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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims ."}
|
{"patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims .", "category": "Fixed Constructions"}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
5d6b5d55eb5641f30e4ac015e26ab992de2aa640c99f2220607a1073d9a1b14c
| 0.277344 | 0.051025 | 0.726563 | 0.170898 | 0.585938 | 0.365234 |
null |
{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims ."}
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{"patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims .", "category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
5d6b5d55eb5641f30e4ac015e26ab992de2aa640c99f2220607a1073d9a1b14c
| 0.210938 | 0.001282 | 0.652344 | 0.002319 | 0.546875 | 0.001457 |
null |
{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims ."}
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{"patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims .", "category": "Physics"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
5d6b5d55eb5641f30e4ac015e26ab992de2aa640c99f2220607a1073d9a1b14c
| 0.507813 | 0.000912 | 0.890625 | 0.017944 | 0.828125 | 0.049561 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "fig1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal according to the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 of fig1 can be a mobile station of a mobile communications system , for instance . the subscriber terminal comprises a user interface 2 including for instance a display , a keyboard , a microphone and a loudspeaker . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 , in other words , the service subscriber , can use the user interface to record a new message . the message can include text , speech , an image , a video clip or a multimedia message . images and video clips can be recorded for instance such that the subscriber terminal is connected to a video camera or to a computer terminal , and the message is transferred to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , a camera and / or other recording means are arranged in the subscriber terminal . a text message can be entered by using the keyboard of the subscriber terminal or a separate keyboard attached or connected to the subscriber terminal . alternatively , if the subscriber terminal has a speech control function which makes it possible to give voice commands to the subscriber terminal , it is possible for the user to speak the message into the microphone of the subscriber terminal , in which case the speech control function converts the speech into text . in the following description relating to all the drawings 1 to 3 , it is by way of example assumed that the message is a speech message , although any other message type is also possible according to the present invention . a speech message is recorded with the recorder 3 included in the subscriber terminal . the user of the subscriber terminal first selects a mode for recording speech messages by using the keyboard , and then he speaks the message b into the microphone of the subscriber terminal . the recorded message b is stored in the memory means m 2 together with a message parameter msg 2 identifying the message . in order to activate the message b , the user of the subscriber terminal 1 must first select the mode for connecting a message to a specific profile . in this case , it is assumed that the user wants to define that the message b with the message parameter msg 2 shall be used in connection with the profile \u2018 normal \u2019. this selection can be done with the keyboard , or for instance by voice commands if a speech control function is available . fig1 shows that there are , at that moment , three different profiles available for the subscriber terminal 1 . the parameters associated with these profiles are stored in the memory m 1 . the parameters associated with a profile define how the subscriber terminal functions when the profile in question is selected for use . if the user in the case of fig1 uses the keyboard of the user interface 2 to select for use the profile \u2018 normal \u2019, then the subscriber terminal enters a mode where the sound level 5 ( parameter sound 5 ) will be used for alerting of a terminating call . when the selection is done , the message parameter msg 2 is fed from the memory m 1 to the memory means m 2 in an activation message . thus the message b , with the message parameter msg 2 , will be activated in the memory means m 2 . if a calling subscriber terminal at that moment tries to make a call to the subscriber terminal 1 , and the user of the subscriber terminal 1 does not answer the call within a predefined time period , then the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 will transmit the active message b to the calling subscriber terminal . fig1 suggests that the messages and the parameters associated with the different profiles should be stored in different memories . this is naturally only one example of how to store this information . in practice it might be appropriate to store both the parameters associated with the profiles and the messages in the same memory . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the system shown in fig2 uses a second preferred embodiment of the subscriber terminal of the present invention . the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 corresponds to the subscriber terminal 1 described in connection with fig1 , except that the memory means m 2 is not arranged in the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032, but instead into the network element 5 providing an answering service for the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032. thus the messages available for use are stored in the network element 5 . when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 selects a profile for use with the user interface 2 , the transmitter 4 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 transmits an activation message act to the network element 5 . the activation message is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system , but for simplicity only the network element 5 is shown in fig2 . the activation message act transmitted by the subscriber terminal to the network element 5 includes a message parameter indicating the message which should be activated . for instance , when the user of the subscriber terminal has selected the profile \u2018 normal \u2019 for use , then the message parameter msg 2 is included in the activation message act . a control unit 6 of the network element 5 activates the message b when it receives the activation message with the message parameter msg 2 . thus the message b will be transmitted to a calling subscriber terminal for instance when the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 does not answer his call . there might naturally also be other predetermined conditions defined for transmitting the activated message , such as when the subscriber terminal is turned off or when the subscriber terminal has another call going on . such conditions can be defined by the user with the message parameters which are transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element in the activation message , for instance . when the user wants to record a new message , such as a speech message , he speaks the message into the microphone of the user terminal as described in connection with fig1 . the subscriber terminal then transmits this new message , for instance message b , with associated message parameters , for instance msg 2 , to the network element 5 . the control unit of the network element stores this new message with the associated message parameter into the memory means 5 . in case a message already exists with the same message parameter msg 2 , then the previous message will be replaced by the new message . a new message might be transmitted from the subscriber terminal to the network element immediately when it has been recorded . alternatively , the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 can store this new message temporarily in the memory m 1 . the message is stored in the memory m 1 until the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2032 the next time activates a profile using this new message . at that moment , the new message with the associated message parameters is transmitted to the network element 5 in connection with the transmission of the activation message . the control unit 6 will detect the new message , store it in the memory means and activate the message . the network element 5 might be for instance an icas server ( intelligent call answering service ) which is arranged in connection with an mmsc ( multimedia message service center ) in a third - generation mobile communications system . in that case , the activation message and the messages used for storing new messages into the memory means m 2 might be for instance mms messages ( multimedia message service ) where the icas server has been defined as the receiver and an msisdn number ( mobile station isdn number ) or an ip - address has been defined as the sender of the message . a icas server makes it possible to transmit messages of practically any kind , such as text , sound , images or video . according to the present invention , it is sufficient to store the messages of a subscriber terminal only in the memory means m 2 of the network element as described previously . however , further advantages can be obtained in case the messages are also stored in the subscriber terminal . in that case , the user of the subscriber terminal can read , look or listen ( depending on the message type ) to the messages he has stored without a need to establish a contact to the network element . if the subscriber then decides to change one of the messages , this new message can at that moment be stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal only ( indicated by a dotted line in fig2 ), from where it can be transmitted to the network element at an appropriate moment , for instance when the user activates a profile using the new message . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig3 corresponds in other aspects to the one in fig2 , but the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible for the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 to leave personal messages designated for predefined calling subscriber terminals . thus separate messages can be used for the user &# 39 ; s wife or boss , for instance . in fig3 , the message parameters stored in the memory m 1 \u2032 of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 and the memory means m 2 \u2032 of the network element include identifiers id 1 , id 2 and id 3 which identify other subscribers ( or subscriber groups ). the subscriber or subscriber groups can be identified for instance based on the identifiers of the subscriber terminals used by these subscribers . for instance , the identifier id 1 might consist of the msisdn number or of the ip - address of a specific mobile station . the user of the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033 might for instance have fed these identifiers into his subscriber terminal with the keyboard when he updated the parameters for the different profiles . fig3 shows that there are two simultaneously active messages in the network element 5 \u2033 due to the fact that the user has selected the profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 for use . when the previously mentioned mobile station attempts to call the subscriber terminal 1 \u2033, but the user of the subscriber terminal does not answer the call , the call is forwarded to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element receives the msisdn number of the calling mobile station . at that moment , the control unit 6 of the network element compares the received msisdn number with the identifiers id 1 and id 2 of the activated messages . the result of the comparison indicates a match for the message a ( msg 1 ). thus the control unit 6 will control the network element to transmit the message a to the calling mobile station . however , if the caller had been a subscriber terminal with an msisdn number corresponding to the identifier id 3 , then the transmitted message would instead have been the message b ( msg 2 ). as should be apparent from the previous description , the embodiment of fig3 makes it possible to personalize the messages such that the user of the subscriber terminal can in advance store different messages for different callers in one single profile . it is also possible according to the present invention to store one default message , which will be used in case the msisdn of the calling subscriber does not match any of the identifiers stored for the active messages . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the telecommunications system according to the present invention . the embodiment of fig4 is very similar to the one described in connection with fig3 . however , the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for a service subscriber to include data for a menu in a message stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. in fig4 it is assumed that the service subscriber has selected for use a profile \u2018 meeting \u2019 with his subscriber terminal . thus the messages a \u2032 and ( msg 1 ) and b ( msg 2 ) are active in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the message a \u2032 is assumed to include data needed for presenting a menu of available options to a calling subscriber . when a calling subscriber at that moment makes a call attempt to the service subscriber by using the subscriber terminal 7 , the call attempt is routed to the network element 5 \u2033. it is assumed that the identifier of the subscriber terminal 7 corresponds to the identifier id 1 stored with the message a \u2032 in the memory means . thus the control unit 6 \u2032 will control the network element 5 \u2033 to transmit the message a \u2032 to the subscriber terminal 7 : it should be observed that the message a \u2032 is naturally transmitted via a base station of the system to the subscriber terminal 7 , but for simplicity only the network element 5 \u2033 and the subscriber terminal 7 are shown in fig4 . the message a \u2032 includes data for presenting a menu of available options for the calling subscriber . thus subscriber terminal 7 will present the menu shown in fig4 on a display of the subscriber terminal 7 . the calling subscriber can then by making a selection from this menu , by using the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 , indicate to the telecommunications system how he would like to proceed with the call attempt . the subscriber terminal 7 transmits information inf indicating the selection made by the calling subscriber to the network element 5 \u2033. the network element identifies the selected option and serves the calling subscriber according to the selection information inf . the embodiment of fig4 makes it possible for instance for the calling subscriber to be connected to the secretary of the service subscriber by selecting this option with the user interface of the subscriber terminal 7 . in that case the network element will receive selection information inf indicating that the call should be forwarded to a predetermined number , in other words , to the telephone number of the secretary . the number can be included in the menu data included in the message a \u2032 which is stored in the memory means m 2 \u2033. the menu which is presented on the display of the subscriber terminal 7 can also offer the calling subscriber a possibility to select a connection type , such as one the following options : video , voice data and short message ( sms ). thus , if the calling subscriber for instance decides to leave a message , he can select the type of message he wants to leave , such as a video message . if the subscriber terminal 7 is a mobile station with wap ( wireless application protocol ) capabilities then the message including the menu with the available options can be sent to the subscriber terminal by utilizing the wta ( wireless telephony application ) and wap push functionalities before the call is connected . the wta and wap push functionalities are described in more detail for instance in the references : 1 ) ( wap - 165 ) \u201c wap push architectural overview version 8 , nov . 1999 \u201d, wireless application protocol forum ltd . 1999 , and 2 ) ( wap - 169 ) \u201c wap wta , version 8 , nov . 1999 , wireless application protocol wireless telephony application specification \u201d, wireless application protocol forum , ltd , 1999 . both of the above mentioned references are available over the internet from the address : http :// www . wapforum . org / what / technical . htm . it is to be understood that the above description and the accompanying figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention . it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention can be varied and modified in many ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed in the attached claims ."}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
5d6b5d55eb5641f30e4ac015e26ab992de2aa640c99f2220607a1073d9a1b14c
| 0.003479 | 0.249023 | 0.021973 | 0.145508 | 0.080566 | 0.229492 |
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention ."}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.003937 | 0.086426 | 0.026367 | 0.034668 | 0.109863 | 0.098145 |
null |
{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention ."}
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{"category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention ."}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.101074 | 0.188477 | 0.210938 | 0.546875 | 0.554688 | 0.671875 |
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.001984 | 0.519531 | 0.027588 | 0.03064 | 0.102539 | 0.081543 |
null |
{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"category": "Fixed Constructions", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention ."}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.009705 | 0.010681 | 0.128906 | 0.040771 | 0.149414 | 0.022583 |
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention ."}
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{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.061035 | 0.041504 | 0.066406 | 0.031128 | 0.243164 | 0.185547 |
null |
{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Physics"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.003937 | 0.042725 | 0.026367 | 0.083984 | 0.109863 | 0.339844 |
null |
{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Electricity"}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.002319 | 0.001244 | 0.033691 | 0.017456 | 0.121094 | 0.011353 |
null |
{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , wherein like numerals indicate like elements , fig2 illustrates a corrosion - inhibiting cover , which is generally denoted by the numeral 100 . cover 100 is preferably made of flexible materials and includes an outer surface 102 and an inner surface 104 . in some cases rigid materials , often formed with a configuration corresponding to that of the object to be covered , may be used for cover 100 . cover 100 has a peripheral edge 106 that defines an area 108 , which may be shaped as desired to suit a particular application . when draped over an object , such as a metallic block 10 resting on a surface 112 , outer surface 102 is exposed to an ambient environment 114 and inner surface 104 defines a micro - environment comprising a number of interior regions , such as those denoted as 116 , located between inner surface 104 and block 110 . although metallic block 110 is generally protected from elements present in ambient environment 114 by cover 100 , moisture from ambient environment 114 tends to infiltrate ( as illustrated by arrow 118 ) interior regions 116 through gaps between peripheral edge 106 of cover 100 and surface 112 . however , the materials and structure of cover 100 allow it to absorb and store such infiltrating moisture ( as illustrated by arrows 120 ) from within interior regions 116 and maintain the moisture content of the micro - environment at a low level , below that of ambient environment 114 . cover 100 is also able to absorb and store by wicking action any water present on the surface of block 110 that comes into contact with inner surface 104 . this low - moisture micro - environment inhibits metallic block 110 from corroding . in addition to the ability to absorb and store moisture , cover 100 may be provided with the ability to passively regenerate its moisture - absorbing and storing features by allowing stored moisture to diffuse to the outer surface of the cover , where it can evaporate ( as illustrated by arrows 122 ) into ambient environment 114 when conditions there are suitable for evaporation . beneficial features of the flexible cover 100 of the present invention are that it can be made to any size and shape necessary to protect an object having virtually any size and surface profile . some diverse examples of such objects are containers for container ships , deck - mounted guns on naval ships , construction equipment , stored construction materials , air conditioning units and barbeque grills , to name just a few . pouches of flexible cover 100 could be fashioned to store munitions , tools , handguns and telephones and other electronic devices to name just a few . one skilled in the art will recognize that there is a vast range of applications for cover 100 . referring now to fig3 , there is shown one specific embodiment of corrosion - inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 200 . cover 200 comprises three layers consisting of a liquid - permeable layer 202 , a liquid - impermeable layer 204 and a moisture - absorbing layer 206 sandwiched between liquid - permeable layer 202 and liquid - impermeable layer 204 . with reference to fig2 and 3 , liquid - permeable layer 202 forms inner surface 104 of cover 200 and retains the constituent materials of moisture - absorbing layer 206 within cover 200 . liquid - permeable layer 202 is vapor permeable to allow moisture vapor within interior regions 116 to reach moisture - absorbing layer 206 , and liquid - permeable to allow any liquid water contacting inner surface 104 of cover 200 to be wicked into moisture - absorbing layer 206 . preferably , liquid - permeable layer 202 has a water transmission rate of greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr . liquid - permeable layer 202 should be made of a durable woven or non - woven material that can withstand repeated use and continual contact with a wide variety of surfaces . it is also preferable that liquid - permeable layer 202 be relatively smooth and / or soft so that damage to any object contacted by liquid - permeable layer 202 is avoided . a preferred material for liquid - permeable layer 202 is polyester mesh style no . 