. 19 . the method of claim 15 , further comprising contacting the polishing pad with the retainer. 20 . the method of claim 18 , further comprising controlling a pressure of the retainer against the polishing pad.
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cross-reference to related applications this application is a continuation of u.s. application ser. no. 10/201,428, which is a continuation of u.s. application ser. no. 09/892,143, filed jun. 25, 2001, which is a continuation of u.s. application ser. no. 09/406,027, filed sep. 27, 1999, now u.s. pat. no. 6,290,577, which is a continuation of u.s. application ser. no. 08/488,927, filed jun. 9, 1995, now u.s. pat. no. 6,024,630, each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. field of invention this invention relates generally to mechanical polishing, and in particular to polishing heads used to polish generally circular semiconductor wafers in the semiconductor industry. background of the invention this invention provides improved construction and easier operability of polishing heads useful for positioning a substrate, in particular, a semiconductor substrate, on the surface of a polishing pad. such heads also provide a controllable biasing, or loading, between the surface of the substrate and the polishing surface. a typical substrate polishing apparatus positions a surface of a substrate against a polishing surface. such a polishing configuration is useful for polishing the substrate after it has been sliced from a boule (single crystal), to provide smoothly planar, parallel, front and back sides thereon. it is also useful for polishing a surface of the substrate on which one or more film layers have been deposited, where polishing is used to planarize the surface of the substrate on which one or more film layers have been deposited. a slurry having both chemically reactive and abrasive components is used in conjunction with the positioning of the film layer surface against a moving polishing surface to provide the desired polishing. this is known as chemical mechanical polishing. a typical wafer polishing apparatus employs a carrier, or polishing head, to hold the substrate and position the film layer surface of the substrate against a polishing surface. the polishing surface is typically provided by placing a large polishing pad, typically as large as one meter in diameter, on a massive rotatable platen. the platen is driven by a motor to rotate the polishing pad and thus provide relative motion between the pad and the film layer surface of the substrate. as the pad rotates, it tends to pull the substrate out of the carrier. therefore, the carrier also typically includes a recess within which the substrate is received. this recess is commonly provided by extending a retainer downwardly from the substrate receiving surface of the carrier positioned adjacent to, and extending circumferentially around, the edge of the substrate. the apparatus also provides a means for positioning the carrier over the polishing pad and biasing the carrier towards the pad to load the substrate against the pad, and a drive means for providing rotational, vibratory or oscillatory motion to the carrier. an example of a polishing head having a retaining ring is shown in u.s. pat. no. 5,205,082, by shendon et al. which discloses pressurized diaphragm arrangement which urges a wafer carrier and wafer retainer toward a polishing pad. in some carrier head configurations, the force urging the retaining ring toward the polishing pad is dependent on the predetermined spring constant of a circular leaf spring and its compression. the spring-loaded retaining rings are subject to bending and torsional deflection due to the spring configuration which does not provide a continuous contact force but provides a series of point loads, clamping the ring to the polishing pad. the retaining ring bends and deflects because it is allowed to flex between these point loads. this flexing can cause variation in the clearance between the ring and pad which affects the depth of slurry that passes under the ring, and it also affects the pad compression adjacent to the edge of the wafer. variations in the depth of polishing slurry and in pad compression adjacent to the edge of the wafer can cause differential polishing of the wafer to the detriment of polishing uniformity. the object in each head configuration is to provide a fixture which will uniformly polish the wafer across its full width without unacceptable variations in the thickness of the wafer. these prior art configurations as described can introduce polishing variations due to bladder edge effects, non-uniformly distributed force pressing the wafer to the polishing pad, and retaining ring deflections which require close and frequent monitoring to assure satisfactory polishing results. summary of the invention this invention relates to a polishing head substrate (wafer) backing member facing the back of, and being sealed to, a substrate (wafer) being polished. the wafer is sealed to a cavity located in the member around the perimeter of the cavity and a fluid (preferably gas although it may be a liquid) pressurizes the cavity and the back of the waft against a slurry containing polishing pad. the wafer backing member preferably includes a seal feature, e.g. an o-ring, lip seal, or other seal member which extends from the backing member adjacent to the perimeter of the backing member to form a recess between the wafer and the member to hold a fluid or gas in the recess behind the wafer to provide a uniform pressure across the surface of the wafer being pressed against the polishing pad. a gas tight bellows chamber supports the wafer backing member and urges it toward the polishing pad to provide primary loading of the substrate against the pad. when the bellows is pressurized to urge the substrate against the polishing pad, it compresses the seal. simultaneously, the pressure in the cavity formed by the seal may be changed, to selectively vary the polishing of the substrate. the cavity may be evacuated, to urge the center of the substrate away from the pad to increase polishing at the substrate edge as compared to its center, and it may be pressurized to enable uniform loading of the substrate against the pad. the pressure in the cavity urges the substrate away from the holding member, and thereby decompresses the seal. the pressure in the cavity may be sufficiently large to separate the substrate from the seal, at which point the cavity pressure will release, or blow-by, through the resulting gap between the substrate and the seal. in a further aspect of the invention, a retractable and pressure extendable retaining ring assembly extends around the backing member and prevents the wafer from sliding out from below the surface of the substrate backing member. an annular ring extending bladder extends along the backside of the ring, the bladder when pressurized urges the ring against the pad. the force with which the retaining ring is clamped to the polishing pad is dependant on the gas pressure maintained in this bladder. these inventive configurations, alone or in combination, provide several advantages. one advantage is direct control of a uniform force on the back surface of the wafer being polished within the perimeter of the seal extending between the holding member and the wafer. a pressure is uniformly maintained without the complication or edge effects of an intermediate bladder in direct contact with the substrate. another advantage is that the total force pressing the wafer backing member toward the wafer is controlled separately by the force created by controlling the pressure within the bellows completely independent of the influence of the pressure cavity formed between the wafer and the backing member. if the force on the wafer due to the pressure behind the wafer in the wafer facing cavity exceeds the force on the seal to the wafer exerted by the pressure in the bellows then the wafer will lift away from its seal and seal blow-by will occur until equilibrium restores the seal. the pressure within the wafer facing cavity controls the distribution pattern by which this total force is transmitted from the wafer backing member to the wafer. providing a vacuum to the cavity can cause the center of a supported wafer to bow inward, so that only a perimeter polishing contact is achieved. in contrast, positive pressure in excess of the seal contact pressure will cause the wafer to lift off (move away from) the seal and for gas to blow-by (it cannot cause outward bowing of the substrate as the pressure at the center of the substrate can never exceed the pressure at the perimeter of the substrate), and will also cause a uniform pressure on the back of the wafer. the bowing or deflection of the wafer, if any, is controlled and limited by the pressure on the perimeter seal, so long as the internal pressure of the recess or cavity facing the wafer does not exceed the seal pressure and cause seal blow-by. this configuration according to the invention nearly guarantees that, as long as the force provided by the backing pressure urging the wafer from the seal is maintained at or slightly below the pressure on the seal provided by the bellows, the force clamping the wafer to the polishing pad for polishing will be uniform across the area of the wafer. in reality, because it is desired to maintain a gas tight perimeter seal, in operation the pressure in the wafer facing cavity will be slightly less than the pressure at which seal blow-by occurs. under these conditions, a slightly greater pressure will be present between the substrate and the pad at the seal location which will slightly increase the polishing (material removed) in the perimeter ring (seal) area. however, the outer three millimeters of the substrate are considered to be a non-usable handling margin and therefore slight additional polishing (material removed) in this narrow band at the edge of the substrate is not considered deleterious. the extension and retraction of the wafer retaining ring assembly is independently controlled by the use of the continuous annular bladder positioned around the perimeter of the wafer backing member. such a configuration can eliminate the pressure variations associated with the point contacts of springs provided to urge the ring into contact with the pad. in one configuration, one or more restoring springs are supported on a rigid portion of the retaining ring backing ring to cause the retaining ring to retract from its lowered position when the extension bladder is depressurized. the frictional force between the seal at the perimeter of the wafer backing member is sufficient such that when the polishing head is rotated during polishing while the wafer is in contact with the polishing slurry on the polishing pad, there is sufficient frictional force that the wafer rotates with the polishing head and overcomes the resistance to rotation with the head due to the motion of the pad and the polishing media on the polishing pad. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a cross section of an embodiment according to the invention; fig. 2 is a close up view of the right side of fig. 1 showing the periphery of the wafer backing member with an o-ring seal; and fig. 3 is a close up view of the right side of fig. 1 showing the periphery of the wafer backing member with a lip seal. detailed description fig. 1 shows a polishing head assembly 100 in a configuration according to the invention. the polishing head 100 includes a polishing head housing support plate 102 which is integral with its rod or stem support member. this support plate 102 is generally circular so as to match the circular configuration of the substrate or wafer 142 to be polished. a polishing head housing descending wall 104 is attached to the bottom of the support plate 102 by a descending wall top flange 106 . the descending wall 104 includes a lower lip 110 which curves inward toward the wafer 142 . the descending wall 104 encloses a wafer perimeter retaining ring assembly 146 enclosing a wafer backing member 124 . the wafer backing member 124 is attached to the support plate 102 by a bellows 118 which allows a vertically variable vacuum seal. the bellows 118 encloses a bellows chamber 120 . the bellows chamber 120 can be pressurized positively or negatively through a gas passage 112 to which is connected the inside of the bellows. an overview of the apparatus one typical substrate polishing apparatus generally includes a large rotating polishing pad, typically larger than, and more typically several times larger than, the surface area of the substrate being polished. also included is a polishing head within which the substrate is mounted for positioning a surface of the substrate against the polishing surface. the head is typically supported over the pad, and fixed relative to the surface of the pad, by a support member. this support member provides a fixed bearing location from which head may extend, to provide a desired unit loading of the substrate against the pad. loading means to enable this loading of the substrate against the polishing pad include hydraulic and pneumatic pistons which extend between the polishing head 100 and the support member (not shown). additionally, the polishing head 100 will also typically be rotatable, which enables rotation of the substrate on the pad. likewise, the pad is typically rotated, to provide a constantly changing surface of the pad against the substrate. this rotation is typically provided by separate electric motors (not shown) coupled to the head and a polishing platen on which the pad is received. the polishing head 100 of the present invention provides a mechanism to position and to uniformly load the surface of the wafer 142 against a polishing pad 182 located in a stationary or rotating polishing bed 180 . generally, the polishing head 100 can be considered to comprise three systems: a loading member which supplies the downward loading of the wafer against the polishing surface; a mounting portion which allows a uniform pattern loading of the wafer against the polishing surface; and a retaining assembly which ensures that the wafer will not slip out from beneath the mounting portion during polishing operations. each of these three members or systems provide improvements in polishing head designs, and may be used independently or in combination. the loading member generally comprises the bellows 118 and the bellows chamber 120 provided by the attachment of the bellows to the upper surface of the backing member 124 and the interior surface of the support plate 102 . by pressurizing the bellows chamber 120 , force is exerted on the backing member 124 , and thus on the wafer 142 , to load the wafer 142 against the polishing surface of the polishing pad 182 . the mounting portion includes a separate sealed pocket 123 , one wall of which is firmed by the wafer, to provide an even, hydrostatic, loading across the backside of the wafer. the retaining ring assembly 146 includes an extendable retainer 162 which circumscribes the wafer 142 . the structure of the loading member and the mounting portion to provide the mounting portion, the backing member 124 includes a wafer facing recess 126 . the perimeter of the backing member 124 is configured to receive an edge seal feature 130 , e.g., an o-ring (not shown in the empty o-ring groove of fig. 2 ) or other type of seal. the edge seal 130 is located and configured to engage the perimeter portion of the backside of the wafer 142 and thereby form, in combination with the recess 126 , a pressurizable pocket 123 . the pocket includes the recess 126 and the area within the seal 130 over the backside of the wafer. when the backing member 124 is rotated, this feature provides a frictional force between the wafer 142 and the backing member 124 so that the substrate 142 generally turns with the backing member 124 . gas or other fluid (preferably an inert gas) is supplied to or evacuated from the pocket through a gas passage 125 which is connected through a hose 122 coiled inside the bellows 118 and supplied from a gas line 114 . the selective pressurization of the pocket 123 and the bellows chamber 120 provides the loading of the wafer on the polishing pad 182 . additionally, the bellows enables the backing member 124 , and thus the wafer 142 , to move rotationally with respect to the support plate 102 and in the x, y, and z directions during polishing. the bellows 118 , in combination with the upper surface of the backing member 124 , the lower surface of the support plate 102 and a pressure source (not shown), provide the loading member. in one mode of operation, the pressure in the bellows chamber 120 is controlled to be constant and the flexibility of the bellows 118 accommodates misalignments or changes in clearance between the backing member 124 and the surface of the polishing pad 182 . the pressure in the bellows chamber 120 is selected to provide the desired loading of the wafer 142 against the polishing pad 182 . in this configuration, the pressure in the bellows chamber 120 provides a regulatable uniform force pressing the backing member 124 toward the surface of the polishing pad 182 regardless of the extension of the bellows 118 . in turn, pressurizing the recess 126 behind the wafer 142 enables a uniform contact pressure to exist between the polishing pad 182 and the wafer 142 across the entire surface of the wafer contacting the polishing pad 182 . the extension or retraction of the bellows 118 is controlled by pressurizing or depressurizing the bellows chamber 120 via the gas passage 112 . the pressurization or depressurization of the recess 126 in the backing member 124 either pressurizes or depressurized the pocket 123 . a negative differential pressure due to vacuum bends the wafer 142 upwardly. a sufficient positive pressure creates a separating force greater than the force from the bellows 118 which forces the seal wafer. the polishing head configuration of fig. 1 also overcomes the comparative difficulty encountered in prior art head designs when loading and unloading the wafer from the head, and in ensuring that the wafer does not slip from beneath the backing member 124 . in the present head design, the pressure maintained in the pocket may be changed to provide a super-atmospheric pressure to separate the wafer from the carrier when polishing is completed, and to provide a vacuum pressure (preferably of up to approximately 100 torr less than atmospheric pressure) behind the wafer thereby causing atmospheric pressure to maintain the wafer on the head as the head is loaded onto the polishing pad 182 . when the wafer is attached to the backing member 124 by maintaining a vacuum in the pocket, the wafer may deflect inwardly toward the recess 126 . the recess 126 is sufficiently shallow that the total possible deflection of the wafer into the recess, when considered in combination with the span of the wafer 142 across the recess 126 , will impose stresses in the wafer 142 which are less than the strength or yield limits of the wafer material. the vacuum need be maintained in the pocket only during the period of time that the polishing head is removed from the polishing pad 182 . once the polishing head and the wafer 142 are repositioned on the polishing pad 182 , the pressure in the pocket is increased, until a pressure above atmospheric pressure is maintained therein. simultaneously, the pressure in the bellows chamber 120 is increased, to provide a load force to load the wafer 142 against the polishing pad 182 . as the pressure in the bellows chamber 120 is increased, it loads the seal 130 received in the backing member 124 into contact with the backside of the wafer. the seal will compress under this load, which will enhance the sealing characteristics of the seal 130 . therefore, as the pressure in the bellows chamber 120 increases, the threshold pressure at which gas maintained in the pocket 123 will leak past, or blow-by, the seal 130 , also increases. blow-by occurs when the head and the seal lift off the wafer. this condition occurs when the pressure in the pocket, when multiplied by the surface area of the wafer 142 circumscribed by the seal 130 , exceeds the load force on the seal-wafer interface. in the configuration of the head, as shown in fig. 3 , the area of the backing member 124 which is circumscribed by the bellows 118 is smaller than the area of the wafer 142 circumscribed by the seal 130 . therefore, the pressure in the bellows cavity must exceed the pressure maintained in the pocket to prevent blow-by. preferably, the pressure maintained in the pocket is approximately 75 torr less than the threshold at which blow-by will occur. at these pressures, the entire backside of the wafer, less a very small annular area outward of the seal 130 , will have a uniform pressure on the back surface thereof which ensures that the front surface of the wafer is uniformly loaded against the polishing pad 182 . however, it is specifically contemplated, although not preferred, that higher pressures, including a pressure at or above blow-by, may be used. where such higher pressures are used, the seal-wafer interface will serve as a relief valve, and blow-by will occur periodically to maintain a desired pressure within the pocket 123 . fig. 2 shows a close up of the right side of the polishing head of fig. 1 . the seal 130 in this configuration is an o-ring 134 located in an o-ring groove 132 (i.e., collectively: an annular extending portion). this seal is located at the perimeter of the wafer 142 surrounding the recess 126 (and the associated pocket). the perimeter of the backing member 124 is surrounded by the retaining ring assembly 146 . the retaining ring includes a the retaining ring 162 which is attached to the backing ring 148 . a series of compression springs 172 (i.e., first set of elastic members) support the backing ring 148 on the lip 110 of the descending wall 104 . an expandable retaining ring extending bladder 170 can be pressurized through gas supply passage 171 (i.e., a second set of elastic members). when bladder 170 is pressurized, the retaining ring assembly 146 is extended to a location adjacent the wafer 142 as shown by the dashed lines 146 a in fig. 2 . a second configuration of the polishing head of the present invention is shown in fig. 3 , wherein the seal 130 is a downwardly extending lip seal 136 received on the outer perimeter of the backing member 124 , and secured thereon by a backing ring 138 extending about the outer circumference of the lip seal 36 . the lip seal 136 is preferably a thin, elastic, member having a rectangular cross section. a portion of the lip seal 136 extends from the underside, or wafer engaging side, of the backing member 124 , to engage the upper surface of the wafer 142 immediately inwardly of the perimeter of the wafer 142 . as with the o-ring 134 , the engagement of the lip seal 136 with the wafer forms a pocket (including wafer recess 126 and a shoulder area inside lip seal) which may be evacuated or pressurized. the lip seal 136 and the o-ring 134 provide sufficient contact between the surface of the substrate and the surface of the seal to create a rotational force due to friction between the two to keep them in contact so that the substrate turns with the polishing head. the retaining ring referring again to fig. 1 , the polishing head 100 also includes a retaining ring assembly 146 to ensure that the wafer 142 does not slip out from beneath the head during polishing operations. the retaining ring 162 has through holes 164 and counterbores 166 therein ( fig. 3 ). retaining ring screws 168 are placed therethrough and threaded into a series of backing-ring bottom-surface threaded holes 160 to hold the retaining ring 162 to a backing ring 148 . the retaining ring 162 is preferable made of delrin or similar plastic material. the backing ring 148 is preferably made of aluminum as are all of the other metal pieces except for the bellows which is stainless steel. the backing ring 148 has a bottom surface 158 facing the retaining ring 162 . the backing ring 148 includes an outside flange 152 having a top face 154 facing the bladder 170 and a bottom face 156 facing the series of compression springs 172 . the backing ring 148 has an inside flange 150 having a lower face 151 which extends inwardly over the diameter of the retaining member 124 a such that when the backing member 124 a is raised beyond a certain point the backing ring assembly 146 also rises. figs. 2 and 3 show details of the retaining ring assembly 146 . the backing ring 148 is urged upwardly away from the lip 110 of the descending wall 104 by a plurality of (for example 6-12) compression springs 172 . when the bladder 170 is pressurized to extend the retaining ring assembly 146 to its operating position as shown by the dashed lines 146 a in fig. 2 , the retaining ring 162 surrounds the edge of the wafer being polished. this prevents the wafer from sliding out under the wafer backing member 124 , or 124 a . inflation of the bladder 170 through the gas passage 171 provides a downward force to oppose the compression springs 172 and forces the retaining ring 162 toward and possibly against the polishing pad 182 . a continuous continuously pressurized bladder could be employed to replace the series of springs 172 to provide uniformly distributed retracting forces. the lower surface 151 of the backing ring inside flange 150 is configured so that as the plastic delrin material of the wafer perimeter retaining ring 162 wears away, the travel of retaining ring is limited by the interference between the lower surface 151 of the upper flange 150 and the top of the wafer backing member 124 a so that the head of the retaining ring retaining screws 168 cannot touch the polishing pad. this prevents the heads of retaining screws 168 from coming in contact with the polishing pad and introducing undesirable contaminants. the perimeter retaining ring can also be mounted without screws, such as by use of key slots requiring insertion and partial rotation to retain the key and opposing grooves having o-rings sized to engage and span the space between grooves. while the invention has been described with regard to specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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103-461-074-954-111
|
JP
|
[
"CN",
"JP",
"TW",
"KR",
"US",
"WO"
] |
H01L21/31,C23C16/44,C23C16/455,H01L21/20,H01L21/02,B29C71/04,C23C16/56,C23C16/06,C23C16/22,C23C16/52,C23F1/00,G05B15/00,G06F17/00,H01L21/306
| 2007-03-27T00:00:00 |
2007
|
[
"H01",
"C23",
"B29",
"G05",
"G06"
] |
filming apparatus, filming method, and storage medium
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provided is a filming apparatus comprising a treating container (31) and a placing bed (71) arranged in the treating container (31) for placing a substrate (w) thereon. the filming apparatus further comprises a gas shower head (51) having a number of gas feeding pores (61a, 62a and 63a) and partitioned into a center region (53) confronting the center portion of the substrate (w) and a peripheral edge region (54) confronting the peripheral edge portion of the substrate (w), first treating gas feeding means for feeding a first treating gas to the center region (53), second treating gas feeding means for feeding a second treating gas to the center region (53), energy feeding means for feeding an energy to cause the first treating gas and the second treating gas to react on the substrate (w),and purge gas feeding means for feeding a purge gas, when the feed of the first treating gas and the feed of the second treating gas are switched, to the center region (53) and the peripheral edge region (54) of the gas shower head (51).
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1 . a film forming apparatus comprising: a processing chamber; a mounting table disposed in the processing chamber to mount a substrate thereon; a gas shower head facing the substrate mounted on the mounting table, having gas supply holes, and including a central region facing a central portion of the substrate and a peripheral region facing a peripheral portion of the substrate; a first processing gas supply unit including a first processing gas supply line to supply a first processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head; a second processing gas supply unit including a second processing gas supply line to supply a second processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head; an energy supply unit for supplying energy to react the first processing gas with the second processing gas on the substrate; and a purge gas supply unit for supplying a purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head when one of the first and the second processing gas is switched by the other. 2 . the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an area of the central region of the gas shower head is 50% or less of an area of the peripheral region of the gas shower head. 3 . the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first processing gas supply line is independent of the second processing gas supply line. 4 . the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first processing gas supply line and the second processing gas supply line share, at least partially, a common passage. 5 . the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the energy supply unit includes a heater to heat the substrate mounted on the mounting table. 6 . the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first processing gas includes a film forming gas to form a film made of a compound containing at least one selected from a group consisting of zr, hf, si, sr, ti, y and la, and the second processing gas includes an oxidizing gas for oxidizing the compound to obtain a high-k dielectric material. 7 . a method for forming a film by using a film forming apparatus, which includes a processing chamber; a mounting table disposed in the processing chamber; a gas shower head facing the substrate mounted on the mounting table, having gas supply holes, and including a central region facing a central portion of the substrate and a peripheral region facing a peripheral portion of the substrate; and an energy supply unit for supplying energy, the method comprising the steps of: (a) mounting a substrate on a mounting table in a processing chamber; (b) supplying a first processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head to supply the first processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (c) replacing the first processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; (d) supplying a second processing gas to the central region in the gas shower head to supply the second processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (e) supplying energy by using the energy supply unit to react the first processing gas with the second processing gas on the substrate; (f) replacing the second processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; and repeating the steps (b), (c), (d) and (f) plural times. 8 . the method of claim 7 , wherein an area of the central region of the gas shower head is 50% or less of an area of the peripheral region of the gas shower head. 9 . the method of claim 7 , wherein the first processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head and the second processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head pass through different channels. 10 . the method of claim 7 , wherein the first processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head and the second processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head pass through, at least partially, a common channel. 11 . the method of claim 7 , wherein the step (e) of supplying energy includes heating the substrate mounted on the mounting table by using the energy supply unit. 12 . a storage medium storing a computer program for performing a film forming method by using a film forming apparatus, which includes a processing chamber; a mounting table disposed in the processing chamber; a gas shower head facing the substrate mounted on the mounting table, having gas supply holes, and including a central region facing a central portion of the substrate and a peripheral region facing a peripheral portion of the substrate; and an energy supply unit for supplying energy, the method comprising the steps of: (a) mounting a substrate on a mounting table in a processing chamber; (b) supplying a first processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head to supply the first processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (c) replacing the first processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; (d) supplying a second processing gas to the central region in the gas shower head to supply the second processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (e) supplying energy by using the energy supply unit to react the first processing gas with the second processing gas on the substrate; (f) replacing the second processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; and repeating the steps (b), (c), (d) and (f) plural times.
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cross-reference to related application(s) this application claims the benefit of japanese patent application no. 2007-0082533, filed on mar. 27, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. field of the invention the present invention relates to a film forming technique in which a first processing gas and a second processing gas are alternately supplied plural times to form a film made of reaction products of the processing gases on a substrate. background of the invention as a film forming method in a semiconductor fabrication process, there is known a method including adsorbing a first processing gas on the surface of a substrate, replacing the first processing gas with a second processing gas, reacting the two gases with each other to form one or more atomic or molecular layers, and repeating this cycle plural times to deposit these layers. this method is referred to as atomic layer deposition (ald), molecular layer deposition (mld) or the like. this method is an effective method capable of precisely controlling a film thickness depending on the number of cycles, realizing uniform film quality, and satisfying the demand for ultra thin films in semiconductor devices. this method is carried out by using a film forming apparatus 100 shown in fig. 15 (see japanese patent publication no. 2004-6733 (paragraph [0056] and fig. 8)). in the film forming apparatus 100 , a first processing gas containing, e.g., metal compounds is supplied from a processing gas supply port 102 provided on one side of a substrate 101 (the right side of fig. 15 ) and, at the same time, is discharged from a gas exhaust port 104 provided to face the processing gas supply port 102 to thereby adsorb the processing gas on a substrate 101 . then, an ozone gas serving as a second processing gas is supplied from an ozone gas supply port 103 provided on the opposite side to the processing gas supply port 102 (the left side in fig. 15 ) and, at the same time, is discharged from a gas exhaust port 105 to thereby oxidize the first processing gas adsorbed on the substrate 101 and form an oxide film. the supply and replacement of the first processing gas and the ozone gas are performed plural times to repeat plural (e.g., 100) cycles, each cycle including adsorption and oxidation of the first processing gas, thereby obtaining an oxide film with a desired thickness. the cycle, wherein the first processing gas and the ozone gas are alternately supplied, is performed every several seconds. accordingly, it is necessary to switch from the gas exhaust port 104 to the gas exhaust port 105 and vice versa at a high speed. thus, the gas exhaust ports 104 and 105 are respectively provided with high-speed rotation valves 106 . as the high-speed rotation valves 106 are rotated in accordance with the cycle, the gas exhaust ports 104 and 105 are opened or closed to switch a gas exhaust place at a high speed. the film formation is carried out in a side flow manner to flow a gas from one side of the substrate 101 to the other side thereof (in a horizontal direction in the drawing). thus, the film formation is performed in a mild atmosphere at a low temperature of about 200 to 240° c. in order to prevent segregation in film thickness or film quality in a horizontal direction. meanwhile, e.g., tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)zirconium (temaz) gas is used as a first processing gas to form a film made of a high-k dielectric material, e.g., zirconium oxide (zro 2 ). since the above-mentioned gas is rarely decomposed at a low temperature, when a film is formed at a low temperature, impurities infiltrate into the film to cause deterioration in film quality. accordingly, this material is used for film formation at a high temperature of about 280° c. however, in the high-temperature film formation, film thickness formed in one cycle increases due to rapid reaction. also, gas needs to move for a long distance on the surface of the substrate 101 in a side flow manner. thus, it may cause deterioration in in-plane uniformity of film thickness, that is, an increase in film thickness on the gas supply side and a decrease in film thickness on the gas exhaust side. further, gas of a high-k dielectric material is expensive. if a flow rate is decreased to reduce a gas consumption amount, the film thickness increases on the supply side of the first processing gas as shown in fig. 16a . further, for example, when an ozone gas is supplied for a short period of time for the purpose of improving throughput, an oxidation power of ozone gas becomes weakened due to consumption of the ozone gas as it goes farther from an ozone gas supply source. accordingly, an adsorbed film formed on the substrate 101 may be incompletely oxidized as shown in fig. 16b , thereby causing deterioration in in-plane uniformity of leakage current. further, as shown in fig. 16c , the processing gas flowing in the vicinity of the substrate 101 takes part in the reaction, whereas the processing gas flowing in a region apart from the substrate 101 is discharged, thus causing low film formation efficiency (film formation ratio) and waste of expensive processing gas. also, a long period of time is necessary to obtain a desired film thickness. further, the high-speed rotation valve 106 is expensive and the manufacturing cost of the film forming apparatus 100 is high. therefore, it requires improvement. consequently, there was suggested a method for supplying a gas from above the substrate 101 by using a general gas shower head included in a cvd apparatus (see japanese patent publication no. 2006-299294 (paragraphs [0021] to [0026] and fig. 1)). in accordance with this method, the gas moves from the center of the substrate to the periphery thereof and its movement distance is short compared to the side flow manner. accordingly, it is possible to obtain superior in-plane uniformity in film thickness and film quality. however, this gas shower head has a large size, and it is necessary to replace the atmosphere inside the gas shower head in every switching of the processing gas in order to alternately supply the processing gases plural times, as mentioned above. as a result, the amount of processing gas wasted increases. further, in the gas shower head, the volume of the replaced gas (the volume of the gas shower head) is large and it requires a long period of time in gas replacement, thus causing deterioration in throughput. further, there is no established dry cleaning method for removing deposits in the chamber produced by the temaz gas serving as a source for the high-k dielectric material and a manual wet cleaning method is employed instead. accordingly, it is required to reduce a contact area of the processing gas and to shorten cleaning time. however, in the method using a gas shower head, when one of the first and the second processing gas is switched by the other gas, the atmosphere inside the gas shower head should be changed by using a purge gas in order to prevent particles from being generated in the gas shower head. this gas replacement should be quickly performed by supplying a large amount of purge gas to prevent deterioration in throughput. fig. 17 shows an example of a film forming apparatus 200 which includes a substantially mushroom-shaped processing chamber 201 and a stage 202 in which a heater 203 is embedded. a gas shower head 205 is provided at a top wall of the processing chamber 201 to supply a processing gas to the substrate 210 placed on the stage 202 . the processing gas is supplied from the gas shower head 205 to the substrate 210 and is discharged through a gas exhaust port 208 provided at a lower sidewall of the processing chamber 201 . in the film forming apparatus 200 , the processing gas is discharged from one end portion of a lower part of the processing chamber 201 , thereby causing drift in flow of the processing gas in the processing chamber 201 . this leads to non-uniform flow of the processing gas on the substrate 210 and variations in film thickness. further, as a gas flow rate increases, variations in film thickness further increases. accordingly, there is another problem that it is impossible to supply a large amount of purge gas in the film forming apparatus 200 . moreover, the stage 202 is connected to an elevator (not shown) provided thereunder such that the stage 202 is elevated by an elevating mechanism (not shown) provided outside the processing chamber 201 . since the processing chamber 201 is kept hermetically sealed, a bellows (not shown) should be provided between the elevator and the bottom surface of the processing chamber 201 such that the bellows is extended and contracted while the stage 202 is elevated. in this case, the processing gases or reaction products may be deposited on the bellows and the bellows may be damaged upon contraction to cause leakage of the processing chamber 201 . further, a film forming apparatus 220 shown in fig. 18 is provided with a ring-shaped baffle plate 209 separated from an inner space of the processing chamber 201 to form an annular area, which extends from side of the stage 202 to bottom of the processing chamber 201 provided with a gas exhaust port 208 , in order to form a uniform flow of processing gas on the substrate 210 . the baffle plate 209 includes a plurality of holes 211 having a small diameter formed on the upper surface thereof to narrow a passage of the processing gas flowing in the baffle plate 209 . as the holes 211 are formed to have a small area, an inner pressure of the processing chamber 201 uniformly increases. thus, the processing gas flows uniformly toward the holes 211 and is isotropically discharged from the surface of the substrate 210 . however, in the film forming apparatus 220 , the flow rate of purge gas cannot be greatly increased due to the small diameter of the holes 211 , and it takes a long time in gas replacement when one of the film forming gas and the oxidizing gas is switched by the other, causing deterioration in throughput. summary of the invention in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a film forming apparatus comprising: a processing chamber; a mounting table disposed in the processing chamber to mount a substrate thereon; a gas shower head facing the substrate mounted on the mounting table, having gas supply holes, and including a central region facing a central portion of the substrate and a peripheral region facing a peripheral portion of the substrate; a first processing gas supply unit including a first processing gas supply line to supply a first processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head; a second processing gas supply unit including a second processing gas supply line to supply a second processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head; an energy supply unit for supplying energy to react the first processing gas with the second processing gas on the substrate; and a purge gas supply unit for supplying a purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head when one of the first and the second processing gas is switched by the other. in the film forming apparatus, preferably, an area of the central region of the gas shower head is 50% or less of an area of the peripheral region of the gas shower head. in the film forming apparatus, preferably, the first processing gas supply line is independent of the second processing gas supply line. in the film forming apparatus, preferably, the first processing gas supply line and the second processing gas supply line share, at least partially, a common passage. in the film forming apparatus, preferably, the energy supply unit includes a heater to heat the substrate mounted on the mounting table. in the film forming apparatus, preferably, the first processing gas includes a film forming gas to form a film made of a compound containing at least one selected from a group consisting of zr, hf, si, sr, ti, y and la, and the second processing gas includes an oxidizing gas for oxidizing the compound to obtain a high-k dielectric material. in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for forming a film by using a film forming apparatus, which includes a processing chamber; a mounting table disposed in the processing chamber; a gas shower head facing the substrate mounted on the mounting table, having gas supply holes, and including a central region facing a central portion of the substrate and a peripheral region facing a peripheral portion of the substrate; and an energy supply unit for supplying energy, the method comprising the steps of: (a) mounting a substrate on a mounting table in a processing chamber; (b) supplying a first processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head to supply the first processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (c) replacing the first processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; (d) supplying a second processing gas to the central region in the gas shower head to supply the second processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (e) supplying energy by using the energy supply unit to react the first processing gas with the second processing gas on the substrate; (f) replacing the second processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; and repeating the steps (b), (c), (d) and (f) plural times. in the film forming method, preferably, an area of the central region of the gas shower head is 50% or less of an area of the peripheral region of the gas shower head. in the film forming method, preferably, the first processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head and the second processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head pass through different channels. in the film forming method, preferably, the first processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head and the second processing gas supplied to the central region of the gas shower head pass through, at least partially, a common channel. in the film forming method, preferably, the step (e) of supplying energy includes heating the substrate mounted on the mounting table by using the energy supply unit. in accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a computer program for performing a film forming method by using a film forming apparatus, which includes a processing chamber; a mounting table disposed in the processing chamber; a gas shower head facing the substrate mounted on the mounting table, having gas supply holes, and including a central region facing a central portion of the substrate and a peripheral region facing a peripheral portion of the substrate; and an energy supply unit for supplying energy, the method comprising the steps of: (a) mounting a substrate on a mounting table in a processing chamber; (b) supplying a first processing gas to the central region of the gas shower head to supply the first processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (c) replacing the first processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; (d) supplying a second processing gas to the central region in the gas shower head to supply the second processing gas to the substrate from the central region; (e) supplying energy by using the energy supply unit to react the first processing gas with the second processing gas on the substrate; (f) replacing the second processing gas with a purge gas in the processing chamber by supplying the purge gas to the central region and the peripheral region of the gas shower head; and repeating the steps (b), (c), (d) and (f) sequentially plural times. in accordance with the aspects of the present invention, a first processing gas and a second processing gas are alternately supplied from a gas shower head facing a substrate, to form a film made of reaction products of the processing gases on the substrate. accordingly, it is possible to improve in-plane uniformity in film thickness and film quality, compared to a side flow manner. further, the gas shower head is divided into a central region and a peripheral region and the first processing gas and the second processing gas are alternately supplied from the central region. accordingly, it is possible to reduce the volume of the gas shower head filled with the processing gas and shortening time required for replacement of the processing gas in the gas shower head. further, during replacement of process atmosphere, a purge gas is additionally discharged from the peripheral region of the gas shower head. accordingly, it is possible to shorten replacement time of the processing gas and improve throughput. further, the volume of processing gas filled in the gas shower head is small. accordingly, it is possible to reduce the amount of discharged processing gas during every replacement of the processing gas. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating one example of a film forming apparatus in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view illustrating a processing chamber of the film forming apparatus. fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating one example of a gas shower head provided in the film forming apparatus. fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the gas shower head. fig. 5 is a plan view seen from the bottom of the gas shower head. fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a film forming method in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. figs. 7a and 7b schematically illustrate a film formation process. fig. 8 is a schematic view illustrating a state of a processing chamber during the film formation process. figs. 9a and 9b schematically illustrate the film formation process. fig. 10 is a characteristic graph showing a relationship between a ratio (v2/v1) of a volume v2 of a gas exhaust space to a volume v1 of a processing region and a film thickness. fig. 11 is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating one example of a gas shower head provided in a film forming apparatus in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the gas shower head. figs. 13a and 13b are characteristic graphs showing the results of examples in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. figs. 14a and 143 are characteristic graphs showing the results of examples in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. fig. 15 is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating an example of a conventional film forming apparatus. figs. 16a to 16c are schematic views illustrating film formation using the film forming apparatus shown in fig. 15 . fig. 17 is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating one example of a conventional film forming apparatus. fig. 18 is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating another example of a conventional film forming apparatus. detailed description of the embodiments hereinafter, a film forming apparatus 20 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to figs. 1 to 5 . the film forming apparatus 20 includes a processing chamber 31 , a gas shower head 51 serving as a gas supply unit, and a flat cylindrical stage 71 serving as a mounting table on which a substrate, e.g., a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a “wafer w”) is mounted. the gas shower head 51 is provided at a top wall of the processing chamber 31 such that it faces the wafer w mounted on the stage 71 . a processing region (processing space) 11 is formed between the gas shower head 51 and the wafer w. a ring body 52 is provided at the outside of the gas shower head 51 to control gas flow such that a lower end surface of the ring body 52 is lower than a lower end surface of the gas shower head 51 (the ring body 52 is vertically closer to the wafer w). the ring body 52 controls a gas stream, which flows from a processing atmosphere of the processing region 11 toward the outside, on the flat bottom surface thereof such that the processing gas uniformly flows in the outer peripheral portion of the wafer w. the lower end surface of the ring body 52 may be flush with the lower end surface of the gas shower head 51 . the stage 71 includes an electrostatic chuck 72 to electrostatically attract the wafer w, and the electrostatic chuck 72 is connected to a power supply 72 a. further, the stage 71 includes a heater (heating device) 73 connected to a power supply 73 a, and the heater 73 heats the wafer w to a temperature of e.g., 600° c. the heater 73 corresponds to an energy supply unit for supplying energy to react a first processing gas (film forming gas) with a second processing gas (ozone gas) on the wafer w. the stage 71 is supported from the bottom by a cylindrical support member 71 a serving as an elevating part. the stage 71 is configured to move up and down by an elevator (not shown) within a predetermined distance, e.g., 60 mm between a process position at which the wafer w is processed and a transfer position at which the wafer w is loaded/unloaded into/from the processing chamber 31 through a transfer port 35 formed on the wall of the processing chamber 31 . at the process position, a distance h between the gas shower head 51 and the wafer w is, e.g., 8 mm. further, the processing gas may remain near the transfer port 35 , and it hinders a film formation process from being uniformly performed. accordingly, in order to perform a film formation process while suppressing influence of gas flow near the transfer port 35 , the position of the stage 71 is varied in a range from the process position to the transfer position. an elevating plate 71 b is connected to the bottom surface of the support member 71 a. the elevating plate 71 b is hermetically coupled to the bottom surface of the processing chamber 31 via a bellows 74 serving as a seal member. the bellows 74 is configured to be extensible and contractible to keep the inside of the processing chamber 31 hermetically sealed, although the stage 71 moves up and down. further, the stage 71 is provided with pins 75 in, e.g., three openings to elevate the wafer w. each of the pins 75 includes a needle-shaped lower part and an upper part that having a diameter larger than that of the lower part. the pins 75 are elevated by a ring-shaped elevating member 75 a provided at a lower portion of the processing chamber 31 . when the elevating member 75 a moves downward away from the pins 75 , larger diameter portions formed at the tops of the pins 75 block openings of the stage 71 , to separate a lower region (lower space) 12 provided below the stage 71 from the processing region 11 . further, by this configuration, the process can be performed while adjusting the distance between the wafer w and the gas shower head 51 (i.e., a height of the processing region 11 ). a supporter 76 serving as a first annular wall is provided at the bottom of the processing chamber 31 under the stage 71 such that the supporter 76 has the same axis as the stage 71 and has the same diameter as the stage 71 . a supporter cover 76 b made of, e.g., aluminum is provided around the supporter 76 to prevent reaction products from being deposited on the supporter 76 . a stage cover 78 made of quartz and serving as a second annular wall is provided on a side surface of the stage 71 and an exposed surface of the stage 71 (i.e., an outer peripheral side of the wafer w) to prevent reaction products from being deposited on the surface of the stage 71 . the sidewall of the stage cover 78 extends to a level lower than the stage 71 and is in contact with to the outer peripheral surface of the supporter cover 76 b. the stage cover 78 vertically overlaps with the supporter 76 to prevent the processing gas from turning to the lower region 12 . although the stage 71 is moved up to the process position, the stage cover 78 vertically overlaps with the supporter 76 to separate the lower region 12 from the atmosphere of the processing region 11 in which the wafer w is arranged. further, for example, four gas supply holes 76 a are formed on the top surface of the supporter 76 at equal intervals in a circumferential direction to communicate with the lower region 12 . the gas supply holes 76 a are connected to a gas source 77 containing, e.g., a nitrogen gas through a gas supply line 76 c. the gas contained in the gas source 77 is supplied to the lower region 12 such that the pressure of the lower region 12 is slightly higher than the pressure of the processing region 11 , thereby further preventing the processing gas from turning to the lower region 12 . for example, a pressure gauge (not shown) is provided in the lower region 12 , so that the pressure of the lower region 12 is set to be slightly higher than the pressure of the processing region 11 . a ring-shaped space having a height h mm, an outer radius r mm and an inner radius r mm, which is surrounded by the side surface of the stage cover 78 and the inner wall of the processing chamber 31 , forms a gas exhaust space 13 . in this embodiment, for example, the respective dimensions h, r and r are 152 mm, 250 mm and 206 mm. further, a volume v1 of the processing region 11 and a volume v2 of the gas exhaust space 13 are 1.07 liters and 9.61 liters, respectively. the ratio of the volumes (v2÷v1) is 9.0. further, the outer radius r and the inner radius r represent outer and inner radii of the ring-shaped space, respectively, and the volume v1 of the processing region 11 is πr 2 h in fig. 2 . four gas exhaust ports 32 having a radius of, e.g., 25 mm are formed on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 31 at equal intervals in a circumferential direction to surround the outside of the supporter 76 . the gas exhaust ports 32 are connected to a vacuum exhaust unit 34 such as a vacuum pump through gas exhaust lines 33 . further, heaters (not shown) may be provided in the gas exhaust lines 33 to prevent products generated in the processing region 11 from being deposited on the inside of the gas exhaust lines and a detailed explanation thereof is omitted. the number of the gas exhaust ports 32 may be four or more, e.g., eight. a ratio of an area of the bottom surface of the gas exhaust space 13 (the bottom surface of the processing chamber 31 ) to a total area of all the gas exhaust ports 32 (i.e., the bottom area of gas exhaust space 13 ÷the total area of the gas exhaust ports 32 ) is 8.0. further, a deposition shield (not shown) made of, e.g., aluminum may be adhered to portions such as the inner wall of the processing chamber 31 and the gas exhaust lines 33 , which are in contact with the processing gas, and a detailed explanation thereof is omitted. then, the gas shower head 51 will be described in detail. the gas shower head 51 includes a central region 53 facing a central portion of the wafer w, and a peripheral region 54 facing a peripheral portion of the wafer w, as shown in figs. 3 and 4 . the radii of the bottom surfaces of the central region 53 and the peripheral region 54 are 85 mm and 160 mm, respectively. the gas shower head 51 is configured to supply a film forming gas, an ozone gas and a purge gas from the central region 53 and to supply an ozone gas and a purge gas from the peripheral region 54 . further, the film forming gas serving as a first processing gas and the ozone gas serving as a second processing gas are not mixed with each other in the central region 53 and are independently supplied to the processing region 11 . that is, a first gas supply line (first processing gas supply line) 81 for supplying a film forming gas to the central region 53 of the gas shower head 51 is independent of a second gas supply line (second processing gas supply line) 82 for supplying an ozone gas to the central region 53 of the gas shower head 51 . hereinafter, the gas shower head 51 will be described in more detail. the central region 53 is configured as a flat cylindrical body 53 a having openings on its top surface. an inner space of the cylindrical body 53 a forms a second diffusion space 62 , in which an ozone gas diffuses, as will be described later. the cylindrical body 53 a is provided, on its bottom surface, with a plurality of second discharge holes 62 a, through which an ozone gas is supplied from the second diffusion space 62 to the processing region 11 . further, the cylindrical body 53 a is provided with a plurality of ring-shaped columns 61 b such that the height of the top surfaces of the columns is equal to the height of the peripheral wall of the cylindrical body 53 a. openings of the columns 61 b form a part of a passage of the film forming gas. the columns 61 b communicate with the processing region 11 through first discharge holes (gas supply holes) 61 a formed on the bottom surfaces thereof. the first discharge holes 61 a and the second discharge holes (gas supply holes) 62 a are arranged on a plurality of concentric circles having different diameters, and are alternately arranged from the inner periphery toward the outer periphery, as shown in fig. 5 . further, fig. 5 illustrates the structure of the gas shower head 51 seen from the bottom thereof (the side of the wafer w). the peripheral region 54 is provided with upright walls 54 b and 54 c on the inner periphery and the outer periphery, respectively. the peripheral region 54 includes a ring body 54 a which is concentric with the cylindrical body 53 a and has the same height as the cylindrical body 53 a. the inner space of the ring body 54 a forms a third diffusion space 63 in which a purge gas or ozone gas diffuses. the ring body 54 a is provided, on its bottom surface, with third discharge holes (gas supply holes) 63 a, wherein eight third discharge holes 63 a are arranged at equal intervals in a circumferential direction and four third discharge holes 63 a are arranged at equal intervals in a diameter direction. the central region 53 and the peripheral region 54 are hermetically joined to the top wall of the processing chamber 31 to form the gas shower head 51 . further, the peripheral wall of the cylindrical body 53 a and the upright walls 54 b and 54 c of the ring body 54 a may be provided with grooves and seal members inserted into the grooves on the top surfaces thereof, or the top surfaces thereof may be polished to maintain airtightness between the central and peripheral regions 53 and 54 and the top wall of the processing chamber 31 . a detailed explanation thereof is omitted. a bottom area (α) of the central region 53 is preferably 50% or less, more preferably, 30 to 40%, of a bottom area (β) of the peripheral region 54 . here, α is a bottom area of the cylindrical body 53 a and β is a bottom area of the ring body 54 a. further, in this embodiment, the first discharge holes 61 a and the second discharge holes 62 a are arranged in a concentric pattern and it is a layout for convenience. for example, the first and second discharge holes 61 a and 62 a may be arranged in a lattice pattern. for example, four third gas supply holes 38 are arranged on the top wall of the processing chamber 31 at equal intervals in a circumferential direction to communicate with the third diffusion space 63 of the peripheral region 54 . further, for example, four second gas supply holes 37 are arranged on the top wall of the processing chamber 31 at equal intervals in a circumferential direction to communicate with the second diffusion space 62 of the central region 53 . a circular groove is formed as a first diffusion space 61 at a central portion of an upper surface (outside) of the top wall of the processing chamber 31 , and a plurality of first gas supply holes 36 are formed on the bottom surface thereof. the first gas supply holes 36 are arranged at the same positions as those of the columns 61 b of the central region 53 such that the first diffusion space 61 hermetically communicates with the processing region 11 through the openings in the columns 61 b. a cover 39 is provided on the top surface of the processing chamber 31 to hermetically seal the first diffusion space 61 . the cover 39 includes a first gas supply hole 36 a for supplying a film forming gas to the first diffusion space 61 and a plurality of second gas supply holes 37 a communicating with the first gas supply holes 36 a. further, grooves and seal members inserted into the grooves are provided at corresponding positions between the second gas supply holes 37 provided on the top surface of the processing chamber 31 and the cover 39 , and a detailed explanation thereof is omitted. further, the top wall of the processing chamber 31 and the cover 39 are provided with holes 40 at positions corresponding to the upper surface of the peripheral wall of the cylindrical body 53 a and the upright wall 54 b of the ring body 54 a. for example, four holes 40 are spaced apart from one another by a predetermined distance in each circumferential direction. the cover 39 , the processing chamber 31 , the cylindrical body 53 a and the ring body 54 a can be in close contact with one another by inserting bolts 41 and 42 from the top surface of the cover 39 through the holes 40 into screw holes 55 formed on the upper surface of the peripheral wall of the cylindrical body 53 a and the upright wall 54 b of the ring body 54 a. similarly, holes 40 are formed on the top wall of the processing chamber 31 at positions corresponding to the upright wall 54 c of the ring body 54 a and, for example, four holes 40 are spaced apart from one another by a predetermined distance in a circumferential direction. bolts 43 are inserted into the screw holes 55 of the upright wall 54 c. the first gas supply hole 36 a and the second gas supply holes 37 a formed in the cover 39 , as shown in fig. 1 , are connected to the first gas supply line 81 and the second gas supply line 82 , respectively. the third gas supply holes 38 formed on the ceiling of the processing chamber 31 are connected to a third gas supply line 83 serving as a purge gas supply line. these gas supply lines 81 , 82 and 83 are connected through valves 87 a, 87 b and 87 f and mass flow controllers 88 a, 88 b and 88 f to a film forming gas source 84 storing, e.g., tetrakis(ethylmethylamino) zirconium (temaz) gas serving as a first processing gas, an oxidizing gas source 85 storing a second processing gas (e.g., ozone) and a purge gas source 86 storing a purge gas (e.g., argon) provided at upstream sides thereof, respectively. further, the gas supply lines 81 and 82 branch into a purge gas supply line 81 a and a purge gas supply line 82 a connected to the purge gas source 86 through valves 87 d and 87 e and mass flow controllers 88 d and 88 e, respectively. the third gas supply line 83 is branched and connected to an oxidizing gas source 85 through a valve 87 c and a mass flow controller 88 c. these valves 87 a to 87 f and mass flow controllers 88 a to 88 f form a gas flow control unit 89 . further, in this embodiment, the film forming gas source 84 , the valve 87 a, the mass flow controller 88 a and the gas supply line 81 form a first processing gas supply unit. further, the oxidizing gas source 85 , the valve 87 b, the mass flow controller 88 b and the gas supply line 82 form a second processing gas supply unit. furthermore, the purge gas source 86 , the valves 87 d, 87 e and 87 f, the mass flow controllers 88 d, 88 e and 88 f, and the gas supply lines 81 , 82 and 83 form a purge gas supply unit. the film forming apparatus 20 is provided with a controller 20 a including, e.g., a computer. the controller 20 a includes a data processor having a program, a memory and cpu. the program includes commands to send control signals from the controller 20 a to respective components of the film forming apparatus 20 such that steps to be described later are carried out to perform the process or transfer of the wafer w. further, for example, the memory includes an area, in which process parameters such as process pressure, process temperature, process time, gas flow and power level are recorded. when the cpu performs program commands, the process parameters are read and control signals depending on the parameters are transferred to respective components of the film forming apparatus 20 . the program (including programs associated with input operations and display of process parameters) is stored in a storage unit 20 b as a computer storage medium such as flexible disk, compact disk, magneto-optical disk (mo) or hard disk and is installed in the controller 20 a. further, the controller 20 a controls the first processing gas supply unit, the second processing gas supply unit and the purge gas supply unit, to repeat plural times the sequential steps of supplying a temaz gas (first processing gas) from the central region 53 to the wafer w; supplying an ar gas (purge gas) from the central region 53 and the peripheral region 54 to the wafer w; supplying an ozone gas (second processing gas) from the central region 53 to the wafer w; and supplying an ar gas (purge gas) from the central region 53 and the peripheral region 54 to the wafer w. next, the operation of the film forming apparatus 20 will be described with reference to figs. 6 to 9 . first, the stage 71 is moved down to a transfer position, the wafer w is loaded in the processing chamber 31 through the transfer port 35 by using a transfer unit (not shown) to be mounted on the stage 71 , and a gate valve (not shown) is closed (loading step). then, the wafer w is electrostatically attracted onto the stage 71 by the electrostatic chuck 72 , and the stage 71 is elevated to a process position (step s 51 ). then, the wafer w is heated to a temperature of, e.g., 280° c. by using the heater 73 (energy supplying step) (step s 52 ). also, the processing chamber 31 is exhausted to vacuum by using a vacuum discharge unit 34 . subsequently, a temaz gas (first processing gas) is supplied to the wafer w at a predetermined flow rate, e.g., 10 mg/min for, e.g., 1.5 seconds from the film forming gas source 84 through the first discharge holes 61 a (first processing gas supplying step) (step s 53 ). for example, a nitrogen gas is supplied from the gas supply line 76 c to the lower region 12 . as a result of this process, the temaz gas is adsorbed on the surface of the wafer w, as shown in fig. 7a , to uniformly form a thin temaz film 90 having a thickness of, e.g., 0.1 nm. in this process, a purge gas may be supplied at about 300 sccm through the third discharge holes 63 a, in order to prevent the temaz gas from flowing into the third diffusion space 63 . the stage cover 78 , the supporter 76 and the inner wall of the processing chamber 31 form the gas exhaust space 13 having a ring shape, thereby inhibiting extension and contraction of a flow passage. thus, the temaz gas flows into the gas exhaust line 33 provided under the gas exhaust space 13 without interruption of gas flow while preventing the gas from turning to the lower region 12 . further, the temaz gas is discharged through the gas exhaust space 13 from the gas exhaust ports 32 provided at the bottom of the processing chamber 31 , so that the temaz gas is uniformly discharged toward the periphery on the surface of the wafer w. further, the gas exhaust ports 32 are arranged at equal intervals at four locations on the bottom of the processing chamber 31 . accordingly, the atmosphere of the gas exhaust space 13 is peripherally discharged from four directions. at this time, the gas is exhausted by strong suction at portions adjacent to the gas exhaust ports 32 , so that there is variation in gas flow rate in a circumferential direction near the bottom surface of the processing chamber. however, in order to reduce the difference in the gas flow rate, the gas exhaust space 13 , which has a ring shape and a large vertical length, is formed between the gas exhaust ports 32 and the wafer w, or the volume v1of the processing region 11 is reduced. as a result, the atmosphere of the processing region 11 is radially discharged from the center of the wafer w. further, as shown in fig. 8 , a nitrogen gas is supplied to the lower region 12 such that the pressure of the lower region 12 is slightly higher than that of the processing region 11 , thereby preventing the temaz gas from turning to the lower region 12 . accordingly, adhesion of the temaz gas to the pins 75 or the bellows 74 is prevented. the nitrogen gas supplied to the lower region 12 slightly flows into the gas exhaust space 13 through a gap between the stage cover 78 and the supporter cover 76 b, and is then discharged together with the temaz gas. then, an ar gas serving as a purge gas is supplied into the processing chamber 31 through the first discharge holes 61 a and the third discharge holes 63 a for 5 seconds at a flow rate of, e.g., 3 slm, larger than that of the temaz gas (first replacement step) (step s 54 ). further, a nitrogen gas is supplied from the gas supply line 76 c to the lower region 12 . as a result of this process, as shown in fig. 7b , the temaz gas on the downstream side of the junction between the first gas supply line 81 and the purge gas supply line 81 a and in the central region 53 communicating with the first discharge holes 61 a is discharged to the processing chamber 31 . further, the temaz gas is ejected toward the periphery of the wafer w by purge gases from the central region 53 and the peripheral region 54 , and is discharged through the gas exhaust ports 32 and the gas exhaust line 33 . as a result, a purge gas atmosphere is formed in the central region 53 and the processing chamber 31 . the flow rate of the purge gas is much greater than that of the temaz gas in step s 53 . however, the four gas exhaust ports 32 are arranged at equal intervals on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 31 and the ring-shaped gas exhaust space 13 is formed to surround the stage 71 . accordingly, the purge gas is rapidly discharged without stagnation in the vicinity of the wafer w. the flow rate of the purge gas is preferably 3 to 5 slm to improve throughput by reducing gas replacement time. the atmosphere of the processing chamber 31 is switched for a short period of time, e.g., 5 seconds by supplying purge gas at a high flow rate. then, an ozone gas (second processing gas) is supplied to the wafer w at a flow rate, e.g., 200 g/normalm 3 (hereinafter, referred to as nm 3 ) for 3 seconds from the oxidizing gas source 85 through the second discharge holes 62 a (second processing gas supplying step) (step s 55 ). further, in the same way as in step s 53 , a nitrogen gas is supplied from the gas supply line 76 c to the lower region 12 . as a result of this process, as shown in fig. 9a , the temaz film 90 adsorbed on the surface of the wafer w reacts with ozone by thermal energy of a heater 173 to form a zro 2 film 91 serving as a molecular layer of zro 2 . also in this film formation, a purge gas may be supplied at about 300 sccm through the third discharge holes 63 a to prevent the ozone gas from flowing into the third diffusion space 63 . since the temaz film 90 adsorbed on the surface of the wafer w is very thin in step s 53 , the temaz film 90 is uniformly oxidized within a short period of oxidation and converted into the zro 2 film 91 . also in this process, the ozone gas is prevented from turning to the lower region 12 and is uniformly discharged. further, an ozone gas may be also supplied through the third discharge holes 63 a. in this case, the oxidation is more rapidly performed. then, in the same manner as in step s 54 , the purge gas is supplied at a flow rate of 3 to 5 slm to the processing chamber 31 (second replacement step) (step s 56 ), and a nitrogen gas is supplied to the lower region 12 . at this time, the purge gas is supplied from both the second discharge holes 62 a and the third discharge holes 63 a. as a result, as shown in fig. 9b , the ozone gas on the downstream side of the junction between the second gas supply line 82 and the purge gas supply line 82 a and in the central region is discharged to the processing chamber 31 . thus, the ozone gas in the processing chamber 31 flows radially and isotropically from the center of the wafer semiconductor wafer w and is rapidly discharged from the processing chamber 31 . a series of steps s 53 to s 56 is repeated, e.g., 100 times (step s 57 ) to obtain multiple molecular layers of zro 2 , so that the zro 2 film 91 is formed to have a predetermined thickness of, e.g., 10 nm. after the film formation process is completed, the wafer w is unloaded from the processing chamber 31 (step s 58 ). in accordance with the above embodiment, since the processing gas is supplied from the gas shower head 51 , in-plane uniformity of film thickness and film quality is improved compared to a side flow manner, as described above. further, the gas shower head 51 is divided into the central region 53 and the peripheral region 54 and the film forming gas (first processing gas) and the ozone gas (second processing gas) are alternately supplied from the central region 53 . thus, it is possible to reduce the volume of the gas shower head 51 filled with the processing gas and to shorten time required for replacement of the processing gas in the gas shower head 51 . further, during the replacement of the processing gas, a purge gas is also supplied from the peripheral region 54 of the gas shower head 51 , thereby shortening the time required for the replacement of the processing gas and improving throughput. moreover, the volume of processing gas filled in the gas shower head 51 is small, thereby reducing the amount of processing gas wasted during the replacement of the processing gas. further, an area (inner area of the central region 53 ) on which products obtained by decomposition of the film forming gas are deposited is small, thus shortening a period taken for manual cleaning. as a result, throughput is improved and maintenance becomes easier. although a gas is supplied from the central region 53 having a small area relative to the diameter of wafer w, the height of the processing region 11 (the distance between the wafer w and the gas shower head 51 ) and process conditions are adjusted, so that in-plane uniformity is sufficiently obtained. further, the ozone gas is inexpensive compared to the film forming gas. accordingly, the ozone gas is additionally supplied from the peripheral region 54 in the oxidation process of the temaz film 90 , thereby rapidly forming the zro 2 film 91 and improving throughput. as described above, the gas is supplied to the wafer w from the gas shower head 51 provided above the wafer w. as apparent from experimental examples which will be described later, the gas can be quickly supplied to the entire surface of the wafer w. consequently, it is possible to reduce a gas supply amount and improve in-plane uniformity of film thickness and film quality. further, since the gas is supplied from above, collision (contact) probability between the gas and the wafer w increases. accordingly, it is possible to improve a reaction rate (yield) of film forming gas and realize film formation at low costs. in particular, when the process requires a high temperature of, e.g., 250° c. or more to decompose the processing gas, the reaction rapidly progresses and, thus, the in-plane uniformity of film thickness and film quality deteriorates in a side flow manner. on the other hand, in this embodiment, since a movement distance of gas on the surface of the wafer w is short, it is possible to improve the in-plane uniformity of film thickness and film quality and shorten a film formation period. further, in the film formation performed by supplying the processing gas from the gas shower head 51 by using the above-described ald method, the processing gas is discharged through the annular gas exhaust space 13 formed to surround the stage 71 and the four gas exhaust ports 32 arranged at equal intervals in a circumferential direction. accordingly, the atmosphere in the processing region 11 can be isotropically and rapidly discharged. consequently, when one of the film forming gas and the oxidizing gas is switched by the other, although a purge gas is supplied at a high flow rate of, e.g., 3 to 5 slm, it can be discharged rapidly within, e.g., 5 seconds without stagnation. thus, it is possible to shorten gas replacement time and improve throughput. further, the gas is uniformly supplied from the gas shower head 51 to the wafer w while the gas is isotropically discharged from the processing region 11 . accordingly, even when the zro 2 film 91 is formed at a high temperature of, e.g., 280° c., the film formation having the in-plane uniformity of film thickness and film quality can be achieved. therefore, throughput is further improved. the method of this embodiment is very effective in realizing the film formation using a so-called ald method. the processing region 11 has a small volume v1 (1.07 liter), and the gas exhaust space 13 has a volume v2 (9.61 liter) larger than the volume v1 of the processing region 11 such that the ratio of the volume v2 and the volume v1 (v2÷v1) is adjusted to 9.0. as a result, during the gas replacement, the atmosphere of the processing region 11 is rapidly transferred to the gas exhaust space 13 , thereby shortening the gas replacement period. further, the vertical dimension of the processing chamber 31 may be lengthened or the distance h between the gas shower head 51 and the wafer w may be shortened in order to adjust the ratio to 9.0 or more. fig. 10 is data showing film thickness uniformity in a case where the zro 2 film 91 was formed while changing the height h in figs. 2 to 8 mm, 13.5 mm and 25 mm to vary v2/v1. as can be seen from the data, v2/v1 needs to be 9 or more to realize uniformity of 3% or less. further, the stage cover 78 and the supporter 76 are provided such that the lower region 12 is formed under the stage 71 to be separated from the gas exhaust space 13 . accordingly, although the stage 71 is elevated, it is possible to prevent the film forming gas from turning to the lower region 12 and to prevent film forming species from being adhered to the lower region 12 , thereby preventing damage to the bellows 74 . by providing the stage cover 78 and the supporter 76 , there is a further effect of forming the gas exhaust space 13 without any additional member. further, e.g., a nitrogen gas is supplied to the lower region 12 , to make the pressure of the lower region 12 higher than the pressure inside the processing chamber 31 (the pressure of the processing region 11 ). thus, it is possible to further prevent the film forming gas from turning to the lower region 12 . the film forming gas is not in contact with the ozone gas in the central region 53 and, thus, generation of zro 2 is prevented in the central region 53 . consequently, it is possible to reduce an amount of the processing gas wasted and prevent generation of particles. further, to allow the film forming gas to be mixed with ozone gas in the central region 53 , respective gases may share a common passage in the central region 53 , which will be described in detail. figs. 11 and 12 show a gas shower head 51 a in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. the film forming apparatus of the second embodiment has the same configuration as the aforementioned film forming apparatus 20 except for the gas shower head 51 a and an explanation thereof is omitted. the peripheral region 54 of the gas shower head 51 a has the same configuration as that of the gas shower head 51 . however, a central region 56 of the gas shower head 51 a has a structure wherein the first processing gas and the second processing gas are discharged through discharge holes 64 formed over the entire bottom surface of the cylindrical body 53 a without passing through the respective passages. the inner space of the cylindrical body 53 a forms a diffusion space 65 in which the first processing gas and the second processing gas diffuse. further, the processing chamber 31 is directly to the first gas supply line 81 and the second gas supply line 82 without the cover 39 provided on the top wall thereof. also in this case, the central region 56 and the peripheral region 54 come in close contact with the top wall of the processing chamber 31 via seal members inserted into grooves (not shown). further, in the same way as in fig. 4 , the central region 56 , the peripheral region 54 and the processing chamber 3 are in close contact with one another via the bolts and screw holes (not shown). also in this embodiment, the film formation process is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment and similar effects are thus obtained. further, in the above-described embodiments, the first gas supply line 81 and the second gas supply line 82 are connected to purge gas supply lines 81 a and 82 a such that the purge gas is supplied through the first gas supply line 81 and the second gas supply line 82 to the central region 53 . however, the purge gas may be supplied independently of the first gas supply line 81 and the second gas supply line 82 . in this case, the film forming gas source 84 is connected to the first gas supply line 81 , and the purge gas source 86 is connected to the cover 39 via a purge gas channel (not shown). in this configuration, at steps s 54 and s 56 , the processing gas in the central region 53 is discharged by the purge gas, but the processing gas present in the first gas supply line 81 and the second gas supply line 82 is not discharged. accordingly, the configurations of the first and second embodiments are preferable. further, although a zro 2 film is formed by using a temaz gas as a first processing gas in the above embodiments, for example, temah(tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)hafnium) gas, 3dmas(tris(dimethylamino)silane) gas, sr(methd) 2 (bis(methoxyethoxytetramethylheptanedionate)strontium) gas, tdmat(tetrakis(dimethylamino)titanium) gas, la(dpm) 3 (trisdipybaroil metanatolanthanum) gas or y(ipr 2 amd) gas may be used as a film forming gas. the film forming gas may be adsorbed on a wafer w and then oxidized, to form a film made of a high-k dielectric material such as hfo 2 , hfsio, srtio, lao 2 or y-doped hfo. in this case, process conditions (process time and process temperature), and the temperature of the gas exhaust line 33 are suitably determined. further, although a heater is used as an energy supply unit for supplying energy to react a temaz gas with an ozone gas on the wafer w in the above embodiments, but optical energy of, e.g., ultraviolet light may be used. examples example 1 next, experiments performed to confirm effects of the present invention will be described. in the experiments, film formation was performed under the following process conditions and properties such as film thickness were measured. (process conditions) gas type (film forming gas/oxidizing gas): temaz gas/ozone gas=10, 25, 50, 100 (mg/min)/200 (g/nm 3 ) process time (film formation/oxidation): 1.5/3 sec process temperature: 250° c. gas replacement time (film formation/oxidation): 5/5 sec number of times film formation/oxidation is repeated: 100 times experimental example 1 the experiment was carried out in the film forming apparatus 20 including the gas shower head 51 . comparative example 1 the experiment was carried out in the film forming apparatus 100 shown in fig. 15 . (experimental results) as can be seen from figs. 13a and 13b , in experimental example 1, film thickness and uniformity of film thickness were good even at a low flow rate of temaz gas. this indicates that collision (contact) probability between the gas and the wafer w and film formation efficiency were increased because the film forming gas was isotropically supplied from above the wafer w. that is, the reaction was sufficiently performed even at a low flow rate. further, from improvement of in-plane uniformity of film thickness as shown in fig. 13b , it can be seen that source gases were isotropically supplied and discharged, and a film formation process was uniformly performed. meanwhile, in comparative example 1, film thickness and uniformity of film thickness were poor at a low flow rate. this is due to the fact that collision probability between the wafer w and the gas was low and a film thickness gradient was formed from one end of the wafer w to the other end thereof, since the gas was supplied to the wafer w in a lateral direction, as mentioned above. as the flow rate increased, film thickness and uniformity of film thickness were improved in comparative example 1. this means that an amount of waste gas is large at a low flow rate. as can be seen from figs. 13a and 13b , in experimental example 1, sufficient film thickness and uniformity of film thickness can be obtained even at about 20% of the flow rate of comparative example 1. example 2 next, in the same manner as mentioned above, experiments were carried out under the following conditions. (process conditions) process time (film formation/oxidation): 1.5/3 sec gas replacement time (film formation/oxidation): 5/5 sec number of times film formation/oxidation is repeated: 100 experimental example 2 gas type (film forming gas/oxidizing gas): temaz gas/ozone gas=10 (mg/min)/200 (g/nm 3 ) process temperature: every 5° c. from 240° c. to 270° c., every 10° c. from 270° c. to 300° c. further, the experiment was carried out in the film forming apparatus 20 including the gas shower head 51 . comparative example 2 gas type (film forming gas/oxidizing gas): temaz gas/ozone gas=100 (mg/min)/200 (g/nm 3 ) process temperature: every 5° c. from 235° c. to 270° c. further, the experiment was carried out in the film forming apparatus 100 shown in fig. 15 . further, from the results of example 1, good results were not obtained in the film forming apparatus 100 when the temaz gas was supplied at a low flow rate. accordingly, in comparative example 2, the temaz gas was supplied at a flow rate of 100 mg/min. further, at a temperature of 270° c. or more, the experiment of comparative example 2 was not performed because there was a definite difference between experimental example 2 and comparative example 2. (experimental results) differing from the case of comparative example 2, film thickness and uniformity thereof in experimental example 2 were not varied a lot and stable even though a process temperature was increased as can be seen from figs. 14a and 14b . this behavior indicates that the reaction sufficiently proceeded even at a low temperature in experimental example 2. that is, as the process temperature increases, decomposition of the film forming gas proceeds and a high purity zro 2 film 91 is thus obtained. in experimental example 2, a high purity zro 2 film 91 having in-plane uniformity of film thickness was obtained. that is, since the gas was uniformly supplied and discharged, there was no deviation in film thickness even at a higher temperature and, thus, a high purity film could be obtained. meanwhile, in comparative example 2, film formation could not be properly performed at a high temperature because in-plane uniformity of film thickness was deteriorated when a process temperature was increased. further, from the results obtained by measuring concentration of impurities present in the film and surface roughness, it was found that film properties in experimental example 2 were twice as good as those of comparative example 2. further, refractive index of experimental example 2 was also better than that of comparative example 2.
|
106-522-997-405-976
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
B41J3/407,G02F1/167,G02F1/1673,G06F3/033,G06F3/16
| 2010-06-02T00:00:00 |
2010
|
[
"B41",
"G02",
"G06"
] |
writing electronic paper
|
embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for writing on electronic paper (“e-paper”) and display platforms implemented with e-paper. in one aspect, a system for writing information to electronic paper includes a writing module and an erasing unit connected to the writing module. the erasing unit is configured to erase information stored in the electronic paper. the system also includes a writing unit connected to the writing module and is configured to write information to the electronic paper. information is written to the electronic paper by orienting the writing module so that the electronic paper passes the erasing unit prior to passing the writing unit.