9864 , available from fablock mills , murry hill , n . j . other suitable materials include nylon , polypropylene , or the like and are available from fablock mills inc ., murry hill , n . j ., jason mills inc ., westwood , n . j ., and apex mills , inwood , n . y . among others . moisture - absorbing layer 206 includes a fiber matrix 210 and a super - absorbent material 208 , such as hydrogel . preferably , the super - absorbent material 208 is in particulate or fiber form , which allows it to be dispersed throughout the fiber matrix . alternatively , however , super - absorbent material 208 may be located in a generally discrete layer within fiber matrix 210 , which may comprise either a woven or non - woven material . examples of acceptable materials for fiber matrix 210 include wool , fiberglass , polymer fleece , fluff wood pulp and the like . it is desirable that fiber matrix 210 have a high capillarity , preferably greater than 10 g / m 2 - hr ., so that moisture coming into contact with moisture - absorbing layer 206 through liquid - permeable layer 202 may be wicked deep into moisture - absorbing layer 206 to take advantage of the super - absorbent material located there . although a fiber matrix is shown , it may be eliminated in an alternative embodiment having a hydrogel or other super - absorbant material in a form that need not be supported by and / or located within a fiber matrix . hydrogel , one example of a class of super - absorbent materials , is capable of absorbing up to 400 times its weight in water . with such a large absorption capability , the particles of hydrogel can swell to many times their original size . if the hydrogel particles are not distributed properly throughout fiber matrix 210 , moisture - absorbing layer 206 may experience hydroblocking , wherein the hydrogel particles closest to the moisture source swell so much that they block moisture from being wicked farther into the fiber matrix . although some of the absorbed moisture eventually reaches the hydrogel located deep within fiber matrix 210 by diffusion , diffusion is a slow process that would degrade the usefulness of a cover experiencing hydroblocking , particularly in high - moisture conditions . therefore , care must be taken to distribute super - absorbent material 208 within fiber matrix 210 in a manner such that when the super - absorbent material adjacent the mesh layer is saturated , the fiber matrix is still able to wick water deeper into the moisture - absorbing layer . liquid - impermeable layer 204 defines outer surface 102 of cover 200 and prevents liquid in ambient environment 114 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from reaching interior regions 116 beneath the cover . it is preferable , however , that liquid - impermeable layer 204 be vapor - permeable material to allow moisture stored in moisture - absorbing layer 206 to escape into ambient environment 114 by diffusion and evaporation as described above . preferably , liquid - impermeable layer 204 has a vapor transmission rate of greater than 1 g / m 2 - hr . the liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 should be less than the employed vapor transmission rate for the liquid impermeable layer . for the stated lower bound of 1 g / m 2 - hr . of vapor transmission through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 , a liquid transmission rate through the liquid - impermeable layer 204 could be any value less than 1 g / m 2 - hr . if the vapor transmission rate were greater , the corresponding acceptable level of liquid transmission would be greater , as long as it remained less than the vapor transmission rate . by allowing stored moisture to escape , cover 200 is capable of regenerating itself during periods of low ambient moisture so that it is capable of storing more moisture during a subsequent period when interior regions 116 again become moisture laden . beneficially , the liquid - impermeable layer should also be able to absorb solar energy to provide heat to cover 200 that accelerates regeneration of moisture - absorbing layer 206 . liquid - impermeable layer 204 may comprise a woven material , a non - woven material or a combination of the two . a preferred vapor - permeable material for liquid - impermeable layer 204 is a laminate of 200 denier nylon inner layer and a breathable urethane outer layer , available from lamcotec incorporated , monson , mass . other vapor - permeable materials , such as expanded polytetrafluroethylene , gore - tex \u00ae fabric ( w . l . gore & amp ; associates , inc ., newark , del . ), sunbrella \u00ae fabric ( glen raven mills inc ., glen raven , n . c . ), hub semi - permeable fabric ( hub fabric leather company , everett , mass .) or the like , may alternatively be used . in an alternative embodiment , cover 200 may further include a heating element 212 that would allow moisture - absorbing layer 206 to regenerate more quickly or regenerate when the conditions in ambient environment 114 would otherwise not permit evaporation of the stored moisture . such a heating element may comprise an electrical resistance wire grid located within one of the layers or between adjacent layers . alternatively , the heating element may comprise arrays of thin , flexible heating elements consisting of etched - foil resistive elements laminated between layers of flexible insulation like kapton \u00ae, nomex \u00ae, silicone rubber , or mica , or arrays of thin film ceramic elements available from minco products incorporation , minneapolis , minn . and watlow gordon , richmond , ill . among others ( kapton \u00ae and nomex \u00ae are registered trademarks of e . i . dupont de nemours and company , wilmington , del .). in another alternative embodiment , the cover may further include a vapor corrosion inhibitor ( also known as \u201c volatile corrosion inhibitor \u201d) ( vci ) 214 incorporated into one or more of layers 202 , 204 and 206 , preferably in the fiber matrix the moisture - absorbing layer , or into an additional layer . vcis 214 are volatile compounds that emit ions that condense on metallic surfaces to form a mono - molecular layer that interacts with corrosion agents to protect the surface . vcis 214 are continuously self - replenishing and environmentally benign . examples of vcis that may be used with the cover of the present invention include mixtures of materials selected from amine salts , ammonium benzoate , triazole derivatives , alkali dibasic acid salts , alkali nitrites , tall oil imidazolines , alkali metal molybdates , and the like which can be supplied by cortec corporation , st . paul , minn ., daubert coated products incorporated , westchester , ill ., poly lam products , buffalo , n . y ., mil - spec packaging of georgia incorporated , macon , ga ., and james dawson enterprises limited , grand rapids , mich ., among others . the addition of a vci 214 to cover 200 enhances the corrosion inhibiting ability of the cover by allowing the cover to continue to provide protection when the moisture - absorbing layer is overwhelmed . in addition , the vci 214 benefits from moisture - absorbing layer 206 because the moisture - absorbing layer removes the burden from the vci by not requiring it to offer protection at all times . one or more vcis may be added to any embodiment of the cover of the present invention , such as those shown in fig4 \u2013 7 . the layers of cover 200 are preferably bonded to one another throughout area 108 of cover 200 in a manner that does not interfere with its liquid and vapor transport features , yet retains the layers in physical proximity to one another . bonding processes known in the art may be used to bond or join the layers of cover 200 . bonding processes such as thermal bonding or multi - component adhesive bonding could be used to bond individual layers or the entire cover 200 . other bonding processes known in the art , however , may be used . alternatively , the layers may be secured to one another by other means such as stitching . depending on the size and materials of the cover , it may only be necessary to provide stitching adjacent peripheral edge 106 . otherwise , it may be necessary to provide quilt - stiching throughout the area . in a further alternative embodiment , liquid - impermeable layer 204 may be removably secured to the other two layers 202 and 206 to allow it to be removed to speed regeneration of the moisture - absorbing layer . re - fastenable fasteners , such as hook - and - loop fasteners , snaps , zippers and the like , may be provided to facilitate this feature . additionally , the moisture - absorbing layer 206 could be bonded or formed via an airlaid process known in the art as a process of producing a nonwoven web of fibers in sheet form where the fibers are transported and distributed via air flows where the entire sheet is then set with a mixture of binders and resins . fig4 shows another specific embodiment of corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 300 . cover 300 comprises the three basic layers of cover 200 , shown in fig3 , i . e ., a liquid - permeable layer 302 , a liquid - impermeable layer 304 and a moisture - absorbing layer 306 ( these layers being identical , respectively , to layers 202 , 204 and 206 ). in addition to these layers , cover 300 further includes a radar - influencing layer 308 . radar - influencing layer 308 may comprise a radar - absorbing material 310 , a radar - reflecting material 312 or a combination of both , depending upon the desired radar profile of cover 300 . with reference to fig2 , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 of cover 300 be radar - attenuating . for example , in a military application it may be necessary to reduce the radar profile of a large object to conceal its identity . on the other hand , it may be preferable to have entire area 108 be radar - enhancing . for example , in a civilian application it may be advantageous to increase the radar profile of a small water craft to accentuate its presence . in another instance , it may be desirable to provide area 108 with alternating discrete radar - attenuating and radar - enhancing regions to give the cover a custom radar profile . although radar - influencing layer 308 is shown located between liquid - impermeable layer 304 and moisture - absorbing layer 306 , it may be located elsewhere . for example , the radar - influencing layer may be located between moisture - absorbing layer and the liquid - permeable layer , adjacent outer surface 102 of cover 200 or the like . in addition , radar - absorbing material 310 and radar - reflecting material 312 may be incorporated into one or more of liquid - permeable layer 304 , moisture - absorbing layer 306 and liquid - permeable layer 302 . care must be taken , however , to select a material that does not interfere with the vapor and liquid transport features of cover 300 . radar - absorbing material 310 , may comprise polypyrrole - coated polyester fibers or the like which may be made into a thread that is then woven into a discrete fabric layer or the outer layer . such textiles are available from milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c . under the trademark context \u00ae. alternatively , radar - absorbing material 310 may comprise discrete particles of graphite or the like dispersed within the fiber matrix or within a coating that is applied to liquid - impermeable layer 304 or is applied to a separate layer that is then incorporated into the cover . other examples of radar - absorbing materials are rex radar - absorbing mats ( milliken & amp ; co ., spartanburg , s . c .) and rfwp weatherproof foam ( r & amp ; f products , inc ., san marcos , calif .). similar techniques may be used for radar - reflecting material 312 , except that a metal or the like , which may be provided as a thread or as discrete particles is incorporated into one or more layers of cover 300 . referring now to fig2 and 5 , there is shown yet another corrosion inhibiting cover 100 of the present invention , which is identified at 400 . in fig5 , cover 400 , which has a five layer construction , is shown with its peripheral edge 106 contacting surface 112 , such as a ship &# 39 ; s deck , a tarmac or the like . in such applications , it is common for a large amount of liquid water to be absorbed by cover 400 at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 . this is so because much of the water from ambient environment 144 , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , repelled by area 108 travels down the sloping portions of cover 400 , ending up adjacent peripheral edge 106 . in order to prevent saturation of cover 400 in regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , additional layers may be added to the basic three layer structure of fig3 to provide a separate zone for absorbing and storing moisture that may accumulate on surface 112 . accordingly , cover 400 includes an outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 , a first moisture - absorbing layer 404 , an intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 , a second moisture absorbing layer 408 and a liquid - permeable layer 410 , which are located adjacent one another in the named order , except at a stepped region adjacent peripheral edge 106 . the primary purpose of outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 is to prevent liquid water , such as rain , sea spray , dew and the like , from penetrating into the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . outer liquid - impermeable layer 402 includes a return to provide a robust structure at peripheral edge 106 . the primary function of first moisture absorbing layer 404 is to absorb and store moisture that collects on surface 112 , whereas the primary function of second moisture absorbing layer 408 is to absorb and store moisture trapped in the micro - environment beneath cover 400 . intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 prevents liquid moisture stored in each of the moisture - absorbing layers from migrating to the other of such layers . at regions adjacent peripheral edge 106 , this separation prevents second moisture - absorbing layer 408 from becoming over - burdened by moisture from surface 112 . preferably , both liquid - impermeable layers are vapor permeable to allow cover 400 to passively regenerate by losing stored moisture to ambient environment 114 when conditions there permit . peripheral edge 106 of the intermediate liquid - impermeable layer 406 is laterally spaced from peripheral edge 106 around the entire periphery of cover 400 to define an opening 412 . when cover 400 is draped over an object , such as metallic block 110 , opening 412 contacts or is slightly spaced from surface 112 , allowing any moisture present on surface 112 to be wicked into first moisture - absorbing layer 404 . depending on design parameters , such as materials selected , volume of moisture to be absorbed and the like , the width 414 of opening 412 may be varied accordingly . fig6 and 7 show a corrosion inhibiting cover 500 according to the present invention , wherein cover 500 is penalized into a number of discrete panels , each denoted 502 , and having an outer surface , an inner surface and a peripheral edge . panels 502 are removably secured to one another , and are removably securable to other panels ( not shown ) of similar construction , with fasteners 504 located adjacent the peripheral edge of cover 500 . panelization allows cover 500 of the present invention to be assembled to fit the size and shape necessary for a particular application . to further enhance customization , one or more of the panels may be formed into a shape other than the rectangular shapes shown in fig6 . fasteners 504 may be of the hook - and - loop type , which includes a flexible hook strip 506 secured to the outer surface of cover 500 and a flexible loop strip 508 secured to the inner surface . loop strip 508 is preferably liquid - permeable so that its presence does not interfere with the moisture absorbing properties of cover 500 at its peripheral edge . such hook - and - loop fasteners may be velcro \u00ae brand hook - and - loop fasteners ( velcro industries b . v ., curacao , netherlands ) or the like . alternatively , other fasteners such as buttons , zippers , snaps , hook and eyelet , eyelet and lacing or the like , may be used for fasteners 504 . in the embodiment shown , each panel 502 comprises the basic three - layer structure of a liquid - impermeable outer layer 510 , a moisture - absorbing layer 512 and a liquid - permeable inner layer 514 . alternatively , each panel 502 may be modified to include the plural moisture - absorbing layer structure shown in fig5 and / or the radar - influencing layer 308 shown in fig4 . although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changed , omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto , without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention .", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
f895b63f10a3cd424d157e058356a5931785a2e913873b73cb78af0dd3f4aec4
| 0.003937 | 0.189453 | 0.026367 | 0.519531 | 0.109863 | 0.056641 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
|
Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.194336 | 0.001808 | 0.441406 | 0.005554 | 0.375 | 0.003281 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
|
{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.392578 | 0.000345 | 0.519531 | 0.029785 | 0.300781 | 0.005737 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims ."}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.398438 | 0.194336 | 0.519531 | 0.021606 | 0.300781 | 0.086426 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"category": "Fixed Constructions", "patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims ."}
|
Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.398438 | 0.125977 | 0.519531 | 0.855469 | 0.300781 | 0.079102 |
null |
{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims ."}
|
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims ."}
|
Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.474609 | 0.040283 | 0.644531 | 0.043945 | 0.738281 | 0.25 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "Physics"}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.182617 | 0.010315 | 0.441406 | 0.092773 | 0.375 | 0.066406 |
null |
{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims ."}
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims ."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.474609 | 0.068359 | 0.644531 | 0.174805 | 0.738281 | 0.115723 |
null |
{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims ."}
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{"patent": "fig1 depicts a vehicle according to the present invention . as shown , the tires of the vehicle extend beyond the outer perimeter of the body of the vehicle . in particular , the front wheels 3 extend past the front of the vehicle 2 . in one embodiment of the invention , the front wheels 3 also extend beyond the side of the chassis 6 . the rear wheel 4 also protrudes from the back of the vehicle to providing a rear impact point . the tires provide impact points 1 and 5 . the protruding tires effectively provide front and rear bumpers for the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , the vehicle is steered using both the front and rear wheels . alternatively , the steering is user selectable , i . e ., the front wheels , the rear wheels , or both sets of wheels can be used for steering . the steering can be accomplished using hydraulics , mechanical linkages , or a combination of both . in one embodiment , the vehicle has a frame that includes a roll cage and a floor pan , for defining a compartment for carrying passengers and a power plant . the frame comprises at least two substantially elliptical roll bars and the floor pan , or alternatively , a plurality of polygon shaped roll bar assemblies and a floor pan . in one embodiment , the roll bars are constructed using a lattice - like construction , thereby increasing the strength of the roll bars . one of the horizontally disposed roll bars is integrally bonded to the floor pan at the perimeter of the floor pan . at least one additional roll bar positioned inboard of the horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bars are connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point . the front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 4 are exposed and extend beyond the outer perimeter of the elliptical roll bars to form bumpers . in a preferred embodiment , to reduce drag , approximately 90 % of the air travels over the top of the vehicle . the remaining air is channeled under the vehicle or down the side of the vehicle . in a preferred embodiment , a portion of the air is used for cooling the motor , radiator , brake rotors , and the like . the vehicle is steered by rotating rear assembly 7 . the vehicle can also use front steering . however , the vehicle uses rear steering or jet propulsion in amphibious mode . rear steering with front steering provides a smaller turning radius than conventional front steering vehicles . fig3 is a depiction of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown , the frame includes a roll bar 8 . in a preferred embodiment , the frame has a length appropriate to accommodate three seats , as discussed further below . as shown in fig3 , the frame and roll bar are extendable to accommodate additional seating . without adding additional wheels , the chassis can be extended to accommodate 5 or more seats . the extended chassis can be used as a taxi , bus , or the like . because the frame is preferably constructed from stainless steel or an equivalent , it is strong enough to be extended . in one embodiment , the frame includes at least two essentially d - shaped roll bars and a floor pan . one horizontally disposed roll bar is integrally bonded to said floor pan at the perimeter thereof , and at a second roll bar is positioned inboard of said horizontal roll bars and at an inclined angle relative to said floor pan . the horizontal roll bar is connected to the inclined roll bar at each intersection point forming an exoskeleton around the compartment . the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the exoskeleton . this creates a non - compressible occupant compartment of a rigid , unified structure with additional protection . in another embodiment , the frame is formed using a lattice - like structure as shown in fig3 . in this embodiment , the frame and roll bar are formed to create the occupant compartment . the tires protrude beyond the perimeter of the vehicle to act as bumpers providing additional protection . fig4 is a top view of the vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention . shown is the seating position according to one embodiment of the invention . the driver sits mid - frame in position 9 and passengers sit in the back in seats 10 . additional seats are added behind seats 10 . the disclosed vehicle is drivable in both right - hand drive and left - hand drive countries without modification because the driver sits approximately in the middle of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a storage area between the front wheels . additionally , as shown , the tires extend beyond the perimeter of the frame . in one embodiment , the vehicle is designed for dual use , both dry land and marine applications . the vehicle requires a dual propulsion and steering system when used in a marine environment . this system is described as \u201c hydro jet steering and drive .\u201d as shown in fig5 , the rear wheel is preferably two wheels separated by a short axle . each wheel hub has protruding spokes 12 . these spokes 12 act as paddle wheels when the vehicle is operated in amphibious conditions . between the two wheels are baffles 13 that direct water between the two wheels and direct it backwards . as seen with more detail in fig6 , impeller 14 scoops and forces water in direction 15 . the protruding spokes direct the water medially towards the impeller 14 . the configuration of the wheels creates a vertical propeller to propel the vehicle in water . as shown in fig7 , the baffles 13 direct the water . in one embodiment , a nozzle 17 further directs the water . the nozzle 17 is affixed to the rear wheel assembly so that it moves with the assembly . in other words , the steering wheel that controls the rear wheel also controls the nozzle . alternatively , the nozzle is separate from the wheel assembly but is controlled by the steering wheel . the nozzle increases the force of the water to propel the vehicle . as shown in fig8 , in another embodiment of the amphibious propulsion system , instead of having two paddle wheels on a short axle creating a water jet , the regular broad back wheel or double wheel 4 is retained and two water jets 30 and 31 , one in each rear quarter of the vehicle is used . the water jets provide propulsion when in water . water jets , such as those typically used on jet skis would allow for more rapid propulsion . this double set of water jet engines would also allow for steering the vessel by decreasing the speed of one water jet to turn the vehicle to one side or the other . in one embodiment , two throttles , as used in motor boats , situated in front of the driver on the dashboard control the water jets . in an alternative embodiment , sensors in the steering wheel control the water jets such that turning the steering wheel causes higher or lower output to the water jets . alternatively , rudders are used to steer the vehicle . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dual turbine or impeller type submersible drive units 35 pull in water from the underside of a vehicle 33 and evacuate that material , now energized , via an exhaust passage 32 . water inlet 33 preferably remains closed during normal operation to reduce drag , only opening in amphibious mode . hydraulic or electric motors provide a power source for turbines . in a preferred embodiment , the drivetrain includes a transfer case or transmission adapted to transfer power from the drive wheels to the water propulsion means . the pressurized fluid is forced back to its source which will oppose the pressure and move the vehicle in the opposite direction . the vehicle &# 39 ; s steering system is coupled to a proportional valve ( hydraulic ) or rheostat ( electric ) which controls the speed of individual motors fitted to the rear underside of the vehicle and effects steering by reducing the speed and pressure applied to one side of the vehicle while increasing the speed and pressure to the opposite side . in another embodiment , a mechanical system is used . the mechanical system increases or reduces the inlet aperture . the effect of the fluid speed increase and opposite reduction of fluid speed causes the vehicle to turn while making forward motion . while traveling in the opposite direction , the motors can be reversed and steering can be effected in precisely the same way . a unique feature of the vehicle is shown in fig1 . if one of the rear tires becomes flat , the vehicle rides on the remaining tire without a significant loss of performance . if one of the front tires 3 , 18 becomes flat , one of the inflated rear tires is swapped with the flat front tire . the vehicle can continue until the flat tire is repaired . because there are two tires in the rear of the vehicle in close proximity to one another , one tire can be flat while the vehicle travels on the remaining tire . alternatively , the flat tire can be stored in one of the vehicle &# 39 ; s storage areas 28 , 29 , or mounted on the roof 30 . fig1 is a rear view of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there are leds , bulbs , fiber optics , or other lighting device 20 on the roll bar . in other embodiments , the lighting device is on another rear facing portion of the vehicle . in one embodiment , there is a matching set of lighting devices in the front of the vehicle . preferably , the front facing lighting devices are yellow and the rear facing lighting devices are red . both the front and rear lighting devices get brighter when the driver depresses the brake peddle . the brightening of the lighting devices alerts surrounding drivers of an impending stop . the front lighting devices also alert pedestrians in crosswalks and the like that the vehicle is braking . lifting hooks 27 , as shown in fig1 , are provided on the roll bar . the lifting hooks can be used to lift the vehicle onto a truck or boat for transport or to lift the vehicle to work on it in a shop . the lifting hooks can also be used in air - lift applications to load the vehicles onto planes or large helicopters . additionally a parachute can be attached to the hooks 27 . the vehicle is light - weight enough to drop by parachute and strong enough to survive a drop by parachute . the vehicle has at least one rear mounted camera . the camera can be a ccd camera , a digital or analog camera , or the like . preferably there are at least two cameras one each side of the vehicle , and one in the rear of the vehicle that provide a 180 degree view of the rear of the vehicle . the two side cameras can have wide angle lenses to further eliminate blind spots . as shown in fig1 , three screens 24 , 25 , and 26 are mounted in front of the driver , providing a panoramic view of the rear from cameras 21 and 22 . cameras 21 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle . the third camera 22 is mounted on the midline on the rear of the vehicle . preferably screen 26 is larger and dedicated to display the view from camera 22 . the screens 24 and 25 show the side of the vehicle to assist the driver in determining the location of other cars , pedestrians , or the like . the screen can be one or a plurality of screens . the screens can be led displays , lcd displays , plasma screens , crt displays , touch screen , a heads - up display , or the like . in one embodiment , one of the screens switches from rear display to a gps display and the remaining two screens display the panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle . further , one of the screens can switch to display climate control , radio control , and the like . preferably , the screen used for additional displays is screen 26 . fig1 shows possible storage locations for the vehicle . in one embodiment the vehicle preferably has a front , rear , and roof trunk . the front trunk 28 , the rear trunk 29 , and the roof trunk 30 each have luggage matching the shape of the trunk to maximize storage . the luggage may be only a portion of the respective trunk . for example , there may be three pieces of fitted luggage for the roof trunk , each being a third of the trunk . these smaller pieces of luggage would be more maneuverable than one large piece of luggage . while this invention has been described by reference to preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
9715dbf251b9a590bd08e0ef04dadb91a96eb38a3105582f7f4052eb9652d47d
| 0.449219 | 0.120117 | 0.117676 | 0.081543 | 0.429688 | 0.120117 |
null |
{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.287109 | 0.002472 | 0.691406 | 0.000805 | 0.617188 | 0.007568 |
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{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.051025 | 0.012817 | 0.012817 | 0.003082 | 0.101074 | 0.102539 |
null |
{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.103516 | 0.245117 | 0.111328 | 0.081543 | 0.174805 | 0.337891 |
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{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "Textiles; Paper"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.048096 | 0.003372 | 0.013245 | 0.000587 | 0.101074 | 0.001457 |
null |
{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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{"category": "Fixed Constructions", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.108398 | 0.033203 | 0.189453 | 0.613281 | 0.19043 | 0.349609 |
null |
{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.306641 | 0.004761 | 0.208008 | 0.001457 | 0.255859 | 0.002625 |
null |
{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "Physics"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.287109 | 0.048096 | 0.675781 | 0.041504 | 0.617188 | 0.090332 |
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{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________"}
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{"patent": "the preparation and activation of a metal assisted cold storage or macs medium for the storage of hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . initially , a porous support 10 , which can , e . g ., be activated carbon , zeolite , aluminum oxide , or any other suitable hydrogen adsorbent ( or absorbent ) material , with a suitably high surface area factor , is treated by dispersing a suitable transition metal 11 thereon to form a resulting macs structure 12 . the metal can be a transition metal from group viii , and can be selected from the family ni , pd , pt ; co , rh , ir ; or fe , ru , os . the macs storage medium 12 is placed in a suitable refrigerable pressure vessel , and is prepared or activated by carrying out dehydration and reduction . a dehydration step 13 removes impurities , principally moisture , from the macs storage medium 12 . here evacuation with moderate heat ( 323 k .) application has been found to be effective . selection of an optimum temperature is critical in dehydration as well as in reduction . in order to preserve the activity and the intrinsic sorptive properties of a carbon / transition - metal macs medium , a temperature below 373 k . should be observed . normal dehydration temperature is 323 k . the evacuation and heating cycle is carried out for several hours , and preferably overnight . at this point , an inert - gas purge step 14 is carried out . here , after the evacuation step , helium gas is introduced and is flow cycled through the macs vessel until the weight of the macs material is determined to be constant . the temperature during the helium purge is also held at 323 k . then , the vessel is again evacuated , and the reduction phase , which can be either dry reduction or wet reduction , is carried out . reduction is an important step in activation procedures for hydrogen sorption and transfer because it restores the power of the metal particles , which have been allowed to oxidize in the open air . if a dry reduction step 15 is desired after the heat is removed following evacuation , hydrogen is introduced at room temperature at a rate of 50 cc / minute to reduce the metal particles . the system is heated after this step and maintained at 323 k . until the weight remains constant . a macs storage medium formed of metal on activated carbon heated above 373 k . can cause catalyst sintering ( massive growth of the metal particles ) with the possibility of pore blocking . thus the full potential of macs systems can be achieved by treatment at temperatures lower than 373 k . this reduction in flowing hydrogen is called dry reduction because the water produced is removed during the reduction phase . the material treated as described above is called &# 34 ; dry macs &# 34 ; 16 . if a wet reduction step 17 is followed , the reduction is carried out under quiescent conditions , i . e ., using static hydrogen at atmospheric pressure . wet reduction entrains some water as a promoter which enhances the transfer of hydrogen . water is a reduction product , and the water has a co - catalytic effect on the enhancement of hydrogen transfer from the metal to the carbon . the temperature for this phase is also maintained at 323 k . the material treated in wet reduction is called &# 34 ; wet macs &# 34 ; 18 . the reduction phases 15 or 17 in the activation of the macs storage medium are critical to maximize hydrogen storage and release . weight loss during the reduction is related to the reaction for pd / carbon macs : for example , the results of a typical reaction of a 1 % pd / carbon catalyst are presented as follows : the theoretical weight loss expected based on above reaction can be determined for a 1 % pd / carbon macs storage medium as follows : it can be seen that both theoretical and experimental weight losses are equal . thus reduction is substantially completed even at 323 k . at the same time , the carbon alone does not change in weight during the reduction phase . the enhancement in hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs , relative to storage on activated carbon , has been observed . here hydrogen is charged ( step 19 ) onto the macs material at low temperatures . an enhancement of 7 % in the hydrogen storage capacity on dry macs was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature compared to carbon alone ( see table i ). the hydrogen was 100 % recoverable . the amount of metal loading has no significant influence , although dry platinum - macs shows higher enhancement than dry palladium - macs by 5 %. at an elevated temperature ( 85 k .) there was 8 . 5 % enhancement on dry macs , as compared to carbon alone . wet macs storage medium 18 also shows considerable enhancement for hydrogen storage . with water acting as a promoter , more hydrogen is adsorbed on the wet macs than on the dry macs . the amount of hydrogen uptake on wet macs is a function of charging time . the relationship of hydrogen uptake to charging time for wet and dry 5 % pd / c macs is shown in fig2 . hydrogen continues to be adsorbed on the wet macs even after the temperature reaches an equilibrium value , whereas hydrogen adsorption on dry macs stops at that equilibrium value . for four hour charging times on wet macs , 40 % more hydrogen is adsorbed at 77 k . at 85 k ., there was 20 % enhancement after 20 minutes of charging . it was observed in experiments that the rate of hydrogen adsorption , after the temperature of the macs medium reaches its equilibrium value , remains constant regardless of metal loading , table - 3 shows that similar amounts of water per unit weight of the macs ( about 0 . 5 gm to 0 . 6 gm water / kg macs ) are entrained , although the amount of water produced during the wet reduction depends somewhat on the metal loading . the rate of hydrogen adsorption on wet macs at equilibrium is fairly constant . this indicates that there are more active sites available on the support than are used in dry macs or carbon storage systems , and thus much more hydrogen can be adsorbed . table - 4 shows that the activated carbon has a total unit surface area factor of 1167 m 2 / g which corresponds to 5 . 75 \u00d7 10 25 active storage sites for each kilogram of macs material , and that the total number of sites required to accommodate hydrogen in an adsorbed monolayer is 7 . 46 \u00d7 10 24 sites / kg of macs . the water seems to function as a &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; by which heat transfer as well as mass transfer is enhanced . the water effect on wet macs systems makes it more practicable if one employs cold temperatures ( between 78 k . and room temperature ) rather than cryogenic temperature ( below 78 k .) for charging of the macs with hydrogen . the kinetics of adsorption / desorption of hydrogen on the macs storage medium can be explained with reference to fig3 which is a normalized plot , depicting hydrogen uptake as a function of temperature while the charging pressure was maintained at a constant one atmosphere . fig4 is also a normalized plot showing the dependence of adsorbed hydrogen uptake on pressure at 78 k . all the tested macs storage media adsorb comparable percentages of hydrogen at a given temperature and pressure . the similarity in the shape of the isotherms indicates that all macs materials have similar kinetics and that the difference in total hydrogen uptake is principally due to the effect of the transition metal , which alters only the activation energy barrier but not the reaction kinetics . if we consider langmuir &# 39 ; s postulate , for a single gaseous component , a , surface adsorption may be represented by the following mechanism : ## str1 ## the rate of adsorption can be written as : for complete monolayer coverage , the above equation can be expressed as where [ a ] and [ s ] denote the concentration of the component and sites , respectively , [ a \u00b7 s ] denotes the concentration of occupied sites , and [ m ] is the maximum concentration of available sites . adsorption and desorption rate constants k a and k d , respectively , for the single gaseous component normally follow the arrhenius functionality relations given by where r is the gas constant , t is in degrees k ., and e a , e d , a a , and a d are as given in table - 5 . during charging experiments , the adsorption of hydrogen is irreversible , thus equation ( 3 ) becomes weight gain / loss due to adsorption / desorption can be obtained by linearly programming the temperature down from room temperature to 77 k . then the adsorption rate is given by where , for the conditions described , a a is a constant with units of mole / second . the basis for determining the desorption kinetics follows a parallel methodology to that used to obtain the adsorption kinetics . examples of carbon storage and pd / c macs media are as follows : ii . 1 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 1 % by weight of palladium metal ; iii . 5 % pd / c = activated carbon with a dispersion of 5 % by weight of palladium metal . the basis carbon was the engelhard carbon product mentioned above . these were pretreated in identical manners as dry macs and as wet macs . a comparison of these examples will be made with reference to the tables and to the charts of the drawings . fig5 and 6 are arrhenius plots of the adsorption / desorption rates for 1 % pd / carbon and carbon , respectively . what emerges from these results is the existence of two regions in the arrhenius plot of 1 % pd / carbon corresponding to an initial slower hydrogen uptake followed by a more rapid hydrogen uptake . between 77 k . and 173 k . and between 173 k . and 273 k . there are two linear regions which indicate two binding states for hydrogen on macs material . for activated carbon alone ( fig6 ) only a single linear region is seen . table - 5 summarizes the kinetic parameters e a , e d , a a , and a d over two temperature ranges for the adsorption / desorption processes . as is apparent from the chart of fig4 pressure drives the hydrogen adsorption . fig7 shows the absolute weight change due to the hydrogen uptake at 77 k . for carbon , 1 % pd / carbon and 5 % pd / carbon after identical activation and charging procedures . the role of pressure is not linear , however , and the effect of added pressure diminishes as pressure increases , although the total hydrogen uptake capacity increases with pressure . carpetis et al , mentioned earlier , discusses hydrogen adsorption on carbon at 77 k . and indicates a pressure dependence . these experimental results were obtained in the pressure range from 2 bar to 42 bar . higher pressure seems to produce higher uptakes of hydrogen adsorption in carbon in a more linear fashion . in a comparison of hydrogen storage on carbon and on macs hydrogen at a given pressure was contacted with the carbon and with a 5 % p +/ c macs , and weight gain was measured . the results as shown in table 6 clearly indicate superior h 2 takeup for macs at elevated pressures . as discussed above , dry macs shows 8 . 5 % enhancement compared to carbon alone at 85 k . ( table - 1 ). on wet macs , the hydrogen is also continuously adsorbed at a rate of 1 . 13 gm h 2 per hour per kilogram of macs medium after the final equilibrium temperature of 85 k . is reached , so significantly more hydrogen is stored . apparatus according to this invention are shown schematically in fig8 . here a hydrogen source 20 , for example a cathode of an electrolytic cell , supplies hydrogen gas through a chiller 22 to a previously activated storage cell 24 . the latter has an inner vessel 26 filled with a macs material , for example nickel - zeolite or palladium - carbon . an outer jacket 28 surrounds the inner vesel and can be filled with a refrigerant or with a liquefied inert gas or liquid nitrogen to keep the macs material in the desired cold temperature range . here , a liquid nitrogen source 30 cycles nitrogen to the chiller 22 and to the jacket 28 of the storage cell 24 . the hydrogen is supplied , either directly from the source 20 or indirectly after having been released from storage in the cell 24 , to an energy converter 32 . the latter can be e . g ., a fuel cell which combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity , or can be a turbine or internal combustion engine . while examples of suitable macs substances have been specifically discussed , and for hydrogen storage at certain temperatures , it will become apparent that many variations and modifications can be made as to the materials used and the operating conditions with which employed , without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims . table 1______________________________________summary of storage results______________________________________activated carbon ( engelhard ) 77k ( four hour 85k ( 20 minute charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . catalyst : 14 . 5 \u00b1 0 . 95 13 . 0______________________________________ dry wet______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 3 \u00b1 0 . 86 14 . 0 20 . 3 15 . 1 % enhancement : 6 % 8 % 40 % 16 % 5 % pd / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 2 \u00b1 0 . 34 14 . 4 21 . 9 \u00b1 0 . 87 16 . 2 % enhancement : 5 % 11 % 51 % 25 % 5 % pt / carbon 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k 77k ( 4 - hr . 85k charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) ( 20 min . charge ) charge ) gm h . sub . 2 / kg . cat . : 15 . 9 \u00b1 1 . 25 14 . 1 19 . 1 \u00b1 1 . 87 15 . 5 % enhancement : 10 % 8 % 32 % 19 % ______________________________________ note : results where standard deviations are reported were from more than 8 replicate experiments ; results where standard deviations are not reported were from between 1 - 3 replicate experiments . table 2______________________________________physicochemical properties of activated carbon and 5 % pd / c bet metal area % metal % h o______________________________________c 1175 m / g -- -- 7 % pd / c 1167 m / g 8 . 2 m / g 4 . 83 % 54 % ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________water entrainment water produced water entrained mg / kg sample mg / kg sample______________________________________1 % pd / carbon 1 . 02 0 . 525 % pd / carbon 2 . 49 0 . 62______________________________________", "category": "Electricity"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
1eeceb1a0960bb5c556a4f893ea532c2138c23b08b451b307d6abce04f9ea10b
| 0.291016 | 0.022583 | 0.217773 | 0.002548 | 0.243164 | 0.016968 |
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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{"patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a ).", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.558594 | 0.000881 | 0.217773 | 0.004211 | 0.699219 | 0.00193 |
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.287109 | 0.061768 | 0.05835 | 0.102539 | 0.699219 | 0.388672 |
null |
{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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{"category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.273438 | 0.004456 | 0.040283 | 0.004456 | 0.419922 | 0.00383 |
null |
{"patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a ).", "category": "Textiles; Paper"}
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{"patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a ).", "category": "Fixed Constructions"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.081543 | 0.183594 | 0.014038 | 0.578125 | 0.060059 | 0.539063 |
null |
{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.269531 | 0.031738 | 0.05835 | 0.019165 | 0.699219 | 0.232422 |
null |
{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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{"patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a ).", "category": "Physics"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.558594 | 0.048828 | 0.199219 | 0.061768 | 0.699219 | 0.263672 |
null |
{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.269531 | 0.09668 | 0.05835 | 0.245117 | 0.699219 | 0.067383 |
null |
{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "as an example we selected a pattern device which is provided on large circular knitting machines and which effects there the election of the needles . the pattern device comprises cam controlled selector elements which cooperate with the pattern feet of jacks which in turn and conventionally , cooperate with the needle butts to effect the knitting operation . the pattern device consists of stacks 2 of selector elements 3 guided in a frame 1 . these selector elements 3 carry on their inner side a cam 4 which each act on a plane of the pattern selector butts ( not shown ). at their outer end the selector elements 3 are equipped with a lug 5 which is engaged selectively by the cams 6 of a pattern drum 7 . the selector elements 3 are each held in the extreme position by a spring 8 . the pattern drum 7 is stepped up from one switching position into the other by means of a drive ( not shown ). the pattern drum 7 consists of a plurality of disks 10 , 11 on an axle 9 . these disks 10 , 11 are divided into two groups , one disk 10 of one group always alternating with a disk 11 of the other group . one group of the disks are guide disks 10 , whose outside diameter corresponds to the diameter of the pattern drum 7 ( fig5 ). they have for each switching position a bore 12 in a distance from the outer surface of the guide disk . radially outside the bore 12 , a recess 13 is formed in the outer circumference of the guide disk 10 . the second group of the disks are the so - called spacer disks 11 . they are arranged each between two guide disks 10 and have a substantially v - shaped recess 14 in the range of each switching position ( fig6 ). when assembling the disks 10 , 11 the cams 6 represented in fig7 which have a bore 15 at one end and a second bore 16 substantially in the center ( see fig7 ), are inserted from the outside into the v - shaped recess 14 and held by a bolt 17 passing through the bores 12 of the guide disk 10 and the bores 15 of the cams 6 . a rod 18 inserted , from the outside parallel to the axle 9 of the pattern drum 7 , passes through the second bore 16 of the cam 6 and is held in the recess 13 of the guide disk 10 . for selecting the patterns , the cams 6 which control the selector elements 3 are brought into the radial position and are held by rods 18 in that position . before insertion of bolt 18 , the cams 6 which are not to act on selector elements 3 are turned about bolt 17 through an acute angle to an inoperative position in which they abut the right hand boundary of recesses 14 . upon insertion of bolt 18 through bore 16 of those cams in the operative or radial position , the cams in the inoperative position are held between the bolt 18 and the boundary of recess 14 . the selector elements 3 , particularly their lugs 5 opposite the cam 6 , are so designed that no pattern selection movement is caused by the swung - out , i . e ., those not in the radial position , cams 6 . it is necessary to remove the selector elements 3 out of the range of the cams 6 during the stepping of the drum so that they are not contacted by those cams during that stepping operation . this is effected by a device as represented in fig1 . on the frame 1 , which guides the selector elements 3 , is mounted a rail 20 which is vertically immovable but which can be displaced parallel to itself in the direction of motion of the selector elements 3 . the outside of this rail bears on the lugs or projections 21 of the selector elements 3 . this rail 20 has two stops 22 , 23 , which are connected to two camming surfaces 24 , 25 of a vertically displaceable strip 26 . the strip 26 is not displaceable horizontally . at the bottom end of the strip 26 is arranged a two - arm lever 27 whose fulcrum 28 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 of the pattern device and whose left end 29 ( fig1 ) engages a recess 30 of the strip 26 . the right arm 31 of the lever 27 bears on a plunger 32 which is guided for vertical movement in the lock carrier plate 33 . below the lock carrier plate 33 is arranged the driving wheel 34 on which is secured the switching element 35 for the plunger 32 . the switching element 35 consists of a cam whose rising leg is formed by a roller 36 . the bottom end of the plunger 32 is curved . the roller 36 strikes longitudinally against the cam 37 of the plunger 32 and pushes the latter upward so that the strip 26 is lowered and the rail 20 moves the selector elements 3 away from the pattern drum . it will of course be appreciated that the movement of strip 26 is effected by means of the cam and plunger arrangement and lever 31 from the drive of the needle cylinder or alternatively that movement is effected manually through lever 40 . after the stroke is completed , the roller 36 places the plunger 32 on the upper surface 38 of the switching element 35 so that the plunger 32 remains in the top position . when the switching process of the pattern drum 7 is completed , the plunger 32 slides again off the surface 38 , due to the pull of the spring 39 which keeps the strip 26 in its top position . the rail 20 returns to its original position and releases again the selector elements 3 , so that their lugs rest either on the operative cams 6 of the pattern drum , i . e ., the cams in the radial position or against the outside diameter of the pattern drum 7 as shown in chain line in fig4 . it is also possible to displace the selector elements 3 manually , to which end a slide or lever 40 is provided on the frame 1 which can displace the strip 26 downward over a cam 41 and thus move the rail 20 toward the needle cylinder . the stepping mechanism is known and could be that , for example , illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 issued july 31 , 1973 to ludwig et al . it is to be noted that the elements 35 and 36 of the present invention are connected non - rotatably with the rotating cylinder of the circular knitting machine as are the switching elements 17 through 20 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 759 , 069 and the elements are arranged on a common drive element . referring now to the present invention , the roller 36 and the surface 38 of the switching element 35 causes the plunger 32 to be lifted before switching elements begin to act on the star wheel . the length of the surface 38 is so selected that the cam 37 of the plunger 32 slides off the latter only when the switching elements 17 and 19 , respectively , have passed over the star wheel 12 of the u . s . patent aforementioned . alternatively , rather than the rods 18 being positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be held in an operative position ( fig4 ), the rods 18 may be positioned to pass through the cams 6 which are to be in an inoperative position and the edge of those rods 18 abut other cams 6 in an operative position ( fig4 a )."}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
5b36062f35471647aa9c617b28002c60e50214b574d1296182cc600f43e085c5
| 0.182617 | 0.199219 | 0.016968 | 0.147461 | 0.363281 | 0.229492 |
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{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.002045 | 0.061768 | 0.006897 | 0.043457 | 0.008301 | 0.515625 |
null |
{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.004761 | 0.00007 | 0.007111 | 0.004608 | 0.037354 | 0.009155 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims ."}
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims ."}
|
Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.031982 | 0.02478 | 0.037354 | 0.000805 | 0.029297 | 0.041992 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims ."}
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{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Fixed Constructions"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.023682 | 0.416016 | 0.012451 | 0.410156 | 0.034668 | 0.337891 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims ."}
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{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting"}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.031982 | 0.001366 | 0.037354 | 0.033203 | 0.029297 | 0.040771 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims ."}
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{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Physics"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.019409 | 0.031128 | 0.00885 | 0.056641 | 0.037842 | 0.206055 |
null |
{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims ."}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.002548 | 0.291016 | 0.006897 | 0.474609 | 0.009705 | 0.9375 |
null |
{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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{"patent": "the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . a spool shaft 4 is supported slidably in the axial direction by bearings 3 between right and left reel side - plates 1 , 2 and a spool 5 is rotatably supported on the spool shaft 4 by bearings 6 . a pinion 7 provided integrally with the reel side - plate 1 end of the spool shaft 4 engages with a driving gear 9 of a handle shaft 8 which is pivoted to the reel side plate 1 . a braking member 11 , which is prevented from rotating in reverse by anchor pawls 10 pivoted to the reel side - plate 2 , is fitted to the reel side - plate 2 end of the spool shaft 4 so as to be movable only in the axial direction , as shown in fig3 . the braking member 11 is urged toward and brought into contact with the bearing 3 by a spring 12 that is interposed between the braking member 11 and the bearing 6 . a friction transmission member 14 is interposed between the braking member 11 and a flange 13 of the spool 5 . the friction transmission member 14 has a construction that is well known in the art , it consists of a metal plate 15 engaging with the braking member 11 , a metal plate 18 engaging with an engagement groove 17 of a cylinder 16 that is formed on the flange 13 so as to project therefrom , and washers 19 made of leather , synthetic resin or the like , interposed between these metal plates 15 and 18 . this friction transmission member 14 transmits the rotation of the spool shaft 4 to the spool . a leaf spring 20 that is stronger than the spring 12 is interposed between the bearing 6 and the pinion 7 on the reel side - plate 1 side , and the spool shaft 4 beyond the pinion 7 is supported rotatably by the bearing 3 . a fine adjustment cam 21 is formed integrally with an inner operation cylinder 24 , and a fine - adjustment lever 23 engages with a slit 22 which is formed at the outer end of the cylinder 24 . this operation cylinder 24 is fitted to the spool shaft 4 outside the bearing 3 . pins 26 projecting outward in the radial direction and other pins 27 projecting inward in the radial direction are provided on a support case 25 on the bearing 3 . the outwardly projecting pins 26 slidably engage with engagement grooves 29 formed on the inner surface of a bearing cylinder 28 which is fitted and fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and comes into contact with a front cam surface 31 of a cam cylinder 30 which is fitted around the outside of the operation cylinder 24 . the inwardly projecting pins 27 come into contact with the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operation cylinder 24 . an adjustment lever 33 engages with slits 32 formed in the outer end of the cam cylinder 30 . a knob 34 fixed to the end of the adjustment lever 33 has a ball 38 that is urged by a spring 37 so that the ball can engage with one of a plurality of stop holes 36 in a semicircular stop plate 35 fixed to the outer surface of the reel side - plate 1 . the knob 34 can thus be held at any rotational position . the fine - adjustment lever 23 is shorter than the adjustment lever 33 and its knob 39 has a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 so that the ball resiliently engages with one of a plurality of stop holes 41 of a disc plate 40 . this plate 40 is fixed to the reel side - plate 1 and has a diameter smaller than that of the stop plate 35 . thus , both levers 23 and 33 are provided with spring loaded ball detent means ( parts 36 - 38 and 41 - 43 ) to enhance their operation . in the drawings , reference numeral 44 represents a handle , 45 in a washer and 46 is a plate cover . in the embodiment of the present invention having the construction described above , when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the cam cylinder 30 rotates so that its cam surface 31 pushes the pins 26 which push the bearing 3 through the support case 25 , the pins 27 and the fine - adjustment cam 21 . this pressure pushes the spool shaft 4 and then the spool 5 via the leaf spring 20 , thereby increasing the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 , making it transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 8 by the handle 44 to the spool 5 . when the adjustment lever 33 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced and the spool braking force can be adjusted over a large range . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated clockwise , the operation cylinder 24 rotates and its fine - adjustment cam 21 pushes the bearing 3 directly so that the frictional force transmitted by the friction transmission member 14 is increased by a limited amount . when the fine - adjustment lever 23 is rotated counter clockwise , on the other hand , the transmitted frictional force is reduced by a limited amount and thus the spool braking force can be adjusted within a fine range . more specifically , when the lever 23 is rotated clockwise in fig2 the operating cylinder 24 rotates integrally therewith because the lever engages with the notched groove 22 in the operating cylinder 24 , and the fine adjustment cam 21 of the operating cylinder 24 comes into contact with the pin 27 projecting from the inner surface of the support case 25 . however , the support case 25 does not move outwards ( towards the handle 44 ) because the bearing cylinder 28 is attached integrally to the reel side plate 1 by the cam cylinder 30 , and the operating cylinder 24 moves the shaft 4 in the inward axial direction via the bearing 3 , thereby minutely increasing the frictional transmission force of the frictional transmission member 14 . the coarse and fine adjustments are provided by the difference in the cam surfaces 21 and 31 , see fig4 . the angle of inclination of the fine adjustment cam surface 21 of the operating cylinder 24 is less than that of the cam surface 31 of the cam 30 of the adjustment operation lever 33 , and the corresponding amounts of axial movement of the shaft 4 are thus in proportion , i . e ., surface 31 , the coarse adjustment , moves the shaft 4 more than does surface 21 . accordingly , even if the rotation of the adjustment operation lever 33 is the same as heat of the fine adjustment operation lever 23 , the degree of axial motion by the shaft 4 is correspondingly different . accordingly , after the spool braking force is roughly set by the adjustment lever 33 in accordance with the kind of fishing and the kind of fish the fisherman intends to catch , the spool braking force is then fine - adjusted by the fine - adjustment lever 23 before fishing . to pay out the fishing line , both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 are simultaneously rotated fully counterclockwise . the fishing line is paid out while the spool 5 is thus able to rotate freely . the fishing can be done immediately by rotating both the adjustment lever 33 and fine - adjustment lever 23 back to their original positions after the fishing line is paid out . while the invention has been described in detail above , it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only , and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims .", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
|
Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
caff4af1f96d24eb058dcffe486652b7960db781eeca6737d0614952fc59d883
| 0.002258 | 0.046143 | 0.006897 | 0.225586 | 0.008301 | 0.056641 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.824219 | 0.001167 | 0.925781 | 0.001099 | 0.984375 | 0.005219 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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{"patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.734375 | 0.05835 | 0.890625 | 0.122559 | 0.984375 | 0.287109 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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{"patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.824219 | 0.000261 | 0.925781 | 0.00885 | 0.984375 | 0.000969 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.824219 | 0.002808 | 0.925781 | 0.000132 | 0.984375 | 0.00885 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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{"category": "Fixed Constructions", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.734375 | 0.039063 | 0.890625 | 0.084961 | 0.984375 | 0.146484 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
|
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
|
Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.582031 | 0.003479 | 0.136719 | 0.000668 | 0.964844 | 0.103516 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
|
{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
|
Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.824219 | 0.941406 | 0.925781 | 0.972656 | 0.984375 | 0.988281 |
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{"category": "Physics", "patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims ."}
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{"patent": "the invention provides a plot of the amplitude response of a telephone line by measuring the energy present at 32 frequencies from 300 hz to 3400 hz spaced 100 hz apart . the data collected at the 32 points are stored in a 32 location memory buffer for display . a display function extracts the data from each of 32 memory locations at a rate sufficient to display a complete plot on an oscilloscope . a block diagram of the inventive system is shown in fig1 . analog receiver data signals are sampled by a / d converter 1 at a 9600 hz rate . the sampled data are passed to the inventive circuit and to a modem demodulator for normal processing . in the inventive circuit the sampled data are mixed by the quadrature amplitude demodulator 2 , 3 with oscillator 6 ( not shown in fig1 ), after it has been modified by sine and cosine lookup element 27 , to provide the selected one of 32 frequencies . oscillator 6 comprises a delay element 28 and a summer 29 . the in - phase and quadrature data are filtered by low pass filters 4 and 5 respectively to remove the double frequency components of the mixing operation . low pass filter 4 comprises multiplier element 30 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 31 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 32 and 33 and delay element 34 . low pass filter 5 comprises multiplier element 35 for multiplying by a scaling constant and multiplier element 36 for multiplying by a filter constant , summers 37 and 38 , and delay element 39 . the outputs of low pass filters 4 and 5 contain a dc output that is proportional to the instantaneous energy present at the frequency selected by oscillator 6 . the outputs of lpfs 4 and 5 are sampled at a 300 hz rate by sampler switches 40 and 41 ( in order to reduce processor load ) and squared by elements 7 , 8 . the outputs of squaring units 7 and 8 are summed and integrated by an ideal integrator 9 . integrator 9 has an input from summer 60 and consists of summer 61 and a delay element 44 . integrator 9 integrates the energy present at the selected frequency for 13 seconds in order to obtain an accurate measurement . at the end of the 13 second integration period switch 12 closes , the output of integrator 9 is converted to a logarithmic scale by converter 10 and the log value is stored in the appropriate frequency data memory locations in frequency data buffer 14 . after the data is stored in buffer 14 , integrator 9 is cleared , commutator 13 moves to the next frequency memory location in buffer 14 , the frequency selection is incremented 100 hz by integrator 18 which comprises delay element 42 , and summer 43 , and the integration begins at the new frequency . switch 11 is used to load a constant into integrator 18 . the constant is preselected so as to provide a 100 hertz increment to the oscillator 6 . this process repeats continuously updating all 32 memory locations . in order to display the spectral measurements , the data in 14 must be presented at a much faster rate than it was stored . thus , commutator 16 rotates through each of the 32 memory locations at a 2400 hz rate . the digital data contained in the frequency memory location is converted to analog by d / a converter 22 and applied to the y input of an external oscilloscope 24 . coincident with the movement of commutator 16 , switch 17 closes to increment the x display offset generator 19 which comprises summer 45 and delay element 46 . device 19 generates a ramp that is scaled by elements 20 , 21 , converted to analog by d / a converter 23 and applied to the x input of oscilloscope 24 . this x input spaces the 32 frequency data points to provide a display shown on oscilloscope 24 and fig2 and 3 . fig2 and 3 respectively show a sample output of the inventive circuit as compared to an output from halcyon 520b3 telephone line tester . an important consideration is that the results achieved by the modem spectrum analyzer of the present invention as shown in fig2 do not require the test tones which would be required for the measurements shown in fig3 . the analyzer output can be converted to decibels by a log table to give greater dynamic range . a full scale log table can be implemented by shifting and counting shifts until the desired mantissa accuracy is achieved for a look - up table . the log scale can be computed each time a new frequency is selected . with regard to the logarithmic conversion table shown below , the modem digital agc word is scaled for 3 db = hexadecimal 100 . numbers within the modem processor can be converted to the same scale by shifting and counting shifts to determine the characteristic , and then computing the mantissa by the look - up table . for each shift of v add hexadecimal 200 to the characteristic and for v 2 add hexadecimal 100 . when the shifted value is less than hexadecimal 010 then look up the mantissa in a 16 entry table . an entry table is accurate to 1 / 2 db . the output is 1 . compute v 2 . if v 2 is greater than or equal to 008 then db = 0 and exit . 2 . test if v 2 is less than 16 and skip to # 5 if true . 3 . shift v 2 right ( 1 / 2 ) and add 256 to db 6 . look up mantissa and add to db for final value . ______________________________________ re - man - v v . sup . 2 shift db sum level mainder tissa level______________________________________2048 1024 7 1792 21 db 15 232 2 . 73 db1448 512 6 1536 18 db 14 207 2 . 43 db1024 256 5 1280 15 db 13 179 2 . 11 db 724 128 4 1024 12 db 12 150 1 . 76 db 512 64 3 768 9 db 11 118 1 . 38 db 362 32 2 512 6 db 10 82 0 . 97 db 256 16 1 256 3 db 9 44 0 . 51 db 181 8 0 0 0 db 8 0 0 . 00 db______________________________________ fig5 shows a schematic of a portion of the circuit of fig1 with the addition of a double precision low pass filter and a prairie corporation automatic gain control loop . as with fig4 elements which are the same as those shown in fig1 have the same reference numerals . additional elements include low pass filter 47 , multiplier 48 , summer 49 , integrator 50 , summer 51 , transformer 52 , modem digital automatic gain control module 53 , and automatic gain control module 54 . the double precision filters are required for a band width on the order of 1 second in the loop . a small phase error is added to oscillator 50 to enable the &# 34 ; tracking &# 34 ; filters to detect tones that may not be exactly on the sweep frequency which is generated in 100 hz increments . the v 2 modules 40 and 50 require a double precision filter due to the wide dynamic range of v 2 . the modem automatic gain control agc module 53 is added to the log scaled output for absolute calibration ( 3 . 01 db / 256 10 ). advantages of the aforestated invention include the fact that it improves on the prior art in not interrupting data traffic and not requiring external equipment to perform an amplitude spectral analysis . integrating the diagnostic tools into the system itself not only provides more features for users but aids fields service personnel and users in problem solving without additional test equipment . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown herein , it will be appreciated that many other embodiments can be contemplated within the scope of the appended claims .", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
d4ebaf2f58db4c75549517873e7fb2cdcf2b71990360db84e1c0710ff497c13f
| 0.671875 | 0.022949 | 0.925781 | 0.125 | 0.96875 | 0.069336 |
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b ."}
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.271484 | 0.00008 | 0.172852 | 0.015869 | 0.746094 | 0.151367 |
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b ."}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.001244 | 0.121582 | 0.01001 | 0.031128 | 0.078125 | 0.441406 |
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.007568 | 0.000019 | 0.044678 | 0.005066 | 0.054932 | 0.005554 |
null |
{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b ."}
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Textiles; Paper"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.304688 | 0.001205 | 0.703125 | 0.010315 | 0.769531 | 0.025146 |
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Fixed Constructions"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.007568 | 0.114258 | 0.044678 | 0.283203 | 0.054932 | 0.249023 |
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b ."}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.001244 | 0.001984 | 0.01001 | 0.001137 | 0.078125 | 0.014526 |
null |
{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Physics"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.004608 | 0.004211 | 0.013611 | 0.009399 | 0.026001 | 0.007355 |