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1 - 20 . (canceled) 21 . a device comprising: a module comprising a first side spaced apart from and facing a first surface of a passive e-paper media and comprising: an erasing unit to generate airborne electrical species having a first charge for attachment onto the first surface of the passive e-paper media to erase information in a fluid-containing microcapsule layer of the passive e-paper media; and a writing unit to generate airborne electrical species having an opposite second charge for attachment onto the first surface of the passive e-paper media to write information in the fluid-containing microcapsule layer of the passive e-paper media, wherein the erasing unit and the writing unit are both positioned on the first side of the module and wherein relative movement is to selectively occur between the module and the passive e-paper media during the erasing and the writing. 22 . the device of claim 21 , wherein the module is stationary. 23 . the device of claim 21 , wherein the erasing unit is in a leading position and the writing unit is in a trailing position spaced apart from the erasing unit. 24 . the device of claim 21 , wherein the erasing unit and the writing unit of the module are both positioned to be vertically suspended above the passive e-paper media. 25 . the device of claim 21 , comprising a ground node associated with the imaging module and to be removably coupled relative to an entire conductive ground layer of the passive e-paper media. 26 . the device of claim 21 , wherein at least the erasing unit comprises at least one of a corona and an ion head. 27 . the device of claim 21 , wherein the writing unit further comprises an ion head. 28 . the device of claim 21 , wherein the module is configured to span the width of the passive e-paper media to write information in a single pass. 29 . the device of claim 21 , comprising a housing containing the module and including a slot through which the passive e-paper media is to enter as a card to become aligned for relative movement relative to the module during erasing and writing. 30 . the device of claim 29 , wherein the module is arranged to erase and write the information relative to a passive e-paper strip on the card. 31 . the device of claim 21 , wherein the module comprises a discharging unit in a trailing position relative to the writing unit to discharge at least some ions from the first surface of the passive e-paper media. 32 . a method comprising: causing relative movement between a writing module and a passive e-paper media, which comprises a charge-receiving layer, a charge-responsive, fluid-containing microcapsule layer, and a ground electrode; during such relative movement: erasing information in the microcapsule layer in the passive e-paper media via first airborne electrical charges produced via a first unit of the writing module; and writing information in the microcapsule layer in the passive e-paper media via second airborne opposite electrical charges produced via a second unit of the writing module, wherein both the respective first and second units are located on a first side of the writing module to face a charge-receiving layer of the passive e-paper media. 33 . the method of claim 32 , comprising: after writing information, removing at least some electrical charges attached to the charge-receiving layer of the passive e-paper media via a discharging unit associated with the writing module. 34 . the method of claim 32 , comprising: positioning both the erasing unit and the writing unit to be vertically suspended above the passive e-paper media. 35 . the method of claim 34 , comprising: arranging the erasing unit to include at least one of a corona and an ion-head. 36 . the method of claim 32 , comprising: arranging the writing unit to include an ion head to comprise an ion head to eject electrons or ions. 37 . the method of claim 32 , wherein the module is stationary. 38 . the method of claim 32 , coupling the entire ground electrode layer relative to a ground node during the erasing and writing. 39 . the method of claim 32 , comprising performing the coupling without applying power to the ground electrode layer. 40 . the method of claim 32 , comprising: arranging the passive e-paper media as a card; and initiating the relative movement via inserting the passive e-paper media card into a slot of a housing, which contains the writing module.
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cross reference this application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/792,301, filed jun. 2, 2010, entitled “systems and methods for writing on and using electronic paper”, and which is incorporated herein by reference. background electronic paper (“e-paper”) is a display technology designed to recreate the appearance of ink on ordinary paper. e-paper reflects light like ordinary paper and may be capable of displaying text and images indefinitely without using electricity to refresh the image, while allowing the image to be changed later. e-paper can also be implemented as a flexible, thin sheet, like paper. by contrast, a typical flat panel display does not exhibit the same flexibility, uses a backlight to illuminate pixels, and has to be periodically refreshed in order to maintain the display of an image. typical e-paper implementations include an e-paper display and electronics for rendering and displaying digital media on the e-paper, such as electronic books (“e-books”). however, the majority of the cost associated with these platforms lies in the electronics used to write on the e-paper, while the cost of the e-paper is considerably less. manufacturers and users of display platforms continue to seek cost effective systems and methods for writing on e-paper and a variety of display platforms using e-paper. brief description of the drawings fig. 1a shows a plan view of an example piece of electronic paper. fig. 1b shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of the electronic paper, shown in fig. 1a , along a line a-a. figs. 2a-2d show four examples of microcapsule implementations of electronic paper. fig. 3 shows a side view and schematic representation of a first example writing system configured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. figs. 4a-4b show a side view and a schematic representation of a second example writing system configured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. fig. 5 shows a side view and schematic representation of a third example writing system configured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. figs. 6a-6c show side views of three writing systems configured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. figs. 7a-7c show different views of a first example printing system configured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. figs. 8a-8c show different views of a second example printing system configured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. figs. 9a-9b show examples of cards configured with a strip of e-paper for displaying information in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. fig. 10 shows an isometric view of an electronic paper writing machine and a card configured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. figs. 11a-11b show an example of the writing system configured to write information to electronic paper strip of a card in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. fig. 12 shows a flow diagram of a method of writing information to electronic paper in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. detailed description embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for writing on electronic paper (“e-paper”) and display platforms implemented with e-paper. the display platforms included, but are not limited to, cards, posters, general signage, pricing labels, and any other platforms upon which e-paper can be displayed and system and method embodiments of the present invention can be used to write on the e-paper. a general description of the configuration and operation of e-paper is provided in a first subsection. a description of system and method embodiments for writing on e-paper and a description of display platforms implemented with e-paper are provided in a second subsection. electronic paper fig. 1a shows a plan view of an example piece of e-paper 102 and includes an enlargement 104 of a small portion of the e-paper 102 . the enlargement 104 reveals the e-paper 102 includes an array of embedded, spherical-shaped microcapsules 106 . fig. 1b shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of the e-paper 102 along a line a-a, shown in fig. 1a . the cross-sectional view reveals an example multilayer structure of the e-paper 102 , including a layer of the microcapsules 106 sandwiched between a transparent insulating layer 108 and a conductive ground layer 110 . as shown in fig. 1b , the conductive ground layer 110 is disposed on a substrate 112 . depending on how the e-paper is used determines the thickness and composition of the various layers. for example, the insulating layer 108 can be composed of a transparent dielectric polymer and can range in thickness from approximately 100 nm to approximately 14 μm. the insulating layer 108 can also be composed of a material that holds charges or is porous or semi-porous to charges and/or ions. the insulating layer 108 can also be composed of a first insulating layer and second patterned conductive layer. the microcapsules, described in greater detail below, can have a diameter of approximately 50 μm, but may also range in diameter from approximately 20 μm to approximately 100 μm. the conductive ground layer 110 can be composed of a transparent conductive material, such as indium tin oxide, or an opaque conductive material and can have a thickness ranging from approximately 5 nm to approximately 1 mm. typically, the layers 106 , 108 , and 110 have a total thickness of approximately 100 μm. the substrate 112 can be composed of an opaque material or a transparent material and can range in thickness from approximately 20 μm to approximately 1 mm, or the thickness can be much larger depending on the how the e-paper is used. for example, the substrate 112 can be composed of polyester, plastic, or transparent mylar. also, the substrate 112 can be omitted and the layers 106 , 108 , and 110 can be mounted on a wall or a product chassis. ideally the insulating layer 108 serves as a wear protection layer for the layer of microcapsules 106 and normalizes the e-paper surface, eliminating surface topography and blocking surface conduction paths on the microcapsule surfaces. a variation on e-paper 102 includes the layer of microcapsules 106 , the ground layer 110 , and the substrate 112 , but the insulating layer 108 can be omitted. the microcapsules 106 can be filled with one or more pigment particles that can be used to display images by looking at the e-paper 102 from the insulating layer 108 side, although typical e-paper is viewed through the substrate layer 112 . for example, returning to fig. 1a , the microcapsules 106 in the microcapsule layer can be configured with white and black particles. each microcapsule can form a black and white pixel or groups of adjacent microcapsules can form a black and white pixel. when white particles of a microcapsule are located near the insulating layer 108 the microcapsule appears white to a viewer, and when the black particles of a microcapsule are located near the insulating layer 108 the microcapsule appears black to the viewer. for example, enlargement 104 shows a thin vertical line 118 displayed in the e-paper 102 by a number of microcapsules 114 with black particles located near the insulating layer 108 surrounded by microcapsules 106 with white particles located near the insulating layer 108 . the microcapsules 106 are designed to exhibit image stability using chemical adhesion between particles and/or between the particles and the microcapsule surface. for example, the black and white microcapsules ideally can hold text and images indefinitely without drawing electricity, while allowing the text or images to be changed later. figs. 2a-2d show four examples of microcapsule implementations of e-paper. in the example of fig. 2a , each microcapsule includes black particles 202 and while particles 204 suspended in a transparent fluid 206 . the particles can be of opposite charges. for example, the black particles 202 can be positively charged particles and the white particles 204 can be negatively charged particles. one or more microcapsules form a pixel of black and white images displayed on the e-paper 102 . the black and white images are created by placing white or black particles near the insulating layer 108 . for example, the microcapsules 210 - 212 with white particles located near the transparent insulating layer 108 reflect white light and appear white to a viewer 208 . by contrast, the microcapsules with black particles located near the transparent insulating layer 108 , such as microcapsule 214 , appear black to the viewer 208 , corresponding to a black portion of the image displayed on the e-paper 102 . various shades of gray can be created by varying the arrangement of alternating microcapsules with white and black particles located near the insulating layer 108 using halftoning. in the example of fig. 2b , each microcapsule includes black particles 216 suspended in a white colored fluid 218 . the black particles 216 can be positively charged particles or negatively charged particles. one or more microcapsules form a pixel of black and white images displayed on the e-paper 102 . the black and white images are created by placing black particles near or away from the insulating layer 108 . for example, the microcapsules 220 - 222 with black particles located away from the transparent insulating layer 108 reflect white light, corresponding to a white portion of an image displayed on the e-paper 102 . by contrast, the microcapsules with black particles located near the transparent insulating layer 108 , such as microcapsule 224 , appear black to the viewer 208 , corresponding to a black portion of the image displayed on the e-paper 102 . various shades of gray can be created by varying the arrangement of alternating microcapsules with black particles located near or away from the insulating layer 108 using halftoning. in the example of fig. 2c , the e-paper 102 is configured as described above with reference to fig. 2a , except the insulating layer 108 is configured with alternating blue, red, and green regions. adjacent blue, red, and green regions form color pixels, such as color pixels 226 - 228 . color images are created by placing different combinations of white or black particles near the insulating layer 108 . for example, the microcapsules of color pixel 227 with white particles located near the red and green regions of the transparent insulating layer 108 reflect red and green light from the e-paper which appear in combination as a yellow pixel of a color image observed by the viewer 208 . the microcapsules of color pixel 226 have black particles located near the transparent insulating layer 108 causing the color pixel 226 to appear black to the viewer 208 . only one microcapsule of color pixel 228 has white particles located near the blue region of the transparent insulating layer 108 reflecting blue light from the e-paper. the insulating layer 108 may also use other primary colors to create color images such as regions with yellow, magenta, and cyan. the insulating layer 108 may also includes spot colors, such as colors associated with a logo. in the example of fig. 2d , the e-paper 102 is configured as described above with reference to fig. 2b , except the black particles of each microcapsule are replaced by either blue, red, or green positively, or negatively, charged particles, represented by differently shaded particles in legend 230 . microcapsules with adjacent blue, red, and green particles form color pixels, such as color pixels 232 - 234 . color images are created by placing different combinations of colored particles near the insulating layer 108 . for example, the microcapsules of color pixel 234 with red and green particles located near the insulating layer 108 reflect red and green light from the e-paper which appear in combination as a yellow pixel of a color image observed by the viewer 208 . the microcapsules of color pixel 232 have colored particles located away from the insulating layer 108 causing the color pixel 232 to appear white to the viewer 208 . only one microcapsule of color pixel 233 has red particles located near the insulating layer 108 reflecting red light from the e-paper. the e-paper 102 and variations shown in figs. 2a-2d represent only a handful of many different varieties of e-paper that is suitable for use with the electronic paper writing systems and methods of the present invention. other types of e-paper include electrophoretic paper, field induced displays, or any other display surface activated by an electrical field directed substantially perpendicular to the display surface. for the sake of simplicity and brevity, writing systems and method embodiments are described using the e-paper described above with reference to fig. 2a . however, writing systems and methods are not intended to be limited in their application. the writing systems and methods can be used to write to any type of e-paper, including any of the kinds of e-paper described above in the preceding subsection. fig. 3 shows a side view and schematic representation of an example writing system 300 . the writing system 300 includes a writing module 302 , writing unit 304 , and an erasing unit 306 . the writing unit 304 and erasing unit 306 are connected to the same side of the writing module 300 that faces the outer surface 308 of the insulating layer 108 , with the ion head 304 suspended above the surface 308 . in the example of fig. 3 , the writing unit 304 is an ion head and the erasing unit 306 can be an electrode that comes into close contact with, or can be dragged along, the surface 308 in front of the ion head 304 . the writing module 302 can be moved in the direction 310 and the e-paper held stationary; or the e-paper 102 can be moved in the direction 312 and the writing module 302 held stationary; or the writing module 302 is moved in the direction 310 and the e-paper 102 is simultaneously moved in the opposite direction 312 . in the example shown in fig. 3 , the black particles and the white particles of the microcapsules are positively charged and negatively charged, respectively. the erasing unit 306 erases any information stored in the microcapsules prior to writing information with the ion head 304 . in the example shown in fig. 3 , as the e-paper 102 passes under the writing module 302 , the positively charged erasing unit 306 can remove negatively charge ions attached to the surface 308 . the positively charge erasing unit 306 also creates electrostatic forces that drive positively charged black particles away from the insulating layer 108 and attract negatively charged white particles toward the insulating layer 108 . for example, as shown in fig. 3 , as the positively charged erasing unit 306 passes over the surface 308 and approaches microcapsule 314 , positively charged black particles of the microcapsule 314 are repelled by the positive charge and driven away from the insulating layer 108 . by contrast, negatively charged white particles are attracted to the erasing unit 306 and driven toward the insulating layer 108 . when the erasing unit 306 reaches the microcapsule 316 , the white and black particles of the microcapsule 314 are reversed and the microcapsule 314 reflects white light. fig. 3 also reveals the writing operation performed by the ion head 304 . in certain embodiments, the ion head 304 can be implemented as described in u.s. pat. no. 7,623,144, issued nov. 24, 2009 to hewlett-packard development company, l.p. the ion head 304 is configured and operated to selectively eject electrons, e−, 318 toward the insulating layer 108 , when a region of the e-paper located beneath the ion head 304 is to be changed from white to black. as the electrons reach the surface 308 , the negatively charged white particles are repelled and driven away from the insulating layer 108 , while the positively charged black particles are attracted to the negatively charged electrons and driven toward the insulating layer 108 . for example, as shown in fig. 3 , as the ion head 304 passes over a portion of microcapsule 320 while ejecting electrons, the negatively charged white particles are repelled away from the insulating layer 108 and the positively charged black particles are driven toward the insulating layer 108 . the electrons 318 can be absorbed by the insulating layer 108 over the regions that are to written to, or the electrons 318 can create ions that are absorbed by adhesion forces to the surface 308 . in the case where ions are formed, it is believed that as the electrons 314 are ejected from the ion head 304 , the electrons interact with certain air molecules to form negatively charge molecular ions 322 that attach to the surface 308 . for example, it is believed that carbon dioxide in the air gap between the ion head 304 and the surface 308 interacts with the ejected electrons to form a negatively charged carbon dioxide ion that attaches to the surface 308 . embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the ion head 304 discharging electrons and the erasing unit 306 erasing information with positive charges. the microcapsules 106 of the microcapsule layer can be composed of negatively charged black particles and positively charged white particles. in other embodiments, the ion head 304 can be configured to produce positively charged ions, which are absorbed to the surface 308 , and the erasing unit 306 can use negative charges to erase information stored in the microcapsule layer of the e-paper 102 . in other embodiments, the writing unit can be any charge injection device with sufficient addressability and resolution. for example, the writing unit can be a plasma generating needle. the negatively charged molecular ions attached to the surface 308 may help to preserve information written to the e-paper 102 . for example, fig. 3 shows negatively charged molecular ions 324 attached to the surface 308 . the negatively charged ions 324 maintain the positively charged black particles located near the insulating layer 108 and the negatively charged white particles located away from the insulating layer 108 , preserving the information written to the e-paper 102 . when the e-paper 102 is handled by a person after writing, moisture, oils from the person's hands, and static electricity or tribo charges carried by the person may alter the charge distribution over the surface 308 or inside the layer 108 . these charges may be large enough to cause a redistribution of white and black particles in microcapsules. for example, the negatively charged ions may be moved along the surface 308 switching portions or entire microcapsules from white to black. in order to prevent image distortion due to tribo charges, or other charge changing factors, which might occur due to handling, the particles, the fluid filling the microcapsules 106 , and the insulating layer 108 can be designed to only move for charges and particles with a magnitude exceeding the magnitude of the charges associated with handling. for example, the e-paper 102 could be designed so that charges and charged particles attached to the surface 308 or inside the layer 108 are redistributed with charges and electrical fields that can only be generated during the writing phases. in other embodiments, writing systems can also be configured with a discharging unit that removes ions from the surface 308 after the ion head 304 has been used to write information into the layer of microcapsules 106 . the discharging unit can be an active or a passive contact device that removes positive or negative charges from the surface 308 . for example, the discharging unit 402 can be composed of carbon conductive plastic or a conductive rubber and operated so that charges jump from the surface 308 onto the discharge unit. fig. 4a shows a side view and schematic representation of an example writing system 400 . the writing system 400 is similar to the writing system 300 described above except the writing system 400 includes a discharging unit 402 connected to the same side of the writing module 300 that faces the outer surface 308 of the insulating layer 108 . as shown in the example of fig. 4 , the discharging unit 402 can be a passive or active device that is dragged behind the ion head 304 along the surface 308 . the discharging unit 402 removes negatively or positively charged ions or charges from the surface 308 thereby reducing the likelihood that during handling of the e-paper 102 ions are redistributed on the surface 308 causing a redistribution of white and black particles in microcapsules. for example, fig. 4a shows a snapshot of the negatively charged molecular ions 324 attached to the surface 308 after information is written to the microcapsules 404 and 406 being removed from the surface 308 by the discharging unit 402 . in certain embodiments, a passive discharging unit 402 can be a rubber material that touches the surface 308 as the e-paper 102 passes under the writing system 400 . in other embodiments, an active discharging unit 402 can be a charged roller composed of a conductive rubber that removes charges from the surface 308 as the roller passes over the surface 308 . fig. 4b shows a side view and schematic representation of an example writing system 410 . the writing system 410 is similar to the writing system 400 except the discharging unit 402 is a charged roller 412 that removes charges from the surface 308 . in other embodiments, the erasing unit 306 of the writing systems 300 and 400 can be replaced by an ac or dc operated corona. fig. 5 shows a side view and schematic representation of an example writing system 500 . the writing system 500 is similar to the writing system 400 except the erasing unit 306 is replaced with a corona 502 . in the example of fig. 5 , the corona 502 is configured to generate a plasma of positively charged ionic species that migrate onto the surface 308 by converting naturally occurring gaseous molecules and atoms located in the air gap between the corona 502 and the surface 308 into positively charged ions that are deposited onto the surface 308 . for example, in certain embodiments, the corona 502 can be configured to convert naturally occurring nitrogen (“n 2 ”) located in the air gap between the corona 502 and the surface 308 into positively charged nitrogen gas ions (“n 2 + ”) that are deposited onto the surface 308 . in other embodiments, the writing module can be configured to inject molecules or atoms, such as n 2 or argon (“ar”), into the corona 502 , which in turn converts the charge neutral molecules or atoms into positively charged ions that are deposited onto the surface 308 . fig. 5 also shows a snapshot of the e-paper 102 passing under the corona 502 as positively charged ions 504 generated by the corona 502 migrate and are deposited onto the surface 308 . as represented in microcapsule 506 , the positively charged ions attach to the surface 308 and create repulsive electrostatic forces that drive the positively charged black particles away from the insulating layer 108 and create attractive electrostatic forces that drive negatively charged white particles toward the insulating layer 108 , erasing information contained in microcapsule 506 . the ion head 304 is operated to selectively write information into microcapsules by ejecting electrons 318 that change the ions deposited on the surface 308 from positively charged ions into negatively charged ions 508 . for example, fig. 5 shows a snapshot of information being written to microcapsule 510 . the negatively charged ions 508 attached to the surface 308 create repulsive electrostatic forces that drive the negatively charged white particles away from the insulating layer 108 and create attractive electrostatic forces that drive positively charged black particles toward the insulating layer 108 . after information is written to the microcapsules, the e-paper 102 continues to pass under the discharging unit 402 , which removes the negatively and positively charged ions from the surface 308 . in other embodiments, the corona 502 described above with reference to fig. 5 can be used as a discharging unit 402 . for example, the discharging unit represented by the roller 412 , shown in fig. 4b , can be replaced by an ac or dc operated corona that generates a plasma of an appropriate charge for removing charges or ions attached to the surface 308 . for the sake of simplicity, the writing unit is described above as having only one ion head, but embodiments of the present invention are not intended to be so limited. in practice, writing system embodiments can be implemented with two or more ion heads. the ion heads can also be used to erase and write information to the e-paper. for example, a first ion head can be operated as an erasing unit and a second ion head can be operated as described above to write information to the e-paper. in still other embodiments, the ion head 304 can be replaced by one or more needles operated to supply a charge of an appropriate magnitude for writing information to the microcapsule layer. writing system embodiments also include writing modules with an array of electrodes that face the surface 308 of the e-paper 102 and are used to erase information in a first pass of the e-paper and in a second pass of the e-paper the electrodes can be selectively operated to write information to the e-paper 102 . figs. 6a-6b show side views of a writing system 600 . the writing system 600 includes a writing module 602 and a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of electrodes 604 . each electrode in the array of electrodes can be individually operated in order to selectively erase and writing information to the e-paper. the writing system 600 is oriented so that the electrodes face the surface 308 of the e-paper 102 . the writing system 600 can be operated by first erasing the information stored in the e-paper followed by a second pass that selectively writes information to the e-paper 102 . in fig. 6a , the writing system is operated to erase information stored in the microcapsule layer by supplying a positive charge that drives positively charge black particles away from the insulating layer 108 and drives negatively charged white particles toward the insulating paper 108 . in fig. 6b , the writing system is operated to selectively write information into the layer of microcapsule 106 by supplying a negative charge that attracts positively charge black particles toward the insulating layer 108 and drives negatively charged white particles away from the insulating paper 108 . in other embodiments, the writing module 602 can include an erasing unit 306 and the array of electrodes 604 can be operated to write information to the e-paper. writing systems also include writing modules with an array of electrodes that can erase and write in a single pass. a portion of the electrodes can be dedicated to erasing while another portion of the electrodes can be dedicated to writing information to the e-paper. fig. 6c shows a side view of a writing system 610 . the writing system 610 includes the writing module 602 and a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of individually addressable electrodes 604 . as shown in fig. 6c , a first portion of the electrodes 612 is operated to erase information stored in the layer of microcapsules 106 , and a second portion of electrodes 614 is operated to write information to the layer of microcapsules 106 . note that direction of motion can be sensed, and the operation of the electrodes 604 can be dynamically changed to reduce motion direction sensitivity. in other embodiments, the two-dimensional array of individually addressable electrodes can be dimensioned to substantially match the dimensions of the e-paper, enabling the array of electrodes to erase and write to the entire e-paper without scanning. for example, the two-dimensional array of electrodes engages or contacts the e-paper perpendicular to the e-paper surface using a solenoid motor or other mechanical system. the microcapsules 106 of the microcapsule layer can also be composed of negatively charged black particles and positively charged white particles. in other embodiments, the writing system is operated to erase information stored in the microcapsule layer by supplying a negative charge that drives negatively charge black particles away from the insulating layer 108 and attracts positively charged white particles toward the insulating paper 108 , and the writing system is operated to selectively write information into the microcapsule layer by supplying a positive charge that attracts negatively charge black particles toward the insulating layer 108 and drives positively charged white particles away from the insulating paper 108 . the writing systems described above can be implemented in various kinds of printing systems. fig. 7a shows an isometric view of an example printing system 700 . the printing system 700 includes a writing system 702 mounted on two guide shafts 704 and 706 extending parallel to each other. the writing system 702 is oriented with the erasing unit, ion heads, and discharging unit pointed toward e-paper 708 . in the example shown in fig. 7a , the shafts 704 and 706 extend through the writing module portion of the writing system 702 . the writing system 702 can be moved along the shafts 704 and 706 using a circular belt (not shown) attached to the writing module 710 and is driven by a motor (not shown). the writing system 702 is used to write information to the e-paper by raster scanning the writing system 702 back and forth as the writing system 702 is moved along the length of the e-paper 708 . the writing system 702 moves back and forth along the shafts 704 and 706 as indicated by directional arrow 712 . in certain embodiments, the printing system can be implemented by mounting the shafts 704 and 706 in a housing that holds the shafts 704 and 706 stationary while the e-paper 708 passes under the writing system 702 using a printer carriage (not shown) as indicated by directional arrow 714 . in other embodiments, the e-paper can be held stationary while the shafts 704 and 706 are moved along the length the e-paper, as indicated by directional arrow 716 . fig. 7b shows a bottom view of the example writing system 702 revealing the writing system 702 is composed of a staggered arrangement of five separate ion heads 718 used to write information into the e-paper 708 as described above with reference to figs. 3-5 . the writing system 702 also includes an erasing unit 720 , as described above with reference to figs. 3 and 4 , and includes a discharging unit 722 , as described above with reference to fig. 4 . fig. 7c shows a cross-sectional view of the printing system 700 in operation along a line b-b, shown in fig. 7a . the writing system 702 is moved along the shafts 704 and 706 as the erasing unit 720 , ion heads 718 , and discharging unit 722 are operated to write information into the e-paper 708 , as described above with reference to figs. 3-4 . in other embodiments, the erasing unit can be a corona, as described above with reference to fig. 5 . fig. 8a shows an isometric view of an example printing system 800 . the printing system 800 includes a writing system 802 attached to a guide 804 , both of which extend the width of e-paper 806 . the writing system 802 is oriented with the erasing unit, ion heads, and discharging unit pointed toward e-paper 806 . the writing system 802 is configured to write information to the e-paper 806 in a single pass. in certain embodiments, the e-paper 806 passes under the writing system 802 using a printer carriage (not shown) as indicated by directional arrow 808 . in other embodiments, the e-paper 806 can be held stationary while the writing system 802 is moved back and forth using a mechanized platform connected to the guide 804 , as indicated by directional arrow 810 . fig. 8b shows a bottom view of the example writing system 802 revealing the writing system 802 composed of an arrangement of separate ion heads 812 that extend the length of the writing system 802 . the arrangement of ion head 812 write information into the e-paper 806 in a single pass, as described above with reference to figs. 3-5 . the writing system 802 also includes an erasing unit 814 , as described above with reference to figs. 3 and 4 , and includes a discharging unit 816 , as described above with reference to fig. 4 . fig. 8c shows a cross-sectional view of the printing system 800 in operation along a line c-c, shown in fig. 8a . as the writing system 802 moves along the e-paper 806 , the erasing unit 814 , ion heads 812 , and discharging unit 816 write information into the e-paper 806 as described above with reference to figs. 3-4 . in other embodiments, the erasing unit can be a corona, as described above with reference to fig. 5 . the printing systems described above enable e-paper to be implemented in a variety of different non-electronic-based display platforms. for example, the paper 608 and 806 can be used in a variety of different media, including posters, general signage, pricing labels, e-books. in other embodiments, the display platform can be a card configured with one or more e-paper strips. the cards can be composed of a polyester, a plastic, or transparent mylar in order to provide a substrate for the one or more e-paper strips, as described above with reference to figs. 1-2 . figs. 9a-9b show just two examples of cards, each card configured with a strip of e-paper for displaying information. in the example of fig. 9a , a card 902 can be a gift card or a card issued to customers of a business, such as a department store. the card 902 includes an e-paper strip 904 and may include barcode or magnetic strip located on the back of the card (not shown), which is read by an electronic card machine. the card 902 can be issued value when the card 902 is sold to a customer. this value can be stored on the card magnetic strip and/or stored in the business's database, which is linked to the card 902 identification number. when the card 902 is issued and/or used, the amount can also be written on the e-paper strip 904 . for example, as shown in fig. 9a , the card 902 is sold by a business called “the coffee shop.” when the customer uses the card 902 to complete a transaction at the coffee shop, the amount on the card is debited accordingly and the remaining amount of credit available 906 on the card is stored in the business's database and is written to the e-paper strip 904 . in this way the customer does not have to remember the amount available on the card after each purchase. instead, the amount available on the card is displayed on the e-paper strip 904 after each purchase. as shown in the example of fig. 9a , the e-paper strip 904 can also be used to display advertisements 908 or any other information. in the example of fig. 9b , a card 910 can be a security card issued by a company or a government agency that wants to limit a visitor's access to certain buildings or departments. the card 910 includes an e-paper strip 912 . when the card is issued to the wearer, the wearer's name and any other relevant information can be written on the e-paper strip 912 , so that the wearer's access can be readily checked simply by reading the information displayed on the e-paper strip 912 . for example, the e-paper strip 912 includes the wearer's name 914 , identifies the wearer as a visitor 916 , indicates which building 918 the wearer has access to, and the date 920 on which the wearer has access. display platforms are not intended to limited to the cards shown in figs. 9a-9b . the cards 902 and 910 are intended to represent just two of the many different kinds of uses for cards configured with one or more e-paper strips. fig. 10 shows an isometric view of an e-paper electronic writing machine 1000 and a card 1002 configured with a strip of e-paper 1004 . the machine 1000 includes a slot 1006 for receiving 1008 and ejecting 1010 the card 1002 . the e-paper strip 1004 can be used to display a variety of different types of written messages, as well as, images that can be read by the card holder. the machine 1000 includes a writing system, such as the writing systems 700 and 800 . figs. 11a-11b show an example of the writing system 700 operated to write information to the e-paper strip 1004 of the card 1002 inserted into the machine 1000 . the writing system 700 can be operated to write information to the e-paper strip as described above with reference to fig. 7 . when the writing system 700 has completed writing information to the e-paper strip 1004 , the card 1002 is ejected from the machine 1000 . fig. 12 shows a flow diagram of a method of writing information to electronic paper. in step 1201 , the electronic paper is passed under an erasing unit, which is configured to remove information stored in the electronic paper as described above with reference to figs. 3 and 5 . in step 1202 , the electronic paper is passed under one or more ion heads, which are configured to write information to the electronic paper as described above with reference to fig. 3 . in step 1203 , the electronic paper is passed under a discharge unit configured to remove ions attached the surface of the electronic paper, as described above with reference to fig. 4 . the foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. however, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice the invention. the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. they are not intended to be exhaustive of or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. the embodiments are shown and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
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106-607-399-198-455
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JP
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[
"US",
"SG",
"CN",
"JP",
"KR"
] |
H01L21/20,H01L21/00,H01L21/46,H01L21/461,H01L21/762,H01L21/84,H01L21/02,H01L21/265,H01L27/12,H01L21/30
| 2009-04-22T00:00:00 |
2009
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[
"H01"
] |
method of manufacturing soi substrate
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the method of one embodiment of the present invention includes: a first step of irradiating a bond substrate with ions to form an embrittlement region in the bond substrate; a second step of bonding the bond substrate to a base substrate with an insulating layer therebetween; a third step of splitting the bond substrate at the embrittlement region to form a semiconductor layer over the base substrate with the insulating layer therebetween; and a fourth step of subjecting the bond substrate split at the embrittlement region to a first heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen to form a reprocessed bond substrate. the reprocessed bond substrate is used again as a bond substrate in the first step.
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1. a method of manufacturing an soi substrate, comprising: a first step of subjecting a bond substrate to a first heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen; a second step of forming an embrittlement region in the bond substrate by irradiating the bond substrate with ions; a third step of bonding the bond substrate to a base substrate with an insulating layer therebetween; a fourth step of splitting the bond substrate at the embrittlement region to form a semiconductor layer over the base substrate with the insulating layer therebetween; a fifth step of repeating the steps from the second step to the fourth step n times after the first step is performed once, wherein n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2; and a sixth step of subjecting the bond substrate to a third heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a fourth heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen after the fifth step, wherein the insulating layer comprises a metal element. 2. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 1 , wherein an oxide film formed on a surface of the bond substrate in the second heat treatment is used as the insulating layer in bond to the base substrate. 3. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 1 , wherein a concentration of the oxygen in the second heat treatment is less than 5 vol. %. 4. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the atmosphere during the second heat treatment includes chlorine in addition to the oxygen and the nitrogen. 5. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the argon atmosphere includes argon and hydrogen. 6. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 1 , wherein an oxygen included in the bond substrate is reduced by the first heat treatment. 7. a method of manufacturing an soi substrate, comprising: a first step of subjecting a bond substrate to a first heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen; a second step of forming an embrittlement region in the bond substrate by irradiating the bond substrate with ions; a third step of bonding the bond substrate to a base substrate with an insulating layer therebetween; a fourth step of splitting the bond substrate at the embrittlement region to form a semiconductor layer over the base substrate with the insulating layer therebetween; a fifth step of repeating the steps from the second step to the fourth step n times after the first step is performed once, wherein n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2; a sixth step of subjecting the bond substrate to a third heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a fourth heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen after the fifth step; and a seventh step of repeating the steps from the second step to the fourth step at least once after the sixth step. 8. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 7 , wherein an oxide film formed on a surface of the bond substrate in the second heat treatment is used as the insulating layer in bond to the base substrate. 9. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 7 , wherein a concentration of the oxygen in the second heat treatment is less than 5 vol. %. 10. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 7 , wherein the atmosphere during the second heat treatment includes chlorine in addition to the oxygen and the nitrogen. 11. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 7 , wherein the argon atmosphere includes argon and hydrogen. 12. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 7 , wherein an oxygen included in the bond substrate is reduced by the first heat treatment. 13. a method of manufacturing an soi substrate, comprising: a first step of subjecting a bond substrate to a first heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen; a second step of forming an embrittlement region in the bond substrate by irradiating the bond substrate with ions; a third step of bonding the bond substrate to a base substrate with an insulating layer therebetween; a fourth step of splitting the bond substrate at the embrittlement region to form a semiconductor layer over the base substrate with the insulating layer therebetween; a fifth step of repeating the steps from the second step to the fourth step n times after the first step is performed once, wherein n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2; a sixth step of polishing a surface of the bond substrate after the fifth step; a seventh step of subjecting the bond substrate to a third heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a fourth heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen after the sixth step; and an eighth step of repeating the steps from the second step to the fourth step at least once after the seventh step. 14. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 13 , wherein an oxide film formed on the surface of the bond substrate in the second heat treatment is used as the insulating layer in bond to the base substrate. 15. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 13 , wherein a concentration of the oxygen in the second heat treatment is less than 5 vol. %. 16. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 13 , wherein the atmosphere during the second heat treatment includes chlorine in addition to the oxygen and the nitrogen. 17. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 13 , wherein the argon atmosphere includes argon and hydrogen. 18. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 13 , wherein an oxygen included in the bond substrate is reduced by the first heat treatment. 19. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the metal element is selected from the group consisting of copper, iron, and nickel. 20. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor layer is subjected to a polishing treatment after the fourth step. 21. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 7 , wherein the semiconductor layer is subjected to a polishing treatment after the fourth step. 22. the method of manufacturing an soi substrate according to claim 13 , wherein the semiconductor layer is subjected to a polishing treatment after the fourth step.
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background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a substrate over which a semiconductor layer is provided with an insulating layer therebetween, and particularly relates to a method of manufacturing a silicon on insulator (soi) substrate. further, the present invention relates to a method of recycling a bond substrate in the manufacturing method of an soi substrate. 2. description of the related art as substrates suitable for manufacture of semiconductor devices that achieve low power consumption and high-speed operation, attention has been directed to soi substrates in which a semiconductor layer is provided over a base substrate having an insulating surface. one of known methods of manufacturing an soi substrate is a hydrogen ion implantation separation method (see patent document 1). the hydrogen ion implantation separation method is a technique of forming an soi substrate in the following manner. an oxide film is formed on one of two silicon wafers which is to serve as a bond substrate. at the same time, by implanting hydrogen ions into the bond substrate, a microbubble layer is formed in the bond substrate. the bond substrate is put in close contact with the other silicon wafer that is to serve as a base substrate, with the oxide film therebetween. then, by a heat treatment, the bond substrate is split with the use of the microbubble layer as a splitting plane. another heat treatment on the base substrate side forms a strong bond between the base substrate and a semiconductor layer that is split from the bond substrate. thus, an soi substrate is formed. furthermore, for an efficient and economical use of silicon wafers, a method by which many soi substrates can be manufactured with as few silicon wafers as possible has been researched (see patent document 2). reference patent document [patent document 1] japanese published patent application no. h5-211128[patent document 2] japanese published patent application no. 2000-349266 the bond substrate still retains its wafer form after the split. if defects and the like remaining on a surface used for the split are removed by etching, polishing, or the like, the bond substrate can be reused to manufacture another soi substrate. repeated use of a bond substrate in this manner has involved a problem of an increase in oxygen defects such as an oxidation-induced stacking fault (osf) due to an ion irradiation step, thermal history during split of the bond substrate, or the like. if a bond substrate having an increased number of oxygen defects is used to manufacture an soi substrate, semiconductor properties significantly deteriorate. further, in an ion irradiation step, an impurity element such as a heavy metal which is contained in an electrode, a chamber, or the like could be added to the bond substrate. like oxygen defects, such an impurity element adversely affects the semiconductor properties. summary of the invention in view of the foregoing problems, an object of an embodiment of the disclosed invention is to prevent malfunction of a bond substrate which is caused by its repeated use. according to an embodiment of the disclosed invention, a bond substrate split in formation of an soi substrate by ion implantation separation method is subjected to a first heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, so that a reprocessed bond substrate is formed and used again as a bond substrate in an ion implantation separation method. this is detailed below. one embodiment of the present invention is a method of manufacturing an soi substrate including: a first step of irradiating a bond substrate with accelerated ions to form an embrittlement region in the bond substrate; a second step of bonding the bond substrate to a base substrate with an insulating layer therebetween; a third step of splitting the bond substrate at the embrittlement region to form a semiconductor layer over the base substrate with the insulating layer therebetween; and a fourth step of subjecting the bond substrate split at the embrittlement region to a first heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen to form a reprocessed bond substrate, in which the reprocessed bond substrate is used again as the bond substrate in the first step. in the above structure, the fourth step can be performed after the steps from the first step to the third step are repeated n times (n: a natural number greater than or equal to 2). further, in the above structure, an oxide film formed on a surface of the reprocessed bond substrate in the second heat treatment can be used as the insulating layer in the bond to the base substrate. further, the above method may further include the step of polishing a surface of the bond substrate split at the embrittlement region between the third step and the fourth step. in the above structure, the concentration of the oxygen in the second heat treatment is preferably less than 5 vol. %. further, the atmosphere during the second heat treatment preferably includes chlorine in addition to oxygen and nitrogen. another embodiment of the present invention is a method of manufacturing an soi substrate which includes: a first step of subjecting a bond substrate to a first heat treatment in an argon atmosphere and then a second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen; a second step of irradiating the bond substrate with accelerated ions to form an embrittlement region in the bond substrate; a third step of bonding the bond substrate to a base substrate with an insulating layer therebetween; and a fourth step of splitting the bond substrate at the embrittlement region to form a semiconductor layer over the base substrate with the insulating layer therebetween. after the fourth step is performed once, the steps from the second step to the fourth step are repeated n times (n: a natural number greater than or equal to 2). note that in this specification and the like, the term “soi substrate” is used as a concept also including a substrate provided with a layer of a semiconductor other than silicon. in other words, in this specification and the like, a bond substrate used for manufacture of an soi substrate includes a substrate other than a substrate formed of a silicon material. an embodiment of the disclosed invention enables formation of a reprocessed bond substrate with reduced oxygen defects or impurity elements, thereby improving the properties of an soi substrate manufactured using this reprocessed bond substrate. further, deterioration of the properties of a bond substrate can be suppressed, and therefore the number of times of repeated use of the bond substrate increases. this can further suppress manufacturing costs of an soi substrate. thus, an embodiment of the disclosed invention can prevent malfunction of the bond substrate which is caused by its repeated use. brief description of the drawings figs. 1a to 1e are cross-sectional views illustrating an example of a method of manufacturing an soi substrate. fig. 2 shows a manufacturing process flow of a reprocessed substrate. figs. 3a to 3e are cross-sectional views illustrating an example of a process of manufacturing a reprocessed substrate. figs. 4a , 4 b- 1 to 4 b- 3 and 4 c to 4 e are cross-sectional views illustrating an example of a method of manufacturing an soi substrate. figs. 5a-1 , 5 a- 2 , 5 b- 1 to 5 b- 3 and 5 c to 5 e are cross-sectional views illustrating an example of a method of manufacturing an soi substrate. detailed description of the invention hereinafter, embodiments are detailed using the accompanying drawings. note that the invention is not limited to the description below, and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments and details thereof can be easily modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention disclosed in this specification and the like. in addition, structures according to different embodiments can be implemented in appropriate combination. note that throughout the structures of the invention described below, identical parts or parts having similar functions are represented by the same reference numeral, the explanation of which is not repeated. (embodiment 1) in this embodiment, an example of a method of manufacturing an soi substrate is described with reference to drawings. specifically, a process of manufacturing an soi substrate is described using figs. 1a to 1e , and process of forming reprocessed bond substrate is described using fig. 2 and figs. 3a to 3e . (process of manufacturing soi substrate) first, a base substrate 100 and a bond substrate 110 are prepared (see figs. 1a and 1b ). as the base substrate 100 , a substrate formed of an insulator can be used. specific examples thereof include a variety of glass substrates used in the electronics industry, such as substrates of aluminosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, and barium borosilicate glass, a quartz substrate, a ceramic substrate, and a sapphire substrate. note that by containing a larger amount of barium oxide (bao) than the amount of boric acid, a glass substrate as mentioned above has heat resistance such that it is more practicable. thus, a glass substrate containing a larger amount of bao than the amount of b 2 o 3 may preferably be used. note that in this embodiment, a description is given of the case where a glass substrate is used as the base substrate 100 . the use of a glass substrate as the base substrate 100 , which realizes a larger size device and inexpensiveness, can reduce costs. as the bond substrate 110 , it is possible to use a single crystal semiconductor substrate formed of a group 14 element, such as a single crystal silicon substrate, a single crystal germanium substrate, or a single crystal silicon germanium substrate, for example. it is also possible to use a compound semiconductor substrate formed of gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, or the like. as typical commercially available silicon substrates, there are round silicon substrates that are 5 inches (125 mm) in diameter, 6 inches (150 mm) in diameter, 8 inches (200 mm) in diameter, 12 inches (300 mm) in diameter, and 16 inches (400 mm) in diameter. however, the shape of the bond substrate 110 is not limited to a round shape and can be a rectangular shape or the like obtained by processing. further, the bond substrate 110 can be manufactured by the czochralski (cz) method or the floating zone (fz) method. next, an embrittlement region 112 is formed at a certain depth from a surface of the bond substrate 110 , and the base substrate 100 and the bond substrate 110 are bonded to each other with an insulating layer 114 therebetween (see fig. 1c ). in the above step, the bond substrate 110 is irradiated with ions of hydrogen or the like having kinetic energy, whereby the embrittlement region 112 can be formed. further, the insulating layer 114 can be formed using a single layer of an insulating layer such as a silicon oxide film, a silicon oxynitride film, a silicon nitride film, or a silicon nitride oxide film, or a stack of any of these films. these films can be formed by a thermal oxidation method, a cvd method, a sputtering method, or the like. note that in this specification and the like, the term oxynitride means a substance in which the oxygen content (atoms) exceeds the nitride content (atoms). for example, silicon oxynitride is a substance including oxygen, nitrogen, silicon, and hydrogen at concentrations ranging from 50 to 70 at. %, 0.5 to 15 at. %, 25 to 35 at. %, and 0.1 to 10 at. %, respectively. further, the term nitride oxide means a substance in which the nitrogen content (atoms) exceeds the oxygen content (atoms). for example, silicon nitride oxide is a substance including oxygen, nitrogen, silicon, and hydrogen at concentrations ranging from 5 to 30 at. %, 20 to 55 at. %, 25 to 35 at. %, and 10 to 30 at. %, respectively. note that the above ranges are the values obtained by employing rutherford backscattering spectrometry (rbs) or hydrogen forward scattering (hfs). further, the total of the constituent element contents does not exceed 100 at. %. next, by a heat treatment or the like, the bond substrate 110 is split at the embrittlement region 112 into a semiconductor layer 116 and a split bond substrate 200 , whereby the semiconductor layer 116 is formed over the base substrate 100 (see fig. 1d ). the split bond substrate 200 becomes a reprocessed bond substrate through a reprocessing process, and can be reused. note that since there are defects or the like on a surface of the split bond substrate 200 due to the embrittlement region 112 , such defects may preferably be removed before the reprocessing process. accordingly, the reprocessing process can be carried out more successfully. as methods of the removal, an etching treatment and a polishing treatment such as cmp are possible. when the heat treatment is performed, the heat treatment allows an added element to be separated out into microvoids formed in the embrittlement region 112 , resulting in an increase in the internal pressure of the microvoids. the increase in pressure generates a crack in the embrittlement region 112 , whereby the bond substrate 110 is split along the embrittlement region 112 . since the insulating layer 114 is bonded to the base substrate 100 , the single crystal semiconductor layer 116 split from the bond substrate 110 remains over the base substrate 100 . after that, by subjecting the semiconductor layer 116 to a surface treatment or the like, a flat semiconductor layer 118 is formed (see fig. 1e ). as the surface treatment, there are an irradiation treatment with laser light, an etching treatment, and a polishing treatment such as cmp, for example. through the above process, an soi substrate in which the semiconductor layer 118 is provided over the base substrate 100 with the insulating layer 114 therebetween can be obtained. <process of forming reprocessed bond substrate> next, a process of reprocessing the split bond substrate 200 is described with reference to fig. 2 and figs. 3a to 3e . as the reprocessing process, the split bond substrate 200 can be subjected to a first heat treatment and a second heat treatment. the first heat treatment can be performed in an argon atmosphere. the following are possible examples of conditions for the first heat treatment: the atmosphere during the heat treatment is an argon atmosphere in which the proportion of argon in the introduced gas is greater than or equal to 90 vol. % and less than or equal to 100 vol. %; the temperature of the heat treatment is greater than or equal to 1150° c. and less than or equal to 1300° c.; and the time for the heat treatment is greater than or equal to 30 minutes and less than or equal to 960 minutes, or alternatively, greater than or equal to 30 minutes and less than or equal to 240 minutes. alternatively, the first heat treatment may be carried out in a hydrogen atmosphere or an atmosphere of a mixture of hydrogen and argon. when the atmosphere of a mixture of hydrogen and argon is employed, the proportion of hydrogen in the introduced gas may preferably be 4 vol. %, for example. by subjecting the split bond substrate 200 to the heat treatment (first heat treatment) in an argon atmosphere, oxygen separated out in the bond substrate 200 is melted and out-diffusion of the oxygen is promoted, so that the oxygen in the bond substrate 200 is reduced. thus, a zero defect layer (a denuded zone (dz) layer) can be formed. this makes it possible to suppress generation of an oxidation-induced stacking fault (osf) even when the bond substrate 200 is used repeatedly in a process of manufacturing an soi substrate. the second heat treatment can be performed in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. the following are possible examples of conditions for the second heat treatment: the atmosphere during the heat treatment is a mixture atmosphere in which the proportion of oxygen in the introduced gas is 1 to 25 vol. % (preferably, less than 5 vol. %); the temperature of the heat treatment is greater than or equal to 1150° c. and less than or equal to 1300° c.; and the time for the heat treatment is greater than or equal to 30 minutes and less than or equal to 240 minutes. in this case, an oxide film can be formed on a surface of the bond substrate 200 . note that an increase in the proportion of oxygen in the introduced gas tends to hamper removal of oxygen in the bond substrate 200 in exchange for a rise in the growth rate of the oxide film formed on the surface. further, the oxide film may include nitrogen atoms. alternatively, the second heat treatment may be performed in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and halogen (e.g., fluorine or chlorine). the following are possible examples of conditions for the second heat treatment in this case: the atmosphere during the heat treatment is an atmosphere in which hydrogen chloride (hcl) is introduced into an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen so that the proportion of hcl is 1 to 10 vol. %; the temperature of the heat treatment is greater than or equal to 1150° c. and less than or equal to 1300° c.; and the time for the heat treatment is greater than or equal to 30 minutes and less than or equal to 240 minutes. in this case, an oxide film including chlorine atoms can be formed on a surface of the bond substrate 200 . by subjecting the bond substrate 200 to the heat treatment (second heat treatment) in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, out-diffusion of oxygen in the bond substrate 200 is promoted, so that the oxygen in the bond substrate 200 can be reduced. further, the oxide film formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 through the second heat treatment functions a gettering site for impurity elements (e.g., metal elements such as copper, iron, or nickel, or metal silicides thereof) included in the bond substrate 200 . therefore, the second heat treatment promotes out-diffusion of oxygen in the bond substrate 200 and also can reduce the impurity elements included in the bond substrate 200 . further, during the second heat treatment in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, by setting the oxygen concentration to less than 5 vol. % in the introduced gas, the out diffusion can be promoted. furthermore, when an insulating layer formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 through the second heat treatment includes chlorine atoms, the effect of fixing impurity elements such as heavy metal in the oxide film can be obtained. preferably, as the reprocessing process in this embodiment, the first and second heat treatments are combined as shown in fig. 2 . the effects achieved when the first and second heat treatments are performed in combination are described below. when the heat treatment (first heat treatment) is performed in an argon atmosphere with metal impurities (e.g., metal elements such as copper, iron, or nickel) included in the bond substrate 200 or with metal impurities 130 adhering to the surface of the bond substrate 200 (see fig. 3a ), the heat treatment cause these metal impurities 130 to diffuse throughout the bond substrate 200 (see fig. 3b ). these metal impurities 130 are separated out in the vicinity of the surface of the bond substrate 200 when the bond substrate 200 is cooled. further, silicides 132 of these metals are formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 when silicon is used for the bond substrate 200 , which is problematic (see fig. 3c ). even in such a case, performing the first and second heat treatments in combination enables the gettering of impurity elements such as metal impurities, which are formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 and in the vicinity of this surface during the first heat treatment, in an oxide film 134 formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 during the second treatment (see fig. 3d ). the oxide film 134 is then removed. thus, a reprocessed bond substrate 136 can be formed (see fig. 3e ). note that although figs. 3a to 3e illustrate the case where the oxide film 134 formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 is removed, the oxide film 134 may be used as the insulating layer 114 for the bond to the base substrate 100 . thus, the combination of the first and second heat treatments enables the second heat treatment to suppress the problem caused by the first heat treatment. the combination of the first and second heat treatments is effective particularly when the split bond substrate 200 is subjected to a polishing treatment because, in this case, there is a high possibility that impurity elements such as metal impurities adhere to the surface of the bond substrate 200 . further, it is preferable that the second heat treatment be performed after the first heat treatment when they are combined. this is because, when the heat treatment (second heat treatment) in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen is performed in the presence of minute defects due to oxygen in the bond substrate 200 , an osf the core of which is the minute defect is possibly generated in the bond substrate 200 . by performing the heat treatment (first heat treatment) in an argon atmosphere before the heat treatment (second heat treatment) is performed in an atmosphere of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, the second heat treatment can be performed in a state where minute defects included in the bond substrate 200 are reduced. thus, the second heat treatment can suppress the generation of an osf in the bond substrate 200 . in this manner, performing the second heat treatment after the first heat treatment can suppress the generation of an osf in the bond substrate 200 and reduce impurity elements included in the bond substrate 200 , as well as effectively promote out-diffusion of oxygen in the bond substrate 200 . further, compared with when impurity elements are removed by polishing the surface of the bond substrate 200 after the heat treatment in an argon atmosphere, the bond substrate 200 can be recycled a larger number of times because of the gettering of the impurity elements, which are formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 and in the vicinity of this surface during the first heat treatment, by performing the second heat treatment after the first heat treatment. furthermore, the manufacturing process can be simplified by use of the oxide film 134 , which is formed on the surface of the bond substrate 200 during the second heat treatment, as the insulating layer 114 for the bond to the base substrate 100 . as described above, the first and second heat treatments for the split bond substrate 200 enables the formation of a reprocessed bond substrate in which oxygen defects or impurity elements are reduced. note that although at least the first and second heat treatments are performed in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. a polishing treatment may be performed after the second heat treatment or between the first and second heat treatments. further, when the number of the minute defects due to oxygen in the bond substrate 200 is small, the order of the first and second heat treatments may be reversed, or the first heat treatment may be omitted to perform the second heat treatment alone. furthermore, when the amount of the metal elements adhering to the bond substrate 200 is small, the second heat treatment may be omitted to perform the first heat treatment alone. when only the first heat treatment is performed, the surface of the bond substrate 200 is preferably subjected to the polishing treatment after the first heat treatment. <usage of reprocessed bond substrate> the reprocessed bond substrate 136 formed as above can be used in the same way as normal bond substrates. in other words, an soi substrate can be manufactured with use of the reprocessed bond substrate 136 as the bond substrate 110 illustrated in figs. 1a to 1e . this can reduce manufacturing costs of an soi substrate. refer to the above process of manufacturing soi substrate for details. note that the reprocessed bond substrate 136 obtained by the above reprocessing process can be resistant to a process of manufacturing an soi substrate plural times because the zero defect layer (dz layer) is formed even to a certain depth (e.g., 100 μm) from the surface. therefore, the reprocessing process is preferably performed after the manufacturing process of an soi substrate is repeated n times (n: a natural number greater than or equal to 2). this can reduce the number of the reprocessing process, which leads to a reduction in manufacturing costs of an soi substrate and suppression of deterioration (e.g., cracking or chipping) of the bond substrate due to the thermal history. further, the second heat treatment in the above reprocessing process is performed in an atmosphere containing oxygen, resulting in the formation of the oxide film 134 on the surface of the reprocessed bond substrate 136 , as described above. therefore, the oxide film 134 may be used as the insulating layer 114 for the bond to the base substrate 100 . in this case, the step of forming the insulating layer 114 can be omitted, leading to suppression of the manufacturing costs. it is needless to say that the above oxide film may be removed. the structure described in this embodiment can be used in appropriate combination with the structures described in other embodiments. (embodiment 2) in this embodiment, another example of the method of manufacturing an soi substrates is described. although the process of reprocessing the split bond substrate is detailed in the above embodiment, an unused bond substrate may be subjected to this reprocessing process. in this case, removal of contaminants in the bond substrate and a reduction in defects are possible, contributing to a further improvement of the properties of a manufactured soi substrate. further, since the oxygen in the bond substrate is reduced and the dz layer can be formed even to a certain depth of the bond substrate, growth of an osf can be inhibited, and the number of times of repeated use of the bond substrate can be increased compared with a bond substrate that is not subjected to the process. note that this process does not relate to the reprocess of the bond substrate and therefore can be simply called “heat treatment” or the like instead of “reprocessing process”. since the details of the heat treatment are the same as those of process of forming reprocessed bond substrate in the above embodiment, refer to the corresponding descriptions. further, as for the manufacture of an soi substrate with the use of the bond substrate formed by the heat treatment, refer to the descriptions in process of manufacturing soi substrate. note that the bond substrate provided by the above heat treatment can be resistant to the process of manufacturing an soi substrate plural times. therefore, it is preferable to perform the reprocessing process after the process of manufacturing an soi substrate is repeated n times (n: a natural number greater than or equal to 2). refer to process of forming reprocessed bond substrate for the details of the reprocessing process. also in this case, a reduction in manufacturing costs of an soi substrate and suppression of deterioration (e.g., cracking or chipping) of the bond substrate which results from the thermal history can be realized. further, because the second heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere containing oxygen, the oxide film formed through the treatment may be used as the insulating layer for the bond to the base substrate. in this case, the step of forming the insulating layer can be omitted, leading to the suppression of the manufacturing costs. it is needless to say that the above oxide film may be removed. note that the above oxide film may include a halogen element such as chlorine or fluorine. for example, in order that the above oxide film include chlorine, the second heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere containing chlorine in addition to oxygen and nitrogen. making the oxide film include a halogen element in this manner provides the effect of fixing impurity elements such as heavy metal in the oxide film to suppress adverse effects on the semiconductor properties. the structure described in this embodiment can be used in appropriate combination with the structures described in other embodiments. (embodiment 3) <process of manufacturing soi substrate> in embodiment 3, examples of the method of manufacturing an soi substrate are described with reference to drawings. note that parts that are different from those of the above embodiments 1 and 2 are detailed while the descriptions of the same parts as those of embodiment 1 and 2 are omitted. <first mode> to begin with, a manufacturing method according to first mode is described with reference to figs. 4a to 4e . first, the base substrate 100 is prepared (see fig. 4a ). as the base substrate 100 , a light-transmitting glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display device or the like is available. as the glass substrate, a substrate having a strain point of 580° c. or more (preferably, 600° c. or more) may preferably be used. further, the glass substrate is preferably a non-alkali glass substrate. the non-alkali glass substrate is formed using a glass material such as aluminosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, or barium borosilicate glass, for instance. note that as the base substrate 100 , it is possible to use an insulating substrate such as a ceramic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate, a substrate formed of a semiconductor such as silicon, a substrate formed of a conductor such as metal or stainless steel, or the like, as well as the glass substrate. next, the bond substrate 110 is prepared (see fig. 4b-1 ). as the bond substrate 110 , for example, a single crystal semiconductor substrate formed of a group 14 element such as silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, or silicon carbide can be used. although there is no limitation on the size of the bond substrate 110 , for example, a semiconductor substrate that is 8 inches (200 mm) in diameter, 12 inches (300 mm) in diameter, or 18 inches (450 mm) in diameter can be used. alternatively, a round semiconductor substrate processed into a rectangular shape may be used. next, the insulating layer 114 is formed on the bond substrate 110 (see fig. 4b-2 ). as the insulating layer 114 , for instance, a silicon oxide film, a silicon oxynitride film, a silicon nitride film, a silicon nitride oxide film, or the like can be used. these films can be formed by a thermal oxidation method, a cvd method, a sputtering method, or the like. when a cvd method is employed to form the insulating layer 114 , use of a silicon oxide film formed using organosilane, such as tetraethoxysilane (abbreviation: teos) (chemical formula: si(oc 2 h 5 ) 4 ), as the insulating layer 114 is preferable in terms of productivity. in this embodiment, by subjecting the bond substrate 110 to a thermal oxidation treatment, the insulating layer 114 (here, a silicon oxide film) is formed. the thermal oxidation treatment is preferably performed in an oxidizing atmosphere to which halogen is added. for example, the bond substrate 110 is subjected to the thermal oxidation treatment in an oxidizing atmosphere to which chlorine (cl) is added, thereby forming the insulating layer 114 oxidized with hcl. accordingly, the insulating layer 114 includes chlorine atoms. note that although the insulating layer 114 has a single-layer structure in this embodiment, it may have a stack structure. further, when the insulating layer 114 is not necessarily provided, for example, when there is no particular problem with the bond, a structure in which the insulating layer 114 is not provided may be employed. next, the bond substrate 110 is irradiated with ions, thereby forming the embrittlement region 112 (see fig. 4b-3 ). more specifically, for example, an ion beam including ions accelerated by an electric field is delivered to form the embrittlement region 112 at a certain depth from a surface of the bond substrate 110 . accelerating energy of the ion beam or the incidence angle thereof controls the depth at which the embrittlement region 112 is formed. in other words, the embrittlement region 112 is formed in a region at a depth the same or substantially the same as the average penetration depth of the ions. here, the depth at which the embrittlement region 112 is formed is preferably uniform in the entire surface of the bond substrate 110 . further, the depth at which the above-described embrittlement region 112 is formed determines the thickness of the semiconductor layer which is to be split from the bond substrate 110 . the depth at which the embrittlement region 112 is formed is greater than or equal to 50 nm and less than or equal to 1 μm, preferably greater than or equal to 50 nm and less than or equal to 300 nm, from the surface of the bond substrate 110 . in the addition of ions to the bond substrate 110 , an ion implantation apparatus or an ion doping apparatus can be used. with an ion implantation apparatus, a source gas is excited to generate ion species, the generated ion species are mass-separated, and the object to be processed is irradiated with the ion species having a certain mass. with an ion doping apparatus, a process gas is excited to produce ion species, and the object to be processed is irradiated with the generated ion species that are not mass-separated. note that in an ion doping apparatus provided with a mass separator, ion irradiation involving mass separation can also be performed as in the ion implantation apparatus. when an ion doping apparatus is used, a process of forming the embrittlement region 112 can be performed, for example, under the following conditions: accelerating voltage: greater than or equal to 10 kv and less than or equal to 100 kv (preferably, greater than or equal to 30 kv and less than or equal to 80 kv)dose: greater than or equal to 1×10 16 /cm 2 and less than or equal to 4×10 16 /cm 2beam current density: greater than or equal to 2 μa/cm 2 (preferably, greater than or equal to 5 μa/cm 2 , more preferably, greater than or equal to 10 μa/cm 2 ) when an ion doping apparatus is used, a gas containing hydrogen can be used as the source gas. by using a gas containing hydrogen, h + , h 2 + , and h 3 + can be generated as ion species. when a hydrogen gas is used as the source gas, the number of h 3 + ions with which the irradiation is performed is preferably large. specifically, in an ion beam, the proportion of h 3 + ions in the total of h + , h 2 + , and h 3 + ions is preferably 70% or more. more preferably, the proportion of h 3 + ions is 80% or more. the thus increase in the proportion of h 3 + ions enables the hydrogen concentration in the embrittlement region 112 to be 1×10 20 atoms/cm 3 or more. this facilitates split at the embrittlement region 112 . furthermore, the irradiation with a large number of h 3 + ions, the embrittlement region 112 can be formed in a shorter period of time as compared with the case of irradiation with h + ions and h 2 + ions. moreover, the use of h 3 + ions can reduce the average penetration depth of ions; thus, the embrittlement region 112 can be formed at a shallow region. when an ion implantation apparatus is used, preferably, the irradiation with h 3 + ions is performed by mass separation. it is needless to say that irradiation with h + or h 2 + ions may be performed. note that since the use of an ion implantation apparatus involves selection of ion species to perform irradiation, ion irradiation efficiency could be decreased compared to the case where an ion doping apparatus is used. as the source gas for the ion irradiation step, as well as a gas containing hydrogen, it is possible to use one or more kinds of gases selected from a rare gas of helium, argon, or the like, a halogen gas typified by a fluorine gas or a chlorine gas, and a halogen compound gas such as a fluorine compound gas (e.g., bf 3 ). when helium is used for the source gas, an ion beam having a high proportion of he + ions can be produced without mass separation. use of such an ion beam can realize efficient formation of the embrittlement region 112 . further, the embrittlement region 112 can be formed through the ion irradiation divided into plural steps. in this case, a different source gas may be used in each ion irradiation, or the same source gas may be used. for example, after ion irradiation is performed using a rare gas as a source gas, further ion irradiation can be performed using a gas containing hydrogen as a source gas. also, ion irradiation is performed first using a halogen gas or a halogen compound gas, and then ion irradiation can be performed using a gas containing hydrogen. next, the base substrate 100 and the bond substrate 110 are bonded (see fig. 4c ). specifically, the base substrate 100 and the bond substrate 110 are bonded to each other with the insulating layer 114 therebetween. after the surface of the base substrate 100 is in contact with the surface of the insulating layer 114 , a pressure treatment realizes the bond between the base substrate 100 and the bond substrate 110 . note that as the mechanism of the bond, a mechanism related to van der waals' force, a mechanism related to hydrogen bonding, or the like is considered. note that before the bond between the bond substrate 110 and the base substrate 100 , at least one of the base substrate 100 and the insulating layer 114 formed on the bond substrate 110 is preferably subjected to a plasma treatment. the plasma treatment for at least one of the insulating layer 114 and the base substrate 100 contributes to an increase in hydrophilic groups or an improvement of planarity. accordingly, the bond strength between the bond substrate 110 and the base substrate 100 can be enhanced. here, when capacitively coupled plasma is used, the plasma treatment is performed using plasma generated by introducing an inert gas (such as an ar gas) into a chamber in a vacuum state and applying a high-frequency voltage between an electrode provided with the substrate to be processed (e.g., the base substrate 100 or the bond substrate 110 ) and the counter electrode. since electrons and ar cations are present in the plasma and a self bias is generated on the surface of the substrate to be processed, the ar cations are accelerated to the substrate to be processed side. by collision of the accelerated ar cations with the surface of the base substrate 100 , the surface of the base substrate 100 is etched by sputtering. at this time, a projection of the surface of the base substrate 100 is preferentially etched by sputtering; thus, the planarity of the surface of the base substrate 100 can be improved. further, by the accelerated ar cations, impurities such as organic substances on the base substrate 100 can be removed and the base substrate can be activated. alternatively, the plasma treatment can be performed using plasma generated by introducing a reactive gas (e.g., an o 2 gas or an n 2 gas) as well as an inert gas into a chamber in a vacuum state and applying a high-frequency voltage. when the reactive gas is introduced, it is possible to repair defects caused by etching of the surface of the base substrate 100 using sputtering. in this embodiment, the plasma treatment is performed using an argon gas by an inductively coupled plasma (icp) method. specifically, the treatment with argon plasma may be performed under conditions where the icp power is 100 to 3000 w, the pressure is 0.1 to 5.0 pa, the gas flow rate is 5 to 2000 sccm, and the rf bias voltage is 75 to 300 w. the following are more specific conditions: the icp power is 500 w (0.11 w/cm 2 ), the pressure is 1.35 pa, the gas flow rate is 100 sccm, and the rf bias voltage is 100 w (0.61 w/cm 2 ). after the bond substrate 110 and the base substrate 100 are bonded to each other, the bond substrate 110 and base substrate 100 that are bonded may preferably be subjected to a heat treatment so that the bond is strengthened. the heat temperature at this time is preferably a temperature at which the split at the embrittlement region 112 does not proceed. for example, the temperature is set to lower than 400° c., preferably less than or equal to 300° c. there is no particular limitation on the length of the time for the heat treatment, which may be optimally set as appropriate depending on the relationship between the treatment time and the bond strength. for instance, the heat treatment can be performed at 200° c. for 2 hours. further, only the region that is used for the bond can be locally heated by irradiation with microwaves or the like. when there is no problem with the bond strength, the above heat treatment may be omitted. next, the bond substrate 110 is split into the semiconductor layer 116 and the bond substrate 200 at the embrittlement region 112 (see fig. 4d ). the split of the bond substrate 110 may preferably be performed by a heat treatment. the temperature for the heat treatment can be set based on the upper temperature limit of the base substrate 100 . for instance, when a glass substrate is used as the base substrate 100 , the temperature for the heat treatment is preferably set to greater than or equal to 400° c. and less than or equal to 750° c. however, as long as the glass substrate can withstand the temperature greater than this range, the temperature is not limited thereto. note that in this embodiment, the heat treatment is performed at 600° c. for 2 hours. the above heat treatment causes a change in the volume of microvoids formed in the embrittlement region 112 , resulting in generation of a crack in the embrittlement region 112 . as a result, the bond substrate 110 is split along the embrittlement region 112 . accordingly, the semiconductor layer 116 split from the bond substrate 110 remains over the base substrate 100 . further, since the interface for bonding the substrate 110 and the base substrate 100 is heated by this heat treatment, a covalent bond is formed at the interface, so that the bond strength can be further enhanced. there are defects caused by the split step or the ion irradiation step on a surface of the semiconductor layer 116 formed as described above, and the planarity of the surface is impaired. therefore, a treatment for reducing the defects on the semiconductor layer 116 or a treatment for improving the surface planarity of the semiconductor layer 116 may preferably be performed. in this embodiment, for example, irradiating the semiconductor layer 116 with laser light can realize the reduction in defects and the improvement of the planarity of the semiconductor layer 116 . irradiating the semiconductor layer 116 with laser light makes the semiconductor layer 116 melt so that the semiconductor layer 116 cools and solidifies, resulting in formation of a single crystal semiconductor layer in which the defects are reduced and the surface planarity is improved. further, a thinning step for decreasing the thickness of the single crystal semiconductor layer may be carried out. to thin the semiconductor layer, either a dry etching treatment, or a wet etching treatment, or a combination of both may be performed. for example, when the semiconductor layer is formed of silicon, the semiconductor layer can be thinned using sf 6 and o 2 as process gases by a dry etching treatment. as described above, the semiconductor layer 118 can be formed over the base substrate 100 (see fig. 4e ). note that although the case where the laser light irradiation precedes the etching treatment in this embodiment, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto: the etching treatment may be performed before the laser light irradiation, or both before and after the laser light irradiation. note that although laser light is used to realize the reduction in defects and the improvement of the planarity in this embodiment, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. the reduction in defects and improvement of the planarity may be realized by using any other method such as a heat treatment. further, if a treatment for a defect reduction is unnecessary, a treatment for improving planarity, such as an etching treatment, may be employed alone. note that the split bond substrate 200 becomes a reprocessed bond substrate through a reprocessing process, and can be reused. since there are defects on a surface of the split bond substrate 200 due to the embrittlement region 112 or the like, such defects may preferably be removed before the reprocessing process. accordingly, the reprocessing process can be carried out more successfully. as methods of the removal, there are an etching treatment and a polishing treatment such as cmp. <second mode> next, a manufacturing method according to second mode is described with reference to figs. 5a to 5e . second mode is different from first mode in that the insulating layer 101 is formed over the base substrate 100 . therefore, this point is mainly described below. first, the base substrate 100 is prepared (see fig. 5a-1 ), and the insulating layer 101 is formed over the base substrate (see fig. 5a-2 ). refer to fig. 4a for the base substrate 100 . there is no particular limitation on the method of forming the insulating layer 101 , to which a sputtering method, a plasma cvd method, or the like can be applied, for example. since the insulating layer 101 has a surface for the bond, the insulating layer 101 is preferably formed such that this surface has high planarity. the insulating layer 101 can be formed using one or more materials selected from silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxynitride, aluminum nitride oxide, and the like. for example, when silicon oxide is used for the insulating layer 101 , formation using an organosilane gas by a chemical vapor deposition method enables the insulating layer 101 to have excellent planarity. note that although the insulating layer 101 has a single-layer structure in this embodiment, it may have a stack structure. next, the bond substrate 110 is prepared, and the insulating layer 114 is formed on the surface of the bond substrate 110 . the bond substrate 110 is irradiated with ions, whereby the embrittlement region 112 is formed (see fig. 5b-1 to fig. 5b-3 ). the steps of fig. 5b-1 to fig. 5b-3 are the same as those of fig. 4b-1 to fig. 4b-3 , and therefore details thereof are omitted. then, the base substrate 100 and the bond substrate 110 are bonded to each other (see fig. 5c ). specifically, the base substrate 100 and the bond substrate 110 are bonded to each other with the insulating layer 101 and the insulating layer 114 therebetween. through a pressure treatment after the surface of the insulating layer 101 is in contact with the surface of the insulating layer 114 , the base substrate 100 and the bond substrate 110 are bonded to each other. note that before the bond between the bond substrate 110 and the base substrate 100 , it is preferable to subject the bond substrate 110 , the insulating layer 114 formed on the bond substrate 110 , the base substrate 100 , or the insulating layer 101 formed on the base substrate 100 to a surface treatment. the surface treatment can improve the bond strength at the bond interface between the bond substrate 110 and the base substrate 100 . as examples of the surface treatment, a wet treatment, a dry treatment, and a combination of both are given. alternatively, a combination of different wet treatments or a combination of different dry treatments may be employed. examples of the wet treatment include an ozone treatment using ozone water (ozone water cleaning), megasonic cleaning, two-fluid cleaning (a method in which functional water such as pure water or hydrogenated water and a carrier gas such as nitrogen are sprayed together), and the like. examples of the dry treatment include an ultraviolet treatment, an ozone treatment, a plasma treatment, a plasma treatment with bias application, a radical treatment, and the like. the surface treatment as described above has the effect of improving hydrophilicity and cleanliness of a surface of the object to be processed (i.e., the single crystal semiconductor substrate, the insulating layer formed on the single crystal semiconductor substrate, the base substrate, or the insulating layer formed on a base substrate). as a result, the bond strength between the substrates can be improved. the wet treatment is effective for the removal of macro dust and the like adhering to a surface of the object to be processed. the dry treatment is effective for the removal or decomposition of micro dust such as an organic substance which adheres to a surface of the object to be processed. here, it is preferable that the wet treatment such as cleaning be performed after the dry treatment such as an ultraviolet treatment, because, in this case, the surface of the object to be processed can be made clean and hydrophilic and generation of watermarks on the surface can be suppressed. alternatively, it is preferable to perform a surface treatment using ozone or oxygen in an active state such as singlet oxygen. ozone or oxygen in an active state such as singlet oxygen enables effective removal or decomposition of organic substances adhering to the surface of the object to be processed. further, by use of ozone or oxygen in an active state such as singlet oxygen in combination with light having a wavelength less than 200 nm, which is an ultraviolet ray to perform the treatment, the removal of organic substances adhering to the surface of the object to be processed can be made more effective. specific description thereof is made below. for example, the surface treatment of the object to be processed is performed by irradiation with ultraviolet light in an atmosphere containing oxygen. by irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 200 nm and light having a wavelength of 200 nm or more, which are ultraviolet rays, in an atmosphere containing oxygen, singlet oxygen as well as ozone can be generated. alternatively, by irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 180 nm, which is an ultraviolet ray, singlet oxygen as well as ozone can be generated. an example of a reaction caused by the irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 200 nm and light having a wavelength of 200 nm or more in an atmosphere containing oxygen is described. o 2 +h ν(λ 1 nm)→o( 3 p)+o( 3 p) (1) o( 3 p)+o 2 →o 3 (2) o 3 +h ν(λ 2 nm)→o( 1 d)+o 2 (3) in the above reaction formula (1), by irradiation with light (hν) having a wavelength less than 200 nm (λ 1 nm) in an atmosphere containing oxygen (o 2 ), oxygen atoms in a ground state (o( 3 p)) are generated. next, in the reaction formula (2), the oxygen atoms in a ground state (o( 3 p)) and the oxygen (o 2 ) are reacted to generate ozone (o 3 ). then, in the reaction formula (3), by irradiation with light having a wavelength of 200 nm or more (λ 2 nm) in an atmosphere containing the generated ozone (o 3 ), singlet oxygen o( 1 d) in an excited state is generated. in an atmosphere containing oxygen, the irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 200 nm, which is an ultraviolet ray, results in the generation of ozone, and the irradiation with light having a wavelength of 200 nm or more results in the generation of singlet oxygen by decomposition of the ozone. the surface treatment as described above can be performed by, for example, irradiation using a low-pressure mercury lamp (λ 1 =185 nm, λ 2 =254 nm) in an atmosphere containing oxygen. further, an example of a reaction caused by the irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 180 nm in an atmosphere containing oxygen is described. o 2 +h ν(λ 3 nm)→o( 1 d)+o( 3 p) (4) o( 3 p)+o 2 →o 3 (5) o 3 +h ν(λ 3 nm)→o( 1 d)+o 2 (6) in the above reaction formula (4), by irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 180 nm (λ 3 nm) in an atmosphere containing oxygen (o 2 ), singlet oxygen in an excited state o( 1 d) and oxygen atoms in a ground state (o( 3 p)) are generated. next, in the reaction formula (5), the oxygen atoms (o( 3 p)) in a ground state and the oxygen (o 2 ) are reacted to generate ozone (o 3 ). in the reaction formula (6), by irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 180 nm (λ 3 nm) in an atmosphere containing the generated ozone (o 3 ), singlet oxygen in an excited state and oxygen are generated. in an atmosphere containing oxygen, the irradiation with light having a wavelength less than 180 nm, which is an ultraviolet ray, results in the generation of ozone and, by decomposition of the ozone or oxygen, singlet oxygen can be generated. the surface treatment as described above is performed by, for example, irradiation using a xe excimer uv lamp in an atmosphere containing oxygen. the light having a wavelength less than 200 nm causes breakage of a chemical bond in an organic substance and the like adhering to the surface of the object to be processed. with ozone or singlet oxygen, an organic substance adhering to the surface of the object or the organic substance in which the chemical bond is broken is removed by oxidative-decomposition. the surface treatment as described above can enhance the hydrophilicity and cleanliness of the surface of the object to be processed, making the bond more preferable. although the surface treatment is performed before the base substrate 100 is bonded to the bond substrate 110 in second mode, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. the surface treatment may be replaced with the plasma treatment described in first mode or combined with the plasma treatment. note that in first mode, the plasma treatment may be replaced with the surface treatment described in second mode or combined with the plasma treatment. next, the bond substrate 110 is split into the semiconductor layer 116 and the semiconductor substrate 200 at the embrittlement region 112 (see fig. 5d ). accordingly, the semiconductor layer 116 remains over the base substrate 100 . after that, the treatment of reducing defects, the treatment of improving the surface planarity, or the like enables formation of the semiconductor layer 118 over the base substrate 100 (see fig. 5e ). note that the steps of figs. 5d and 5e can be performed in the same way as those of figs. 4d and 4e , and therefore details thereof are omitted. note that the split bond substrate 200 becomes a reprocessed bond substrate through a reprocessing process, and can be reused. since there are defects on a surface of the bond substrate 200 due to the embrittlement region 112 or the like, such defects may preferably be removed before the reprocessing process. accordingly, the reprocessing process can be carried out more successfully. as methods of the removal, there are an etching treatment and a polishing treatment such as cmp. an embodiment of the disclosed invention enables formation of a reprocessed bond substrate with reduced oxygen defects or impurity elements, thereby improving the properties of an sdi substrate manufactured using this reprocessed bond substrate. further, deterioration of the properties of a bond substrate can be suppressed, and therefore the number of times of repeated use of the bond substrate increases. this can further suppress manufacturing costs of an soi substrate. thus, an embodiment of the disclosed invention can prevent malfunction of the bond substrate which is caused by its repeated use. this application is based on japanese patent application serial no. 2009-104203 filed with japan patent office on apr. 22, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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107-729-868-949-680
|
JP
|
[
"US",
"JP",
"WO",
"CN"
] |
H01R13/58,H01B7/00,H01R13/56,H01R13/52
| 2013-10-24T00:00:00 |
2013
|
[
"H01"
] |
connector and wiring harness
|
a connector (c) is formed such that a plurality of terminal insertion holes ( 12 ), into which terminals crimped to end parts of wires ( 40 ) are inserted, are arranged side by side in a width direction of a terminal insertion surface part ( 11 ) on the terminal insertion surface part ( 11 ) of a connector housing ( 10 ), and includes a plurality of guiding portions ( 25 ), ( 26 ) and ( 27 ) provided side by side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part ( 11 ) in correspondence with the terminal insertion holes ( 12 ). the guiding portions ( 25 ), ( 26 ) and ( 27 ) are configured to guide the wires ( 40 ) having the terminals inserted into the terminal insertion holes ( 12 ) in a perpendicular direction until the wires ( 40 ) are separated from the terminal insertion surface part ( 11 ) by specified distances.