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"patent": "there will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention . in the following description , numerous specific details are set out in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be put into practice with variations of the specific . fig1 shows a cell of a wireless telecommunications network having a central base station ( 2 ) transmitting and receiving radio frequency ( rf ) signals over a geographical area or cell bounded by the hexagonal boundary ( 4 ) of theoretical equal signal strength with adjacent cells . the network is made up of a plurality of such cells mosaiced over a wider geographical area , as is well known in the art . in a typical 3g system two or three paired channels ( 10 + 10 mhz or 15 + 15mhz ) and one unpaired channel ( 5 mhz ) will generally be available . the paired channels may be used for the fdd infrastructure and the unpaired channel may be used for tdd relay purposes according to the present invention . however , in the future more spectrum is likely to be available and could be split between fdd infrastructure and tdd relay in different ways . the base station ( 2 ) transmits and receives signals to end user equipments , for example mobile end user equipment ( 6 ) over a frequency division duplex , for example using gsm , code division multiple access 2000 ( cdma2000 ) or universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ). the duplex comprises two channels ( 8 , 10 ) of different frequencies and one channel ( 8 ) is utilised as the downlink for constantly carrying traffic , for example data or voice traffic , from the base station ( 2 ) to end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ). the other channel ( 10 ) of the duplex is utilised as the uplink for constantly carrying traffic from the end user equipments within the cell , in particular mobile equipment ( 6 ), to the base station . according to the present invention , and as shown in fig2 , end user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) are provided with a fdd transceiver arrangement ( 6 a , 14 a ), a time division duplex transceiver arrangement ( 6 b , 14 b ), an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 6 d , 14 d ) and a relay ( 6 c , 14 c ). an interface or protocol dissembler / assembler ( 26 to 31 ) is provided between the relay ( 6 c , 14 c ) and each of the transceivers for unpacking data packets from signals received by the relevant transceiver and packaging data packets into signals for transmission by the relevant transceiver . it can happen that an obstacle , for example obstacle ( 12 ) can block the transmission of traffic over the fdd between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments , in this example mobile user equipment ( 14 ) and nomadic end user equipment ( 24 ), located within the cell ( 4 ). however , according to the present invention , the base station ( 2 ) is able to transmit traffic to the user equipment ( 14 ) and / or user equipment ( 24 ) via a first hop end user or intermediate node comprising mobile user equipment ( 6 ) over a time division duplex ( tdd ). the tdd is an additional channel having a different frequency from the channels of the fdd , and over which traffic can be transmitted alternately in two directions . the user equipments ( 6 , 14 , 24 ) may be a mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ), such as a mobile telephone , mobile computing device or personal digital assistant ( pda ) with interfaced fdd and tdd transceivers . alternatively , the end user equipment may be a nomadic equipment , such as a terminal computing device ( 24 ), eg . a laptop computing device which is generally static while in use but which has a location which may change . it is highly desirable that the data transmitted over the fdd and the tdd use the same basic coding , for example qpsk or 16 - qam and the same modulation , for example \u2153 rd rate turbo code or \u00bd rate convolutional code . if this is the case then there is no need to assemble / dissemble data packets at the interface between the fdd and tdd . instead a simple physical layer repackaging from fdd to tdd and vice versa should be sufficient . fig3 shows schematically , over a period of time , the frames ( eg . 18 , 19 ) in the fdd ( 6 , 10 ) between the base station ( 2 ) and the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and how they are synchronised with the frames ( eg . 20 , 21 ) in the tdd ( 22 ) between the mobile equipment ( 6 ) and the mobile equipment ( 14 ). in the example shown in fig3 , each fdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 13 , 14 ) and each tdd frame has fifteen timeslots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 13 , 14 ). then during time - slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) a network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) schedules relaying in the part of the cell ( 4 ) within which the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is located , scheduling time slots ( 4 , 5 ) for fdd / tdd downlink and slots ( 8 , 9 ) for fdd / tdd uplink . the number and direction of slots allocated might depend , for example , on the priority of the user terminal ( 24 ), the amount of traffic to be passed up and down , the value of the transaction , the capability of the mobile equipment ( 6 ) acting as fdd / tdd relay and the likely estimated impact of interference on other relays . the tdd and fdd frame structures are the same , as can be seen in fig3 . the tdd system has a ramp up and ramp down period associated with tdd transmissions . the controller ( 50 ) would be aware of this and would pack the fdd frame with data bits ( for example in time slots ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 ) that would be discarded due to ramp up and ramp down times . ramp up / down is necessary to minimise out of band emissions ( switching transients ) and is a practical necessity in a radio frequency sub - system . the frame structure need not be that described in relation to fig3 . the frame structure should have enough time slots to ensure sufficient flexibility of assignment , but not so many that the tdd peak power is too large . for example , between 8 and 20 timeslots per frame . referring now to both fig2 and 3 , the base station ( 2 ) transmits a data packet ( a ) over the downlink ( 8 ) in fdd frame ( 18 ) in time slot 5 ( in accordance with the scheduling from the network controller ( 50 )), which data packet ( a ) has a header which indicates that it is destined for the end user terminal ( 24 ). the signal carrying the data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the first hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 6 a ) by the interface ( 28 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 26 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 26 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) in time slot 5 of frame ( 20 ) of a tdd ( 22 ). note that there is a one - to - one mapping of the fdd timeslot 5 to the tdd timeslot 5 , which avoids the need to disassemble / re - assemble the data relayed . the data packet ( a ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). the fdd interface ( 28 , 29 ) and the tdd interface ( 26 , 27 ) of each mobile equipment ( 6 , 14 ) are connected via a synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) so as to synchronise the fdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 16 , 19 )) which are transmitted over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) with tdd timeslots ( eg . timeslots ( 20 , 21 )) which are transmitted over the tdd ( 22 ). the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) may be a circuit , or an algorithm run on a digital signal processor , which maintains synchronisation of the tdd frame structure with the fdd frame structure . therefore , it is important for the execution of the present invention that the fdd system has a regular or at least deducible temporal structure . the synchronisation arrangement ( 34 ) could work by using knowledge of the fdd access system and recognise the signalling when the start of an fdd frame occurs . this would be used to maintain an accurate clock with a periodicity equal to timeslots ( or a multiple or sub - multiple thereof ). the signal carrying data packet ( a ) is received by the receiver of the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the second hop end user node , mobile equipment ( 14 ). the data packet ( a ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 b ) by the interface ( 27 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( a ), to the interface ( 31 ) for transmission by the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 30 ) the data packet ( a ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the transceiver ( 14 d ) over an infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan link ( 32 ). the data packet ( a ) is received by the transceiver ( 24 d ) of the terminal end user equipment ( 24 ). the last hop , ie . between the user equipment ( 14 ) and the terminal ( 24 ) may use a short range technology , such as infra - red , bluetooth or wireless lan which will not interfere with the fdd or tdd channels operating within the cell ( 4 ). for the end user terminal ( 24 ) to transmit a data packet ( b ) to the base station ( 2 ), the end user terminal would package the data packet in an infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan signal and transmit it via transceiver ( 24 d ) to the infra - red , blue tooth or wireless lan transceiver ( 14 d ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ) via the link ( 32 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the transceiver ( 14 d ) by the interface ( 31 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 14 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ), to the interface ( 27 ) for transmission by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 14 ). at the interface ( 27 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the tdd transceiver ( 14 b ) over time slot b of frame ( 21 ) of the tdd ( 22 ). the data packet ( b ) is received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). the data packet ( b ) is unpacked from the signal received by the tdd transceiver ( 6 b ) by the interface ( 26 ) and is then routed by the relay ( 6 c ), in accordance with the header of the data packet ( b ) to the interface ( 25 ) for transmission by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) of the mobile equipment ( 6 ). at the interface ( 28 ) the data packet ( b ) is packaged into a signal which is transmitted by the fdd transceiver ( 6 a ) in time slot 8 of frame ( 19 ) of the uplink channel ( 10 ) of the fdd . again it should be noted that there is a one - to - one mapping of the tdd timeslot 8 to the fdd timeslot 8 , which can avoid the need for dissembling / reassembling the data packet . the signal carrying the data packet ( b ) is received by the base station ( 2 ). the network controller or radio node controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions in a number of cells , including cell ( 4 ). the controller ( 50 ) controls the transmissions over tdds ( 22 ) within the cell ( 4 ) and in adjacent cells , in order to prevent interference between tdd transmissions on the same channel within the cell or between adjacent cells . as described above the tdd time slots ( 20 , 21 ) over which traffic is transmitted between user equipments ( 6 , 14 ) within the cell ( 4 ) are synchronised with the fdd time slots ( 18 , 19 ) over which traffic is transmitted between the base station ( 2 ) and user equipments ( 6 ), as is described above . this means that all tdds generated between user equipments within the cell ( 4 ) will have time slots which are synchronised with each other . the controller ( 50 ) can allocate different tdd time slots on a tdd channel to different user equipments located in the cell ( 4 ) in order to avoid interference between transmission over the tdds in the cell ( 4 ). for example , according to fig3 , the mobile equipment ( 6 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ). in the example given above in relation to fig3 , the fdd and tdd timeslots have a one - to one mapping , with each tdd and each fdd frame having fifteen time slots ( 0 to 14 ). the end user equipment ( 6 ), with which the base station ( 2 ) communicates directly over the fdd ( 8 , 10 ) is instructed by the base station ( 2 ) to make tdd transmissions on time slots ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ) only . the mobile equipment ( 6 ) when starting a communication with a second hop user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 14 ), will inform that user equipment of the tdd time slot structure and on which time slots the second hop user equipment can transmit signals and expect to receive signals . therefore , as can be seen from fig3 , after the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( a ) in the fdd frame ( 18 ) on timeslot 5 it waits for a timeslot 4 or on a subsequent frame ( 20 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( a ). similarly , when the mobile equipment ( 6 ) receives the data packet ( b ) over the link ( 32 ) it waits for a time slot 8 or 9 of a subsequent frame ( 21 ) on the tdd ( 22 ) to transmit a signal carrying the data packet ( b ). referring to fig4 a , which shows the cell ( 4 ), with the base station ( 2 ) at its centre , split into three sectors . one tdd channel is allocated to the cell ( 4 ). according to the scheme in fig4 a , a first hop user equipment in the first sector ( x ) is allocated tdd time slots ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) for transmissions over the tdd channel , a first hop user equipment in the second sector ( y ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) and a first hop user equipment in the third sector ( z ) is allocated the tdd time slots ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). by allocating different tdd time slots to the different end user equipments in the cell ( 4 ) interference between the tdd transmissions made by the end users in the cell is prevented . referring to fig4 b , here each of the time slots ( 0 to 14 ) is used in each sector ( x , y , z ). in the first sector ( x ) there are five first hop user equipments which are each allocated three of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the second sector ( y ) there is one first hop user equipment which allocated all of the fifteen tdd time slots . in the third sector ( z ) there are two first hop user equipments one of which ( which could be the mobile user equipment ( 6 ) described above in relation to fig2 and 3 ) is allocated time slots ( 3 to 10 ) and the other of which is allocated the remaining time slots ( 0 to 2 and 11 to 14 ). as the sectors are geographically separate this should prevent interference between tdd transmissions within the cell ( 4 ), although there is the possibility of interference between user equipments using allocated the same tdd time slots at a boundary between the sectors ( x , y , z ). in fig4 c it is assumed that the network controller ( 50 ) has knowledge of the location of each user equipment , and where user equipments are adequately geographically spaced , the controller ( 50 ) will allocate the same tdd time slots to the user equipments . for example , in the first sector ( x ) there are two first hop user equipments , which are adequately geographically spaced and the controller ( 50 ) allocates all of the fifteen tdd time slots to each of the user equipments in the first sector ( x ). the users of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) via which the data packets ( a , b ) are sent between the base station and the end user terminal ( 24 ) are not charged for the cost of the call to the terminal ( 24 ). the user of the terminal ( 24 ) is charged for the cost of the call , based on its contract with its service provider . the facilities of the intermediate mobile equipments ( 6 , 14 ) made available for the call to the terminal ( 24 ) will also be dependent on the contract between user of the terminal ( 24 ) and its service provider and not on the contract between the users of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) and their service providers . however , the use of the intermediate equipments ( 6 , 14 ) to transmit data to and from the terminal ( 24 ) will consume power from the intermediate equipment , which will for example reduce the battery run down time of the intermediate equipment . therefore , an incentive can be offered to users , so that they allow their equipments to be used as intermediate mobile equipments and so that they keep their mobile equipments switch on in a transceiving mode so that their equipments are available for the maximum time . as an example , for each unit of time a user equipment is used as an intermediate hop for a call to another equipment , the user equipment could be credited with an equivalent number of time units , or a fraction of the number of time units , for free use of their user equipment to make calls . alternatively , an equivalent cash sum could be credited to the account of the end user of the user equipment . the data transmitted to a destination terminal ( 24 ) via intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) would be encoded such that the data transmitted could not be decoded by the intermediate terminals ( 6 , 14 ) and the user of the intermediate terminal would not be able to determine the identification of the destination terminal ( 24 ). to achieve this the data would be encoded and ciphering used end - to - end of the connection to the terminal ( 24 ). the end user sim ( or umts - sim ) of the destination terminal ( 24 ) provides the identification of the user the data is intended for . in a first proposed arrangement , if a user equipment , for example a destination or terminal mobile equipment ( 14 ) cannot \u2018 see \u2019 the fdd base station ( 2 ), then it sends an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message via its tdd transceiver ( 14 b ). the message would include the user identification of the destination mobile equipment ( 14 ). this message is initially sent out at a low power that increases in steps until a prescribed power limit is reached . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message would use only the most basic protocols and modulation techniques which all user equipments suitable as relays would share . a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment is an user equipment which can receive the tdd transmission from the destination equipment ( 14 ) and which is in direct fdd communication or indirect tdd / fdd communication with a base station ( 2 ). the user equipment ( 14 ) sending the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and the helpful user equipment would exchange capabilities so as to optimise any link between them . when a \u2018 helpful \u2019 intermediate user equipment , such as mobile equipment ( 6 ), is not in an fdd call , it will periodically scan the tdd band for the cell ( 4 ) using the transceiver ( 6 b ). if it receives the \u2018 anyone out there message ?\u2019 from the destination equipment ( 14 ) then the intermediate equipment ( 6 ) sends an acknowledgement to the destination equipment ( 14 ). the acknowledgement process would entail an exchange of capabilities and would be similar to the process that would occur in a normal network when a user equipment comes into coverage . the destination equipment ( 14 ) then stops probing for additional user equipments . the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) passes a message to the base station ( 2 ) to indicate that it has established a tdd communication with the destination equipment ( 14 ). the base station ( 2 ) then registers the location of the destination equipment ( 14 ) on the network . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message transmitted by the destination equipment ( 14 ) could be encoded to permit the system to determine path loss between the equipments ( 6 ) and ( 14 ). this could then be used for power control between the intermediate user equipment ( 6 ) and the destination equipment ( 14 ) over the tdd ( 22 ). as an alternative to or in addition to the out of range destination mobile user equipment sending out random access probes tt may be preferable for the network controller ( 50 ) to request certain mobile user equipments , such as equipment ( 6 ), with which it can communicate directly to transmit \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 signals in predetermined time slots . for example , considering sector ( x ) of fig4 b , each of the five first hop mobile user equipments in the sector might be allocated one time slot per frame on which to transmit an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message . for example , equipment ( 52 ) could be allocated slot 1 , equipment ( 54 ) could be allocated slot 7 , etc . the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message could , for example , be a regular pattern of rf pulses recognisable to user equipments subscribing to the network as an indication of an available tdd time slot . a destination end user equipment , for example mobile equipment ( 14 ), not able to directly communicate with the base station ( 2 ) and requiring service , could monitor the tdd relay band looking for an \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message indicating available tdd time slots . the destination equipment ( 14 ) could then roughly synchronise with the pulse pattern of the \u2018 anyone out there ?\u2019 message and send back a reply over the tdd channel a predetermined number of time slots later ( the predetermined number being selected not to coincide with a transmission on the tdd channel by the first hop user equipment ( 6 )). a similar process as described above could be utilised for exchanging capabilities between the two equipments ( 6 , 14 ) leading to the setting up of a call or session . the present invention could also utilise user equipments subscribing to a different network . a user equipment , for example user equipment ( 6 ) subscribing to a network a could temporarily connect to a different network b and act as an fdd / tdd relay between a base station ( 2 ) of the network b and an end user ( 14 ) who has a subscription with operator b .", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
ef3f68c58f3a904e06b4be63b0baf0910afb8bd92e65d6f82869e7e3990ac588
| 0.001595 | 0.046143 | 0.014038 | 0.28125 | 0.061035 | 0.207031 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.466797 | 0.200195 | 0.675781 | 0.53125 | 0.710938 | 0.605469 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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{"patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.699219 | 0.004761 | 0.875 | 0.072754 | 0.898438 | 0.109863 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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{"patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .", "category": "Textiles; Paper"}
|
Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.302734 | 0.000805 | 0.414063 | 0.002716 | 0.679688 | 0.016357 |
null |
{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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{"category": "Fixed Constructions", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.699219 | 0.094238 | 0.890625 | 0.804688 | 0.855469 | 0.412109 |
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{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.367188 | 0.048828 | 0.574219 | 0.031738 | 0.726563 | 0.546875 |
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{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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{"patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .", "category": "Physics"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.699219 | 0.008301 | 0.890625 | 0.087402 | 0.855469 | 0.308594 |
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{"patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.000645 | 0.062988 | 0.013245 | 0.06543 | 0.02063 | 0.5625 |