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1 . a connector formed such that a plurality of terminal insertion holes, into which terminals crimped to end parts of wires are inserted, are arranged side by side in a width direction of a terminal insertion surface on the terminal insertion surface part of a connector housing, comprising: a plurality of guiding portions provided side by side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface in correspondence with the plurality of terminal insertion holes, wherein: the plurality of guiding portions include a plurality of frames at specified distances from the terminal insertion surface part; the plurality of frames guide the wires having the terminals inserted into the terminal insertion holes in a perpendicular direction until the wires are separated from the terminal insertion surface part by specified distances and are provided so that a distance from the terminal insertion surface is shorter for the frame closer to a side toward which the wires are laterally extended; and the frame closest to the side toward which the wires are laterally extended includes a supporting rib extending in a laterally extended direction from the frame, supporting the plurality of wires in contact and fixed together with the plurality of wires by a band. 2 . (canceled) 3 . a wiring harness, comprising: the connector of claim 1 ; and wires having terminals inserted into the terminal insertion holes of the connector housing.
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background 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to a connector and a wiring harness. 2. description of the related art a wiring harness laid in an automotive vehicle includes a connector crimped to end parts of wires. conventionally, a connector is known in which a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 4 , into which terminals crimped to end parts of wires 3 are inserted, are arranged side by side in a width direction of a terminal insertion surface part 2 on the terminal insertion surface part 2 of a connector housing 1 , as shown in fig. 8 herein and in japanese unexamined patent publication no. 2010-282764. further, some connectors include waterproof plugs made of rubber and fit on the end parts of the wires 3 in addition to the above configuration to keep the interiors of the terminal accommodating chambers 4 in a watertight manner by being held in close contact with inner peripheral parts of the terminal accommodating chambers when the wires are inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers 4 of the connector housing 1 . the wires 3 having the terminals inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers 4 are passed through a space enclosed by a u-shaped guide frame 5 provided on one end part of the terminal insertion surface part 2 of the connector housing 1 in the width direction and configured to regulate a wire arrangement direction and the terminal insertion surface part 2 , and guided to be laterally extended toward one side (right side) in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part 2 . the entire lengths of the wires 3 are set such that that of the wire 3 having the terminal inserted into the left one of the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 4 of the terminal insertion surface part 2 is longer than that of the wire 3 having the terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 4 on the right side. however, if the wires 3 of the connector housing 1 are pulled in a direction (left) opposite to an extended direction (right) of the wires 3 in mounting the aforementioned connector housing 1 and wires 3 into an automotive vehicle or the like, a tension acts on the wire 3 having a shortest extra length out of the plurality of wires 3 . this tension acts on a terminal crimping portion of the wire 3 in a direction oblique to an axis of the terminal. thus, the wire 3 may be broken or the waterproof plug may be deformed to be unable to keep the interior of the terminal accommodating chamber 4 in a watertight manner. accordingly, the present invention was developed to solve the aforementioned problem and aims to provide a connector and a wiring harness in which no tension is applied to a terminal crimping portion of a wire in a laterally extended state in a direction oblique to an axis of a terminal. summary to achieve the above object, the invention is directed to a connector formed such that a plurality of terminal insertion holes are arranged side by side in a width direction of a terminal insertion surface of a connector housing. terminals crimped to end parts of wires are inserted into the terminal insertion holes. guiding portions are provided side by side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface in correspondence with the terminal insertion holes. each guiding portion is configured to guide the wire having the terminal inserted into the terminal insertion hole in a perpendicular direction until the wire is separated from the terminal insertion surface by a specified distance. by this configuration the wires are guided from the terminal insertion surface in the perpendicular direction by the specified distances by the respective guiding portions and, then are extended laterally by parts of the guiding portions corresponding to the respective wires, namely the parts configured to laterally extend the wires. thus, if the connector housing is pulled in a direction opposite to a laterally extended direction of the wires, a bent part of the wire having a shortest extra length comes into contact with the guiding portion and a tension acting on this wire acts on the terminal insertion surface in the perpendicular direction. thus, in the connector according to the present invention, no tension is applied to a terminal crimping portion of the wire in the laterally extended state in a direction oblique to an axis of the terminal and the breakage of the wire can be prevented. in the connector configured as described above, the plurality of guiding portions may be configured so that a distance from the terminal insertion surface part is shorter for the guiding portion closer to a side toward which the wires are laterally extended. by this configuration, the wires laterally extended through the respective guiding portions can be overlapped effortlessly in parallel and laterally extended. to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a wiring harness including the above connector and wires having terminals inserted into the terminal insertion holes of the connector housing. by this configuration if the connector housing is pulled in a direction opposite to a laterally extended direction of the wires, a bent part of the wire having a shortest extra length comes into contact with the guiding portion and a stress acts on the guiding portion. thus, no tension is applied to a terminal crimping portion of the wire in the laterally extended state in a direction oblique to an axis of the terminal and the breakage of the wire can be prevented. according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connector and a wiring harness in which no tension is applied to a terminal crimping portion of a wire in a laterally extended state in a direction oblique to an axis of a terminal. brief description of drawings fig. 1a is a schematic perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 1b is a schematic plan view of a wiring harness according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is a schematic side view of an end part of a wire shown in fig. 1b . fig. 3 is a schematic front view of a connector housing in the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 4 is a schematic front view of a wire support in the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a state where the wire support is mounted on the connector housing in the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 6 is a schematic front view of the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7 is a schematic plan view showing the state where the wire support is mounted on the connector housing in the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a conventional connector housing. detailed description hereinafter, a connector and a wiring harness according to an embodiment of the invention are described with reference to the drawings. as shown in figs. 1a and 1b , a connector c according to this embodiment includes a connector housing 10 and a wire guide 20 and constitutes a wiring harness w to be laid in an automotive vehicle or the like. however, the use of the connector and the wiring harness according to the invention is not limited to automotive vehicles. as shown in figs. 1a and 2 , the connector housing 10 has a terminal insertion surface 11 , and terminal insertion holes 12 are arranged side by side in a width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . terminals 41 crimped to end parts of wires 40 are inserted are inserted into the terminal insertion holes. as shown in fig. 2 , a waterproof plug 42 made of rubber is provided from a part of the wire 40 adjacent to one end part of the terminal 41 . the waterproof plug 42 is held in close contact with an inner peripheral part of the terminal insertion hole 12 and keeps the interior of the terminal insertion hole 12 watertight when the terminal 41 is inserted into the terminal insertion hole 12 . the connector housing 10 has a rectangular parallelepipedic shape, as shown in figs. 1a and 1b , and a total of six terminal insertion holes 12 are formed on the terminal insertion surface 11 , which is one end surface of a rectangular parallelepiped. rib insertion openings 13 are formed on opposite widthwise end parts of the terminal insertion surface 11 , as shown in fig. 3 . three terminal insertion holes 12 are arranged side by side in the width direction (lateral direction) of the terminal insertion surface 11 and two rows of the terminal insertion holes 12 are arranged in a short side direction (vertical direction) of the terminal insertion surface 11 . as shown in figs. 1a, 1b and 4 , the wire guide 20 includes a support 24 , guiding portions 25 , 26 and 27 and a supporting rib 28 . as shown in figs. 4 and 5 , the support 24 is a plate-like member to be brought into contact with the terminal insertion surface part 11 of the connector housing 10 . the supporting portion 24 includes three openings 21 , 22 and 23 arranged side by side in the lateral direction and fixing ribs 29 . the supporting portion 24 is fixed to the connector housing 10 by engaging the fixing ribs 29 with the rib insertion openings 13 of the terminal insertion surface 11 described above. as shown in fig. 6 , the three openings 21 , 22 and 23 formed on the support 24 respectively expose the terminal insertion holes 12 located on a left side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 , the terminal insertion holes 12 located in a widthwise center and the terminal insertion holes 12 located on a right side in the width direction. as shown in figs. 1a, 1b, 5 and 6 , the guiding portions 25 , 26 and 27 are provided side by side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part 11 in correspondence with the terminal insertion holes 12 . further, the guiding portions 25 , 26 and 27 are configured to guide the wires 40 having the terminals 41 inserted into the terminal insertion holes 12 by bending them toward one side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . further, as shown in fig. 7 , the guiding portions 25 , 26 and 27 are configured so that a distance s 1 , s 2 , s 3 from the terminal insertion surface 11 is shorter for the guiding portion located closer to the one side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . the guiding portion 25 includes a rectangular frame 30 composed of upper and lower beams 30 a, left and right columns 30 b and facing the opening 21 and two walls 31 supporting the frame 30 on the support 24 . the guiding portion 25 also has open upper and lower parts. the walls 31 are connected to the columns 30 b of the frame 30 and the support 24 and fix the frame 30 to the supporting portion 24 . the frame 30 is at the distance s 1 from the support 24 . further, the column 30 b located on the right side toward the supporting portion 24 guides the wires 40 having the terminals 41 inserted into the terminal insertion holes 12 via the opening 21 in a laterally extended state by bending them to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . the guiding portion 26 includes a u-shaped frame 32 composed of upper and lower beams 32 a and a column 32 b located on the right side toward the support 24 and facing the opening 22 . a wall 33 supports the frame 32 on the support 24 , and has open upper and lower parts. the wall 33 is connected to the column 32 b of the frame 32 and the support 24 and fixes the frame 32 to the support 24 . left end parts of the beams 32 a are connected to the wall 31 located on the right side in the guiding portion 25 . the frame 32 is at the distance s 2 from the supporting portion 24 . this distance s 2 is shorter than the distance s 1 of the frame 30 from the supporting portion 24 . further, the column 32 b guides the wires 40 having the terminals 41 inserted into the terminal insertion holes 12 via the opening 22 in a laterally extended state by bending them to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . the guiding portion 27 includes a u-shaped frame 34 composed of upper and lower beams 34 a and a column 34 b located on the right side toward the support 24 and facing the opening 23 and a wall 35 supporting the frame 34 on the support 24 . the guiding portion 27 has open upper and lower parts. the wall 35 is connected to the column 34 b of the frame 34 and the supporting portion 24 and fixes the frame 34 to the support 24 . left end parts of the beams 34 a are connected to the wall 33 of the guiding portion 26 . the frame 34 is at the distance s 3 from the support 24 . this distance s 3 is shorter than the distance s 2 of the frame 32 from the support 24 . thus, the guiding portion 27 has open upper and lower parts. further, the column 32 b guides the wires 40 having the terminals 41 inserted into the terminal insertion holes 12 via the opening 23 in a laterally extended state by bending them to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . as shown in figs. 5 and 6 , the supporting rib 28 is connected to be on the same plane as the column 34 b of the frame 34 and projects to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . as shown in fig. 1b , the wires 40 are tied to the supporting rib 28 by a band 43 . in producing a wiring harness w according to this embodiment, the fixing ribs 29 are engaged with the rib insertion openings 13 so that the terminal insertion surface 11 and the support 24 come into contact and the wire guide 20 is mounted on the connector housing 10 as shown in figs. 1a, 5, 6 and 7 . in this way, the connector housing 10 and the wire guide 20 constitute the connector c. first, end parts of two wires 40 are passed through the frame 34 of the guiding portion 27 and the opening 23 of the support 24 and the terminals 41 of the wires 40 are inserted into the upper and lower terminal insertion holes 12 on the right side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part 11 . these wires 40 are guided to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part 11 by being bent on an outer surface side of the column portion 34 b of the frame 34 . subsequently, end parts of two wires 40 are passed through the frame 32 of the guiding portion 26 and the opening 22 of the supporting portion 24 and the terminals 41 of the wires 40 are inserted into the upper and lower terminal insertion holes 12 in a central part in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . these wires 40 are guided to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part 11 by being bent on an outer surface side of the column portion 32 b of the frame 32 . in this way, the two wires 40 laterally extended through the guiding portion 26 are overlapped with the two wires 40 laterally extended through the guiding portion 27 . subsequently, end parts of two wires 40 are passed through the frame 30 of the guiding portion 25 and the opening 21 of the support 24 and the terminals 41 of the wires 40 are inserted into the upper and lower terminal insertion holes 12 on the left side in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 . these wires 40 are guided to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 by being bent on an outer surface side of the right column 30 b of the frame 30 . in this way, the two wires 40 laterally extended through the guiding portion 25 are overlapped with the two wires 40 laterally extended through the guiding portion 26 . further, a total of six wires 40 guided to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface 11 by the columns 30 b, 32 b and 34 b of the frames 30 , 32 and 34 are tied to the supporting rib 28 using the band 43 to constitute the wiring harness w. in the connector c and the wiring harness w according to this embodiment, if the connector housing 10 is pulled to the left, a bent part of the wire 40 having a shortest extra length comes into contact with the column portion 30 b, 32 b, 34 b of the frame 30 , 32 , 34 corresponding to the wire 40 . if the bent part of the wire 40 comes into contact with the column 30 b of the frame 30 , a stress acts on the guiding portion 25 . if the bent part of the wire 40 comes into contact with the column 32 b of the frame 32 , a stress acts on the guiding portion 26 . if the bent part of the wire 40 comes into contact with the column 34 b of the frame 34 , a stress acts on the guiding portion 25 . thus, no tension is applied to a terminal crimping portion of the wire 40 in the laterally extended state in a direction oblique to the terminal 41 , and the waterproof plug 42 is not deformed. thus, the connector c and the wiring harness w according to this embodiment can prevent the breakage of the wires 40 near the terminal crimping portions and keep the interiors of the terminal insertion holes 12 in a watertight manner. in the connector c and the wiring harness w according to this embodiment, the distance from the terminal insertion surface part 11 is shorter for the guiding portion 25 , 26 , 27 closer to the side toward which the wires 40 are laterally extended. thus, the plurality of wires 40 laterally extended from the guiding portions 25 , 26 and 27 can be overlapped effortlessly and a variation in the extra lengths of these wires 40 can be suppressed. in the connector c and the wiring harness w according to this embodiment, the upper and lower parts of the guiding portions 25 , 26 and 27 are open. thus, it is possible to easily insert the terminals 41 into the terminal insertion holes 12 of the terminal insertion surface part 11 while visually confirming the wires 40 passed through the frames 30 , 32 and 34 . in the embodiment described above, the wire guide 20 is mounted on the connector housing 10 so that the supporting rib 28 projects to the right in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part 11 . instead of this, the wire guide 20 may be inverted vertically and so mounted on the connector housing 10 that the supporting rib 28 projects to the left in the width direction of the terminal insertion surface part 11 . as described above, in the connector and the wiring harness according to the invention, if the connector housing is pulled in a direction opposite to the extended direction of the wires, the bent part of the wire having a shortest extra length comes into contact with the guiding portion and a stress acts on the guiding portion. thus, in the connector and the wiring harness according to the present invention, no tension is applied to the terminal crimping portion of the wire in the laterally extended state in a direction oblique to the axis of the terminal. therefore an effect of preventing the breakage of the wire can be exhibited. since no tension is applied to the terminal crimping portion of the wire in the laterally extended state in the direction oblique to the axis of the terminal, the connector and the wiring harness according to the present invention can be applied to vehicles, various devices, machine equipment and the like. list of reference signs c connectorw wiring harness10 connector housing11 terminal insertion surface12 terminal insertion hole25 guiding portion26 guiding portion27 guiding portion40 wire41 terminals 1 distances 2 distances 3 distance
|
108-277-277-043-520
|
US
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A61B5/0215,A61B18/08,A61B18/10,A61B34/10,A61B18/14,A61B34/20,A61B90/00,G16H20/40,A61B5/107,A61B5/00,A61B18/12,A61B5/06,A61B18/00,A61B34/00,A61B5/042,A61B18/04
| 2017-09-29T00:00:00 |
2017
|
[
"A61",
"G16"
] |
ablation size estimation and visual representation
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to provide a system for visually representing an estimated ablation size.solution: the system includes sensors that acquire location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during ablation of an organ and ablation parameters signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation. the system also includes memory which stores location data and ablation parameter data corresponding to the location signals and ablation parameters signals. the system also includes a processing device which generates mapping information for displaying a map of the organ and first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ. the processing device also generates second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ.selected drawing: figure 1
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1 . a system for visually representing estimated ablation size, the system comprising: sensors configured to acquire: location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during an ablation of an organ; and ablation parameter signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation; memory configured to store: location data corresponding to the location signals; and ablation parameter data corresponding to the ablation parameter signals; and a processing device configured to: generate, from the location data, mapping information for displaying a map of the organ; generate, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ; and generate, from the ablation parameter data, second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. 2 . the system of claim 1 , further comprising a display device, wherein the processing device is further configured to: display the map of the organ at the display device; and display the first geometrical object and the second geometrical object on the map of the organ at the display device. 3 . the system of claim 2 , wherein a center of the first geometrical object and a center of the second geometrical object are displayed at a same location on the map of the organ at the display device. 4 . the system of claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the second geometrical object displayed at the display device is transparent such that the first geometrical object and the second geometrical object are both visible on the map of the organ. 5 . the system of claim 2 , wherein the first geometrical object displayed at the display device is opaque. 6 . the system of claim 2 , wherein the second geometrical object is wire framed. 7 . the system of claim 2 , wherein a shape of the first geometrical object is different from a shape of the second geometrical object. 8 . the system of claim 2 , wherein a shape of the first geometrical object is the same as a shape of the second geometrical object. 9 . the system of claim 2 , wherein the ablation device is configured to perform an ablation procedure using radio-frequency (rf) energy to ablate the organ, and the processing device is further configured to: determine, from the ablation parameter data, whether the ablation device contacts a portion of the organ; if contact is determined between the ablation device and the portion of the organ: generate in-blood information for displaying an in-blood indicator on the map of the organ; and display the in-blood indicator on the map of the organ visually representing an in-blood ablation at the portion of the organ. 10 . a computer implemented method of visually representing ablation size, the method comprising: receiving location data corresponding to location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during an ablation of an organ; receiving ablation parameter data corresponding to ablation parameter signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation; generating, from the location data, mapping information for displaying a map of the organ; generating, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ; and generating, from the ablation parameter data, second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. 11 . the method of claim 10 , further comprising: visually displaying the map of the organ; and visually displaying the first geometrical object and the second geometrical object on the map of the organ. 12 . the method of claim 11 , wherein a center of the first geometrical object and a center of the second geometrical object are displayed at a same location on the map of the organ. 13 . the method of claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of the second geometrical object is transparent such that the first geometrical object and the second geometrical object are both visible on the map of the organ. 14 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the first geometrical object is opaque. 15 . the method of claim 11 , wherein the second geometrical object is wire framed. 16 . the method of claim 11 , wherein a shape of the first geometrical object is different from a shape of the second geometrical object. 17 . the method of claim 11 , wherein a shape of the first geometrical object is the same as a shape of the second geometrical object. 18 . the method of claim 11 , further comprising: performing, via the ablation device, an ablation procedure using radio-frequency (rf) energy to ablate the organ, determining, from the ablation parameter data, if the ablation device contacts a portion of the organ; if contact is determined between the ablation device and the portion of the organ, generating in-blood information for displaying an in-blood indicator on the map of the organ; and displaying the in-blood indicator on the map of the organ visually representing an in-blood ablation at the portion of the organ. 19 . a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions which cause a computer to perform a method comprising: receiving location data corresponding to location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during an ablation of an organ; receiving ablation parameter data corresponding to ablation parameter signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation; generating, from the location data, mapping information for displaying a map of the organ; generating, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ; and generating, from the ablation parameter data, second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. 20 . the computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions cause the computer to perform the method further comprising: visually displaying the map of the organ; and visually displaying the first geometrical object and the second geometrical object on the map of the organ.
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summary the present application discloses a system for visually representing estimated ablation size. the system includes sensors configured to acquire: location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during an ablation of an organ; and ablation parameter signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation. the system also includes memory configured to store: location data corresponding to the location signals; and ablation parameter data corresponding to the ablation parameter signal. the system also includes a processing device configured to generate, from the location data, mapping information for displaying a map of the organ. the processing device is also configured to generate, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ. the processing device is also configured to generate, from the ablation parameter data, second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. the present application discloses a method of visually representing ablation size. the method includes receiving location data corresponding to location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during an ablation of an organ and receiving ablation parameter data corresponding to ablation parameter signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation. the method also includes generating, from the location data, mapping information for displaying a map of the organ. the method also includes generating, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ. the method further includes generating, from the ablation parameter data, second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. the present application discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method which includes receiving location data corresponding to location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during an ablation of an organ and receiving ablation parameter data corresponding to ablation parameter signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation. the method also includes generating, from the location data, mapping information for displaying a map of the organ and generating, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ. the method further include generating, from the ablation parameter data, second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. brief description of the drawings a more detailed understanding can be had from the following description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: fig. 1 is an illustration of an example medical system for navigating a tool in three dimensional (3-d) space according to embodiments disclosed herein; fig. 2 is an illustration of components of an example medical system for use with embodiments described herein; fig. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of providing a visual representation of ablation width and ablation depth; fig. 4 is an example display of geometric objects representing depths and widths for ablations of a heart according to an embodiment; and fig. 5 is a close-up view of the display shown in fig. 4 illustrating exemplary first and second geometric objects representing ablation depths and widths. detailed description conventional ablation methods and systems, such as radio-frequency (rf) catheter ablation, are used to ablate portions of dysfunctional tissue, such as tissue of a heart, lung, ear, nose, throat or other organs. for example, an rf catheter ablation procedure typically includes inserting a catheter through an incision in the skin and guiding the catheter to an organ where the catheter is used to create ablation lesions on the organ tissue. dynamic maps of the patient anatomy (e.g., organs) are created to facilitate accurate determination of regions for ablation. target ablation sites (i.e., regions of interest (roi)) of an organ are identified by viewing the maps. based on the identified ablation sites, an ablation procedure, which includes one or more ablations, is performed on the organ. the conventional methods and systems used to identify these ablation sites and perform the ablation procedure are time consuming (e.g., several hours) and rely on medical personnel with specific expertise and experience (typically requiring many hours of training). successful treatment depends on accurate identification of ablation sites as well as an accurate assessment of the ablations performed on the organ. some conventional systems attempt to provide an accurate assessment of the ablations by displaying ablation parameters (e.g., ablation time, catheter position stability, ablation power, temperature, and ablation impedance) to a user (e.g., physician). for example, numerical values for the ablation parameters are displayed. different colors are also displayed on the maps to indicate the values of different ablation parameters. accurate and consistent ablation results are also facilitated by accurate and efficient visualization of ablation size (i.e., depth and width). while conventional systems provide some indication regarding ablation size, an improved system and method is needed to facilitate an accurate and efficient visualization of ablation size. embodiments disclosed herein employ systems, apparatuses and methods of providing a visual representation of estimated ablation depths and widths to facilitate an accurate and efficient visualization of ablation sizes. embodiments include displaying a first geometrical object to visually represent a depth of an ablation and displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object to visually represent a width of the ablation. referring now to fig. 1 , an illustration of an example medical system 20 is shown that may be used to generate and display information 52 (e.g., anatomical models of a portion of a patient and signal information). tools such as tool 22 , can be any tool used for diagnostic or therapeutic treatment, such as for example, a catheter (such as catheter 202 shown in fig. 2 and described in more detail below) configured to ablate portions of patient anatomy as well as mapping electrical potentials in a heart 26 of a patient 28 . alternatively, tools may be used, mutatis mutandis, for other therapeutic and/or diagnostic purposes of different portions of anatomy, such as in the heart, lungs or other body organs, such as the ear, nose, and throat (ent). tools may include, for example, probes, catheters, cutting tools and suction devices. an operator 30 may insert the tool 22 into a portion of patient anatomy, such as the vascular system of the patient 28 so that a tip 56 of the tool 22 enters a chamber of the heart 26 . the operator 30 may also advance the tool so that the tip 56 engages endocardial tissue at one or more locations. the control console 24 may include an rf generator, such as rf generator 218 shown in fig. 2 , which supplies high-frequency electrical energy via the tool 22 for ablating tissue at locations engaged by the tip 56 . the control console 24 may also use magnetic position sensing to determine three-dimensional (3-d) position coordinates of the tool (e.g., coordinates of the tip 56 ) inside the heart 26 . to determine the position coordinates, a driver circuit 34 in the control console 24 may drive, via connector, 44 , field generators 36 to generate magnetic fields within the anatomy of the patient 28 . the field generators 36 include one or more emitter coils (not shown in fig. 1 ), placed at known positions external to the patient 28 , which are configured to generate magnetic fields in a predefined working volume that contains a portion of interest of the patient anatomy. each of the emitting coils may be driven by a different frequency to emit a constant magnetic field. for example, in the example medical system 20 shown in fig. 1 , one or more emitter coils can be placed below the torso of the patient 28 and each configured to generate magnetic fields in a predefined working volume that contains the heart 26 of the patient. as shown in fig. 1 , a magnetic field location sensor 38 is disposed at the tip 56 of tool 22 . the magnetic field location sensor 38 generates electrical signals, based on the amplitude and phase of the magnetic fields, indicating the 3-d position coordinates of the tool (e.g., position coordinates of the tip 56 ). the electrical signals may be communicated to the the control console 24 to determine the position coordinates of the tool. the electrical signals may be communicated to the the control console 24 via wire 45 . alternatively, or in addition to wired communication, the electrical signals may be wirelessly communicated to the control console 24 , for example, via a wireless communication interface (not shown) at the tool 22 that may communicate with input/output (i/o) interface 42 in the control console 24 . for example, u.s. pat. no. 6,266,551, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes, inter alia, a wireless catheter, which is not physically connected to signal processing and/or computing apparatus and is incorporated herein by reference. rather, a transmitter/receiver is attached to the proximal end of the catheter. the transmitter/receiver communicates with a signal processing and/or computer apparatus using wireless communication methods, such as ir, rf, bluetooth, or acoustic transmissions. the wireless digital interface and the i/o interface 42 may operate in accordance with any suitable wireless communication standard that is known in the art, such as for example, ir, rf, bluetooth, one of the ieee 802.11 family of standards (e.g., wi-fi), or the hiperlan standard. although fig. 1 shows a single magnetic field location sensor 38 disposed at the tip 56 of tool 22 , tools may include one or more magnetic field location sensors each disposed at any tool portion. the magnetic field location sensor 38 may include one or more miniature coils (not shown). for example, a magnetic field location sensor may include multiple miniature coils oriented along different axes. alternatively, the magnetic field location sensor may comprise either another type of magnetic sensor or position transducers of other types, such as impedance-based or ultrasonic location sensors. the signal processor 40 is configured to process the signals to determine the position coordinates of the tool 22 , including both location and orientation coordinates. the method of position sensing described hereinabove is implemented in the carto mapping system produced by biosense webster inc., of diamond bar, calif., and is described in detail in the patents and the patent applications cited herein. the tool 22 may also include a force sensor 54 disposed at the tip 56 of tool 22 . the force sensor 54 may measure a force applied by the tool 22 (e.g., the tip 56 of the tool 22 ) to the endocardial tissue of the heart 26 and generate a signal that is sent to the control console 24 . the force sensor 54 may include a magnetic field transmitter and a receiver connected by a spring (not shown), and may generate an indication of the force based on measuring a deflection of the spring. further details of this sort of probe and force sensor are described in u.s. patent application publications 2009/0093806 and 2009/0138007, whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference. alternatively, the tool 22 may include another type of force sensor that may use, for example, fiber optics or impedance measurements. the tool 22 may also include an electrode 48 coupled to the tip 56 and configured to function as an impedance-based position transducer. additionally or alternatively, the electrode 48 may be configured to measure a certain physiological property, for example the local surface electrical potential (e.g., of cardiac tissue) at one or more locations. the electrode 48 may be configured to apply rf energy to ablate endocardial tissue in an organ, such as the heart 26 shown in fig. 1 . although the example medical system 20 may be configured to measure the position of the tool 22 using magnetic-based sensors, other position tracking techniques may be used (e.g., impedance-based sensors). magnetic position tracking techniques are described, for example, in u.s. pat. nos. 5,391,199, 5,443,489, 6,788,967, 6,690,963, 5,558,091, 6,172,499 6,177,792, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. impedance-based position tracking techniques are described, for example, in u.s. pat. nos. 5,983,126, 6,456,828 and 5,944,022, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. the i/o interface 42 may enable the control console 24 to interact with the tool 22 , the body surface electrodes 46 and any other sensors (not shown). based on acquired location signals (e.g., the electrical impulses received from the body surface electrodes 46 and the electrical signals received from the tool 22 via the i/o interface 42 and other components of medical system 20 ), the signal processor 40 may determine the location of the tool in a 3-d space and generate the display information 52 , which may be shown on a display 50 . the signal processor 40 may be included in a general-purpose computer, with a suitable front end and interface circuits for receiving signals from the tool 22 and controlling the other components of the control console 24 . the signal processor 40 may be programmed, using software, to perform the functions that are described herein. the software may be downloaded to the control console 24 in electronic form, over a network, for example, or it may be provided on non-transitory tangible media, such as optical, magnetic or electronic memory media. alternatively, some or all of the functions of the signal processor 40 may be performed by dedicated or programmable digital hardware components. in the example shown at fig. 1 , the control console 24 is connected, via cable 44 , to body surface electrodes 46 , each of which are attached to patient 28 using patches (e.g., indicated in fig. 1 as circles around the electrodes 46 ) that adhere to the skin of the patient. body surface electrodes 46 may include one or more wireless sensor nodes integrated on a flexible substrate. the one or more wireless sensor nodes may include a wireless transmit/receive unit enabling local digital signal processing, a radio link, and a miniaturized rechargeable battery. in addition or alternative to the patches, body surface electrodes 46 may also be positioned on the patient using articles worn by patient 28 which include the body surface electrodes 46 and may also include one or more position sensors (not shown) indicating the location of the worn article. for example, body surface electrodes 46 can be embedded in a vest that is configured to be worn by the patient 28 . during operation, the body surface electrodes 46 may assist in providing a location of the tool (e.g., catheter) in 3-d space by detecting electrical impulses (e.g., generated by the polarization and depolarization of cardiac tissue and transmitting information to the control console 24 , via the cable 44 ). the body surface electrodes 46 can be equipped with magnetic location tracking and can help identify and track the respiration cycle of the patient 28 . in addition to or alternative to wired communication, the body surface electrodes 46 may communicate with the control console 24 and one another via a wireless interface (not shown). during the diagnostic treatment, the signal processor 40 may present the display information 52 and may store data representing the information 52 in a memory 58 . the memory 58 may include any suitable volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as random access memory or a hard disk drive. the operator 30 may be able to manipulate the display information 52 using one or more input devices 59 . alternatively, the medical system 20 may include a second operator that manipulates the control console 24 while the operator 30 manipulates the tool 22 . it should be noted that the configuration shown in fig. 1 is an example. any suitable configuration of the medical system 20 may be used and implemented. fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating example components of a medical system 200 for use with embodiments described herein. as shown in fig. 2 , the system 200 includes a catheter 202 , a processing device 204 , a display device 206 , memory 212 and rf generator 218 , which supplies high-frequency electrical energy, via catheter 202 , for ablating tissue at locations engaged by the catheter 202 . as shown in fig. 2 , the processing device 204 , display device 206 and memory 212 are a part of computing device 214 . in some embodiments, the display device 206 may be separate from computing device 214 . computing device 214 may also include an i/o interface, such as i/o interface 42 shown in fig. 1 . for explanation purposes, a single ablation device (e.g., catheter 202 ) is described herein as performing a mapping procedure and an ablation procedure. different types of ablation devices (e.g., different types of catheters) may, however, be used to perform mapping procedures and ablation procedures. as shown in fig. 2 , the example catheter 202 includes one or more sensors 216 , which include, for example, a magnetic field location sensor (e.g., sensor 38 in fig. 1 ) for providing location signals to indicate the 3-d position coordinates of the catheter 202 . in some procedures, one or more additional sensors 210 that are separate from the catheter 202 , as shown in example system 200 , are also used to provide location signals. in some embodiments, the catheter 202 also includes catheter electrodes 208 for mapping electrical potentials of a heart. sensor(s) 216 also include, for example, position sensors, pressure or force sensors, temperature sensors, impedance sensors or other sensors which provide ablation parameter signals indicating ablation parameters during the ablation of tissue of an organ. during the ablation procedure, rf generator 218 supplies high-frequency electrical energy, via catheter 202 , for ablating tissue at locations engaged by the catheter 202 . sensor(s) 216 sense ablation parameters (e.g., catheter position stability, temperature, ablation time, ablation power and ablation impedance) during the ablation procedure. catheter 202 may be in wired or wireless communication with processing device 204 to communicate the information acquired by sensor(s) 216 . the location signals are processed as location data and stored, for example, in memory 212 . the processing device 204 receives (e.g., reads from memory) location data corresponding to the location signals and generates mapping information, from the location data, for displaying one or more maps of an organ being ablated. the ablation parameter signals are processed as ablation parameter data and stored, for example, in memory 212 . the processing device 204 receives the ablation parameter data corresponding to the ablation parameter signals and generates, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of the ablation of the organ. processing device 204 also receives, from the ablation parameter data, second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. that is, the processing device 204 receives the ablation parameter data corresponding to ablation parameter signals acquired (e.g., via one or more sensors 216 ) during the ablation procedure, determines from the ablation parameter data, estimated depth and width of an ablation, and generates, from the ablation parameter data, object information for displaying geometric objects to visually represent the estimated ablation depth and width. for example, using the ablation parameter data, processing device 204 executes a plurality of programmed instructions (e.g., lesion estimation and assessment algorithms) to determine an estimated depth and width of an ablation. the processing device 204 then generates first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents the estimated depth for an ablation of the heart. the processing device 204 also generates second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which represents the estimated width for the ablation of the heart. the processing device 204 may also use the ablation parameter data to execute the programmed instructions to generate in-blood information for displaying an indicator on the map of an organ to visually represent a portion of the organ tissue which was not contacted during the ablation procedure. for example, during the ablation procedure, ablation parameter signals may be acquired, via sensor(s) 216 , indicating whether the catheter 202 contacts the organ tissue at a portion of the heart. the ablation parameter signals may include, for example, information identifying the location of the catheter in 3-d space at a particular time, information identifying a force applied by the catheter, impedance information and other information indicating whether the catheter 202 contacts the organ tissue at the portion of the organ. the processing device 204 processes the ablation parameter signals as ablation parameter data and uses the ablation parameter data to determine whether the catheter 202 contacted the organ tissue at the portion of the organ. if no contact is determined between the ablation device and the heart tissue at the portion of the organ, the processing device 204 generates in-blood indicator information, indicating an in-blood ablation (as opposed to an ablation of the organ tissue). processing device 204 drives display device 206 , using the mapping information, to display the map of the organ on display device 206 . processing device 204 also drives display device 206 , using the the first object information and the second object information, to display the first and second geometrical objects at the display device 206 as well as any determined in-blood indicators. display device 206 may include one or more displays each configured to display one or more maps of the organ. for example, display device 206 is configured to display maps representing a spatio-temporal manifestation of an organ (e.g., a heart) as well as geometrical objects which represent estimated ablation depths and widths. display device 206 may be in wired or wireless communication with processing device 204 . in some embodiments, display device may be separate from computing device 214 . memory 212 includes, for example, volatile and non-volatile memory, such as random access memory (ram), dynamic ram, or a cache. memory 212 also includes, for example, storage 214 , such as, fixed storage (e.g., a hard disk drive and a solid state drive) and removable storage (e.g., an optical disk and a flash drive). fig. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 300 of visually representing an estimated ablation size. as shown at block 302 , the method includes performing an ablation procedure and a mapping procedure. for example, during the ablation of an organ, location data, corresponding to location signals indicating locations of an ablation device during an ablation of an organ. based on the location data, mapping information is generated (e.g., via processing device 204 ). as part of the mapping procedure, one or more maps of an organ (e.g., map of a heart) are displayed (e.g., at display device 206 ) according to the mapping information. the mapping information can be provided to the display via a wired medium or wirelessly via a network. as shown at block 304 , the method 300 includes receiving ablation data corresponding to ablation parameters acquired during the ablation procedure. for example, one or more ablations of organ tissue are performed as part of the ablation procedure. for each ablation performed during the ablation procedure, system parameter signals are acquired (e.g., via sensor(s) 216 ). the system parameter signals are processed as ablation parameter data (e.g., via signal processor 40 ) and stored (e.g., in memory 212 ). as shown at block 306 , the method 300 includes estimating an ablation depth and an ablation width. for example, using ablation parameter data corresponding to acquired ablation parameter signals, depth and width of an ablation is estimated according to lesion assessment algorithms. as shown at block 308 , the method 300 includes generating, from the ablation parameter data, first object information for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which visually represents an estimated depth of an ablation of the organ and second object information for displaying, concurrently with the first geometrical object, a second geometrical object having a second size which visually represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. for example, using the ablation depth estimated from the ablation parameter data at block 308 , first object information is generated for displaying a first geometrical object having a first size which represents an estimated depth of an ablation of the organ. in addition, second object information is generated for displaying a second geometrical object having a second size which represents an estimated width of the ablation of the organ. as shown at block 310 , the method 300 includes visually displaying (e.g., at display device 206 ) the first geometrical object and the second geometrical object on the organ map. for simplified explanation purposes, an example of implementing the method 300 is now described with reference to a heart. embodiments described herein may, however, be used to estimate ablation sizes for ablations performed on other portions of patient anatomy, such as for example, tissue in lungs, ears, noses, throats and other organs. fig. 4 is an example display 400 of geometric objects 502 and 504 representing depths and widths for ablations 404 of heart 402 . fig. 5 is a close-up view of the display 400 shown in fig. 4 illustrating the exemplary first geometric objects 502 for representing the ablation depths and second geometric objects 504 for representing the ablation widths of ablations 404 a - 404 d. a map of a portion of a heart 402 is shown at display 400 . the map is generated, for example, from ecg data corresponding to electrical signals acquired via electrodes disclosed on the heart 402 . five separate ablations 404 , performed over time at different ablations sites on the heart 402 , are shown at display 400 . the number and location of the ablations 404 shown in fig. 4 is merely exemplary. as shown in figs. 4 and 5 , each ablation 404 is represented by a first geometric object 502 and a second geometric object 504 displayed on the map of the heart 402 . as described in more detail below with regard to fig. 5 , first geometric objects 502 are used to visually represent the depth of each ablation 404 and second geometric objects 504 are used to visually represent the width of each ablation 404 . additional ablation parameter data 406 is also shown at display 400 in fig. 4 . as shown, the ablation parameter data 406 data includes numerical values for different ablation parameter types (e.g., ablation time, temperature, power, impedance width and depth and max temperature). the ablation parameter types shown in fig. 4 are merely exemplary. displays may include other ablation parameter types and values for the ablation parameter types. in addition, other ablation parameter data, such as different indicators (e.g., colors) each indicating ablation parameters, may be displayed on the organ. indicator bars (e.g., color bars) corresponding to the different indicators on the organ may also be displayed. fig. 5 shows four ablations 404 a - 404 d of the six ablations 404 shown in fig. 4 . the size of first geometric object 502 a represents the depth of ablation 404 a and the size of second geometric object 504 a represents the width of ablation 404 a. the size of first geometric object 502 b represents the depth of ablation 404 b and the size of second geometric object 504 b represents the width of ablation 404 b. for simplification purposes, the geometric objects representing the depth and width of ablations 404 c and 404 d are not specifically annotated in fig. 5 . while sizes of geometric objects used to represent the depth and width of each ablation may be different, the centers of both geometrics objects are displayed at the same location on a map, corresponding to ablation centers in 3-d space. for example, as shown in fig. 5 , while the size of first geometric object 502 a is smaller than the size of the second geometric object 504 a, the first geometric object 502 a and the second geometric object 504 a share the same center 506 a, corresponding to the center of the ablation 404 a in 3-d space. likewise, while the size of first geometric object 502 b is smaller than the size of the second geometric object 504 b, the first geometric object 502 b and the second geometric object 504 b share the same center 506 b, corresponding to the center of the ablation 404 b in 3-d space. the circular shapes of the first geometric objects 502 shown in fig. 5 are exemplary. shapes of first geometric objects representing ablation depths may be any geometrical shape. first geometric objects representing ablation depths may be displayed as opaque, transparent or partially transparent. the polygonal shapes of the second geometric objects 502 shown in fig. 5 are also exemplary. shapes of second geometric objects representing ablation widths may also be any geometrical shape. at least a portion of each second geometrical object 504 representing an ablation width is displayed as transparent (or partially transparent) such that both the second geometrical object 504 and the corresponding first geometrical object 502 are simultaneously visible on the map of the heart 402 . for example, the second geometric objects 504 shown in fig. 5 are wire-framed objects. that is, non-wire portions of the wire-framed second geometric objects 504 are transparent such that the first geometrical objects 502 are simultaneously visible on the map of the heart 402 . first geometric objects 502 may be displayed as opaque objects. in addition portion of each first geometric object 502 may be displayed as transparent or partially transparent. as shown in figs. 4 and 5 , the shapes (e.g., circles) of the first geometrical objects 502 are different from the shapes (e.g., wire framed polyhedrons) of the second geometrical objects 504 . for example, the shape of first geometrical object 502 a is different from the shape of second geometrical object 504 a. the shapes of first and second geometrical objects may, however, also be the same. for example, the shape of a first geometrical object representing the depth of an ablation may be a circle and the second geometrical object representing the width of the ablation may also be a circle (e.g., a wire-framed circle, a semi-transparent circle or other type of circle such that the first geometric object may be also be viewed). the processing device 204 may also use the ablation parameter data to execute the programmed instructions to generate in-blood indicator information for displaying an indicator on the map of the heart to visually represent a portion of the heart tissue which was not contacted during the ablation procedure. for example, during the ablation procedure, ablation parameter signals may be acquired, via sensor(s) 216 , indicating whether an ablation device (e.g., catheter 202 ) contacted a portion of an organ (e.g., heart tissue at a portion of a heart). the ablation parameter signals may include, for example, information identifying the location of the catheter in 3-d space at a particular time, information identifying a force applied by the catheter, impedance information and other information indicating whether the catheter 202 contacted the portion of the organ. referring back to fig. 3 , as shown at decision block 312 , the method 300 includes determining whether the ablation device (e.g., catheter 202 ) contacts a portion of the organ. for example, ablation parameter signals, indicating information (e.g., information identifying the location of the ablation device in 3-d space at a particular time, information identifying a force applied by the ablation device and impedance information) are acquired. using ablation parameter data, which correspond to the ablation parameter signals, it is determined (e.g., via processing device 204 ) whether the ablation device contacts the portion of the organ. if no contact is determined, at decision block 312 , in-blood indicator information is generated, at block 314 , and used to display an indicator on the map of the organ to visually represent the portion of the organ having no contact with the ablation device, as shown at block 316 . for example, as shown in fig. 5 , in-blood indicator 508 is displayed at a location on the map of the heart 402 corresponding to the portion of the heart tissue in 3-d space having no contact with the ablation device. the in-blood indicator 508 is a visual indication that the ablation was an in-blood ablation and not an ablation of the heart tissue. the indicator 508 shown in fig. 5 is exemplary. any visual indicator (e.g., color, shading, markings or other visual indicator) can be used to indicate an in-blood ablation. if no contact is determined between the ablation device and the organ at decision block 312 , the method proceeds back to decision block 312 to determine whether there is contact between the organ and the ablation device for the next ablation. the methods provided can be implemented in a general purpose computer, a processor, or a processor core. suitable processors include, by way of example, a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (dsp), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a dsp core, a controller, a microcontroller, application specific integrated circuits (asics), field programmable gate arrays (fpgas) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (ic), and/or a state machine. such processors can be manufactured by configuring a manufacturing process using the results of processed hardware description language (hdl) instructions and other intermediary data including netlists (such instructions capable of being stored on a computer readable media). the results of such processing can be maskworks that are then used in a semiconductor manufacturing process to manufacture a processor which implements features of the disclosure. the methods or flow charts provided herein can be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for execution by a general purpose computer or a processor. examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums include a read only memory (rom), a random access memory (ram), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as cd-rom disks, and digital versatile disks (dvds). it should be understood that many variations are possible based on the disclosure herein. although features and elements are described above in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements or in various combinations with or without other features and elements.
|
108-898-506-946-793
|
US
|
[
"US"
] |
B29C51/08,B29C51/30
| 1984-04-30T00:00:00 |
1984
|
[
"B29"
] |
pile fabric molding apparatus
|
pile fabric molding apparatus which incorporates a plurality of pin like members to allow the pile of the fabric being molded to pass therebetween while the pins contact the substrate of the pile fabric to maintain it at a position spaced from the mold member.
|
1. a mold for a pile fabric comprising: a female member and a male member having a shape conforming to the shape of the female member, one of said members having as plurality of pins on the surface thereof which faces the other of said members to allow the fibers of a pile fabric located therebetween to pass between the pin members as the male and female members are brought together the member with pins thereon having a cavity therein, a conduit in communication with said cavity and plurality of openings in the surface on which said pins are located and communicating with said cavity so that when a suction pressure is exerted in said cavity through said conduit a pile fabric placed between said members will be sucked downwardly into said pins.
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in the molding of pile fabrics under heat and pressure the pile of the pile fabric tends to get crushed and upon cooling tends to stay in a mashed down condition. this presents a pile surface which is not very appealing to the eye or comfortable to the touch. therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus which prevents crushing of the pile of a pile fabric during molding thereof. other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a molded and laminated pile fabric; figs. 2-4 are schematic representations of the steps of molding a pile fabric; fig. 5 is a blown-up representation of fig. 3; and fig. 6 is a blown-up representation of fig. 4. fig. 7 shows the mold valves separated and a sheet of pile fabric positioned between them. fig. 8 shows the mold halves closed about a sheet of pile fabric. in recent years the automobile, furniture and other comparable industries have been interested in pre-molding of fabrics, especially pile fabrics, to conform to the shape of the article to be covered, such as automobile seats, dash boards, side panels, seat cushions, etc. in the molding of pile fabrics, the pile of the fabric tended to be crushed when the male and female members of the mold were brought together against the fabric. this fabric, when cooled, tended to maintain the unpleasing crushed appearance on the face of the fabric. to correct this situation the invention disclosed in figs. 2-6 will provide a molded pile fabric such as indicated by reference number 10 in fig. 1, which consists of an airimpermeable substrate material 12, such as a pvc film, laminated to the backing material 14 in which the upstanding pile fibers 16 are secured in. the particular materials of the substrate 14 is not critical so long as it can be molded under heat and pressure and set in the molded condition. examples of such material would be nylon or polyester. the pile substrate 18 can be wet pile or loop and be woven, knit or tufted. looking now to figs. 2-6 the formation of the molded pile fabric 10 of fig. 1 would be explained. the substrate material 12 and the pile substrate 18 are placed in position between the male member 20 and the female member 22 of the mold and held there by any suitable means, not shown. the mold member facing the pile 16 of the pile substrate, which in this case, is the male member 20, is hollow to form a cavity 23 therein and has a conduit 24 in communication with a suction source, not shown. furthermore, the member has a plurality of orifices 26 in the upper surface thereof and a plurality of pins 28 on the outside of the upper surface for reasons hereinafter explained. once the pile substrate 18 and the substrate 12 are properly positioned a reciprocating heater is slide into position around the substrates so that platens 30 and 32 will radiate heat thereon. the heat source can be infrared, electric or other suitable heaters so long as it provides suitable energy to efficiently pre-heat the substrates 12 and 18 so that they can be laminated prior to molding. in the preferred form of the invention the amount of heat supplied should be high enough to place the pvc film substrate 12 in a tacky condition so that it will laminate to the back of the pile substrate without the use of an adhesive. obviously, if desired, an adhesive can be used between the substrates 12 and 14 to provide the fabric 10 as shown in fig. 3. once the substrates have been pre-heated and laminated the heat is slide out of the way and the heated male and female members 20 and 22, respectively, are brought together as shown in fig. 4 to mold the fabric 10. the fabric 10 is then removed and allowed to cool in order to set the desired shape of the fabric 10. as shown in detail in figs. 5 and 6 the mold members 20 and 22 are brought together as a suction pressure is exerted through the openings 26 in the male member 20 to pull the pre-heated fabric 12 down against the pins 28 so that the fibers 16 will pass between the pins until the pins 28 abut the underside of the substrate 14. this allows the fabric 10 to be shaped to the desired shape without crushing the pile fibers 16. it is obvious that an apparatus and method has been described which will readily mold a pile fabric without the deleterious effect of crushing the fibers of the pile. this results in a functional molded fabric which retains the luxurious look and feel of a pile fabric. although the preferred form of the invention has been described, it is contemplated that changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention and i desire to be limited only by the claims.
|
109-795-800-676-16X
|
GB
|
[
"WO",
"US",
"EP"
] |
A23L13/00,A23L19/18,A23L5/20
| 2004-04-05T00:00:00 |
2004
|
[
"A23"
] |
enzymatic process for acrylamide reduction in foodstuffs
|
there is provided a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar.
|
claims 1. a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. 2. use of a first enzyme and a second enzyme for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar, wherein the first enzyme is capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar and wherein the second enzyme is capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. 3. a process according to claim 1 wherein the foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar, is provided by contacting an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a non-reducing sugar, with a third enzyme capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and/or a second reducing sugar. 4. use according to claim 2 additionally comprising the use of a third enzyme to provide the foodstuff from an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a non-reducing sugar, wherein the third enzyme is capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and/or a second reducing sugar. 5. the invention according to claim 3 or 4 wherein the third enzyme is capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and a second reducing sugar. 6. the invention according to claim 3, 4 or 5 wherein the non-reducing sugar is sucrose. 7. the invention according to any one of claims 3 to 6 wherein the third enzyme is sucrase (ec 3.2.1.48) or invertase (ec 3.2.1.26). 8. the invention according to any one of claims 3 to 7 wherein the third enzyme is contacted with the foodstuff during the production of the foodstuff. 9. the invention according to any one of claims 3 to 8 wherein the third enzyme is contacted with the foodstuff after production of the foodstuff. 10. the invention according to claim 8 or 9 wherein the third enzyme is sprayed on the foodstuff as a solution or dispersion. 11. the invention according to any one of the proceeding claims wherein the foodstuff comprises (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid; (ii) a first reducing sugar; and (iii) a second reducing sugar. 12. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation is prevented and/or reduced by prevention and/or reduction of the amadori reaction. 13. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first reducing sugar is fructose. 14. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first enzyme is glucose isomerase (xylose isomerase ec 5.3.1.5). 15. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second reducing sugar is glucose. 16. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second enzyme is capable of oxidising the reducing group of a monosaccharide and the reducing group of a disaccharide. 17. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second enzyme is capable of oxidising the second reducing sugar at the 1 position. 18. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second enzyme is hexose oxidase (ecu .3.5). 19. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the foodstuff is selected from bakery goods including bread, pasta, rice, fish, sausages, meat including beef and pork, biscuits, cookies, cereals, pizza, beverages including coffee, and products based on potatoes, maize and flour, including potato flour and potato starch products. 20. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the foodstuff is a beverage. 21. the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 19 wherein the foodstuff is a cereal or part of a cereal. 22. the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 19 wherein the foodstuff is a potato or a part of a potato. 23. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first enzyme and/or the second enzyme is contacted with the foodstuff during the production of the foodstuff. 24. the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 22 wherein the first enzyme and/or the second enzyme is contacted with the foodstuff after production of the foodstuff. 25. the invention according to claim 23 or 24 wherein the first enzyme and/or the second enzyme is sprayed on the foodstuff as a solution or dispersion. 26. the invention according to claim 25 wherein the second enzyme is sprayed on the foodstuff as a solution or dispersion, the second enzyme is hexose oxidase and the solution/dispersion comprises the enzyme in an amount of 1-50 units hexose oxidase/ml. 27. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the foodstuff contains an amino acid. 28. the invention according to claim 27 wherein the amino acid is asparagine. 29. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the foodstuff contains a protein. 30. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the foodstuff contains a peptide. 31. the invention according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising either the step of (c) contacting a catalase with the foodstuff or the use of a catalase for preventing and/or reducing acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation. 32. a foodstuff prepared in accordance with the invention of any one of the preceding claims. 33. a process as substantially hereinbefore described. 34. a use as substantially hereinbefore described. 35. a foodstuff as substantially hereinbefore described.