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{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "as used herein , \u201c absorbency \u201d refers to the functional capacity and the rate at which absorption occurs as measured by absorption under load ( aul ) or finite volume absorption under load ( fvaul ). \u201c air permeability \u201d, as used herein , refers to the amount of air which the surface permits to pass through during a specified amount of time relative to another surface having the same total area as the first surface . as used herein , the term \u201c absorbent article \u201d refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates , and more specifically refers to articles which are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain various exudates discharged from the body . a non - exhaustive list of examples of absorbent articles includes diapers , diaper cores , diaper covers , disposable diapers , training pants , feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence products . the term \u201c disposable article \u201d refers to absorbent articles that are intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use , i . e ., they are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused . the term \u201c unitary disposable absorbent article \u201d refers to a disposable absorbent article that is essentially a single structure ( i . e ., it does not require separate manipulative parts such as a diaper cover and insert ). as used herein , the term \u201c diaper \u201d refers to an absorbent article generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso . the claims are intended to cover all of the forgoing classes of absorbent articles , without limitation , whether disposable , unitary or otherwise . these classifications are used interchangeably throughout the specification , but are not intended to limit the claimed invention . the invention will be understood to encompass , without limitation , all classes of absorbent articles , including those described above . preferably , the absorbent core is thin in order to improve the comfort and appearance of a garment . the employance of thin , comfortable garments is disclosed , for example without limitation in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 098 , 423 to pineiak et al . which is herein incorporated by reference . referring to the drawings , fig1 shows the forming surface 2 which is mounted on the drum assembly 4 . a forming chamber 8 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 and feeds an air stream to the forming surface on the drum assembly 4 . a hammermill having a blade or a plurality of blades receives a fiber board 18 at a pair of feed roles 19 . any blade or plurality of blades capable of fiberizing the fiber board are contemplated by the invention . non - limiting exemplary blades include steel , metal alloy and carbide tipped blades . preferably , the blades are carbide tipped blades . the feed roles 19 feed the fiber board to the carbide tip blades 14 which disintegrate the board into particles which are carried into the outlet shroud 10 by an air stream originating from an air inlet scoop 20 which is connected to the hammermill 12 at a hammermill screen 16 . the forming chamber 8 contains a nozzle 22 having an outlet into the interior of the forming chamber 8 through which a substance such as a super absorbent polymer (\u201c sap \u201d), for example without limitation , may be sprayed or injected into the air stream passing through the interior of forming chamber 8 where the substance will combine with the particles contained in the air stream . the drum assembly 4 has an inner vacuum chamber 6 positioned in such a manner as to create a vacuum at the forming surface on certain portion or portions of the drum assembly 4 . mounted to the exterior of the drum assembly 4 is a scarfing roll 24 which is located in close proximity to the forming surface 2 . a conveyor belt 28 is located adjacent to and beneath the drum assembly 4 and optionally contains tissue layers 26 for receiving the absorbent article formed on the forming surface when the article is released from the vacuum of the inner vacuum chamber 6 after passing through the scarfing role 24 . thus , once the drum assembly 4 rotates so that the absorbent article formed on the forming surface 2 is directly over the conveyor belt , the absorbent article is deposited onto the conveyor belt . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . the conveyor belt 28 transports the absorbent article for further processing . for example , the absorbent article may be processed into a diaper , without limitation . referring to fig2 a along with fig1 , a plurality of forming surfaces 2 ( fig1 ) are secured to a drum assembly 4 . one of the plurality of forming surfaces is illustrated in fig2 a and 2b . forming surface 2 is divided into four separate zones , each containing perforations 42 defining an open area through which air passes giving a certain air permeability based upon the diameter and number of holes or perforations 42 within each zone and / or the thickness of the sheet metal . a first zone 46 , which corresponds to the front of the absorbent article being prepared , has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 30 % to about 85 %, preferably about 40 % to about 60 %, more preferably about 45 % to about 55 %, and even more preferably about 49 % of the total area of the first zone . a second zone 48 corresponds to the back of the absorbent article being prepared . the second zone 48 has perforations 42 in a sufficient number and of a sufficient diameter to define an open area , through which air passes , of about 5 % to about 25 %, preferably about 10 % to about 22 %, more preferably about 15 % to about 20 %, and even more preferably about 15 %, of the total area of the second zone . a third zone 50 , which defines a gradual transition from the first zone to the second zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the first zone to the second zone . likewise , a fourth zone 48 , which defines a gradual transition from the second zone to the first zone , contains perforations 42 of varying diameter and / or number sufficient to provide a gradually decreasing open area from the second zone to the first zone . the forming surface 2 , while being permeable to air , is substantially impermeable to the solid materials carried in the airflow . by use of the term \u201c air \u201d, it is contemplated that other vapors , gases or mixtures thereof may be used in place of air . the forming surface 2 may be in the form of a screen , a mesh , a grid , a matrix , or any selectively permeable form , and combinations thereof . the perforations 42 or openings in the forming surface 2 may be of any shape and combinations thereof . preferably , the perforations 42 or openings are circular . the perforations 42 or openings may be of a wide variety of sizes provided the desired open area or air permeability is achieved . the forming surface 2 may be in any overall size or shape and may be bent or molded in various ways to achieve a wide variety of affects , as desired . preferably the forming surface 2 is in a rectangular form , as shown in fig2 a and is bent as shown in the side view of fig2 b . it has been found that the varying air permeability of the forming surface unexpectedly results in an improved absorbent article having zones with differing absorbencies in a simple and cost effective manner while achieving a high level of precision . the forming surface 2 may be composed of any material or combination of materials which can withstand the process conditions and produce the desired effect . preferably , the forming surface is composed of sheet metal . the perforations may be of any diameter . preferably , the perforations in the sheet metal are a diameter ranging from about 0 . 020 to about 0 . 080 inches , more preferably the diameters of the holes range from about 0 . 030 to about 0 . 060 inches , even more preferably the diameters of the perforations range from about 0 . 036 to about 0 . 040 inches . the perforations may be of uniform or non - uniform sizes . preferably , the perforations are of uniform size . referring to fig3 , the drum assembly 4 includes an outer cylinder upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted . the outer cylinder is supported and rotates around a central shaft 62 . a vacuum or suction is drawn within the drum assembly 4 by means of an inner vacuum chamber 6 . the vacuum created within the drum causes the airborne particles to adhere to the forming surface 2 . as described above , the predetermined zones 46 , 48 , 50 and 52 on the forming surface 2 have different air permeability . thus , the particles are deposited in varying amounts on the forming surface corresponding to the different zones . the basis weight of the fiber build up in each zone therefore is different from the other zones . this results in an absorbent article having a desired absorbent profile . the inner vacuum chamber 6 includes a main chamber 63 and a main chamber outlet 64 . the main chamber 63 receives the air flow from the forming chamber 8 ( fig1 ) after the air passes through the forming surface . the air then travels to the main chamber outlet 64 . in this manner , a vacuum or suction is created on the forming surface 2 as described above . outer cylinder 60 upon which the forming surface 2 is mounted rotates past the main chamber 63 . after the forming surface passes the main chamber 63 it encounters the pad transfer chamber 66 . the pad transfer chamber 66 does not receive the air flowing from the forming chamber 8 . therefore , there is no vacuum or suction beneath the forming surface 2 as the forming surface 2 rotates past the pad transfer chamber 66 . accordingly , the absorbent article formed on the forming surface is released from that surface and is able to be transferred to the conveyor belt , shown in fig1 , for subsequent processing . referring to fig4 , the forming chamber 8 is composed of a main air duct 74 , an inlet opening 76 and an outlet opening 78 . a nozzle 22 may be mounted on the main air duct 74 such that the nozzle penetrates into the interior of the main air duct 74 by means of an air tight seal . the nozzle 22 provides a means for injecting or spraying or providing in some other way a substance into the interior of the main air duct . the material may be a polymer such as a sap , for example without limitation . the forming chamber 8 is mounted to the drum assembly at the outlet opening 78 . the input opening 76 is attached to the outlet shroud 10 by means of an air tight connection . referring to fig5 , optionally , a scarfing roll 24 is situated in close proximity to the drum assembly 4 . the scarfing roll 24 is one or more rollers which comes into contact with the forming surface 2 and redistributes the material deposited on the forming surface 2 in a designated manner . optionally , a return duct may recycle scarfed material by returning the material to the forming chamber 8 . use of any conventional scarfing roll or recycling means is contemplated by the invention . the use of scarfing rolls and recycling means in this manner is well within the skill of the art . fig6 shows a cross - sectional view of the various components of the absorbent article on the forming surface 2 after the forming surface passes through the scarfing roll 24 . as the figure shows , the scarfed particles 102 are redistributed by the scarfing roll 24 from the back to the front zone , thereby further reducing the basis weight ( or absorbency ) of the back section while increasing the basic weight ( absorbency ) of the front zone . in this manner , the combination of the scarfing roll 24 with the forming surface 2 of the invention is a synergistic combination , as described below and illustrated in graph 7 . fig7 is a graph , which corresponds to table 1 below , illustrating the absorbency profile of the absorbent article when prepared in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . as shown in table 1 and fig7 , when the process of the present invention is employed with no scarfing rolls and no sap , an absorbent article is produced having a higher basis weight in the front than in the back through the use of the forming surface having different air permeability at corresponding predetermined zones . this demonstrates the effectiveness of the forming surface in selectively placing different amounts of the particles in different zones on the absorbent article . in particular , the basis weight in the front of the article was found to be 600 gsm while the basis weight in the back of the article was measured to be 500 gsm . when a sap is applied during the process , again without use of the scarfing roll , an even greater difference between the front and back zones is achieved . in particular , the basis weight in the front zone was measured to be 950 gsm , whereas the basis weight in the back zone was found to be 750 gsm , or a 1 . 28 : 1 ratio between the front and back zones . when scarfing is used in the process along with a sap , an even more dramatic result can be seen . as shown in the figure and the table , the front zone has a basis weight of 950 gsm , whereas the back zone has a basis weight of 500 gsm . this difference in basis weights represents a 1 . 86 : 1 ratio of the front basis weight to the back basis weight . accordingly , the combination of the scarfing process with the use of the zoned forming surface of the invention represents a synergistic combination . table i transition front transition back weight ratio zone 1 zone zone 2 zone of front zone ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) ( gsm ) to back zone 1 ) no 625 600 480 500 1 . 20 : 1 scarf \u25a1 no sap 2 ) no scarf 840 950 910 750 1 . 28 : 1 \u25a1 with sap 3 ) with scarf 860 950 880 500 1 . 86 : 1 \u25a1 with sap fig8 is a plan view of an absorbent article prepared in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the absorbent article 200 is composed of a front zone 202 and a back zone 204 . the absorbent article 200 is shown as one component of a disposable absorbent garment 300 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention . due to the wide variety of materials which may be incorporated into the absorbent articles of the present invention , the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific materials . the particles may contain one or more fibers , one or more polymers or combinations thereof . non - limiting exemplary fibers which may be used in the process of the present invention include , without limitation , cellulose fibers , cellulose acetate fibers , rayon fibers , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel fibers , polyacrylonitrile fibers , surface modified ( hydrophilic ) polyester fibers , surface modified polyolophin / polyester by component fibers , surface modified polyester / polyester bicomponent fibers , cotton fibers or blends thereof . preferably cellulose acetate , rayon , courtauld &# 39 ; s lyocel , polyacrylonitrile , cotton fibers and cotton linters or combinations thereof are used in the process of the present invention . more preferably , cellulose fibers are used as the fiber material in the present invention . other materials may be added to the fiber or pulp material which is processed in a fiberizing apparatus , such as a hammermill . the additives may be added at any point in the process . preferably , the additives are sprayed or injected into the airborne fibers prior to the depositing of the fibers on the forming surface 2 . non - limiting exemplary additives which may be incorporated into the process of the present invention include a polymer such as a super absorbent polymer ( sap ), hydrophilic polymers , potato starch , corn starch , wheat starch or rice starch , or combinations thereof . various different combinations of materials may be used as are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and which are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 068 , 620 which is herein incorporated by reference . preferably , the mixtures incorporated in the invention are substantially homogenous mixtures or uniformly distributed mixtures . although the invention preferably uses a hammermill , the invention contemplates use of any conventional fiberizing apparatus which accomplishes the disintegration of the fiber board into discreet particles of fiber . such conventional means are well known and readily available to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring again to fig8 , the absorbent article of the present invention has one or more predetermined zones of a specified absorbency wherein at least two of these zones have a different absorbency . preferably , the ratio of the front absorbency to the back absorbency as measured by aul or fvaul , is about 1 . 25 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , more preferably the ratio of the absorbency of the front zone to the absorbency of the back zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , and even more preferably the ratio is about 2 : 1 . alternatively , the weight ratio of the basis weight of the front zone to the basis weight of the second zone is about 1 . 5 : 1 to about 3 : 1 ; more preferably , that ratio is about 1 . 6 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 ; and most preferably , that ratio is about 2 : 1 . the absorbent article optionally has a third and a fourth predetermined area . each of the third and fourth predetermined areas has a gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency or basis weight in a longitudinal direction . this gradually increasing or decreasing absorbency , as measured in aul or fvaul , or basis weight may be in the form of a gradual linear progression or a gradual curved progression , as desired . an absorbent article having such an absorbent profile may be prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention or any other process which achieves these same results . the absorbent article may be composed of any material which achieves the desired absorbency . preferably , the absorbent article contains 50 to 95 % by weight particulate or fibrous sap , and about 5 % to about 50 % by weight of one other fibrous or particulate material . preferably , the absorbent article comprises a laminate . for example , without limitation , the laminate can be formed by sandwiching the absorbent article between two tissue layers of laminated material to encase the absorbent article therein . the use of aul as a measurement of absorbency is well known in the art . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how to use aul as a measurement of absorbency , as described herein . fig1 shows an apparatus used to measure finite volume absorbency under load ( fvaul ), while fig2 shows a close up view of a weight 32 used in the fvaul testing . the apparatus includes balance 34 and a sample holder 36 positioned on the balance , with the weight 32 configured for positioning on a test sample held by the sample holder . an lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) measuring system 38 is positioned to engage the weight 32 and measure its movement as a finite volume of liquid is introduced into the sample holder for absorption by a test sample . a lucas schaevitz type 2000 hpa lvdt system was employed , which employed lucas schaevitz system 96 oftware . since this software only provides lvdt measurements , additional software was provided to obtain readouts of values from balance 34 , and of time . as shown in fig2 , the weight 32 includes a stainless steel tube 40 and a bottom stainless steel screen 42 , with stainless steel slot 44 held within the tube and screen . liquid to be introduced into a test sample is poured through the steel slot so that it passes through the screen 42 into the sample holder 36 . a computer software program that can run the lvdt ( linear variable differential transducer ) system was booted . the lvdt system was calibrated , and the computer program to run the test was booted . 300 data sets were taken at two second intervals . a data set consists of time to the nearest hundredth second , balance reading to the nearest hundredth gram , and the lvdt reading to the nearest hundredth inch . the sample holder and a 0 . 16 psi porous weight were cleaned and then the holder was placed on a balance and the weight was put into place . the lvdt rods were then placed on the weights and the lvdt was zeroed . the lvdt and the weight were removed and weighed and then the sample was placed into the holder ( baby side up ). the weight and lvdt were replaced and the computer program calculated the sample &# 39 ; s thickness . the computer program asked for the sample weight and the ratio of superabsorbent particles ( sap ) to sample weight . this information was used to determine the total volume being taken up by the sap and pulp in the sample . the densities of 1 . 5 for sap and 1 . 7 for pulp are used by the program . the computer the \u201c calculates the free volume of the sample when dry . ( if this value is known to be incorrect because of pad construction , it is possible to re - enter the free volume .) an air shield was placed around the sample tester and the balance was zeroed ( tared ). 15 ml of test solution of 1 percent sodium chloride in water was prepared and placed in a graduated cylinder . the computer was then activated to start taking data sets and was allowed to take two data points before the solution was added . these two data sets are used to calculate the initial volume of the sample in the dry state . the 15 ml solution was quickly poured into the weight and was absorbed through the screen in the bottom of the weight into the sample . after the computer had taken 300 data sets , the computer generates the desired data such as dry free volume ( the amount of air in the sample ), the sample volume and sample mass as a function of time . the volume of the parts of the sample is calculated by taking the dry sample volume and subtracting the free volume from it and then adding the volume of liquid added . vd = volume of dry sample vf = free volume of air l = weight of the liquid 1 . 01 = density of 1 % nacl solution the sample volume and the volume by parts at 60 seconds and at 600 seconds was recorded . the computer program that reads information from the lvdt system and the balance calculates the free volume for the dry sample and records that as the first record in the computer file . the calculation is based on three pieces of information : the sample weight , the ratio of superabsorbent to sample weight , and the sample thickness . the samples are all assumed to be two inches in diameter . the following equation shows how the calculation is done . a s = ( 2 \u00b7 2 . 54 . 2 ) 2 \u00b7 \u03c0 = v s = volume of the sample ( cm 3 ) v s = a s \u00b7 t s a s = area of the sample ( cm 2 ) fv s = v s \u2212 v sap \u2212 v pulp fv s = free volume of the sample v sap = m sap / \u03c1 sap v sap = volume of sap in the v pulp = m pulp / \u03c1 pulp v pulp = volume of pulp in the m sap = r \u00b7 w \u03c1 sap = density of the sap m pulp = ( 1 \u2212 \u03c1 pulp = density of the pulp w = the mass of the sample ( g ) r = the ration of sap to sample t s = the thickness of the sample the following is the complete equation . 1 . 5 g / cc is used for the density of the superabsorbent 1 . 7 g / cc is used for the density of the pulp . the following examples are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not to be construed as limiting the inventive subject matter thereto . the following table shows the parameters for the design of forming screens used in accordance with various preferred embodiments of the present invention . the forming screens having the parameters described below are made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table ii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area \u25a1 about 5 % to about 30 % to about 5 % to about 5 % to about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % \u25a1 about 79 % about 50 % hole diameter about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 about 0 . 125 to about 0 . 125 to ( inches ) to about to \u25a1 about 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 0 . 010 about 0 . 010 holes per about 4 about 24 to about 4 to about 4 to square inch to about \u25a1 about 10 , 000 \u25a1 about 10 , 000 about 6 , 300 10 , 000 \u25a1 thickness about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 about 0 . 005 - 0 . 250 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the following table shows the parameters for the design of a forming screen used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the forming screen having the parameters described below is made of a sheet metal material . the arrangement of the zones is as shown in fig2 a and the overall configuration of the forming screens is as shown in fig2 b . table iii t1 zone * front zone t2 zone * back zone % open area about 32 % about 49 % about 32 % about 15 % hole diameter about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 about 0 . 036 ( inches ) holes per about 481 about 481 about 147 about 147 square inch gradually gradually decreasing increasing to to about about 481 147 directionally directionally from back from zone to front front zone zone to back zone thickness about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 about 0 . 015 ( inches ) * indicates a non - uniform transitional zone which gradually increases or decreases in open area in the longitudinal direction . this gradual increase or decrease in open area may be accomplish by increasing / decreasing hole diameter , increasing / decreasing number of holes or a combination thereof . the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments . these embodiments , however , are merely for example and the invention is not restricted thereto . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications can easily be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims ."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
54f029f8eb6a9dd3dff7682f4607722ef3adb6ac5f07f91407fc47cc42f3cf3e
| 0.367188 | 0.151367 | 0.574219 | 0.271484 | 0.726563 | 0.378906 |
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.447266 | 0.367188 | 0.310547 | 0.447266 | 0.134766 | 0.59375 |
null |
{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.026733 | 0.02063 | 0.040771 | 0.101074 | 0.036865 | 0.211914 |
null |
{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.106934 | 0.000016 | 0.170898 | 0.001099 | 0.056641 | 0.000534 |
null |
{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.488281 | 0.217773 | 0.699219 | 0.014526 | 0.225586 | 0.167969 |
null |
{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "Fixed Constructions"}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.029785 | 0.185547 | 0.041992 | 0.236328 | 0.036865 | 0.351563 |