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enzymatic process for acrylamide reduction in foodstuffs the present invention relates to the control of the formation of acrylamide in a foodstuff. acrylamide acrylamide and polyacrylamide are used in industry for the production of plastics. it has been supposed that the main exposure for acrylamide in the general population has been through drinking water and tobacco smoking. exposure via drinking water is small and the eu has determined maximum levels of 0.1 microgram per litre water. acrylamide is water soluble and is quickly absorbed in the digestive tract excretion via the urine is fast and half of acrylamide is cleared from the body in a few hours. the toxicological effects of acrylamide are well known. it causes dna damage and at high doses neurological and reproductive effects have been observed. glycidamide, a metabolite of acrylamide, binds to dna and can cause genetic damage. prolonged exposure has induced tumours in rats, but cancer in man has not been convincingly shown. the international agency for research on cancer (iarc) has classified acrylamide as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (group 2a). it should be noted that the genotoxic studies have indicated that there is no threshold value for the risk of cancer induced by acrylamide, i.e. there is no dose of acrylamide so low that it does not increase the risk of cancer. in making these assessments it is assumed that man and rat have the same sensitivity for cancer induction by acrylamide. the results of the risk assessments are somewhat different since they are based on different mathematical models. by consumption of 1 microgram acrylamide/kg body weight per day the lifetime risk for cancer has been calculated as • 4.5 per 1000 (u.s. epa) • 0.7 per 1000 (who) • 10 per 1000 (granat et al. 1999, stockholm university) recent analyses have now indicated that the exposure to acrylamide is probably considerably higher (for non-smokers) from consumption of certain foods that have been heated. as reported in j. agric. food chem. 2002 aug 14; 50(17): 4998-5006 a group at the university of stockholm, headed by prof. margareta tόrnqvist, has found that acrylamide is formed during heating of starch-rich foods to high temperatures. when foodstuffs were analysed at the swedish national food administration (nfa) in uppsala and at analycen ab in lidkδping it was found that some foodstuffs, which had been heated, could contain relatively high levels of the substance acrylamide. in total, more than 100 food samples have been analysed at the nfa. the food survey comprised bread, pasta, rice, fish, sausages, meat (beef and pork), biscuits, cookies, breakfast cereals and beer, etc as well as some ready-made dishes such as pizza and products based on potatoes, maize and flour. the levels of acrylamide vary considerably between single foodstuffs within food groups, but potato crisps and french fries generally contained high levels compared to many other food groups. the average content in potato crisps is approximately 1000 microgram/kg and in french fries approximately 500 microgram/kg. other food groups which may contain low as well as high levels of acrylamide are crisp bread, breakfast cereals, fried potato products, biscuits, cookies and snacks, e.g. popcorn. foodstuffs which are not fried, deep fried or oven-baked during production or preparation are not considered to contain any appreciable levels of acrylamide. no levels could be detected in any of the raw foodstuffs or foods cooked by boiling investigated so far (potato, rice, pasta, flour and bacon). a report from the swedish scientific expert committee entitled "acrylamide in food - mechanisms of formation and influencing factors during heating of foods" discloses possible mechanisms for the formation of acrylamide in food. according to health canada, model experiments carried out in the food directorate showed that when asparagine is heated with glucose, acrylamide is produced. in an open letter, health canada stated "the production of acrylamide in these studies was temperature dependent and gave comparable results to those found when potato slices were similarly heated. at this time, not much is known about other possible pathways of formation of acrylamide in foods." further discussion of reactions occurring during heating of food is given in principles of food chemistry pages 100-109. it is a well known fact that acrylamide has been found in several starch-rich foodstuffs (becalski, a., lau, b. p., lewis, d. & seaman, s. w., acrylamide in foods: occurrence, sources, and modeling, j. agric. food chem. 51, 802-808 (2003)). research has shown that acrylamide production occurs particularly in fried, oven baked and deep fried potatoes and cereal products as a result of high temperature processing (stadler, r. h., et al. acrylamide from maillard reaction products. nature 419, 449-450 (2002)). acrylamide was shown to be a side product of the series of reactions and condensations leading to maillard products (mottram, d. s., wedzicha, b. l, & dodson, a. t., acrylamide is formed in the maillard reaction. nature 419, 448-449 (2002)). the first step of these reactions involves the nucleophilic attack of a free amine group on the carbonyl group of a reducing sugar. it has further been shown that the expulsion of the nitrogen containing compound acrylamide, occurs predominantly when the initial amine group stems from asparagine (rosen, j. & hellenas, k. e., analysis of acrylamide in cooked foods by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. analyst 127, 880- 882 (2002)). the formation of acrylamide in foodstuffs, for example in potato chips, has been linked to the combined action of four compounds, namely the amino acid asparagine and the reducing sugars glucose, maltose and fructose (yaylayan, v. a., wnorowski, a. & perez, l. o, why asparagine needs carbohydrates to generate acrylamide. j. agric. food chem. 51, 1753-1757 (2003)). deamination of asparagine by asparaginase has proved effective in completely preventing the formation of acrylamide (zyzak, d. v. et al. acrylamide formation mechanisms in heated foods. j. agric. food chem. 51, 4782-4787 (2003)). unfortunately, asparaginase is considered toxic as it is used to treat certain kinds of leukaemia and is therefore unsuitable for treatment of foodstuffs. any one of the reducing sugars maltose, glucose and fructose in combination with asparagine may lead to acrylamide formation through maillard reactions. it has been found that removal of any one of these reducing sugars, for example by enzymatic action, reduces the resultant level of acrylamide in a foodstuff such as potato chips. the present invention alleviates the problems of the prior art. some aspects of the invention are defined in the appended claims. in a first aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. in a second aspect the present invention provides use of a first enzyme and a second enzyme for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar, wherein the first enzyme is capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and wherein the second enzyme is capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in cooked foodstuffs, in particular starch foodstuffs and foodstuffs containing a protein/amino acid/peptide and reducing sugar for example by the amadori reaction, is known in the art. in such foodstuffs a sugar such as glucose, fructose, galactose and/or maltose may react with an amino acid such as asparagine, glutamic acid, lysine, or arginine. any primary amine capable of nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl group of a reducing sugar may be involved. this reaction may be an important step in the formation of acrylamide. the present invention prevents and/or reduces the problematic condensation reactions between amino acids, in particular the amino group thereof, and reducing sugars which result in acrylamide or acrylamide precursor formation. these reactions may comprise the amadori reaction, heynes rearrangements, or reaction cascades resulting from the maillard reaction. the present invention may prevent and/or reduce the reaction which directly results in acrylamide formation. it may also prevent and/or reduce reaction(s) which provide materials which further react to provide acrylamide, namely acrylamide precursors. acrylamide precursors are often provided by degradation of carbohydrates. a typical acrylamide precursor is 2-propenal. the present applicants have identified that the formation of acrylamide can be controlled by an at least two stage process. in the first stage of the two stages, a foodstuff comprising a first reducing sugar is contacted with a first enzyme which is capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar. the first reducing sugar may, for example, be fructose. fructose can be converted into glucose by the action of the enzyme glucose isomerase which is also known as xylose isomerase (ec 5.3.1.5). in the second stage, the foodstuff is contacted with a second enzyme which is capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. thus the first reducing sugar is converted into the second reducing sugar and the second reducing sugar is oxidised thereby eliminating the second reducing sugar from the foodstuff by conversion. in this way, neither the first reducing sugar nor the second reducing sugar is available to take part in acrylamide formation and acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation is avoided or reduced. in one alternative embodiment, a further (third) stage is provided. in the three stage process, an initial foodstuff comprising a non-reducing sugar is contacted with a third enzyme which is capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and/or a second reducing sugar. the non-reducing sugar may, for example, be sucrose which may be converted by the enzymes sucrase or invertase into fructose and glucose. following this step, the steps of the two stage process are carried out. thus the non- reducing sugar in converted into a first reducing sugar and/or a second reducing sugar, the first reducing sugar is converted into the second reducing sugar and the second reducing sugar is oxidised thereby eliminating the second reducing sugar from the foodstuff by conversion. as a result of this process, the non-reducing sugar, the first reducing sugar, and the second reducing sugar are all no longer available to take part in acrylamide formation and acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation is avoided or reduced. in the present specification, by the term "prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation" it is meant that the amount of acrylamide produced is reduced and/or the period of time required for formation of a given amount of acrylamide is increased. in some aspects preferably the process prevents and/or reduces the amadori reaction in a foodstuff. thus in one aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of the amadori reaction in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. in one further aspect the present invention provides use of a first enzyme and a second enzyme for the prevention and/or reduction of the amadori reaction in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; wherein the first enzyme is capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar and wherein the second enzyme is capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. in the present specification, by the term "prevention and/or reduction of the amadori reaction" it is meant that the extent of the amadori reaction is reduced and/or the period of time required for completion of the amadori reaction is increased. in some aspects, preferably the foodstuff comprises (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid; (ii) a first reducing sugar; and (iii) a second reducing sugar. the term "reducing sugar" as used herein means a carbohydrate that reduces fehling's (or benedict's) or tollens reagent. all monosaccharides whether aldoses or ketoses are reducing sugars. most disaccharides are reducing sugars; sucrose (common table sugar) is a notable exception, for it is a non-reducing sugar (in: organic chemistry by morrison and boyd, p1071, allyn and bacon, inc., third edition (1973)). by the term "first reducing sugar" it is meant a reducing sugar which is capable of being converted into a "second reducing sugar", wherein the second reducing sugar comprises a reducing group capable of being oxidised by the second enzyme. in one aspect, the first reducing sugar does not comprise a reducing group capable of being oxidised by the second enzyme. the first reducing sugar and the second reducing sugar are distinct. as previously mentioned, in one aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. in one preferred aspect, preferably the foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar, is provided by contacting an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a non-reducing sugar, with a third enzyme capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and/or a second reducing sugar. thus in one aspect, the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of • providing the foodstuff by contacting an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a non-reducing sugar, with a third enzyme capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and/or a second reducing sugar; • contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and • contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. as previously mentioned, in one aspect the present invention provides use of a first enzyme and a second enzyme for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar, wherein the first enzyme is capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and wherein the second enzyme is capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. in one preferred aspect, preferably the use additionally comprises use of a third enzyme to provide the foodstuff from an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a non-reducing sugar, wherein the third enzyme is capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and/or a second reducing sugar. preferably the third enzyme is capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and a second reducing sugar. preferably the non-reducing sugar is sucrose. preferably the third enzyme is sucrase (ec 3.2.1.48) or invertase (ec 3.2.1.26). in one aspect, the third enzyme is sucrase (ec 3.2.1.48). in one aspect, the third enzyme is invertase (ec 3.2.1.26). in one aspect, preferably the third enzyme is contacted with the foodstuff during the production of the foodstuff. in another aspect, preferably the third enzyme is contacted with the foodstuff after production of the foodstuff. preferably the third enzyme is sprayed on the foodstuff as a solution or dispersion. in one aspect, preferably the first reducing sugar is fructose, preferably d-fructose. in one aspect, preferably the first enzyme is glucose isomerase [also know as xylose isomerase] (ec 5.3.1.5). sources of glucose isomerase are disclosed in each of us 3625828, us 3622463 and biochim. biophys. acta, 151 (1968) 670-680, purification, crystallization and properties of the d-xylose isomerase from lactobacillus brevis. glucose isomerase catalyses the reversible isomerisation of d-fructose and d-glucose. glucose isomerase may be produced by a number of organisms including actinoplanes missousriensis, bacillus coagulans, streptomyces rubiginosus, streptomyces phaeochromogenes, arthrobacter sp. and streptomyces olivaceus. glucose isomerase is commercially available from a number of sources. in one aspect, preferably the second reducing sugar is one or more reducing sugars selected from the group consisting of glucose, lactose, galactose, xylose, mannose, cellobiose and maltose. in one aspect, preferably the second reducing sugar is or comprises glucose, preferably d-glucose. as previously mentioned, in one aspect the foodstuff comprises (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid; (ii) a first reducing sugar; and (hi) a second reducing sugar. thus in one aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid (ii) a first reducing sugar and (iii) a second reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of a second reducing sugar. similarly, in one aspect the present invention provides use of a first enzyme and a second enzyme for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid (ii) a first reducing sugar, and (iii) a second reducing sugar, wherein the first enzyme is capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and wherein the second enzyme is capable of oxidising a reducing group of a second reducing sugar. in this aspect, the first reducing sugar which is present in the foodstuff initially and the second reducing sugar which is produced by converting the first reducing sugar need not be the same, although they must both comprise a reducing group which is capable of being oxidised by the second enzyme. for example, the first reducing sugar which is present in the foodstuff initially may be maltose whilst the second reducing sugar which is produced by converting the first reducing sugar may be glucose. both maltose and glucose comprise a reducing group which is capable of being oxidised by hexose oxidase. in some aspects preferably the second enzyme is capable of oxidising the reducing group of a monosaccharide and the reducing group of a disaccharide. in some aspects preferably the second enzyme is hexose oxidase (ec 1.1.3.5) or glucose oxidase (ec1.1.3.4). in a highly preferred aspect the second enzyme is hexose oxidase. preferably the hox is obtained or prepared in accordance with wo 96/40935. preferably the hox is dairyhox™ available from danisco a/s, denmark. in some aspects preferably the second enzyme may oxidise maltodextrins and/or celludextrins. in a preferred aspect the second enzyme is a carbohydrate oxidase which may oxidise maltodextrins and/or celludextrins. preferably the carbohydrate oxidase is obtained or prepared in accordance with wo 99/31990. in a preferred aspect, the second enzyme is glucooligosaccharide oxidase (lin et al. 1991 biochem. biophys. acta., 118, pp41-47.) hexose oxidase (hox) is a carbohydrate oxidase originally obtained from the red alga chondrus crispus. as discussed in wo 96/39851 hox catalyses the reaction between oxygen and carbohydrates such as glucose, galactose, lactose and maltose. compared with other oxidative enzymes such as glucose oxidase, hexose oxidase not only catalyses the oxidation of monosaccharides but also disaccharides are oxidised. (biochemica et biophysica acta 309 (1973), 11-22). the reaction of glucose with hexose oxidase is d-glucose + o 2 — ^ δ-d-gluconolactone + h 2 o 2 in an aqueous environment the gluconolactone is subsequently hydrolysed to form gluconic acid. gluconolactone water gluconic acid as shown, hox oxidises the carbohydrate at the reducing end at carbon 1 and thus eliminates the possible involvement of the carbohydrate in acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation by amadori rearrangement or later reaction with a ketoseamine or aldoseamine to a diketoseamine or a diaminosugar respectively. in a preferred aspect of the present invention the second enzyme is capable of oxidising the second reducing sugar of the foodstuff at the 1 position. this aspect is advantageous because it ensures that the second reducing sugar is oxidised such that the reducing part of the sugar is no longer available to undergo a condensation reaction with an amino acid such as in the amadori reaction. in some aspects preferably the foodstuff is selected from bakery goods including bread and cakes, pasta, rice, fish, sausages, meat including beef and pork, biscuits, cookies, crisp bread, cereals, pizza, beverages including coffee, and products based on potatoes, maize and flour, including potato flour and potato starch products. in some aspects the foodstuff is a beverage. in some aspects the foodstuff is a starch containing foodstuff. in some aspects the foodstuff is a cereal or part of a cereal. in some aspects preferably the foodstuff is selected from a dairy foodstuff; milk based or milk containing foodstuff, such as gratin; an egg based foodstuff; an egg containing foodstuff; bakery foodstuffs including toasts, bread, cakes; and shallow or deep fried foodstuff such as spring rolls. when the foodstuff is a dairy foodstuff it may be cheese, such as mozzarella cheese. in some aspects preferably the foodstuff is a potato or a part of a potato. typical potato products in which the present invention may be applied are potato products in which the potato has been subjected to high temperature processing such as shallow-frying, deep- frying, oven baking and/or oven roasting. the potato may additionally have been processed by other methods such as boiling or poaching. the potato may have been processed whole (peeled or unpeeled) or may have been processed in another form. for example it may have been chopped, diced, sliced, grated, mashed, pureed or converted into potato flour. the potato may have been processed with, for example admixed with, other ingredients such as milk, egg, cheese or butter. typical potato products in which the present invention may be applied are french fries, potato chips (crisps), coated french fries and coated potato chips, for example french fries or potato chips coated with corn starch, and potato flour and potato starch products. other typical potato products in which the present invention may be applied are products in which the potato is boiled and then fried and/or baked. the potato may typically be chopped, diced, sliced, grated, mashed or pureed prior to being fried and/or baked. this may take place either before or after boiling, but preferably after boiling. in a typical process, the potato is boiled, mashed and then baked, in other words, the product is baked mashed potato. the potato product may be, for example, croquettes, shepherds' pie, cottage pie, gnocchi, rosti or hash browns, preferably croquettes, shepherds' pie or cottage pie. as previously mentioned, in one aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. step (a) and step (b) of the process may be carried out in any order. in one aspect step (a) is carried out before step (b). in another aspect, step (b) is carried out before step (a). in a further aspect, step (a) and step (b) are carried out substantially simultaneously. the first enzyme and the second enzyme may be contacted with the foodstuff during its preparation or they may be contacted with the foodstuff after the foodstuff has been prepared yet before the foodstuff is subjected to conditions which may result in the undesirable acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation. alternatively, one of the enzymes may be contacted with foodstuff during its preparation and the other enzyme may be contacted with the foodstuff after the foodstuff has been prepared yet before the foodstuff is subjected to conditions which may result in the undesirable acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation. an enzyme which is contacted with the foodstuff during its preparation will be incorporated in the foodstuff. an enzyme which is contacted with the foodstuff after the foodstuff has been prepared will be present on the surface of the foodstuff. when present on the surface acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation is still prevented as it is the surface of a material exposed to drying and atmospheric oxygen which undergoes the predominant acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation. when contacted with foodstuff during its preparation the enzyme or enzymes may be contacted at any suitable stage during its production. in the aspect that the foodstuff is a dairy product the enzyme or enzymes may be contacted with the milk during acidification of the milk and precipitation of the milk curd. in this process the enzyme or enzymes (such as hox) are not active during the anaerobic conditions created during the acidification and milk protein precipitation, but will be active in the dairy product such as cheese when aerobic conditions are created. for example, once in aerobic conditions the second enzyme may oxidise the second reducing sugar and reduce the tendency to acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation. for application of the enzyme or enzymes to the surface of the foodstuff, one may apply the enzyme or enzymes in any suitable manner. typically the enzyme or enzymes are provided in a solution or dispersion and sprayed on the foodstuff. the solution/dispersion may comprise an enzyme in an amount of 1-50 units enzyme/ml. for example, when the second enzyme is to be provided in a solution or dispersion and sprayed on the food and when the second enzyme is hexose oxidase the solution/dispersion may comprise the hexose oxidase in an amount of 1-50 units hexose oxidase/ml. the enzyme or enzymes may also be added in dry or powder form. when in wet or dry form the enzyme or enzymes may be combined with other components for contact with the foodstuff. for example when the enzyme or enzymes are in dry form they may be combined with an anticaking agent. it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that in the practice of the present invention one contacts the foodstuff with a sufficient amount of enzyme or enzymes to prevent and/or reduce a acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation. typical amounts of the first enzyme which may be contacted with the foodstuff are from 0.005 to 50 u/g (units of the first enzyme per gram of foodstuff), from 0.005 to 10 u/g, from 0.005 to 5 u/g, from 0.005 to 3 u/g, from 0.005 to 2 u/g, from 0.1 to 2 u/g, from 0.1 to 1.5 u/g, and from 0.5 to 1.5 u/g. typical amounts of the second enzyme which may be contacted with the foodstuff are from 0.005 to 50 u/g (units of the second enzyme per gram of foodstuff), from 0.005 to 10 u/g, from 0.005 to 5 u/g, from 0.005 to 3 u/g, from 0.005 to 2 u/g, from 0.1 to 2 u/g, from 0.1 to 1.5 u/g, and from 0.5 to 1.5 u/g. typical amounts of the third enzyme which may be contacted with the initial foodstuff are from 0.005 to 50 u/g (units of the third enzyme per gram of foodstuff), from 0.005 to 10 u/g, from 0.005 to 5 u/g, from 0.005 to 3 u/g, from 0.005 to 2 u/g, from 0.1 to 2 u/g, from 0.1 to 1.5 u/g, and from 0.5 to 1.5 u/g. in one preferred aspect the use/process of the present invention further comprises use of a catalase or contacting a catalase with a foodstuff to remove hydrogen peroxide. in some aspects the foodstuff contains an amino acid. in some aspects the amino acid is asparagine. it has been identified that asparagine is particularly important in the formation of acrylamide in foodstuffs. in a preferred aspect the enzyme prevents and/or inhibits amadori reactions and subsequent reactions with asparagine resulting in the formation of acrylamide. in some aspects the foodstuff contains a protein. in some aspects the foodstuff contains a peptide. acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff may take place during the heating thereof or may take place during storage of the foodstuff. for example acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation can happen upon storage of any kind of seeds without heating. the second enzyme of the present invention, such as hox, may still be useful however in removing a second mole of aldose or ketose sugar which may react with the already formed amadori product to yield the diketoseamine or diaminosugar. moreover the system of the present invention may prevent loss of the nutritionally important lysine in foods. as a further addition it may be noted that reducing sugars may play an important role in the initiation of amadori and maillard reactions at certain moisture levels of the foodstuff (8-12%), but that lipid auto-oxidation, which is also known to initiate amadori reactions, becomes increasingly common at low moisture levels (6%) (mcdonald 1999). lipid oxidation may actually be the primary cause for the initiation of amadori or maillard reactions when reducing sugars are absent. the second enzyme, such as hox, may serve the dual purpose of removing both the second reducing sugar and oxygen and thereby preventing lipid oxidation as well as sugar hydrolysis at all moisture levels. in a further aspect the foodstuff is contacted with an asparaginase (ec 3.5. 1.1). the foodstuff may be contacted with the asparaginase prior to contact with the first enzyme, subsequent to contact with the first enzyme, simultaneously with the first enzyme or combinations thereof. . the foodstuff may be contacted with the asparaginase prior to contact with the second enzyme, subsequent to contact with the second enzyme, simultaneously with the second enzyme or combinations thereof. contact with asparaginase may remove asparagine present in the foodstuff. thus a "two pronged" attack against formation of acrylamide may be provided. on the one hand reducing sugars are removed from the foodstuff by action of the first and second enzyme. on the other hand, asparagine is removed by action of the asparaginase. thus two of the starting materials for acrylamide forming reactions are eliminated. the asparaginase may be as described in wo 2004/032648. the asparaginase (ec3.5.1.1) may be derived from saccharomyces cerevisiae, candia utilis, escherichia coli, aspergillus oryzae, aspergillus nidulans, aspergillus fumigatus, fusarium graminearum, or penicillium citrinum. in a highly preferred aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) fructose; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with glucose isomerase; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase. in a further highly preferred aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) fructose; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with glucose isomerase; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase. in another highly preferred aspect, the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) fructose; the process comprising the steps of • providing the foodstuff by contacting an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) sucrose, with sucrase or invertase; • contacting the foodstuff with glucose isomerase; and • contacting the foodstuff with hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase. in another highly preferred aspect, the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) fructose; the process comprising the steps of • providing the foodstuff by contacting an initial foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) sucrose, with sucrase or invertase; • contacting the foodstuff with glucose isomerase; and • contacting the foodstuff with hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase. in one embodiment, the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of • providing the foodstuff by contacting an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a non-reducing sugar, with a third enzyme capable of converting the non-reducing sugar into a first reducing sugar and a second reducing sugar; and • contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar. in a highly preferred aspect of this embodiment, the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) fructose and glucose; the process comprising the steps of • providing the foodstuff by contacting an initial foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) sucrose, with sucrase or invertase; and • contacting the foodstuff with hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase. in one aspect, preferably the process further comprises the step of heating the foodstuff. in one aspect, preferably the process further comprises the step of heating the foodstuff to a temperature at which acrylamide formation would be expected in the absence of the first and second enzymes. in this aspect, preferably the process further comprises the step of heating the foodstuff to a temperature of at least 80°c, preferably at least 100°c, such as at least 130°c, such as at least 150°c or at least 200°c. preferably the heating step is carried out after step (a) and step (b). if step (c) is present (contacting a catalase with the foodstuff), preferably the heating step is carried out after step (a), step (b) and step (c). in one aspect, preferably the process further comprises the step of baking or frying the foodstuff, preferably frying the foodstuff. preferably the foodstuff is a potato or part of a potato. in one aspect preferably the foodstuff is potato chips. in another aspect preferably the foodstuff is baked mashed potato. in a highly preferred aspect, the present invention provides use of glucose isomerase and hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) fructose. in a further highly preferred aspect, the present invention provides use of glucose isomerase and hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) fructose in a highly preferred aspect, the present invention provides use of glucose isomerase and hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) fructose and additionally comprises use of sucrase or invertase to provide the foodstuff from an initial foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) sucrose. in a further highly preferred aspect, the present invention provides use of glucose isomerase and hexose oxidase or glucose oxidase, preferably hexose oxidase for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) fructose and additionally comprises use of sucrase or invertase to provide the foodstuff from an initial foodstuff comprising (i) asparagine and (ii) sucrose. further aspects in a further aspect the present invention is practiced in an apparatus shown in figure 3. thus in a further aspect the present invention provides a process for the prevention and/or reduction of acrylamide formation and/or acrylamide precursor formation in a foodstuff comprising (i) a protein, a peptide or an amino acid and (ii) a first reducing sugar; the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the foodstuff with a first enzyme capable of converting the first reducing sugar into a second reducing sugar; and (b) contacting the foodstuff with a second enzyme capable of oxidising a reducing group of the second reducing sugar, wherein at least one of the enzymes is in a liquid comprising water and an optional buffer contained in an incubator, wherein oxygen containing gas is introduced into the liquid during the contact of the liquid with the foodstuff. in one preferred aspect the liquid contain both the first enzyme and the second enzyme. when a third enzyme is present, the liquid may also preferably contain the third enzyme. we have also found that such a system may be used for achieving contact between any enzyme and foodstuff. thus in a further aspect the present invention provides a process for contacting a foodstuff with an enzyme; the process comprising the step of: contacting the foodstuff with the enzyme wherein enzyme is in a liquid comprising water and an optional buffer contained in an incubator, wherein oxygen containing gas is introduced into the liquid during the contact of the liquid with the foodstuff. the present invention will now be described in further detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying figures in which:- figure 1 shows selected reaction monitoring chromatograms (srm) of an extract of a fried potato. upper: selected ion 71.90 (acrylamide), ms2 monitored in the range 40-80 da lower: selected ion 74.90 ([ 13 c 3 ]acrylamide) , ms2 monitored in the range 40-80 da lc-ms/ms was used with an internal standard (1000 ng/15 ml [ 13 c 3 ]acrylamide) as control to ensure the identity and quantifiability of acrylamide. analogous daughter ion for the standard (lower) and acrylamide (upper) verifies the identity of the precursor ion. the transitions monitored are m/z 72 > m/z 55 (upper, acrylamide) and m/z 75 > m/z 58 (lower, [ 13 c 3 ]acrylamide). figure 2 shows acrylamide measured in mashed and fried potatoes treated with glucose oxidase (gox) or hexose oxidase (hox). figure 3 shows apparatus suitable for performing the present invention. examples example 1 1.1 hexose oxidase a purified hexose oxidase preparation was obtained in accordance with wo01/38544. alternatively a commercial preparation dairyhox™ from danisco a/s, denmark could be used. 1.2 determination of glucose oxidase and hexose oxidase activity definition: 1 glucose oxidase (gox) unit corresponds to the amount of enzyme which under the specified conditions results in the conversion of 1 μmole glucose per minute, with resultant generation of 1 μmole of hydrogen peroxide (h 2 o 2 ). definition: 1 hexose oxidase (hox) unit corresponds to the amount of enzyme which under the specified conditions results in the conversion of 1 μmole of glucose per minute, with resultant generation of 1 μmole of hydrogen peroxide (h 2 o 2 ). assay of gox and hox activity in microtiter plates (300 μl) the commonly used horse radish peroxidase dye substrate abts was incorporated into an assay, measuring the production of h 2 o 2 produced by hox or gox respectively. abts serves as a chromogenic substrate for peroxidase. peroxidase in combination with h 2 o 2 facilitates the electron transport from the chromogenic dye, which is oxidised to an intensely green/blue compound. an assay mixture contained 266 μl β-d-glucose (sigma p-5504, 0.055 m in 0.1 m sodium phosphate buffer, ph 6.3), 11.6 μl 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid) (abts) (sigma a-9941 , 5 mg/ml aqueous solution), 11.6 μl peroxidase (pod) (sigma p- 6782, 0.1 mg/ml in 0.1 m sodium phosphate buffer, ph 6.3) and 10 μl enzyme (hox or gox) aqueous solution. the incubation was started by the addition of glucose at 25° c. the absorbance was monitored at 405 nm in an elisa reader. a standard curve, based on varying concentrations of h 2 o 2 , was used for calculation of enzyme activity according to the definition above. the reaction can be described in the following manner: β-d-glucose + o 2 + h 2 o → gluconic acid + h 2 o 2 (1) h 2 o 2 + 2abts (colourless) + 2 h + → 2 h 2 o+ 2abts (blue/green) (2) reaction (1) is catalysed by enzyme (hox or gox) reaction (2) is catalysed by enzyme (pod) 1.3 determination of glucose isomerase activity definition: 1 glucose isomerase (gim) unit corresponds to the amount of enzyme which under the specified conditions results in the conversion of 1 μmole of d-fructose to 1 μmole d-glucose per minute. the rate of d-glucose generation is measured as described in 1.2. 1.4 sample preparation and quantification by lc-ms/ms experimental materials methanol (lab scan, dublin, ireland), acetic acid, reagent grade acs from scharlau chemie s.a. (barcelona spain). oasis max (6cc, 150 mg, part no. 186000370), oasis mcx (6cc, 150mg, part no. 186000256) from waters (milford, massachusetts, usa). acrylamide-1 ,2,3- 13 c 3 , 1 mg/ml methanol (product nr. clm-813-1.2) from cambridge isotope laboratories, inc. (ma, usa). acrylamide (product nr. 14857-1) from aldrich, (germany). instrumentals the hplc system consisted of a quaternary pump (g1311a), autosampler (g1313a), column compartment (g1316a) all from agilent technologies (waldbronn, germany). an lcq deca ion trap mass spectrometer from thermo finnigan (san jose, ca, usa). column (atlantis™ dcι 8 3μm, 2.1 mm id. * 150 mm) from waters (milford, massachusetts, usa). chromatographic and ms conditions mobile phase: h 2 o/meoh/acoh (1000/5/1 by volume). the flow rate was 0.20 ml/min. ms detector settings: capillary temp (c): 275 sheath gas flow: 96 aux gas flow: 3 source type: esi positive mode source voltage (kv): 2.00 msn micro scans: 2 msn max ion time (ms): 500 scan event details: 1: pos (71.9) > (40.0-80.0) ms/ms: amp. 34.0% q 0.450 time 30.0 isowidth 1.0 2: pos (74.9) > (40.0-80.0) ms/ms: amp. 34.0% q 0.450 time 30.0 isowidth 1.0 standard and sample preparation calibration standards (acrylamide) were prepared with the following concentrations: 500, 150, 50, 15, 5 ng/ml in water. the concentration of internal standard (acrylamide-1,2,3- 13 c 3 ) was maintained at 40 ng/ml. the sample to be analysed was coarsely ground with a knife. an aliquot (1 g) was homogenised (ultra-turrax t25) with 15 ml of internal standard, (istd, 1000 ng acrylamide 1,2,3- 13 c3/15 ml h 2 o) in a 100 ml beaker. the homogenate was transferred to a 50 ml centrifuge tube and 2 ml of dichloromethane were added. the mixture was shaken and centrifuged at 18000 rev/min (= 25000 rcf) in a sorvall rc-5b centrifuge for 20 min. at 4° c. an oasis max cartridge and an oasis mcx cartridge were each conditioned with 5 ml methanol followed by 2 * 5 ml water. after conditioning, they were combined in series with oasis max on top. an aliquot (1.5 ml) of the supernatant (water) was passed through the oasis max/oasis mcx tandem (fraction 1). water (5 ml) was added to the oasis max/oasis mcx tandem and the eluent was collected in three fractions: fraction 2 (1 ml), fraction 3 (2 ml) and fraction 4 (2 ml). fraction 3 was filtered through a 0.45-μm filter (13 mm ghp 0.45μm minispike, waters) and subjected to analysis. example 2. effect of treatment with gox and gim on mashed potatoes potatoes are peeled and boiled for approximately 1 hour. 1000 g of potatoes are mixed with 400 ml of water and blended (warring laboratory blender model 32bl79) until no lumps are visible. the homogenous solution is split into 4 equal fractions of approximately 400 g. the fractions are allowed to cool to room temperature. 10 ml reaction solution containing the enzyme combinations of choice, (see below) is added to each of the fractions and mixed gently. all fractions are incubated at (40-60°c) for 30 minutes. seven samples of 40 g from each of the fractions are weighed into glass beakers (28 samples total) and microwaved on full power (in a moulinex® micro-chef fm 2515q, 850w) in 2+3 minutes increments (total 5 minutes) in blocks of four until all water evaporates and the samples are dry and brown. the reaction mixtures contained the following: gox (500 u)/10 ml gim (500 u) /10 ml gox, gim (500 u, 500 u)/10 ml control (10 ml water) the samples are analysed by hplc/ms as triple injections. results show reduction in levels of acrylamide in the samples treated with gox alone, however even more reduction is achieved in samples treated with gox/gim combination example 3 - effect of treatment with hox and gox in fried mashed potatoes sample material two samples treated with hox, two samples treated with gox and two control (untreated) samples. methods potatoes of the sort "sava", were peeled and boiled for app 1 hour. 1000 g of potato tuber was mixed with 400 ml of water and blended (warring laboratory blender model 32bl79) until no lumps were visible. the homogenous solution was split into 3 equal fractions of approximately 400 g and allowed to cool. 10 ml reaction solution (containing the controls or enzyme of choice, see below) was added to each of the fractions and each of the fractions were blended again separately. all fractions were incubated at room temperature for 60 minutes. two samples of 40 g were weighed into glass beakers from each of the fractions (6 samples total) and microwaved on full in 5 minutes (750w) in blocks of three until all water had evaporated and the samples were dry and brown. the reaction solutions contained the following: hox (500 u)/10 ml gox (500 u)/10 ml control (10 ml water results table 2. each of six samples are analysed by hplc/ms as triple injections. the results obtained are given below in table 3 and figure 2. table 3. least squares means for acrylamide [ppb] with 95% confidence intervals conclusion the effect of using either gox or hox to minimise the formation of acrylamide is statistically significant. example 4: treatment of 10 kg potato chips by enzyme incubator. this example relates to treating potato chips before frying in an enzyme incubator containing an oxidoreductase utilizing any of the following sugars as substrate (glucose, maltose, sucrose and fructose) and (i) hexose oxidase (ec 1.1.3.5) and/or glucose oxidase (ec 1.1.3.4), and (ii) glucose isomerase (ec 5.3.1.5) and/or invertase (ec 3.2.1.26) catalase (ec 1.11.1.6) may be added in catalytic amounts with the main purpose of regeneration oxygen to a maximum level of the molar solubility in the incubation fluid (and to remove hydrogen peroxide) potato chips are immersed in the incubator containing a large body of water and/buffer with enzyme(s). temperature and ph may be regulated as instrumentally possible. beneath the incubator is an inlet for air or oxygen. the amount of enzyme and/or incubation time may be determined depending on the ratios oxygen saturation/enzyme amount/potato chip amount/ incubator volume. a suitable apparatus is shown in figure 3. incubation procedure: 100 u of hox or gox, 100 u of catalase and 100 u of glucose isomerase and/or invertase (commercial products) are added to 1 l of water. the temperature is 25°c for invertase and 40-60°c for glucose isomerase. oxygen flow is set at a minimum of 0.015 l/min through a very fine grating. as vigorous stirring as possible which does not result in damage to the chips is implemented. portions of 100 g thinly sliced potatoes are incubated for 10 minutes before changing the incubation solution. alternatively sodium hydroxide or other base is added directly to the incubation solution at a rate to keep the ph at 6 (measured continuously). the potatoes are subsequently gently flushed with water and fried. using catalase combined with oxygen/air bubbling in the incubator allows for the following reduction in acrylamide. levels of sugars are for white potato, boiled, without skin. sugars are listed as the molar percentage left to react following treatment. molar ratio of sugaracrylamide is 1:1. listed is the remaining level of acrylamide following frying as a result of treatment in the enzyme incubator. treatment fructose glucose sucrose maltose acrylamide * none 21,07 30,69 36,3 12,07 ** gox 21 ,07 0 36,3 12,07 ** hox 21 ,07 0 36,3 6,04 *** hox, invertase 21 ,07 0 18,15 6,04 gox, glucose *** isomerase 21 ,07 0 36,3 6,04 gox, glucose isomerase, **** invertase 21,07 0 03 6,04 key * poor - high acrylamide level to **** good - low acrylamide level example 5. effect of treatment with hox and invertase on mashed potatoes potatoes are peeled and boiled for approximately 1 hour. 1000 g of potatoes are mixed with 400 ml of water and blended (warring laboratory blender model 32bl79) until no lumps are visible. the homogenous solution is split into 4 equal fractions of approximately 400 g. the fractions are allowed to cool to room temperature. 10 ml reaction solution containing the enzyme combinations of choice, (see below) is added to each of the fractions and mixed gently. all fractions are incubated at room temperature for 60 minutes. seven samples of 40 g from each of the fractions (28 samples total) are weighed into glass beakers and microwaved (in a moulinex® micro-chef fm 2515q, 850w) on full power in 2+3 minutes increments (total 5 minutes) in blocks of four until all water evaporates and the samples are dry and brown. the reaction mixtures contained the following: hox (500 u)/10 ml invertase (500 u) /10 ml hox, invertase (500 u, 500 u)/10 ml control (10 ml water) the samples are analysed by hplc/ms as triple injections. results show reduction in levels of acrylamide in the samples treated with hox alone, however, even more reduction is achieved in samples treated with hox/invertase combination. all publications mentioned in the above specification are herein incorporated by reference. various modifications and variations of the described methods and system of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in chemistry or related fields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.
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112-168-417-591-206
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US
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A61F13/20,A61F13/22,D04H1/22,A61F5/44,A61F13/15,A61F13/511
| 2004-05-14T00:00:00 |
2004
|
[
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fluid management device with fluid transport element for use within a body
|
a fluid management device for use in a mammalian body has at least one fluid transport element capable of interfacing with a mammalian body element to provide a substantially uninterrupted fluid conduit. the fluid conduit provides a fluid path between at least one fluid transport element and the storage element. a distal portion of the at least one fluid transport element is capable of extending away from the fluid storage element, and the at least one fluid transport element has a wing stiffness of less than about 10 gf.
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1 . a fluid management device for use in a mammalian body, the device comprising at least one fluid transport element capable of interfacing with a body element to provide a substantially uninterrupted fluid conduit to a fluid storage element in fluid communication therewith; wherein a distal portion of the at least one fluid transport element is capable of extending away from the fluid storage element and wherein the fluid transport element forms an outer surface of the fluid storage element. 2 . a fluid management device for use in a mammalian body, the device comprising a convolutedly wound plate having a first surface and a second surface wherein the first surface of the plate in one winding of the device is disposed and maintained in facing relationship with the second surface and is capable of separating from the second surface sufficiently to provide inter-plate capillary action. 3 . the fluid management device of claim 2 , wherein bodily fluids contacting the device are captured and stored within the device.
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cross-reference to related applications this application is a divisional of u.s. ser. no. 10/847,951 filed on may 14, 2004, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. this invention is related to the following copending applications filed on even date herewith: “intravaginal device with fluid acquisition plates” (u.s. ser. no. 60/572,054; atty docket no. ppc-5073), “intravaginal device with fluid acquisition plates and method of making” (u.s. ser. no. 60/572,055; atty docket no. ppc-5072), “method of using intravaginal device with fluid transport plates” (u.s. ser. no. 10/848,347; atty docket no. ppc-5076), “tampon with flexible panels” (u.s. ser. no. 10/848,257; atty docket no. ppc-5074), “method of using an intravaginal device with fluid transport plates” (u.s. ser. no. 10/848,208; atty docket no. ppc-5075), and “intravaginal device with fluid acquisition plates” (u.s. ser. no. 10/847,953; atty docket no. ppc-5070), the content of each of which is incorporated herein. field of the invention the present invention relates to fluid management devices for capturing and storing bodily fluid within the body. background of the invention devices for capturing and storing bodily fluid intravaginally are commercially available and known in the literature. intravaginal tampons are the most common example of such devices. commercially available tampons are generally compressed cylindrical masses of absorbent fibers that may be over-wrapped with an absorbent or nonabsorbent cover layer. the tampon is inserted into the human vagina and retained there for a time for the purpose of capturing and storing intravaginal bodily fluids, most commonly menstrual fluid. as intravaginal bodily fluid contacts the tampon, it should be absorbed and retained by the absorbent material of the tampon. after a time, the tampon and its retained fluid is removed and disposed, and if necessary, another tampon is inserted. a drawback often encountered with commercially available tampons is the tendency toward premature failure, which may be defined as bodily fluid leakage from the vagina while the tampon is in place, and before the tampon is completely saturated with the bodily fluid. the patent art typically describes a problem believed to occur that an unexpanded, compressed tampon is unable to immediately absorb fluid. therefore, it presumes that premature leakage may occur when bodily fluid contacts a portion of the compressed tampon, and the fluid is not readily absorbed. the bodily fluid may bypass the tampon. to overcome this problem of premature leakage, extra elements have been incorporated into a basic tampon to try to direct and control the flow of fluid toward the absorbent core. for example, u.s. pat. no. 4,212,301 (johnson) discloses a unitary constructed digital tampon having a lower portion compressed preferably in the radial direction to form a rigid, rod-like element, which provides a central rigidified elongated core and an upper portion left substantially uncompressed. after insertion, the uncompressed portion may be manipulated to contact the vaginal wall to provide an immediate seal against side leakage. the uncompressed portion allows for high absorbent capacity immediately upon insertion. while this tampon may allow for a certain amount of protection from bypass leakage, the uncompressed portion may become saturated before the compressed portion has a chance to expand and become absorbent. u.s. pat. no. 6,358,235 (osborn et al.) discloses a “hollow” bag-like tampon that may have an interior projection made from highly compressed absorbent material. the interior projection is preferably attached to the inside surface of the head of the tampon. the hollow tampon portion may include at least one pleat in the absorbent outer surface and is soft and conformable. the tampon is not pre-compressed to the point where the fibers temporarily “set” and re-expand upon the absorption of fluid. the absorbent portions of the tampon can saturate locally, which leads to bypass leakage. u.s. pat. no. 6,177,608 (weinstrauch) discloses a tampon having nonwoven barrier strips which are outwardly spreadable from the tampon surface to reliably close the free spaces believed to exist within a vaginal cavity. the nonwoven barrier strips extend about the tampon in a circumferential direction at the surface or in a helical configuration about the tampon and purportedly conduct menstrual fluid toward the tampon surface. the nonwoven barrier strips are attached to the cover by means of gluing, heat sealing, needle punching, embossing or the like and form pleats. the nonwoven barrier strips are attached to the tampon blank and the blank is embossed, forming grooves extending in a longitudinal direction. while this tampon purports to direct fluid to the core, it attempts to achieve this by forming pockets of absorbent nonwoven fabric. in order to function, it appears that these pockets would have to be opened during use to allow fluid to enter. however, based upon current understandings of vaginal pressures, it is not understood how the described structure could form such an opened volume. u.s. pat. no. 6,206,867 (osborn) suggests that a desirable tampon has at least a portion of which is dry expanding to cover a significant portion of the vaginal interior immediately upon deployment. to address this desire, it discloses a tampon having a compressed central absorbent core having at least one flexible panel attached along a portion of the side surface of the core. the flexible panel appears to provide the “dry-expanding” function, and it extends outwardly from the core away from the point of attachment. the flexible panel contacts the inner surfaces of the vagina when the tampon is in place and purportedly directs fluid toward the absorbent core. the flexible panel is typically attached to the pledget prior to compression of the pledget to form the absorbent core and remains in an uncompressed state. u.s. pat. no. 5,817,077 (foley et al.) discloses a method of preserving natural moisture of vaginal epithelial tissue while a using a tampon where the tampon has an initial capillary suction pressure at the outer surface of less than about 40 mm hg. this allows the tampon to absorb vaginal secretions without substantially drying the vaginal epithelial tissue. the multiple cover layers can be used to increase the thickness of the cover material. while this represents a significant advancement in the art, this invention does not address by-pass leakage. additionally, u.s. pat. no. 5,545,155 (hseih et al.) discloses an external absorbent article that has a set of plates separated by spacer elements. the plates may be treated to affect wettability so that fluid will flow easily across the surface. extending through the upper plate is a plurality of openings, which allow fluid to flow with little restriction into the space between the upper and lower plates. when the fluid flows downward in the z-direction from the upper plate to the lower plate, it will then flow laterally in the x- and y-directions. therefore, this external absorbent article can contain fluid gushes, but it does not appear to address the problems relating in particular to intravaginal devices, such as a tampon. while the prior art is replete with examples of sanitary protection articles that capture bodily fluids both externally and intravaginally, these examples do not overcome the problem of premature failure often identified as by-pass leakage that commonly occurs while using internal sanitary protection devices. many solutions to this problem have involved increasing the rate of expansion of a highly compressed absorbent article. surprisingly, we have found a novel way to address the problem of premature failure. this invention is not dependent on the expansion of the compressed absorbent but rather directing the fluid by the use of inter-plate capillary action. in our invention, we minimize local saturation of the fluid storage element. our invention also is effective for handling highly viscous menstrual fluid. summary of the invention it has been discovered that fluids can be managed in a more effective way by coupling a fluid transport element with a fluid storage element, all held within the body. several ways to achieve this are disclosed herein. in one aspect of the invention, a fluid management device for use in a mammalian body has at least one fluid transport element capable of interfacing with a mammalian body element to provide a substantially uninterrupted fluid conduit. the fluid conduit provides a fluid path between at least one fluid transport element and the storage element. a distal portion of the at least one fluid transport element is capable of extending away from the fluid storage element. in another aspect of the invention, the at least one fluid transport element has a first plate having an outwardly oriented surface and an inwardly oriented surface and a second plate coupled to the first plate. the second plate has a first surface disposed and maintained in facing relationship with the inwardly oriented surface of the first plate and an opposite surface. the second plate is capable of separating from the first plate sufficiently to provide inter-plate capillary action. the device also includes a fluid storage element that has a longitudinal axis and that is in fluid communication with the at least one fluid transport element. in this embodiment, the at least one fluid transport element is substantially contained within the fluid storage element. in yet another aspect, the invention provides an alternative fluid management device for use in a mammalian body. this alternative device has a convolutely wound plate having a first surface and a second surface. the first surface of the plate in one winding of the device is disposed and maintained in facing relationship with the second surface in an adjacent winding. the first surface is capable of separating from the second surface sufficiently to provide inter-plate capillary action. in a further aspect, the invention provides a packaged intravaginal device. the packaged device includes a fluid storage element in fluid communication with a fluid transport element and a packaging element. the fluid storage element has a longitudinal axis and an outer surface. the fluid transport element has at least one flexible plate that is capable of extending radially outward from the fluid storage element and that is bendable about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fluid storage element. the packaging element substantially encloses the intravaginal device with at least a portion of a major surface of the flexible plate in contact with at least a portion of the outer surface of the fluid storage element. other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent in those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawing fig. 1 a shows a side elevation of a fluid management device having rod-like fluid transport elements extending from the fluid storage element. fig. 1 b shows a transverse cross-section of the fluid transport elements of fig. 1 a along line 1 b - 1 b. fig. 2 shows a side elevation of an alternative embodiment of an fluid management device having capillary tube fluid transport elements extending from the fluid storage element. fig. 3 a shows a side elevation of an alternative embodiment of an fluid management device having a pair of fluid transport elements formed as extensions of a cover. fig. 3 b shows a transverse cross-section of 3 a along line 3 b - 3 b. fig. 4 shows a transverse cross-section of a human vagina with a tampon according to fig. 3 a disposed therein with one fluid transport element extending away from the fluid storage element. fig. 5 a shows a side elevation of an fluid management device having a pair of fluid transport elements formed as extensions of a cover. fig. 5 b shows a transverse cross-section of the device in 5 a along line 5 b - 5 b. fig. 5 c shows the transverse cross-section shown in 5 b, after the introduction of a fluid between the plates of the fluid transport element. figs. 6 a - c show enlarged cross-sections of alternate embodiments of fluid transport elements of the present invention formed of polymeric apertured formed film having differing orientations of the formed film plates. fig. 7 shows an enlarged cross-section of an alternate embodiment of a fluid transport element of the present invention having nubbles to separate a set of film plates. figs. 8 a - e show various aspects and orientations of an intravaginal device of the present invention. fig. 8 a : side view of alternate embodiment with lateral parallel plates. fig. 8 b : transverse cross-section 8 a. fig. 8 c : transverse cross-section of alternate embodiment with parallel plates formed by cover pleats. fig. 8 d : transverse cross-section of alternate embodiment with parallel plates partially extending into storage element. fig. 8 e : side view of alternate embodiment with multiple extending parallel plates. fig. 9 shows a transverse cross-section of an alternate embodiment with layered fluid transport elements substantially contained within the fluid storage element. fig. 10 a shows a side view of an alternate embodiment with fluid transport elements substantially contained within the fluid storage element and extending to its outer surface. fig. 10 b shows an axial cross-section along 10 b - 10 b of fig. 10 a. fig. 11 shows a transverse cross-section of an alternate embodiment having a pair of fluid transport elements partially extending into the storage element. fig. 12 shows a side view of an alternate embodiment with multiple fluid transport elements extending from the fluid storage element in planes substantially perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. fig. 13 shows a further alternate embodiment having a continuous plate rolled up on itself to form a series of convolutedly wound plates. fig. 14 shows a transverse cross-section of a human vagina with a tampon according to fig. 8 b disposed therein with the fluid transport elements remaining wrapped around the fluid storage element. fig. 15 a shows a side elevation of an alternate embodiment of the present invention in which fluid transport elements connect a plurality of fluid storage elements. fig. 15 b shows a transverse cross-section along line 15 b - 15 b. in fig. 15 a. fig. 16 shows an axial cross-section of an alternative embodiment of a device according to the present invention. fig. 17 shows a tampon having fluid transport element folded or pleated against the fluid storage element. fig. 18 shows a wrapped tampon within an applicator (in phantom). detailed description of the preferred embodiments as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “bodily fluid” and variants thereof mean liquids that are produced by, secreted by, emanate from, and/or discharged from a human body. as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “fluids” and variants thereof relate to liquids, and especially bodily fluids. as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “sheet” and variants thereof relates to a portion of something that is thin in comparison to its length and breadth. as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “parallel plate” and variants thereof relates to a system of at least two relatively parallel sheets that are capable of moving fluids through inter-plate capillary action. the individual “plates” in the system may be flexible and/or resilient in order to move within their environment. however, they may be maintained in a substantially facing relationship with relatively constant separation at least in a localized portion of their structure (as compared with their relative length and width. thus, two sheets could be fluted, but if the flutes are “nested”, the sheets would generally remain generally parallel in any given localized portion. as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “inter-plate capillary action” means the movement of fluid due to a pressure difference across a liquid-air meniscus created within a gap between two substantially parallel plates. the two plates need not be held apart a specific distance, although they should be separable to allow fluid to move between them by inter-plate capillary action. a general equation providing the rise of a fluid between parallel plates is reported as: in which: h is rise of fluid between plates σ is the surface tension of fluid in contact w/plate θ is contact angle ρ is density d is distance between plates, and g is the gravitational constant therefore, as long as the contact angle, θ, is less than 90°, there will be some capillary attraction. as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “porous medium” and variants thereof relates to a connected 3-dimensional solid matrix with a highly ramified network of pores and pore throats in which fluids may flow. as used herein, the term “separable plates” means any condition of separation of the first plate and the second plate, which allows fluid to move between the plates. this includes situations in which facing surfaces of adjacent first and second plates are touching one another in portions of or across substantially all of their facing surfaces. this also includes situations in which the facing surfaces of the adjacent first and second plates are separably joined together such that upon contact with fluid, the surfaces separate enough to provide for fluid to move between them. this further includes situations in which facing surfaces of adjacent first and second plates are joined together, as long as fluid may still move freely between the surfaces. as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “in fluid communication” relates to elements that are arranged and configured to allow fluid to move therebetween. the fluid movement may be by interfiber capillary movement, intrafiber capillary movement, osmotic pressure, interplate capillary action, mechanical channeling, and the like. as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “coupled” relates to the relationship between to portions of an integral structure that are either portions of the same material (e.g., two portions of a folded sheet) or are materials that are joined together (e.g., two separate sheets that are bonded together). as used herein in the specification and the claims, the term “fluid management device” and variants thereof include, without limitation, patches for topical or transdermal applications, nasal pads or tampons, diapers, incontinence products, feminine hygiene products (including sanitary napkins and intravaginal devices, such as tampons), body wipes, bedsheets and surgical gowns. referring to figs. 1 a & 1 b, one embodiment of this invention provides an fluid management device 10 having a plurality of fluid transport elements 12 (four are shown in fig. 1 a ) in the form of flexible rods, preferably with a shaped cross-section as shown in fig. 1 b. these flexible provide a substantially continuous fluid path to the fluid storage element 14 . the device may also include a withdrawal mechanism, such as a string 16 . when inserted, the fluid transport elements 12 can create a substantially continuous fluid path in the notch 18 between the arms 20 . an alternate embodiment having a plurality of capillary tubes 12 ′ is illustrated in fig. 2 . these tubes 12 ′ also provide a substantially continuous fluid path to the fluid storage element 14 ′. yet another alternate embodiment, illustrated in figs. 3 a & 3 b , provides an fluid management device 10 having at least one fluid transport element 12 ″ in fluid communication with a fluid storage element 14 ″ ( figs. 3 a & 3 b show two fluid transport elements 12 ″ located on opposite sides of the fluid storage element 14 ″). the device may also include a fluid transfer layer 22 to move collected fluid about the fluid storage element 14 ″. the fluid transport element 12 ″ has at least one plate 24 that has a distal portion 26 that is capable of extending away from the fluid storage element 14 ″. when inserted, the at least one plate 24 can provide two surfaces that can interact with vaginal walls “w” to create two sets of parallel plates as shown in fig. 4 . as mentioned above, the fluid management device 10 of the present invention may include a transfer or distribution layer 22 . the transfer layer or distribution layer, if present, is generally positioned as an outer layer of the fluid storage element 14 ″, although it may in turn be enclosed by a cover 28 , and the transfer layer usually directly contacts the fluid storage element. if included, the transfer layer may be made of any known material that will take up fluid and then distribute and release it to an adjacent absorbent layer for storage. transfer layers have a relatively open structure that allows for movement of fluid within the layer. suitable materials for such transfer layers include fibrous webs, resilient foams, and the like. the transfer layer provides a means of receiving bodily fluid from the fluid transport element and holding it until the fluid storage element has an opportunity to receive the fluid. the transfer layer is, preferably, more dense than the cover layer and has a larger proportion of smaller pores than does the cover layer. these attributes allow the transfer layer to contain bodily fluid and hold it away from the outer side of the cover layer, thereby preventing the fluid from re-wetting the cover layer and its outer surface. however, the transfer layer is preferably not so dense as to prevent the passage of the fluid through the transfer layer and into the underlying fluid storage element. the transfer layer may include various materials, including, for example, fibrous webs, resilient foams, and the like. the transfer layer may include cellulose fibers such as from wood pulp, single component or bicomponent fibers that include thermoplastic materials (such as, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, among others) in fiber or other forms, rayon, organic binders (such as, copolymers of vinyl, acrylic and/or other monomers that may be coated onto thermoplastic fibers or otherwise incorporated into the transfer layer) among other materials known to the art. the transfer layer may, for example, have a basis weight in a range from about 40 gsm to about 120 gsm, a thickness in a range from about 0.5 mm to about 4 mm, a density in a range from about 0.03 g/cc to about 0.15 g/cc. the mass of materials making up the transfer layer may be absorbent, even if the materials themselves are not absorbent. thus, transfer layers that are made of hydrophobic, nonabsorbent fibers may be able to accept large volumes of fluid into interfiber void spaces while the fibers themselves do not absorb any significant quantities of fluid. likewise, open-celled foam structures that are made from nonabsorbent materials may also absorb fluid into the cells of the foam. the walls of the cells, however, do not absorb any fluid. the cumulative spaces within the transfer layer, i.e., the interfiber void spaces in the fibrous transfer layer or the open cells in the foam transfer layer, function much like a container to hold fluid. typically, transfer layer fibrous webs are made of resilient, nonabsorbent materials to provide void volume and to allow for free movement of fluid through the structure. transfer layers that are made from webs of mostly absorbent fibers absorb the fluid as it enters the structure and do not distribute it throughout the rest of the structure as efficiently as webs containing non-absorbent materials. transfer layer fibrous webs that include nonabsorbent materials are expected to provide void volume and to allow for more free movement of fluid through the structure. examples of such materials include polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, bicomponent materials, nylon and mixtures or combinations thereof. alternative materials for transfer layers include apertured film; it can be any other nonwoven material, such as, foam or netting, which transports fluid and in combination with the cover, may provide masking of the fluid storage element. a further alternate embodiment is shown in figs. 5 a - 5 c in which a intravaginal device 50 has at least one fluid transport element 52 in fluid communication with a fluid storage element 54 ( figs. 5 a - 5 c show two fluid transport elements 52 located on opposite sides of the fluid storage element 54 ). the device may also include a withdrawal mechanism, such as a string 56 . the fluid transport element has at least a first plate 58 and a second plate 60 . the first and second plates combine to provide a set of parallel plates, and the fluid transport elements 52 are shown as extending radially away from the fluid storage element 54 . additional plates may also be incorporated into each fluid transport element 52 . the plates are arranged and configured to allow the introduction of bodily fluid 62 to separate a plate from adjacent plate(s) ( fig. 5 c ). at least one opening 64 allows the introduction of bodily fluids 62 . optionally, one or more spacer elements 66 can be inserted to establish and to maintain space between adjacent plates. fig. 5 b shows a pair of parallel plates prior to the introduction of a fluid. in this view, the facing surfaces of the adjacent plates 58 , 60 are in contact. on the other hand, fig. 5 c shows the set of parallel plates separated by a bodily fluid 62 , providing an inter-plate capillary gap 68 between the inwardly oriented surface 70 of the first plate 58 and the first surface 72 of the second plate 60 . this inter-plate capillary gap 68 is sufficient to provide inter-plate capillary action to allow the fluid transport element 52 to acquire, to spread, and to move bodily fluids 62 from the vagina to the fluid storage element 54 . the first plate 58 also has an outwardly oriented surface 74 , and the second plate 60 also has an opposite surface 76 . in each of these embodiments, a distal portion 78 of the fluid transport element 52 is capable of extending away from the fluid storage element 54 and thereby creating a substantially uninterrupted fluid conduit from a fluid source to the fluid storage element. the plates 58 , 60 can be made of almost any hydrophobic or hydrophilic material, preferably sheet-like. the thickness of each plate is not critical. however, it can preferably be selected from the range of from about 0.005 to about 0.050 inch. the materials of construction and the thickness of the plates should be designed so that they are sufficiently stiff and/or resistant to wet collapse when exposed to fluid. in particular, materials useful for forming the fluid transport element may have properties such as thermobondability to provide means to incorporate it into the fluid management device. a representative, non-limiting list of useful materials includes polyolefins, such as polypropylene and polyethylene; polyolefin copolymers, such as ethylenevinyl acetate (“eva”), ethylene-propylene, ethyleneacrylates, and ethylene-acrylic acid and salts thereof; halogenated polymers; polyesters and polyester copolymers; polyamides and polyamide copolymers; polyurethanes and polyurethane copolymers; polystyrenes and polystyrene copolymers; and the like. the fluid transport element may also be micro-embossed or apertured. examples of films having apertures include for example, three-dimensional apertured films, as disclosed in thompson, u.s. pat. no. 3,929,135, and turi et al, u.s. pat. no. 5,567,376, as well as two-dimensional reticulated film, such as that described in kelly, u.s. pat. no. 4,381,326. figs. 6 a - 6 c illustrate three combinations of the apertured film of thompson. it may be helpful to keep the exposed surface of the fluid transport element as smooth as possible. it may also be helpful to provide it with a low coefficient of friction. these characteristics may provide at least two benefits: (1) the force required to insert the intravaginal device is reduced, and (2) it reduces the damage otherwise caused by scraping of soft, tender vaginal tissue during insertion, wearing and removal. plates 58 and 60 may be made from the same material or alternately, plate 58 may be made from a different material than plate 60 . the parallel plates can have any physical structure to provide a resistance to fluid flow vector in the direction parallel to the inwardly oriented surface 70 of the first plate 58 and the first surface 72 of the second plate 60 that is less than the resistance to fluid flow vector in the direction perpendicular to the plates. preferably, the plates are made from any relatively smooth material. suitable materials include, without limitation, foil, waxed sheets, film, apertured film, and the like. for example fibrous or porous sheets may be coated with a substantially continuous coating to provide a film- or foil-like surface. each plate does not need to be made of the same material as its corresponding parallel plate. for instance the first plate 58 could be an apertured film to allow fluid to enter and the second plate 60 could be a solid film to move fluid to the storage element. of course, the parallel plates must be able to transport fluid between the two layers. the fluid transport element 52 should be strong enough to prevent rupturing during handling, insertion, and removal and to withstand vaginal pressures during use. it is preferable that the surface of at least one of the plates of the fluid transport element 52 be sufficiently wettable by the bodily fluids that the intravaginal device 50 is intended to collect (this results largely from a correlation of the surface energy of the plate surface and the bodily fluid(s)). thus, the bodily fluid will easily wet the plate, and capillarity between the plates will draw these bodily fluids from a source to a fluid storage element that is in fluid communication with the fluid transport element. surface treatments can be used to modify the surface energy of the plates 58 , 60 . in a preferred embodiment a surfactant is applied to increase the wettability of the outer or inner surfaces of at least one plate. this will increase the rate at which the bodily fluids are drawn to and spread by plates, either between two plates or between a plate and the vaginal wall. the surfactant can be applied uniformly to either the inner or outer surfaces or it could be applied with varying coating weights in different regions. a useful measure to determine the wettability of a plate surface is its contact angle with 1.0% saline. preferably, the contact angle with 1.0% saline is less than about 90 degrees. in order to accomplish this, the materials of plates can be chosen from those materials that are known in the art to have low energy surfaces. it is also possible and useful to coat materials that have high-energy surfaces with a surface additive, such as a non-ionic surfactant (e.g., ethoxylates), a diol, or mixtures thereof, in order to increase their wettability by bodily fluids. such additives are well known in the art, and examples include those described in yang et al., us app. no. 2002-0123731-a1, and u.s. pat. no. 6,570,055. other means of increasing wettability can also be used, such as by corona discharge treatment of, for example, polyethylene or polypropylene, or by caustic etching of, for example, polyester. the surfaces of the first and second plates facing each other can have a variety of surface textures, ranging from smooth to highly textured. the texturing element may be included as a spacer 66 . the desire to include spacers 66 or texture may be based on the material's ability to withstand wet collapse when simultaneously subjected to compressive forces and fluid. the spacer elements 66 can be separate elements applied to one or more of the plates, or they can be integral portions of a plate that extend away from one of the plate's major surfaces. a representative list of such separate spacer elements includes, without limitation, foamed materials such as polystyrene foam; particles such as beads and crystals; discontinuous material such as netting, thread, wax, adhesive, any discrete element that causes a separation between the plates and the like. integral spacer elements 66 can be thickened portions of the plate material or deformations of the plate material. a representative list of such an integral spacer element includes, without limitation, nubbles, embossments, corrugations, deformations, and the like. included in this definition are surface treatments that permanently bond a secondary material to a surface of a first. one example of a deformation is provided as the sidewalls 80 of a “three-dimensional” polymeric apertured formed film material shown in figs. 6 a - 6 c. fig. 6 a shows the sidewalls 80 of inwardly facing surface 70 and the first surface 72 of the second plate 60 in facing relationship. fig. 6 b shows a second arrangement of the apertured film plates where the sidewalls 80 are nested. fig. 6 c illustrates a third configuration of the apertured film plates where the sidewalls 80 are on the inwardly facing surface 70 of the first plate 58 , and sidewalls 80 are on the opposite surface 76 of the second plate 60 . in another example, shown in fig. 7 , the spacer elements are nubbles 82 extending from the inward surface 70 of the first plate 58 and resting on the first surface 72 of the second plate 60 . in order to maintain stability against sliding of the plates with respect to each other and changing of the space between them, it is acceptable, and may be preferable, to secure some local areas of contact between the spacer elements 66 and the adjacent plate or even between spacer elements 66 of two adjacent plates. the plates may be secured through means known to those of ordinary skill in the art. a representative list of such securing means includes, without limitation, thermobonding, adhering, crimping, embossing, ultrasonic bonding or welding, and the like. the adhesive may be applied between the spacer elements and the first and second plates. preferably, the adhesive is wettable. the at least one opening 64 can be at the edge of the plates, e.g., edges of adjacent plates are separated or plates themselves may have at least one opening. the openings need not be uniform. for example, one opening 64 may be located at the edge of the plates and a plurality of smaller openings or apertures 84 can be distributed throughout one or more plate. preferably, each plate has a plurality of openings distributed throughout. an example of openings distributed throughout is an apertured film. the distribution can be uniform or arranged to provide regions of higher open area and regions of lower open area. a plurality of openings or apertures 84 may extend through at least one of the first and second plates 58 , 60 . these apertures 84 may extend completely through the plate and may be present in both of the plates. the apertures 84 allow fluid that contacts the outward surface 74 of the first plate 58 or the opposite surface 76 of the second plate 60 to flow into the inter-plate capillary gap 68 between the plates with as little restriction as possible. in the example of apertured film, it is preferred that the total surface area of the plate occupied by the openings is from about 5% to preferably about 50%. more preferably, it will be from about 25% to about 45%. having this much open area formed in a plate will allow fluid that is deposited on that plate to easily flow into the inter-plate capillary gap 68 . it is preferable that any individual opening 64 , 84 is large enough to easily pass any highly viscous material, including menstrual fluid. while the geometry of the openings is not critical, the opening 64 , 84 should be sized sufficient to allow easy passage of non-absorbable material. if the apertures 84 are not circular, then the measurement should be made across the narrowest part of the opening, which would be most restrictive to the flow of non-absorbable material. in the example of unapertured film that has an opening 64 at the ends of the plates 58 , 60 , the size of the opening 64 is a result of the fluid's ability to separate the plates. it is preferred that the apertures 84 are large enough to let viscous fluid pass through but not too large to create too rough of a surface as to compromise the wearer's comfort. a preferred aperture 84 is circular and is between 10 mils and 40 mils in diameter. most preferably it is between 18 mils and 27 mils. open area may be determined by using image analysis to measure the relative percentages of apertured and unapertured, or land, areas. essentially image analysis converts an optical image from a light microscope into an electronic signal suitable for processing. an electronic beam scans the image, line-by-line. as each line is scanned, an output signal changes according to illumination. white areas produce a relatively high voltage and black areas a relatively low voltage. an image of the apertured formed film is produced and, in that image, the holes are white, while the solid areas of thermoplastic material are at various levels of gray. the more dense the solid area, the darker the gray area produced. each line of the image that is measured is divided into sampling points or pixels. the following equipment can be used to carry out the analysis described above: a quantimet q520 image analyzer (with v. 5.02b software and grey store option), sold by leica/cambridge instruments ltd., in conjunction with an olympus szh microscope with a transmitted light base, a plan 1.0× objective, and a 2.50× eyepiece. the image can be produced with a dage mti ccd72 video camera. a representative piece of each material to be analyzed is placed on the microscope stage and sharply imaged on the video screen at a microscope zoom setting of 10×. the open area is determined from field measurements of representative areas. the quantimet program output reports mean value and standard deviation for each sample. referring to figs. 8 a - 18 , the first and second plates 58 , 60 may be separate elements (i.e, adjacent to each other but not necessarily joined) or they may be extensions of the same sheet-like material, e.g., formed by a fold in a sheet of material (as shown in figs. 8 a - 8 e ). in such a folded embodiment, the material is folded to form a pleat with the first and second plates facing each other. a preferred embodiment with pleats is shown in figs. 8 a - 8 e, where the pleats 86 are folds in the cover material 88 . the pleats 86 create plates that are bendable about an infinite number of bending axes (b 1-i -b 1-i ) that are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis (x-x) of the product, which longitudinal axis extends through the insertion end 90 and withdrawal end 92 . these bending axes allow the plates to wrap around the product, either partially or completely. one such bending axis (b i -b i ) is shown in fig. 8 b. the fluid transport element 52 is in fluid communication with the fluid storage element 54 and directs fluid from the vagina to the storage element 54 . generally, fluid will be directed from each fluid transport element 52 to a particular region of the fluid storage element associated with that fluid transport element. thus, if the device has only one fluid transport element 52 , the fluid will contact the fluid storage element in one interface 94 . therefore, additional fluid transport elements 52 directing fluid to additional locations of the fluid storage element 54 will improve the efficient usage of the fluid storage element 54 . for example, two fluid transport elements 52 could be directed to opposite sides of the fluid storage element 54 , as shown in figs. 5 a - 5 c. each additional fluid storage element 5 can direct fluid to additional interface locations 94 of the fluid storage element 54 . for example, four evenly spaced fluid transport elements 52 allow fluid to be directed to each quarter of the fluid storage element 54 surface as shown in figs. 8 a - 8 e. five or more elements would provide even more direct access. this can allow the fluid to contact the fluid storage element 54 uniformly and help to prevent or reduce local saturation of the fluid storage element 54 . while the above description provides for direct fluid communication between a fluid transport element 52 and the fluid storage element 54 , direct fluid contact is not necessary. there can be fluid communication through an intermediate element, such as a porous medium (e.g., a foam or fibrous structure), a hollow tube, and the like. enlarging the area of the interface 94 between the fluid transport element 52 and fluid storage element 54 can also help to maximize the fluid communication. for example, elongating the interface by increasing the length of the fluid transport element 52 allows more fluid to flow into the fluid storage element 54 . the fluid transport element 52 may extend in any orientation from the surface of the fluid storage element 54 . it is not necessary for the fluid transport element to be on the surface of the fluid storage element. the inter-plate capillary gap 68 formed by first and second plates 58 , 60 can terminate at the interface 94 or can extend into and/or through the fluid storage element 54 . an example of the fluid transport element 52 extending into the fluid storage element 54 is shown in fig. 7 . the parallel plates can have additional layers on top of them as long as these additional layers allow fluid to enter the plates. the first and second plates may be arranged such that they can be extended in a plane that is parallel to, or even extending through, the longitudinal axis of the device (e.g., figs. 9 , 10 a , 10 b , and 11 ). alternately, they may also be arranged such that they can be extended in a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the device, or in any orientation between these extremes (not shown). the first and second plates 58 , 60 can end at the boundary of the fluid transport element 52 or can extend into the fluid storage element 54 . fig. 11 shows two sets of parallel plates extending into the storage element. the parallel plates can have additional layers on top of them as long as these additional layers allow fluid to enter the plates. the fluid transport element 52 may be formed to extend from the surface of the fluid storage element 54 as in fig. 5 a - 5 c. in an alternative embodiment, the withdrawal string 56 could be replaced by a pair or another combination of ribbon-like parallel plates (not shown). the fluid transport element 52 can be made in any convenient shape, including semicircular, triangular, square, hourglass etc. additionally the two plates of the element do not have to be completely coextensive, as long as they are at least partially in a facing relationship. the parallel plates forming the fluid transport element can be of any flexibility as long as the material is able to transport fluid to the fluid storage element while the device is in use. it is also preferable that the fluid transport element be sufficiently flexible to provide the user with comfort while inserting, wearing and removing the device. parallel plates can be held in close proximity to the storage element in a variety of ways including directly or indirectly via an additional element to the storage element. a variety of methods can be used to attach the fluid transport element 52 including but not limited to heat, adhesive, ultrasonics, sewing, and mechanically engaging the fluid storage element 54 . an example of a heat-sealed attachment 96 is shown in fig. 8 a. the fluid transport element(s) 52 can be attached at the sides, insertion end 90 , and/or withdrawal end 92 of the intravaginal device 50 . additionally, the fluid transport element(s) 52 may be attached to themselves and not to the storage element as in a parallel plates bag type covering of the storage element. the parallel plates could also be attached to the withdrawal string 56 . additional means of attachment are disclosed in the commonly-assigned, copending patent applications entitled “intravaginal device with fluid acquisition plates” (u.s. ser. no. 60/572,054; atty docket no. ppc-5073), “intravaginal device with fluid acquisition plates and method of making” (u.s. ser. no. 60/572,055; atty docket no. ppc-5072), both filed on may 14, 2004, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. multiple fluid transport elements can be layered on top of each other or placed next to each other. fig. 12 shows a plurality of fluid transport elements 52 extending from the sides of the storage element 54 in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction thereof. these fluid transport elements 52 can be a variety of lengths and can be on part or the entire surface. a further alternate embodiment, shown in fig. 13 , has one continuous plate 58 ′ rolled up on itself to form a series of convolutedly wound plates, each having a first surface and a second surface. the first surface of the plate in one winding of the device is disposed and maintained in facing relationship with the second surface of an adjacent winding. the first surface is also capable of separating from the second surface sufficiently to provide inter-plate capillary action. in this embodiment, the inner layers of the winding would also act to store fluid, allowing them to function as a fluid storage element. during use, fluid transport element(s) 12 , 52 can take on many configurations within the vagina. for example, a fluid transport element 12 ″ may extend into the vagina away from the fluid storage element 14 ″, as shown in fig. 4 . alternatively, the fluid transport element(s) 52 may remain wound about the fluid storage element 54 , contacting the vaginal wall “w” only through the outwardly oriented surface 74 ( fig. 14 ). in a further alternative embodiment, the fluid transport element(s) 52 may be substantially contained within the fluid storage element 54 and thus may not be in contact with the vaginal walls at all. thus, the fluid transport element(s) 52 may be completely contained within the fluid storage element, or it may extend to an outer surface of the fluid storage element, as shown in fig. 9 . in which the fluid transport element 52 is disposed only within the fluid storage element 54 ). additionally, as discussed above in reference to fig. 11 , the fluid transport element(s) may extend beyond an outer surface of the fluid storage element 54 . the fluid storage element can be any convenient shape including cylindrical, cup like, hourglass, spherical, etc. it can be an absorbent or a fluid collection device. it can be in separate sections with the fluid transport element(s) 52 bridging or connecting the sections. figs. 15 a and 15 b shows a plurality of storage elements connected by two fluid transport elements 52 ″. fig. 16 shows two sides of the same unified storage element 54 ″ bridged by a fluid transport element 52 ″. the fluid storage element 54 can be made of any composition known in the art, such as compressed fibrous webs, rolled goods, foam etc. the storage element can be made of any material known in the art such as cotton, rayon, polyester, superabsorbent material, etc. in one preferred embodiment, the fluid storage element 54 is an absorbent tampon 50 . absorbent tampons are usually substantially cylindrical masses of compressed absorbent material having a central axis and a radius that defines the outer circumferential surface of the tampon. such tampons are disclosed in e.g., haas, u.s. pat. no. 1,926,900; dostal, u.s. pat. no. 3,811,445; wolff, u.s. pat. no. 3,422,496; friese et al., u.s. pat. no. 6,310,296; leutwyler et al., u.s. pat. no. 5,911,712, truman, u.s. pat. no. 3,983,875; agyapong et al., u.s. pat. no. 6,554,814. tampons also usually include a cover or some other surface treatment and a withdrawal string or other removal mechanism. absorbent materials useful in the formation of the absorbent body include fiber, foam, superabsorbent, hydrogels, and the like. preferred absorbent material for the present invention includes foam and fiber. absorbent foams may include hydrophilic foams, foams that are readily wetted by aqueous fluids as well as foams in which the cell walls that form the foam themselves absorb fluid. fibers may be selected from cellulosic fiber, including natural fibers (such as cotton, wood pulp, jute, and the like) and synthetic fibers (such as regenerated cellulose, cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, rayon, polyester, polyvinyl alcohol, polyolefin, polyamine, polyamide, polyacrylonitrile, and the like). the fluid storage element may also be in the form of a collection cup. examples of such devices are disclosed in zoller, u.s. pat. no. 3,845,766 and contente et al., u.s. pat. no. 5,295,984. collection devices are designed to assume a normally open, concave configuration, with an open side facing a user's cervix. the collection devices may be folded, or otherwise manipulated, to facilitate insertion into the vaginal canal a withdrawal mechanism, such as withdrawal string 16 , 56 , is preferably joined to the fluid management device 10 , 50 for removal after use. the withdrawal mechanism is preferably joined to at least the fluid storage element 14 , 54 and extends beyond at least its withdrawal end 92 . any of the withdrawal strings currently known in the art may be used as a suitable withdrawal mechanism, including without limitation, braided (or twisted) cord, yarn, etc. in addition, the withdrawal mechanism can take on other forms such as a ribbon, loop, tab, or the like (including combinations of currently used mechanisms and these other forms). for example, several ribbons may be twisted or braided to provide parallel plates structures. tampons are generally categorized in two classes: applicator tampons and digital tampons, and a certain amount of dimensional stability is useful for each type of tampon. applicator tampons use a relatively rigid device to contain and protect the tampon prior to use. to insert the tampon into a body cavity, the applicator containing the tampon is partially inserted into the body cavity, and the tampon can be expelled from the applicator into the body cavity. in contrast, digital tampons do not have an applicator to help guide them into the body cavity and require sufficient column strength to allow insertion without using an applicator. while the applicator tampon is protected by the rigid applicator device and the applicator tampon need not as have high a degree of column strength as a digital tampon, applicator tampons do require dimensional stability (especially radial) to be acceptable for use. this dimensional stability provides assurance, for example, that the tampon will not prematurely grow and split its packaging material or become wedged in a tampon applicator. further, the fluid management device can be collapsed for packaging and insertion. for example, at least a portion of a major surface of the fluid transport element 52 , such as the outwardly oriented surface 74 , may be in contact with at least a portion of an outer surface of the fluid storage element 54 . this can be achieved by wrapping the fluid transport element(s) around the fluid storage element 54 (as shown in fig. 8 b ). alternatively, the fluid transport element(s) 52 may be folded or pleated (e.g., in an accordion-like manner as shown in fig. 17 ) against the fluid storage element 54 . the thus-compacted device can then be packaged, (e.g., within an applicator or alone in a wrapper). fig. 18 shows a wrapped tampon within an applicator 98 (in phantom). the specification and embodiments above are presented to aid in the complete and non-limiting understanding of the invention disclosed herein. since many variations and embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.