null |
{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "Electricity"}
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{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.022339 | 0.021606 | 0.061768 | 0.004211 | 0.032471 | 0.088867 |
null |
{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "Physics"}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.472656 | 0.004608 | 0.310547 | 0.009155 | 0.134766 | 0.0065 |
null |
{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof ."}
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{"patent": "a stereo speaker system 10 in accordance with the present invention in fig1 through 3 removably mounted in position on the backrest 30 of an overstuffed easy chair c . as a setting for the present invention , the chair c is conventional and includes a seat portion 24 , arm rests 26 , 28 , backrest 30 , and legs 32 . in turn , the basic components of the stereo speaker system 10 primarily comprise two speaker housings 12 , 14 supported in spaced - apart relation over the chair c by support arms 16 , 18 , attached to mounting bracket 11 . mounting bracket 11 includes a front portion 20 adjustably attached to the rear portion 22 by bolt 70 and nut 72 . the front portion 20 includes a horizontal section 34 and two spaced - apart members 36 , 38 extending downwardly from the forward edge of the horizontal section 34 for gripping the front surface of the seat back 30 , and the rear portion 22 likewise includes a horizontal section 54 and a rear gripping member in the form of a back plate 56 extending downwardly from the rear edge of the horizontal section 54 for gripping the rear surface of the seat back 30 . the distal ends 37 , 39 of members 36 , 38 , respectively , and the distal end 57 of member 56 are curved slightly outwardly to minimize the possibility of those ends tearing or causing wear spots in the fabric of the chair as said members are being slipped into position on the chair or while mounted in that position . also , the mounting bracket 11 can be formed with a slightly obtuse angle between the horizontal section 34 and each gripping member 36 , 38 , respectively , of the front portion 20 , and an acute angle between the horizontal section 54 and gripping member 56 of rear portion 22 to more closely conform to a chair c with its back 30 inclined slightly backward , as shown in fig2 . a slotted hole 64 with its longer dimension oriented forward and backward in relation to the chair c is provided through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 , and a hole 35 is provided through horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 in alignment with slotted hole 64 . the front and rear portions 20 , 22 are adjustably secured together by bolt 70 which extends through both slotted hole 54 and hole 35 , and can be snugly tightened against each other by nut 72 threaded on bolt 70 . consequently , the distance between the front gripping members 36 , 38 and the rear gripping member 56 can be adjustably varied to accommodate different sized backrests 30 of different chairs by loosening the nut 72 on bolt 70 , sliding the front portion 20 in relation to the rear portion 22 , and when the proper distance in obtained to securely clamp the mounting bracket 11 onto the backrest 30 , and then securely tightening down nut 72 . in order to maintain the front gripping members 36 , 38 , in parallel relation with the rear gripping member 56 , ribs 50 , 52 are provided on the lower surface of horizontal section 34 of the front portion 20 , and mating grooves 60 , 62 of corresponding size and shape are provided in the upper surface of horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . when the front portion 20 and back portion 22 are properly aligned , ribs 50 , 52 protrude into mating engagement with grooves 60 , 62 , respectively . consequently , relative forward and backward motion between the front portion 20 and rear portion 22 is allowed , but relative lateral or twisting movement is prevented . as best seen in fig6 one set of rib 50 and groove 60 is located in spaced relation to one side of the slotted hole 64 , and the other set of rib 52 and groove 62 is located a spaced distance on the opposite side of slotted hole 64 . also , as best seen in fig6 slotted hole 64 includes a widened portion 65 in the lower surface of horizontal section 54 to accomodate the head 71 of bolt 70 both to keep the head 71 from protruding below the remainder of the horizontal section 54 to preclude undue wearing or marking of the fabric on the chair c , and to retain the bolt 70 from turning as the nut 72 is screwed on or off . two speakers 90 , 92 , preferably a woofer and a tweeter , are mounted in each speaker housing 12 on a facia panel 93 . the facia panel 93 is comprised of two panel segments 96 , 98 in a concave configuration enjoined together at 97 , as best seen in fig8 . grille screens or fabric 94 , 95 are stretched over the speaker openings in panel 93 in the conventional manner to protect the speakers 90 , 92 from dust or damage . this concave configuration of the facia panel 93 results in both speakers 90 . 92 being aimed substantially at a focal point near the listener &# 39 ; s head . as best seen in fig7 a cylindrical sleeve 100 with a bore 102 extending inwardly from one end is integrally molded in the upper section of speaker housing 12 . a radial internally threaded hole 104 is included in the wall of the sleeve 100 , and a set screw 105 is threaded therein . one end 80 of a support arm 16 is slidably inserted into the sleeve 100 and can be secured in any desired position therein by tightening set screw 105 onto the arm 16 . the left speaker housing 14 is also provided with a similar sleeve 101 and set screw 107 for receiving the end 84 of the left support arm 18 , as best seen in fig1 through 3 . the opposite ends of support arms 16 , 18 are adjustably attached to the mounting bracket 11 as best seen in fig1 through 3 . for this adjustable attachment , an elongated sleeve 40 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . the cylindrical sleeve 40 has a bore 41 extending longitudinally therethrough from right end 42 to left end 44 . ( see also fig4 .) the ends 82 , 86 of support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , opposite those attached to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , are received in opposite ends 42 , 44 of sleeve 40 . end 82 of support arm 16 is slidably inserted into end 42 of sleeve 40 , and end 86 of support arm 18 is slidably received in end 44 of sleeve 40 . sleeve 40 also includes two spaced - apart internally threaded holes 46 , 48 into which set screws 47 , 49 , respectively , can be screwed for snugly engaging support arms 16 , 18 , respectively . thus , speaker housings 12 , 14 can be adjustably set inwardly and outwardly in relation to the chair c by sliding their respective ends 82 , 86 in sleeve 40 , and they can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly by rotating arms 16 , 18 in sleeve 40 . speaker housing 12 , 14 can also be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly by sliding arms 16 , 18 respectively the desired distances into sleeves 100 , 101 , respectively . also , by rotating speaker housing 12 , 14 on support arms 16 , 18 , respectively , the speakers 90 , 92 can be adjustably directed upwardly or downwardly . these adjustable features allow an individual listener some latitude for positioning the respective speaker housing 12 , 14 in locations that best suit his particular height , position of most comfort in the chair , and hearing ability in each ear . although not shown , it can be readily understood by one skilled in the art that electrical wires must be provided to power the speakers . the support arms 16 , 18 are fabricated with hollow cores to accommodate passage of wires therethrough from the mounting bracket 11 to the respective speaker housings 12 , 14 and appropriate conduits or ducts can be provided in the bracket 11 and speaker housings 12 , 14 to lead the wires into the support arms and to the speakers 90 , 92 . the components of the alternate embodiments illustrated in fig9 through 12 are quite similar to those just described in the preferred embodiment , including speaker housings 12 , 14 , support arms 16 , 18 , and mounting brackets 11 with front portion 20 and back portion 22 . however , instead of the slotted adjustment hole 64 in the preferred embodiment , the alternate embodiment includes a plurality of individual internally threaded holes 66 through the horizontal section 54 of rear portion 22 . a set screw 68 is inserted through the hole 35 in horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 and is screwed into a selected one of the holes 66 which provides the desired spacing between the front gripping legs 36 , 38 and the rear gripping plate 56 . also , as best seen in fig1 and 12 , the support arms 16 , 18 are asjustably connected to the speaker housings 12 , 14 , respectively , and to the mounting bracket 11 by ball and socket joints . an enlarged ball insert 83 is provided on the rear end 82 of support arm 16 and is positioned in a correspondingly sized and shaped socket 130 on the horizontal section 34 of front portion 20 . an annular lip 134 retains the ball insert 83 in socket 130 , but rotational as well as forward / backward and up / down adjustment of support arm 16 in socket 130 is accommodated . a spring 146 in chamber 144 can be provided to bias the ball insert 83 against lip 135 to frictionally maintain support arm 16 in the desired set position . a radial internally threaded hole 138 can also be provided in the wall of socket 130 for receiving a set screw 140 to maintain support arm 16 in the desired adjusted position as an alternative to or in addition to the bias spring 146 . a conduit 148 is also provided through which electrical wires can be run into the hollow core support arm 16 to the speakers 90 , 92 . the rear end 86 of support arm 18 is similarly adjustably connected to mounting bracket 11 with socket 132 and annular lip 136 and set screw 142 for a bias spring ( not shown ) to retain the support arm 18 in position . a similar ball joint connection is provided to attach speaker housing 12 to support arm 18 as best seen in fig1 . an enlarged ball - shaped insert 81 is provided on the forward end 80 of support arm 16 and is positioned in the correspondingly sized and shaped socket 110 in speaker housing 12 . an annular lip 112 retains the ball insert 81 in socket 110 , and a spring 120 in chamber 118 biases the ball insert 81 against the lip 112 to frictionally retain it in any desired adjusted position . also , a set screw 116 can be threaded into a radial hole 114 in the socket wall to engage ball insert 81 to retain it in the desired adjusted position either in addition to or an alternative to the spring 120 . the conduit 122 is provided to lead the electrical wires from support arm 16 into the speaker housing 12 for connection to speakers 90 , 92 . although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details and structure may be made without departing from the spirit thereof .", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
a0dbaa8ce7175a077043bf53a04edc4e9d926e4a81682be39aef3de9ac6104f1
| 0.470703 | 0.106934 | 0.18457 | 0.035156 | 0.245117 | 0.121094 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Physics"}
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{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.141602 | 0.00885 | 0.121094 | 0.007813 | 0.263672 | 0.007568 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation ."}
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{"category": "Performing Operations; Transporting", "patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation ."}
|
Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.230469 | 0.005066 | 0.785156 | 0.006104 | 0.925781 | 0.081543 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Physics"}
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{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
|
Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.371094 | 0.000035 | 0.135742 | 0.011353 | 0.4375 | 0.040771 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Physics"}
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{"category": "Textiles; Paper", "patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation ."}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.18457 | 0.022339 | 0.121094 | 0.008301 | 0.255859 | 0.132813 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation ."}
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{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Fixed Constructions"}
|
Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.217773 | 0.539063 | 0.546875 | 0.375 | 0.796875 | 0.753906 |
null |
{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Physics"}
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{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting"}
|
Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.141602 | 0.0065 | 0.245117 | 0.021606 | 0.460938 | 0.063477 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation ."}
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.217773 | 0.863281 | 0.546875 | 0.875 | 0.796875 | 0.878906 |
null |
{"category": "Physics", "patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation ."}
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{"patent": "fig1 is a plan view of a one piece monolithic actuator block generally designated 2 . the stock material of the block is fabricated in a conventional manner with alternating layers of piezoelectric material silk screened with electrical conductors . this is normally done using either a tape cast process or a &# 34 ; waterfall &# 34 ; process . an array 8 of piezoelectric actuators 10 , 10 is fabricated from the block of stock material with a conventional multi - layer construction as part of the block 2 . the array 8 is made from a one piece laminated block which is subsequently saw cut to create spaces 14 , 14 and 16 , 16 between each actuator 10 . each actuator 10 has a top support surface 16 which is coplanar with the other such surfaces and extends substantially parallel with the lower surface 18 of the base 12 . by way of illustration , the cuts made in the block 2 are such that each actuator is about 5 mm square and has a height taken from the base of between about 10 - 20 mm . the actuators 10 are each integrally connected by a common base 12 to create a &# 34 ; brush &# 34 ; like configuration . the process employed by the invention uses a low &# 34 ; binder &# 34 ; process that permits complete binder burn - off in the solid block state . however , burn off may be done after cutting as an option . in addition , fiducials are placed on the block that ensure consistently accurate placement of the silk screened conductor electrodes on each layer . the location accuracy of these electrodes ensures that the proper ones are duly exposed during the machining process that generates the integral actuators . this process not only exposes the electrodes properly , but eliminates the sand blasting step normally used for electrode exposure in producing conventional circular actuators . the side view shown in fig2 shows the actuators attached to their common base and these exposed alternate electrodes . the other side of the same actuator looks the same , but what is exposed are the other set of electrodes . as shown in fig3 each actuator 10 , 10 has a configuration of multilayers 20 and 22 which are comprised of oppositely charged electrodes which are printed onto stacked layers of piezoelectric ceramic in a vertically interdigitated manner as illustrated . the consecutively ordered layers are oriented such that they are stacked on one another , in an alternating fashion , such that electrodes , of like polarity have an electrode layer of opposite polarity interposed therebetween such that all of the electrodes are in the proper spatial relationship . the internal electrodes are silk screened in a conventional manner onto the piezoelectric ceramic substrate and are aligned with each other using fiducial references . as best seen in fig3 the silk screened electrode pattern on alternate layers is exposed to one side of each actuator and a conductor wire 32 is run the full length thereof making electrical contact with each associated alternate layer . each wire conductor 32 is subsequently connected to the actuator drive electronics for electrical actuation purposes . by connecting all of the conductive layers on each side of the actuator together , they can all be energized simultaneously with the same voltage . the result is that each actuator stack is a minimum capacitance , parallel electrical , series mechanical device . the connection shown in fig3 uses a flexible insulator which has conductor runs silk screened on one surface , making contact via conductive epoxy to the vertically exposed , alternate actuator conductors . each actuator has its own lead so that all of the actuators are capable of being independently actuated . the square cross section of the actuator has an inherent benefit over a circular one in that it is less sensitive during the manufacturing process to dimensional variations in exposing the electrodes . that is , the exposed electrodes are disposed in a &# 34 ; plane &# 34 ; rather than in a &# 34 ; line &# 34 ;. fig4 depicts the actuator array block 2 assembled with a deformable mirror or face plate 44 having a reflective surface 43 and an opposite surface 45 attached to a base plate 46 . typically , the array block 2 has a width sufficient to match the diameter of the mirror 44 . the base plate 46 has a flat support surface 48 and the array block 2 is bonded to the common base at the surface 48 . both the bottom surface 18 of the actuator array block 2 and top surface 48 of the base are configured flat to ensure proper contact . likewise , the top surface 16 of each of the actuators 8 , 8 is made planar to ensure proper mating with the back surface 45 of the face plate 44 of the assembly . as seen in fig2 the tops of all of the actuators are coplanar , and to which the backside 45 of the thin deformable face plate 44 is connected by epoxy . each row of actuators 10 , 10 has a thin flexible conductor with a lead 49 , 49 tracing from each actuator row and terminating on either end of the row with connectors 51 , 51 . for ease of illustration , only the first two rows of the fig4 have been shown with such lead and tracing connectors . shown also in fig4 are areas aa where extra or nonfunctional &# 34 ; actuators &# 34 ; otherwise generated as part of the fabrication process have been removed . in use , the control electronics cause selective ones of the conductors 32 to be energized by a voltage source thereby causing an elongation of the involved actuator ( s ) 10 . since each actuator 8 is fabricated in a conventional tape cast or water fall multi - layer construction using a piezoelectric material , each actuator in each array layer is changeable in length with voltage such that upon energization of selective one ( s ) of the actuators 10 , 10 a local bump or depression is created at the back surface 45 of the mirror 44 . bias voltages of all actuators are sometimes used such that motion of the mirror surface can be in either direction , i . e ., plus or minus . the invention is a unique configuration for a deformable mirror using piezoelectric type actuators made from a single block . the invention thus embodies a monolithic block containing all of the actuators for the deformable mirror , where each actuator has the capability of being actuated individually . accordingly , the invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .", "category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
e6ba8bdd2f7bf267b7620d650f55453b04f3d172c1d331d82be422163a8a0bb8
| 0.375 | 0.155273 | 0.773438 | 0.675781 | 0.96875 | 0.245117 |
null |
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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{"category": "Human Necessities", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.00885 | 0.028442 | 0.002396 | 0.026733 | 0.091309 | 0.122559 |
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above .", "category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting"}
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
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Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.052734 | 0.066406 | 0.008606 | 0.075684 | 0.202148 | 0.333984 |
null |
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.029297 | 0.000938 | 0.017944 | 0.016968 | 0.291016 | 0.014038 |
null |
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above .", "category": "Textiles; Paper"}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.017944 | 0.000418 | 0.012817 | 0.007355 | 0.177734 | 0.001869 |
null |
{"patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above .", "category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting"}
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{"category": "Fixed Constructions", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.004761 | 0.146484 | 0.021606 | 0.792969 | 0.099609 | 0.558594 |
null |
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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{"category": "Physics", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.024048 | 0.133789 | 0.009705 | 0.230469 | 0.099609 | 0.197266 |
null |
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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{"category": "Electricity", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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Does the category match the content of the patent?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.018555 | 0.345703 | 0.012817 | 0.490234 | 0.18457 | 0.384766 |
null |
{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
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{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "referring now to the drawings , in fig1 there is illustrated a clamp assembly generally designated by the reference character 10 and constructed in accordance with the present invention . among its primary components , the clamp assembly 10 includes a shell 12 , a body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 for gripping a cable or drop wire 16 with the shell 12 extending in an axial direction from one end of the body member 14 , and a bail 18 attached to the body member 14 for suspending the cable 16 from a support 20 . the shell 12 and body member 14 can be generally of a wedge - shape but the present invention is not limited to such because many types of shapes can be used to grip and secure the cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 . the present invention is directed to improved engagement devices and methods for the connection between the body member 14 and the bail 18 . as illustrated in fig2 - 5 , the shell 12 is generally u - shaped in cross section so as cradle the cable 16 therein . the shell 12 is provided with flanges 22 and rails 24 at the ends of the flanges 22 to slideably engage edges 26 of the body member 14 . the shell 12 can have a plurality of serrations or teeth 28 for positively gripping the cable 16 . the wedge - shaped body member 14 cooperating with the shell 12 can provide increased gripping and holding force under tension , and under certain applications the serrations 28 can be eliminated so as to reduce damage , for example , to an insulated drop wire . the shell 12 can have a lip 30 at each end to reduce further damage to the cable 16 when suspended and under tension as illustrated in fig1 . the body member 14 is provided with a neck portion 34 and a tail 36 for engaging the bail 18 . the body member 14 is provided with a concave gripping portion 32 ( fig5 ) which assists in maintaining the cable 16 in a centered position and provides a greater gripping area . the shell 12 and body member 14 can have different constructions as desired for a particular application such as for various strength requirements and environmental conditions . for example , the shell 12 and body member 14 can be formed by a stamping process and made of sheet metal such as from aluminum for normal strength requirements and for use in highly corrosive environmental conditions , or made from stainless steel for use under high strength conditions . in use , the shell 12 and body member 14 are initially in a longitudinally offset position , on opposite sides of the cable 16 . the cable 16 is held to the body member 14 in the concave gripping portion 32 while the shell 12 is slideably engaged and passed over the neck portion 34 into a gripping relationship with the cable 16 . the tension of the suspended cable 16 tends to pull the shell 12 in one direction , and the tension of the bail 18 attached to the tail 36 tends to draw the body member 14 in the opposite direction , thereby causing the cable 16 to be tightly gripped . referring now to fig2 - 4 , and 8 , the preformed loop of the bail 18 is generally u - shaped with first and second legs 38 and 40 , respectively , that are attached to the tail 36 . the first leg 38 is shorter in the axial direction than the second leg 40 , and is provided with a bent portion forming a foot segment 42 and with a knob 44 at the end thereof . the second leg 40 has another foot segment 46 and head 48 at the end , having additionally a reduced portion 50 of reduced thickness formed between the bend of the foot segment 46 and the head 48 . the reduced portion 50 can be of a lesser diameter or can be a flattened shape formed by the process described below . the foot segments 42 and 46 extend in opposite directions and generally transverse to the axial direction of the bail 18 and tail 36 . because the first leg 38 is shorter than the second leg 40 , a predetermined offset 72 ( fig8 ) is present between the ends . other bail configurations in various bail o diameters may be used for various types of supports 20 such as hooks , eyes , etc . furthermore , the radius of the loop of the bail 18 can conform to the surface shape of the support 20 such as a ceramic insulator or any other support 20 to which the bail attached . typically , the bail 18 can have a hard wire metal construction such as , for example , aluminum as desired for strength or environmental requirements of a particular application . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , the tail 36 is formed at the end of the body member 14 opposite the end having the cable 16 extending therefrom . the tail 36 is in the form of a fold of the web portion of the body member 14 with two openings formed therein . the first opening is an aperture 54 for attaching the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 to the tail 36 . the aperture 54 is generally of a keyhole shape with a relatively larger portion 56 and a relatively smaller portion 58 . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in a direction transverse to the axis of the foot segment 42 so that the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction ( fig9 a and 9b ). the aperture 54 can be made in a t - shape with the larger portion 56 placed orthoganal to the smaller portion 58 . in addition , the relatively larger portion 56 is oriented closer to the end of the body member 14 having the cable 16 extending therefrom . however , this orientation can be rearranged in order to accomplish the equivalent function of attaching the first leg 38 to the aperture 54 . as shown in fig6 the second opening includes another aperture 62 in the form of an entry portion 64 connected to a lock portion 66 by a slot or connecting portion 68 . the entry portion 64 is larger than the lock portion 66 and is large enough to receive the head 48 . the lock portion 66 is smaller than the head 48 yet large enough to retain the foot segment 46 . the connecting portion 68 is narrower than the lock portion 66 and is sized to receive the reduced portion 50 . a worker installing a cable 16 to the clamp assembly 10 can compress the bail 18 to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 and locate the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 . the reduced portion 50 can now be passed along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . when the bail springs back , the foot segment 46 and head 48 are locked in the aperture 62 . in operation , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the smaller portion 58 of aperture 54 provides a sliding attachment for the attached foot segment 42 and knob 44 . in conjunction with a spaced relationship 74 between the entry portion 64 and the lock portion 66 , the offset 72 can slideably reposition the head 48 of the second leg 40 along the axis of body member 14 . for example , the attached foot segment 42 can be freely repositioned from an aft end 86 to a fore end 88 of the smaller portion 58 . likewise , the head 48 at the end of foot segment 46 can be repositioned over the aperture 62 because of the offset 72 . by sliding bail 18 axially along the smaller portion 58 , the head 48 is moved or adjusted to the entry portion 64 from the lock portion 66 with less compression and deformation of the bail 18 . the offset 72 between the knob 44 and head 48 can be made so that the head 48 will substantially overlie the entry portion 64 with the knob 44 located at the fore end 88 by mostly sliding action and less compression action . because deformation of the bail 18 is minimized , the knob 44 and head 48 are retained flush to the tail 36 with the bail 18 retaining the shape formed at manufacture . reducing the deformation of the bail 18 increases the likelihood that the connection between the bail 18 and body member 14 is completed properly thus reducing failures of the clamp assembly 10 such as by stripping the connecting portion 68 to render the clamp assembly 10 inoperable . referring now to fig8 the knob 44 and head 48 at the end of the foot segments 42 and 46 are a rounded shape when axially viewed , and when viewed in the transverse direction , each has flat surface forming a base 52 and top 78 to provide a flush relationship between the base 52 and the tail 36 . the knob 44 and the head 48 can be formed of the same shape or of different shapes as desired for a particular application . as discussed above , the foot segment 42 and knob 44 produce a shape corresponding to the shape of aperture 54 . it is contemplated that the knob 44 can be formed of different shapes such as but not limited to a rounded or crown top with the base 52 . thus , many shapes for the foot segment 42 and knob 44 corresponding to the combined shape or profile of the larger and smaller portions 56 and 58 of the aperture 54 will work using this feature . while many possible shapes are contemplated , the ultimate shape is chosen to perform under the stresses exerted at the larger and smaller portions 54 and 56 while the clamp assembly 10 is under tension . as illustrated in fig9 a , 9b , 9c , 9d and 9e , the process of assembling embodiment of the invention seen in fig1 - 6 and 8 is described . the aperture 54 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the knob 44 and foot segment 42 as viewed in the transverse direction . the knob 44 can be inserted and received in the aperture 54 only when the first leg 38 is oriented generally in the transverse direction as shown in fig9 a . once the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are inserted into the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 b , the bail 18 is axially rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis of the first leg 38 , and then 90 degrees in the lateral plane of the clamp assembly 10 to attach the knob 44 in the aperture 54 , as shown in fig9 c . as discussed above , the sliding engagement feature can be used to locate the head 48 at the entry portion 64 to facilitate insertion therein . the bail 18 can be resiliently compressed to insert the head 48 into the entry portion 64 of the aperture 62 as shown in fig9 d . the compression of the bail 18 locates the reduced portion 50 of the foot segment 46 at the connecting portion 68 where the reduced portion 50 can be passed along connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . the diameter of the foot segment 46 between the reduced portion 50 and the head 48 is smaller than the lock portion 66 and larger than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 providing a locking mechanism 70 that retains the base 52 and head 48 at the lock portion 66 when the bail 18 is released , as is shown in fig9 e . the locking mechanism 70 allows for one - handed locking operation by the worker performing suspension work at heights above the ground and reduces unwanted disengagements such as caused by an impact directed against the bail 18 . also , the locking mechanism 70 substantially reduces inadvertent widening of the slot 68 which can cause failure of the bail - to - body member connection . as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , an additional embodiment for attaching the first leg 38 to the tail 36 is described . the aperture 54a can be made in a keyhole shape with a larger portion 56a and a smaller portion 58a . the larger portion 56a has a larger diameter than the diameter of the smaller portion 58a . the aperture 62 is described above . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the small portion 58a . then , the material of the aperture 54a is deformed forming a deformed region 76 which closes the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 . the deformed region 76 can be made by using a known process such as by staking which involves striking and deforming the upper tail surface 80 of the tail 36 or by striking points 82 and 84 to pinch closed the smaller portion 58a . referring now to fig3 a and 7b , a method of making the clamp assembly 10 using a process that forms the deformed region 76 and the reduced portion 50 simultaneously is described . the foot segment 42 and knob 44 are assembled to the aperture 54a , being inserted into the larger portion 56a and located at the smaller portion 58a . the bail 18 can be positioned and held in an end - to - end orientation relative with the body member 14 . both the reduced portion 50 ( fig8 ) of the foot segment 46 and the deformed region 76 ( fig7 b ) are deformed simultaneously by one stroke of a staking tool . the deformed region 76 serves to close the aperture 54a over the foot segment 42 of the first leg 38 located therein . here , the reduced portion 50 is a flattened diameter of the bail 18 being a dimension that is less than the dimension of the connecting portion 68 to permit the reduced portion of the foot segment to pass along the connecting portion 68 to locate the head 48 at the lock portion 66 . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . thus , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above ."}
|
Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
f3c9f5dac49220eee9a005ba40896621a77a96a7112848f766dc957fb7e79142
| 0.030273 | 0.170898 | 0.017944 | 0.1875 | 0.291016 | 0.345703 |
null |
{"category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
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{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Human Necessities"}
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Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.229492 | 0.003082 | 0.808594 | 0.005371 | 0.466797 | 0.00885 |
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{"category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
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{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Performing Operations; Transporting"}
|
Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.048828 | 0.031738 | 0.22168 | 0.054199 | 0.203125 | 0.198242 |
null |
{"category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
|
{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Textiles; Paper"}
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Does the patent belong in this category?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.353516 | 0.000881 | 0.875 | 0.002884 | 0.515625 | 0.003174 |
null |
{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
|
{"category": "Fixed Constructions", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
|
Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.15625 | 0.150391 | 0.125 | 0.396484 | 0.316406 | 0.182617 |
null |
{"category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
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{"category": "Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
|
Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.051025 | 0.017456 | 0.22168 | 0.004608 | 0.203125 | 0.206055 |
null |
{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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{"category": "Physics", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
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Is the categorization of this patent accurate?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.03064 | 0.062988 | 0.28125 | 0.287109 | 0.236328 | 0.192383 |
null |
{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
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{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Electricity"}
|
Is the patent correctly categorized?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.02002 | 0.002045 | 0.238281 | 0.014038 | 0.194336 | 0.014954 |
null |
{"patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained .", "category": "Chemistry; Metallurgy"}
|
{"category": "General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology", "patent": "preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below . in the present embodiment , what is to be fired are ceramic honeycomb structures , namely ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders . the unfired ceramic porous bodies are loaded on a carriage and carried into a furnace to evaporate the organic binder at about 200 \u00b0 c . and then fired at an elevated temperature of about 1500 \u00b0 c . in fig1 , numeral 1 indicates a furnace body of a shuttle kiln . although three carriages 20 placed in the furnace are shown in fig1 for simplification , actually the furnace body 1 extends horizontally and an entry door 21 is opened to allow many carriages to enter the furnace body 1 for firing . on the bottom surface of each of the carriages 20 , a gas flow path 2 is formed . at the lower part of each carriage , a gas suction path 4 including a gas suction port 3 is placed at a position facing the gas flow paths 2 . as described above , since the shuttle kiln needs to have a traveling mechanism for the carriages 20 , the lower part of the furnace body cannot be sealed completely . however , by providing the gas suction path 4 , some fresh air having entered from the outside as denoted by an arrow can be prevented from entering the furnace body because it is suctioned to the gas suction path 4 together with the in - furnace gas . in this case , the gas is not limited to be suctioned through the lower part of the carriage because it can be drawn in through the top or rear wall of the furnace body 1 depending on a furnace structure . the gas suction path 4 includes an afterburner 5 and a suction fan 6 . during the binder releasing process in an early phase of temperature rising , the organic binder contained in the ceramic porous bodies evaporates and therefore vapor of the organic binder is contained also in in - furnace gas suctioned to the gas suction path 4 . the organic binder vapor is completely burned by the afterburner 5 and released into the atmosphere . the shuttle kiln of the invention includes a circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 . the circulation path 7 is used to suction the in - furnace gas from the furnace through a circulating suction port 13 formed in a side wall of the furnace body 1 and burn the organic binder gases and then draw it back into the furnace through a circulating return port 14 . by providing the circulation path 7 in addition to the gas suction path 4 , it is possible to reduce the burden on and down size of the afterburner as compared to a method that includes only the gas suction path 4 to suction the whole amount of in - furnace gas containing organic binder gases to the gas suction path 4 , completely burn it with the afterburner , and draw back the resultant combustion gas into the furnace . the circulating suction port 13 and the circulating return port 14 should preferably be disposed to positions where they may not disturb a flow of the in - furnace gas . in the present embodiment , the in - furnace gas may be suctioned by a circulation fan 8 through the circulating suction port 13 formed at a plurality of positions on the lower part of the side wall of the furnace body 1 and drawn back into the furnace via the circulating return port 14 formed at those multiple positions . generally , from the viewpoint of in - furnace temperature distribution and thermal efficiency , a downward flow should preferably be formed in the furnace . for this purpose , in the present embodiment , the gas is suctioned from the lower part of the side wall and drawn back from the upper part of the side wall . however , those ports need not always be disposed to those positions . in some cases , the gas can be drawn from the upper part of the side wall or the top portion and drawn back from the lower part of the side wall . the circulation path 7 includes a combustion device 9 for burning the organic binder gases contained in the suctioned in - furnace gas . the combustion device 9 , which should preferably be a catalytic reactor vessel , serves to burn the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas and consume oxygen in the in - furnace gas through the burning so that the oxygen concentration may lower . the catalytic reactor vessel is made up of , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure containing a precious - metal oxidation catalyst such as platinum or palladium and , therefore , can progress catalytic combustion even in condition where the organic binder gas concentration is low or in the condition that the oxygen concentration is low . however , the catalytic reactor vessel is not limited to this type . since catalyst activity of the catalytic reactor vessel is influenced by the temperature , a heating device 10 is mounted to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to , for example , about 300 \u00b0 c . further , since the in - furnace gas temperature is increased by catalytic combustion , if the gas is returned directly into the furnace body 1 , the in - furnace temperature is disturbed . therefore , it is preferable to provide , at a stage following the catalytic reactor vessel , a cooling device 11 for lowering the temperature of the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel to about a predetermined in - furnace temperature . the heating device 10 is a gas burner or an electric heater and the cooling device 11 is a heat exchanger . the circulation path 7 is used in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase and stopped in a firing process in which firing is performed at a higher temperature . in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gases contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion , a fuel gas supply pipe 15 can be disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig3 . fuel gas supplied from the fuel gas supply pipe 15 may be burned in the catalytic reactor vessel to consume oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas in order to lower the oxygen concentration . an embodiment shown in fig3 has a configuration in which the heating device 10 is provided to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel to increase the temperature of the suctioned in - furnace gas to a catalyst activation temperature so that combustion may be enabled under the condition of a higher catalyst activation level . however , even a simple configuration in which the heating device 10 is omitted and only the fuel gas supply pipe 15 is disposed to the stage preceding the catalytic reactor vessel , as shown in fig4 , is capable of having an effect of consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas to decrease the oxygen concentration in a case where the concentration of the organic binder gas concentration contained in the in - furnace gas is too low to decrease the oxygen concentration by sufficiently consuming oxygen contained in the in - furnace gas only through the resultant combustion . a shuttle kiln of the invention having such a configuration may be used , similarly to conventional methods , to fire unfired ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders , for example , a ceramic honeycomb structure . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , in - furnace gas and fresh air which enters the furnace body 1 through its lower portion are suctioned to the gas suction path 4 to burn and deodorize the contained organic binder gases with the afterburner 5 , while at the same time the in - furnace gas is suctioned to the circulation path 7 through the circulating suction port 13 formed in the side wall of the furnace body 1 . the in - furnace gas drawn to the circulation path 7 is heated by the heating device 10 to an activation temperature area of the oxidation catalyst and then passes through the catalytic reactor vessel . in this case , the contained organic binder gases undergoes catalytic combustion , and therefore the gas having passed through the catalytic reactor vessel is lower in organic binder gases concentration and also in oxygen concentration , and is cooled by the cooling device 11 to the predetermined in - furnace temperature and returned into the furnace body 1 through the circulating return port 14 . as the circulation process is repeated , oxygen in the furnace is consumed while air is prevented from entering the furnace through its lower part . consequently , the in - furnace oxygen concentration can be reduced to 8 % or less as a target value , or preferably 5 % or less . further , organic binder gases generating from the ceramic porous bodies is also removed through catalytic combustion so that its concentration can be maintained at a low level of about \u00bc of the explosion limit . in the binder releasing process in the early temperature rising phase , the in - furnace temperature needs to be raised moderately as shown in fig2 , but it is not always easy to control combustion of the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 . however , according to the invention , the in - furnace temperature can be easily and accurately controlled by controlling only the heating device 10 placed on the circulation path 7 while holding the many burners 12 placed in the furnace body 1 in an unignited state in the binder releasing process . in a shuttle kiln of the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily control the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 without influencing the in - furnace temperature . in the conventional shuttle kiln not provided with the circulation path 7 , to control the oxygen concentration to 8 % or less , or preferably 5 % or less , the amount of air that can be drawn into the furnace must be limited , which causes a problem that stirring in the furnace becomes insufficient or the organic binder gas concentration increases . in contrast , according to the invention , it is possible to arbitrarily increase the gas circulation speed ( gas circulation amount ) along the circulation path 7 in the repetitive catalytic combustion process and , therefore , arbitrarily control the organic binder gas concentration while sufficiently stirring the inside of the furnace . as described above , conventional methods require a long - time for releasing the binder to prevent occurrence of breaks in the binder releasing process . the behavior is denoted by a dotted line in fig2 . in contrast , if the shuttle kiln of the invention is used , it is possible to arbitrarily control the oxygen concentration as well as the organic binder gas concentration and , therefore , greatly reduce the binder releasing time to about \u2155 of the conventional value as denoted by a solid line in fig2 while securely preventing the occurrence of breaks . after the binder releasing process ends , the operation of the circulation path 7 is stopped to perform firing at a high temperature by using the many burners placed in the furnace body 1 . as described hereinabove , according to the invention , by inhibiting rapid combustion of an organic binder by decreasing the oxygen concentration , the binder releasing process can be progressed efficiently while preventing the occurrence of breaks on ceramic porous bodies to thereby reduce the overall firing time to about \u2154 of the conventional value . therefore , with a furnace having the same capacity as the conventional one , productivity can be improved to about 1 . 5 - fold . moreover , the in - furnace organic binder gas concentration can be controlled to a level much lower than the explosion limit and an advantage of excellent safety can be obtained ."}
|
Is the category the most suitable category for the given patent?
| 0.25 |
f9e9f8c2bdd9580e833a25604f236555d7d6205a256a5840f4b6bc7b26866122
| 0.15625 | 0.146484 | 0.125 | 0.056641 | 0.316406 | 0.131836 |
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