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114-847-233-576-463
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JP
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[
"JP",
"US"
] |
G11C11/405,H01L21/8242,H01L27/108,G11C11/24,G11C7/12,G11C8/00,G11C11/403,G11C16/04,H01L27/115,H01L27/12
| 2011-12-02T00:00:00 |
2011
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[
"G11",
"H01"
] |
storage device and driving method thereof
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problem to be solved: to provide a highly integrated storage device which can operate at high speed and a driving method thereof.solution: the storage device includes two storage units, two precharge switches, and one sense amplifier. in each of the storage units, storage elements are arranged in a matrix. in each of the storage elements, a node electrically connected to a source or a drain of a transistor whose off-state current is small is a memory storing unit. a page buffer circuit is unnecessary; thus, high-speed operation is possible and high integration is achieved.
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1 . a driving method of a storage device comprising a first memory cell and a second memory cell, wherein the first memory cell comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, and a first capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the first transistor, wherein the second memory cell comprises a third transistor, a fourth transistor, and a second capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the third transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, and wherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the third transistor, the driving method comprising the steps of: supplying a first potential to the first source line; supplying a second potential to the first bit line; electrically isolating the first bit line after supplying the second potential to the first bit line; changing a potential of a second electrode of the first capacitor from a third potential to a fourth potential so that the first potential or the second potential is supplied to the first bit line; supplying a fifth potential lower than the second potential to the second bit line; supplying a sixth potential or a seventh potential to the first bit line in accordance with the potential of the first bit line; and turning on a switch provided between the first bit line and an input-output line to read out data of the first bit line. 2 . the driving method according to claim 1 , wherein the sixth potential is higher than the second potential, and wherein the seventh potential is equal to or lower than the first potential. 3 . the driving method according to claim 1 , wherein the first potential, the fourth potential, and the seventh potential are equal to one another, wherein the third potential is equal to the sixth potential, and wherein the second potential is higher than the first potential and lower than the third potential. 4 . the driving method according to claim 3 , wherein the first potential is a ground potential, and wherein the third potential is a power supply potential. 5 . the driving method according to claim 1 , wherein the second transistor comprises a channel formation region comprising an oxide semiconductor. 6 . the driving method according to claim 5 , wherein an off-state current of the second transistor is 100 za or less at 25° c. 7 . a driving method of a storage device comprising a first memory cell and a sense amplifier, wherein the first memory cell comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, and a first capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the first transistor, and wherein the first bit line is electrically connected to the sense amplifier, the driving method comprising the steps of: supplying a first potential to the first bit line; electrically isolating the first bit line after supplying the first potential to the first bit line; changing a potential of a second electrode of the first capacitor so that a signal is output to the first bit line in accordance with a voltage held in the first capacitor; amplifying the signal by the sense amplifier; and reading out the amplified signal through a switch from the first bit line to an input-output line by turning on the switch. 8 . the driving method according to claim 7 , wherein the storage device further comprises a second memory cell, wherein the second memory cell comprises a third transistor, a fourth transistor, and a second capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the third transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, wherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the third transistor, and wherein the second bit line is electrically connected to the sense amplifier, the driving method further comprising the steps of: supplying a second potential to the second bit line before amplifying the signal by the sense amplifier. 9 . the driving method according to claim 7 , wherein the second transistor comprises a channel formation region comprising an oxide semiconductor. 10 . the driving method according to claim 9 , wherein an off-state current of the second transistor is 100 za or less at 25° c. 11 . a driving method of a storage device comprising a first memory cell and a second memory cell, wherein the first memory cell comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, and a first capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the first transistor, wherein the second memory cell comprises a third transistor, a fourth transistor, and a second capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the third transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, and wherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the third transistor, the driving method comprising the steps of: supplying a first potential to the first source line; supplying a second potential to the first bit line; electrically isolating the first bit line after supplying the second potential to the first bit line; changing a potential of a second electrode of the first capacitor from a third potential to a fourth potential so that the first potential or the second potential is supplied to the first bit line; supplying a fifth potential lower than the second potential to the second bit line; turning on a switch provided between the first bit line and an input-output line so that a sixth potential or a seventh potential is supplied to the first bit line, whereby data is written to the first memory cell; and turning off the second transistor after turning on the switch. 12 . the driving method according to claim 11 , wherein the sixth potential is higher than the second potential, and wherein the seventh potential is equal to or lower than the first potential. 13 . the driving method according to claim 11 , wherein the first potential, the fourth potential, and the seventh potential are equal to one another, wherein the third potential is equal to the sixth potential, and wherein the second potential is higher than the first potential and lower than the third potential. 14 . the driving method according to claim 13 , wherein the first potential is a ground potential, and wherein the third potential is a power supply potential. 15 . the driving method according to claim 11 , wherein the second transistor comprises a channel formation region comprising an oxide semiconductor. 16 . the driving method according to claim 15 , wherein an off-state current of the second transistor is 100 za or less at 25° c. 17 . a driving method of a storage device comprising a first memory cell, a second memory cell, and a sense amplifier, wherein the first memory cell comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, and a first capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the first transistor, wherein the first bit line is electrically connected to the sense amplifier, wherein the second memory cell comprises a third transistor, a fourth transistor, and a second capacitor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the third transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, wherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the third transistor, and wherein the second bit line is electrically connected to the sense amplifier, the driving method comprising the steps of: turning on the second transistor; inputting a first signal through a first switch from a first input-output line to the first bit line by turning on the first switch; inputting a second signal through a second switch from a second input-output line to the second bit line by turning on the second switch; and turning off the second transistor after inputting the first signal and the second signal, wherein the first signal and the second signal are amplified by the sense amplifier. 18 . the driving method according to claim 17 , wherein the second transistor comprises a channel formation region comprising an oxide semiconductor. 19 . the driving method according to claim 18 , wherein an off-state current of the second transistor is 100 za or less at 25° c. 20 . a storage device comprising: a first storage portion; a second storage portion; a first switch, a second switch, a first driver circuit, and a second driver circuit, wherein in each of the first storage portion and the second storage portion, a plurality of storage elements is arranged in a matrix, wherein the first storage portion is electrically connected to the first switch, wherein the second storage portion is electrically connected to the second switch, wherein the first driver circuit comprises is two precharge switches and one sense amplifier, wherein in each of the plurality of storage elements, a node electrically connected to a source or a drain of a first transistor is a memory storing portion, and wherein the first transistor comprises a first channel formation region comprising an oxide semiconductor. 21 . the storage device according to claim 20 , wherein an off-state current of the first transistor is 100 za or less at 25° c. 22 . the storage device according to claim 20 , wherein each of the plurality of storage elements comprises a second transistor, wherein a gate of the second transistor is electrically connected to the node, and wherein the second transistor comprises a second channel formation region comprising single crystal silicon. 23 . a storage device comprising: a first memory cell comprising: a first transistor; a second transistor; and a first capacitor; a second memory cell comprising: a third transistor; a fourth transistor; and a second capacitor; and a sense amplifier comprising: a fifth transistor; a sixth transistor; a seventh transistor; and an eighth transistor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the first transistor, wherein the first bit line is electrically connected to the sense amplifier, wherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second bit line, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to a second source line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to a gate of the third transistor, wherein the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, wherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is electrically connected to the gate of the third transistor, wherein the second bit line is electrically connected to the sense amplifier, wherein one of a source and a drain of the fifth transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein a gate of the fifth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the sixth transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein a gate of the sixth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the seventh transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, wherein a gate of the seventh transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line, wherein one of a source and a drain of the eighth transistor is electrically connected to the second bit line, and wherein a gate of the eighth transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line. 24 . the storage device according to claim 23 , wherein the second transistor comprises a channel formation region comprising an oxide semiconductor. 25 . the storage device according to claim 24 , wherein an off-state current of the second transistor is 100 za or less at 25° c.
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background of the invention 1. field of the invention the invention disclosed in this specification and the like relates to a storage device and a driving method of the storage device. 2. description of the related art as one kind of volatile memories, a dynamic random access memory (dram) is widely known. meanwhile, in recent years, a metal oxide having semiconductor characteristics (hereinafter referred to as an oxide semiconductor) has attracted attention. an oxide semiconductor can be used for a transistor (see patent documents 1 and 2). reference [patent document 1] japanese published patent application no. 2007-123861[patent document 2] japanese published patent application no. 2007-096055 summary of the invention one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a highly integrated storage device which can operate at high speed. one embodiment of the present invention is a driving method of a storage device including a first storage portion and a second storage portion. in the first storage portion, memory cells each including a first transistor, a second transistor with a small off-state current, and a capacitor are arranged in a matrix. one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first bit line, and the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a source line. one of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to a memory storing portion and a gate of the first transistor, and the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line. one terminal of the capacitor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the second transistor and the gate of the first transistor. in the second storage portion, a second bit line is provided instead of the first bit line in the first storage portion. the driving method of the storage device includes steps of setting the potential of the source line to a first potential; setting the potential of the first bit line to a second potential and then electrically isolating the first bit line; setting the potential of the other terminal of the capacitor to a third potential; changing the potential of the other terminal of the capacitor from the third potential to a fourth potential so that the potential of the first bit line is made to be the first potential or the second potential; setting the potential of the second bit line to a fifth potential lower than the second potential; changing the potential of the first bit line to a sixth potential or a seventh potential in accordance with the potential of the first bit line; and controlling a switch provided between the first bit line and an input-output line to selectively read out data of the first bit line, whereby data in the memory storing portion is selectively read out. in the driving method of the above embodiment, the sixth potential is preferably higher than the second potential, and the seventh potential is preferably equal to or lower than the first potential. in the driving method of the above embodiment, the first potential, the fourth potential, and the seventh potential are preferably equal to one another, the third potential is preferably equal to the sixth potential, and the second potential is preferably higher than the first potential and lower than the third potential. in the driving method of the above embodiment, the first potential is preferably a ground potential, and the third potential is preferably a power supply potential. one embodiment of the present invention is a driving method of a storage device including a first storage portion and a second storage portion. in the first storage portion, memory cells each including a first transistor, a second transistor with a small off-state current, and a capacitor are arranged in a matrix. one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a first bit line, and the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to a source line. one of a source and a drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to a memory storing portion and a gate of the first transistor, and the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor is electrically connected to the first bit line. one terminal of the capacitor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the second transistor and the gate of the first transistor. in the second storage portion, a second bit line is provided instead of the first bit line in the first storage portion. the driving method of the storage device includes steps of setting the potential of the source line to a first potential; setting the potential of the first bit line to a second potential and then electrically isolating the first bit line; setting the potential of the other terminal of the capacitor to a third potential; changing the potential of the other terminal of the capacitor from the third potential to a fourth potential so that the potential of the first bit line is made to be the first potential or the second potential; the potential of a second bit line is set to a fifth potential lower than the second potential; controlling a switch provided between the first bit line and an input-output line to select the first bit line and set the potential of the selected first bit line to a sixth potential or a seventh potential, whereby data is written to the memory storing portion; and turning off the second transistor to selectively write data to the memory storing portion. in the driving method of the above embodiment, the sixth potential is preferably higher than the second potential, and the seventh potential is preferably equal to or lower than the first potential. in the driving method of the above embodiment, the first potential, the fourth potential, and the seventh potential are preferably equal to one another, the third potential is preferably equal to the sixth potential, and the second potential is preferably higher than the first potential and lower than the third potential. in the driving method of the above embodiment, the first potential is preferably a ground potential, and the third potential is preferably a power supply potential. in performing the driving method of the storage device, the off-state current of the second transistor is preferably 100 za or less at 25° c. one embodiment of the present invention is a storage device including a first storage portion, a second storage portion, a first switch, a second switch, a first driver circuit, and a second driver circuit. in each of the first storage portion and the second storage portion, a plurality of storage elements is arranged in a matrix. the first storage portion is electrically connected to the first switch. the second storage portion is electrically connected to the second switch. the first driver circuit includes two precharge switches and one sense amplifier. in each of the plurality of storage elements, a node electrically connected to a source a drain of a transistor whose off-state current is 100 za or less at 25° c. is a memory storing portion. that is to say, in the storage device of one embodiment of the present invention, a page buffer circuit is not provided, and data in the memory storing portion is stored by writing back the data to the bit line bl in a non-selected column. in the storage device of the above embodiment, the transistor with a small off-state current may be formed using an oxide semiconductor. in the storage device of the above embodiment, each of the plurality of storage elements may include a transistor whose gate is electrically connected to the node and which can operate at high speed. in the storage device of the above embodiment, the transistor which can operate at high speed is preferably formed using single crystal silicon. a highly integrated storage device which can operate at high speed can be provided. brief description of the drawings in the accompanying drawings: fig. 1 illustrates a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 2 a 1 , 2 a 2 , and 2 b illustrate a storage element of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 3a and 3b are diagrams of circuits each having the storage elements in figs. 2 a 1 , 2 a 2 , and 2 b; figs. 4a and 4b each illustrate a switch of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 illustrates a driver circuit of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 6 shows the operation of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 7 shows the operation of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 8 shows the operation of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 9 shows the operation of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 10 shows the operation of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 11 shows the operation of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 12a and 12b are a top plan view of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention and a cross-sectional view thereof, respectively; figs. 13a to 13g illustrate a manufacturing method of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 14a to 14e illustrate a manufacturing method of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 15a to 15d illustrate a manufacturing method of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 16a to 16d illustrate a manufacturing method of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 17a to 17c illustrate a manufacturing method of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention; and figs. 18a to 18f each illustrate an electronic device on which a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention is mounted. detailed description of the invention hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. however, the present invention is not limited to the following description and it is easily understood by those skilled in the art that the mode and details can be variously changed without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. therefore, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the descriptions of the embodiments below. embodiment 1 in this embodiment, the configuration and operation of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention will be described. fig. 1 illustrates the configuration of the storage device of one embodiment of the present invention. the storage device 100 in fig. 1 includes a first storage portion 101 a , a second storage portion 101 b , a first switch 102 a electrically connected to the first storage portion 101 a , a second switch 102 b electrically connected to the second storage portion 101 b , a first driver circuit 103 electrically connected to both the first storage portion 101 a and the second storage portion 101 b , a second driver circuit 104 electrically connected to both the first switch 102 a and the second switch 102 b , and a third driver circuit 105 electrically connected to the first storage portion 101 a , the second storage portion 101 b , the first switch 102 a , the second switch 102 b , and the first driver circuit 103 . the first storage portion 101 a and the second storage portion 101 b each include a plurality of storage elements arranged in a matrix. the plurality of storage elements arranged in a matrix in the first storage portion 101 a and the second storage portion 101 b will be described with reference to figs. 2 a 1 , 2 a 2 , and 2 b. a storage element in fig. 2 a 1 includes a first transistor 250 , a second transistor 252 , and a capacitor 254 . one of a source and a drain of the first transistor 250 is electrically connected to a source line sl, and the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor 250 is electrically connected to a bit line bl. one of a source and a drain of the second transistor 252 is electrically connected to the bit line bl, and a gate of the second transistor 252 is electrically connected to a write word line osg. one electrode of the capacitor 254 is electrically connected to a write-read word line c. a gate of the first transistor 250 , the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor 252 , and the other electrode of the capacitor 254 are electrically connected to each other. a memory storing portion (hereinafter referred to as a node fn) is formed in a portion where they are connected. although not illustrated, a plurality of bit lines may be provided and the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor 250 and the one of the source and the drain of the second transistor 252 may be connected to different wirings (different bit lines). here, a transistor with a significantly small off-state current is used as the second transistor 252 . as the transistor with a significantly small off-state current, a transistor formed using an oxide semiconductor, which is described later, can be used for example; however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. owing to the significantly small off-state current of the second transistor 252 , the potential of the node fn can be held for a long time after the second transistor 252 is turned off. the use of an oxide semiconductor for the second transistor 252 allows the off-state current of the second transistor 252 to be less than or equal to one hundred-thousandth that of a transistor formed using a silicon semiconductor. thus, electric charge lost from the node fn due to leakage between the source and the drain of the second transistor 252 is negligibly small. that is to say, the use of an oxide semiconductor for the second transistor 252 permits storing of electric charge at the node fn without power supply, and thus, a nonvolatile storage device can be provided. for example, when the off-state current of the second transistor 252 is 10 za or less at room temperature (25° c.) and the capacitance of the capacitor 254 is approximately 10 ff, data can be stored for 10 4 seconds or longer. further, the capacitor 254 helps store electric charge at the node fn and read out the stored data. as the first transistor 250 , a transistor with a high switching rate is preferably used. as an example of the first transistor 250 , a transistor formed using single crystal silicon can be given. the use of such a transistor with a high switching rate as the first transistor 250 enables high-speed data reading. in this embodiment, a p-channel transistor is used as the first transistor 250 . note that the capacitor 254 does not necessarily have to be provided ( fig. 2b ). next, the operation of writing data to the storage element illustrated in fig. 2 a 1 and storing the data will be described. first, the potential of the write word line osg is controlled to turn on the second transistor 252 . accordingly, a given electric charge is applied from the bit line bl to the node fn (writing). here, one of two kinds of electric charges providing different potentials (hereinafter, an electric charge providing a low potential is referred to as electric charge q l and an electric charge providing a high potential is referred to as electric charge q h ) is applied. after that, the potential of the write word line osg is controlled to turn off the second transistor 252 , so that the electric charge is stored at the node fn (storing). note that the different potentials of the electric charges applied to the node fn are not limited to two kinds of potentials and may be three or more kinds of potentials. in other words, data to be stored in the storage element in fig. 2 a 1 is not limited to binary data and may be multilevel data. when data stored in the storage element is multilevel data, the storage capacity per unit area can be increased. next, a description will be given of the operation of reading out data in the storage element in fig. 2 a 1 . when a read-out potential is supplied to the write-read word line c with the source line sl supplied with a constant potential, the potential depending on the amount of electric charge stored at the node fn is supplied to the bit line bl. that is, the conductance of the first transistor 250 depends on the electric charge stored at the node fn. in general, when the first transistor 250 is a p-channel transistor, an apparent threshold voltage v th — h in the case where the electric charge q h is applied to the gate of the first transistor 250 is lower than an apparent threshold voltage v th — l in the case where the electric charge q l is applied to the gate of the first transistor 250 . for example, in the case where the electric charge q l is applied to the node fn by data writing, the first transistor 250 is turned on by applying v 0 (a potential intermediate between v th — h and v th — l ) to the write-read word line c. in the case where the electric charge q h is applied to the node fn by data writing, the first transistor 250 remains off even by applying v 0 to the write-read word line c. thus, the potential of the bit line bl can be read out as the stored data. next, the operation of rewriting data in the storage element illustrated in fig. 2 a 1 will be described. in rewriting data, the potential of the write word line osg is controlled to turn on the second transistor 252 . accordingly, the electric charge of data to be rewritten is applied from the bit line bl to the node fn. after that, the potential of the write word line osg is controlled to turn off the second transistor 252 , so that the electric charge of the rewritten data is stored at the node fn. in the above manner, writing, storing, reading, and rewriting of data can be performed. unlike a flash memory, which operates by extraction of electric charge from a floating gate, the storage element in fig. 2 a 1 does not have to have a floating gate; thus, a reduction in operation speed due to erasing operation can be prevented, and high-speed operation is achieved. further, since the storage element in fig. 2 a 1 does not have a floating gate unlike a flash memory, a problem of the deterioration of a tunneling insulating layer due to injection of electrons into a floating gate does not occur. therefore, there is no limitation on the number of writing operations. furthermore, a high potential needed for writing and erasing in a conventional flash memory is also unnecessary. the storage element in fig. 2 a 1 can also be illustrated as in fig. 2 a 2 . note that r 1 denotes the resistance of the capacitor 254 and corresponds to the resistance of an insulating layer included in the capacitor 254 ; c 1 denotes the capacitance of the capacitor 254 ; r 2 denotes the resistance of the first transistor 250 and corresponds to the resistance of a gate insulating layer at the time when the first transistor 250 is turned on; and c 2 denotes the capacitance of the first transistor 250 and corresponds to the gate capacitance (the capacitance between the gate and the source or between the gate and the drain and the capacitance between the gate and a channel formation region). an electric charge storing period is determined mainly by the off-state current (the current flowing between the source and the drain in an off state) of the second transistor 252 under the conditions where the gate leakage current (the current flowing between the gate and the source or between the gate and the drain) of the second transistor 252 is sufficiently small and r 1 ≧r os and r 2 ≧r os are satisfied, where r os is the resistance (effective resistance) between the source and the drain in a state where the second transistor 252 is off. in the case where r 1 ≧r os and r 2 ≧r os are not satisfied, it is difficult to secure a sufficiently long electric charge storing period even if the off-state current of the second transistor 252 is sufficiently small. this is because leakage current other than the off-state current of the second transistor 252 (e.g., leakage current generated between the source and the gate) is large. for this reason, to secure a sufficiently long electric charge storing period, it is preferable that r 1 ≧r os and r 2 ≧r os be satisfied. meanwhile, it is preferable that c 1 ≧c 2 be satisfied. this is because when c 1 is large, the difference in potential supplied to the read-write word line c (e.g., the difference between the potential at the time when data is read out and the potential at the time when data is not read out) can be small. note that the resistance r 1 and r 2 and the capacitance c 1 and c 2 are determined depending on the gate insulating layer of the first transistor 250 and the insulating layer of the capacitor. in the case of a conventional flash memory, a control gate is at a high potential in operation; thus, it is necessary to keep a proper distance between cells in order to prevent malfunctions of the adjacent cells, which is disadvantageous for high integration. in the case of the storage element in fig. 2 a 1 , such a high potential is unnecessary, which facilitates high integration. further, a booster circuit for generating a high potential is not required. figs. 3a and 3b are each a circuit diagram in which memory cells illustrated in fig. 2a are arranged in a matrix of two rows and two columns. the configurations of the memory cells 110 in figs. 3a and 3b are similar to that in fig. 2 a 1 . note that in fig. 3a , one source line sl is shared by the memory cells in two columns. in fig. 3b , one source line sl is shared by the memory cells in two rows. sharing of one source line sl by the memory cells arranged in a plurality of rows or columns leads to a reduction in number of wirings. note that without limitation to two columns (or two rows), memory cells in three or more columns (or three or more rows) may share one source line sl, although not illustrated. in figs. 3a and 3b , the source line sl is electrically connected to a source line switching circuit 106 . the source line switching circuit 106 is electrically connected to a source line switching signal line slc. in the circuits illustrated in figs. 3a and 3b , writing, storing, and reading of data can be performed in a manner similar to those of the case of figs. 2 a 1 and 2 a 2 . here, the case will be described where data “1” is stored when a power supply potential v dd is supplied to the node fn, whereas data “0” is stored when a ground potential gnd is supplied to the node fn. first, the potential of the write-read word line c_ 1 connected to the memory cells 110 is set to the ground potential gnd and the potential of the write word line osg_ 1 connected to the memory cells 110 is set to v dd , so that the memory cells 110 of a row is selected. accordingly, electric charge is applied to the node fn of the selected memory cell 110 from the bit line bl_ 1 (or bit line bl_ 2 ). here, in the case where the ground potential gnd is supplied to the node fn, a potential at which the first transistor 250 is turned on is supplied to the gate of the first transistor 250 . in that case, the potential of the source line sl is set to the ground potential gnd in order to prevent an increase in potential supplied to the node fn due to current flowing between the bit line bl_ 1 and the source line sl (or between the bit line bl_ 2 and the source line sl). here, the signal path in the source line switching circuit 106 is switched with a signal of the source line switching signal line slc to supply the ground potential gnd to the source line sl. in the case where the potential of the source line sl is set to the ground potential gnd, even when the first transistor 250 is turned on, the current can be prevented from flowing between the bit line bl_ 1 and the source line sl (or between the bit line bl_ 2 and the source line sl). in the case where the plurality of memory cells 110 is arranged in a matrix as in figs. 3a and 3b , it is necessary to read out data only from the desired memory cell 110 in a reading period. in order to read out data only from the desired memory cell 110 and not to read out data from the other memory cells 110 , the memory cells 110 from which data is not read out need to be in a non-selected state. for example, in the case where either the power supply potential v dd or the ground potential gnd is supplied to the node fn, data stored at the time when the power supply potential v dd is supplied to the node fn is data “1”, and data stored at the time when the ground potential gnd is supplied to the node fn is data “0”, by supplying the ground potential gnd to the source line sl, the power supply potential v dd to the write-read word line c_ 1 , and the ground potential gnd to the write word line osg_ 1 , the memory cells 110 of the row can be brought into a non-selected state. when the power supply potential v dd is supplied to the write-read word line c_ 1 , the potential of the node fn is raised by the power supply potential v dd due to capacitive coupling with the capacitor 254 . in the case where the power supply potential v dd corresponding to data “1” is supplied to the node fn, the potential of the node fn is raised by the power supply potential v dd to 2v dd (v dd +v dd =2v dd ) and the gate voltage of the first transistor 250 (the difference between the potentials of the source and the gate) becomes higher than the threshold voltage; accordingly, the first transistor 250 , which is a p-channel transistor, is turned off. in the case where the ground potential gnd corresponding to data “0” is supplied to the node fn, the potential of the node fn is raised by the power supply potential v dd to v dd (gnd+v dd =v dd ) and the gate voltage of the first transistor 250 (the difference between the potentials of the source and the gate) becomes higher than the threshold voltage; accordingly, the first transistor 250 , which is a p-channel transistor, is turned off. briefly, by supplying the power supply potential v dd to the write-read word line c, the first transistor 250 can be turned off, that is, the memory cell 110 can be brought into a non-selected state regardless of the potential of the node fn (stored data). note that if n-channel transistors are used as the first transistors 250 serving as reading transistors, in the case where the gate voltage (the difference in potential between the source and the gate) of the n-channel transistors is higher than the threshold voltage of the transistors, not all the memory cells can be turned off even by applying 0 v to the write-read word line. thus, in order to bring the memory cells in a row into a non-selected state, a negative potential needs to be supplied to the write-read word line in the corresponding non-selected row. in contrast, in the storage device described in this embodiment, p-channel transistors are used as the first transistors 250 serving as reading transistors; thus, the memory cells in a non-selected row can be turned off regardless of the potential of the node fn (stored data) by supplying a high potential to the write-read word line in the non-selected row. accordingly, a power source generating a negative potential does not need to be provided for the memory cells. as a result, power consumption can be reduced and the storage device can be downsized. as described above, in the storage devices having the circuit configurations illustrated in figs. 3a and 3b , the area of the storage portion (memory cell array) can be reduced by sharing of the source line sl by the memory cells in a plurality of columns (or a plurality of rows). accordingly, the die size can be reduced, leading to a reduction in manufacturing cost of the storage device. moreover, yield can be improved. the first switch 102 a and the second switch 102 b are electrically connected to the first storage portion 101 a and the second storage portion 101 b , respectively. the first switch 102 a and the second switch 102 b control whether an input/output signal (a signal from an input-output line sub_io or an inverted input-output line sub_iob) input from the second driver circuit 104 is input to the bit line bl and the inverted bit line blb which are provided in the first storage portion 101 a , the second storage portion 101 b , and the first driver circuit 103 . the number of transistors included in the first switch 102 a is equal to that of the bit lines bl therein. the number of transistors included in the second switch 102 b is equal to that of the inverted bit lines blb therein. fig. 4a illustrates one of switches included in the first switch 102 a . one of a source and a drain of a transistor 121 is electrically connected to the input-output line sub_io from which an input/output signal is input, and the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 121 is electrically connected to the bit line bl. a gate of the transistor 121 is electrically connected to a wiring sel. fig. 4b illustrates one of switches included in the second switch 102 b . one of a source and a drain of a transistor 122 is electrically connected to the inverted input-output line sub_iob from which an input/output signal is input, and the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 122 is electrically connected to the inverted bit line blb. a gate of the transistor 122 is electrically connected to the wiring sel. the wiring sel is electrically connected to the third driver circuit 105 . the third driver circuit 105 controls on/off of the transistors 121 and 122 . next, the configurations and operations of the first driver circuit 103 and the second driver circuit 104 of the storage device of one embodiment of the present invention will be described. the first driver circuit 103 includes a sense amplifier 150 , a first precharge switch 160 , and a second precharge switch 170 ( fig. 5 ). the configuration of the second driver circuit 104 is not particularly limited; a circuit having the same configuration as the first driver circuit 103 or a circuit having another configuration may be used. the sense amplifier 150 includes a transistor 151 , a transistor 152 , a transistor 153 , a transistor 154 , a transistor 155 , and a transistor 156 . the power supply potential v dd is supplied to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 151 , and the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 151 is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 152 and one of a source and a drain of the transistor 153 . the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 152 is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 154 , gates of the transistor 153 and the transistor 155 , and the inverted bit line blb. the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 153 is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 155 , gates of the transistor 152 and the transistor 154 , and the bit line bl. the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 154 and the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 155 are electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 156 . the ground potential gnd is supplied to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 156 . a latch signal line lat is connected to a gate of the transistor 156 , and an inverted latch signal line latb is connected to a gate of the transistor 151 . the first precharge switch 160 includes a transistor 161 and a transistor 162 . a first precharge potential v pre1 is supplied to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 161 , and a second precharge potential v pre2 is supplied to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 162 . the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 161 is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 162 and the bit line bl. note that a signal is input to a gate of the transistor 161 from a first precharge switch signal line pre 1 , and a signal is input to a gate of the transistor 162 from a second precharge switch signal line pre 2 a. the second precharge switch 170 includes a transistor 171 and a transistor 172 . the first precharge potential v pre1 is supplied to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 171 , and the second precharge potential v pre2 is supplied to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 172 . the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 171 is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 172 and the inverted bit line blb. a gate of the transistor 171 is electrically connected to the first precharge switch signal line pre 1 , and a gate of the transistor 172 is electrically connected to a second precharge switch signal line pre 2 b. the first switch 102 a and the second switch 102 b are electrically connected to the second driver circuit 104 having the input-output line, and the second driver circuit 104 inputs signals from the input-output line sub_io and the inverted input-output line sub_iob to the first storage portion 101 a and the second storage portion 101 b. the third driver circuit 105 is electrically connected to the first storage portion 101 a , the second storage portion 101 b , the first switch 102 a , the second switch 102 b , and the first driver circuit 103 , and inputs a variety of signals to these circuits. next, the operation of the storage device of one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to figs. 6 to 11 . fig. 6 is a timing chart of signals supplied to the storage device in reading out the data “1” stored at the node fn. fig. 7 is a timing chart of the signals supplied to the storage device in reading out the data “0” stored at the node fn. fig. 8 is a timing chart of the signals supplied to the storage device in writing the data “1” to the node fn. fig. 9 is a timing chart of the signals supplied to the storage device in writing the data “0” to the node fn. note that figs. 8 and 9 are each a timing chart of the signals supplied to the storage device in the case where the potential of the input-output line, the potential of the bit line bl, and the potential of the inverted bit line blb are different from one another. fig. 10 is a timing chart of the signals supplied to the storage device in the case where the potential of the input-output line and the potential of the bit line bl are equal to each other at the node fn and the data “0” is written. fig. 11 is a timing chart of the signals supplied to the storage device in the case where the potential of the input-output line and the potential of the bit line bl are equal to each other at the node fn and the data “1” is written. in figs. 6 to 11 , the potential of a signal at which the transistor is turned on and which is input to the write-read word line c and the write word line osg is the power supply potential v dd , and the potential of a signal at which the transistor is turned off is the ground potential gnd; however, the potentials of the signals input to the write-read word line c and the write word line osg are not limited to the power supply potential v dd and the ground potential gnd and can be set to any potentials as long as the transistor can be turned on or off. note that in figs. 6 to 11 , the potential of the input-output line sub_io and the potential of the inverted input-output line sub_iob in a standby period are equal to the potential of the bit line bl in the standby period. however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto; the potential of the input-output line sub_io and the potential of the inverted input-output line sub_iob in the standby period may be set to a potential different from the potential of the bit line bl in the standby period. here, the operation of reading out data from the memory cell in the first storage portion 101 a will be described. first, a signal is input (for example, the power supply potential v dd is supplied) from the first precharge switch signal line pre 1 to turn on the transistor 161 included in the first precharge switch 160 , whereby the bit line bl is precharged to the first precharge potential v pre1 (first potential). the first precharge potential v pre1 is set higher than the second precharge potential v pre2 (fifth potential) which is to be supplied to the inverted bit line blb. note that when the transistor 161 is turned on, the transistor 171 is also turned on; thus, the potential of the inverted bit line blb at this time is the first precharge potential v pre1 . in reading out data, first, the input of a signal from the first precharge switch signal line pre 1 is stopped (for example, the ground potential gnd is supplied) to turn off the transistor 161 and the transistor 171 . then, the potential of the desired write-read word line c (fourth potential) is controlled to select the desired memory cell. here, the potential of the desired write-read word line c is changed from the power supply potential v dd to the ground potential gnd. in the above manner, the process proceeds from the standby period to a reading period. here, the potential of the source line sl (second potential) is the ground potential gnd. when the data stored at the node fn of the selected memory cell is “0” ( fig. 7 ), that is, when the potential of the node fn after the ground potential gnd is supplied to the desired write-read word line c (third potential) is the ground potential gnd (a potential at which the first transistor 250 is not turned off), the first transistor 250 , which is a p-channel transistor, is turned on. when the first transistor 250 is turned on, current flows from the bit line bl to the source line sl; thus, the potential of the bit line bl is lowered. here, the potential of the bit line bl is lowered from the first precharge potential v pre1 to the ground potential gnd. when the data stored at the node fn of the selected memory cell is “1” ( fig. 6 ), that is, when the power supply potential v dd (a potential at which the first transistor 250 is turned off) is supplied to the node fn after the ground potential gnd is supplied to the desired write-read word line c, the first transistor 250 is not turned on. thus, current does not flow from the bit line bl to the source line sl, so that the potential of the bit line bl is kept at the first precharge potential v pre1 . in short, when the data stored at the node fn of the selected memory cell is “0”, the potential of the bit line bl is the ground potential gnd, and when the data stored at the node fn of the selected memory cell is “1”, the potential of the bit line bl is the first precharge potential v pre1 . here, a signal is input (for example, the power supply potential v dd is supplied) from the second precharge switch signal line pre 2 b to turn on the transistor 172 included in the second precharge switch 170 , whereby the second precharge potential v pre2 is supplied to the inverted bit line blb. then, a signal is input (for example, the power supply potential v dd is supplied) from the latch signal line lat and the input of a signal from the inverted latch signal line latb is stopped (for example, the ground potential gnd is supplied), whereby the transistor 151 and the transistor 156 are turned on, which makes the potential of the bit line bl become the power supply potential v dd or the ground potential gnd in accordance with the relation between the level of the potential of the bit line bl and that of the inverted bit line blb. since the potential of the inverted bit line blb is the second precharge potential v pre2 , in the case where the potential of the bit line bl is the first precharge potential v pre1 , the potential of the bit line bl is higher than the potential of the inverted bit line blb. in this case, the potential of the bit line bl is raised to the power supply potential v dd (sixth potential). on the other hand, in the case where the potential of the bit line bl is the ground potential gnd, the potential of the bit line bl is lower than the potential of the inverted bit line blb and therefore is lowered to the ground potential gnd. in reading out data from the memory cell in the second storage portion 101 b , a signal is input (for example, the power supply potential v dd is supplied) from the second precharge switch signal line pre 2 a to turn on the transistor 162 included in the first precharge switch 160 , whereby the second precharge potential v pre2 is supplied to the bit line bl. here, when a signal from the wiring sel is input to the gate of the transistor 122 electrically connected to the bit line blb to turn on the transistor 122 , the potential of the bit line blb is supplied to the input-output line, so that data can be read out. the operation of reading out data from the memory cell in the second storage portion 101 b can be performed in the same way as the operation of reading out data from the memory cell in the first storage portion 101 a . that is to say, in the above operation, instead of inputting the signal from the second precharge switch signal line pre 2 b to turn on the transistor 172 , the signal from the second precharge switch signal line pre 2 a is input to turn on the transistor 162 so that the potential of the inverted bit line blb can be read out from the input-output line. specifically, a signal is input (for example, the power supply potential v dd is supplied) from the latch signal line lat and the input of a signal from the inverted latch signal line latb is stopped (for example, the ground potential gnd is supplied), whereby the transistor 151 and the transistor 156 are turned on, which makes the potential of the inverted bit line blb become the power supply potential v dd or the ground potential gnd in accordance with the relation between the level of the potential of the bit line bl and that of the inverted bit line blb. since the second precharge potential v pre2 is supplied to the bit line bl, in the case where the first precharge potential v pre1 is supplied to the inverted bit line blb, the potential of the inverted bit line blb is higher than the potential of the bit line bl. in this case, the potential of the inverted bit line blb is raised to the power supply potential v dd . in the case where the potential of the inverted bit line blb is lowered to the ground potential gnd, the potential of the inverted bit line blb becomes lower than the potential of the bit line bl and is lowered to the ground potential gnd (seventh potential). in the above manner, data can be read out. after reading out data, the potential of the write-read word line c is returned to the power supply potential v dd , whereby a standby and data storing period starts. next, the operation in a data writing period will be described. steps up to and including a step of inputting a signal from the latch signal line lat and the inverted latch signal line latb to turn on the transistor 151 and the transistor 156 are the same as those in a reading period. a signal depending on data is input from the input-output line with the transistor 151 and the transistor 156 turned on. the potential of the signal input from the input-output line is set to the power supply potential v dd or the ground potential gnd in accordance with data to be written. for example, in the case of writing the data “1”, the potential of the signal is set to the power supply potential v dd , and in the case of writing the data “0”, the potential of the signal is set to the ground potential gnd. when the transistor 121 provided between the bit line bl and the input-output line is turned on, in the case where the potential of the bit line bl and the potential of the input-output line are different from each other, a collision between a signal from the bit line bl and a signal from the input-output line occurs. in view of the above, the capacitance of the bit line bl is set to smaller than that of the input-output line, whereby the potential of the input-output line can be made to be equal to that of the bit line bl. then, a signal is input to the write word line osg to turn on the second transistor 252 in the desired memory cell so that the potential of the bit line bl of the desired memory cell is supplied to the node fn. after that, a signal is input to the write word line osg to turn off the second transistor 252 . since the off-state current of the second transistor 252 is small, data can be stored in the memory storing portion. subsequently, the potential of the write-read word line c is returned to the power supply potential v dd , whereby a standby and data storing period starts. in the first switch 102 a , the transistor 121 is turned on by a signal from the wiring sel in the selected column; thus, the bit line bl and the input-output line sub_io in the selected column are connected. in the second switch 102 b , the transistor 122 is off in a column other than the selected column (in a non-selected column); thus, the inverted bit line blb and the inverted input-output line sub_iob in the selected column are not connected. note that the number of columns selected simultaneously may be plural. to select a plurality of columns simultaneously, a plurality of input-output lines sub_io or a plurality of inverted input-output lines sub_iob needs to be provided. the use of the first to third driver circuits 103 to 105 operating in the above-described manner enables manufacture of the storage device which stores data in the memory storing portion without a page buffer by writing back data in the memory storing portion in the non-selected column. although the case where the first transistor 250 is a p-channel transistor is described in this embodiment, the first transistor 250 may be an n-channel transistor. embodiment 2 in this embodiment, the structure of a storage device of one embodiment of the present invention and a manufacturing method thereof will be described. fig. 12a is a top plan view of a storage device that is one embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 12b is a cross-sectional view thereof along a 1 -a 2 and b 1 -b 2 in fig. 12a . the storage device illustrated in figs. 12a and 12b includes the first transistor 250 including a first semiconductor material in a lower portion, and a second transistor 252 including a second semiconductor material in an upper portion. in such a structure, different materials depending on respective electric characteristics needed for the first transistor 250 and the second transistor 252 can be used as the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material. when different materials are used as the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material, for example, the first semiconductor material can be a semiconductor material other than an oxide semiconductor, and the second semiconductor material can be an oxide semiconductor. examples of the semiconductor material other than an oxide semiconductor are silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, and an organic semiconductor material. the storage device in figs. 12a and 12b can be used for a memory cell. when the storage device in figs. 12a and 12b is used for a memory cell, it is preferable that the first transistor 250 be capable of operating at high speed and the amount of the leakage current between the source and the drain of the second transistor 252 (the current flowing between the source and the drain when the second transistor 252 is off) be small. for this reason, the first semiconductor material is preferably a single crystal semiconductor (such as single crystal silicon), and the second semiconductor material is preferably an oxide semiconductor. when the amount of the leakage current between the source and the drain of the second transistor 252 is small, electric charge can be stored at the node fn for a long time; thus, data can be stored in the memory cell for a long time. the first transistor 250 in figs. 12a and 12b includes a channel formation region 214 which is provided in a semiconductor layer over a semiconductor substrate 270 ; third impurity regions 212 between which the channel formation region 214 is provided; a gate insulating layer 202 a which is provided over the channel formation region 214 ; and a gate electrode 208 a which is provided over the gate insulating layer 202 a so as to overlap with the channel formation region 214 . here, the third impurity regions 212 serve as a source region and a drain region. in this specification, the term “source” includes at least one of a source electrode and a source region and may refer to both a source electrode and a source region, and the term “drain” includes at least one of a drain electrode and a drain region and may refer to both a drain electrode and a drain region. a first conductive layer 208 b is connected to a first impurity region 206 in the semiconductor layer over the semiconductor substrate 270 . the first conductive layer 208 b serves as a source electrode or a drain electrode of the first transistor 250 . a second impurity region 210 is provided between the first impurity region 206 and the third impurity region 212 . a first insulating layer 216 , a second insulating layer 218 , and a third insulating layer 220 are provided so as to cover part of the first transistor 250 . the use of the structure where the first transistor 250 does not include a sidewall insulating layer as illustrated in figs. 12a and 12b enables high integration. note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto; the first transistor 250 may include a sidewall insulating layer. when the first transistor 250 includes a sidewall insulating layer, a region with a different impurity element concentration, what is called a lightly doped drain (ldd) region, can be easily formed between the third impurity region 212 and the channel formation region 214 . the second transistor 252 in figs. 12a and 12b includes an oxide semiconductor layer 224 which is provided over the third insulating layer 220 and the like; a source electrode 222 a and a drain electrode 222 b which are electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer 224 ; a gate insulating layer 226 which is provided over the source electrode 222 a , the drain electrode 222 b , and the oxide semiconductor layer 224 ; and a gate electrode 228 a which is provided over the gate insulating layer 226 so as to overlap with the oxide semiconductor layer 224 . note that the reference numerals 222 a and 222 b may denote a drain electrode and a source electrode, respectively. here, the oxide semiconductor layer 224 preferably has a low hydrogen concentration and a sufficiently high oxygen concentration. specifically, the hydrogen concentration (sims measurement value) in the oxide semiconductor layer 224 is 5×10 19 atoms/cm 3 or less, preferably 5×10 18 atoms/cm 3 or less, more preferably 5×10 17 atoms/cm 3 or less. such an oxide semiconductor from which hydrogen is sufficiently reduced and to which enough oxygen is supplied is called a “highly purified oxide semiconductor”. in the highly purified oxide semiconductor, defect levels in an energy gap due to oxygen vacancies are reduced because the hydrogen concentration is sufficiently reduced and enough oxygen is supplied. the carrier concentration in the highly purified oxide semiconductor layer 224 is lower than 1×10 12 /cm 3 , preferably lower than 1×10 11 /cm 3 , more preferably lower than 1.45×10 10 /cm 3 . these values are sufficiently smaller than the carrier density of a general silicon wafer (approximately 1×10 14 /cm 3 ) and thus, the off-state current can be reduced. for example, the off-state current per unit channel width (1 μm) under the conditions where the channel length is 3 μm and the temperature is room temperature (25° c.) is 100 za (zeptoampere) or less, preferably 10 za or less. the use of such an oxide semiconductor for the second transistor 252 leads to a significant reduction in off-state current of the second transistor 252 . note that the oxygen concentration is set so that the oxygen can be supplied sufficiently to reduce defect levels in an energy gap due to oxygen vacancies and thus the carrier concentration falls within the above range. although the oxide semiconductor layer 224 having an island shape by processing is used for the second transistor 252 in figs. 12a and 12b , one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. the oxide semiconductor layer of the second transistor 252 does not necessarily have to have an island shape. when the oxide semiconductor layer has an island shape, the generation of leakage current between adjacent elements can be suppressed. when the oxide semiconductor layer does not have an island shape, a step of processing the oxide semiconductor layer (e.g., an etching step) is not performed; accordingly, the contamination of the oxide semiconductor layer due to the processing can be prevented. the capacitor 254 in figs. 12a and 12b includes the drain electrode 222 b , a second conductive layer 228 b , and the gate insulating layer 226 sandwiched between the drain electrode 222 b and the second conductive layer 228 b . when the capacitor 254 has such a structure, the capacitor 254 can be formed through the same process as the second transistor 252 , and further, enough capacitance can be obtained by adjustment of the plane layout. note that in the case where the storage device of one embodiment of the present invention does not need capacitance, the capacitor 254 does not necessarily have to be provided. in this embodiment, the second transistor 252 and the capacitor 254 at least partly overlap with the first transistor 250 , which enables a reduction in area of the memory cell for high integration. for example, given that the minimum feature size is f, the area occupied by one memory cell can be 15 f 2 to 25 f 2 . a fourth insulating layer 230 is provided over the second transistor 252 and the capacitor 254 . a wiring 232 is provided in an opening formed in the gate insulating layer 226 and the fourth insulating layer 230 . the wiring 232 connects the plurality of memory cells with each other and corresponds to the bit line bl in the circuit diagram of figs. 2 a 1 and 2 b. the wiring 232 is connected to the first impurity region 206 through the source electrode 222 a and the first conductive layer 208 b . thus, the number of wirings can be smaller than that in the case where a source region and a drain region of the first transistor 250 are connected to the source electrode 222 a of the second transistor 252 by different wirings. further, the wiring 232 overlaps with the first impurity region 206 ; thus, an increase in element area due to a contact region can be controlled, leading to higher integration of the storage device. note that figs. 12a and 12b illustrate a specific example of the structure of the storage device; however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this example. next, a description will be given of an example of a method for manufacturing an soi substrate used for the storage device in figs. 12a and 12b . first, the semiconductor substrate 270 is prepared as a base substrate (see fig. 13a ). as the semiconductor substrate 270 , for example, a silicon substrate or a germanium substrate can be used. as the semiconductor substrate 270 , a single crystal semiconductor substrate such as a single crystal silicon substrate or a single crystal germanium substrate is preferably used. note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. as the semiconductor substrate 270 , a polycrystalline semiconductor substrates or a solar grade silicon (sog-si) substrate, or the like may be used. in the case of using a polycrystalline semiconductor substrate or a sog-si substrate, the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared to the case of using a single crystal silicon substrate. note that, instead of the semiconductor substrate 270 , a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a sapphire substrate may be used. examples of the glass substrate are aluminosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, and barium borosilicate glass. as the ceramic substrate, for example, one which contains silicon nitride and aluminum oxide as its main components and has a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of silicon may be used. the semiconductor substrate 270 is preferably washed. examples of a chemical solution which can be used for the washing are a hydrochloric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixture (hpm), a sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixture (spm), an ammonium hydrogen peroxide mixture (apm), diluted hydrofluoric acid (dhf), a mixed solution of hydrofluoric acid, and hydrogen peroxide water, and pure water (fpm). then, a bond substrate is prepared. here, a single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 is used as the bond substrate (see fig. 13b ). note that the crystallinity of the bond substrate is not necessarily limited to single crystal. as the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 , for example, a single crystal semiconductor substrate formed using a group 14 element, such as a single crystal silicon substrate, a single crystal germanium substrate, or a single crystal silicon germanium substrate, can be used. alternatively, a compound semiconductor substrate of gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, or the like may be used. note that the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 may be either a circular substrate or a substrate which has been processed to be rectangular. then, an oxide layer 282 is formed over a surface of the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 (see fig. 13c ). it is preferable that the surface of the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 be washed with any of the above chemical solutions before the formation of the oxide layer 282 . here, a washing method in which diluted hydrogen fluoride and ozone water are discharged alternately is preferably employed because the usage of the chemical solution for the washing can be reduced. the oxide layer 282 can be formed to have a single-layer or layered structure including any of a silicon oxide film, a silicon oxynitride film, and the like. the oxide layer 282 may be formed by, for example, a thermal oxidation method, a cvd method, or a sputtering method. when the oxide layer 282 is formed by a cvd method, a silicon oxide layer is preferably formed using organosilane such as tetraethoxysilane (abbreviation: teos) (chemical formula: si(oc 2 h 5 ) 4 ). here, a method in which thermal oxidation treatment is performed on the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 to form the oxide layer 282 is employed. when heating is performed in an oxidizing gas atmosphere containing a halogen as the thermal oxidation treatment, the oxide layer 282 can contain the halogen. for example, when the oxide layer 282 is made to contain chlorine, a heavy metal (such as fe, cr, ni, or mo) can be trapped and a chloride of the metal can be formed, which can be then easily removed, whereby contamination of the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 can be prevented. note that the halogen contained in the oxide layer 282 may be fluorine. to make the oxide layer 282 contain fluorine, for example, the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 may be soaked in hydrogen fluoride and then subjected to thermal oxidation treatment in an oxidizing gas atmosphere or in an oxidizing gas atmosphere containing nf 3 . next, ions are accelerated by an electric field and the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 is exposed to the ions, whereby an embrittled region 284 where the crystal structure is damaged is formed in the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 at a predetermined depth (see fig. 13d ). the depth at which the embrittled region 284 is formed can be adjusted by the kinetic energy, the mass, electric charge, or the incident angle of the ions, or the like. the embrittled region 284 is formed at approximately the same depth as the average penetration depth of the ions. the thickness of a single crystal semiconductor layer to be separated from the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 can be controlled by the depth at which the embrittled region 284 is formed. the thickness of this single crystal semiconductor layer is preferably greater than or equal to 10 nm and less than or equal to 500 nm, more preferably greater than or equal to 50 nm and less than or equal to 200 nm. the ion exposure can be performed with an ion-doping apparatus or an ion implantation apparatus. here, an example will be described in which the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 is exposed to hydrogen ions using an ion-doping apparatus. a gas containing hydrogen is used as a source gas. as for ions used for the exposure, the proportion of h 3 + is preferably set high. specifically, it is preferable that the proportion of h 3 + be set 50% or higher (more preferably, 80% or higher) with respect to the total amount of h + , h 2 + , and h 3 + . with an increase in proportion of h 3 + , the efficiency of ion exposure can be improved. note that ions to be added are not limited to ions of hydrogen. ions of helium or the like may be added. further, ions to be added are not limited to one kind of ions, and plural kinds of ions may be added. for example, in the case of performing exposure to hydrogen and helium simultaneously using an ion-doping apparatus, the number of steps can be reduced, and further, surface roughness of the single crystal semiconductor layer can be reduced, as compared with the case of performing exposure to hydrogen and helium in different steps. note that a heavy metal of the wall of a chamber may also be added when the embrittled region 284 is formed using an ion-doping apparatus. in view of the above, the oxide layer 282 containing the halogen is formed and the ion exposure is performed through the oxide layer 282 , whereby contamination of the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 can be prevented. then, the semiconductor substrate 270 and the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 are disposed to face each other and firmly attached and bonded to each other with the oxide layer 282 provided therebetween (see fig. 13e ). note that an oxide layer or a nitride layer may be formed over a surface of the semiconductor substrate 270 . when bonding is performed, it is preferable to apply a pressure of 0.001 n/cm 2 or more and 100 n/cm 2 or less, more preferably a pressure of 1 n/cm 2 or more and 20 n/cm 2 or less to one part of the semiconductor substrate 270 or one part of the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 . when the bonding surfaces are made close to each other and firmly attached to each other by applying pressure, bonding between the semiconductor substrate 270 and the oxide layer 282 is generated at the part where they are firmly attached, and the bonding spontaneously spreads to substantially the entire area. this bonding is performed under the action of the van der waals force or hydrogen bonding and can be performed at room temperature (approximately 5° c. to 35° c.) without heating. note that before the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 and the semiconductor substrate 270 are bonded to each other, surfaces to be bonded to each other may be subjected to surface treatment by wet treatment, dry treatment, or a combination of wet treatment and dry treatment. note that heat treatment may be performed after the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 and the semiconductor substrate 270 are bonded to each other. this heat treatment is performed at a temperature at which separation along the embrittled region 284 does not occur (for example, a temperature higher than or equal to room temperature (approximately 5° c. to 35° c.) and lower than 400° c.). alternatively, the semiconductor substrate 270 and the oxide layer 282 may be bonded to each other while heating them at a temperature in this range. there is no particular limitation on an apparatus used for the heat treatment. next, heat treatment is performed so that separation of the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 is caused along the embrittlement region 284 (see fig. 13e ), whereby a single crystal semiconductor layer 286 is formed over the semiconductor substrate 270 with the oxide layer 282 provided therebetween ( fig. 13f ). note that, here, the temperature for the heat treatment is, for example, higher than or equal to 300° c. and lower than or equal to 600° c., preferably higher than or equal to 400° c. and lower than or equal to 500° c. because surface roughness can be prevented. note that in the case of performing heat treatment at a temperature of 500° c. or higher after the separation of the single crystal semiconductor substrate 280 , the concentration of hydrogen remaining in the single crystal semiconductor layer 286 can be reduced. next, a surface of the single crystal semiconductor layer 286 is irradiated with laser light, whereby a single crystal semiconductor layer 288 whose surface evenness is improved and whose defects are reduced is formed (see fig. 13g ). note that instead of the laser light irradiation treatment, heat treatment may be performed. the laser light irradiation treatment may be performed after etching treatment for removing a region including many defects at the surface of the single crystal semiconductor layer 286 is performed. alternatively, after the laser light irradiation, processing (e.g., etching treatment) may be performed so that the thickness of the single crystal semiconductor layer 286 is reduced. as described above, an soi substrate used for the storage device in figs. 12a and 12b can be obtained (see fig. 13g ). next, a method for manufacturing the storage device in figs. 12a and 12b will be described. first, a manufacturing method of the first transistor 250 will be described. note that figs. 14a to 14e and figs. 15a to 15d are cross-sectional views illustrating part of the soi substrate in fig. 12b . first, the single crystal semiconductor layer 288 is processed to have an island shape, so that a semiconductor layer 200 is formed (see fig. 14a ). note that before or after this step, an impurity element imparting a conductivity type may be added to the semiconductor layer 200 in order to control the threshold voltage of the transistor. in the case where silicon is used as the semiconductor layer 200 , phosphorus, arsenic, or the like can be used as an impurity element imparting n-type conductivity. on the other hand, boron, aluminum, gallium, or the like can be used as an impurity element imparting p-type conductivity. next, a first insulating layer 202 is formed so as to cover the semiconductor layer 200 (see fig. 14b ). the first insulating layer 202 is to be a gate insulating layer later. the first insulating layer 202 can be formed, for example, by performing heat treatment (thermal oxidation treatment, thermal nitridation treatment, or the like) on a surface of the semiconductor layer 200 . instead of heat treatment, high-density plasma treatment may be performed. the high-density plasma treatment can be performed using, for example, a mixed gas of a rare gas such as he, ar, kr, or xe and any of oxygen, nitrogen oxide, ammonia, nitrogen, and hydrogen. alternatively, the insulating layer can be formed by a cvd method, a sputtering method, or the like. the first insulating layer 202 preferably has a single-layer or layered structure including any of silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, hafnium oxide, aluminum oxide, tantalum oxide, yttrium oxide, hafnium silicate (hfsi x o y (x>0, y>0)), hafnium silicate (hfsi x o y (x>0, y>0)) which contains nitrogen, hafnium aluminate (hfal x o y (x>0, y>0)) which contains nitrogen, and the like. the thickness of the first insulating layer 202 may be, for example, greater than or equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 100 nm, preferably greater than or equal to 10 nm and less than or equal to 50 nm. here, a single-layer insulating layer containing silicon oxide is formed by a plasma cvd method. next, a mask 204 is formed over the first insulating layer 202 and an impurity element imparting a conductivity type is added to the semiconductor layer 200 , so that the first impurity region 206 is formed (see fig. 14c ). after that, the mask 204 is removed. next, a mask is formed over the first insulating layer 202 and a portion of the first insulating layer 202 which overlaps with the first impurity region 206 is partly removed, so that the gate insulating layer 202 a is formed (see fig. 14d ). the portion of the first insulating layer 202 can be removed by etching. next, a conductive layer is formed over the gate insulating layer 202 a and is processed using a mask, so that the gate electrode 208 a and the first conductive layer 208 b are formed (see fig. 14e ). here, there is no particular limitation on a material and a formation method of the conductive layer. examples of a material of the conductive layer are metal materials such as aluminum, copper, titanium, tantalum, and tungsten, and polycrystalline silicon to which an impurity element imparting a conductivity type is added. examples of a formation method of the conductive layer are an evaporation method, a cvd method, a sputtering method, and a spin coating method. note that the conductive layer may be a single layer or a stack of a plurality of layers. next, an impurity element imparting one conductivity type is added to the semiconductor layer with the use of the gate electrode 208 a and the first conductive layer 208 b as masks, so that the channel formation region 214 , the second impurity region 210 , and the third impurity region 212 are formed (see fig. 15a ). here, an impurity element such as boron or aluminum may be added in order to form a p-channel transistor. after the impurity element is added to the semiconductor layer, heat treatment for activation is performed. the descending order of concentration of the added impurity element among the impurity regions is as follows: the second impurity region 210 , the third impurity region 212 , and the first impurity region 206 . next, the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 are formed so as to cover the gate insulating layer 202 a , the gate electrode 208 a , and the first conductive layer 208 b (see fig. 15b ). the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 can be formed using an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride, or aluminum oxide. alternatively, the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 can be formed using an organic insulating material such as polyimide or acrylic. note that the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 are preferably formed using a low dielectric constant (low-k) material because parasitic capacitance between a plurality of electrodes or wirings can be sufficiently reduced. note that the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 may be porous insulating layers formed using any of the above materials. since the porous insulating layer has a low dielectric constant, parasitic capacitance between a plurality of electrodes or wirings can be further reduced. here, the case of using silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, and silicon oxide to form the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 , respectively, will be described. note that the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 may each have either a single-layer structure or a layered structure including a plurality of layers. alternatively, a single insulating layer may be formed as the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 . next, the second insulating layer 218 and the third insulating layer 220 are subjected to cmp treatment or etching treatment (see fig. 15c ). here, cmp treatment is performed until the second insulating layer 218 is partly exposed. when silicon nitride oxide is used for the second insulating layer 218 and silicon oxide is used for the third insulating layer 220 , the second insulating layer 218 functions as an etching stopper. next, the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 are subjected to cmp treatment or etching treatment, so that the upper surfaces of the gate electrode 208 a and the first conductive layer 208 b are exposed (see fig. 15d ). here, etching is performed until the gate electrode 208 a and the first conductive layer 208 b are partly exposed. for the etching treatment, dry etching is preferably performed, but wet etching may be performed. in exposing the upper surfaces of the gate electrode 208 a and the first conductive layer 208 b , surfaces of the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 are preferably planarized as much as possible because the second transistor 252 is to be formed thereover. in the above-described manner, the first transistor 250 can be formed (see fig. 15d ). although not illustrated, it is also possible to employ a multilayer wiring structure. alternatively, a multilayer structure may be employed in which a plurality of transistors formed using the first semiconductor material and/or a plurality of transistors formed using the second semiconductor material are stacked. next, a manufacturing method of the second transistor 252 will be described. first, an oxide semiconductor layer is formed over the gate electrode 208 a , the first conductive layer 208 b , the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , the third insulating layer 220 , and the like and is processed, so that the oxide semiconductor layer 224 is formed (see fig. 16a ). note that an insulating layer functioning as a base may be formed over the first insulating layer 216 , the second insulating layer 218 , and the third insulating layer 220 before the oxide semiconductor layer is formed. although a material and a formation method of the insulating layer are not particularly limited, the insulating layer can be formed, for example, by a sputtering method, a cvd method, or the like using silicon oxide, silicon oxinitride, or the like. note that, as described below, the insulating layer functioning as a base preferably contains oxygen in a proportion higher than that in the stoichiometric composition. as a material of the oxide semiconductor layer 224 , for example, the following can be used: indium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, a two-component metal oxide such as an in—zn-based oxide, a sn—zn-based oxide, an al—zn-based oxide, a zn—mg-based oxide, a sn—mg-based oxide, an in—mg-based oxide, or an in—ga-based oxide, a three-component metal oxide such as an in—ga—zn-based oxide (also referred to as igzo), an in—al—zn-based oxide, an in—sn—zn-based oxide, a sn—ga—zn-based oxide, an al—ga—zn-based oxide, a sn—al—zn-based oxide, an in—hf—zn-based oxide, an in—la—zn-based oxide, an in—ce—zn-based oxide, an in—pr—zn-based oxide, an in—nd—zn-based oxide, an in—sm—zn-based oxide, an in—eu—zn-based oxide, an in—gd—zn-based oxide, an in—tb—zn-based oxide, an in—dy—zn-based oxide, an in—ho—zn-based oxide, an in—er—zn-based oxide, an in—tm—zn-based oxide, an in—yb—zn-based oxide, or an in—lu—zn-based oxide, or a four-component metal oxide such as an in—sn—ga—zn-based oxide, an in—hf—ga—zn-based oxide, an in—al—ga—zn-based oxide, an in—sn—al—zn-based oxide, an in—sn—hf—zn-based oxide, or an in—hf—al—zn-based oxide. note that here, for example, an “in—ga—zn-based oxide” means an oxide containing in, ga, and zn and there is no particular limitation on the ratio of in, ga, and zn. the in—ga—z-based oxide may contain another metal element in addition to in, ga, and zn. the oxide semiconductor layer is preferably formed by a method in which hydrogen, water, a hydroxyl group, hydride, and the like do not enter the oxide semiconductor layer. for example, a sputtering method can be employed. for example, an in—ga—zn-based oxide with an atomic ratio of in:ga:zn=1:1:1 (=1/3:1/3:1/3) or in:ga:zn=2:2:1 (=2/5:2/5:1/5), or any of oxides whose composition is in the neighborhood of the above compositions can be used. alternatively, an in—sn—zn-based oxide with an atomic ratio of in:sn:zn=1:1:1 (=1/3:1/3:1/3), in:sn:zn=2:1:3 (=1/3:1/6:1/2), or in:sn:zn=2:1:5 (=1/4:1/8:5/8), or any of oxides whose composition is in the neighborhood of the above compositions can be used. note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. the sputtering method may be performed in a rare gas atmosphere, an oxygen atmosphere, or a mixed gas atmosphere of a rare gas and oxygen. moreover, it is preferable to use a high-purity gas from which hydrogen, water, a hydroxyl group, a hydride, and the like are sufficiently removed so that the entry of hydrogen, water, a hydroxyl group, a hydride, and the like into the oxide semiconductor layer can be prevented. the thickness of the oxide semiconductor layer 224 is preferably greater than or equal to 3 nm and less than or equal to 30 nm. this is because the transistor might be normally on when the oxide semiconductor layer 224 is too thick (e.g., the thickness is 50 nm or more). a specific example of a formation method of the oxide semiconductor layer will be described. first, a substrate is put in a process chamber, and heating is performed so that the substrate temperature becomes higher than 200° c. and lower than or equal to 500° c., preferably higher than 300° c. and lower than or equal to 500° c., more preferably higher than or equal to 350° c. and lower than or equal to 450° c. note that before the oxide semiconductor layer is formed by a sputtering method, powdery substances or the like attached on a surface on which the oxide semiconductor layer is to be formed are preferably removed by reverse sputtering in which an argon gas is introduced into the process chamber and plasma is generated. note that instead of an argon gas, a nitrogen gas, a helium gas, an oxygen gas, or the like may be used. before or after the processing of the oxide semiconductor layer (as first heat treatment), or after the formation of the gate insulating layer 226 , the oxide semiconductor layer is preferably subjected to heat treatment. the heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere at higher than or equal to 250° c. and lower than or equal to 700° c., preferably higher than or equal to 450° c. and lower than or equal to 600° c. the substrate temperature is set lower than the strain point of the substrate. the heat treatment may be performed either once or a plurality of times. the heat treatment is performed in order to dehydrate and dehydrogenate the oxide semiconductor layer; through the heat treatment, the crystal structure of the oxide semiconductor layer 224 can be ordered and defect levels in an energy gap can be reduced. here, the crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor layer 224 will be described. the oxide semiconductor layer 224 may be single-crystalline, polycrystalline, or amorphous. the oxide semiconductor layer 224 is preferably a c-axis aligned crystalline oxide semiconductor (caac-os) layer. the caac-os layer is not completely single-crystalline nor completely amorphous. the caac-os layer is an oxide semiconductor film with a crystal-amorphous mixed phase structure where crystal parts and amorphous parts are included in an amorphous phase. note that in most cases, the crystal part fits inside a cube whose one side is less than 100 nm. from an observation image obtained with a transmission electron microscope (tem), a boundary between an amorphous part and the crystal part in the caac-os layer is not clear. further, with the tem, a grain boundary in the caac-os layer is not found, which suggests that in the caac-os layer, a reduction in electron mobility due to the grain boundary is suppressed, which is preferable. in the crystal parts included in the caac-os layer, c-axes are aligned in the direction parallel (including a range from −5° to 5°) to a normal vector of a surface where the caac-os layer is formed or a normal vector of a surface of the caac-os layer, triangular or hexagonal atomic arrangement which is seen from the direction perpendicular (including a range from 85° to 95°) to the a-b plane is formed, and metal atoms are arranged in a layered manner or metal atoms and oxygen atoms are arranged in a layered manner when seen from the direction perpendicular (including a range from 85° to 95°) to the c-axis. note that, among the crystal parts, the directions of the a-axis and the b-axis of one crystal part may be different from those of another crystal part. in the caac-os layer, the distribution of the crystal parts does not necessarily have to be uniform. for example, in the formation process of the caac-os layer, in the case where crystal growth occurs from the surface side of the oxide semiconductor film, the proportion of the crystal parts in the vicinity of the surface of the oxide semiconductor film is higher than that in the vicinity of the surface where the oxide semiconductor film is formed in some cases. further, when an impurity is added to the caac-os layer, the crystal part in a region to which the impurity is added becomes amorphous in some cases. since the c-axes of the crystal parts included in the caac-os layer are aligned in the direction parallel (including a range from −5° to 5°) to a normal vector of a surface where the caac-os layer is formed or a normal vector of a surface of the caac-os layer, the directions of the c-axes may be different from each other depending on the shape of the caac-os layer (the cross-sectional shape of the surface where the caac-os layer is formed or the cross-sectional shape of the surface of the caac-os layer). note that the direction of the c-axis of the crystal portion is the direction parallel (including a range from −5° to 5°) to a normal vector of the surface where the caac-os layer is formed or a normal vector of the surface of the caac-os layer. the crystal part is formed by formation of the caac-os layer or by performing treatment for crystallization such as heat treatment after the formation. the use of the caac-os layer in a transistor leads to a reduction in change in electric characteristics of the transistor due to irradiation with visible light or ultraviolet light. thus, the use of the caac-os layer leads to high reliability of the transistor. the caac-os layer is formed, for example, by a sputtering method using a polycrystalline oxide semiconductor sputtering target. when ions collide with the sputtering target, a crystal region included in the sputtering target may be separated from the target along an a-b plane, and sputtered particles having planes parallel to an a-b plane (flat-plate-like sputtered particles or pellet-like sputtered particles) may flake off from the sputtering target. in this case, the flat-plate-like sputtered particles reach a substrate while maintaining their crystal states, whereby the caac-os layer can be formed. for the formation of the caac-os layer, the following conditions are preferably used. reduction in amount of impurities entering the caac-os layer during the deposition can prevent the crystal state from being broken by the impurities. for example, the concentration of impurities (e.g., hydrogen, water, carbon dioxide, or nitrogen) existing in a deposition chamber is preferably reduced. furthermore, the concentration of impurities in a deposition gas is preferably reduced. specifically, a deposition gas whose dew point is −80° c. or lower, preferably −100° c. or lower is used. when the substrate heating temperature during the deposition is increased, migration of sputtered particles occurs after the sputtered particles reach the substrate. specifically, the substrate heating temperature during the deposition is higher than or equal to 100° c. and lower than or equal to 740° c., preferably higher than or equal to 200° c. and lower than or equal to 500° c. when the substrate heating temperature during the deposition is increased and the flat-plate-like sputtered particles reach the substrate, migration occurs over the substrate, and flat surfaces of the sputtered particles are attached to the substrate. furthermore, it is preferable that the proportion of oxygen in the deposition gas be increased and the power be optimized in order to reduce plasma damage at the deposition. the proportion of oxygen in the deposition gas is 30 vol % or higher, preferably 100 vol %. as an example of the sputtering target, an in—ga—zn-based oxide target will be described below. the in—ga—zn-based oxide target, which is polycrystalline, is made by mixing ino z powder, gao y powder, and zno z powder in a predetermined molar ratio, applying pressure, and performing heat treatment at a temperature higher than or equal to 1000° c. and lower than or equal to 1500° c. note that x, y, and z are each a given positive number. here, the predetermined molar ratio of ino x powder to gaoy powder and zno z powder is, for example, 2:2:1, 8:4:3, 3:1:1, 1:1:1, 4:2:3, or 3:1:2. the kinds of powder and the molar ratio for mixing powder may be determined as appropriate depending on the desired sputtering target. directly after being formed, the oxide semiconductor layer is preferably supersaturated so that the proportion of oxygen is higher than that in the stoichiometric composition. for example, in the case where the oxide semiconductor layer is formed by a sputtering method, the deposition is preferably performed under the condition where the proportion of oxygen in a deposition gas is large, particularly in an oxygen atmosphere (oxygen gas: 100%). when the deposition is performed under the condition where the proportion of oxygen in a deposition gas is large, particularly in a 100% oxygen gas atmosphere, a release of zn from the film can be controlled even at a deposition temperature higher than or equal to 300° c., for example. next, a conductive layer is formed over the oxide semiconductor layer 224 and the like and is processed, so that the source electrode 222 a and the drain electrode 222 b are formed (see fig. 16b ). here, there is no particular limitation on a material and a formation method of the conductive layer. examples of a material of the conductive layer are metal materials such as aluminum, copper, titanium, tantalum, and tungsten, and polycrystalline silicon to which an impurity element imparting a conductivity type is added. examples of a formation method of the conductive layer are an evaporation method, a cvd method, a sputtering method, and a spin coating method. note that the conductive layer may be a single layer or a stack of a plurality of layers. note that the conductive layer is preferably processed so that end portions of the source electrode 222 a and the drain electrode 222 b are tapered. the channel length of the second transistor 252 depends on the distance between lower edges of the source electrode 222 a and the drain electrode 222 b . in the case where the second transistor 252 with a short channel length of, for example, less than 25 nm is formed, it is preferable to use extreme ultraviolet light whose wavelength is short in light exposure for formation of a mask used for processing. the short channel length facilitates miniaturization of an element; thus, the area occupied by the element can be reduced. note that although not illustrated, an oxide conductive layer may be provided between the oxide semiconductor layer 224 and the source and drain electrodes 222 a and 222 b . the oxide conductive layer functions as a source region and a drain region. a material of the oxide conductive layer preferably contains zinc oxide as a main component and preferably does not contain indium oxide as a main component. examples of a material of the oxide conductive layer are zinc oxide, zinc aluminum oxide, zinc aluminum oxynitride, and zinc gallium oxide. note that a “main component” refers to an element contained in a composition at 5 atomic % or more. the oxide conductive layer can be formed by processing an oxide conductive layer stacked over the oxide semiconductor layer or by processing a conductive layer stacked over the conductive layer that is to be the source electrode and the drain electrode. when the oxide conductive layer is provided between the oxide semiconductor layer and the source and drain electrodes, the resistance between the source electrode and the drain electrode can be reduced, leading to high-speed operation of the second transistor 252 . further, the withstand voltage of the second transistor 252 can be increased. furthermore, the frequency characteristics of a peripheral circuit such as a driver circuit can be improved. next, the gate insulating layer 226 is formed in contact with part of the oxide semiconductor layer 224 so as to cover the source electrode 222 a and the drain electrode 222 b (see fig. 16c ). the gate insulating layer 226 is preferably formed to have a single-layer or layered structure including any of silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, hafnium oxide, aluminum oxide, tantalum oxide, yttrium oxide, hafnium silicate (hfsi x o y (x>0, y>0)), hafnium silicate (hfsi x o y (x>0, y>0)) which contains nitrogen, hafnium aluminate (hfal x o y (x>0, y>0)) which contains nitrogen, and the like. the gate insulating layer 226 can also be formed using gallium oxide. in the case where the gate insulating layer 226 is formed using silicon oxide, the thickness of the gate insulating layer 226 is preferably greater than or equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 100 nm, more preferably greater than or equal to 10 nm and less than or equal to 50 nm. a cvd method, a sputtering method, or the like may be employed for formation of the gate insulating layer 226 . however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. although the gate insulating layer 226 is preferably thin (within the above range), a reduction in thickness of the gate insulating layer 226 causes a problem of gate leakage due to a tunnel effect or the like. thus, a high dielectric constant (high-k) material is preferably used as a material of the gate insulating layer 226 . examples of the high dielectric constant material are hafnium oxide, tantalum oxide, yttrium oxide, hafnium silicate (hfsi x o y (x>0, y>0)), hafnium silicate to which nitrogen is added (hfsi x o y (x>0, y>0)), hafnium aluminate (hfal x o y (x>0, y>0)), and hafnium aluminate to which nitrogen is added (hfal x o y (x>0, y>0)). note that the gate insulating layer 226 may have a layered structure of a layer containing a high-k material and a layer containing any of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, aluminum oxide, and the like. the gate insulating layer 226 can be formed using an insulating material containing a group 13 element. the use of an insulating material containing a group 13 element for the gate insulating layer 226 makes it possible to suppress generation of interface levels between the oxide semiconductor layer 224 and the gate insulating layer 226 and achieve favorable characteristics of the interface. further, it is preferable that the gate insulating layer 226 contain oxygen in a proportion higher than that in the stoichiometric composition not only at a surface of the gate insulating layer 226 but also inside the gate insulating layer 226 . introduction of oxygen can be performed by heat treatment in an oxygen atmosphere or by oxygen doping. the oxygen doping may be performed by an ion implantation method or an ion doping method. such an insulating layer which contains oxygen in a proportion higher than that in the stoichiometric composition is also preferably used as an insulating layer formed as a base of the oxide semiconductor layer 224 . in the case where the gate insulating layer 226 contains oxygen in a proportion higher than that in the stoichiometric composition, it is particularly preferable to perform heat treatment after the formation of the gate insulating layer 226 . the temperature for second heat treatment is higher than or equal to 200° c. and lower than or equal to 450° c., preferably higher than or equal to 250° c. and lower than or equal to 350° c. when the heat treatment is performed at a temperature in the above range, oxygen contained in the gate insulating layer 226 can be sufficiently supplied to the oxide semiconductor layer, so that defect levels in an energy gap due to oxygen vacancies can be reduced. next, a conductive layer for forming the gate electrode is formed and is processed, so that the gate electrode 228 a and the second conductive layer 228 b are formed (see fig. 16d ). here, there is no particular limitation on a material and a formation method of the conductive layer. examples of a material of the conductive layer are metal materials such as aluminum, copper, titanium, tantalum, and tungsten, and polycrystalline silicon to which an impurity element imparting a conductivity type is added. examples of a formation method of the conductive layer are an evaporation method, a cvd method, a sputtering method, and a spin coating method. note that the conductive layer may be a single layer or a stack of a plurality of layers. then, the fourth insulating layer 230 is formed over the gate insulating layer 226 , the gate electrode 228 a , and the second conductive layer 228 b (see fig. 17a ). examples of a material of the fourth insulating layer 230 are silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, hafnium oxide, gallium oxide, and aluminum oxide. note that for the fourth insulating layer 230 , a material with a low dielectric constant or a porous structure with a low dielectric constant is preferably used. this is because when the dielectric constant of the fourth insulating layer 230 is low, parasitic capacitance between a plurality of wirings or electrodes can be reduced, leading to higher speed operation. note that although the fourth insulating layer 230 has a single-layer structure in this embodiment, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this; the fourth insulating layer 230 may be a stack of a plurality of layers. the fourth insulating layer 230 can be formed by a pvd method, a cvd method, or the like. after that, an opening which reaches the source electrode 222 a is formed in the gate insulating layer 226 and the fourth insulating layer 230 by etching or the like, and the wiring 232 is formed over the fourth insulating layer 230 so as to be connected to the source electrode 222 a (see fig. 17b ). examples of a material of the wiring 232 are metal materials such as aluminum, copper, titanium, tantalum, and tungsten, and polycrystalline silicon to which an impurity element imparting a conductivity type is added. examples of a formation method of the wiring 232 are an evaporation method, a cvd method, a sputtering method, and a spin coating method. note that the conductive layer may be a single layer or a stack of a plurality of layers. the wiring 232 is preferably formed in such a manner that a titanium layer is formed to a thickness of approximately 5 nm in a portion of the fourth insulating layer 230 in which the opening is formed by a pvd method, and then, an aluminum layer is formed so as to be embedded in the opening. the titanium layer allows reduction of a natural oxide film having a surface over which the titanium layer is formed, or the like, a decrease in contact resistance between the source electrode 222 a and the wiring 232 , and prevention of hillocks of the aluminum layer. the opening in the fourth insulating layer 230 is preferably formed in a portion overlapping with the first conductive layer 208 b . this is because an increase in element area due to a contact region can be controlled, leading to higher integration of the storage device. then, a fifth insulating layer 234 is formed so as to cover the wiring 232 , so that the second transistor 252 and the capacitor 254 can be formed (see fig. 17c ). in the above-described manner, the storage device illustrated in figs. 12a and 12b can be manufactured. embodiment 3 next, electronic devices of embodiments of the present invention will be described. the storage devices described in embodiment 1 or 2 are mounted on the electronic devices of embodiments of the present invention. as the electronic devices of embodiments of the present invention, the following can be given, for example: a computer, a mobile phone handset (also referred to as a mobile phone or a mobile phone device), a portable information terminal (including a portable game console, an audio player, and the like), cameras such as a digital camera and a digital video camera, an electronic paper, and a television device (also referred to as a television or a television receiver). the storage devices described in embodiment 1 or 2 can be provided for storage portions of the above electronic devices, for example. fig. 18a illustrates a laptop personal computer which includes a housing 301 , a housing 302 , a display portion 303 , a keyboard 304 , and the like. the storage devices described in embodiments 1 or 2 is provided in the housings 301 and 302 . fig. 18b illustrates a portable information terminal (pda) which includes a display portion 313 , an external interface 315 , an operation button 314 , and the like in a main body 311 . further, a stylus 312 for operating the portable information terminal, or the like is provided. the storage device described in embodiment 1 or 2 is provided in the main body 311 . fig. 18c illustrates an e-book reader 320 including electronic paper. the e-book reader 320 includes two housings of a housing 321 and a housing 323 . the housing 321 and the housing 323 include a display portion 325 and a display portion 327 , respectively. the housing 321 is combined with the housing 323 by a hinge 337 , so that the e-book reader 320 can be opened and closed using the hinge 337 as an axis. the housing 321 is provided with a power switch 331 , operation keys 333 , a speaker 335 , and the like. at least one of the housing 321 and the housing 323 is provided with the storage device described in embodiment 1 or 2. fig. 18d illustrates a mobile phone which includes two housings of a housing 340 and a housing 341 . moreover, the housings 340 and 341 unfolded as illustrated in fig. 18d can be slid so that one overlaps with the other; therefore, the size of the mobile phone can be reduced, which makes the mobile phone suitable for being carried. the housing 341 includes a display panel 342 , a speaker 343 , a microphone 344 , a pointing device 346 , a camera lens 347 , an external connection terminal 348 , and the like. the housing 340 is provided with a solar cell 349 for charging the mobile phone, an external memory slot 350 , and the like. in addition, an antenna is incorporated in the housing 341 . at least one of the housing 340 and the housing 341 is provided with the storage device described in embodiment 1 or 2. fig. 18e illustrates a digital camera which includes a main body 361 , a display portion 367 , an eyepiece 363 , an operation switch 364 , a display portion 365 , a battery 366 , and the like. the storage device described in embodiment 1 or 2 is provided in the main body 361 . fig. 18f is a television set 370 which includes a housing 371 , a display portion 373 , a stand 375 , and the like. the television set 370 can be operated by a switch included in the housing 371 or by a remote controller 380 . in the housing 371 or the remote controller 380 , the storage device described in embodiment 1 or 2 is provided. this application is based on japanese patent application serial no. 2011-264742 filed with the japan patent office on dec. 2, 2011, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
|
116-176-785-702-913
|
US
|
[
"CN",
"EP",
"MX",
"AU",
"US",
"WO",
"JP",
"CA",
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D01D5/08,D01D5/02,D01D5/04,D01D5/06,D01D5/084,D01D5/10,D01D5/11,D01D5/24,D01D5/247,D01D5/28,D01D5/38,D01D5/00,D04H1/728
| 2019-02-14T00:00:00 |
2019
|
[
"D01",
"D04"
] |
an alternating field electrode system and method for fiber generation
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an electrode system for use in an ac-electrospinning process comprises an electrical charging component electrode and at least one of an ac field attenuating component and a precursor liquid attenuating component. the electrical charging component electrode is electrically coupled to an ac source that places a predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode. in cases in which the electrode system includes the ac field attenuating component, it attenuates the ac field generated by the electrical charging component electrode to better shape and control the direction of the fibrous flow. in cases in which the electrode system includes the precursor liquid attenuating component, it serves to increase fiber generation, even if the top surface of the liquid precursor is not ideally shaped or is below a rim or lip of the reservoir that contains the liquid on the electrical charging component electrode.
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1 . an electrode system for use in an alternating current (ac)-electrospinning system, the electrode system comprising: an electrical charging component electrode, the electrical charging component electrode being electrically coupled to an ac source that delivers an ac signal to the electrical charging component electrode to place a predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode; and at least one of an ac field attenuating component and a precursor liquid attenuating component. 2 . the electrode system of claim 1 , wherein the electrode system comprises the ac field attenuating component, but not the precursor liquid attenuating component, and wherein the predetermined ac voltage is also placed on the ac field attenuating component, and wherein the ac field attenuating component attenuates an ac field created by the placement of the predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode. 3 . the electrode system of claim 2 , wherein the electrical charging component electrode is doughnut-shaped or disk-shaped. 4 . (canceled) 5 . the electrode system of claim 2 , wherein the electrical charging component electrode has a top surface and a rim or lip that together define a reservoir for holding precursor liquid such that the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode serves as a bottom of the reservoir. 6 . the electrode system of claim 2 , wherein the ac field attenuating component is a ring. 7 . the electrode system of claim 6 , wherein the ring is round in shape or rectangular in shape. 8 . (canceled) 9 . the electrode system of claim 6 , wherein the ac field attenuating component is adjustable in at least one of position, orientation and tilt relative to the electrical charging component electrode. 10 . the electrode system of claim 1 , wherein the electrode system comprises the precursor liquid attenuating component, but not the ac field attenuating component, wherein the electrical charging component electrode has a top surface and a rim or lip that together define a reservoir for holding precursor liquid such that the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode serves as a bottom of the reservoir, and wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component facilitates fiber generation even in case where a level of the precursor liquid on the electrical charging component electrode is below the lip or rim of the electrical charging component electrode. 11 . the electrode system of claim 10 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is cylindrically shaped, disk shaped, or spherically shaped. 12 . (canceled) 13 . (canceled) 14 . the electrode system of claim 10 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is made of a non-electrically-conductive material having a relatively low dielectric constant. 15 . the electrode system of claim 10 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component comes into contact with the precursor liquid and with the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode. 16 . the electrode system of claim 10 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component comes into contact with the precursor liquid and is in contact with or spaced apart from the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode. 17 . the electrode system of claim 16 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is rotated as it contacts the precursor liquid. 18 . the electrode system of claim 16 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is adjustable in position relative to the electrical charging component electrode. 19 . the electrode system of claim 1 , wherein the electrode system comprises the precursor liquid attenuating component and the ac field attenuating component, the predetermined ac voltage also being placed on the ac field attenuating component, wherein the electrical charging component electrode has a top surface and a rim or lip that together define a reservoir for holding precursor liquid such that the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode serves as a bottom of the reservoir, and wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component facilitates fiber generation even in case where a level of precursor liquid on the electrical charging component electrode is below the lip or rim of the electrical charging component electrode. 20 . the electrode system of claim 19 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is cylindrically shaped, disk shaped, or spherically shaped. 21 . (canceled) 22 . (canceled) 23 . the electrode system of claim 19 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is made of a non-electrically-conductive material having a relatively low dielectric constant. 24 . the electrode system of claim 19 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component comes into contact with the precursor liquid and with the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode. 25 . the electrode system of claim 19 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component comes into contact with the precursor liquid and is in contact with or spaced apart from the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode. 26 . the electrode system of claim 25 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is rotated as it contacts the precursor liquid. 27 . the electrode system of claim 25 , wherein the precursor liquid attenuating component is adjustable in position relative to the electrical charging component electrode. 28 . the electrode system of claim 19 , wherein two or more of the electrical charging component electrode, the precursor liquid attenuating component and the ac field attenuating component comprise magnets to facilitate quick and easy assembly and reconfiguration of the electrode system. 29 . a method for performing alternating current (ac)-electrospinning, the method comprising: disposing a precursor liquid in a reservoir of an electrode system comprising an electrical charging component electrode and at least one of an ac field attenuating component and a precursor liquid attenuating component; and delivering an ac signal to the electrical charging component electrode from an ac source that is electrically coupled to the electrical charging component electrode to place a predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode.
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technical field of the invention this invention relates to fiber generation, and more particularly, to an alternating field electrode system and method for use in generating fibers via electrospinning. background of the invention electrospinning is a process used to make micro-fibers and nano-fibers. in electrospinning, fibers are usually made by forcing a polymer-based melt or solution through a capillary needle or from the surface of a layer of liquid precursor on an electrode surface while applying an electric field (dc or ac) to form a propagating polymer jet. high voltage causes the solution to form a cone, and from the tip of this cone a fluid jet is ejected and accelerated towards a collector. the elongating jet is thinned as solvent evaporates, resulting in a continuous solid fiber. fibers are then collected on the collector. the utilization of non-capillary (needle-less, free-surface, slit, wire, cylinder) fiber-generating electrodes increases the process productivity due to the simultaneous generation of multiple jets, but at the cost of the higher voltage that is needed for the process. the application of a periodic, alternating electric field (ac-electrospinning), instead of common static field (dc-electrospinning), improves the conditions for fiber generation due to the increased effect of the “corona” or “ionic” wind phenomenon that efficiently carries away the produced fibers. ac-electrospinning exhibits a high fiber generation rate per electrode area, high process productivity, and easier handling of fibers in comparison to dc-electrospinning. however, the periodic nature of ac-electrospinning can strongly restrict the spinnability of many precursor solutions due to the stronger field's confinement to the fiber-generating electrode and changes in the properties of the precursors. summary the present disclosure is directed to an electrode system for use in an ac-electrospinning system and an ac-electrospinning method. the electrode system comprises an electrical charging component electrode and at least one of an ac field attenuating component and a precursor liquid attenuating component. the electrical charging component electrode is electrically coupled to an ac source that delivers an ac signal to the electrical charging component electrode to place a predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode. in accordance with an embodiment, the electrode system comprises the ac field attenuating component, but not the precursor liquid attenuating component, and the predetermined ac voltage is also placed on the ac field attenuating component. the ac field attenuating component attenuates an ac field created by the placement of the predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode. in accordance with an embodiment, the electrical charging component electrode is doughnut-shaped. in accordance with another embodiment, the electrical charging component electrode is disk-shaped. in accordance with an embodiment, the electrical charging component electrode has a top surface and a rim or lip that together define a reservoir for holding precursor liquid such that the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode serves as a bottom of the reservoir. in accordance with an embodiment, the ac field attenuating component is a ring. in accordance with an embodiment, the ring is round in shape. in accordance with an embodiment, the ring is rectangular in shape. in accordance with an embodiment, the ac field attenuating component is adjustable in at least one of position, orientation and tilt relative to the electrical charging component electrode. in accordance with an embodiment, the electrode system comprises the precursor liquid attenuating component, but not the ac field attenuating component, and the electrical charging component electrode has a top surface and a rim or lip that together define a reservoir for holding precursor liquid such that the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode serves as a bottom of the reservoir. the precursor liquid attenuating component facilitates fiber generation even in case where a level of the precursor liquid on the electrical charging component electrode is below the lip or rim of the electrical charging component electrode. in accordance with an embodiment, the precursor liquid attenuating component is cylindrically shaped. in accordance with an embodiment, the precursor liquid attenuating component is disk shaped. in accordance with another embodiment, the precursor liquid attenuating component is spherically shaped. in accordance with an embodiment, the precursor liquid attenuating component is made of a non-electrically-conductive material having a relatively low dielectric constant. in accordance with an embodiment, the precursor liquid attenuating component comes into contact with the precursor liquid and with the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode. in accordance with another embodiment, the precursor liquid attenuating component comes into contact with the precursor liquid and is in contact with or spaced apart from the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode. the precursor liquid attenuating component is rotated as it contacts the precursor liquid. in accordance with an embodiment, the precursor liquid attenuating component is adjustable in position relative to the electrical charging component electrode. in accordance with an embodiment, the electrode system comprises the precursor liquid attenuating component and the ac field attenuating component, and the predetermined ac voltage also being placed on the ac field attenuating component. the electrical charging component electrode has a top surface and a rim or lip that together define a reservoir for holding precursor liquid such that the top surface of the electrical charging component electrode serves as a bottom of the reservoir. the precursor liquid attenuating component facilitates fiber generation even in case where a level of precursor liquid on the electrical charging component electrode is below the lip or rim of the electrical charging component electrode. the method comprises: disposing a precursor liquid in a reservoir of an electrode system comprising an electrical charging component electrode and at least one of an ac field attenuating component and a precursor liquid attenuating component; and delivering an ac signal to the electrical charging component electrode from an ac source that is electrically coupled to the electrical charging component electrode to place a predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode. these and other features and advantages will become apparent from the following description, drawings and claims. brief description of the drawings figs. 1a and 1b illustrate high-speed camera snap-shots taken of fibers being generated by a known ac-electrospinning process with a base “common” electrode design within one minute and ten minutes after the start of the process, respectively. fig. 2a shows a high-speed camera snap-shot of fibers generation during an ac-electrospinning process in accordance with a representative embodiment using a precursor x that is poorly-spinnable when used in known ac-electrospinning processes of the type depicted in figs. 1a and 1b . fig. 2b shows a high-speed camera snap-shot of fibers generation during an ac-electrospinning process in accordance with a representative embodiment using a precursor y that is poorly-spinnable when used in known ac-electrospinning processes of the type depicted in figs. 1a and 1b . figs. 3-6 depict examples of some of the possible electrode system configurations that use various arrangements components a, b and c. figs. 7a and 7b show high-speed camera snap-shots of fibers generation during ac-electrospinning processes that use one of the electrode system configurations shown in figs. 3-6 . figs. 8a and 8b are side perspective views of two different electrode system configurations that comprise components a and b in accordance with a representative embodiment. figs. 9a and 9b illustrate top plan views of two different electrode system configurations that can be configured with components a and b in accordance with representative embodiments. fig. 10 is a side perspective view of an electrode system configuration that comprises components a and b where component b is tilted relative to an axis of the electrode system configuration in accordance with a representative embodiment. fig. 11a is a side perspective view of an electrode system configuration comprising components a and b in accordance with a representative embodiment. figs. 11b and 11c are photographs of the electrode system shown in fig. 11a demonstrating the effect that the ac field attenuating component has on fiber generations when the ac field attenuating component is moved in a line with the liquid precursor fluid layer or slightly below it. fig. 12a is a side perspective view an electrode system configuration comprising the component a electrode and component c, the precursor liquid attenuating component, in accordance with a representative embodiment. figs. 12b and 12c are photographs of an electrode system having the configuration shown in fig. 12a , but with three rotating coaxial component c disks during the fibers generation process. figs. 13-15 schematically illustrate fiber generation during ac-electrospinning for different configurations of the electrode system and different conditions of the precursor fluid relative to the component a electrode, in accordance with representative embodiments. detailed description of an illustrative embodiment illustrative embodiments are disclosed herein of an electrode system for use in ac-electrospinning that reduces or eliminates the above limitations and restrictions, that significantly improves the productivity of the ac-electrospinning process and that broadens the applicability of the ac-electrospinning process. the electrode system comprises an electrical charging component electrode and at least one of an ac field attenuating component and a precursor liquid attenuating component. the electrical charging component electrode is electrically coupled to an ac source that delivers an ac signal to the electrical charging component electrode to place a predetermined ac voltage on the electrical charging component electrode. in cases in which the electrode system includes the ac field attenuating component, it attenuates the ac field generated by the electrical charging component electrode to better shape and control the direction of the fibrous flow. in cases in which the electrode system includes the precursor liquid attenuating component, it serves to increase fiber generation, even if the top surface of the liquid precursor is not ideally shaped or is below a rim or lip of the reservoir that contains the liquid on the electrical charging component electrode. in the following detailed description, a few illustrative, or representative, embodiments are described to demonstrate the inventive principles and concepts. for purposes of explanation and not limitation, representative embodiments disclosing specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of an embodiment according to the present teachings. however, it will be apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that other embodiments according to the present teachings that depart from the specific details disclosed herein remain within the scope of the appended claims. moreover, descriptions of well-known apparatuses and methods may be omitted so as to not obscure the description of the representative embodiments. such methods and apparatuses are clearly within the scope of the present teachings. the terminology used herein is for purposes of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. as used in the specification and appended claims, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” include both singular and plural referents, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. thus, for example, “a device” includes one device and plural devices. relative terms may be used to describe the various elements' relationships to one another, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. these relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device and/or elements in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. it will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to” or “electrically coupled to” another element, it can be directly connected or coupled, or intervening elements may be present. exemplary, or representative, embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures, in which like reference numerals represent like components, elements or features. it should be noted that features, elements or components in the figures are not intended to be drawn to scale, emphasis being placed instead on demonstrating inventive principles and concepts. figs. 1a and 1b illustrate high-speed camera snap-shots of fibers being generated by a known ac-electrospinning process that uses an electrode having a base “common” electrode design. the snap-shot shown in fig. 1a was taken within a minute after the start of the ac-electrospinning process. the snap-shot shown in fig. 1b was taken 10 minutes after the start of the known ac-electrospinning process. although ac-electrospinning is a relatively new process for high-yield production of microfibers and nanofibers, two significant problems with the known ac-electrospinning process have been identified, namely: (1) the poor spinnability of many precursors in ac-electrospinning processes that normally have good spinnability in dc-electrospinning processes; and (2) the accumulation of spun material at the outer edge of the electrodes that are typically used in ac-electrospinning due to the high rate of fiber generation and due to confinement of the fibers to the electrode by the electric field distribution. problem (1) restricts the precursors that can be used in ac-electrospinning whereas problem (2) quickly reduces fiber production yield and eventually results in termination of fiber generation. the result of problem (2) is visible in fig. 1b , which shows a white “crown” of spun material that has formed around the electrode's outer edge. the resulting reduction in the upward flow of fibers caused by accumulation of the spun material at the electrode's outer edge is evident from a comparison of figs. 1a and 1b . the ac-electrospinning system and method in accordance with the present disclosure overcome these limitations and restrictions. the present disclosure provides an electrode system for use in an ac-electrospinning system and process that not only reduces or eliminates material accumulation on the outer edge of the electrode, but also allows fibers to be generated from precursors that are not spinnable or that are poorly spinnable with typical electrode designs currently used in ac-electrospinning processes. by achieving these goals, the productivity of the ac-electrospinning method is greatly improved while also achieving much better control of fiber generation and propagation. fig. 2a shows a high-speed camera snap-shot of fibers generation during an ac-electrospinning process in accordance with a representative embodiment. the fibers shown in fig. 2a were generated using a precursor x that is poorly-spinnable when used in known ac-electrospinning processes of the type that is depicted in figs. 1a and 1b . fig. 2b shows a high-speed camera snap-shot of fibers generation during an ac-electrospinning process in accordance with a representative embodiment. the fibers shown in fig. 2b were generated using a precursor y that is a poorly-spinnable precursor when used in known ac-electrospinning processes of the type that is depicted in figs. 1a and 1b . in the representative embodiments shown in figs. 2a and 2b , a new electrode comprising components labeled a and b was used in the ac-electrospinning system. the new electrode system can have a variety of configurations, as will be described below in more detail with reference to figs. 3-6 . by using the new electrode system, the ac-electrospinning process achieves high spinnability using the previously poorly-spinnable precursors x and y. in fig. 2a , high spinnabality of precursor x fibers has been reached with a uniform columnar fiber flow. in fig. 2b , cone-like flow of precursor y fibers is attained. to provide some idea of the scale of fibers generation, the width of the photos shown in figs. 2a and 2b is about 250 millimeters (mm). it should be noted that the inventive principles and concepts are not limited with regard to the precursors that are used in the ac-electrospinning process or with regard to the thicknesses of the generated fibers. as indicated above, the electrode system of the present disclosure not only reduces or eliminates the material accumulation at the outer edge of the electrode, but also allows fibers to be generated from precursors that are not spinnable or that are poorly spinnable with typical electrode designs used in ac-electrospinning processes. additionally, the electrode system of the present disclosure further increases ac-electrospinning productivity and allows much better control over fiber generation and propagation. in accordance with a representative embodiment, the electrode system configuration comprises at least component a, and typically comprises component a and at least one of components b and c. component a is an electrical charging component electrode. component b is an ac field attenuating component. component c is a precursor liquid attenuating component that is a rotating, non-electrically conductive component. in accordance with a preferred embodiment, when the electrode system configuration includes component a and at least one of components b and c, at least two of the components are arranged such that they have at least one common axis of symmetry. the electrode system for ac-electrospinning in accordance with the inventive principles and concepts can have a variety of configurations, some of which are shown in figs. 3-6 and have the following attributes: 1) the electrode system configuration has an electrical charging component electrode (referred to interchangeably herein as “component a”) and at least one of an ac field attenuating component (referred to interchangeably herein as “component b”) and a precursor liquid attenuating component (referred to interchangeably herein as “component c”) with at least one common axis of symmetry. 2) the components comprising the electrode system configuration, whether an a-b component configuration, an a-c component configuration, or a-b-c component configuration, are optimally located with respect to each other.3) at least one of the components of the electrode system configurations having the attributes described above in 1) is non-electrically conductive.4) all of the components of the electrode system configurations having the attributes described above in 1) can be moved relative to each other with at least one degree of freedom (either translation or rotation).5) at least one of the components of the electrode system configuration having the attributes described above in 1) includes a magnetic element. the magnetic element, however, may be present in any or all of components a, b and c for mechanical coupling of the parts to enable them to be quickly exchanged, thereby making the system more adaptable for different processes.6) if the electrode system configuration having the attributes described above in 1) includes component c, component c is located in the primary direction of fiber generation (upward) and flow propagation with respect to component a.7) if the electrode system configuration having the attributes described above in 1) includes component c, component c does not have direct electrical contact with either component a or with component b.8) any of the electrode system configurations having the attributes described above in 1) (a-b, a-c or a-b-c) can be grouped in a multi-electrode arrangement. examples of some of the possible electrode system configurations having at least some of the attributes given above in 1)-8) are shown in figs. 3-6 . the electrode configuration shown in fig. 3 has components a, b and c. component b is located along a central axis 1 of the electrode system and has side walls that are surrounded by component a in the x-direction, also referred to herein as the lateral direction. component b may be a circular ring, for example. component b may be a solid element having a circular, cylindrical or rectangular cross-section. component c is stacked on top of component a. component c can have any shape that allows it to rotate, such as, for example, the shape of a cylinder, a ring, a sphere, a disc, etc. component b may be recessed relative to component c, i.e., the y-coordinate of b is smaller than the y-coordinate of c. components a and c may rotate relative to the central axis 1 , which is parallel to the y-axis of the x, y, z cartesian coordinate system shown beneath figs. 3-6 . component b may be movable along the central axis 1 . the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 3 can be modified in a number of ways. for example, component c shown in fig. 3 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-b configuration. as another example, component b shown in fig. 3 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-c configuration. in all cases, in the configuration shown in fig. 3 , central axis 1 is a common axis for all of the components, regardless of whether the electrode system configuration has an a-b, a-c or a-b-c configuration. thus, the system configuration shown in fig. 3 has attribute 1 ). whichever components are used to form the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 3 , the components can be optimally located relative to one another, which meets attribute 2 ). at least one of the components can be electrically non-conductive to meet attribute 3 ). all of the components making up the configuration of fig. 3 can be moved relative to each other with at least one degree of freedom to meet attribute 4 ). for example, components a and c may rotate relative to the central axis 1 while component b may be movable along the central axis 1 . at least one of components a, b or c can be a magnetic element to meet attribute 5 ). in fig. 3 , component c is located in the primary direction of fiber generation and flow propagation to meet attribute 6 ). component c is spaced apart from components a and b so that there is no direct electrical connection between component c and components a and b, which meets attribute 7 . this attribute can also be achieved by placing dielectric materials or spacers between components as needed. multiple electrodes having the configuration shown in fig. 3 can be grouped together to achieve a multi-electrode arrangement that meets attribute 8 ). the electrode configuration shown in fig. 4 has components a, b and c. component a is located along a central axis 11 of the electrode system and has side walls that are surrounded by component b in the lateral directions. component b may be a circular ring, for example. component a may be a solid element having a circular, cylindrical or rectangular cross-section. component c may also be a solid element having a circular, cylindrical or rectangular cross-section, and may be stacked on top of component a. component b may rotate relative to the central axis 11 , which is parallel to the y-axis of the x, y, z cartesian coordinate system shown beneath figs. 3-6 . components a and b may be movable along the central axis 11 . the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 4 can be modified in a number of ways. for example, component c shown in fig. 4 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-b configuration, which is essentially what is shown in figs. 2a and 2b , except that in figs. 2a and 2b , component a is protruding along the central axis 11 relative to component b. as another example, component b shown in fig. 4 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-c configuration. in all cases, in the configuration shown in fig. 4 , central axis 11 is a common axis for all of the components, regardless of whether the electrode system configuration has an a-b, a-c or a-b-c configuration. thus, the system configuration shown in fig. 4 has attribute 1 ). whichever components are used to form the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 4 , the components can be optimally located relative to one another, which meets attribute 2 ). component c can be electrically non-conductive to meet attribute 3 ). normally, components a and b are electrically conductive and component c is electrically non-conductive. all of the components making up the configuration shown in fig. 4 can be moved relative to each other with at least one degree of freedom to meet attribute 4 ). for example, component b may rotate relative to the central axis 11 while components a and c may be movable along the central axis 11 . at least one of components a, b or c can contain a magnetic element to meet attribute 5 ). in fig. 4 , component c is located in the primary direction of fiber generation and flow propagation to meet attribute 6 ). component c is spaced apart from components a and b so that there is no direct electrical connection between component c and components a and b, which meets attribute 7 . this attribute can also be achieved by placing dielectric materials or spacers between components as needed. multiple electrodes having the configuration shown in fig. 4 can be grouped together to achieve a multi-electrode arrangement that meets attribute 8 ). the electrode configuration shown in fig. 5 has components a, b and c. components a and c are located along a central axis 21 of the electrode system and has one lateral side that is adjacent to component b. if component c is ring-shaped, it must rotate about its central axis normal to the plane of the ring. component a may be a solid element having circular, cylindrical or ring-shaped cross-sections. component c may be stacked on top of component a. component b may move in the x-z plane, for example. components a and c may be movable along the central axis 21 . component b may be movable in the y-direction parallel to the central axis 21 . components a and/or c may be movable in the x-z plane perpendicular to the central axis 21 . the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 5 can be modified in a number of ways. for example, component c shown in fig. 5 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-b configuration. as another example, component b shown in fig. 5 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-c configuration. in all cases, in the configuration shown in fig. 5 , central axis 21 is a common axis for at least components a and c. thus, the system configuration shown in fig. 5 has attribute 1 ). whichever components are used to form the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 5 , the components can be optimally located relative to one another to meet attribute 2 ). at least one of the components shown in fig. 5 can be electrically non-conductive to meet attribute 3 ). as described above, all of the components making up the configuration shown in fig. 5 can be moved relative to each other with at least one degree of freedom to meet attribute 4 ). at least one of components a, b or c shown in fig. 5 can be a magnetic element to meet attribute 5 ). in fig. 5 , component c is located in the primary direction of fiber generation and flow propagation to meet attribute 6 ). component c is spaced apart from components a and b so that there is no direct electrical connection between component c and components a and b, which meets attribute 7 . this attribute can also be achieved by placing dielectric materials or spacers between components as needed. multiple electrodes having the configuration shown in fig. 5 can be grouped together to achieve a multi-electrode arrangement that meets attribute 8 ). the electrode configuration shown in fig. 6 has components a, b and c. component a is located along a central axis 31 of the electrode system and has side walls that are surrounded by component b in the lateral directions. component a may be a circular ring, for example. the component b that is located on the central axis 31 may be a solid element having a circular, cylindrical or rectangular cross-section. the component b that is the outermost component may be a ring, for example. component c may be stacked on top of component a and rotate about its axis and/or move along the surface of component a. in such cases, component c can be cylindrically or spherically shaped. components a and b that are ring-shaped may rotate relative to the central axis 31 , which is parallel to the y-axis of the x, y, z cartesian coordinate system. components a, b and c that are not ring-shaped may be movable along the axes that are parallel to the x-, y- and/or z-directions. the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 6 can be modified in a number of ways. for example, component c shown in fig. 6 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-b configuration. as another example, component b shown in fig. 6 may be eliminated leaving the electrode system with an a-c configuration. in all cases, in the configuration shown in fig. 6 , central axis 31 is a common axis for all of the components, regardless of whether the electrode system configuration has an a-b, a-c or a-b-c configuration. thus, the system configuration shown in fig. 6 has attribute 1 ). whichever components are used to form the electrode system configuration shown in fig. 6 , the components can be optimally located relative to one another to meet attribute 2 ). at least one of the components shown in fig. 6 can be electrically non-conductive to meet attribute 3 ). as described above, all of the components making up the configuration shown in fig. 6 can be moved relative to each other with at least one degree of freedom to meet attribute 4 ). at least one of components a, b or c can be a magnetic element to meet attribute 5 ). in fig. 6 , component c is located in the primary direction of fiber generation and flow propagation to meet attribute 6 ). component c is spaced apart from components a and b so that there is no direct electrical connection between component c and components a and b, which meets attribute 7 . this attribute can also be achieved by placing dielectric materials or spacers between components as needed. multiple electrodes having the configuration shown in fig. 6 can be grouped together to achieve a multi-electrode arrangement that meets attribute 8 ). it should also be noted that electrode systems having the configurations shown in figs. 3-6 , or modifications thereof, can be grouped together to form a multi-electrode arrangement. suitable materials for component a include, but are not limited to, metals and alloys with good resistance to common solvents, acids and bases. stainless steel is an example of a suitable material for component a. suitable materials for component b, which normally does not come into contact with fluids, include, but are not limited to, copper, aluminum and stainless steel metals and alloys with good resistance to common solvents, acids and bases. suitable materials for component c, which is in contact with fluids, include, but are not limited to, teflon, polypropylene, and other chemically-stable polymers with low dielectric constants. figs. 7a and 7b show high-speed camera snap-shots of fibers generation during ac-electrospinning processes that use one of the new electrode system configurations described above with reference to figs. 3-6 . figs. 8a and 8b are side perspective views of examples of different electrode system configurations that comprise components a and b. figs. 9a and 9b illustrate top plan views of examples of different electrode system configurations that can be configured with components a and b. with the configuration shown in fig. 9a , component a is doughnut-shaped electrode and component b comprises an inner and outer electrode. with the configuration shown in fig. 9b , component a is a disk-shaped electrode and component b comprises an outer electrode. it should be noted that the exemplary configurations shown in figs. 8a-9b are provided to demonstrate a few examples of the inventive principles and concepts and are not intended to be limiting, as will be understood by those of skill in the art in view of the description provided herein. with any of these electrode system configurations, precursor fluid 3 is loaded onto a top surface of the component a electrode electrode. the precursor fluid 3 is typically pumped via a pump (not shown) through a tube 5 of the electrode system configuration to the top surface of the component a electrode. the same ac voltage is applied to the component a and b electrodes. liquid jets are generated when the ac electric field is applied to the components a and b. as depicted in figs. 8a and 8b , fibers 4 form when the solvent in the precursor fluid 3 evaporates and the fibrous flow is drawn away for the component a electrode by the “ionic wind” phenomenon. in many cases, in the absence of component b, the ac field attenuating component, the fibrous jets spread too much or they are difficult to initiate. also, in the absence of component b, the fibrous residue mentioned above may form around the rim of the component a electrode. component b is a field attenuating electrode that operates at the same ac voltage from the same source as the component a electrode. the field attenuating effect of component b improves fiber generation, improves the shape of the fibrous flow ( fig. 8b ), and allows the flow direction to be controlled ( figs. 7b and 8b ). component b is normally positioned around the component a electrode ( fig. 9a ), but component b can also have an inner part ( fig. 9a ) in the case of a hollow or doughnut-shaped component a electrode ( fig. 9a ). in figs. 7a through 9b , component b is shown as being ring-shaped and circular. however, component b can have other shapes. for example, component b could have the shape of a rectangle (e.g., a square). as shown in fig. 10 , component b can be tilted with respect to a center axis of the component a electrode that is coaxial with the tube 5 to control the flow direction. in some embodiments, a translation mechanism (not shown) mechanically coupled to component b allows a user to control the position, orientation and/or degree of tilt of component b to allow the field attenuating effect of component b to be adjusted to better control fiber generation, the shape of the fibrous flow and/or the direction of the fibrous flow. fig. 11a is a side perspective view an electrode system configuration comprising the component a electrode and component b in accordance with a representative embodiment. if the precursor fluid 3 does not have an optimum surface profile (convex) on the top surface of the component a electrode, jets are difficult to initiate or even impossible in some cases. if there is too much precursor fluid 3 on the top surface of the component a electrode, the fluid 3 can overflow the component a electrode and spill, requiring the ac-electrospinning process to be halted. on the other hand, if the fluid level is at or below the edge of the lip or rim of the component a electrode, as will be described below in more detail with reference to fig. 14 , jet generation typically ceases. also, if component b is raised (in the +z direction) above the upper surface of the precursor fluid 3 , as shown in fig. 11a , jet generation typically ceases. figs. 11b and 11c are photographs of the electrode system shown in fig. 11a demonstrating the effect that the ac field attenuating component, component b, has on fiber generations when the ac field attenuating component b is moved in a line with the liquid precursor fluid layer 3 or slightly below it. as can be seen in figs. 11b and 11c , the jets are generated and the fibrous flow can be tuned in width, shape, and mass of fibers per minute produced by adjusting the height (z-direction) of component b relative to the component a electrode while keeping component b at or slightly below the z-position of the precursor fluid layer 3 . the fibrous flow width, shape, and rate are determined by the electric filed voltage and frequency, and by the liquid precursor's composition, viscosity, electrical conductivity, and surface tension. fig. 12a is a side perspective view an electrode system configuration comprising the component a electrode and component c, the precursor liquid attenuating component, in accordance with a representative embodiment. figs. 12b and 12c are photographs of an electrode system having the configuration shown in fig. 12a , but with three rotating coaxial component c disks during the fibers generation process. the addition of the precursor liquid attenuating component c, which is ideally made of low dielectric constant non-conductive material (e.g. teflon or polypropylene, or other plastic), allows the problems described above with reference to fig. 11a to be eliminated. in accordance with a representative embodiment, component c rotates and the electrically-charged precursor fluid 3 forms a layer on the surface of component c. the layer of precursor fluid 3 has a favorable convex shape that increases the number of jets produced per unit area, and therefore the fiber production rate increases. thus, there is no longer a need to maintain an optimum level of precursor fluid 3 on the component a electrode, and therefore spills and residue accumulation around the component a electrode are prevented. the precursor liquid attenuating component c can have a variety of shapes or configurations. for example, it can be a cylinder, a disk, a sphere, or a combination of thereof, and may have various surface profiles, such as, for example, a corrugated surface that modulates the fluid motion and further increases the jets production. the precursor liquid attenuating component c can be one or more cylinders, disks, or rings of different diameters and thickness (length). the precursor liquid attenuating component c can be partially immersed in the liquid precursor 3 and can be rotated at various speeds (w) in combination with linear x-y motion over the surface of the component a electrode. the working side of component c can be smooth or structured (e.g., having notches, holes, protrusions, etc.) to provide the retention of the liquid precursor 3 . in the embodiment shown in figs. 12b and 12c , the rotating coaxial component c disks are plastic (e.g., teflon) discs that are 30 mm in diameter with channels along their rims placed in a rectangular teflon component a electrode that is partially filled with liquid precursor 3 . when disc assembly rotates, fibers are produced from each side of the rim along each disc. in the exemplary configuration shown in figs. 12b and 12c , the length of the assembly comprising components a and c is 100 mm, although the inventive principles and concepts are not limited with respect to the dimensions of the assembly or its components. the ac field-attenuating component b can be used together with component c. the x, y, z position of the component b electrode typically should be below the x, y, z position of the topmost surface of component c to better shape and direct the fibrous flow. depending on the shape and areas of component a electrode and component c, component c may be moved in x-y directions while rotating. the bottom side of component c may slide on the top surface of the component a electrode as it rotates or it can be positioned slightly above the top surface of the component a electrode so that component c comes into contact with the precursor fluid 3 as component c rotates, but does not come into direct contact with the top surface of the component a electrode. figs. 13-15 schematically illustrate fiber generation during the ac-electrospinning process for different configurations of the electrode system and different conditions of the precursor fluid 3 relative to the component a electrode in accordance with representative embodiments. the field-attenuating component b electrode is not included, although it could be. normally, the component a electrode has a dish- or cup-like shape, as shown in figs. 13-15 . the level of the precursor fluid 3 needed to affect the fiber generation and the proper convex surface profile of it ( fig. 13 ) are predicted. however, there are currently no numerical models that describe the possible development of faraday's instability in a viscous fluid layer under an ac-field, and associated with it, the appearance of a surface wave pattern that can promote jet formation. in any case, when the level of fluid 3 drops below the rim 7 of the component a electrode, no jets are produced ( fig. 14 ). a rotating plastic disc or cylinder comprising component c draws fluid out of the component a electrode ( fig. 15 ), and this charged fluid 3 , due to the curved surfaces of component c, can easily form multiple jets, and thus fibrous flow is produced. in addition, as indicated above, use of component c typically increases fiber generation over electrode system configurations that do not include component c ( fig. 13 ). adding the component b electrode to the configurations shown in figs. 13 and 15 would provide better control over the shape and direction of the fibrous flow. it should be noted that illustrative embodiments have been described herein for the purpose of demonstrating principles and concepts of the invention. as will be understood by persons of skill in the art in view of the description provided herein, many modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without deviating from the scope of the invention. for example, while the inventive principles and concepts have been described primarily with reference to particular electrode system configurations, the inventive principles and concepts are equally applicable to other electrode system configurations. also, many modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without deviating from the inventive principles and concepts, and all such modifications are within the scope of the invention, as will be understood by those of skill in the art.
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116-577-464-698-316
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US
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[
"US"
] |
G01R31/40,G06F1/16,G06F1/26,G06F11/00,H02J13/00,H02J50/20,H02J50/80
| 2014-08-21T00:00:00 |
2014
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[
"G01",
"G06",
"H02"
] |
systems and methods for automatically testing the communication between wireless power transmitter and wireless power receiver
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a method includes, at a transmitter, performing a test of communications with a receiver, the test comprising: (i) sending, by a communications component of the transmitter, a first message to the receiver, (ii) receiving, by the communications component, a second message from the receiver in response to the first message, and (iii) comparing operational metric(s) associated with the first and second messages with respective expected values for each of the operational metric(s) to determine an outcome for the test. the method further includes sending a report to a remote server that includes the determined outcome for the test, and after sending the report, stopping performance of the test and starting normal operation of the transmitter in which the transmitter transmits, by at least some of the transmitter's antennas, power waves to a location of the receiver. the receiver uses energy from the power waves to charge/power an electronic device.
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1. a method of wireless power transmission, comprising: at a wireless power transmitter having a communications component, a plurality of antenna elements configured to transmit power waves, and at least one processor: performing a test of communications with a wireless power receiver, the test of communications comprising: sending, by the communications component, a first message to the wireless power receiver; receiving, by the communications component, a second message from the wireless power receiver in response to the first message; and comparing, by the at least one processor, one or more operational metrics associated with the first and second messages with respective expected values for each of the one or more operational metrics to determine an outcome for the test; sending, by the communications component, a report to a remote server that includes the determined outcome for the test; receiving information from the remote server to authenticate the wireless power receiver, wherein authentication of the wireless power receiver is distinct and separate from the test of communications; and after sending the report, stopping performance of the test and starting a normal operation of the wireless power transmitter in which the wireless power transmitter transmits, by at least some of the plurality of antennas, power waves that converge to form a constructive interference pattern in proximity to a location of the wireless power receiver, wherein the wireless power receiver uses energy from the constructive interference pattern to charge or power an electronic device that is coupled with the wireless power receiver. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein, while performing the test, the wireless power transmitter has not started normal operation. 3. the method of claim 2 , wherein, while performing the test, the wireless power transmitter does not transmit power waves. 4. the method of claim 1 , wherein the outcome of test indicates that an error occurred in accordance with determining that at least one operational metric of the one or more operational metrics fails to meet a corresponding expected value for the at least one operational metric. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein the outcome of the test indicates that the test passes in accordance with determining that each of the one or more operational metrics meets a respective corresponding expected value. 6. the method of claim 1 , further comprising, at the wireless power transmitter: before starting normal operation of the wireless power transmitter, detecting a plurality of wireless power receivers located in proximity to the wireless power transmitter, the plurality including the wireless power receiver, wherein starting normal operation occurs after communication with each wireless power receiver of the plurality of wireless power receivers is tested by the wireless power transmitter. 7. the method of claim 6 , further comprising, sending a new report to the remote server that indicates an outcome of respective tests of communications with each wireless power receiver of the plurality of wireless power receivers tested during performance of the test. 8. the method of claim 1 , further comprising, at the wireless power transmitter: detecting a trigger, wherein the test is performed in response to detecting the trigger. 9. the method of claim 8 , wherein detecting the trigger comprises one of the following: (i) detecting initiation of a start-up of the wireless power transmitter and (ii) detecting that the communications component has received a command from the remote server. 10. the method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless power transmitter is a far-field wireless power transmitter. 11. a wireless power transmitter, comprising: at least one processor; a communications component; a plurality of antennas configured to transmit power waves; and memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the wireless power transmitter to: perform a test of communications with a wireless power receiver, the executable instructions for performing the test of communications cause the wireless power transmitter to: send, by the communications component, a first message to the wireless power receiver; receive, by the communications component, a second message from the wireless power receiver in response to the first message; and compare, by the at least one processor, one or more operational metrics associated with the first and second messages with respective expected values for each of the one or more operational metrics to determine an outcome for the test; send, by the communications component, a report to a remote server that includes the determined outcome for the test; receive information from the remote server to authenticate the wireless power receiver, wherein authentication of the wireless power receiver is distinct and separate from the test of communications; and after sending the report, stop performance of the test and start a normal operation of the wireless power transmitter in which the wireless power transmitter transmits, by at least some of the plurality of antennas, power waves that converge to form a constructive interference pattern in proximity to a location of the wireless power receiver, wherein the wireless power receiver uses energy from the constructive interference pattern to charge or power an electronic device that is coupled with the wireless power receiver. 12. the wireless power transmitter of claim 11 , wherein, while performing the test, the wireless power transmitter has not started normal operation. 13. the wireless power transmitter of claim 11 , wherein, while performing the test, the wireless power transmitter does not transmit power waves. 14. the wireless power transmitter of claim 11 , wherein the outcome of test indicates that an error occurred in accordance with determining that at least one operational metric of the one or more operational metrics fails to meet a corresponding expected value for the at least one operational metric. 15. the wireless power transmitter of claim 11 , wherein the outcome of the test indicates that the test passes in accordance with determining that each of the one or more operational metrics meets a respective corresponding expected value. 16. the wireless power transmitter of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the wireless power transmitter to: before starting normal operation of the wireless power transmitter, detect a plurality of wireless power receivers located in proximity to the wireless power transmitter, the plurality including the wireless power receiver, wherein starting normal operation occurs after communication with each wireless power receiver of the plurality of wireless power receivers is tested by the wireless power transmitter. 17. the wireless power transmitter of claim 16 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the wireless power transmitter to: send a new report to the remote server that indicates an outcome of respective tests of communications with each wireless power receiver of the plurality of wireless power receivers tested during performance of the test. 18. the wireless power transmitter of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the wireless power transmitter to: detect a trigger, wherein the test is performed in response to detecting the trigger; and the trigger comprises one of the following: (i) detecting initiation of a start-up of the wireless power transmitter and (ii) detecting that the communications component has received a command from the remote server. 19. the wireless power transmitter of claim 11 , wherein the wireless power transmitter is a far-field wireless power transmitter. 20. a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless power transmitter with at least one processor, a communications component, and a plurality of antennas configured to transmit power waves, cause the wireless power transmitter to: perform a test of communications with a wireless power receiver, the executable instructions for performing the test of communications cause the wireless power transmitter to: send, by the communications component, a first message to the wireless power receiver; receive, by the communications component, a second message from the wireless power receiver in response to the first message; and compare, by the at least one processor, one or more operational metrics associated with the first and second messages with respective expected values for each of the one or more operational metrics to determine an outcome for the test; send, by the communications component, a report to a remote server that includes the determined outcome for the test; receive information from the remote server to authenticate the wireless power receiver, wherein authentication of the wireless power receiver is distinct and separate from the test of communications; and after sending the report, stop performance of the test and start a normal operation of the wireless power transmitter in which the wireless power transmitter transmits, by at least some of the plurality of antennas, power waves that converge to form a constructive interference pattern in proximity to a location of the wireless power receiver, wherein the wireless power receiver uses energy from the constructive interference pattern to charge or power an electronic device that is coupled with the wireless power receiver.
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background field of the disclosure the present disclosure relates in general to wireless power transmission systems, and more specifically to methods for testing the communication between power transmitters and power receivers. background information the communication between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver of a wireless power transmission system may encounter unexpected or unpredictable errors due to conditions external to the system, due to defects within software design of the system, or due to degradation or unexpected operation of system hardware. the wireless power transmission system software may have communication error detection and correction methods so that normal operation of said system may continue in the event of any error. this communication between the transmitter and the receiver is essential for wireless transmission of power from power transmitter to power receiver because transmitter uses communication connection with receiver to determine if the receiver is nearby or within power transmission range, to read the amount of power that the receiver is presently receiving and monitor this value while adjusting the direction of the transmitter's array of power transmission antennas to maximize power received by the receiver, and to command the receiver to electrically connect to its client device to transmit power to it, or disconnect when not powering it. one limitation of wireless power transmission systems may be that defects in the system software may not be corrected and may cause interruption or unwanted cessation of normal operation of said system, if the system software is not tested for error conditions, if testing cannot be done manually, or if manual testing is inadvertently not done. another drawback may be that the failure of the system software to correctly respond to these error conditions may cause interruption or unwanted cessation of normal operation of the system if any error condition only occurs infrequently, and may only be detected by automatic test software. the above mentioned problems, if not detected by automatic testing, may occur during system design development, during demonstrations, during production burn-in, or in the field of use after product installation during product normal operation. thus, there is a need for automatic test software that tests cases which cannot be tested manually or tests cases which occur so infrequently that it is not practical or there is not enough time to test manually. summary systems and methods to use software to automatically test the communication between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver are disclosed. the disclosed systems and methods may be employed for antenna direction management and for wireless transmission of power from transmitter to receiver in a wireless power transmission system. the disclosed systems may include power transmitters, power receivers, electronic devices, and suitable remote system managers. according to one embodiment, the disclosed methods may be employed to perform an automatic self-test built in to power transmitters and power receivers. the self-test may be automatically run when a wireless power transmission system boots, or in response to a command from the system user. the self-test may automatically establish communication connections between a power transmitter and each power receiver, and then may automatically continually begin testing the communication of all types of messages. periodically, unexpected disconnection followed by re-connection and re-establishment of communication between power transmitter and power receiver may also be tested. communication may be in real-time. counts of all actions and operations, performed by the wireless power transmission system while testing connections and communication, may be stored in metrics counters within a system database. when the test is complete, the metrics counters may be compared with expected values. if the metrics counters match the expected values, then test passes, otherwise test fails. wireless power transmission system may report to the user the outcome of the test. other methods may be employed to compare actions or operations with what is expected. a user command may be employed to initiate a long term test of communication between a power transmitter and a power receiver to detect defects that may only occur infrequently. for example, the test may be performed overnight, over the weekend, or longer, among others. numerous other aspects, features and benefits of the present disclosure may be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures. brief description of the drawings the present disclosure can be better understood by referring to the following figures. the components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the disclosure. in the figures, reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. fig. 1 illustrates a wireless power transmission example situation using pocket-forming, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 2 illustrates a component level embodiment for a transmitter, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 3 illustrates a component level embodiment for a receiver, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a wireless power network including a transmitter and wireless receivers, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 5 shows a wireless power transmission network diagram, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a method for automatic initiation of a self-test of a power transmitter software at boot, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a method for automatic initiation of a self-test during a normal operation of a power transmitter, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a method for manually initiated power transmitter self-test, according to an exemplary embodiment. fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a method for performing a self-test of a power transmitter, according to an exemplary embodiment. detailed description the present disclosure is here described in detail with reference to embodiments illustrated in the drawings, which form a part here. other embodiments may be used and/or other changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. the illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description are not meant to be limiting of the subject matter presented here. definitions as used here, the following terms may have the following definitions: “adaptive pocket-forming” refers to dynamically adjusting pocket-forming to regulate power on one or more targeted receivers. “app” refers to a software application that is run on a mobile, laptop, desktop, or server computer. “btle”, or “ble”, refers to bluetooth low energy communication hardware and/or software. “charge”, or “charging”, refers to the conversion of rf energy into electrical energy by a receiver, using an antenna, where the electrical energy may be transmitted through an electrical circuit connection from the receiver to an electrically connected client device, where the transmitted energy may be used by the device to charge its battery, to power its functions, or any suitable combination. “lan” refers to wired or wireless local area network. “null-space” refers to areas or regions of space where pockets of energy do not form because of destructive interference patterns of rf waves. “operator” refers to a person who installs or operates the wireless power transmission system. operator may also be a system user. “pairing” refers to the association, within the wireless power transmission system's distributed system database, of a single electronic client device with a single power receiver. in one or more embodiments, this may allow a system to determine from said association which power receiver to transmit power to in order to charge said client device upon receiving a command, from a user or automatic system process, that a client device is to be charged. “pocket-forming” refers to generating two or more rf waves which converge in 3-d space, forming controlled constructive and destructive interference patterns. “pockets of energy” refers to areas or regions of space where energy or power may accumulate in the form of constructive interference patterns of rf waves. “power” refers to electrical energy, where “wireless power transmission” may be synonymous of “wireless energy transmission”, and “wireless power transmission” may be synonymous of “wireless energy transmission”. “receive identification” refers to an identification number or alphanumeric code or credential that is unique to a specific receiver. “receiver” refers to a device including at least one antenna element, at least one rectifying circuit and at least one power converter, which may utilize pockets of energy for powering, or charging an electronic device. “system” refers to a wireless power transmission system that wirelessly transmits power from a transmitter to a receiver. “system computer” refers to one of the computers of a wireless power transmission system; is part of the communication network between all computers of the wireless power transmission system; may communicate through said network to any other system computer; and may be a wireless power transmitter, a wireless power receiver, a client device, a management service server, or any other. “transmitter” refers to a device, including a chip which may generate two or more rf signals, at least one rf signal being phase shifted and gain adjusted with respect to other rf signals, substantially all of which pass through one or more rf antenna such that focused rf signals are directed to a target. “user” refers to a person using the system to provide wireless power transmission to a client device. user may be an operator. “wifi” refers to wireless network. “wireless power transmission” refers to transmitting energy wirelessly. description of the drawings the present disclosure describes methods for automatically testing the communication between wireless power transmitter and wireless power receiver, i.e. a transmitter to receiver auto test. methods disclosed here may be part of a wireless power transmission system including one or more wireless power transmitters, one or more wireless power receivers, and including one or more optional system management server or one or more optional mobile or hand-held computers, smart phones, or the like, that run the system management gui app. this app may be made available at, downloaded, and installed from a public software app store or digital application distribution platform, such as apple's itunes, google's play store, amazon's appstore, and the like. the power transmitters and management servers may all communicate with each other through a distributed system database, and may also communicate present status and any status change to a remote information service that may be located in the internet cloud. one or more wireless power transmitters may automatically transmit power to any single wireless power receiver that is close enough for it to establish a communication connection with, using a suitable communication technology, including bluetooth low energy or the like. said receiver may then power or charge an electrically connected client device, such as mobile device, toy, remote control, lighting device, and the like. a single wireless power transmitter may also power multiple wireless power receivers simultaneously. alternately, the system can be configured by the system management gui to automatically only transmit power to specific wireless power receivers depending on specific system criteria or conditions, such as the time or hour of the day for automatic time-based scheduled power transmission, power receiver physical location, owner of client device, or other any other suitable conditions and/or criteria. the wireless power receiver is connected electrically to a client device, such a mobile phone, portable light, tv remote control, or any device that would otherwise require a battery or connection to wall power. in one or more embodiments, devices requiring batteries can have traditional batteries replaced by wireless power receiver batteries. the wireless power receiver then receives energy transmitted from the power transmitter, into receiver's antenna, rectifies, conditions, and sends the resulting electrical energy, through an electrical relay switch, to the electrically connected client device to power it or charge it. a wireless power transmitter can transmit power to a wireless power receiver, which, in response, can power or charge its associated client device while device is in use or in motion anywhere within the power transmission range of the wireless power transmitter. the wireless power transmitter can power multiple devices at the same time. the wireless power transmitter establishes a real-time communication connection with each receiver for the purpose of receiving feedback in real-time (such as 100 samples per second). this feedback from each receiver includes the measurement of energy presently being received, which is used by the transmitter to control the direction of the transmitter's antenna array so that it stays aimed at the receiver, even if the receiver moves to a different physical 3-d location or is in 3-d motion that changes its physical 3-d location. multiple wireless power transmitters can power a given, single receiver, in order to substantially increase power to it. when a transmitter is done transmitting power to a receiver, it may communicate to the receiver that power transmission has ended, and disconnect communication. the wireless power transmitter may then examine its copy of the distributed system database to determine which, if any, receivers in power range it should next transmit power to. fig. 1 illustrates wireless power transmission 100 using pocket-forming. a transmitter 102 may transmit controlled radio frequency (rf) waves 104 which may converge in 3-d space. rf waves 104 may be controlled through phase and/or relative amplitude adjustments to form constructive and destructive interference patterns (pocket-forming). pockets of energy 106 may form at constructive interference patterns and may be 3-dimensional in shape, whereas null-spaces may be generated at destructive interference patterns. a receiver 108 may then utilize pockets of energy 106 produced by pocket-forming for charging or powering an electronic device, for example a laptop computer 110 , and thus providing wireless power transmission 100 . in embodiments disclosed here, there may be two or more transmitters 102 and one or more receivers 108 for powering various electronic devices. examples of suitable electronic devices may include smartphones, tablets, music players, and toys, amongst others. in other embodiments, adaptive pocket-forming may be used to regulate power on suitable electronic devices. fig. 2 illustrates a component level embodiment for a transmitter 202 which may be utilized to provide wireless power transmission 100 as described in fig. 1 . transmitter 202 may include a housing 204 where at least two or more antenna elements 206 , at least one rf integrated circuit (rfic 208 ), at least one digital signal processor (dsp) or micro-controller 210 , and one optional communications component 212 may be included. housing 204 can be made of any suitable material which may allow for signal or wave transmission and/or reception, for example plastic or hard rubber. antenna elements 206 may include suitable antenna types for operating in suitable frequency bands, such as 900 mhz, 2.5 ghz, or 5.8 ghz, and any other frequency bands that may conform to federal communications commission (fcc) regulations part 18 (industrial, scientific and medical equipment) or any other suitable regulations. antenna elements 206 may include vertical or horizontal polarization, right hand or left hand polarization, elliptical polarization, or other suitable polarizations as well as suitable polarization combinations. suitable antenna types may include, for example, patch antennas with heights from about ⅛ inches to about 6 inch and widths from about ⅛ inches to about 6 inch. other antenna elements 206 types may be used, including meta-materials, dipole antennas, and others. rfic 208 may include a chip for adjusting phases and/or relative magnitudes of rf signals, which may serve as inputs for antenna elements 206 for controlling pocket-forming. these rf signals may be produced using an external power supply 214 and a local oscillator chip (not shown) using a suitable piezoelectric materials. micro-controller 210 may then process information sent by a receiver through its own antenna elements for determining optimum times and locations for pocket-forming. in some embodiments, the foregoing may be achieved through communications component 212 . communications component 212 may be based on standard wireless communication protocols which may include bluetooth, bluetooth low energy, wi-fi, and/or zigbee, amongst others. in addition, communications component 212 may be used to transfer other information, including identifiers for the device or user, battery level, location or other such information. the micro-controller may determine the position of a device using any suitable technology capable of triangulation in communications component 212 , including radar, infrared cameras, and sound devices, amongst others. multiple transmitter 202 units may be placed together in the same area to deliver more power to individual power receivers or to power more receivers at the same time, said power receivers being within power reception range of two or more of multiple power transmitters 202 . fig. 3 illustrates a component level embodiment for a receiver 300 which may be used for powering or charging an electronic device as exemplified in wireless power transmission 100 . receiver 300 may include a housing 302 where at least one antenna element 304 , one rectifier 306 , one power converter 308 and an optional communications component 310 may be included. housing 302 can be made of any suitable material which may allow for signal or wave transmission and/or reception, for example plastic or hard rubber. housing 302 may be an external hardware that may be added to different electronic equipment, for example in the form of cases, or may be embedded within electronic equipment as well. antenna element 304 may include suitable antenna types for operating in frequency bands similar to the bands described for transmitter 202 from fig. 2 . antenna element 304 may include vertical or horizontal polarization, right hand or left hand polarization, elliptical polarization, or other suitable polarizations as well as suitable polarization combinations. using multiple polarizations can be beneficial in devices where there may not be a preferred orientation during usage or whose orientation may vary continuously through time, for example a smartphone or portable gaming system. on the contrary, for devices with well-defined orientations, for example a two-handed video game controller, there might be a preferred polarization for antennas which may dictate a ratio for the number of antennas of a given polarization. suitable antenna types may include patch antennas with heights from about ⅛ inches to about 6 inch and widths from about ⅛ inches to about 6 inch. patch antennas may have the advantage that polarization may depend on connectivity, i.e. depending on which side the patch is fed, the polarization may change. this may further prove advantageous as a receiver, such as receiver 300 , may dynamically modify its antenna polarization to optimize wireless power transmission. rectifier 306 may include diodes or resistors, inductors or capacitors to rectify the alternating current (ac) voltage generated by antenna element 304 to direct current (dc) voltage. rectifier 306 may be placed as close as is technically possible to antenna element 304 to minimize losses. after rectifying ac voltage, dc voltage may be regulated using power converter 308 . power converter 308 can be a dc-dc converter which may help provide a constant voltage output, regardless of input, to an electronic device, or as in this embodiment to a battery 312 . typical voltage outputs can be from about 5 volts to about 10 volts. lastly, communications component 310 , similar to that of transmitter 202 from fig. 2 , may be included in receiver 300 to communicate with a transmitter 202 or to other electronic equipment. fig. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a wireless power transmission system 400 (wpts) in which one or more embodiments of the present disclosure may operate. wireless power transmission system 400 may include communication between one or more wireless power transmitters 402 and one or more wireless powered receivers 406 and within client device 438 . client device 404 may be paired with an adaptable paired receiver 406 that may enable wireless power transmission to the client device 404 . in another embodiment, a client device 438 may include a wireless power receiver built in as part of the hardware of the device. client device 404 or 438 may be any device which uses an energy power source, such as, laptop computers, stationary computers, mobile phones, tablets, mobile gaming devices, televisions, radios and/or any set of appliances that may require or benefit from an electrical power source. in one embodiment, one or more wireless power transmitters 402 may include a microprocessor that integrates a power transmitter manager app 408 (pwr tx mgr app) as embedded software, and a third party application programming interface 410 (third party api) for a bluetooth low energy chip 412 (btle chip hw). bluetooth low energy chip 412 may enable communication between wireless power transmitter 402 and other devices, including power receiver 406 , client device 404 and 438 , and others. wireless power transmitter 402 may also include an antenna manager software 414 (antenna mgr software) to control an rf antenna array 416 that may be used to form controlled rf waves which may converge in 3-d space and create pockets of energy on wireless powered receivers. in some embodiments, one or more bluetooth low energy chips 412 may utilize other wireless communication protocols, including wifi, bluetooth, lte direct, or the like. power transmitter manager app 408 may call third party application programming interface 410 for running a plurality of functions, including the establishing of a connection, ending a connection, and sending data, among others. third party application programming interface 410 may issue commands to bluetooth low energy chip 412 according to the functions called by power transmitter manager app 408 . power transmitter manager app 408 may also include a distributed system database 418 , which may store relevant information associated with client device 404 or 438 , such as their identifiers for a client device 404 or 438 , voltage ranges for power receiver 406 , location of a client device 404 or 438 , signal strength and/or any other relevant information associated with a client device 404 or 438 . database 418 may also store information relevant to the wireless power network, including receiver id's, transmitter id's, end-user handheld devices, system management servers, charging schedules, charging priorities and/or any other data relevant to a wireless power network. third party application programming interface 410 at the same time may call power transmitter manager app 408 through a callback function which may be registered in the power transmitter manager app 408 at boot time. third party application programming interface 410 may have a timer callback that may go for ten times a second, and may send callbacks every time a connection begins, a connection ends, a connection is attempted, or a message is received. client device 438 may include a power receiver app 420 (pwr rx app), a third party application programming interface 422 (third party api) for a bluetooth low energy chip 424 (btle chip hw), and an rf antenna array 426 which may be used to receive and utilize the pockets of energy sent from wireless power transmitter 402 . power receiver app 420 may call third party application programming interface 422 for running a plurality of functions, including establishing a connection, ending a connection, and sending data, among others. third party application programming interface 422 may have a timer callback that may go for ten times a second, and may send callbacks every time a connection begins, a connection ends, a connection is attempted, or message is received. client device 404 may be paired to an adaptable power receiver 406 via a btle connection 428 . a graphical user interface (gui 430 ) may be used to manage the wireless power network from a client device 404 . gui 430 may be a software module that may be downloaded from any suitable application store and may run on any suitable operating system, including ios and android, amongst others. client device 404 may also communicate with wireless power transmitter 402 via a btle connection 428 to send important data, such as an identifier for the device, battery level information, geographic location data, or any other information that may be of use for wireless power transmitter 402 . a wireless power manager 432 software may be used in order to manage wireless power transmission system 400 . wireless power manager 432 may be a software module hosted in memory and executed by a processor inside a computing device 434 . the wireless power manager 432 may include a local application gui, or host a web page gui, from where a user 436 may see options and statuses, as well as execute commands to manage the wireless power transmission system 400 . the computing device 434 , which may be cloud-based, may be connected to the wireless power transmitter 402 through standard communication protocols, including bluetooth, bluetooth low energy, wi-fi, or zigbee, amongst others. power transmitter manager app 408 may exchange information with wireless power manager 432 in order to control access by and power transmission to client devices 404 . functions controlled by wireless power manager 432 may include scheduling power transmission for individual devices, prioritizing between different client devices, accessing credentials for each client, tracking physical locations of power receivers relative to power transmitter areas, broadcasting messages, and/or any functions required to manage the wireless power transmission system 400 . fig. 5 illustrates a wireless power transmission system network 500 , according to an exemplary embodiment. according to some embodiments, wireless power transmission system network 500 may include multiple wireless power transmission systems 502 capable of communicating with a remote information service 504 through internet cloud 506 . in some embodiments, wireless power transmission system 502 may include one or more wireless power transmitters 508 , one or more power receivers 510 , one or more optional back-up servers 512 and a local network 514 . according to some embodiments, each power transmitter 508 may include wireless power transmitter manager 516 software and a distributed wireless power transmission system database 518 . each power transmitter 508 may be capable of managing and transmitting power to one or more power receivers 510 , where each power receiver 510 may be capable of charging or providing power to one or more electronic devices 520 . power transmitter managers 516 may control the behavior of power transmitters 508 , monitor the state of charge of electronic devices 520 , and control power receivers 510 , keep track of the location of power receivers 510 , execute power schedules, run system check-ups, and keep track of the energy provided to each of the different electronic devices 520 , amongst others. according to some embodiments, database 518 may store relevant information from electronic devices 520 such as, identifiers for electronic devices 520 , voltage ranges for measurements from power receivers 510 , location, signal strength and/or any relevant information from electronic devices 520 . database 518 may also store information relevant to the wireless power transmission system 502 such as, receiver id's, transmitter id's, end-user handheld device names or id's, system management server id's, charging schedules, charging priorities and/or any data relevant to a power transmission system network 500 . additionally, in some embodiments, database 518 may store data of past and present system status. the past system status data may include details such as the amount of power delivered to an electronic device 520 , the amount of energy that was transferred to a group of electronic devices 520 associated with a user, the amount of time an electronic device 520 has been associated to a wireless power transmitter 508 , pairing records, activities within the system, any action or event of any wireless power device in the system, errors, faults, and configuration problems, among others. past system status data may also include power schedules, names, customer sign-in names, authorization and authentication credentials, encrypted information, physical areas of system operation, details for running the system, and any other suitable system or user-related information. present system status data stored in database 518 may include the locations and/or movements in the system, configuration, pairing, errors, faults, alarms, problems, messages sent between the wireless power devices, and tracking information, among others. according to some exemplary embodiments, databases 518 within power transmitters 508 may further store future system status information, where the future status of the system may be forecasted or evaluated according to historical data from past system status data and present system status data. in some embodiments, records from all device databases 518 in a wireless power transmission system 502 may also be stored and periodically updated in server 512 . in some embodiments, wireless power transmission system network 500 may include two or more servers 512 . in other embodiments, wireless power transmission system network 500 may not include any servers 512 . in another exemplary embodiment, wireless power transmitters 508 may further be capable of detecting failures in the wireless power transmission system 502 . examples of failures in power transmission system 502 may include overheating of any component, malfunction, and overload, among others. if a failure is detected by any of wireless power transmitters 508 within the system, then the failure may be analyzed by any wireless power transmitter manager 516 in the system. after the analysis is completed, a recommendation or an alert may be generated and reported to owner of the power transmission system or to a remote cloud-based information service, for distribution to system owner or manufacturer or supplier. in some embodiments, power transmitters 508 may use network 514 to send and receive information. network 514 may be a local area network, or any suitable communication system between the components of the wireless power transmission system 502 . network 514 may enable communication between power transmitters, system management servers 512 (if any), and other power transmission systems 502 (if any), amongst others. according to some embodiments, network 514 may facilitate data communication between power transmission system 502 and remote information service 504 through internet cloud 506 . remote information service 504 may be operated by the owner of the system, the manufacturer or supplier of the system, or a service provider. remote management system may include business cloud 522 , remote manager software 524 , and one or more backend servers 526 , where the remote manager software 524 may further include a general database 528 . remote manager software 524 may run on a backend server 526 , which may be a one or more physical or virtual servers. general database 528 may store additional backups of the information stored in the device databases 518 . additionally, general database 528 may store marketing information, customer billing, customer configuration, customer authentication, and customer support information, among others. in some embodiments, general database 528 may also store information, such as less popular features, errors in the system, problems report, statistics, and quality control, among others. each wireless power transmitter 508 may periodically establish a tcp communication connection with remote manager software 524 for authentication, problem report purposes or reporting of status or usage details, among others. fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a method for automatic initiation at boot 600 of a power transmitter self-test, according to an exemplary embodiment. the method for automatic initiation at boot 600 of a power transmitter (pt) self-test may start when a pt manager boots-up 602 a pt. subsequently, pt may scan 604 for all power receivers (pr) within communications range. for each pr found, wireless power transmission system may command pt to perform 606 a communication self-test for a finite period of time, and then pt stops 608 the communication self-test. if the pt finds a problem 610 during the self-test, pt manager may generate 612 a report to inform a user, at a computing device, of the problem. afterwards, pt may start its normal operation 614 . fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a method for automatic initiation during normal operation 700 of a pt self-test, according to an exemplary embodiment. periodically, a wireless power transmission system may automatically initiate an automatic self-test and report outcome to system user. the wireless power transmission system may automatically initiate test of an individual system unit or end-to-end test of complete system. control of automatic initiation of test for one or more pts by system may be configured by user. control of automatic initiation may include when to start automatically initiated test, what to test, and how long to run the automatic test, among other parameters. the method for automatic initiation during normal operation 700 of a pt self-test may start when a wireless power transmission system receives a user configuration 702 from a user computing device. user configuration 702 may be through a system management gui web site hosted by the system management service that is cloud based or on a local server, or through a system management gui app running on the user's mobile computing device. following user configuration 702 , pt may start its normal operation 704 , during which pt manager may employ the user configuration 702 to check 706 if it's time to perform the self-test. if current time does not correspond with the user configuration 702 , pt may continue with its normal operation 704 . if current time does correspond with the user configuration 702 , wireless power transmission system may command each configured pt to perform 708 a communication self-test. subsequently, after the period of time has been completed, according to user configuration 702 , wireless power transmission system may command the pts whose period has been completed to stop 710 self-test. wireless power transmission system may then check 712 if testing has been performed long enough. if self-test has not been performed long enough, wireless power transmission system may command each configured pt to again perform 708 communication self-test. if self-test has been performed long enough pt manager application may send a report 714 of the outcome to the user computing device and inform the user that the automatic self-test has been performed. fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a method for manual initiation 800 of a pt self-test, according to an exemplary embodiment. a user may employ a computing device and manually start a self-test of a single pt, specific set of pts, or all system pts. manual initiation 800 of self-test may be commanded by a user computer device operating the system management gui, either an app running on a user computing device, or a web site hosted by a system management server. the method for manual initiation 800 of a pt self-test may start during pt normal operation 802 . a user employs a computing device to configure 804 the test and subsequently command 806 a wireless power transmission system to start the test. the wireless power transmission system may then start 808 the test commanding 810 each configured pt to perform 812 the self-test. the algorithm employed by the wireless power transmission system to command the start of the test may be performed by a pt manager application in a wireless power transmission system cloud or a pt application running on the user computing device. the user, by means of a computing device, may specify the duration of test at start. wireless power transmission system may then check 814 if testing has been performed long enough. if self-test has not been performed long enough, wireless power transmission system may command the next configured pt to perform 812 a communication self-test. pt self-test may run indefinitely until self-test has been performed long enough or test is ended by a user by means of a computing device. if self-test has been performed long enough or test is ended by a user computing device, then pt manager application may send a report 816 of the outcome to the user at the system management gui and inform the user that the automatic self-test has been performed. fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a method for performing a pt communication self-test 900 , according to an exemplary embodiment. in one embodiment, when a pt boots-up, pt may scan for all prs within the communication range. for each pr found, pt may perform an automatic communication self-test for a finite period of time, and then pt may stop self-test and may start normal operation. once boot-time communication self-test has passed, pt may periodically check if a command to run self-test has been communicated to it from system management software that is external to the pt. in other embodiments, wireless power transmission system may periodically automatically initiate the automatic communication self-test and report outcome to system user. the system may automatically initiate the communication self-test of an individual system unit or an end-to-end test of the complete system. control of automatic initiation of test by system may be configured by a user. in another embodiment, a user may manually start self-test of a single transmitter, specific set of transmitters, or all system transmitters. communication self-test may run indefinitely until stopped by user, or user may specify duration of test at start. in some embodiments, a wireless power transmission system management software may communicate the self-test command to a pt in response to a user command entered at a client device that is running a system mobile management app, or at the system web page that is hosted by the system management server. in some embodiments, a wireless power transmission system management software may communicate the self-test command to a pt automatically in response to some trigger event, such as the passage of a finite amount of time, or other. the command may indicate that the pt should run the test until commanded to stop, or run the test for a specific duration. method for performing a pt communication self-test 900 may start when a wireless power transmission system's management application software, running on a system management server, selects 902 a pt to test. subsequently, the selected pt may scan for all prs within communication range. for each pr found, the pt may connect 904 and then initiate communication interchange 906 with pr. communication interchange 906 may be in real-time. once communication is established, the pt may perform any suitable type of system message exchange, employing any suitable type of system message between the pt and the pr. then, pt may periodically disconnect and re-connect 908 from pr, in order to test re-connection. pt may update metrics counters with software actions and operations. afterwards, wireless power transmission manager app may check 910 if there is a problem of communication between pt and pr. if a problem is found, pt manager application may generate 912 a report to send to the wireless power transmission manager app on the system management server any unexpected patterns of metrics counters or, unexpected operation, or any test failure. if a problem is not found, pt may report that self-test passed to the wireless power transmission manager application. the wireless power transmission manager app may then check 914 if testing has been performed long enough. if self-test has not been performed long enough, pt may connect 904 to the next pr, and then initiate communication interchange 906 with pr. if self-test has been performed long enough pt manager application may signal 916 the pr that the self-test has ended, and then end communication with pr. pt may check 918 if there are other prs to be tested and subsequently connect 904 with a pr to test and begin the process of method for performing a pt communication self-test 900 . if there are no other prs to be tested, the process may end and tested pt may begin normal operation. if transmitter started the test at boot, then test may end after a finite duration that may be set or hard-coded in the system software. if test was started by external management software to run for a finite duration, then test may end when transmitter determines that duration has elapsed. if test was started by external management software to run indefinitely, then test may only end when external management software communicates a command to transmitter to end the test. after the communication self-test ends, each pt performing the self-test may end communication connection with latest pr being tested. prs may begin normal operation. the counts of all actions and operations, performed by the wireless power transmission system while testing connections and communication may be stored in metrics counters within a database. when the pt communication self-test 900 is complete, said metrics counters may be compared with expected values. if said metrics counters match the expected values, then test passed, otherwise test failed. the wireless power transmission system may report to the user computing device the outcome of the test. examples example #1 is an embodiment of the application of method for performing a pt communication self-test 900 , where a wireless power transmission system is being used in an office environment. the office environment includes a first and second wireless power transmitter, the two of which are in communication with a wireless power management service running on a server in the it department. in example #1, the wireless power transmission system receives a command from a user computing device stating that the computing device is to be charged, and the wireless power transmission manager proceeds to command the pt within the communication range of the user computing device to perform pt communication self-test 900 as described in fig. 9 . the pt looks up in its copy of the system database the pr that powers said computing device. when checking the communication between the pt and the pr, unexpected patterns of metrics counters are identified and the self-test fails. the power transmitter manager software within the tested pt then generates a report including the information of the outcome of the self-test and communicates the generated report to the computing device, which is running the system management gui, which notifies user computing device of test result. the foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented. as will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. words such as “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods. although process flow diagrams may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. in addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. a process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. when a process corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function. the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention. embodiments implemented in computer software may be implemented in software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. a code segment or machine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. a code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc. the actual software code or specialized control hardware used to implement these systems and methods is not limiting of the invention. thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and methods were described without reference to the specific software code being understood that software and control hardware can be designed to implement the systems and methods based on the description herein. when implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executable software module which may reside on a computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable media includes both computer storage media and tangible storage media that facilitate transfer of a computer program from one place to another. a non-transitory processor-readable storage media may be any available media that may be accessed by a computer. by way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory processor-readable media may comprise ram, rom, eeprom, cd-rom or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible storage medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer or processor. disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (cd), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (dvd), floppy disk, and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable medium and/or computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product. the preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
|
118-432-576-505-000
|
US
|
[
"US",
"DE"
] |
G06F3/041,G06F3/037,G06F3/00,G09G5/00
| 2004-12-30T00:00:00 |
2004
|
[
"G06",
"G09"
] |
input device
|
an input device, especially for a vehicle, comprises a touchscreen to enter commands by touching an operating surface of the touchscreen or by pressing on the operating surface, an actuator to move the touchscreen in at least one direction, and a control module to control the actuator as a function of the speed of a touching movement over the operating surface.
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1. an input device comprising: a touchscreen for entry of commands by touching an operating surface of the touchscreen or by pressing on the operating surface; at least one essentially u-shaped spring mechanical connecting the touchscreen to a reference structure; wherein the operating surface of the touchscreen and at least one essentially u-shaped spring extend generally in the same plane; an actuator actuated by a control signal to cause physical movement of the touchscreen in at least one direction, wherein a frequency of the physical movement of the touchscreen is at least partially defined by the u-shaped springs; and a control module to generate the control signal to control the actuator to cause physical movement of the touchscreen as a function of a speed of a touching movement over the operating surface or a quantity derived from this speed. 2. an input device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a speed calculator to determine the speed of the touching movement over the operating surface or a quantity derived from this speed. 3. an input device according to claim 2 , wherein the speed of the touching movement over the operating surface or a quantity derived from this speed can be determined as a function of a position of touching of the operating surface. 4. an input device according to claim 2 , wherein the speed calculator includes a kalman filter. 5. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein the actuator can be driven by the control module as a function of the position of touching of the operating surface or the position of pressing on the operating surface. 6. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein the touchscreen can be moved by the actuator periodically with a frequency or amplitude adjustable by means of the control module. 7. an input device according to claim 6 , wherein the frequency or amplitude can be adjusted as a function of the speed of the touching movement over the operating surface or a quantity derived from this speed. 8. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein the touchscreen can be moved by the actuator essentially parallel to the operating surface. 9. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein a rotational movement can be generated by the actuator. 10. an input device according to claim 9 , wherein the axis of the rotation of movement is essentially perpendicular to the operating surface. 11. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein the essentially u-shaped spring has a spring constant adjusted to a weight of the touchscreen, no that the touchscreen, in conjunction with the essentially u-shaped spring, has a mechanical natural frequency from 5 hz to 150 hz. 12. an input device according to claim 11 , wherein the actuator is driven, so that during touching of the operating surface on a first position, a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface can be felt, which can be distinguished from the actual surface condition of the operating surface, or that during touching of the operating surface on a first position, a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface can be felt that can be distinguished from a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface at least one second position. 13. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein each essentially u-shaped spring is generally aligned in the same plane as the touchscreen. 14. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein: the touchscreen lies in a plane; the at least one essentially u-shaped spring allows for physical movement of the touchscreen in (a) a first direction generally within the plane of the touchscreen and (b) a second direction generally within the plane of the touchscreen and perpendicular to the first direction. 15. an input device according to claim 1 , wherein: the touchscreen lies in a plane; each essentially u-shaped spring has (a) a first spring constant in a first direction generally within the plane of the touchscreen and (b) a second spring constant in a second direction generally within the plane of the touchscreen and perpendicular to the first direction, the second spring constant being different from the first spring constant. 16. an input device comprising: a touchscreen for input of commands by touching an operating surface of the touchscreen or by pressing on the operating surface; at least one essentially u-shaped spring mechanical connecting the touchscreen to a reference structure; wherein the operating surface of the touchscreen and at least one essentially u-shaped spring extend generally in the same plane; an actuator actuated by a control signal to cause physical movement of the touchscreen in at least one direction, wherein a frequency of the physical movement of the touchscreen is at least partially defined by the u-shaped springs; and a control module to generate the control signal to control the actuator to cause physical movement of the touchscreen such that: a first supposed surface condition of the operating surface can be felt by one touching the operating surface on a first position; and a second supposed surface condition of the operating surface different than the first supposed surface condition can be felt by one touching the operating surface on a second position distinct from the first position; wherein the first and second supposed surface conditions differ from an actual surface condition of the operating surface. 17. an input device comprising: a touchscreen for entry of a command by touching an operating surface of the touchscreen or by pressing on the operating surface; at least one essentially u-shaped spring mechanical connecting the touchscreen to a reference structure; wherein the operating surface of the touchscreen and at least one essentially u-shaped spring extend generally in the same plane; an actuator actuated by a control signal to cause physical movement of the touchscreen in at least one direction, wherein a frequency of the physical movement of the touchscreen is at least partially defined by the u-shaped springs; and an observer to determine a speed of a touching movement over the operating surface or a quantity derived from the speed, wherein the control signal causes physical movement of the touchscreen as a function of the speed or the quantity derived from the speed. 18. an input device according to claim 17 , wherein the observer is configured as a kalman filter.
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cross-reference to related applications this application claims the benefit of u.s. provisional application no. 60/640,677 filed on dec. 30, 2004, entitled “eingabevorrichtung”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. technical field the invention concerns an input device with a touchscreen, especially an input device for a vehicle. background a touchscreen is known from de 201 02 197 u1 (incorporated by reference). a touchscreen for display of electronic signals and an a confirming touch input of characters and symbols, consisting of a function level for display and key entry and a higher-order, point-deformable protective level corresponding to it, is disclosed in de 201 02 197 u1. during selection of certain points of the functional level, by means of touch, at least one operating signal for the touch direction (haptic stimulus) of the user is detectable via the protected level at the position of the contact point in the deformed protected level and the operating signal for the touch direction (haptic stimulus) is generated by oscillation elements arranged eccentrically inside and/or beneath the function level. in addition, in the touchscreen known from de 201 02 197 u1, transmission of the generated oscillations from the function to the protection level occurs by direct contact of the two levels and/or via the edge regions of the levels by rigid or elastic connection elements. details concerning touchscreens can be taken, for example, from the internet page www.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/. the following touchscreens of 3m™ are offered: microtouch™ 12.1″ fpd touch monitor (vg. www.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/monitors/fpddesktop.jhtlm)microtouch™ m150 fpd touch monitor (vg. www.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/monitors/m150.jhtlm)microtouch™ crt touch monitor (vg. www.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/monitors/crtdesktop.jhtlm)microtouch™ chassistouch™ fpd touch monitor (vg. www.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/monitors/fpdchassis.jhtlm)microtouch™ chassistouch™ crt touch monitor (vg. www.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/monitors/crtchassis.jhtlm) additional details concerning touchscreens can also be taken from the following internet pages: www.elotouch.com/products/default.aspwww.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/resistive/5-wire.jhtmlwww.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/resistive/pl.jhtmlwww.3m-com/3mtouchsystems/products/resistive/fg.jhtmlwww.3m.com/3mtouchsystems/products/resistive/srts.jhtml a touch control with haptic feedback for entry of signals into a computer and output of forces to a user of the touch control for haptic feedback is known from de 201 80 024 u1 and the corresponding wo 01/54109 a1 (incorporated by reference), in which the touch control has a touch input device, which has a roughly flat contact surface, operated so that it enters a position signal into a processor of the computer, based on a position on the touch surface that the user touches, during which the position signal indicates the position in two dimensions. the touch control according to wo 01/54109 a1 also has at least one actuator connected to the touch input device, in which the actuator delivers a force to the touch input device, in order to provide a haptic sensation for the user touching the touch surface, in which the actuator delivers the force based on force information sent by the processor directly to the touch input device. haptic feedback is also known from u.s. pat. no. 6,429,846, wo 03/038800 a (incorporated by reference) and wo 03/41046 a1 (incorporated by reference). an operating element for a device with several selectable menus, functions and/or function values is known from de 197 31 285 a1, having a surface that can be grasped by the user, and via which selection can be carried out by local movement or contact of the surface. the surface can be varied in its configuration according to the selected and/or selectable menus, function and/or function value. summary the task of the invention is to improve an input device with a touchscreen. it is desirable to devise an input device that is particularly suited for vehicles. the aforementioned task is solved by an input device, especially for a vehicle, for a touchscreen for input of commands by touching an operating surface of the touchscreen or by pressing on the operating surface, with an actuator to move the touchscreen in at least one direction, and with a control module to control the actuator as a function of a speed of a touching movement over the operating surface and/or a quantity derived from this speed. a touching movement over the operating surface is understood to mean that the operating surface is touched, for example, with a finger, but this finger is simultaneously moved over the operating surface. a quantity derived from the speed according to the invention can be a quantity formed from a measured speed. a quantity derived from the speed according to the invention, however, can also be a quantity, during whose formation a speed is used. for example, in this sense, a quantity derived from the speed can be a path, determined by means of an observer, which includes a speed as a variable of state. in one configuration of the invention, the input device also includes a speed calculator to determine the speed of the touching movement over the operating surface and/or the quantity derived from this speed, especially to determine the speed of the touching movement over the operating surface and/or the quantity derived from this speed as a function of a measured position of the touching movement over the operating surface. it can therefore be prescribed that the speed of the touching movement over the operating surface and/or the quantity derived from this speed be determinable as a function of a position of touching of the operating surface. in another embodiment of the invention, the speed calculator includes an observer, especially a kalman filter. in another embodiment of the invention, the actuator can be driven by means of the control module, also as a function of the position of touching of the operating surface or the position of a pressing on the operating surface. in another embodiment of the invention, the touchscreen can be moved periodically by the actuator with a frequency and/or amplitude adjustable by the control module. in another embodiment of the invention, the frequency and/or amplitude can be adjusted as a function of the speed of the touching movement over the operating surface and/or the quantity derived from this speed. in another embodiment of the invention, the touchscreen can be moved, by means of the actuator, essentially parallel to the operating surface. in another embodiment of the invention, a rotational movement can be generated by means of the actuator, in which the access of the rotational movement can be essentially perpendicular to the operating surface. in another embodiment of the invention, the input device also includes at least one essentially u-shaped spring for mechanical connection of the touchscreen to a reference element. such a reference element can be a part of a vehicle, for example, a steering wheel or a console. it can be prescribed that the touchscreen is also designed for optical display of information. in an alternative embodiment, however, a display for optical display of information is arranged beneath the (transparent) touchscreen, in which the touchscreen can be moved relative to the display, especially in a direction essentially parallel to the operating surface. in this case, the display is the reference element according to the invention, or at least part of the reference element according to the invention. in one embodiment of the invention, the input device includes at least three, especially four, essentially u-shaped springs for mechanical connection of the touchscreen to the reference element. in another embodiment of the invention, the essentially u-shaped spring has an especially 5 mm to 30 mm wide opening, directed essentially toward the touchscreen. in addition, the essentially u-shaped spring, in one embodiment of the invention, has an opening at the essentially opposite crest, in which the essentially u-shaped spring is aligned, so that an imaginary line passing through the crest and through the opening runs essentially parallel to the operating surface. in one embodiment of the invention, the actuator is configured, so that the touchscreen can be moved, by means of the actuator, essentially parallel to the operating surface, especially because of a rotational movement of the actuator. in another embodiment of the invention, the essentially u-shaped spring has a thickness from 0.5 mm to 2 mm. the spring, in another embodiment according to the invention, consists essentially of plastic. such a plastic can be polycarbonate, abs, acetal or polyethylene. essentially u-shaped springs made of acetal are particularly suitable. in another embodiment of the invention, the essentially u-shaped spring has a spring constant adjusted to a weight of the touch screen, so that the touchscreen, in conjunction with the essentially u-shaped spring (or all springs) has a natural mechanical frequency from 5 hz to 150 hz, especially a natural frequency of 30 hz to 75 hz. in another embodiment of the invention, the essentially u-shaped spring has two spring arms, an opening arranged between the two spring arms and a connection point, at which the two spring arms are connected, in which the essentially u-shaped spring has a main spring constant parallel to the opening and a secondary spring constant in a direction running through the connection point and through the opening, and in which the secondary spring constant is at least twice the main spring constant, especially at least three times that value. in another embodiment of the invention, the essentially u-shaped spring has two spring arms, an opening arranged between the two spring arms and a connection point, at which the two spring arms are connected, in which the essentially u-shaped spring has a main spring constant parallel to the opening, in which the essentially u-shaped spring has a secondary spring constant perpendicular to the opening, and in which the secondary spring constant is at least twice the main spring constant. springs in which the secondary spring constant amounts to at least four times the main spring constant are suitable. in another embodiment of the invention, the essentially u-shaped spring has two spring arms, an opening arranged between the two spring arms and a connection point, at which the two spring arms are connected, in which the essentially u-shaped spring has a main spring constant parallel to the opening and operating surface, in which the essentially u-shaped spring has a secondary spring constant perpendicular to the opening, but parallel to the operating surface, and in which the secondary spring constant is at least two times, especially three times, the main spring constant. springs in which the secondary spring constant is at least four times the main spring constant are readily suitable. in another embodiment of the invention, the input device includes at least two essentially u-shaped springs and at least one mechanical connection element for connection of the at least two essentially u-shaped springs, in which the mechanical connection element and the at least two essentially u-shaped springs are produced, or especially cast, together from one piece. in another embodiment of the invention, the input device comprises at least three essentially u-shaped springs and at least a frame to connect the at least three essentially u-shaped springs and to accommodate the touchscreen, in which the frame and the at least three essentially u-shaped springs are produced, or especially cast, together from one piece. in another embodiment of the invention, the input device comprises at least four essentially u-shaped springs and at least one frame to connect the at least four essentially u-shaped springs and to accommodate the touchscreen, in which the frame and the at least four essentially u-shaped springs are produced, especially cast, together from one piece. in another embodiment of the invention, the touchscreen is held freely floating relative to the reference element by the essentially u-shaped springs, especially without a ball bearing and a ball bearing-like element and/or a sliding surface. in another embodiment of the invention, the actuator can be driven, so that when the operating surface is touched at a first position, a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface can be felt, which can be distinguished from the actual surface condition of the operating surface, and/or that when the operating surface is touched at a first position, a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface can be felt that can be distinguished from a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface at least one second position. the aforementioned task, especially in conjunction with the aforementioned embodiments, is also solved by an input device with a touchscreen for input of commands by touching an operating surface of the touchscreen or by pressing on the operating surface, with an actuator for movement of the touchscreen in at least one direction and with a control module for control of the actuator, so that when the operating surface is touched at one position, a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface can be felt that can be distinguished from the actual surface condition of the operating surface, and/or that when the operating surface is touched in a first position, a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface can be felt that can be distinguished from a supposedly surface condition of the operating surface at least one second position. the aforementioned task is also solved, especially in conjunction with the aforementioned embodiments, by an input device with a touchscreen for input of commands by touching an operating surface of the touchscreen or by pressing on the operating surface, an actuator for movement of the touchscreen in at least one direction and an observer to determine a speed of a touching movement over the operating surface or a quantity derived from this speed. in one embodiment of the invention, the observer is configured as a kalman filter. additional advantages and details are apparent from the following description of practical examples. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a practical example for a cockpit of a vehicle; fig. 2 shows another practical example for a cockpit of a vehicle; fig. 3 shows an input device; fig. 4 shows a cross section of the input device along line a-a according to fig. 3 ; fig. 5 shows a control; fig. 6 shows a speed calculator; fig. 7 shows a practical example for a base mask, depicted by means of an input device; fig. 8 shows a practical example for a mask for operation of an air conditioner; fig. 9 shows a practical example for a mask for operation of a navigation system; fig. 10 shows a practical example for a submask for operation of a navigation system; fig. 11 shows a practical example for an other submask for operation of a navigation system; and fig. 12 shows a practical example for a mask for operation of a telephone. detailed description fig. 1 shows a practical example for a cockpit 1 of a vehicle. in the cockpit 1 , a steering wheel 2 is arranged beneath a dashboard 3 . the dashboard 3 has an input device 4 arranged next to steering wheel 2 . fig. 2 shows an alternative practical example for a cockpit of a vehicle, in which a steering wheel 6 is also arranged beneath its dashboard 7 in cockpit 5 . however, deviating from the practical example according to fig. 1 , an input device 8 is arranged in the steering wheel 6 . fig. 3 shows, as a possible practical example of an input device 4 or 8 , an input device 10 for optical display of information and for entry of commands in a top view. fig. 4 shows a cross section of the input device 10 along line b-b according to fig. 3 . the input device 10 has a transparent touchscreen 16 with an operating surface 16 a arranged over display 17 . display 17 is connected to reference element 21 by means of mounts 29 a, 29 b, 29 c and 29 d. the reference element 21 can be part of the dashboard 3 or steering wheel 6 . the touchscreen 16 , in an advantageous embodiment, can include a force sensor (not shown) or an equivalent sensor, by means of which a pressure exerted by an operator on touchscreen 16 can be determined. in this manner, by means of touchscreen 16 , touching of touchscreen 16 by a user can be distinguished from a known operation by pressing on the touchscreen 16 . in this case, touching of touchscreen 16 on a site indicated as operating element therefore leads to operation of the touchscreen 16 , but not simple touching of the touchscreen 16 by a user on a site indicated as an operating element. this type of configuration is advantageous for use in vehicles. touchscreen 16 is secured by means of a frame 15 . frame 15 has four u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , which are connected to each other by connecting elements 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d. the frame 15 is a plastic cast part, i.e., the u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 are cast together from one piece of plastic with the connection elements 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d. such a plastic can be polycarbonate, abs, acetal or polyethylene. particularly suitable u-shaped springs can be made from acetal. the frame is glued on the connection elements 15 a and 15 c to the touchscreen 16 . as an alternative or in an additional embodiment, the touchscreen 16 is secure din the frame by a bias in u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 . the frame 15 has a (flexible) connection piece 19 , connected to the connection element 15 c. connection piece 19 has a distortion 19 a, comprising an eccentric drive shaft pin 18 a of an actuator designed as an electric motor. the rotational movement of actuator 18 is converted to a translational movement. actuator 18 is configured as a dc (brush) motor. however, other configurations can also be used in conjunction with a different connection to frame 15 , for example, piezoactuators or so-called voice coils. the u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 each have two spring arms 25 and 27 , an opening 28 arranged between the two spring arms 25 and 27 and a connection point 26 , at which the two spring arms 25 and 27 are connected. the u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 have a main spring constant, essentially parallel to opening 28 , and a secondary spring constant, essentially perpendicular to opening 28 , in which the secondary spring constant is at least four times the main spring constant. in the present practical example, the main spring constant refers to a direction designation main direction hr in fig. 3 , and the secondary spring constant pertains to a direction designated secondary direction nr in fig. 3 . the main direction hr and the secondary direction nr are orthogonal to each other, but parallel to operating surface 16 a. the u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 have a thickness d from 0.5 mm to 2 mm, in the present practical example 0.8 mm. the width of opening 28 is between 5 mm and 30 mm. the specific width of opening 28 is chosen as a function of the material, so that a desired main spring constant is achieved. the main spring constant is then adjusted to a weight of the touchscreen 16 , so that the touchscreen 16 , in conjunction with u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , has a mechanical natural frequency from 5 hz to 150 hz, especially a natural frequency from 30 hz to 75 hz. in the present practical example, it is prescribed that the natural frequency is 55 hz. natural frequency according to the invention is especially the smallest mechanical resonance frequency of the system, consisting of u-shaped springs 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 and touchscreen 16 . the term u-shaped springs according to the invention is to be understood as broadly as possible. u-shaped springs according to the invention therefore include springs having two spring arms. the touchscreen 16 and display 17 , according to figs. 3 and 4 , are connected, in terms of data, to a control 20 , from which a signal az with information to be displayed on display 17 is sent to display 17 . the control 20 receives a signal p from touchscreen 16 , stating where a user is touching the touchscreen 16 and/or, if prescribed, whether the user is pressing on a position of touchscreen 16 marked as an input position, so that this is to be understood as an input. it can be prescribed that an input occurs by simple touching of touchscreen 16 . however, it could also be prescribed that an input does not occur merely by simple touching of touchscreen 16 , but by (light) pressing on touchscreen 16 . the latter is a procedure particularly suitable for use in vehicles. for certain regions or positions of touch surface 16 a, it is prescribed to generate such a control signal s by means of control 20 , so that during touching of operating surface 16 a at one position, a supposedly surface condition of operating surface 16 a can be felt, which can be distinguished from the actual surface condition of operating surface 16 a, and/or that when the operating surface 16 a is touched at a first position, a supposedly surface condition of operating surface 16 a can be felt, which can be distinguished from a supposedly surface condition of operating surface 16 a at least the second position. on possible implementation of such a control 20 is shown in fig. 5 . only the functions or modules that serve to simulate a surface condition are shown there. further functions or modules of control 20 are not shown, for reasons of clarity. the control 20 includes (with reference to fig. 6 , described later) a speed calculator 30 for calculation of a speed {circumflex over (ν)} x , a touching movement over the operating surface in the x direction and/or a quantity derived from this speed {circumflex over (ν)} x , like an estimated x component {circumflex over (x)} of a position. the input quantity in the speed calculation 30 is the x component x of position p. the speed calculator 30 includes a kalman filter 35 , in which m·ρ is a constant. this constant can be chosen, so that m describes, for example, the weight of a human forearm and ρ a friction valve for characterization of a friction force between the skin and touch surface 16 a during slight pressure on touch surface 16 a. k is the so-called kalman amplification. details for calculation of kalman amplification can be gathered from the book “optimum systems control”, pages 191 to 261 (incorporated by reference). the control 20 also includes a speed calculator 31 , configured similarly to speed calculator 30 , for calculation of a speed {circumflex over (ν)} of a touching movement over the operating surface in the y direction and/or a quantity derived from this speed {circumflex over (ν)} y , like an estimated y component ŷ of a position. the input quantity in the speed calculation 30 is the y component y of position p. the control 20 optionally includes a module 32 for calculation of a total speed {circumflex over (ν)} according to 0 {circumflex over (ν)}=|√{square root over ({circumflex over (ν)} x 2 +{circumflex over (ν)} y 2 )}| and a control module 33 to generate the control signal s. it can then be prescribed that the control signal s is formed according to s=s 0 sin(2·π· f·t ) with f=c 1·{circumflex over (ν)} or with f=c 2·{circumflex over (ν)}+ c 3 in which s 0 , c 1 , c 2 and c 3 are constants, and in which t is time. it can also be prescribed that s 0 is a function of total speed {circumflex over (ν)}. for example, s 0 can be formed according to s 0 =c 4·{circumflex over (ν)}+ c 5 in which c 4 and c 5 are constants. in this case, it can also be prescribed that c 2 equals 0. in an alternative embodiment, the control signal s is formed according to s=s 0 ·sin( c 6· t ) in which c 6 is a constant that can also include one, and in which s 0 can be calculated, for example, by a fourier series, which is formed in a published article according to the internet address www.isrg.reading.ac.uk/common/publications00226.pdf “modeling of surface identifying characteristics used in fourier series”, s. a. wall and w. s. harwin, the department of cybernetics, university of reading, for describing surface treatment. thus, it can be prescribed that s 0 is formed according to the following equation: in the case of such calculation of s 0 , module 32 drops out. in addition, the velocity of calculator 30 and 31 is to be changed, so that the functional block 36 is the same as matrix c. this means [0 1] can be replaced with [1 0]. it can also be prescribed that the control signal s is configured as a velocity- or path-dependent rectangular signal, as a velocity- or path-dependent triangular signal or as a speed- or path-dependent periodic function with, for example, 1000 support sites for one period. in addition to simulation of different surfaces, haptic feedback can also be prescribed for confirmation of input of a command. it can then prescribed that control 20 generate an at least 50 ms long control signal s as confirmation of input of a command, by means of which actuator 18 is briefly moved. the individual components of the input device are then dimensioned, so that the touchscreen 16 is deflected less than 1 mm. a control signal s can be a simple jump function for a duration between 50 ms and 800 ms, especially for a duration between 100 ms and 400 ms, or a control signal for generation of a more complex movement. in a configuration preferred by a number of test subjects, the touchscreen 16 can be moved to confirm a command, entered by means of touchscreen 16 , with a diminishing oscillation in a direction parallel to touchscreen 16 . the diminishing oscillation has an envelope curve with an exponential fraction. the envelope curve then has a term t a0 or a term b0 t , in which a0 and b0 are variables. the envelope curve can be a function of a1+a2·t a3 or b1+b2 t , in which a1, a2, a3, b1 and b2 are variables. in addition, the diminishing oscillation has a frequency between 5 hz and 80 hz. a particularly suitable control signal has a frequency of 38.1 hz and has decayed after 210 ms, in which decay occurs according to a quadratic relation. the input devices 4 and 8 , configured according to input device 10 , can, in an advantageous embodiment, replace, for example, a display and operating device disclosed in wo 00/21795 (incorporated by reference), while retaining its menu-guided functionality. fig. 7 , fig. 8 , fig. 9 , fig. 10 , fig. 11 and fig. 12 show different masks that can be displayed by an input device 40 . the input device 40 is then configured according to input device 10 . the input device 40 in fig. 7 is shown with a ground mask. the input device 40 represents five operating elements 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 and 45 , executed by ellipsis. by pressing the operating element 42 in fig. 7 , a mask, for operation of a radio, is called up and by pressing operating element 43 in fig. 7 a mask for operation of a cd player is called up. if the input device 0 is touched on its touch surface in a region 140 above operating element 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 and 45 , a control signal s is generated by control 20 to simulate a rough surface of the touch surface. it can be prescribed, during touching of operating elements 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 and 45 , that no special surface properties or other surface properties than for region 140 be simulated. in this manner, an operator of the input device 40 can scan the operating elements 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 and 45 and identify them without looking. this type of identifiability is particularly suitable for a vehicle. by pressing the operating element 45 in fig. 7 , a mask, depicted in fig. 8 for operation of an air conditioner, is called up. temperature information of the individual locations in the vehicle interior, together with operating elements 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 and 54 , are shown in the mask depicted in fig. 8 , in which the temperature information also refers to actually set temperatures that can be changed via operating elements 50 , 51 , 53 and 54 . the display according to fig. 8 , with the heading “temperature” and the display of internal space 5 of a vehicle makes it clear that the temperature in the vehicle interior can be adjusted individually and in relation to seat location. the operating element 50 shows, for the front vehicle driver seat 56 , that a temperature of 19° c. is set. the operating element 53 shows, for the front passenger seat 57 , that a temperature of 20° c. is set. for the back seats 58 and 59 , 19° c. is set on the left side and 17° c. on the right. the operating element 52 has an allocation, i.e., a function allocation, that is shown in the display field with “back” (to the next higher menu display, i.e., in the present case, to the mask according to fig. 7 ). if the input device 40 , on its touch surface, in a region 141 outside of the operating elements 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 and 54 or in a region 142 outside the operating elements designated with reference numbers 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 , is touched, a control signal s is generated by control 20 to simulate a rough surface of the touch surface. surface properties, different for regions 141 and 142 , are then simulated. it can be prescribed, during touching of operating elements 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 , that no special surface properties are simulated or surface properties different than those for regions 141 and 142 are simulated. by pressing the operating element 41 in fig. 7 , a mask, depicted in fig. 9 , is called up for operation of a navigation system. the mask shows a section of a street map 60 of the instantaneous vehicle location, as well as above the street map 60 , in a field 61 , the destination and distance to the destination. in addition, operating elements 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 67 and 68 are shown, by means of which submasks can be called up by pressing. an operating element 66 , to display a full image, and an operating element 69 , to start a guiding, is also shown. with reference to the details of the menu, wo 00/21795 is referred to, in which the operating element 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 and 69 replace the operating elements 3 a , 3 b , 3 c , 3 d , 3 e , 3 f , 3 g and 3 h , disclosed in wo 00/21795. if the input device 40 is touched on its touch surface in a region 143 or 144 outside of the operating elements 62 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 and 69 , or in a region 142 outside the operating elements designated with reference numbers 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , control signal s is generated by the control 20 to simulate a rough surface of the touch surface. different surface properties are then simulated for regions 143 , 144 and 142 . it can be prescribed, during touching of operating elements 62 , 63 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , that no special surface properties are simulated, or surface properties different than those for regions 143 , 144 and 142 are simulated. by pressing the operating element 62 in fig. 9 , a submask according to fig. 10 is called up, which shows the travel destination in a field 70 . by means of the submask according to fig. 10 , operating elements 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 and 79 are also shown. with reference to details of the menu, wo 00/21795 is also referred to, in which the operating elements 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 and 79 shown on the display are replaced with the operating elements 3 a , 3 b , 3 c , 3 d , 3 e , 3 f , 3 g and 3 h , disclosed in wo 00/21795. if the input device 40 is touched on its touch surface in the region 145 outside of operating elements 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 and 79 or in region 142 outside of the operating elements 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , a control signal s is generated by control 20 to simulate a rough surface of the touch surface. different surface properties are then simulated for regions 145 and 142 . it can be prescribed, during touching of operating elements 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , to simulate no special surface properties or surface properties different than those for regions 145 and 142 . by pressing the operating elements 72 in fig. 10 , a submask according to fig. 11 is called up, which shows a destination to be entered in a field 80 . by means of the submask according to fig. 11 , operating elements 82 , 83 , 84 and 85 are also shown, which replace the operating elements 3 a , 3 d , 3 g and 3 h , disclosed in wo 00/21795. a letter selection line 88 , as well as operating elements 86 , 87 and 89 , are shown in field 80 . the letter selection line 88 can be moved upward or downward by pressing operating elements 86 and 87 . by pressing operating element 89 , a marked letter can be chosen. if the input device 40 is touched on its touch surface in the region 146 outside of operating elements 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 and 89 or in region 142 outside of the operating elements 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , a control signal s is generated by control 20 to simulate a rough surface of the touch surface. for regions 146 and 142 , different surface properties are then simulated. it can be prescribed, during touching of operating elements 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , then no special surface properties are simulated or surface properties different from those for regions 146 and 142 are simulated. by pressing operating element 44 in fig. 7 , a mask shown in fig. 12 for operation of a telephone is called up, which shows selection keys for a telephone in field 90 . by means of the submask according to fig. 12 , operating elements 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 and 99 are also shown, which replace the operating elements 3 a , 3 b , 3 c , 3 d , 3 e , 3 f , 3 g and 3 h , disclosed in wo 00/21795. the selection keys shown in field 90 for a telephone are designed as operating elements, by means of which a telephone number can be dialed. if the input device 40 is touched on its touch surface in region 147 and 148 outside of operating elements 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 and 99 and selection keys are touched in a region 142 outside of operating elements 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , a control signal s is generated by the control 20 to simulate a rough surface of the touch surface. different surface properties are then simulated for regions 146 and 142 . it can be prescribed, on touching of operating elements 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 and selection keys, that no special surface properties are simulated, or surface properties different from those for regions 147 , 148 and 142 are simulated. the operating elements 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , shown in the masks and submasks according to fig. 8 , fig. 9 , fig. 10 , fig. 11 and fig. 12 , correspond to the operating elements 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 and 45 . it can be prescribed that during pressing of operating elements 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 43 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 89 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 , a haptic feedback is produced. for this purpose, the touchscreen of display 40 is then moved when a user input has occurred by pressing the corresponding operating element 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 43 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 89 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 . this is particularly advantageous for use in a vehicle, since a user, i.e., the driver of a vehicle, in this way receives confirmation of his input without having to look at the display. in this way, safety during driving is increased. the invention is particularly suitable for use in a vehicle, but not restricted to this use. a vehicle according to the invention is especially a land vehicle, usable individually in traffic. vehicles according to the invention are not restricted to land vehicles with internal combustion engines. list of reference numbers 1 , 5 cockpit2 , 6 steering wheel3 , 7 dashboard4 , 8 , 10 , 40 input device11 , 12 , 13 , 14 spring15 frame15 a, 15 b, 15 c, 15 d connection element16 touchscreen16 a operating surface17 display18 actuator18 a drive shaft pin19 connection piece20 distortion control21 reference element25 , 27 spring arm26 connection point28 opening29 a, 29 b, 29 c, 29 d mount30 , 31 speed calculator32 module for calculation of a total speed33 control module35 kalman filter36 function block41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ,50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ,62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ,67 , 68 , 69 , 72 , 73 ,74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ,79 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ,86 , 87 , 89 , 92 , 93 ,94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 ,99 , 100 , 101 , 102 ,103 , 104 operating elements55 internal space56 vehicle driver seat57 passenger seat58 , 59 back seat60 street map61 , 70 , 80 , 90 field88 letter selection line140 , 141 , 142 ,143 , 144 , 145 ,146 , 147 , 148 regionaz, p signald thicknesshr main directionnr secondary directionm deflections control signal{circumflex over (ν)} total speed{circumflex over (ν)} x speed of a touching movement over an operating surface in the x direction{circumflex over (ν)} y speed of a touching movement over an operating surface in the y directionx x component of a position{circumflex over (x)} estimated x component of a positiony y component of a positionŷ estimated y component of a position
|
119-378-552-681-837
|
TW
|
[
"TW",
"US"
] |
A61M25/092
| 2008-06-25T00:00:00 |
2008
|
[
"A61"
] |
the control system of catheter feeder
|
the invention is disclosed to a control system of catheter feeder. it comprises two rotatable mechanisms and a transmittal device that can propel the guidewire into continuous motion comprising moving forward, moving backward, moving clockwise, and moving counter-clockwise. the invention comprises of a square frame and three gears that are meshed together and are referred to the first, second, and third gear, respectively. at the front of the third gear are the first and second sets of the idle wheels that can hold the guidewire tightly. the invention employs the mechanical gears to control the guidewires' movement.
|
1 . a control apparatus of catheter feeder, comprising: two rotatable mechanisms, said two rotatable mechanisms controlling a transmittal apparatus, said transmittal apparatus propelling a guidewire to process continuous moving forward, moving backward, moving clockwise, and moving counter-clockwise, to form said control apparatus of catheter feeder. 2 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 1 , wherein two rotatable mechanisms comprise moving clockwise and moving counter-clockwise, said moving clockwise and said moving counter-clockwise is driven by a motor. 3 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 1 , wherein said transmittal device comprises a plurality of idle wheel sets, said plurality of idle wheel sets control a guidewire tightly by transmitting holding things. 4 . a control apparatus of catheter feeder, comprising: a square frame, said square frame loading a plurality of components; a plurality of gears, said a plurality of gears being meshed together to transmit a power through a catheter and a guidewire; and, a plurality of idle wheel sets, said plurality of idle wheel sets installed near said plurality of gears for holding said catheter tightly and said guidewire to form said control apparatus of catheter feeder. 5 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 4 , wherein said plurality of gears comprises 3 gears. 6 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 4 , wherein said plurality of idle wheel sets is driven by a motor. 7 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of idle wheel sets comprises 2 idle wheel sets. 8 . a control apparatus of catheter feeder of catheter feeder, comprising: a square frame, said square frame been loading a plurality of components; a first gear, said first gear having a first hollow axis for passing through a catheter and a guidewire; a second gear, said second gear having a second hollow axis for passing through said catheter and said guidewire; a third gear, said third gear been meshed to said first gear and said second gear to transmit a power; and a plurality of idle wheel sets, said plurality of idle wheel sets meshed at a front of said third gear for holding said catheter and said guidewire tightly to form the control apparatus of catheter feeder. 9 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 8 , wherein said first gear and said second gear are meshed in parallel. 10 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 8 , wherein said first gear and said second gear are driven by the motor. 11 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 8 , wherein the outer circle ring surrounded the idle wheel set comprises an elastic material having high friction. 12 . the control apparatus of catheter feeder according to claim 11 , wherein elastic material having high friction comprises the rubber.
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background of the invention 1. field of the invention the invention is disclosed to a control apparatus of catheter feeder, and more particularly, to a mechanical gear-type control apparatus of catheter feeder. 2. description of the prior art at present the method used to diagnose the cardiovascular disease is the coronary angiography, which is commonly called the cardiac catheterization. the cardiac catheterization is the medical angioplasty for examining or curing various heart diseases by the invasive catheter, which can be used to take the photograph for coronary artery, aortic and pulmonary, and can be used to measure the pressure of heart at every position as well. when the cardiac catheterization is carried out, local anesthesia has to be conducted at first. then a small wound is cut smaller than 0.5 cm on the skin. stretch the catheter into the coronary artery through the peripheral aortic of thigh or arm. then inject the developer, employ the x-ray instrument to take the photo for the flow state of blood in coronary artery, in order to understand the precise position and order of severity for the cardiovascular disease. through preliminary estimation, about ⅓ of patients having cardiovascular disease is suitable to be treated by percutaneous coronary intervention of internal medicine, which is called the catheter operation commonly. the method used to treat the obstruction of coronary artery, such as the percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, coronary in-stent restenosis etc., also can be conducted by the catheter operation. as for the catheter equipment, the doctor will cut a small wound on the femoral artery of thigh or the radial artery of arm at first, and put the sleeve of catheter equipment into as the entrance. then put into the guidewire through the sleeve of catheter equipment, and guide the catheter equipment by the guidewire to the disease position. the guidance process of catheter equipment is very complicated, because the blood vessel of human is very zigzag with small specific elasticity. thus, when the guidewire is moved in human body, it should be very cautious to prevent any unexpected accident of operation. therefore, the guidance and control of catheter is extremely important. through searching the patent literatures in usa patent database, u.s. pat. no. 4,920,980 “catheter with controllable tip”, u.s. pat. no. 5,055,109 “torque transmitting assembly for intravascular devices”, u.s. pat. no. 5,178,158 “convertible guidewire-catheter with soft tip”, u.s. pat. no. 5,190,050 “tip deflectable steerable catheter”, u.s. pat. no. 5,489,270 “controlled flexible catheter”, u.s. pat. no. 5,957,941 “catheter apparatus and drive assembly thereof”, u.s. pat. no. 6,706,018b2 “adjustable length catheter assembly”, and u.s. pat. no. 7,267,663b2 “apparatus for guide catheter positioning” have shown the traditional control device or control method of catheter feeder. the push and pull way of socket-type and manual operation are nearly adopted as their design method, which do not totally match with the actual demand and application of guidewire control. u.s. pat. no. 4,920,980 “catheter with controllable tip”, u.s. pat. no. 5,178,158 “convertible guidewire-catheter with soft tip”, u.s. pat. no. 5,190,050 “tip deflectable steerable catheter”, u.s. pat. no. 5,489,270 “controlled flexible catheter”, and u.s. pat. no. 6,706,018b2 “adjustable length catheter assembly” described the control equipment of guideware tip for free moving. the manual operation is applied, which does not match with the habitual operation method of doctor and does not have actual application function. u.s. pat. no. 5,957,941 “catheter apparatus and drive assembly thereof” described an automatic control apparatus. a rotatable mechanism is installed on a linear mechanism. the rotatable mechanism controls the rotation of guidewire, and the linear mechanism controls the advancement of guidewire. however, its advancing stroke is limited, and the location of motor is not good enough, the whole mechanism is very complicated, which lacks the practicability. thus, in order to operate and control the catheter feeder more efficiently, it is necessary to develop a control apparatus, which can control the movement of guidewire easily in the human body, to improve the guidance efficiency of catheter feeder and reduce the transport time of catheter in the human body. summary of the invention the invention is disclosed to an automatic control apparatus of catheter feeder. there are two rotatable mechanisms and a transmittal device that can propel the guidewire processing continuous motion comprising moving forward, moving backward, moving clockwise, and moving counter-clockwise. the invention comprises of a square frame and three gears that are meshed together and are referred to the first, second, and third gear, respectively. the first and second sets of the idle wheels are installed at the front of the third gear that can hold the guidewire tightly. the feature of the invention is to employ the mechanical gear to transfer the holding things for controlling the movement of the guidewire. the advantages of the invention are low cost, simple and easy apparatus, and high mobility etc., which has big design novelty and industrial utilization. the advantage of the invention is a simple device which can be carried conveniently. it is not necessary to use the complicated driven equipment, which can be applied in the medical field easily. the advantage and spirit of the invention can be understood further by the following detail description of invention and attached figures. brief description of the drawings fig. 1a and 1b show the control principle of the invention. fig. 2 shows the side view of the invention. fig. 3 shows the perspective drawing of the invention. fig. 4 shows the exploded drawing of the invention. fig. 5 shows the embodiment drawing of the invention. description of the preferred embodiment the invention is disclosed to a control apparatus of catheter feeder. its basic control principle is shown in fig. 1a and 1b . its operation principle is similar to the differential mechanism of vehicle. fig. 1a shows forward motion and fig. 1b shows turning motion. in fig. 1a , the big gear 12 is connected to the square frame 11 . after receiving the power from the motor, it will drive the middle gear 13 to rotate forward together, and the left gear 14 and right gear 15 will also rotate forward simultaneously are under the leading of middle gear 13 , to produce the forward motion. in fig. 1b , when turning is carried out, the left gear 14 will be blocked. because the left gear 14 is unable to move, the middle gear 13 driven by the big gear 12 will carry on rotation. the right gear 15 is driven to accelerate the rotational speed to turn, then turning motion is carried out. fig. 2 shows the side view of the control apparatus of catheter feeder of the invention. it comprises a frame 20 to be load and fix every component. the first gear 21 comprises a first hollow axis for the catheter and guidewire passing through. the second gear 22 comprises a second hollow axis for the catheter and guidewire passing through. the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 are meshed in parallel. the third gear 23 is meshed to the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 to transmit the power. there is the first idle wheel set 24 at the front of the third gear 23 , and the second idle wheel set 25 installed in frame 20 that can hold the guidewire tightly. the outer circle ring for the first idle wheel set 24 and the second idle wheel set 25 can be surrounded by the elastic material having high friction, such as the rubber materials. fig. 3 shows the perspective drawing of the invention. there is the first idle wheel set 24 at the front of the third gear 23 and the second idle wheel set 25 on the other side, both of the first idle wheel set 24 and the second idle wheel set 25 can hold the guidewire tightly. fig. 4 shows the exploded drawing of the invention. the first idle wheel set 24 and the second idle wheel set 25 are installed in parallel for holding the guidewire tightly. as fig. 5 shows that the embodiment drawing of the invention. there is a guidewire 51 that passes through the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 . when the motor inputs power to the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 , the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 can drive rotation of the third gear 23 . when the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 rotate a in the same direction and at the constant speed, the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 will force the third gear 23 to rotate around the central axis of the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 , which also drive rotation of the square frame 20 , the first idle wheel set 24 and the second idle wheel set 25 at the same time. in the meanwhile, the first idle wheel set 24 and the second idle wheel set 25 will hold the guidewire 51 tightly. the guidewire 51 will rotate accordingly to become a rotatory motion. in addition, when the power inputted to the first gear 21 and the second gear 22 is in the reverse direction and at the constant speed, the third gear 23 will rotate itself. the third gear 23 will drive the first idle wheel set 24 , and then the first idle wheel set 24 and the second idle wheel set 25 will hold the guidewire 51 tightly. the guidewire 51 will be pushed out accordingly to become a forward motion. the invention is disclosed to a control apparatus of catheter feeder. it mainly comprises two rotatable mechanisms and a transmittal device that can propel the guidewire into continuous motion comprising moving forward, moving backward, moving clockwise, and moving counter-clockwise. the feature of the invention is to employ the mechanical gears to control movement of the guidewire. the advantages of the invention are low cost, simple and easy apparatus, and high mobility etc., which is big design novelty. the other advantage of the invention is a simple device which can be carried conveniently. it is not necessary to use the complicated driven equipment, which can be able to bear the high temperature sterilization environment and can be applied in the medical field widely. it is understood that various other modifications will be apparent to and can be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the claims appended hereto be limited to the description as set forth herein, but rather that the claims be construed as encompassing all the features of patentable novelty that reside in the present invention, including all features that would be treated as equivalents thereof by those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.
|
119-494-176-517-272
|
US
|
[
"US",
"CN",
"TW",
"KR",
"EP",
"WO",
"JP"
] |
G02B27/01,G02B5/08,C03B23/035,C03C3/085,C03C17/09,G02B5/10,B32B3/02,C03B23/025,C03C19/00,G02F1/1335
| 2017-11-21T00:00:00 |
2017
|
[
"G02",
"C03",
"B32"
] |
aspheric mirror for head-up display system and methods for forming the same
|
a glass-based preform for a mirror of a heads-up display (hud) system, including a glass-based substrate having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces; a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface; and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer.
|
1 . a glass-based preform for a mirror of a heads-up display (hud) system, comprising: a glass-based substrate having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces; a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface; and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface, wherein the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. 2 . the glass-based preform of claim 1 , wherein the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length. 3 . (canceled) 4 . the glass-based preform of claim 2 , wherein the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface at the intersection with the first chamfer and is measured from the first end of the first chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and wherein the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from the first end of the second chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer. 5 . (canceled) 6 . the glass-based preform of claim 2 , wherein the first length is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. 7 . the glass-based preform of claim 1 , wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at a first distance of about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a first major plane co-planar with the first major surface at the first end of the first chamfer, wherein the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at a first distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second major plane co-planar with the second major surface at the first end of the first chamfer, and wherein the first angle is about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees, and the second angle is about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees, or wherein the first angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees, and the second angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. 8 . (canceled) 9 . (canceled) 10 . (canceled) 11 . the glass-based preform of claim 1 , wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and wherein the first angle is different than the second angle. 12 . (canceled) 13 . the glass-based preform of claim 7 , wherein the first inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the first chamfer, and wherein the second inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the second chamfer. 14 . the glass-based preform of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the first major surface is reflective. 15 . the glass-based preform of claim 14 , wherein the portion of the first major surface that is reflective comprises a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate. 16 . (canceled) 17 . (canceled) 18 . the glass-based preform of claim 1 , wherein a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the first major surface is about 0.5 mm to 3 mm, and a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. 19 . the glass-based preform of claim 1 , wherein a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the second major surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm, and a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. 20 . (canceled) 21 . (canceled) 22 . (canceled) 23 . (canceled) 24 . the glass-based preform of claim 1 , wherein the second major surface comprises one or more manufacturing artifacts, and wherein the manufacturing artifacts are confined to a perimeter region of the second major surface, the perimeter region extending from the edge of the second major surface to a distance that is less than the first length. 25 . the glass-based preform of claim 24 , wherein the manufacturing artifacts are vacuum suction artifacts. 26 . (canceled) 27 . a mirror for a heads-up display (hud) system comprising the glass-based preform of claim 1 . 28 . the mirror of claim 27 , further comprising a reflective layer on the first major surface of the glass-based preform. 29 . (canceled) 30 . (canceled) 31 . (canceled) 32 . the mirror of claim 27 , wherein the first major surface has an aspheric shape. 33 .- 92 . (canceled) 93 . a method of forming a three-dimensional mirror, the method comprising: providing a glass-based mirror preform having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, the glass preform having a flat shape; forming a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface; forming a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a different size or shape from the first chamfer; disposing the glass-based preform on a molding apparatus having a curved support surface with the second major surface facing the curved support surface; and conforming the glass-based preform to the curved support surface to form a curved mirror substrate having a first radius of curvature. 94 .- 150 . (canceled) 151 . a heads-up display (hud) projection system, comprising: a display unit configured to display an image to be viewed by a user of a hud system; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to a viewing area viewable by the user, the mirror comprising: a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, and a chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the chamfer having a first length. 152 .- 179 . (canceled)
|
cross-reference to related applications this application claims the benefit of priority under 35 u.s.c. § 119 of u.s. provisional application ser. no. 62/589,172 filed on nov. 21, 2017, the content of which is relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. background art head-up display or heads-up display (hud) systems project visual information onto a transparent surface so that users can see the information without diverting their gaze away from their primary view. hud systems typically use a mirror to reflect and project an image onto the transparent surface. one application for hud systems is in transportation, such as automobiles, aircraft, marine craft, and other vehicles. for example, hud systems can be deployed in vehicles so that an operator or driver of the vehicle can see information relevant to the operation of the vehicle while maintaining a forward gaze and without having to look down or away towards a display screen. thus, hud systems are believed to improve safety by minimizing the need for a vehicle operator to look away from a safe operating viewpoint. however, hud systems have often suffered from poor optical quality in the projected image, which may result in an undesirable aesthetic quality to the projected image. poor optical quality may even decrease the safety of hud systems, because blurry or unclear projected images can make it more difficult for users to read or understand the projected information, resulting in increased user processing time of the information, delayed user reaction time based on the information, and increased user distraction. reduced optical quality can result from the mirror used in the hud system. disclosure of invention technical problem thus, there remains a need for hud systems, and particularly improved mirrors for hud systems, that have improved optical quality. solution to problem in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a glass-based preform for a mirror of a heads-up display (hud) system is provided. the glass-based preform comprises a glass-based substrate having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces. in addition, the preform includes a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and can also include a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. in additional embodiments, a mirror for a hud system is provided, comprising the glass-based preform with a glass-based substrate having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces. in addition, the preform includes a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and can also include a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. the mirror further comprises a reflective layer on the first major surface of the glass-based preform. the glass-based substrate has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being measured with respect to a first axis of curvature. the glass-based substrate can have a second radius of curvature measured with respect to a second axis of curvature different from the first axis of curvature, where the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. in some embodiments, the first major surface has an aspheric shape. in further embodiments, a method of forming a three-dimensional mirror is provided, the method comprising providing a glass-based mirror preform including a first major surface having an edge with a first chamfer, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface and having an edge with a second chamfer, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, the second chamfer having a different size or shape than the first chamfer. the method also includes disposing the glass-based preform on a molding apparatus having a curved support surface with the second major surface facing the curved support surface, and conforming the glass-based preform to the curved support surface to form a curved mirror substrate having a first radius of curvature. in another embodiment, a heads-up display (hud) projection system is provided. the hud system comprises a display unit configured to display an image to be viewed by a user of a hud system; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to a viewing area viewable by the user. the mirror comprises a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. in another embodiment, a method of forming a three-dimensional mirror is provided. the method includes providing a glass-based mirror preform having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, the glass preform having a flat shape; forming a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface; forming a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a different size or shape from the first chamfer; disposing the glass-based preform on a molding apparatus having a curved support surface with the second major surface facing the curved support surface; and conforming the glass-based preform to the curved support surface to form a curved mirror substrate having a first radius of curvature. the conforming of the glass-based preform to the curved support surface is performed at a temperature that is less than a glass transition temperature of the glass-based preform, and a temperature of the glass-based substrate may not be raised above the glass transition temperature of the glass-based substrate during or after the conforming. in another embodiment, a heads-up display (hud) system is provided, comprising a projection surface for viewing a projected image by a user of the hud system; a display unit configured to produce an image to be viewed by the user on the projection surface; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to the projection surface to form the projected image. the mirror includes a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces; a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer; and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, wherein the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. in another embodiment, a heads-up display (hud) projection system is provided, comprising a display unit configured to display an image to be viewed by a user of a hud system; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to a viewing area viewable by the user. the mirror includes a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, and a chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the chamfer having a first length. additional features and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the claimed subject matter as described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings. it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present embodiments of the present disclosure, and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the claimed subject matter. the accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. the drawings illustrate various embodiments and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the claimed subject matter. brief description of drawings for the purposes of illustration, there are forms shown in the drawings that are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the embodiments disclosed and discussed herein are not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. fig. 1 is an illustration of hud system in a vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 2 is a pictorial depiction of an automobile driver's viewpoint when using the hud system of fig. 1 , according to some embodiments. fig. 3 is a photographic of an example of a combiner used in hud systems according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 4 is a pictorial depiction of an automobile driver's viewpoint when using a hud system with a combiner similar to the one shown in fig. 3 , according to some embodiments. fig. 5 is a photograph of three example mirrors for hud systems according to some embodiments. fig. 6 is an illustration of an aspheric mirror for a hud system according to some embodiments. figs. 7a and 7b are schematic representations of a symmetrical edge of a 2d-preform substrate and a 3d-formed substrate, respectively, for a hud system. figs. 8a and 8b are schematic representations of an asymmetrical edge of a 2d-preform substrate and a 3d-formed substrate, respectively, for a hud system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 9 is a schematic of an asymmetrical edge of a 3d-formed substrate for a hud system according to some embodiments. fig. 10 is a pictorial depiction of a vacuum-based forming surface according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. figs. 11a and 11b are cross-section views of an edge of a substrate on the vacuum-based forming surface of fig. 10 . fig. 12 shows a photographic comparison of the optical quality of a typical mirror substrate for a hud system to a mirror substrate according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 13 shows steps in a method of forming a mirror or mirror substrate according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. best mode for carrying out the invention in the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views shown in the figures. it is also understood that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “outward,” “inward,” and the like are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms. in addition, whenever a group is described as comprising at least one of a group of elements and combinations thereof, it is understood that the group may comprise, consist essentially of, or consist of any number of those elements recited, either individually or in combination with each other. similarly, whenever a group is described as consisting of at least one of a group of elements or combinations thereof, it is understood that the group may consist of any number of those elements recited, either individually or in combination with each other. unless otherwise specified, a range of values, when recited, includes both the upper and lower limits of the range. as used herein, the indefinite articles “a,” and “an,” and the corresponding definite article “the” mean “at least one” or “one or more,” unless otherwise specified. the following description of the present disclosure is provided as an enabling teaching thereof and its best, currently-known embodiment. those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes can be made to the embodiment described herein while still obtaining the beneficial results of the present disclosure. it will also be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the present disclosure can be obtained by selecting some of the features of the present disclosure without utilizing other features. accordingly, those who work in the art will recognize that many modifications and adaptations of the present disclosure are possible and may even be desirable in certain circumstances and are part of the present disclosure. thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of the principles of the present disclosure and not in limitation thereof. those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications to the exemplary embodiments described herein are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. thus, the description is not intended and should not be construed to be limited to the examples given but should be granted the full breadth of protection afforded by the appended claims and equivalents thereto. in addition, it is possible to use some of the features of the present disclosure without the corresponding use of other features. accordingly, the following description of exemplary or illustrative embodiments is provided for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the present disclosure and not in limitation thereof and may include modification thereto and permutations thereof. hud systems can be used to provide a wide variety of types of information for improved safety and convenience of users. in transportation, for example, information relevant to vehicle operation, such as vehicle gauges or navigation, can be projected to an area in front of a driver. this can include real-time information on vehicle speed, fuel level, climate control settings, entertainment settings, turn-by-turn navigation indicators, estimated time of arrival, and alerts related to speed, traffic, or dangerous conditions. information can be presented as text, symbols, pictures, videos, animation, and one or more colors. these are examples only, and embodiments of this disclosure are not intended to be limited to these examples. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a hud system can include an image generating device and one or more optical components for directing or projecting an image from the image generating device to an area that is easily visible to a user. the image generating device can include a cathode ray tube (crt) display, a light-emitting diode (led) display, a liquid crystal display (lcd) assembly, laser projection system, or other type of display known by those of ordinary skill in the art. the hud system may also include a computer or processor for generating the images produced by these displays. the optical components may include some combination of lenses, beam splitters, mirrors, and combiner, for example. the combination of components of a hud system can be configured to produce collimated light. the collimated light is projected onto a combiner that is in a field of view of a user so that the user can see the projected image and the normal field of view simultaneously. for example, in vehicular applications, the combiner can be a windshield. alternatively, the combiner can be a separate component that is built into the vehicle, or a portable component that can be mounted in the vehicle in a location where a driver or passenger can see the projected image on a transparent surface of the combiner. the mirror can include a reflective coating on a curved substrate. the curved substrate may be spherical, aspherical, a fresnel shape, and/or diffractive. in one preferred embodiment, the mirror has a reflective surface or coating on a concave, aspherical surface. fig. 1 shows an example of a hud system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. the hud system 100 is shown in an automobile, but embodiments can be used in various vehicles or non-vehicular applications. a driver d is shown with hands the steering wheel w of the vehicle v. the hud system 100 is incorporated into the dash 110 of the vehicle v, and includes a programmable graphical unit (pgu) 102 connected to an image source 103 configured to produce an image based on a signal from the pgu 102 . that image is reflected by a flat mirror 104 towards a curved mirror 106 . from the curved mirror 106 , the image is projected toward the windshield 108 and onto a projection area 112 of the windshield 108 . the hud system 100 can be configured so that the projection area 112 is within the normal line of sight of the driver d while driving the vehicle v. for example, the projection area 112 can be positioned so that the projected image is overlaid on the road as seen from the driver's perspective. an example of this scenario is shown in the illustration of fig. 2 . while the projection area 112 is located on the windshield 108 in figs. 1 and 2 , figs. 3 and 4 show an alternative embodiment in which a combiner 208 is used for the location of the projection area 212 . the combiner 208 can be built into the dash 210 of a vehicle or can be a portable or separable component that is positioned on top of the dash 210 . embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to one or more particular arrangements of the optical components of a hud system, as persons of ordinary skill in the art will understand the basic arrangement of components in a hud system. the present disclosure is directed primarily to the curved mirrors used in hud systems. fig. 5 shows examples of curved mirrors 301 , 302 , and 303 used in hud systems. the mirrors in hud system generally have an aspheric reflective surface, which can be a reflective coating formed on an aspheric surface of a mirror substrate. an aspheric or aspherically shaped surface has multiple radii of curvature. in particular, in the case of a four-sided mirror as shown in fig. 5 , for example, an aspheric surface has a different radius of curvature along each of the four edges. thus, as shown in fig. 6 , a mirror 400 has a reflective surface 408 that is aspherically shaped with a radius of curvature r 1 along a first edge, a radius of curvature r 2 along a second edge, a radius of curvature r 3 along a third edge, and a radius of curvature r 4 along a fourth edge. because the surface 408 is aspherically shaped, r 1 ≠r 2 ≠r 3 ≠r 4 . fig. 6 also shows how different points on the curved surface 408 have been displaced by varying amounts a-e with respect to a two-dimensional plane connecting the four corners of the mirror 400 . in some embodiments, a≠b≠c≠d. however, the authors of the present disclosure realized that improvements were needed in the design of and the methods of forming the curved mirrors used in hud systems. for example, to prevent degradation of image quality as the image is reflected by the curved mirror, the mirror should have a high level of shape accuracy and surface roughness. for example, a shape precision of less than 50 μm and a surface roughness (ra) of less than 3 nm is desirable. a particular type of optical distortion that occurs in mirrors for hud systems is referred to as edge distortion, which is optical distortion of light reflected at or near the edge of the mirror. in existing hud systems, optically impactful imperfections may be introduced into the mirror during manufacturing or shaping of the mirror. the most common methods for forming 3d-shaped mirrors or mirror substrates can be divided into two categories: pressing methods and vacuum-forming methods. both pressing and vacuum-forming methods, however, can have disadvantages. in a pressing method, upper and lower molds are used to press the substrate, such as a glass substrate, by physical force. for example, the upper mold may be pressed into a lower mold with a 2d glass preform disposed between the two molds, and the glass preform is formed according to the shape of a surface on one or both of the molds. as a result, mold imprints may be left on both the concave and convex surfaces of the formed glass substrate, which then requires polishing. in addition, due to deviations in the contours of the upper and lower molds, it can be difficult to precisely match the contours of the upper and lower molds, and thus difficult to achieve a precise shape for the formed glass substrate. for example, the specification for aspheric mirror contours can be less than ±25 μm, while the mold contour deviation after machining is normally 30-50 μm. in a vacuum forming method, a single mold (e.g., lower mold) can be used, where vacuum holes are formed in the surface of the mold. a flat (2d) glass sheet is disposed on the surface of the mold and vacuum pressure is supplied via the vacuum holes to conform the glass to the curved (3d) surface of the mold. however, it is difficult to avoid the formation of vacuum hole marks on the surface of the formed glass substrate. these vacuum hole marks or manufacturing artifacts can impair the optical performance of the substrate or the finished mirror. in addition, typical vacuum forming methods can require higher forming temperatures compared to pressing methods. higher forming temperatures can affect surface quality and form defects such as dimples, pits, and imprints. vacuum forming can be performed on a mirror preform, which is a substrate that is pre-cut to the desired size before forming into a 3d shape with vacuum forming, or on an oversized sheet of glass, which is cut to the desired size after forming into a 3d shape with vacuum forming. both preform-based and oversized-glass-based vacuum forming have certain advantages and disadvantages. oversized-glass-based forming, for example, has advantages of achieving good edge quality due to edge cutting, and good surface roughness due to lower forming temperatures. however, oversized-glass-based forming requires the added steps of cutting the glass after forming; has low glass utilization due to trim glass or waste glass after forming; requires edge polishing and/or chamfering after cutting; and requires larger equipment even though the eventual finished product may be the same size as that formed in preform-based forming. on the other hand, in preform-based vacuum forming, there is no need to cut the mirror substrate after vacuum forming, which reduces the production of waste or cullet glass. in addition, preform-based forming can be a more simple process and more cost effective. however, in a preform-based vacuum forming method, it is difficult or impossible to apply a relatively uniform vacuum pressure over the entire surface of the glass sheet due to vacuum leaks at one or more edges of the glass preform, due at least in part to vacuum leakage between the preform and the mold. for example, if the formed glass is to have a single radius of curvature, the short-side edge of the preform may maintain contact with the mold surface until forming is complete, but the vacuum will leak along the long-side edge of the preform. in the case of more complex curvature or an aspheric mold surface (and aspheric formed substrate), only discrete points of the glass sheet, such as the four corners, may contact the mold surface throughout forming, which results in vacuum leakage along all edges of the glass substrate. also, for forming an aspheric mirror, it is possible for the corner of the mirror or mirror substrate to chip or break, which occurs when only the corners of the mirror substrate are in contact with the mold and an external force (e.g., vacuum pressure, mold pressing force) is applied, thus concentrating pressure at the four corners of the substrate. as such, higher forming temperature (and lower viscosity of the substrate) is used to conform the glass onto the mold surface more completely, and to reduce the stress near the corners to reduce chipping. however, as discussed above, higher temperatures cause surface degradation of the glass substrate and decreased optical performance. even with higher temperatures, edge distortion of the mirror occurs. investigators behind the present disclosure have discovered techniques to improve the mirrors formed using vacuum-based forming methods. in some preferred embodiments, these techniques may be particularly well-suited for the preform-based forming methods. however, some embodiments are not limited to mirrors made using the preform-based forming methods, nor even to vacuum-based methods, generally. one problem addressed by the embodiments of the present disclosure is that of edge distortion. as mentioned above, when using vacuum forming methods, it can be difficult to achieve a uniform vacuum and uniform conformation of the mirror substrate to the mold. it can be particularly difficult to conform the mirror substrate to the desired shape at or near the edges of the substrate, which causes edge distortion and degrades the quality of the image reflected by the mirror near the edge. therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure provide mirrors and/or mirror substrates with improved optical performance at the edge, and methods of forming the same. as shown in figs. 7a and 7b , a conventional mirror for a hud system has a symmetrical, chamfered edge. in particular, fig. 7a shows a 2d preform 500 having a first major surface 502 that is the mirror-side of the preform, a second major surface 504 opposite the first major surface 502 , and a minor surface 503 between the first and second major surfaces 502 and 504 . the edges of the first and second major surfaces 502 and 504 have a first chamfer 506 and a second chamfer 508 , respectively, which are symmetrical. that is, the first chamfer 506 at the edge of the first major surface 502 and the second chamfer 508 at the edge of the second major surface 504 have the same size and/or shape, resulting in a symmetric profile when viewed in cross-section, as shown in fig. 7a . fig. 7b shows the resulting three-dimensional (3d) or curved mirror substrate 500 ′ after forming the 2d preform 500 of fig. 7a . the geometry of the first and second chamfers 506 and 508 can be described by the x- and y-components of the chamfered surface. as used herein, the x-component refers to a distance measured in a direction parallel to the first or second major surface of a two-dimensional preform. the y-component refers to a distance measured in a direction perpendicular to the first or second major surface of the two-dimensional preform, or parallel to the minor surface of the two-dimensional preform. in figs. 7a and 7b , the first chamfer 506 has an x-component x 1 and a y-component y 1 , while the second chamfer 508 has an x-component x 2 and a y-component y 2 . the dimensions of x 1 , y 1 , x 2 , and y 2 can range from about 0.2 to about 0.3 mm, for example, where x 1 is the same as x 2 and y 1 is the same as y 2 . thus, this conventional form of chamfering can be considered symmetrical chamfering. however, investigators of the present disclosure found that asymmetrical chamfering of a mirror or mirror preform can reduce edge distortion. in some preferred embodiments, the asymmetrical chamfering takes the form of a larger chamfer on the mirror-side of the mirror or mirror substrate. a “larger” chamfer is a chamfer that has a larger x-component. for example, figs. 8a and 8b show a 2d preform 600 and a 3d or curved mirror substrate 600 ′ with asymmetrical chamfers. in particular, fig. 8a shows a 2d preform 600 having a first major surface 602 that is a mirror-side of the substrate, a second major surface 604 opposite the first major surface 602 , and a minor surface 603 between the first and second major surfaces. the edges of the first and second major surfaces 602 and 604 have a first chamfer 606 and a second chamfer 608 , respectively, which are asymmetrical. that is, the first chamfer 606 at the edge of the first major surface 602 and the second chamfer 608 at the edge of the second major surface 604 have different sizes and/or shapes, resulting in an asymmetric profile when viewed in cross-section, as shown in fig. 8a . due to the chamfers, the minor surface 603 has a decreased thickness t 2 , which is less than a thickness t 3 between the first and second major surfaces 602 and 604 in an un-chamfered section of the substrate 600 . in some preferred embodiments, the thickness t 3 can be about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; about 2.0 mm; less than about 1.0 mm; or about 0.3 mm to about 1.0 mm. fig. 8b shows the resulting 3d or curved mirror substrate 600 ′ after forming the 2d preform 600 of fig. 8a . similar to figs. 7a and 7b , the geometry of the first and second chamfers 606 and 608 can be described by the x- and y-components of the chamfered surface. in figs. 8a and 8b , the first chamfer 606 has an x-component x 1 ′ and a y-component y 1 ′, while the second chamfer 608 has an x-component x 2 ′ and a y-component y 2 ′. however, x 1 ′ and x 2 ′ are not equal, resulting in the asymmetric profile. in particular, the x-component of the mirror-side, x 1 ′, is larger than the x-component on the back or non-mirror side, x 2 ′. in some embodiments, the dimensions of x 1 ′ can be, for example, about 0.5 to about 3.0 mm. if x 1 ′ is too large (e.g., in some embodiments, over 3.0 mm), then the effective area of the mirror can become too small, which is not preferable. the dimensions of y 1 ′, x 2 ′, and y 2 ′ can be, for example, about 0.2 to about 0.3 mm. if the second chamfer 608 on the side of the second major surface 604 is too large (e.g., larger than about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm, in some embodiments), the formability is deteriorated and the corner accuracy decreases. however, embodiments are not limited to these dimensions. thus, this approach results in an asymmetrical profile at the edge of the mirror or mirror substrate. while chamfers can be measured using the length of the chamfer, or the x- and y-components of the chamfer as discussed above, chamfer geometry can also be described with reference to an angle of inclination of the chamfer surface relative to a surface of the substrate. for example, in figs. 8a and 8b , the first chamfer 606 includes an inclined surface with a first end intersecting the first major surface 602 and a second end intersecting the minor surface 603 . the inclined surface is at an angle with respect to the first major surface 602 . similarly, the second chamfer 608 includes an inclined surface that is at an angle with respect to the second major surface 604 . in some embodiments, the angles of the chamfers can be, for example, about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. in some embodiments, the angle of the first chamfer 606 can be, for example, about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees; the angle of the second chamfer 608 can be about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees. the asymmetric chamfering of the substrate edge results in improved formability and alleviates the visibility of distorted images reflected by the edge of the mirror. in the case of edge distortion, the angle of reflection of the display image changes due to the inclination of the chamfered surface, which can prevent the distorted image from being seen by the user. this can result in a projected image with no perceived edge distortion. edge formability is thought to be improved by thinning of the edge area due to the large chamfer, which makes the edge area more formable. for example, when using identical vacuum pressure, the edge contour deviation relative to the computer-aided design (cad) model decreases and the contour accuracy increases for an asymmetric edge as compared to a non-asymmetric edge. this improvement in contour accuracy reduces image distortion. in addition, the asymmetric chamfering can help prevent unwanted or dangerous light from entering the glass edge and being directed toward the eyes of a user of the hud system. such unwanted light may include sunlight, for example, which can distract drivers or interfere with their vision. while the embodiments in figs. 8a and 8b show both first and second chamfers 606 and 608 , some embodiments of the present disclosure can include a chamfer only on the reflective side of the mirror substrate (i.e., the first chamfer 606 ). thus, it is possible to achieve the advantages discussed herein of asymmetrical chamfering without having the second chamfer 608 , or without a particular design or geometry for the second chamfer. however, it may still be beneficial to have a second chamfer 608 on the back side of the substrate to remove a sharp edge from the edge, and to improve edge formability. fig. 9 shows an example of how the above-described improved edge performance is achieved by the asymmetric chamfer. in particular, fig. 9 shows a cross-section view of an edge area a 3d formed mirror 650 with a first major surface 652 that is reflective and concave. the mirror 650 also has a second major surface 654 opposite the first major surface 652 , and a minor surface 653 between the first and second major surfaces 652 and 654 . the edge of the mirror 650 has an asymmetric chamfer with a larger chamfer surface 656 on the side of the first major surface 652 , and a smaller chamfer surface 658 on the rear side. incident light l is that is incident on the effective area of the mirror 650 is reflected as l rs toward the user so that the reflected light is visible to the user. however, incident light l ie that is incident on the chamfer surface 656 is reflected as l re in a direction that makes it not visible to the user of the hud system. as discussed above, embodiments of this disclosure include forming a curved or 3d mirror substrate using vacuum forming methods. in one aspect, the vacuum forming method uses a mold 700 , as shown in fig. 10 . mold 700 has a forming surface 702 that is shaped to a desired shape of the 3d mirror or mirror substrate. the mold 700 can optionally include a housing 706 surrounding the perimeter of the forming surface 702 and defining a space in which the mirror preform is placed for forming. to conform the mirror substrate (not shown) to the forming surface 702 , vacuum pressure is supplied through one or more vacuum holes. however, as discussed above, vacuum holes can leave manufacturing artifacts in the form of imperfections where the substrate contracted the vacuum holes. thus, mold 700 does not include vacuum holes in an area that will contact the effective area of the mirror substrate. instead, the mold 700 has a ditch-type vacuum hole 704 at a periphery of the forming surface 702 . the ditch-type vacuum hole 704 is positioned to be underneath the larger chamfer of the reflective-surface-side of the mirror when the mirror preform is placed on the mold 700 . in addition, the ditch-type vacuum hole 704 is positioned to remain underneath the larger chamfer of the reflective-surface-side of the mirror when the mirror preform during forming of the 3d mirror substrate on the mold 700 . due to the position of the ditch-type vacuum hole 704 relative to the larger chamfer, any imperfection or artifact resulting from the ditch-type vacuum hole 704 will not be apparent to a user of a hud system because the imperfection will not be located in the effective area of the mirror. as used herein, the effective area is a portion of the mirror or mirror substrate that will reflect the image to be projected and viewed by the user, and is located within the chamfered edge area of the mirror or mirror substrate. figs. 11a and 11b show details view of forming surface 802 near the edge of a mirror preform 800 . the resulting formed mirror substrate 800 ′ is also shown in figs. 11a and 11b . the preform 800 is placed on the forming surface 802 such that the first major surface 801 (reflective-side of mirror) faces up and away from the forming surface 802 , and the second major surface 804 faces the forming surface 802 . thus, with the first major surface 801 facing up, the larger chamfer 810 will also face up and away from the forming surface 802 . after forming, the second major surface 804 conforms to the forming surface 802 . when the preform 800 is placed in the mold, there is a gap d 1 between the minor surface 803 of the preform 800 and the vertical wall 807 of the housing 806 of the mold. the gap d 1 is sufficiently large enough to allow for easy placement and removal of the mirror substrate before and after forming. alternatively, the gap d 1 may be non-existent prior to forming. after forming, the minor surface 803 will move to a distance of d 2 from the vertical wall 807 due to the curvature of the formed mirror substrate 800 ′, wherein d 2 is larger than d 1 . the mold is designed such that d 3 will be smaller than a distance from the vertical wall 807 to the ditch-type vacuum hole 808 . in other words, even after forming is completed, the ditch-type vacuum hole 808 will remain covered by the formed mirror substrate 800 ′ so that suction is not lost and the mirror substrate remains in conformity with the forming surface 802 . thus, after forming, there is a non-zero distance d 3 between the opening of the ditch-type vacuum hole 808 in the forming surface 802 and the minor surface 803 ′ of the curved mirror substrate 800 ′. the distance d 3 is smaller than a length l 1 of the first chamfer 810 , where l 1 is defined as a straight-light distance from the minor surface 803 ′ of the formed mirror substrate 800 ′ to the intersection of the chamfer with the first major surface 801 ′. in some embodiments, l 1 can be about 1.0 to about 3.0 mm, whereas d 3 can be about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm. because d 3 is smaller than 1 1 , any ditch-line artifact remaining in the mirror substrate from the ditch-type vacuum hole will be covered by the chamfer on the reflective-surface-side of the formed mirror, so that the defect is not visible to a user. fig. 12 shows a comparison between a 3d mirror substrate 900 using normal chamfering (left) and a 3d mirror substrate 910 using asymmetric chamfering (right). the asymmetric chamfering example shows superior optical performance at the edge 912 , without the distortion shown at the edge 902 of the normal chamfering example. fig. 13 shows a method of forming a mirror or mirror substrate, according to one or more embodiments of this disclosure. the method includes a step s 1 of creating a preform mirror substrate by cutting a sheet of glass to the desired preform shape. after cutting, a washing step s 2 may be performed to clean the preform, followed by a step s 3 of vacuum forming the preform into a 3d formed substrate. lastly, one or more post-processing steps s 4 can be performed, including edge or surface finishing or coating, or mounting the curved mirror in some part of the hud system. the reflective surface can be formed via sputtering, evaporation (e.g., cvd, pvd), plating, or other methods of coating or supplying a reflective surface known to those of ordinary skill in the art. the reflective surface can include one or more metallic/ceramic oxides, metallic/ceramic alloys, for example. the reflective surface is formed on the 3d formed substrate after forming the substrate to a curved or aspheric shape. however, embodiments are not limited to this order, and it is contemplated that a 3d mirror can be formed from a 2d preform having a reflective surface. in some embodiments, a glass-based preform for a mirror of a heads-up display (hud) system is provided. the glass-based preform comprises a glass-based substrate having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces. in addition, the preform includes a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and can also include a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. in one aspect, first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length. the first length can be greater than the second length. the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface at the intersection with the first chamfer and is measured from the first end of the first chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer. similarly, the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from the first end of the second chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer. in some embodiments, the first length is at least about 1.0 mm; is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or is about 2.0 mm. the first chamfer can include a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at a first distance of about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a first major plane co-planar with the first major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. the second chamfer can include a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at a first distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second major plane co-planar with the second major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. the first angle can be about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees, and the second angle can be about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees. in some embodiments, he first angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees, and the second angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. in another aspect of some embodiments, the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and the first angle is different than the second angle. the first angle is smaller than the second angle. the first inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the first chamfer, and the second inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the second chamfer. in aspects of some embodiments, at least a portion of the first major surface is reflective. the portion of the first major surface that is reflective can have a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate, and the reflective coating can include a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy. in some aspects, the reflective coating comprises aluminum or silver. a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the first major surface can be about 0.5 mm to 3 mm, and a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface can be about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the second major surface can be about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm, and a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface can be about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. as an aspect of some embodiments, the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm; or from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. in another embodiment, a mirror for a hud system is provided, comprising the glass-based preform of any one of the above embodiments. the mirror further comprises a reflective layer on the first major surface of the glass-based preform. the glass-based substrate has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being measured with respect to a first axis of curvature. the glass-based substrate can have a second radius of curvature measured with respect to a second axis of curvature different from the first axis of curvature, where the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. in some embodiments, the first major surface has an aspheric shape. in another embodiment, a method of forming a three-dimensional mirror is provided, the method comprising providing a glass-based mirror preform including a first major surface having an edge with a first chamfer, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface and having an edge with a second chamfer, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, the second chamfer having a different size or shape than the first chamfer. the method also includes disposing the glass-based preform on a molding apparatus having a curved support surface with the second major surface facing the curved support surface, and conforming the glass-based preform to the curved support surface to form a curved mirror substrate having a first radius of curvature. in aspects of some of the embodiments, the conforming of the glass-based preform to the curved support surface is performed at a temperature that is less than a glass transition temperature of the glass-based preform. a temperature of the glass-based substrate may not be raised above the glass transition temperature of the glass-based substrate during or after the conforming. in additional aspects of some of the embodiments, the curved support surface has a concave shape, and the concave shape can be an aspheric shape. the curved support surface can also comprise a vacuum chuck with at least one opening in the curved support surface. the method can further include supplying a vacuum to the at least one opening to conform the curved glass blank to the curved support surface. the at least one opening can be a ditch-type vacuum hole. the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such that the first chamfer begins in the first major surface at a first distance from the minor surface, wherein, when the glass-based preform is disposed on the curved support surface, the at least one opening is a second distance from the minor surface, and wherein the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance. the molding apparatus can include a raised perimeter surface or wall adjacent the curved support surface and defining a space on the curved support surface in which the glass-based preform is to be disposed. the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such the first chamfer begins in the first major surface at a first distance from the minor surface, wherein the at least one opening is a second distance from the raised perimeter surface or wall, and the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance; or the first distance is greater than the second distance. the method can further include forming a reflective layer on the first major surface. the reflective layer can be formed by sputtering, plating, or vapor deposition of a material of the reflective layer onto the first major surface. the reflective layer comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy; and can include aluminum or silver. the reflective layer is formed on the first major surface after forming the curved mirror substrate to form an aspheric mirror. as an aspect of some embodiments, the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, the first inclined surface having a first length, wherein the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, the second inclined surface having a second length, and wherein the first length is different than the second length, or can be greater than the second length. the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface and is measured from an intersection of the first inclined surface and the first major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface, and the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from an intersection of the second inclined surface and the second major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface. the first length can be at least about 1.0 mm; from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or about 2.0 mm. the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a first plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second plane co-planar with the first major surface. the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the second major surface. in another aspect of some of the embodiments of the method, the first chamfer defines a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer defines a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and the first angle is different than the second angle. the first angle can be smaller than the second angle. in an additional embodiment, a heads-up display (hud) projection system is provided. the hud system comprises a display unit configured to display an image to be viewed by a user of a hud system; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to a viewing area viewable by the user. the mirror comprises a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length, and the first length is greater than the second length. the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface at the intersection with the first chamfer and is measured from the first end of the first chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from the first end of the second chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer. the first length can be at least about 1.0 mm; from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or about 2.0 mm. the first chamfer can include a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at a first distance of about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a first major plane co-planar with the first major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. the second chamfer can include a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at a first distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second major plane co-planar with the second major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. the first angle is about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees, and the second angle is about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees. in some embodiments, the first angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees, and the second angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. in additional aspects of the some embodiments, the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and the first angle is different than the second angle. the first angle is smaller than the second angle. the first inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the first chamfer, and the second inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the second chamfer. as aspects of some embodiments, the first major surface has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being measured relative to a first axis of curvature. the mirror has a second radius of curvature that is measured relative to a second axis of curvature different from the first axis of curvature, where the first axis of curvature can be perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. the first major surface can have an aspheric shape. the first major surface that is reflective can include a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate, and the reflective coating can comprise a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy, and may include aluminum or silver. in some embodiments, the display unit comprises an lcd, led, oled, or μled display panel, or includes a projector. the hud system can further include a projection surface configured to display a projected image to a user of the hud system, wherein the mirror is configured to reflect the image produced by the display unit to form the projected image on the projection surface. the projection surface has a curvature corresponding to a curvature of the mirror, and the curvature of the projection surface is substantially the same as the curvature of the mirror. the projection surface can be a windshield or a combiner. also, the projection surface can have an aspheric shape. the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm; or from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. in aspects of some embodiments of the hud projection system, the second major surface comprises one or more manufacturing artifacts, wherein the manufacturing artifacts are confined to a perimeter region of the second major surface, the perimeter region extending from the edge of the second major surface to a distance that is less than the first length. the manufacturing artifacts can be vacuum suction artifacts from a process of bending the mirror. in some additional embodiments, a method of forming a three-dimensional mirror is provided. the method includes providing a glass-based mirror preform having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, the glass preform having a flat shape; forming a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface; forming a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a different size or shape from the first chamfer; disposing the glass-based preform on a molding apparatus having a curved support surface with the second major surface facing the curved support surface; and conforming the glass-based preform to the curved support surface to form a curved mirror substrate having a first radius of curvature. the conforming of the glass-based preform to the curved support surface is performed at a temperature that is less than a glass transition temperature of the glass-based preform, and a temperature of the glass-based substrate may not be raised above the glass transition temperature of the glass-based substrate during or after the conforming. as aspects of some embodiments, the curved support surface has a concave shape, and the concave shape can be an aspheric shape. the curved support surface can include a vacuum chuck with at least one opening in the curved support surface, and the method may further include supplying a vacuum to the at least one opening to conform the curved glass blank to the curved support surface. the at least one opening is a ditch-type vacuum hole. the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such that the first chamfer begins at a first distance from the minor surface. when the glass-based preform is disposed on the curved support surface, the at least one opening is a second distance from the minor surface, wherein the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance. in aspects of some embodiments, the molding apparatus comprises a raised perimeter surface or wall adjacent the curved support surface and defining a space on the curved support surface in which the glass-based preform is to be disposed. the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such the first chamfer begins at a first distance from the minor surface, the at least one opening is a second distance from the raised perimeter surface or wall, and the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance, or the first distance is greater than the second distance. the method can further include forming a reflective layer on the first major surface. the reflective layer is formed by sputtering, plating, or vapor deposition of a material of the reflective layer onto the first major surface, and the reflective layer comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy, and can include aluminum or silver. the reflective layer is formed on the first major surface after forming the curved mirror substrate to form an aspheric mirror. as aspects of some embodiments, the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, the first inclined surface having a first length, the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, where the second inclined surface having a second length, and the first length is different than the second length, or the first length is greater than the second length. the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface and is measured from an intersection of the first inclined surface and the first major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface, and the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from an intersection of the second inclined surface and the second major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface. the first length can be at least about 1.0 mm; from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or about 2.0 mm. the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a first plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second plane co-planar with the first major surface. the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the second major surface. the first angle is smaller than the second angle. in another embodiment, a heads-up display (hud) system is provided, comprising a projection surface for viewing a projected image by a user of the hud system; a display unit configured to produce an image to be viewed by the user on the projection surface; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to the projection surface to form the projected image. the mirror includes a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces; a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer; and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, wherein the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. the first chamfer has a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and has a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and the second chamfer has a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and has a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length, or the first length is greater than the second length. as an aspect of some embodiments, the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length, where the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface at the intersection with the first chamfer and is measured from the first end of the first chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from the first end of the second chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer. the first length is at least about 1.0 mm; is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or is about 2.0 mm. as another aspect of some embodiments, the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at a first distance of about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a first major plane co-planar with the first major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at a first distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second major plane co-planar with the second major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. the first angle is about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees, and the second angle is about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees; or the first angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees, and the second angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. the first angle can be different than the second angle, and the first angle can be smaller than the second angle. a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the first major surface is about 0.5 mm to 3 mm, and a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the second major surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm, and a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. in some aspects of the embodiments, the first major surface has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being measured relative to a first axis of curvature. the first major surface can also have a second radius of curvature that is measured relative to a second axis of curvature that is different from the first axis of curvature. the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. the first major surface can have an aspheric shape, and the aspheric shape corresponds to a shape of the projection surface. the first major surface that is reflective comprises a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate. the reflective coating comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy, and the metal can be aluminum or silver. in aspects of embodiments of the hud system, the display unit comprises an lcd, led, oled, or μled display panel, and can include a projector. the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm; from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or about 2.0 mm. as an aspect of some embodiments, the chamfering of the first major surface is configured to reduce edge distortion of the projected image. the chamfering of the first major surface can be configured to reduce an amount of unwanted light reflected toward the user. the projection surface can be a windshield of a vehicle, or a combiner configured to be mounted in a vehicle interior. in some other embodiments, a heads-up display (hud) projection system is provided, comprising a display unit configured to display an image to be viewed by a user of a hud system; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to a viewing area viewable by the user. the mirror includes a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, and a chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the chamfer having a first length. as aspects of some embodiments, the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface and is measured from an intersection of the first inclined surface and the first major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface, and the first length is at least about 1.0 mm; is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or is about 2.0 mm. the chamfer intersects the first major surface at about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a first plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second plane co-planar with the first major surface. the mirror has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being relative to a first axis of curvature. the mirror can also have a second radius of curvature that is relative to a second axis of curvature different from the first axis of curvature, where the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. in some preferred embodiments, the first major surface has an aspheric shape. the first major surface that is reflective comprises a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate, where the reflective coating comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy, and can include aluminum or silver. the display unit can include an lcd, led, oled, or μled display panel, and/or a projector. the hud system can further include a projection surface for viewing a projected image by a user of the hud system, where the display unit configured to produce an image, and the mirror is configured to reflect the image to form the projected image on the projection surface. the projection surface has a shape that is substantially the same as a shape of the mirror, where the projection surface is a windshield or a combiner, and the projection surface can have an aspheric shape. in some embodiments, the second major surface comprises one or more manufacturing artifacts, and the manufacturing artifacts are confined to a perimeter region of the second major surface at a distance from the edge of the second major surface that is less than the first length. the manufacturing artifacts are vacuum suction artifacts from a process of bending the mirror. the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm; from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm; from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm; or about 2.0 mm. suitable glass substrates for mirrors in hud systems can be non-strengthened glass sheets or can also be strengthened glass sheets. the glass sheets (whether strengthened or non-strengthened) may include soda-lime glass, aluminosilicate, boroaluminosilicate or alkali aluminosilicate glass. optionally, the glass sheets may be thermally strengthened. suitable glass substrates may be chemically strengthened by an ion exchange process. in this process, typically by immersion of the glass sheet into a molten salt bath for a predetermined period of time, ions at or near the surface of the glass sheet are exchanged for larger metal ions from the salt bath. in one embodiment, the temperature of the molten salt bath is about 430° c. and the predetermined time period is about eight hours. the incorporation of the larger ions into the glass strengthens the sheet by creating a compressive stress in a near surface region. a corresponding tensile stress is induced within a central region of the glass to balance the compressive stress. exemplary ion-exchangeable glasses that are suitable for forming glass substrates are soda lime glasses, alkali aluminosilicate glasses or alkali aluminoborosilicate glasses, though other glass compositions are contemplated. as used herein, “ion exchangeable” means that a glass is capable of exchanging cations located at or near the surface of the glass with cations of the same valence that are either larger or smaller in size. one exemplary glass composition comprises sio 2 , b 2 o 3 and na 2 o, where (sio 2 +b 2 o 3 )≥66 mol. %, and na 2 o≥9 mol. %. in an embodiment, the glass sheets include at least 6 wt. % aluminum oxide. in a further embodiment, a glass sheet includes one or more alkaline earth oxides, such that a content of alkaline earth oxides is at least 5 wt. %. suitable glass compositions, in some embodiments, further comprise at least one of k 2 o, mgo, and cao. in a particular embodiment, the glass can comprise 61-75 mol. % sio 2 ; 7-15 mol. % al 2 o 3 ; 0-12 mol. % b 2 o 3 ; 9-21 mol. % na 2 o; 0-4 mol. % k 2 o; 0-7 mol. % mgo; and 0-3 mol. % cao. a further exemplary glass composition suitable for forming glass substrates comprises: 60-70 mol. % sio 2 ; 6-14 mol. % al 2 o 3 ; 0-15 mol. % b 2 o 3 ; 0-15 mol. % li 2 o; 0-20 mol. % na 2 o; 0-10 mol. % k 2 o; 0-8 mol. % mgo; 0-10 mol. % cao; 0-5 mol. % zro 2 ; 0-1 mol. % sno 2 ; 0-1 mol. % ceo 2 ; less than 50 ppm as 2 o 3 ; and less than 50 ppm sb 2 o 3 ; where 12 mol. %≤(li 2 o+na 2 o+k 2 o)≤20 mol. % and 0 mol. %≤(mgo+cao)≤10 mol. %. a still further exemplary glass composition comprises: 63.5-66.5 mol. % sio 2 ; 8-12 mol. % al 2 o 3 ; 0-3 mol. % b 2 o 3 ; 0-5 mol. % li 2 o; 8-18 mol. % na 2 o; 0-5 mol. % k 2 o; 1-7 mol. % mgo; 0-2.5 mol. % cao; 0-3 mol. % zro 2 ; 0.05-0.25 mol. % sno 2 ; 0.05-0.5 mol. % ceo 2 ; less than 50 ppm as 2 o 3 ; and less than 50 ppm sb 2 o 3 ; where 14 mol. %≤(li 2 o+na 2 o+k 2 o)≤18 mol. % and 2 mol. %≤(mgo+cao)≤7 mol. %. in a particular embodiment, an alkali aluminosilicate glass comprises alumina, at least one alkali metal and, in some embodiments, greater than 50 mol. % sio 2 , in other embodiments at least 58 mol. % sio 2 , and in still other embodiments at least 60 mol. % sio 2 , wherein the ratio where in the ratio the components are expressed in mol. % and the modifiers are alkali metal oxides. this glass, in particular embodiments, comprises, consists essentially of, or consists of: 58-72 mol. % sio 2 ; 9-17 mol. % al 2 o 3 ; 2-12 mol. % b 2 o 3 ; 8-16 mol. % na 2 o; and 0-4 mol. % k 2 o, wherein the ratio in another embodiment, an alkali aluminosilicate glass comprises, consists essentially of, or consists of: 61-75 mol. % sio 2 ; 7-15 mol. % al 2 o 3 ; 0-12 mol. % b 2 o 3 ; 9-21 mol. % na 2 o; 0-4 mol. % k 2 o; 0-7 mol. % mgo; and 0-3 mol. % cao. in yet another embodiment, an alkali aluminosilicate glass substrate comprises, consists essentially of, or consists of: 60-70 mol. % sio 2 ; 6-14 mol. % al 2 o 3 ; 0-15 mol. % b 2 o 3 ; 0-15 mol. % li 2 o; 0-20 mol. % na 2 o; 0-10 mol. % k 2 o; 0-8 mol. % mgo; 0-10 mol. % cao; 0-5 mol. % zro 2 ; 0-1 mol. % sno 2 ; 0-1 mol. % ceo 2 ; less than 50 ppm as 2 o 3 ; and less than 50 ppm sb 2 o 3 ; wherein 12 mol. %≤li 2 o+na 2 o+k 2 o≤20 mol. % and 0 mol. %≤mgo+cao≤10 mol. %. in still another embodiment, an alkali aluminosilicate glass comprises, consists essentially of, or consists of: 64-68 mol. % sio 2 ; 12-16 mol. % na 2 o; 8-12 mol. % al 2 o 3 ; 0-3 mol. % b 2 o 3 ; 2-5 mol. % k 2 o; 4-6 mol. % mgo; and 0-5 mol. % cao, wherein: 66 mol. %≤sio 2 +b 2 o 3 +cao≤69 mol. %; na 2 o+k 2 o+b 2 o 3 +mgo+cao+sro>10 mol. %; 5 mol. %≤mgo+cao+sro≤8 mol. %; (na 2 o+b 2 o 3 )—al 2 o 3 ≤2 mol. %; 2 mol. %≤na 2 o—al 2 o 3 ≤6 mol. %; and 4 mol. %≤(na 2 o+k 2 o)—al 2 o 3 ≤10 mol. %. the chemically-strengthened as well as the non-chemically-strengthened glass, in some embodiments, can be batched with 0-2 mol. % of at least one fining agent selected from a group that includes na 2 so 4 , nacl, naf, nabr, k 2 so 4 , kcl, kf, kbr, and sno 2 . in one exemplary embodiment, sodium ions in the chemically-strengthened glass can be replaced by potassium ions from the molten bath, though other alkali metal ions having a larger atomic radii, such as rubidium or cesium, can replace smaller alkali metal ions in the glass. according to particular embodiments, smaller alkali metal ions in the glass can be replaced by ag + ions. similarly, other alkali metal salts such as, but not limited to, sulfates, halides, and the like may be used in the ion exchange process. the replacement of smaller ions by larger ions at a temperature below that at which the glass network can relax produces a distribution of ions across the surface of the glass that results in a stress profile. the larger volume of the incoming ion produces a compressive stress (cs) on the surface and tension (central tension, or ct) in the center of the glass. the compressive stress is related to the central tension by the following relationship: where t is the total thickness of the glass sheet and dol is the depth of exchange, also referred to as depth of layer. according to various embodiments, glass substrates comprising ion-exchanged glass can possess an array of desired properties, including low weight, high impact resistance, and improved sound attenuation. in one embodiment, a chemically-strengthened glass sheet can have a surface compressive stress of at least 300 mpa, e.g., at least 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700, 750 or 800 mpa, a depth of layer at least about 20 μm (e.g., at least about 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 μm) and/or a central tension greater than 40 mpa (e.g., greater than 40, 45, or 50 mpa) but less than 100 mpa (e.g., less than 100, 95, 90, 85, 80, 75, 70, 65, 60, or 55 mpa). suitable glass substrates may be thermally strengthened by a thermal tempering process or an annealing process. the thickness of the thermally-strengthened glass sheets may be less than about 2 mm or less than about 1 mm. exemplary glass sheet forming methods include fusion draw and slot draw processes, which are each examples of a down-draw process, as well as float processes. these methods can be used to form both strengthened and non-strengthened glass sheets. the fusion draw process uses a drawing tank that has a channel for accepting molten glass raw material. the channel has weirs that are open at the top along the length of the channel on both sides of the channel. when the channel fills with molten material, the molten glass overflows the weirs. due to gravity, the molten glass flows down the outside surfaces of the drawing tank. these outside surfaces extend down and inwardly so that they join at an edge below the drawing tank. the two flowing glass surfaces join at this edge to fuse and form a single flowing sheet. the fusion draw method offers the advantage that, because the two glass films flowing over the channel fuse together, neither outside surface of the resulting glass sheet comes in contact with any part of the apparatus. thus, the surface properties of the fusion drawn glass sheet are not affected by such contact. the slot draw method is distinct from the fusion draw method. here the molten raw material glass is provided to a drawing tank. the bottom of the drawing tank has an open slot with a nozzle that extends the length of the slot. the molten glass flows through the slot/nozzle and is drawn downward as a continuous sheet and into an annealing region. the slot draw process can provide a thinner sheet than the fusion draw process because only a single sheet is drawn through the slot, rather than two sheets being fused together. down-draw processes produce glass sheets having a uniform thickness that possess surfaces that are relatively pristine. because the strength of the glass surface is controlled by the amount and size of surface flaws, a pristine surface that has had minimal contact has a higher initial strength. when this high strength glass is then chemically strengthened, the resultant strength can be higher than that of a surface that has been a lapped and polished. down-drawn glass may be drawn to a thickness of less than about 2 mm. in addition, down drawn glass has a very flat, smooth surface that can be used in its final application without costly grinding and polishing. in the float glass method, a sheet of glass that may be characterized by smooth surfaces and uniform thickness is made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin. in an exemplary process, molten glass that is fed onto the surface of the molten tin bed forms a floating ribbon. as the glass ribbon flows along the tin bath, the temperature is gradually decreased until a solid glass sheet can be lifted from the tin onto rollers. once off the bath, the glass sheet can be cooled further and annealed to reduce internal stress. as discussed in previous paragraphs, an exemplary glass substrate can include a glass sheet of chemically strengthened glass, e.g., gorilla® glass. this glass sheet may have been heat treated, ion exchanged and/or annealed. in a laminate structure, the strengthened glass sheet may be an inner layer, and an outer layer may be a non-chemically strengthened glass sheet such as conventional soda lime glass, annealed glass, or the like. the laminate structure can also include a polymeric interlayer intermediate the outer and inner glass layers. the strengthened glass sheet can have a thickness of less than or equal to 1.0 mm and having a residual surface cs level of between about 250 mpa to about 350 mpa with a dol of greater than 60 microns. in another embodiment the cs level of the strengthened glass sheet is preferably about 300 mpa. exemplary thicknesses of the glass sheet can range in thicknesses from about 0.3 mm to about 1.5 mm, from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm to 2.0 mm or more. in a preferred embodiment, the thin chemically strengthened glass sheet may have a surface stress between about 250 mpa and 900 mpa and can range in thickness from about 0.3 mm to about 1.0 mm. in an embodiment where this strengthened glass sheet is included in a laminate structure, the external layer can be annealed (non-chemically strengthened) glass with a thickness from about 1.5 mm to about 3.0 mm or more. of course, the thicknesses of the outer and inner layers can be different in a respective laminate structure. another preferred embodiment of an exemplary laminate structure may include an inner layer of 0.7 mm chemically strengthened glass, a poly-vinyl butyral layer of about 0.76 mm in thickness and a 2.1 mm exterior layer of annealed glass. in some embodiments, exemplary glass substrates of embodiments discussed herein can be employed in vehicles (automobile, aircraft, and the like) having a head-up or heads-up display (hud) system. the clarity of fusion formed according to some embodiments can be superior to glass formed by a float process to thereby provide a better driving experience as well as improve safety since information can be easier to read and less of a distraction. a non-limiting hud system can include a projector unit, a combiner, and a video generation computer. the projection unit in an exemplary hud can be, but is not limited to, an optical collimator having a convex lens or concave mirror with a display (e.g., optical waveguide, scanning lasers, led, crt, video imagery, or the like) at its focus. the projection unit can be employed to produce a desired image. in some embodiments, the hud system can also include a combiner or beam splitter to redirect the projected image from the projection unit to vary or alter the field of view and the projected image. some combiners can include special coatings to reflect monochromatic light projected thereon while allowing other wavelengths of light to pass through. in additional embodiments, the combiner can also be curved to refocus an image from the projection unit. any exemplary hud system can also include a processing system to provide an interface between the projection unit and applicable vehicle systems from which data can be received, manipulated, monitored and/or displayed. some processing systems can also be utilized to generate the imagery and symbology to be displayed by the projection unit. using such an exemplary hud system, a display of information (e.g., numbers, images, directions, wording, or otherwise) can be created by projecting an image from the hud system onto an interior facing surface of a glass-based mirror substrate. the mirror can then redirect the image so that it is in the field of view of a driver. exemplary glass substrates according to some embodiments can thus provide a thin, pristine surface for the mirror. in some embodiments, fusion drawn gorilla glass can be used as the glass substrate. such glass does not contain any float lines typical of conventional glass manufactured with the float process (e.g., soda lime glass). huds according to embodiments of the present disclosure can be employed in automotive vehicles, aircraft, synthetic vision systems, and/or mask displays (e.g., head mounted displays such as goggles, masks, helmets, and the like) utilizing exemplary glass substrates described herein. such hud systems can project critical information (speed, fuel, temperature, turn signal, navigation, warning messages, etc.) in front of the driver through the glass laminate structure. according to some embodiments, the hud systems described herein can use nominal hud system parameters for radius of curvature, refractive index, and angle of incidence (e.g., radius of curvature r c =8301 mm, distance to source: r i =1000 mm, refractive index n=1.52, and angle of incidence θ=62.08°). applicants have shown that the glass substrates and laminate structures disclosed herein have excellent durability, impact resistance, toughness, and scratch resistance. as is well known among skilled artisans, the strength and mechanical impact performance of a glass sheet or laminate is limited by defects in the glass, including both surface and internal defects. when a glass sheet or laminate structure is impacted, the impact point is put into compression, while a ring or “hoop” around the impact point, as well as the opposite face of the impacted sheet, are put into tension. typically, the origin of failure will be at a flaw, usually on the glass surface, at or near the point of highest tension. this may occur on the opposite face, but can occur within the ring. if a flaw in the glass is put into tension during an impact event, the flaw will likely propagate, and the glass will typically break. thus, a high magnitude and depth of compressive stress (depth of layer) is preferable. due to strengthening, one or both of the surfaces of the strengthened glass sheets disclosed herein are under compression. the incorporation of a compressive stress in a near surface region of the glass can inhibit crack propagation and failure of the glass sheet. in order for flaws to propagate and failure to occur, the tensile stress from an impact must exceed the surface compressive stress at the tip of the flaw. in embodiments, the high compressive stress and high depth of layer of strengthened glass sheets enable the use of thinner glass than in the case of non-chemically-strengthened glass. aspect (1) of this disclosure pertains to a glass-based preform for a mirror of a heads-up display (hud) system, comprising: a glass-based substrate having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces; a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface; and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface, wherein the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. aspect (2) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (1), wherein the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length. aspect (3) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (2), wherein the first length is greater than the second length. aspect (4) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (2) or aspect (3), wherein the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface at the intersection with the first chamfer and is measured from the first end of the first chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and wherein the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from the first end of the second chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer. aspect (5) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (2)-(4), wherein the first length is at least about 1.0 mm. aspect (6) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (2)-(5), wherein the first length is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (7) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(6), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at a first distance of about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a first major plane co-planar with the first major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. aspect (8) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(7), wherein the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at a first distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second major plane co-planar with the second major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. aspect (9) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (8), wherein the first angle is about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees, and the second angle is about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees. aspect (10) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (8), wherein the first angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees, and the second angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. aspect (11) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(7), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and wherein the first angle is different than the second angle. aspect (12) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (8)-(11), wherein the first angle is smaller than the second angle. aspect (13) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (7)-(12), wherein the first inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the first chamfer, and wherein the second inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the second chamfer. aspect (14) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(13), wherein at least a portion of the first major surface is reflective. aspect (15) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (14), wherein the portion of the first major surface that is reflective comprises a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate. aspect (16) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (15), wherein the reflective coating comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy. aspect (17) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (15) or aspect (16), wherein the reflective coating comprises aluminum or silver. aspect (18) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(17), wherein a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the first major surface is about 0.5 mm to 3 mm, and a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. aspect (19) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(18), wherein a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the second major surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm, and a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. aspect (20) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(19), wherein the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm. aspect (21) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (20), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (22) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (21), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm. aspect (23) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (21), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (24) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(23), wherein the second major surface comprises one or more manufacturing artifacts, and wherein the manufacturing artifacts are confined to a perimeter region of the second major surface, the perimeter region extending from the edge of the second major surface to a distance that is less than the first length. aspect (25) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (24), wherein the manufacturing artifacts are vacuum suction artifacts. aspect (26) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (24) or aspect (25), wherein the manufacturing artifacts are from a process of bending the mirror. aspect (27) of this disclosure pertains to a mirror for a heads-up display (hud) system comprising the glass-based preform of any one of claims 1 - 26 . aspect (28) of this disclosure pertains to the mirror of aspect (27), further comprising a reflective layer on the first major surface of the glass-based preform. aspect (29) of this disclosure pertains to the mirror of aspect (27) or aspect (28), wherein the glass-based substrate has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being measured with respect to a first axis of curvature. aspect (30) of this disclosure pertains to the mirror of aspect (29), wherein the glass-based substrate has a second radius of curvature measured with respect to a second axis of curvature different from the first axis of curvature. aspect (31) of this disclosure pertains to the mirror of aspect (30), wherein the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. aspect (32) of this disclosure pertains to the mirror of any one of aspects (27)-(31), wherein the first major surface has an aspheric shape. aspect (33) of this disclosure pertains to a method of forming a three-dimensional mirror, the method comprising: providing a glass-based mirror preform comprising a first major surface having an edge with a first chamfer, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface and having an edge with a second chamfer, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, the second chamfer having a different size or shape than the first chamfer; disposing the glass-based preform on a molding apparatus having a curved support surface with the second major surface facing the curved support surface; and conforming the glass-based preform to the curved support surface to form a curved mirror substrate having a first radius of curvature. aspect (34) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (33), wherein the conforming of the glass-based preform to the curved support surface is performed at a temperature that is less than a glass transition temperature of the glass-based preform. aspect (35) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (33) or aspect (34), wherein a temperature of the glass-based substrate is not raised above the glass transition temperature of the glass-based substrate during or after the conforming. aspect (36) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (33)-(35), wherein the curved support surface has a concave shape. aspect (37) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (36), wherein the concave shape is an aspheric shape. aspect (38) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (33)-(37), wherein the curved support surface comprises a vacuum chuck with at least one opening in the curved support surface. aspect (39) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (38), further comprising supplying a vacuum to the at least one opening to conform the curved glass blank to the curved support surface. aspect (40) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (38) or aspect (39), wherein the at least one opening is a ditch-type vacuum hole. aspect (41) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (38)-(40), wherein the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such that the first chamfer begins in the first major surface at a first distance from the minor surface, wherein, when the glass-based preform is disposed on the curved support surface, the at least one opening is a second distance from the minor surface, and wherein the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance. aspect (42) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (38)-(41), wherein the molding apparatus comprises a raised perimeter surface or wall adjacent the curved support surface and defining a space on the curved support surface in which the glass-based preform is to be disposed. aspect (43) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (42), wherein the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such the first chamfer begins in the first major surface at a first distance from the minor surface, wherein the at least one opening is a second distance from the raised perimeter surface or wall, and wherein the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance. aspect (44) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (41)-(43), wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance. aspect (45) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (33)-(44), further comprising forming a reflective layer on the first major surface. aspect (46) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (45), wherein the reflective layer is formed by sputtering, plating, or vapor deposition of a material of the reflective layer onto the first major surface. aspect (47) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (45) or aspect (46), wherein the reflective layer comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy. aspect (48) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (47), wherein the reflective layer comprises aluminum or silver. aspect (49) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (45)-(48), wherein the reflective layer is formed on the first major surface after forming the curved mirror substrate to form an aspheric mirror. aspect (50) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (33)-(49), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, the first inclined surface having a first length, wherein the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, the second inclined surface having a second length, and wherein the first length is different than the second length. aspect (51) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (50), wherein the first length is greater than the second length. aspect (52) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (50) or aspect (51), wherein the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface and is measured from an intersection of the first inclined surface and the first major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface, and wherein the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from an intersection of the second inclined surface and the second major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface. aspect (53) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (50)-(52), wherein the first length is at least about 1.0 mm. aspect (54) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (53), wherein the first length is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (55) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (53), wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a first plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second plane co-planar with the first major surface. aspect (56) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (50) or aspect (55), wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the second major surface. aspect (57) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (33)-(49), wherein the first chamfer defines a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer defines a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and wherein the first angle is different than the second angle. aspect (58) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (57), wherein the first angle is smaller than the second angle. aspect (59) of this disclosure pertains to a heads-up display (hud) projection system, comprising: a display unit configured to display an image to be viewed by a user of a hud system; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to a viewing area viewable by the user, the mirror comprising: a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and having a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface, wherein the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. aspect (60) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (59), wherein the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length. aspect (61) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (60), wherein the first length is greater than the second length. aspect (62) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (60) or aspect (61), wherein the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface at the intersection with the first chamfer and is measured from the first end of the first chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and wherein the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from the first end of the second chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer. aspect (63) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (60)-(62), wherein the first length is at least about 1.0 mm. aspect (64) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (63), wherein the first length is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (65) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(64), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at a first distance of about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a first major plane co-planar with the first major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. aspect (66) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(65), wherein the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at a first distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second major plane co-planar with the second major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. aspect (67) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (66), wherein the first angle is about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees, and the second angle is about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees. aspect (68) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (66), wherein the first angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees, and the second angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. aspect (69) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(64), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and wherein the first angle is different than the second angle. aspect (70) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (69), wherein the first angle is smaller than the second angle. aspect (71) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (69) or aspect (70), wherein the first inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the first chamfer, and wherein the second inclined surface extends from the first edge to the second edge of the second chamfer. aspect (72) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(71), wherein the first major surface has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being measured relative to a first axis of curvature. aspect (73) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (72), wherein the mirror has a second radius of curvature that is measured relative to a second axis of curvature different from the first axis of curvature. aspect (74) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (73), wherein the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. aspect (75) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(74), wherein the first major surface has an aspheric shape. aspect (76) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(75), wherein the first major surface that is reflective comprises a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate. aspect (77) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (76), wherein the reflective coating comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy. aspect (78) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (76) or aspect (77), wherein the reflective coating comprises aluminum or silver. aspect (79) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(78), wherein the display unit comprises an lcd, led, oled, or μled display panel. aspect (80) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(79), wherein the display unit comprises a projector. aspect (81) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(80), wherein the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm. aspect (82) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (81), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (83) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspects (82), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm. aspect (84) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (82), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (85) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system any one of aspect (58)-(84), further comprising a projection surface configured to display a projected image to a user of the hud system, wherein the mirror is configured to reflect the image produced by the display unit to form the projected image on the projection surface. aspect (86) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (85), wherein the projection surface has a curvature corresponding to a curvature of the mirror. aspect (87) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (86), wherein the curvature of the projection surface is substantially the same as the curvature of the mirror. aspect (88) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (86) or aspect (87), wherein the projection surface is a windshield or a combiner. aspect (89) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (86)-(88), wherein the projection surface has an aspheric shape. aspect (90) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(89), wherein the second major surface comprises one or more manufacturing artifacts, and wherein the manufacturing artifacts are confined to a perimeter region of the second major surface, the perimeter region extending from the edge of the second major surface to a distance that is less than the first length. aspect (91) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (90), wherein the manufacturing artifacts are vacuum suction artifacts. aspect (92) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (90) or aspect (91), wherein the manufacturing artifacts are from a process of bending the mirror. aspect (93) of this disclosure pertains to a method of forming a three-dimensional mirror, the method comprising: providing a glass-based mirror preform having a first major surface, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, the glass preform having a flat shape; forming a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface; forming a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, the second chamfer having a different size or shape from the first chamfer; disposing the glass-based preform on a molding apparatus having a curved support surface with the second major surface facing the curved support surface; and conforming the glass-based preform to the curved support surface to form a curved mirror substrate having a first radius of curvature. aspect (94) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (93), wherein the conforming of the glass-based preform to the curved support surface is performed at a temperature that is less than a glass transition temperature of the glass-based preform. aspect (95) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (93) or aspect (94), wherein a temperature of the glass-based substrate is not raised above the glass transition temperature of the glass-based substrate during or after the conforming. aspect (96) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (93)-(95), wherein the curved support surface has a concave shape. aspect (97) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (96), wherein the concave shape is an aspheric shape. aspect (98) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (93)-(97), wherein the curved support surface comprises a vacuum chuck with at least one opening in the curved support surface. aspect (99) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (98), further comprising supplying a vacuum to the at least one opening to conform the curved glass blank to the curved support surface. aspect (100) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (98) or aspect (99), wherein the at least one opening is a ditch-type vacuum hole. aspect (101) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (98)-(100), wherein the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such that the first chamfer begins at a first distance from the minor surface, wherein, when the glass-based preform is disposed on the curved support surface, the at least one opening is a second distance from the minor surface, and wherein the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance. aspect (102) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (98)-(101), wherein the molding apparatus comprises a raised perimeter surface or wall adjacent the curved support surface and defining a space on the curved support surface in which the glass-based preform is to be disposed. aspect (103) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (102), wherein the first chamfer is formed in the first major surface such the first chamfer begins at a first distance from the minor surface, wherein the at least one opening is a second distance from the raised perimeter surface or wall, and wherein the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance. aspect (104) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (101)-(103), wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance. aspect (105) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (93)-(104), further comprising forming a reflective layer on the first major surface. aspect (106) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (105), wherein the reflective layer is formed by sputtering, plating, or vapor deposition of a material of the reflective layer onto the first major surface. aspect (107) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (105) or aspect (106), wherein the reflective layer comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy. aspect (108) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (107), wherein the reflective layer comprises aluminum or silver. aspect (109) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (105)-(108), wherein the reflective layer is formed on the first major surface after forming the curved mirror substrate to form an aspheric mirror. aspect (110) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (93)-(109), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, the first inclined surface having a first length, wherein the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, the second inclined surface having a second length, and wherein the first length is different than the second length. aspect (111) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (110), wherein the first length is greater than the second length. aspect (112) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (110) or aspect (111), wherein the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface and is measured from an intersection of the first inclined surface and the first major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface, and wherein the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from an intersection of the second inclined surface and the second major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface. aspect (113) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (110)-(112), wherein the first length is at least about 1.0 mm. aspect (114) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (113), wherein the first length is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (115) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (110), wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a first plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second plane co-planar with the first major surface. aspect (116) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspects (110) or (115), wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a plane co-planar with the second major surface. aspect (117) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (110)-(116), wherein the first angle is smaller than the second angle. aspect (118) of this disclosure pertains to a heads-up display (hud) system comprising: a projection surface for viewing a projected image by a user of the hud system; a display unit configured to produce an image to be viewed by the user on the projection surface; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to the projection surface to form the projected image, the mirror comprising: a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, a first chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the first chamfer, and a second chamfer at an edge of the second major surface, wherein the first chamfer has a different size or shape from the second chamfer. aspect (119) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (118), wherein the first chamfer has a first end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the first major surface and has a second end at an intersection of the first chamfer and the minor surface, and wherein the second chamfer has a first end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the second major surface and has a second end at an intersection of the second chamfer and the minor surface. aspect (120) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (118) or aspect (119), wherein the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length. aspect (121) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (120), wherein the first length is greater than the second length. aspect (122) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (119), wherein the first chamfer has a first length, the second chamfer has a second length, and the first length is different than the second length, wherein the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface at the intersection with the first chamfer and is measured from the first end of the first chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and wherein the second length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the second major surface and is measured from the first end of the second chamfer to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer. aspect (123) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (120)-(122), wherein the first length is at least about 1.0 mm. aspect (124) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (12), wherein the first length is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (125) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(124), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, wherein the first inclined surface intersects the first major surface at a first distance of about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the first chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a first major plane co-planar with the first major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. aspect (126) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (125), wherein the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, wherein the second inclined surface intersects the second major surface at a first distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a minor plane co-planar with the minor surface at the second end of the second chamfer, and intersects the minor surface at a second distance of about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second major plane co-planar with the second major surface at the first end of the first chamfer. aspect (127) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (126), wherein the first angle is about 3 degrees to about 31 degrees, and the second angle is about 33 degrees to about 57 degrees. aspect (128) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (126), wherein the first angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees, and the second angle is from about 5 degrees to about 45 degrees. aspect (129) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(124), wherein the first chamfer comprises a first inclined surface at a first angle measured with respect to the first surface, and the second chamfer comprises a second inclined surface at a second angle measured with respect to the second surface, and wherein the first angle is different than the second angle. aspect (130) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (129), wherein the first angle is smaller than the second angle. aspect (131) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (115)-(127), wherein the first major surface has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being measured relative to a first axis of curvature. aspect (132) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (131), wherein the first major surface has a second radius of curvature that is measured relative to a second axis of curvature that is different from the first axis of curvature. aspect (133) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (132), wherein the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. aspect (134) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(133), wherein the first major surface has an aspheric shape. aspect (135) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (134), wherein the aspheric shape corresponds to a shape of the projection surface. aspect (136) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(135), wherein the first major surface that is reflective comprises a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate. aspect (137) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (136), wherein the reflective coating comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy. aspect (138) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (137), wherein the metal is aluminum or silver. aspect (139) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(124) and (127)-(138), wherein a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the first major surface is about 0.5 mm to 3 mm, and a length of the first inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. aspect (140) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(124) and (127)-(139), wherein a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the second major surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm, and a length of the second inclined surface as measured in a direction parallel to the minor surface is about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm. aspect (141) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(140), wherein the display unit comprises an lcd, led, oled, or μled display panel. aspect (142) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of claim any one of aspects (118)-(141), wherein the display unit is a projector. aspect (143) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(142), wherein the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm. aspect (144) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (143), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (145) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (144), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm. aspect (146) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of aspect (144), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (147) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(146), wherein the chamfering of the first major surface is configured to reduce edge distortion of the projected image. aspect (148) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(146), wherein the chamfering of the first major surface is configured to reduce an amount of unwanted light reflected toward the user. aspect (149) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(148), wherein the projection surface is a windshield of a vehicle. aspect (150) of this disclosure pertains to the hud system of any one of aspects (118)-(148), wherein the projection surface is a combiner configured to be mounted in a vehicle interior. aspect (151) of this disclosure pertains to a heads-up display (hud) projection system, comprising: a display unit configured to display an image to be viewed by a user of a hud system; and a mirror configured to reflect the image to a viewing area viewable by the user, the mirror comprising: a glass-based substrate having a first major surface that is reflective, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces, and a chamfer at an edge of the first major surface, the chamfer having a first length. aspect (152) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (151), wherein the first length is measured in a direction that is in-plane with the first major surface and is measured from an intersection of the first inclined surface and the first major surface to a plane that is co-planar with the minor surface, and wherein the first length is at least about 1.0 mm. aspect (153) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (151) or aspect (152), wherein the first length is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (154) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (151)-(153), wherein the chamfer intersects the first major surface at about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm from a first plane co-planar with the minor surface, and intersects the minor surface at about 0.2 mm to about 0.3 mm from a second plane co-planar with the first major surface. aspect (155) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (151)-(154), wherein the mirror has a first radius of curvature such that the first major surface has a concave shape and the second major surface has a convex shape, the first radius of curvature being relative to a first axis of curvature. aspect (156) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (155), wherein the mirror has a second radius of curvature that is relative to a second axis of curvature different from the first axis of curvature. aspect (157) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (156), wherein the first axis of curvature is perpendicular to the second axis of curvature. aspect (158) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (151)-(157), wherein the first major surface has an aspheric shape. aspect (159) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (151)-(158), wherein the first major surface that is reflective comprises a reflective coating on the glass-based substrate. aspect (160) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (159), wherein the reflective coating comprises a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic oxide, or a metal-ceramic alloy. aspect (161) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (159) or aspect (160), wherein the reflective coating comprises aluminum or silver. aspect (162) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (151)-(161), wherein the display unit comprises an lcd, led, oled, or μled display panel. aspect (163) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (151)-(162), wherein the display unit is a projector. aspect (164) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (151)-(163), wherein the glass-based substrate has a thickness that is less than or equal to 3.0 mm. aspect (165) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (164), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (166) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (165), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 0.5 mm to about 1.0 mm. aspect (167) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (165), wherein the thickness of the glass-based substrate is from about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. aspect (168) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (161)-(167), further comprising a projection surface for viewing a projected image by a user of the hud system, wherein the display unit configured to produce an image, and the mirror is configured to reflect the image to form the projected image on the projection surface. aspect (169) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (168), wherein the projection surface has a shape that is substantially the same as a shape of the mirror. aspect (170) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (168) or aspect (169), wherein the projection surface is a windshield or a combiner. aspect (171) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (168)-(170), wherein the projection surface has an aspheric shape. aspect (172) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (153), wherein the second major surface comprises one or more manufacturing artifacts, and wherein the manufacturing artifacts are confined to a perimeter region of the second major surface at a distance from the edge of the second major surface that is less than the first length. aspect (173) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (172), wherein the manufacturing artifacts are vacuum suction artifacts from a process of bending the mirror. aspect (174) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of any one of aspects (1)-(26), wherein the glass-based preform comprises strengthened glass. aspect (175) of this disclosure pertains to the glass-based preform of aspect (174), wherein the strengthened glass is chemically strengthened. aspect (176) of this disclosure pertains to the method of any one of aspects (33)-(58), wherein the glass-based mirror preform comprises strengthened glass. aspect (177) of this disclosure pertains to the method of aspect (176), wherein the strengthened glass is chemically strengthened. aspect (178) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of any one of aspects (59)-(92), wherein the glass-based substrate comprises strengthened glass. aspect (179) of this disclosure pertains to the hud projection system of aspect (178), wherein the strengthened glass is chemically strengthened. while this description may include many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope thereof, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. certain features that have been heretofore described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and may even be initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination. similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings or figures in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. in certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous ranges can be expressed herein as from “about” one particular value, and/or to “about” another particular value. when such a range is expressed, examples include from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by use of the antecedent “about,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another aspect. it will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint. it is also noted that recitations herein refer to a component of the present disclosure being “configured” or “adapted to” function in a particular way. in this respect, such a component is “configured” or “adapted to” embody a particular property, or function in a particular manner, where such recitations are structural recitations as opposed to recitations of intended use. more specifically, the references herein to the manner in which a component is “configured” or “adapted to” denotes an existing physical condition of the component and, as such, is to be taken as a definite recitation of the structural characteristics of the component. as shown by the various configurations and embodiments illustrated in the figures, various glass-based structures for head-up displays have been described. while preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that the embodiments described are illustrative only and that the scope of the invention is to be defined solely by the appended claims when accorded a full range of equivalence, many variations and modifications naturally occurring to those of skill in the art from a perusal hereof.
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